Jianzui bowed and clasped his hands repeatedly, saying in a trembling voice:
"I understand, I understand. Boss, let's hurry and catch that woman. Don't let her get away."
Derek hurriedly glanced in her direction. Seeing that the woman had indeed run far away, he promptly slapped Jianzui.
"Why the fuck didn't you say so earlier? She almost got away. You'd have been in for it if she had."
With that, he shoved Jianzui aside and rushed after her. Jianzui followed, looking sheepish.
Behind them, pirates were looting and killing in many shops. The scene was too horrible to behold.
Not all pirates were like the Straw Hat Pirates,
who sailed and sought adventure under the name of pirates.
Strictly speaking, it would have been more fitting to call the Straw Hat Pirates a group of adventurers. They occasionally helped a kingdom's princesses and princes put down rebellions, restore their kingdoms, and so on.
Ann pulled Vic along as she ran down the street, looking back from time to time.
She soon spotted two people following not far behind: one tall and fierce, the other short and shifty.
She noticed that both men were staring at her, and a bad feeling came over her. She quickly led Vic into a narrow alley between the houses lining the street.
Although Ann knew these alleys well, and led Vic through a maze of turns toward home,
Derek and Jianzui were both grown men, much faster than the two of them, and remained close behind.
Ann was beginning to despair. She knew the two men could not be interested in a ten-year-old child; they were after her.
Ann was well aware of her own beauty. Having borne a child, her figure had grown fuller, and it was easy to imagine how tempting she was to men.
At a fork, she pushed Vic into another alley. Tears in her eyes, she said sadly:
"Vic, go! Hurry and find somewhere to hide. I'll lead them away. We'll meet at the forest entrance. Remember, you must stay alive!!!"
Sure enough, the two men chased after Ann, paying Vic no attention.
Ann wound through the alleys for a long time before rounding a corner at an intersection and breaking into a faster run.
The pirates' view was blocked by the corner of a wall at that moment, so they did not see her. This was exactly what Ann had planned.
This was right beside her house. She would hide inside, then take some clothes and food and go back out to find shelter after a while. Perhaps that way she could escape this disaster.
After rounding two more corners, Ann quickly slipped into her house. She shut the door, leaned against it, and slowly slid to the floor, gasping for breath.
Derek rushed out of the intersection to find that he had lost sight of the woman. Furious, he slapped Jianzui twice on the back of the head, making his eyes roll back.
After recovering, Jianzui could not help grumbling inwardly: If you weren't so big and hadn't gotten stuck between the houses several times, we would have caught that woman ages ago.
But he did not dare say it aloud for fear of being beaten to death. Instead, he said ingratiatingly:
"Boss, that woman disappeared right at this intersection.
"At her speed, she couldn't have gotten far. She must be hiding somewhere nearby. If we look, we're bound to find her."
Derek thought that made sense and said with a hint of approval, "Good. Let's split up and look. If you find her first, signal me."
Then he added viciously, "You know what I'm capable of. If you dare touch her, I'll skin you alive!"
Jianzui quickly bent over and said sheepishly, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. How could I presume to covet your woman, boss? Hehe!"
With that, Jianzui hurried toward the surrounding houses.
Once Ann had caught her breath, she quickly got up to gather supplies. She packed the food she wanted to take in the kitchen and set it on the dining table, then hurried upstairs to find clothes and a light blanket.
After gathering clothes for herself and her husband, she planned to find some clothes Vic could wear in his room. But as soon as she opened the door, she was startled.
Vic was sitting on the bed, hugging his knees and trembling. Ann hurried over, bent down, and placed a hand on his head, asking softly:
"Vic, didn't I tell you to hide? Why did you come home? It's too dangerous here. We have to go, quickly!"
But before Vic could answer, she heard the sound of a door being forced open downstairs.
Ann looked around in a panic. She quickly pulled Vic off the bed, then smiled gently at him:
"Vic, hide under the bed. No matter what happens, don't make a sound, and don't come out. Do you understand?"
Only when Vic nodded with tears in his eyes did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Ann crouched down and held Vic, whispering in his ear:
"Vic, stay alive. You must live on!!!"
The voice sounded by his ear, yet seemed to come from the distant horizon, its lingering echo faint and indistinct, yet resounding through heaven.
After telling the security team that pirates had arrived, Orens ran home without stopping. When he reached his door, he saw that it had been pried open.
This is bad. The pirates are here, he thought at once.
After entering, he faintly heard his wife refusing someone upstairs, along with a man's lecherous laughter.
"Hehe, I won't do anything else. Let me kiss you and touch you, and I'll let you go. Otherwise, I'll really get serious!"
Hearing those words, Orens rushed upstairs, his eyes wide with fury and bloodshot.
When he reached Vic's room, he saw a short, shifty-looking man holding his wife and leaning in to kiss her fair neck.
Seeing his wife's hands bound and her clothes disheveled, Orens charged at Jianzui in fury and grappled with him.
Though Jianzui was small, Orens was only a secretary. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither able to get the better of the other.
When Ann saw her husband Orens come home, a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.
But before long, a tall figure appeared in the doorway. It was Derek, who had heard the commotion and come looking.
Seeing him, Ann fell into despair. She slowly rose to her feet.
Derek glanced at Ann's bound hands, then looked at the two men grappling and walked slowly toward them.
A pair of sharp claws extended from Derek's hands, and he thrust them straight at the two men. Both were pierced through and could no longer survive.
Jianzui turned his head with difficulty and looked at Derek, asking in a trembling voice:
"Boss, why?"
Derek said calmly, "You have a bad memory, don't you? Did you forget what I told you? You still laid hands on her."
Under the bed, a little boy lay prone, clamping both hands over his mouth as he watched his father's body outside, tears streaming from his eyes.
He remembered his mother's words and did not make a sound.
Beside Orens, Jianzui died unwillingly, his eyes still open.
Standing nearby, Ann saw her murdered husband and recalled Derek's words. She knew she would not be spared.
After glancing under the bed, Ann, unwilling to submit to the humiliation, slammed her head into the wall before Derek could react.
Derek heard only the thud of the impact. He turned and saw that the wall had been stained red with blood.
The woman lay on the floor, her forehead caved in and her face covered in blood. Derek felt as sick as if he had swallowed a fly and left, cursing.
What Derek did not know was that an unconscious little boy was still under the bed.
When his mother hit the wall and fell, Vic could no longer bear it and fainted.
Derek's Claw Pirates looted the town for an entire day before leaving.
By then, the town was in ruins, with the bodies of men and women who had resisted the pirates scattered everywhere.
Only after the pirates had left did the marines, who had received word, finally arrive. They left some marines behind to help the wounded, while the rest pursued the pirates.
What had happened could not be changed. Vic could only bury it in his heart and slowly grow stronger!