Pirate Rules

"Up ahead... that should be a normal inhabited island, right?" Muri asked as he gazed into the distance. The outline of an island had appeared ahead, and it looked quite sizable. As they drew closer, the number of seabirds noticeably increased. "Nonsense, of course it is!" Pu'er raised a paw and pointed in another direction in the distance. "Look over there—aren't there ships?" Muri asked in confusion, "Still, I think those ships look a bit strange. They don't look like merchant ships, nor do they look like warships." "Those are pirate ships." "Pirate ships?" "Yeah, meow. Looks like the young master of the Benda family, raised in the Dinge Region, isn't very familiar with this world." Muri nodded and said, "I haven't had time to watch movies about pirates yet. I'll make sure to catch up when I get back, because I've found I actually quite like it out here." "If you're interested, the Allen family study has plenty of books on ocean voyages and exploration, mostly from the journals of family ancestors." "All right, thank you. I'll borrow them." "Someone really had their nature suppressed way too much at home as a kid, and now they love the sea," Pu'er teased. "To put it in Karen's words, is this 'revenge living'?" "Probably," Muri didn't disagree. "I also feel like I prefer a life that doesn't follow strict rules and templates as much." Standing nearby, Ventura softly reminded them, "Wait, if those are pirate ships, then isn't that island ahead..." "That's right, a pirate island! A place where pirates trade goods." "A pirate island..." "What are you scared of? In normal terms, our team's combat prowess—cannons aside—is way stronger than ordinary pirates, okay!" Pu'er said, amused. "Right now, we should hope this island is large enough and the pirates' activities are rampant enough, because that means the island will have the kind of smuggling teleportation formations that can take us straight from the sea back to civilization." Ventura asked worriedly, "Will there be one?" "Wherever darkness grows big, there is bound to be light supporting it." Pu'er continued, "Of course, this isn't the light of the Church of Light. But in any venue of significant size, churches will always be lurking, looking to reap profits. If this pirate island is on an even bigger scale—say, they've formed some sort of pirate alliance—then the island itself should have well-equipped and well-maintained teleportation formations." "How should we go ashore?" Muri asked. "Do we ride the sea beast straight onto the island? Wouldn't that draw too much attention?" "Not everyone on a pirate island is a pirate. Besides, it's not like nobody has ever been a pirate riding a sea beast. As for whether to stay concealed... personally, I lean toward keeping a low profile at first. The main issue is that we have no way to send messages to the outside world right now. Without a communication formation on hand, you never know what pirates might do." "Would they dare offend the Church of Order?" "Not openly, of course. But some who turn to piracy... you know, there's no telling what strange previous identities they might have, and there's a high probability they hold a grudge against the Church of Order. Even though scum appears within your Church of Order as well, it can't be denied that precisely because of the Church of Order, over the past thousand years, many people in church circles have been forced to start following the rules. Those who didn't want to follow the rules... humph, plenty of them ended up becoming pirates, naturally." Karen, who had just gotten up, finished washing up with seawater and asked while shaking off his hands, "Have you come to a conclusion?" "My suggestion is to send someone to scout the island first," Pu'er said. "If point coupons can pave the way, that would be ideal, so long as we can use a communication formation. Of course, if we can directly buy access to a teleportation formation, that's even better." "Then let's go scout the situation first. We won't land on the sea beast; that way, if anything goes wrong on the island, we still have a rendezvous point out at sea. Muri, Philomena, and I will go ashore to investigate. Alfred, stay here on watch and be ready to provide backup." "Yes, Young Master." "Yes, Captain." Philomena walked over, a little surprised. Subconsciously, she thought this was Karen's way of extending an olive branch after their conversation the other night, signaling his willingness to welcome her into the squad. In her heart, she felt a small surge of touched emotion. It seemed having whispered heart-to-hearts really did work. However, this somewhat withdrawn girl with split personalities had completely misunderstood. Alfred, who always preferred staying by the Young Master's side to protect him at all costs, and Ventura, who was equally loyal to Karen, had no objections whatsoever to being left behind—because they could tell the Young Master had simply chosen the two strongest fighters to go with him. In terms of the team's combat hierarchy, Karen and Philomena were in the top tier, while Muri was the leader of the second tier. "Captain, shall we swim underwater?" Muri asked. Karen pointed at a small pirate ship sailing toward the island in the distance and said, "Why waste the effort? Let's just hitch a ride. We'll cling to the hull, and once it docks, we can slip ashore submerged. All right, change out of your clerical robes now, and bring extra signal flares and black paper for signaling." "What about me! What about me!" Pu'er immediately volunteered herself. "It's a pirate island!" "I'm worried about danger," Karen said with a smile. "I can swim!" "Have you ever swum since turning into a cat?" "No... our family conditions were never bad enough that I had to catch fish in a river as a cat! But I think I probably won't drown... hopefully." Karen hadn't really intended to take Pu'er along. Even from far away, one could tell those pirate ships were clearly retrofitted and definitely tied to church circles, far from ordinary pirates. Of course, if they were ordinary pirates, there would be no point in visiting the island, since it wouldn't have communication formations or teleportation formations anyway. However, Karen considered a problem: language. Although the Maklai language family was widely spoken, in this place, heaven knew what language was used. To be safe, it was better to bring the cat along; at the very least, she could serve as an interpreter cat. After finishing their preparations, dusk was approaching. The ocean at dusk was beautiful, but Karen and the others were in no mood to admire it. The three leaped directly into the sea. After swimming some distance, Karen looked back and could no longer see the sea beast or the house on its back. Memphis and Mars had set up a concealment formation on the beast, making it what could be considered the earliest "stealth battleship" of this era. Pu'er clung to Karen's neck, coughing on several mouthfuls of water, and grumbled discontentedly: "Why aren't you using Sea God's Armor, meow!" "Now that my physical conditioning has improved, I just wanted to have a normal swim. Did you see how fast I swam just now?" "A chaotic blur of fast." "Heh." Keep in mind, Karen was still carrying the Sword of Arius on his back. "Still, if you don't use Sea God's Armor soon, you're going to drown me!" Karen summoned the Sea God's Armor. Immediately, a barrier formed around his body, pushing the seawater away. Pu'er was finally able to breathe normally underwater. Still not appeased, she pounded her paws against Karen's chest several times. Yet even though his skin felt soft, there was a noticeable rebound against her paws, giving the distinct illusion of smacking against a steel plate. It's really hard, meow! "Hey, Karen, when you absorbed the divine bone to enhance your physique, you didn't deliberately control your exterior appearance, did you?" "What do you mean?" "Because I figure you definitely don't like the buff, muscular hunk style." "I didn't control anything." "Then the Goddess must like your current aesthetic. She didn't think to turn you into a huge muscleman—you know, the kind who can make his pectoral muscles twitch at will." "Do you watch those kinds of shows often?" Karen asked. "Only you men are allowed to watch pretty women dance? We can't watch men perform? There are plenty of female pirates, and they have needs too. Shows like that are never in short supply." "Sounds like you lived a rather colorful life back then." "Of course! What haven't I seen, meow? You know, the kind of show where they tie two wires to a man's little nipples, attach a counterweight, and add more weight as the tips roll in? When they lift it up—hehe! I tipped once, and it snapped right off..." "Smack!" "Ow! Why'd you hit me!" "Quiet. We're almost there." "Hmph." Karen, Philomena, and Muri climbed onto the small pirate ship they had chosen beforehand. After exchanging glances, Karen was the first to climb higher. As it turned out, he happened to "observe" a performance of his own. This pirate ship was not large. Fully manned, it usually held around twenty sailors. It possessed only an outdated magic crystal cannon whose muzzle was even rusted... When Karen climbed past it, he felt no aura of spiritual energy fluctuations from the bore; the cannon was probably just a decoration. In the center of the ship, a neatly dressed, white-bearded old man and four young men were tied to the flagpole. Standing beside them was a burly man delivering a speech while brandishing a magical spell pistol. Sure enough, Karen couldn't understand the language they spoke—it wasn't from the Maklai language family. But from the scene, it was easy to tell: a mutiny was underway. Pu'er whispered, "This is very common among pirates. When a captain grows old or incompetent and can no longer lead everyone to bountiful hauls, someone new will rise up to overthrow and replace him. Pirates are like wolf packs on the sea, believing in the survival of the fittest." "Perhaps we can adjust our plan." There were only twenty people on deck in total. Standing beside the burly man and cheering for him were clearly just five people; the remaining ten stood timidly to the side. This meant that although the mutiny on this ship had "succeeded," the old captain still retained prestige. After all, with the outcome seemingly decided, ten people had merely stood by without joining the jeering and cheering—that was a statement in itself. Karen gave a look to Muri and Philomena beside him. Muri nodded immediately, indicating he understood. Philomena also nodded, indicating she understood—though inwardly she grew frantic, because she had no idea what she was supposed to understand! Gripping the ship's hull with his right hand, Karen gently pulled Pu'er from his chest with his left and set her down on an extended plank. This posture radiated power—a stance Karen would never have believed himself capable of achieving across two lifetimes. Applying slight force through his palm, he lifted his body, making it look as if he were standing naturally in midair. Perched on the outcrop, Pu'er looked at Karen, her gaze filled with the "doting affection" one would show a mischievous child. Karen drew the Sword of Arius from his back, then leaped onto the deck. The pirate ship had built-in defensive formations, but on its return voyage and in the middle of a "coup," there was no way any defensive formation would be active. Muri followed him up, and Philomena rushed aboard after them. When she landed, she saw Karen and Muri charging straight toward the pirates. Philomena immediately charged as well—except she dashed toward the ten crew members standing aside as spectators. Clearly, she still hadn't grasped the situation. Luckily, she was agile; realizing that the captain and Muri had charged in another direction, she pivoted immediately. "Enemy attack!" The burly man roared. Then, he saw Karen appear right before him. A layer of water armor instantly condensed around the man, giving Karen a familiar feeling—likely a bargain-bin version of "Sea God's Armor." After all, since the collapse of the Sea God Religion, its legacy had long scattered. Karen struck with a single slash. Empowered by the Dark Moon, the blow shattered the man's defenses in an instant. Before the man could even level his gun at Karen, the greatsword sliced him clean in half where he stood. After finishing the strike, Karen raised a hand to conjure an ice shield, preventing the spraying blood from dirtying his clothes. Muri's side was equally swift and straightforward. A few slashes cut down three men, followed by a shield strike that caved in another pirate's head. At the final target, Muri held back. He had to leave a kill for the latecomer. Philomena arrived and delivered a kick to the last pirate. Perhaps rushing too hard, she failed to control her force; the kick caused the pirate's body to detonate on the spot, showering both her and Muri with blood and minced flesh. Muri wiped his face with a hand, speechless. Philomena also realized she had gone a bit overboard. She said to Muri, "Sorry." "It's fine," Muri shook his head. "Let's just say you were establishing deterrence." It did have an effect. After all, cleanly slicing foes down like vegetables was nowhere near as visually shocking as a body exploding in all directions. The ten remaining crew members completely abandoned any thought of resisting the "enemy attack" and fell to their knees. Tied to the post, the white-bearded old captain began shouting at Karen, rambling a long stream of gibberish. Karen frowned slightly. Promptly realizing something, the old captain switched to another language. Seeing Karen still frowning, he switched yet again... Finally, he spoke in Maklai. "Thank you for saving me! The Jinluo is now your personal property, and we shall offer you our loyalty!" Karen smiled. The old captain had played a little trick. That rambling display through several languages had clearly been an act of showmanship, designed to showcase his value. This was evident from what he said when he finally switched to Maklai; he had probably guessed their origins early on. Karen didn't mind this little bit of cleverness; he had no desire to rely on an idiot to get things done. With a flick of the Sword of Arius, he severed the ropes binding the old captain. The old captain immediately dropped to his knees before Karen. "Can you control this ship?" Karen asked. "Yes, absolutely!" the old captain said with certainty. "Then clean up this place and continue heading back to port." "Understood! Everything as you command! Please, come to my cabin. I shall serve you fine wine and delicacies." "No need to bother. Come over here; I have some questions for you." "Of course! Entirely at your command." Karen walked into the captain's quarters. It wasn't large, but it was decorated with an artistic flair. Muri and Philomena stood guard at the door while the old captain walked in alone. "What island is ahead?" "That's Fire Island." "Fire Island? Is there a volcano on it?" "No. Legend has it that the God of Fire once descended upon the island, and so the name stuck. Today, it serves as the main island of the Romaford Pirate Alliance." "Pirate alliance..." "It's an alliance founded by seven great pirate crews, serving as the trading and distribution hub for pirates across this sea region. It has everything on it." "Everything... Are there communication formations and teleportation formations?" "Yes. However, such valuable facilities fall under alliance jurisdiction. If outsiders wish to use them, they must pay point coupons, and the fee is exorbitant." "So as long as one can pay point coupons, it's fine, right?" "Yes. The alliance values its reputation highly, especially on Fire Island. You can rest assured on that. I have some point coupons on me, as well as some assets deposited in the alliance bank. I can withdraw them to pay for you." "Good, I see." Matters had suddenly become simple. Still, Karen planned to go ashore and see the situation for himself first, rather than rushing to bring the rest of his subordinates over. "Once we dock, accompany us on a visit to the alliance. I want to see it with my own eyes." "Yes, of course! I shall serve you with all my heart." Karen didn't ask why his subordinates had mutinied, and the old captain didn't bring it up either. Karen and the old captain stepped out of the cabin, only to see Pu'er already perched on the command platform, wearing a pirate hat she had commandeered from who knew which pirate. "Oh, Karen, I feel the power of my family's bloodline boiling inside me! This is your first pirate ship. Have you thought of a name for it?" "No." "Aren't you someone who puts great stock in a sense of ritual in life, meow?" Karen picked Pu'er up and cradled her in his arms. "We're just passing through. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the situation on the island seems very promising. There are rules here. We'll probably be leaving through a teleportation formation very soon." Pu'er spread her paws. "Oh, heavens! Is my pirate journey being snuffed out just as it began?" Just then, the old captain walked up to the lookout post and urgently shouted, "Halt the ship! Hoist the white sail!" "What's going on?" Pu'er asked, puzzled. Karen floated up and stood atop the railing, looking ahead. Near the harbor docks, two fleets had abruptly squared off at a distance. Both swung broadside, opening their cannon ports and aiming at each other. The atmosphere turned tense and suffocating in an instant. Had the old captain not ordered the ship to halt in time, their vessel might have sailed right into the crossfire between the two confronting fleets. Then, a flash of light erupted from one fleet, and a beam from a magic crystal cannon blasted forth, firing the first shot. The two fleets commenced an all-out artillery duel, cannons roaring violently as monstrous waves churned across the sea. Pu'er looked up, gazing at Karen in utter bewilderment. She asked: "So, this is what you meant by 'there are rules'?"