Blackedge Pirates

Several days later, amid an endless expanse of emerald waves, a green sailboat cleaved through white spray, sailing forward at an unbelievable speed.

The hull was covered in great quantities of grayish-white rock, with vines growing everywhere. The vines spread across the deck and cabins; even the sails on the masts were woven from vines.

Mark lay in a chair woven from vines when he suddenly sneezed. Frowning, he opened his eyes and saw that the vines dangling from the mast had bloomed.

He rubbed his nose, still feeling as though he were dreaming. Was this really the Black Knife?

First of all, the ship could grow by itself. Aside from the keel, masts, and captain's cabin, there were scarcely any planks left. The hull had been entirely replaced by gray rock, covered in a layer of vines that felt about as hard as wooden boards.

Mark was certain that these vines were living creatures, perhaps even creatures with minds of their own.

All doors made of vines opened automatically when someone approached. Whenever he needed sleep, the vines would weave a hammock in the lounge, and at night, they would even quietly tuck him beneath a blanket.

Moreover, the ship could move without wind, and it was not slow, either.

Out of curiosity, he had deliberately dived beneath the water to observe it. He found countless tentacles beneath the ship, and it was these enormous tentacles that propelled the Black Knife forward at such a terrifying speed.

The problem was that he had no idea what kind of tentacled monster was parasitizing the gray rocks. Such a huge creature ought to have a huge appetite, yet he had never seen Hawkins feed it.

"How many abilities does the captain have that I don't know about? He really is unfathomable. Terrifying."

Mark gently placed the dangling flower on the back of his lounge chair, then looked toward Hawkins, who was planting flowers and grass nearby, and sighed inwardly.

When he had first met Hawkins, Hawkins had been polite and courteous, but Mark had secretly felt somewhat superior to him. He had not truly regarded Hawkins as someone on his own level.

But as time passed, the more he learned about Hawkins, the more awed he became.

Now, let alone feeling superior, whenever Hawkins looked at him, he felt as though he were under his old father's death stare. For no reason at all, he would feel guilty.

Even his Curse Spirit feared Hawkins. Whenever Hawkins looked at Silver Wolf, that damn dog would wag its tail furiously in a fawning manner.

He yawned, feeling that he could not keep wasting away like this, so he got up and headed for the wheelhouse.

Inside the wheelhouse, Arthur was steering the ship. He sat in a vine chair while two vines massaged him. A small table stood beside him, holding several snacks and a cup of flower tea.

When Mark entered the wheelhouse and walked over to Arthur, vines swiftly wove themselves into a chair. He sat down directly.

"Teacher, look at the Sea Chart. I feel like we may be going the wrong way." Arthur pulled up a light screen from the chat group and moved it directly in front of Mark.

"But isn't the Black Market to the south? We should be heading southwest right now." Arthur frowned.

Mark looked up at the sun again, feeling somewhat uncertain. He was not a real sailor, after all. Though he had studied all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge, the only thing he truly excelled at was Curse Caster-related matters.

"Teacher, Teacher, is that a pirate ship ahead?" Arthur suddenly asked urgently while Mark was studying the Sea Chart.

Mark frowned and looked ahead. Behind a small island several hundred meters away, two ships were pressed together. One of them was already on fire, while the other had a conspicuous white skull on its black sails.

"They really are pirates. I remember there's a mission to kill pirates. Should we... go over?" Mark hesitated.

He truly did not want to clean toilets anymore. At present, there were only two missions available: one was endlessly repeating toilet cleaning, and the other was killing pirates.

The toilet-cleaning mission had pitiful rewards, and it only counted if the toilet was dirty when cleaned. Mark wanted Exchange Points badly, but he truly did not want to keep doing this lousy mission.

The problem was that the second mission involved killing pirates. Each pirate killed gave 2 Exchange Points. To Mark, it was much easier than cleaning toilets.

But the biggest problem with that mission was finding pirates.

Well.

Hawkins himself was a pirate. But did Mark dare lay a hand on Hawkins?

"Should we... ask the captain what he thinks?"

Faced with Mark's question, Arthur thought for a moment before tossing the question back to Mark.

He held nothing but respect for Hawkins. If gods existed in this world, he would probably already have worshiped Hawkins as one. Whenever he could not make up his mind, he would ask the captain first. Following the captain's opinion could not go wrong.

Qiao Si: Pirates? I want to do the mission too!

After being revived, Qiao Si had lived in Eternal Space with Jennie.

Because Eternal Space was safe, she spent most of her time doing missions. The reason Mark could not get any chances to clean toilets was that Qiao Si was too fast. Often, someone would have just finished using the toilet, not even having flushed yet, and she would already rush over. She was practically a pervert.

Of course, Qiao Si did not do this because she was a pervert, but because Hawkins had discovered a problem.

In the real world, Curse Power recovered far more slowly than it had in the Dream Realm. Every revival for Qiao Si and the others required an enormous amount of Curse Power. He could not keep reviving them for free forever; after all, he did not owe Qiao Si and the others anything.

So he had added revivals to the exchange page. Everyone had one chance at a free revival. Once that free revival was used up, they had to exchange for more revival chances. Only those who possessed revival chances could have a chance to be revived.

Of course, if someone had no revival chances of their own but another person was willing to pay the revival cost, they could still be revived.

One revival chance was equivalent to one life. Thus, many people were saving up lives for themselves. However, everyone currently had very few Exchange Points, so no one could yet afford a revival.

Hawkins replied at this moment: You can. Watch your safety.

Mark: We're fighting pirates. Those who want to join, sign up. We'll act together.

Qiao Si: I'm joining!

Asmodeus: I might not be able to beat them, but I'm joining too!

Arthur: Can I?

Mark: No. Stop making trouble!

Arthur: ...

Ai Miye and the others actually wanted to join the mission as well. Qiao Si was simply too strong; by now, they could not even compete for toilet-cleaning opportunities. But they all knew perfectly well that they could not beat pirates. Even if the pirates were far weaker than Qiao Si and the others, they were still not opponents that children like them could handle.

Ai Miye: Arthur, you can livestream it. Aren't there tips on livestreams? Once you record Big Brother Mark and the others fighting the pirates, you can upload it to the livestream. What if someone tips Exchange Points in the future?

Arthur: Good idea. I'll give it a try.

Mark: Right, we can record a video too!

Arthur: ...

With a video from Mark's first-person perspective, would anyone still watch his video?

At this moment, the Black Knife approached the two wooden sailboats. The sailors aboard the pirate ship had already spotted the Black Knife and sounded the horn to warn the pirates looting the merchant ship.

It was worth mentioning that the owner of this pirate ship was named Eugene. The pirate ship was called the Blackedge, and the pirate crew was called the Blackedge Pirates.

In fact, Hawkins had discovered the Blackedge Pirates even earlier than Arthur had, and he had found information about them in the original Hawkins's memories.

The Blackedge Pirates could be considered one of the Blackblade Pirates' sworn enemies.

First, the names of the two pirate crews differed by only a little, and both sides believed the other was copying their name.

Second, both operated in the Pras Sea. The Blackblade Pirates operated in the Pras Sea and Sylvia Sea, while the Blackedge Pirates operated in the Pras Sea and Xipuwili Sea. Thus, although they occasionally clashed, there had never been any large-scale bloodshed.

But Hawkins knew that the original Hawkins had always planned to wipe out the Blackedge Pirates.

"This ship is too strange. Everyone, be careful."

"Could it be a ghost ship? Look, it's covered in grass."

The pirates discussed it among themselves, but none dared speak loudly, because their captain was right beside them.

The captain of the Blackedge Pirates, Eugene, was a man nearly 1.9 meters tall, thin as a bamboo pole.

He had a high nose and a long face, with a metal ring through the corner of his mouth. He was bare-chested at the moment, holding a curved blade in his hand.

The blade of the curved sword had deliberately been painted black, perfectly fitting the name Blackedge Pirates.

He sat on the ship's rail, staring down at the Black Knife with a sinister gaze. It was impossible to tell whether his expression was cautious or indifferent.

Hawkins walked to the bow at this moment. When they were only a dozen meters apart, he smiled and said, "Eugene, long time no see. I didn't expect trash like you to still be alive."

"Hawkins!? Hahahaha! I heard you were wiped out in one fell swoop by a bunch of naval soldiers. Where's Jon? Dead? Wasn't he your most loyal dog servant? You couldn't even protect him, and you still dare show your face before me?" Eugene's expression changed swiftly. First startled, then seeming to relax all at once, he burst into exaggerated laughter.

Hawkins smiled and suddenly pointed a finger. A flash of lightning instantly pierced Eugene's brow. Eugene stared wide-eyed at Hawkins, then tipped forward and plunged into the sea.

"Attack. As long as they're pirates... leave none alive!"

As Hawkins turned around, his smile gradually vanished. The next moment, the Sea Chart opened, and Qiao Si and Asmodeus charged out from it, dropping from above onto the Blackedge.

Mark was even faster. The moment Hawkins gave the order to attack, he leaped out of the wheelhouse and crossed onto the Blackedge's deck in several bounds.

A pirate crew without extraordinary powers was no match for Mark and Qiao Si. With Qiao Si helping him, Asmodeus could not kill with every slash, but he could occasionally seize the chance to wound one or two pirates.

Moments later, only three breathing pirates remained among the Blackedge Pirates.

Hawkins felt refreshed from head to toe. The mission to kill pirates came from the Sea Chart's curse. His metabolism had always been fast, requiring him to constantly replenish nutrients, but as Mark and the others completed missions, he found the burden on his body easing.

"It really is necessary to let more people join."

Hawkins opened the Sea Chart and glanced at it. After confirming that the effect could only last a few days, he thought silently to himself.

At this moment, Mark came over with a grave expression. "Captain, there's something in that ship. Something's not right!"

The ship he meant was not the Blackedge, but the merchant vessel the Blackedge had been looting.