Chapter 31

Bang——

Face first, sprawled out, Miguel was thrown into the dilapidated wooden boat. The moment he hit the deck, before the enemy pirates on board could react, he immediately struggled to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Big Dog! Save me, Big Dog!!!!!!——Caesar!!! You bastard, look down here!!! Hey—Captain!!!!!!”

Boom——

Unfortunately, at the same time, a cannonball exploded not far from them, the spray and the blast drowning out his hysterical cries.

With the sound of splashing waves, the small wooden boat was pushed away by the rising tide, forcefully moving the assault boat, which had been directly beneath the ship, away from the Wind Fury.

“……” This nameless, lousy gunner, thank your grandpa. Wiping the seawater off his face in silence, Miguel looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. I guess I won’t call you Red Scarf, hope you don’t mind?

On the boat, Miguel, drenched in seawater, was silent. The enemy pirates, also drenched, were silent.

Three seconds later, the pirates simultaneously glared at him with murderous eyes.

The knife-like gazes made Miguel instinctively shrink his neck. “Don’t… brothers, I won’t shout anymore, I swear I won’t, I surrender—don’t get rough, I’ll go with you—ah!”

…

Miguel had a long dream.

He dreamed that he had returned to his original world.

Everything had just been a dream. No Big Dog, no red-haired first mate, no Arabs, no Leoza, and no damn fishing net—he had finally woken up from this absurd dream!

Outside the window, it was midsummer. The cicadas on the tall plane trees of the university chirped endlessly, the ceiling fan above him creaked and turned slowly; in his hand was not the Ghost Slayer, but an ordinary 2B pencil, perfectly fitting his identity; under his face was not the hard assault boat covered in dry seaweed, but a drool-soaked exam paper, the title on the paper large and clear, written in beautiful and familiar Chinese characters—On Marine Meteorology.

He was Luo Chenzhou, an ordinary university student studying meteorology.

Is this… an exam? With a confused look, he lifted his face from the desk and looked up, immediately spotting the invigilator standing at the front of the classroom.

Handsome face, sharp suit, pretentious watch.

On the podium, the man flicked a piece of chalk with precision, hitting the black-haired young man on the forehead. Then, the man arrogantly raised his chin. “Could your name be any more unlucky? You failed this subject, trash.”

Then, the man walked down from the podium, and in front of everyone in the classroom, pulled down his pants along with his underwear, pinned him on the desk, and did it.

…

Wait, what the hell kind of plot twist is this?!

So, when the shameless and bottomless Luo Chenzhou hugged Professor Caesar’s neck, rubbing and begging for another round, Miguel was jolted awake by his own absurdity.

“…Ugh…”

Slowly opening his eyes, this time, the real sensation hit him along with a foul stench. The surroundings were quiet, and the black-haired young man, with a splitting headache, slowly lifted his face from the wet, filthy ground covered in straw. He blinked, noticing that his vision was a bit blurry—

The rocking frequency reminded him that he was still at sea.

The occasional sound of cannon fire outside the ship vaguely reminded him of where he probably was.

Miguel fell silent for a moment, after reminiscing about that absurd (and role-reversed) erotic dream, he suddenly remembered that before he was knocked out, those damn pirates had grinned and raised a hammer they had pulled out from somewhere, giving the back of his head a solid hit.

“…”

I must have been hit so hard I started having such unreliable dreams. With an embarrassed expression, he reached up to touch his head. Beneath the soft, wet black hair at the back of his head, Miguel felt a sticky patch different from seawater. His hand paused for a moment, then the black-haired young man wiped his hand on the straw on the floor expressionlessly.

I’m not in pain.

Miguel told himself.

Really, I’m not in pain.

…Really, not at all in pain QAQ.

Sitting back down on the dirty straw, enduring the intense pain in the back of his head, Miguel began to accept the fact that he had been foolishly captured by the enemy—he scanned his surroundings with his gradually clearing vision—undoubtedly, the rusty iron bars five meters ahead told him that he was currently in some kind of cage—

This was likely the lower deck of a ship, and the side of the cabin had been blown open by some bastard with terrible aim. Every time the ship rocked violently, a small stream of seawater would pour in, and Miguel was sitting in this pile of soaked straw, blood streaming from his head, contemplating life.

At that moment, a giggling sound came from behind Miguel.

“Little treasure~ Welcome to Leoza’s cage~”

Miguel: “…”

Anyone who calls me ‘little treasure’ is not a good person.

Turning around, sure enough, standing behind him with an excited expression was an ugly and lecherous pirate—this pirate’s hair was matted from years of not being washed, his face dirty, missing a few teeth, the remaining ones crooked and yellow like corn. His left eye had a poorly made prosthetic, and when he leaned closer to Miguel, the eyeball rolled to the back of the eye due to his overexcitement, so when Miguel turned around, the first thing he saw was a “very accidental” big white eye.

“Look, Leysin! Come and see! What a treasure they’ve snatched!”

After seeing Miguel’s face clearly with his one remaining eye, this cellmate was so excited he almost passed out: “A fair-skinned Easterner—a face prettier than a girl’s! Tsk tsk tsk, Leysin, come and see! My palm is bigger than his face!”

This cellmate’s unreliable description made Miguel almost suspect that he had transmigrated into another unlucky soul.

So, when the black-haired young man looked down expressionlessly, trying to find something that symbolized his identity, he was not surprised to discover another bad news—the Ghost Slayer was gone.

Big Dog’s token of love, gone.

In an instant, everything around him vanished.

Miguel felt his little universe being swallowed by a black hole.

Some important circuit in his brain snapped with a ‘click.’

In the next moment, something astonishing happened—in the cell, everyone saw the Easterner, who could barely sit up straight, suddenly spring up from the ground and effortlessly pin the drooling one-eyed Barrow to the floor—the fair skin, compared to those who had spent years at sea, was fully visible from his open collar. He was like a suddenly enraged leopard, with a perfect waist and firm, perky buttocks. He pinned Barrow down, his elbow firmly pressed against the throat of this ugly and lecherous pirate.

“Stay away from me, trash.”

The black-haired young man warned coldly.

Then he let go of Barrow and found a corner to squat in.

…Big Dog’s token of love is gone QAQ.

…Sniff sniff, damn you pirates and your ancestors for eighteen generations QAQ.

In the cell, no one knew that the young man curled up in the corner was crying like a girl inside. They stared dumbfounded at the cold and aloof Miguel, a piece of straw fell limply from a man’s mouth as he stared blankly and said—

“Fuck, this is the first time in my life I’ve gotten hard for a man.”

Some people just have an ordinary face. But when they accidentally hide their silly nature and put on a cold and aloof facade, in that moment, to those with peculiar tastes, they can become stunningly beautiful.

After a moment of silence, someone started it, and the pirates in the cell, howling, pulled up their pants and charged at Miguel.

Before the black-haired young man could react, he was pinned to the ground by four men.

Miguel: “…What are you doing?”

Pirate One: “I’ll go first!”

Pirate Two: “You’re not qualified! I’ve been here for two years! I’ll go first!”

Pirate Three: “Straight guys, step aside! Let the professional handle this!”

Miguel, automatically switching to self-questioning mode: “Excuse me… are you going to, you know, fuck me?”

Pirate Three grinned and ripped open his clothes as the best answer to his question.

As those rough hands scrambled to touch the black-haired young man’s skin, Miguel moved his fingers, about to activate his cheat-like little universe again, when an accident… happened once more.

A large, finely crafted, priceless sapphire ring jingled and jumped out of the torn pocket.

What are pirates?

Strange creatures who live and die for money.

Following the jingling sound was almost instinctive for them.

Everyone shifted their gaze from Miguel, and the cell fell into an unprecedented silence. Such a treasure made everyone in the cell stare in awe—they watched as it slid across the floor with the rocking of the ship, all the way to the corner of the cell.

“……”

“…Mine!”

“Bullshit! I saw it first!”

“I tore his clothes! Mine, mine, mine!”

In the cell, the pirates howled and pulled up their pants, charging towards the sapphire ring.

Silently getting up from the ground, Miguel watched speechlessly as the pirates fought over the ring that had almost been thrown into the sea.

My captain said there might be the Black Death virus on it, dear.

With a smile on his lips, Miguel lazily yawned and leaned against the bars.

Amid the pirates’ clamor, no one noticed that the cabin door was kicked open with a bang. The heavy sound of boots on the wooden planks at least indicated that the newcomer was someone of importance. Miguel moved but did not turn around.

“Caesar wants to exchange slaves,” Edward said gruffly. “You dogs, who’s from the Black Sea Wolf ship, raise your hand!”

No one responded.

“Hey! You bunch of pigs! What are you doing!”

The first mate kicked the cell bars fiercely, and the fragile bars shook, along with Miguel’s head, which was leaning against them. Edward cracked his whip, the barbed lash whistling through the air, and with a loud crack, accompanied by a pirate’s wail, the one-eyed Barrow howled and rolled to the ground, a large sapphire ring flying out of his hand.

“Huh, what’s this?—”

The first mate of the Leoza Fleet frowned, bent down to pick up the ring, and when he turned it over and saw the letters engraved inside, the fierce first mate’s expression changed drastically—

“Whose ring is this?!”

“……”

“Mine,” Miguel stood up.

Swish—crack—

A bloody gash appeared on the speaker’s arm.

“Fuck!” The black-haired young man, inexplicably whipped, shrank in pain and roared in anger, “Why the hell are you hitting me?!”

“Bold of you! Daring to steal!” The whip brutally wrapped around the furious young man’s neck, and Edward dragged him forward. “Come with me to see the captain! Let’s see if he doesn’t skin you alive! Little thief, get ready to cry for your mommy!”