Chapter 49

“Hey, girl!” A stumbling pirate slurred as he approached Miguel, who was sitting on the ground. “Are you some rich young lady who got separated from her family? Hehe, so pitiful, even lost her shoes… The pirate uncles aren’t scary, don’t run, don’t run! Come, uncle will help you find your daddy!”

“…” Miguel raised his head, his black pupils glinting with exhaustion but unusually bright in the night. He stared expressionlessly at the “uncle” who was already swaying and giggling to himself. He curled the corner of his mouth, wiped the sweat off his face, and when he stood up, leaning on the ruins behind him, his sickly (illusion) appearance seemed to greatly stimulate the pirates, who immediately got excited again.

The prison guard’s clothes were rough and oversized, making Miguel look like a comedic extra—the pant legs were rolled up, thanks to Captain Caesar, who never cared for others, leaving them uneven and revealing his ankles, which looked ridiculous.

Adjusting the long black wig on his head, Miguel glanced at the three sailors staring at him from a distance and said indifferently, “I’m from the Wind Fury, idiots.”

Hearing the name of the fleet’s flagship, the pirates fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter three seconds later—

Pirate One: “Stop joking, girl! There are no women on the Wind Fury!”

Miguel: Because I’m not a woman…

Pirate Two: “Exactly, and even if you were the Captain’s woman, why would he let you run around like this?!”

Miguel: I’m the Captain’s man, and as for why I’m running around like this, why don’t you go ask that bastard?

Pirate One: “She thinks saying she’s from the Wind Fury will make us let her go, huh? Haven’t seen such a naive girl in a long time!”

Miguel: I haven’t seen such stupid pirates who can’t even tell a man from a woman in a long time, dragging down the fleet’s average IQ.

Pirate One: “Exactly, little girl, don’t be scared, come here, uncle will take care of you. Look at that gem on your hand, so big, it doesn’t look good on you. Let uncle keep it for you—”

Pirate Three: “Hey, his voice doesn’t sound like a girl’s.”

Pirate Two: “Shut up! Get lost!”

Pirate Three: “…”

Pirate One: “Come, girl, uncle will take you home. Tell me your father’s name—”

“Huh?” Miguel lazily dug his ear with his little finger, glanced at the three babbling drunkards, and said disdainfully, “Him? His name is Caesar.”

As soon as the words fell, the pirate in front felt a flash of movement. Before he could figure out what was happening, a faint smell of sweat accompanied by a pair of slender hands firmly gripping his shoulders, followed by a hard impact on his stomach. Under the stunned gazes of his companions, he was sent flying sideways—when he landed heavily on the ground, he finally reacted and screamed in pain, clutching his stomach and vomiting a mix of dinner and alcohol. The sound of vomiting and pain was soon drowned out by the deafening explosions echoing around them.

Miguel smiled: “Though he prefers me to call him Captain!”

“Damn it!”

Compared to the still-dazed Pirate Two, Pirate Three, who hadn’t been as excited earlier, shrank back, then mustered his courage and smashed his bottle on the ground—

“What are you waiting for, let’s get her!” Raising the sharp remains of the bottle, the one-eyed pirate charged at Miguel, but the black-haired young man sneered without fear, stepping forward and swiftly dodging to his right. Before the pirate could react, Miguel’s unusually hot hands had already firmly grabbed his right wrist, twisting it down with a sickening crack. The bottle fragments fell to the ground, and Pirate Three joined the chorus of screams, clutching his dislocated wrist—

Just then, a black shadow appeared behind Miguel. He frowned, sensing it immediately, but his body, weakened by illness, was slow to react. As he tried to turn around, a large piece of rubble smashed into the back of his head—

Getting hit on the head was not a fresh experience.

Anyone who hits Laozi on the back of the head is no good person!

His ears ringing and vision blurring, the black-haired young man raised his hand and slapped away the weapon, but surprisingly, the person behind him didn’t retrieve it. Instead, he grabbed Miguel’s wrist in a panic, desperately trying to snatch the sapphire ring on his hand—

Miguel frowned, his sickly stubbornness flaring up, and suddenly he wasn’t having it.

Originally, this ring was given by Leoza, and to be honest, it was just something he wore. If one day Big Dog decided to take it off and throw it into the sea, so be it.

But you, a creepy guy, specifically targeting it and hitting my head with a brick before trying to steal it—are you trying to provoke the Tai Sui?

In a fit of anger, the severely ill patient, who was about to collapse, didn’t fall. Gritting his teeth, he drew Ghost Slayer from his waist and without hesitation stabbed it into the chest of the pirate behind him—

Unlike cutting any object, even a large fish, when metal pierced warm, living flesh, the subtle sensation seemed to travel through the dagger to his palm, then through his nerves to his brain… Miguel froze, warm blood splattering onto his pale face, dripping down his sharp jaw onto the ground. Under the moonlight, the pale young man with his pitch-black pupils looked like a demon crawling out of hell.

Behind him, the sound of chaotic footsteps approached, and amidst the crowd’s shouts, Miguel seemed to hear a familiar voice.

He let go of the dagger, ignoring the blood dripping from his hand, and coldly covered the mouth of the pirate he had just stabbed: “If you don’t want to die, shut up.”

The pirate’s terrified face blurred into two images. Realizing he was reaching his limit, Miguel blinked hard. Behind his head, a warm stream of blood flowed down from the throbbing wound, sliding down his spine. As his own warm, sticky blood trailed down his back, he felt a slight itch.

“Over here, there’s another injured person!”

Someone shouted in the distance.

Then came a stream of complaints—ah, this voice was very familiar—

“…So annoying! Why won’t you let me sleep in the middle of the night and force me to come down to take care of you pigs—hey, over there, what’s going on, bring my medical kit, this idiot got stabbed by a girl… Wait, wait—Miguel?! What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like that? That wig suits you… No, no—is that Ghost Slayer? Why is Ghost Slayer stuck in this idiot from the Fourth Fleet?! My God, it’s already chaotic enough outside, and you’re still here brawling! I can’t wait to see what Caesar has to say—”

“…Bakir?” Miguel gasped, looking dazedly at the chatty man in the white coat, “His dagger can’t be pulled out…”

“Nonsense, you think I don’t know that? Are you the ship’s doctor or am I? Move aside, let the professional handle this!”

The ship’s doctor rudely shouted, pushing the navigator, who unhesitatingly fell on his butt. The self-proclaimed delicate doctor was stunned, finally paying attention to the navigator. Unlike the red-haired first mate who only realized something was wrong after touching him, the professional was professional. Bakir immediately saw what was wrong with Miguel: “What’s wrong with your face? Ah, ah, you’re burning up! You’re like a boiled shrimp, yet you refuse to return to the Wind Fury to find me and instead come here to play stabby-stabby with your own people?! Lord, take me now, I can’t stand these brainless pirates—”

Miguel: “Caesar said, once you board his ship, you’re his person… You… aren’t you also a stinking pirate?”

Bakir: “Someone! Take this feverish idiot away! I don’t want to hear him brainwashing us with ‘the Captain is the greatest, the Captain is the best’!”

On the battlefield, besides the boss, the doctor is the highest authority.

So Miguel was carried away.

As he was being carried, he lived up to expectations and genuinely passed out.

…

Meanwhile, on the Spanish port watchtower.

Let’s zoom in and take a closer look at the current state of the chessboard…

Checkmate.

Standing amidst a pile of dead or injured Spanish soldiers, the man tossed aside the now-useless musket, its bullets spent, and coldly snorted. He snatched a small wooden box from the red-haired boy in front of him—

After a glance inside, he snapped it shut and casually stuffed it into his pocket. Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the fuming Leoza and smiled with satisfaction: “I might return it to you if I’m in a good mood after using it.”

“These trash!” With all his men dead or incapacitated, facing Caesar and Rick, who were two or three heads taller, the red-haired boy in a clear disadvantage shouted angrily, “Fight me one-on-one if you dare!”

“One-on-one your head, shorty.” Ripping open a soldier’s shirt and using a strip of cloth to bandage his wound, Rick said rudely, “Even one-on-one you can’t beat Caesar, can you just save it?”

Leoza paused, a cold glint flashing in his golden eyes.

Too familiar with his half-brother’s temper, Caesar frowned and shot a warning glance at Rick. Having achieved his goal, he didn’t want to waste another second here. His face darkened as he said sternly, “Both of you, shut up. If you keep arguing, I’ll throw you both off this tower.”

“Stop talking, you’re still bleeding from the cut I gave you on your face. What gives you the right to act like the boss?” The rebellious red-haired boy retorted.

“Ahahaha, stop kidding me,” Rick laughed arrogantly, “Explain that big red patch on your waist before mocking us, Captain. What is that, paint?”

Leoza’s face turned red with anger: “He took advantage and sneak attacked me! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻”

Rick sneered: “How can someone as big as him sneak attack? Only a shorty like you could do that, right?”

Leoza: “Grrr, I’m going to kill you! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻”

Rick: “Stand up first, kid. If you don’t call for help soon, you’re going to bleed out here. What a joyous occasion.”

…So noisy.

The man frowned, inexplicably irritated. Wiping the burning pain on his face with his thumb, he licked the blood off his finger—this subconscious action made Caesar pause, then he seemed to remember something. Turning around, he kicked the first mate, who was sitting on the ground swearing while bandaging his wound: “Why are you here?”

“…Are you awake now? You think you took down all these Spanish soldiers by yourself?” Rick raised an eyebrow, “Do you even have that many bullets?”

The Captain frowned deeper: “Where’s that big trash?”

“What? Σ( ° △ °|||)” Leoza immediately sat up a bit. “You lost Xiao Miguel?”

Caesar clicked his tongue impatiently: “None of your damn business.”

Leoza: “That’s my pet, you bastard! o(≧口≦)o!”

Caesar: “Oh, really? Sorry, but he’s already marked with my name.”

Rick: “The moment you left, he crawled out of my arms—”

Leoza: “What?! How dare you touch him with your filthy hands! Trash!”

Caesar: “Don’t copy my words, trash.”

Rick shrugged: “Then he told me to come after you, so I did. He was just pretending to be half-dead so he could sleep with you for the night.”

“Do you really think he could have made it back to the ship in that state? Don’t make me laugh.” The man’s face darkened. “Cut the act. Did you think I didn’t see through his little performance?”

…You saw through it? Rick was stunned for a moment. If you saw through it, then why…

Ah, I get it. True love, huh?

Three seconds later, the red-haired first mate let out a meaningful tsk tsk.

“Let’s go.”

With a simple command, he turned and tossed the documents he had forcibly taken from the Spanish palace to the first mate. Ignoring his top rival, who was leaning against the wall, the man walked back expressionlessly.

…

Not far away, at the Spanish dock, the Wind Fury emitted faint glimmers of light. On the sea, hundreds of assault boats with kerosene lamps moved between the ships.

Tonight, under the deliberate orders of the Black Waves, the Benidorm Dock experienced the most frenzied attack in its history.