Under the brilliant sunlight, twelve battered ships sailed across the crystal-clear sea.
At the very top of the ship in the center, something reflected the sunlight like a mirror, dazzlingly bright.
Elik was on the lookout tower, scanning the surroundings through a telescope.
“Captain!
I see an island!” Elik shouted excitedly.
They had arrived a day later than expected.
The damage to the ships had made sailing more difficult and slowed them down as well.
The many pirates aboard were already starving, and they barely had the energy to speak.
“Good!
Have them take down the pirate flags.
We’re only here to purchase supplies this time.
We’ll leave as soon as we’re done, so don’t waste any time.”
Valsa gave his orders while silently calculating the time.
He hoped they wouldn’t miss that major event.
“Yes, sir.”
…
A mining site?
Kweiv sat beside the iron bars of his cell, listening to the pirate guards chatting outside.
Apparently, the other villagers had all been taken to the mines to perform forced labor.
That seemed to be the reason they had been kept here.
Kweiv had already been locked up for several days.
He had gradually observed the layout of the prison and gathered information from the pirates’ conversations, reconstructing the prison’s structure in his mind.
He was now certain that his cell was roughly in the center of the prison.
There were also many other people locked up here whom he didn’t recognize.
They seemed to have been transported here along with this pirate crew.
…From my cell, I just need to turn left, then turn left again at the first intersection, and I’ll reach the exit.
Every afternoon around sunset, the pirates send someone to deliver food.
That’s also when their defenses are at their weakest.
This is my best chance.
But I can’t act recklessly yet.
I don’t know how quickly the pirates can send reinforcements.
If their camp happens to be close to the prison, escaping now would be no different from walking straight into a trap.
If I’m caught again, at best they’ll lock me up somewhere deeper and tighten the security.
At worst…
they’ll probably execute me on the spot!
I’ll keep waiting…
Kweiv closed his eyes and lay on the bed, quietly waiting for his opportunity.
“Hey, did you hear?
Apparently that important person is arriving today.”
“Of course.
I heard the captain is preparing a banquet to welcome that important guest.”
Kweiv’s eyes snapped open.
Hearing the pirates’ conversation, he calmly moved toward the prison gate and pricked up his ears to listen carefully.
Who is this important person?
What is he coming to the island for?
Kweiv wondered.
Although he was curious about who the man was, this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity to escape!
With the pirates attending the banquet, the prison’s defenses would certainly be much weaker.
The only question was when exactly this person would arrive.
…
“Lord Disco, you’ve finally arrived!”
Adams, the captain of the Outlaw Pirates, respectfully bowed ninety degrees.
Outlaw Adams had a bounty of 18 million Berries.
He had once incited a mass uprising in a country, causing enormous damage and nearly bringing about its destruction.
The country only narrowly escaped disaster after the Marines intervened.
He later became a pirate and continued committing all kinds of crimes and causing chaos across the sea.
“Hmm, Adams.
How is the slave collection going this time?” Disco replied casually, asking in an indifferent tone.
“Uh…
Lord, there are more than two hundred slaves in total, but…
only thirty of them are pirates,” Adams replied sheepishly.
“Hmm?
Wait.
I thought I made it perfectly clear before.
The people above specifically requested pirate slaves!
What use do I have for all those ordinary trash?”
Disco had been pleased when he heard that there were more than two hundred slaves.
But when he learned that there were only thirty pirate slaves—the kind specifically requested by the important figures above him—his expression immediately turned sour.
As Disco’s displeasure became apparent, a five-meter-tall man stepped out from behind him.
He carried a gigantic warhammer over his shoulder, the weapon even taller than he was, and glared viciously at Adams.
Under his terrifying gaze, Adams’ legs went weak.
He immediately dropped to his knees and began kowtowing to Disco.
“Please spare me, Lord!
You don’t understand!
There’s an extremely powerful Marine in the South Blue lately.
He’s been hunting pirates everywhere, and pirates in many areas have been completely wiped out!
We simply haven’t been able to find any other pirates, and we’ve had to keep running from him as well.”
“That has nothing to do with me.
I only care about the result…”
Disco was about to reprimand Adams when he suddenly turned around and looked toward the sea behind him.
A sizable fleet was sailing toward Dunro Island.
Adams naturally noticed it as well.
He hurriedly scrambled to his feet and ran over to Disco, fawning as he said, “Lord!
Look, it’s a pirate crew!
Should we…”
As he spoke, Adams drew a finger across his throat.
“No rush.
There are no pirate flags on their ships.
Let’s wait until they land and observe them first.
If they’re pirates, we’ll capture them all.
If they’re just an ordinary merchant fleet, then…
heh.”
The meaning behind his words was perfectly clear.
If they weren’t pirates, they would simply be sent to join the dead beneath the sea.
On the Nautilus, Valsa gazed at the approaching island and couldn’t help smiling.
“This is the first time I’ve ever set foot on another piece of land.
And for most of us, it’s the same.”
“Captain!
There seem to be a lot of people gathered along the shore!” Elik shouted from the lookout tower, telescope in hand.
Quans said worriedly, “Captain, could there be danger?
Should we—”
“No need.
As long as they don’t provoke me, we’ll be fine.
Otherwise…”
Before long, the ships reached the shore.
Everyone jumped from the ships and set foot on the island, each of them looking around with curiosity, their bodies filled with renewed energy.
“You stay here and stand by.”
Valsa gave the order, then exchanged a glance with Quans before walking toward the crowd that had gathered.
Adams immediately took the initiative and approached Valsa and the others.
“Sir!
You’re certainly a lucky man.”
“What is this…?” Valsa frowned, his eyes turning sharp.
“Oh!
Today is a special festival unique to our island!
We welcome every visitor from outside to join our celebration.
I’m here specifically to welcome newcomers.”
Adams spoke with great enthusiasm, putting on an emotional performance.
“You have a festival like this?”
Valsa looked at Quans.
Quans’ expression told him that he had never heard of it either.
“Please, come with us.
The banquet is being held over there!”
“No need.
We’ll just look around the island ourselves.”
Valsa was extremely wary of them and rejected the invitation without hesitation.
“All right.
But if you need anything, please feel free to come find me.
I’m in the house at the very center of the village.
It’s very conspicuous, so you’ll definitely recognize it.”
With a regretful expression, Adams returned with his men.
Valsa watched them leave.
Quans reminded him from the side, “This is extremely suspicious.
There has to be some kind of conspiracy.
They came to greet us the moment we set foot on the island.
It seems they’ve been keeping a close watch on the shoreline at all times.”
“Don’t worry about them.
Take some people into the village to purchase supplies.
I’ll look around on my own.”
“Yes, Captain.”
With that, Quans led a group of people into the village to purchase supplies.
The other pirates also left the ships one after another.
Aside from a few men left behind to guard the vessels, almost everyone went ashore.
Some went into the village, some headed into the surrounding forests and mountains, some traveled in groups of two or three, while others ventured out alone.
Everything here was incredibly novel to them.
By then, Valsa had already reached the streets of the village.
Everything looked perfectly ordinary.
There were people inside every shop, and quite a few villagers were walking through the streets.
Except all of those villagers were pirates in disguise.
“Heh.”
Valsa gave a disdainful chuckle.
He had already realized that these villagers were impostors.
He could feel every single one of them watching him out of the corner of their eyes.
Yet whenever he turned to look in a particular direction, the gaze from that direction would immediately disappear.