Blow Them All Sky-High

The next day.

An island appeared ahead of the Black Knife.

The island was not large, merely a tiny dot on the sea chart.

Hawkins knew this island. He had even tried to raid one of the villages on it before.

Pliskin Island. Because the surrounding waters produced delicious clams and shellfish favored by nobles, many fishermen had migrated here centuries ago to cultivate them. Over time, two villages had gradually formed, one in the north and one in the south.

The southern village was called Puli Village, while the northern village was called Jinsi Village.

The people of both villages were fierce and hardy. When Hawkins had attacked Puli Village, before the plundering had even begun, the villagers of Jinsi Village had arrived with all manner of weapons to provide support. Then the villagers of Puli Village had risen up as well, confronting Hawkins directly. In the end, wary of the sheer number of villagers from both settlements, Hawkins had no choice but to leave.

Whenever Hawkins recalled that memory now, he could not help but laugh. The dignified Son of Pirates had actually been driven away by villagers from two villages. At the same time, he was curious. Jinsi Village was several thousand meters away from Puli Village, with a small forest between them. How had Jinsi Village known that Puli Village was under pirate attack?

Fifteen minutes later, the Black Knife docked at a secluded beach, and several naval soldiers lowered the anchor into the sea.

"Captain, are we going to make a move on the people of this island?" Mark walked up behind Hawkins, looked at the cooking smoke in the distance, and asked.

Hawkins shook his head and smiled. "No. I just haven't seen land in a long time, so I'm planning to take a walk around the island. If you're not interested, you can stay on the ship."

In truth, Hawkins was very wealthy. Even if he went decades without plundering treasure, he could still live quite comfortably.

The Hawkins of the past had not been some uncouth brute. He had laid out an extremely detailed plan for his life. After turning thirty, he had intended to wash his hands of piracy, find a remote island, buy a plot of land, build a luxurious estate, marry five wives, father eighteen children, and spend the rest of his days in leisure.

That was why Hawkins, unlike most pirates, had not desperately squandered every bit of money he got. He had secretly saved it. And now, that money still belonged to Hawkins, but Hawkins was no longer the original Hawkins.

In the end, Mark decided to go ashore with Hawkins. Several naval soldiers under Hawkins's control went with them as well, tasked with heading to Puli Village to purchase daily necessities such as salt and oil.

The moment Mark stepped onto the beach, he could not help closing his eyes and sighing. "This is definitely the longest I've ever been away from land."

"How does it feel?" Hawkins followed him ashore and asked with a smile.

Mark tilted his head, looked at Hawkins, and smiled. "Not bad."

"Then let's go. We're heading to Jinsi Village," Hawkins said with a smile.

His appearance had changed drastically from the past. Even those closest to him might not recognize him now. The villagers of Jinsi Village had only met him briefly before, so there was no way they could recognize who he was.

Hawkins nodded in admission. "That's right. We're pirates who don't do our proper work. Do you really want to plunder the pitiful villagers on this pitiful little island?"

"I just want to try being a villain." Mark casually plucked a flower from an unknown plant beside him, sniffed it, then tossed it away before nodding.

Walking ahead, Hawkins analyzed, "That's a sign of having no sense of belonging. You came rashly to an unfamiliar place. There are no friends you know here, no family worth longing for, so you feel like you can do whatever you please. That isn't a good thing."

In his eyes, Mark was a young man both mature and innocent. He did not want Mark to indulge himself too much.

Holding fast to one's bottom line was not easy.

Hawkins had abandoned his bottom line time and again. It was his endless life that had given him enough time to reflect, allowing him to pick it up again and again.

"Captain, those words really shouldn't be coming from you. It feels way too strange," Mark could not help complaining.

Hawkins laughed. "Then what do you think I should say?"

"Obviously, you should support me raiding the villagers. Kill all the men, keep the women, that sort of thing. Aren't all pirates supposed to be like that?" Mark answered.

Hawkins said regretfully, "If you want to be that kind of pirate, I'm afraid my ship can't help you fulfill that dream."

He did not mind inheriting Hawkins's identity as a pirate, but he had no intention of continuing Hawkins's way of doing things. He had no interest whatsoever in plundering others. He was merely enjoying the pleasure of being human again.

"Sure enough, Captain, you're nothing like a pirate at all," Mark said helplessly. He had originally planned to spend three months experiencing pirate life, then kill Hawkins and wash his hands of it forever.

Walking ahead, Hawkins smiled. "Isn't that interesting?"

After passing through the forest, they came to a suspension bridge. Jinsi Village lay on the other side.

Hawkins and Mark walked up to the bridge and stopped at the same time. Two villagers from Jinsi Village stood guard on the other side, apparently not welcoming them across.

"Was it like this before?" Mark asked Hawkins beside him.

Hawkins shook his head. "The last time I came to this island was five years ago. Something may have happened in between."

"Then should we force our way through?" Mark asked eagerly.

Hawkins rejected the idea. "Forget it. I'll gather some information."

His modifications to bacteria had yielded considerable results. He carried bacteria on him at all times, and wherever he went, he left bacteria behind to multiply. The sea breeze was currently blowing south, and the bacteria had already drifted with the wind to Puli Village.

Without Hawkins's instructions, these bacteria were not lethal. They were simply used to gather information.

A moment later, Hawkins had gathered enough intelligence and discovered that the matter had a slight connection to him.

Because the two villages had joined forces to drive away the Blackblade Pirates five years ago, they had indeed enjoyed a honeymoon period. But since both villages depended on shellfish favored by nobles for their livelihood, friction in business had been unavoidable. In the end, one side turned great kindness into enmity, while the other held its favor over them as leverage, until they completely fell out.

Especially over the past two years, the conflicts between Puli Village and Jinsi Village had escalated. Some Jinsi Village residents had even been beaten to death during the clashes. The two villages could no longer coexist peacefully.

After Hawkins understood the situation, he turned around. "Looks like we can't go to Jinsi Village for now."

"Have we been exposed?" Mark asked in surprise.

Hawkins shook his head. Just as he was about to explain the situation between the two villages, his ears suddenly twitched, and he looked into the distance.

Several kilometers away, a wooden sailing ship was stopped on the sea. Several men and women stood on its deck. One of them was a huge fat man holding an enormous meteor hammer, waiting for instructions from the woman beside him.

"Front right. Yes, turn a little more to the right. Use eighty percent of your strength!"

The woman beside the fat man had long hair and countless terrifying scars on her face. A spider ring adorned her right index finger, and it was currently pointing directly toward Hawkins and Mark.

After receiving the woman's instructions, the fat man immediately swung the meteor hammer in his hand. The weapon visibly turned red, and then he hurled it with all his strength, roaring, "All you lowborn—blow up into the sky!!!"

The meteor hammer flew free of its chain and shot directly toward Hawkins and Mark.