A warning beneath the waves

Rowan felt incredible after winning the naval battle.

In the past, Rowan could only play RTS (real-time strategy) games, commanding fleets to conquer territory. But that experience was too one-dimensional, nowhere near as satisfying as commanding a fleet to wipe out pirates.

Of course, the thrill of being a commander was secondary. With this naval battle over, Rowan had avenged the Merchants' Guild members and sailors the pirates had killed.

The dead were gone and could never return, but the deaths of these pirates could offer some comfort to the living.

Rowan's Steam Warship had fully demonstrated its advantages in this naval battle. As a product of the Industrial Revolution, the Sailing Warship had done the industrial age proud.

On its very first combat voyage, the warship had utterly demolished the vessels of the age of sail.

Three against one, and you all got killed instead. Do you even know how to play?

In fact, Lambert had already been at a complete loss when he saw Rowan's Sailing Warship still maneuvering nimbly after its mast had been blasted apart.

Half an hour later, a bucket of seawater was thrown over Lambert, bringing him around.

Leonard had broken both his legs, so as soon as he regained a little awareness, agonizing pain flooded his mind.

Beside Lambert was another pirate captive: the Tidesage who had conjured the sea fog earlier.

The other pirates had either been blasted to death by cannon fire or killed by Rowan himself, their bodies thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

Killing was indeed something that required courage, but these pirates had already lost their humanity. Rowan felt no guilt at all. As he sank the pirates into the sea, his heart held nothing but the satisfaction of revenge.

Lambert and Stuart were still alive only because Rowan still had questions.

"I'll give you a choice." Rowan sat half-perched on the deck, looking levelly at the bound Lambert and Stuart.

Tidesage Stuart's eyes were filled with terror. For the past half hour, he had been begging the soldiers for mercy.

Even now, he had not abandoned hope of surviving. He kept insisting that the pirates had merely abducted him to Freehold and forced him to join them.

There was no other emotion in Lambert's eyes. His features were twisted, but that was only because the pain in his legs forced his face into that expression.

Lambert chose silence and gave no answer. He did not struggle either, merely closing his eyes and occasionally letting out a muffled groan of pain.

Rowan had only ever seen pirates with that much backbone on television.

To be honest, Lambert was quite prepared for his fate. From the moment he chose to become a pirate, he had known that failure meant death, no matter what.

"Sink him." Rowan had no desire to waste any more breath on Lambert. Rather than talk nonsense with him, he might as well speak to Stuart.

Byron walked over to Lambert and gripped his shoulder with a broad hand. He glanced at Young Master Rowan and saw that he had no further instructions.

Then Byron threw Lambert straight into the sea.

Byron had actually wanted to finish him off with a stab, but on second thought, killing Lambert outright would give this wicked pirate too easy a death.

Now that both his legs were broken, throwing him straight into the sea would let him experience the agony of slowly suffocating.

The pain in his legs, coupled with the despair as his lungs ran out of air, was a fitting end for a villain.

Seeing Lambert thrown straight into the sea, Stuart's eyes widened. He struggled incessantly, rolling back and forth across the deck.

"I'll choose! I'll choose! Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you." Stuart forced an awkward smile onto his face. He did not know what expression might persuade the young master before him to spare his life.

What Stuart did not know was that he looked disgusting.

"How did you get into the Inland Sea?" Rowan asked, getting straight to the point.

Stuart confessed, "Someone prepared warships in the Inland Sea beforehand. We reached it overland."

"Who provided you with the warships?" Jaina pressed.

Stuart desperately searched his memories, sensing that his information might have some value.

He tried to seize on Rowan's desire to learn more. That was his hope of staying alive.

"I just want to live, Young Master Rowan." Stuart had learned the young man's name from the Paladin and the Warrior.

Rowan froze. He had not expected a man doomed to die to try bargaining with him.

"Sink him," Rowan said without a second thought.

Stuart stared in shock. He had never imagined Rowan would refuse to play along.

As Leonard approached, Stuart hurriedly curled up in a corner of the deck and shouted, "I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"The Pirate Council arranged for the warships beforehand. But it was House Stormsong's Merchants' Guild that supplied them," Stuart added.

Rowan waved a hand, and Leonard stopped where he was for the moment.

After hearing the Tidesage's answer, Jaina said incredulously, "House Stormsong's Merchants' Guild? Why would they fund you?"

"We don't know either. We won the job through bidding in Freehold. All it asked us to do was raid passing merchant ships around Morris Town and Cape Town. There wasn't any particular target," Stuart replied.

Bidding? So you Freehold pirates are actually a trading organization, Rowan thought. It seems your growth has ties to several organizations in Kul Tiras, too.

"It's not that simple. They merely bought warships from House Stormsong's Merchants' Guild. We have a trade in warships here in Kul Tiras, too. That isn't the key point," Rowan reasoned.

Jaina nodded, agreeing that Rowan had a point.

"In other words, you were hired," Rowan asked, cutting straight to the heart of it.

Stuart nodded without denying it.

"Sink him." Having heard what he wanted to know, Rowan waved a hand.

Leonard lifted Stuart, punched him in the head, then threw him into the sea.

Jaina still had many questions. She was about to stop Rowan, but after thinking it over, she chose to remain silent.

"We could have asked him more," Jaina said with a frown.

Rowan shook his head. "There was no need. Freehold's pirates put jobs out for bidding. Low-ranking pirates certainly wouldn't know the specific details. You heard him just now. Stuart really didn't know anything more."

"What's more, the people who hired pirates to enter the Inland Sea weren't outsiders. They were people from Kul Tiras. And the buyer had considerable power, possibly someone with real authority in a major house," Rowan added.

This is just too unbelievable, Jaina thought. The people of Kul Tiras have suffered so much intimidation and harm at the hands of pirates. How could they collude with them?

"That! How is that possible? How could a house in the Kingdom of Kul Tiras make deals with pirates?" Jaina still thought like a little girl. In her mind, good and evil were clearly divided, but reality was nowhere near that simple.

"The facts are right in front of us, Jaina." A hint of bitterness entered Rowan's smile. He knew that by sinking these pirates, he had also drawn the attention of their employer lurking in the shadows.

Things might very well be less simple than Rowan had imagined.