Chapter 14: Isabel
Soren began to sort through the spoils.
There wasn’t much valuable on this group of pirates, as extraordinary equipment is exceedingly rare, and it seemed there was no notable loot. However, the pirate ship did have plenty of barrels of wine and cargo. These goods would likely fetch thousands of Gind if sold, but Soren didn’t have the time to offload them. He just collected a bit of Gind and Silver, and found a box of jewelry in the captain’s cabin. It seemed this group of pirates hadn’t done any major business recently, or perhaps they had hidden their wealth somewhere.
Pirates often like to hide things.
When they make a big score, pirates like to fill a chest with treasure, find an island, dig a hole, and bury it. Gold is a very stable metal and can be buried for hundreds or even thousands of years without issue. If they don’t tell anyone or accidentally d*e before they have a chance to share, the riches remain where they are, waiting to be discovered. Many people in the past have accidentally found treasures buried by pirates, but it seems no one has stumbled upon anything extraordinary.
“The haul looks pretty average!”
Soren looked at the pirate ship before him, feeling no urge to take it back. The ship itself was quite valuable.
Taking it was impossible; leaving it behind might let someone else get it cheap, and sinking it would be a pity. For a moment, Soren didn’t know how to deal with it. He could only collect the anchor and let the ghost drag it close to the shallow waters, then follow the waves and ground it on the beach of the island. For now, he had to leave it here and check back later to see if someone had taken it. This pirate ship was worth at least five to six thousand Gind by market value.
On the ghost ship.
Soren treated his chest wound; without the Stone Skin spell, it could have been life-threatening.
The Vampire’s Touch had mostly healed his injuries, but he still needed to do a simple bandage. Soren glanced at the sky and ordered the ghost ship to continue sailing. The Naga Priestess had provided him with the agreed location. There was about a day’s sailing left; there, the Naga Sea Clan would meet him, and he was sure the Betrayer Merchant Association’s fleet was nearby in that area.
“Drop her down.”
Soren walked to the mast, and the animated ropes gradually lowered. He placed the red-haired pirate woman on the deck.
This ship is alive!
Although it couldn’t speak, it could understand simple commands, like some lower-level undead.
Soren reached down and lifted the pirate woman. Her face was very pale, but she was quite beautiful, exuding a wild essence, looking like someone who often gives orders. Although Soren’s attack had been fierce, it wasn’t lethal. Most of the woman’s body was covered in bruises; the vitality of a high-level professionist was quite resilient, not easily killed. He had no interest in healing her, so he simply lifted her and threw her into the sea.
Splash!
The red-haired pirate woman fell into the ocean, but the animated ropes were still on her, and she was dragged along in the water.
“Cough cough cough!…”
The violent coughing echoed as the unconscious pirate woman finally woke up.
Soren nodded in satisfaction. He snapped his fingers, and the animated ropes once again lifted her, suspending her from the mast. A bit of bl**d seeped from her chest; broken ribs worsened her injury, making her look very weak, as if she could d*e at any moment. Yet, her gaze after waking was very fierce, glaring at Soren, and she said in a low voice, “If you’re going to k*ll me, just do it! You Sea Wolf’s lackey! I won’t tell you my father’s secret!”
Indeed, there was some substance to her words.
A faint smile appeared on Soren’s lips, seemingly pleased with his judgment.
A female pirate captain with striking fiery red hair, wielding a special exotic weapon. She looked to have fourth-tier strength. Such a woman undoubtedly had secrets. If her identity weren’t sufficient, it would be hard to command so many pirates even with fourth-tier strength. Pirates are notoriously unruly and respond to strength rather than softness; commanding them requires some foundation. It seemed her father was a pirate, and a notable one at that.
“To be honest, I thought about killing you at first.”
Soren shrugged calmly, then snapped his fingers to let her down. He said playfully, “But it felt like a waste to just k*ll you like that; maybe a woman like you could be useful to me.”
“I think you should take a look around and reconsider what relationship I have with that Sea Wolf.”
Around?
The red-haired pirate lifted her head to glance around, and immediately, her whole body shivered, for all around her were floating vengeful spirits, and hideous undead covered in seaweed. The wrecked ship, black sails, and snarling undead all filled her with dread, and in a trembling voice she said, “G-Ghost ship!?!…”
Yes.
Ghost ship.
A part of the taboos among pirates.
Because it is a curse of d*ath, undead belong to the supernatural life and are not something commonly seen. Not many have encountered a ghost ship along the Southern Coast, but its terrifying legends have long circulated among pirates. If there is anything that terrifies them, the ghost ship is undoubtedly one of those things, for in pirate legends, ghost ships are filled with imprisoned undead. They are bound to the ghost ship, and their souls can never be released, ultimately perishing alongside the ghost ship.
This is no joke.
Many of the bound spirits aboard the ghost ship were pirates who died there.
A satisfied smile spread across Soren’s face as he lifted the red-haired pirate, showing his white teeth in a slight smile. Yet to her gaze, he appeared like a demon, speaking in a low voice, “I don’t know who that Sea Wolf you speak of is! But someone with such a name is clearly someone I’ve never heard of before; he must just be a run-of-the-mill pirate leader, right?”
“Your father’s secret may not hold much value for me.”
“What interests me now is whether you hold any value for me! If you do, I’ll let you go! If you don’t, I’ll k*ll you! This ship just happens to need a副船长亡灵!”
The female pirate shivered all over, her teeth chattering slightly as she looked at the surrounding hideous undead, mumbling, “No! I don’t want to become something like that!…”
“What do you want?!…”
Soren nodded in satisfaction, snapped his fingers to release the animated ropes, and smiled, “Very well. It seems you’re planning to discuss your value with me?”
“If your living value exceeds your dead one, congratulations.”
“I won’t k*ll you.”
Soren waved his hand to make the surrounding undead retreat, then lifted the female pirate toward the captain’s cabin. Along the way, he pulled out a bottle of healing potion and roughly poured it into her mouth.
Bang.
Soren kicked open the door to the captain’s cabin and threw her onto the ship, where it was covered in disgusting seaweed.
He glanced at her with indifference, seemingly noting the undead outside, then said, “Now, tell me about yourself. You can try to lie, but if I sense any deceit, I’ll cut off one of your fingers. I am a person of principles; as long as you deceive me successfully, it won’t matter if you lied. But if you can’t deceive me…”
“Sorry. I’ll impose a little punishment on you!”
Saying this, Soren drew a dagger and traced it over her finger.
The red-haired female pirate swallowed hard, finding the man in front of her exerted great pressure. She even wondered if he was still alive, for his smile, though natural, was terrifying because of its very nature. This was a fearsome existence accustomed to killing; his aura reminded her of those true pirates who came from mountains of corpses and seas of bl**d, able to intimidate her—her father never exuded such a heavy killing intent.
This man must have killed hundreds or even thousands!
—”Gaze of Fear!”
She couldn’t help but shiver, taking in the captain’s cabin filled with the stench of bl**d and decay as she said with difficulty, “My name is Adele-Isabel, daughter of the pirate captain ‘Orca’ in Shipwreck Bay….”
“Wait.” Soren suddenly interrupted her.
He raised his hand to lift her chin, looking into her eyes, then frowned slightly, “Isabel? That seems to be a noble surname from the western kingdom; do you perhaps have royal bl**d? Is that your father’s surname or your mother’s?”
The Western Kingdom.
A relatively chaotic realm, rife with taboos, debauchery, heretical trials, and fallen desires. This land has been ruled by sorcerer families for generations, and to maintain bloodline purity, intermarriage among the nobles within the kingdom is quite disorderly. Isabel is the surname of the queen and has been passed down for hundreds of years. Following the disunity of the unified Western Kingdom, this surname was inherited by the nobility, typically only allowed for direct bloodlines.
“Mother’s.” The red-haired pirate looked down at the deck and spoke in a low voice, “My mother was a noble lady from a principality on the western coast; she married a viscount but encountered my father during a voyage. He killed her husband and all her attendants and then took her as his wife.”
“I inherited my mother’s surname; that was also what my father wished; he didn’t want me to continue being a pirate.”
A playful expression appeared on Soren’s face.
It seemed he recalled something, chuckling as he shook his head, “Then your father was killed by that Sea Wolf? And then you became a pirate captain?”
“For revenge? Or out of dissatisfaction with a mundane life?”
The woman before him fell silent.
………………(To be continued ~^~)
