Bab 166: Chapter 164: To the East!(4)
"Sweet! We got glimmering gold from the ship we just blew up!"
"Val, you're not going to snatch some gold again and buy new weapons in the black market, right?"
"Ha... Hahaha, of course not..."
Valerie Ardenclaire I, a girl with vermillion hair that glimmers in the sun, but better known as the lost princess, smiles nervously at her crewmate, Paris. Valerie frowned as Paris sighed at her and snatched the money pouch from her grasp. Paris then locked his gaze on her.
"I know what you're up to; don't try to fool me."
"Awww, but Paris-"
"Do not attempt to bargain with me; it will not work. Now go back to being on the lookout."
"Haa, okay, captain."
Valerie then turned around and began walking forward with her binoculars on at the top of the deck. Paris simply shook his head and stuffed the money into his chest pocket. Paris then went to the rest of his crewmates and told them about the damage their ship had sustained as a result of the latest ship loot.
Valerie just pouted, her gaze fixed on Paris from above. When she felt something bumping on her foot several times, she turned her gaze to it. And there she is, looking up at her with sparkling eyes, a fat but healthy-looking piglet. Valerie smiled and patted the piglet on the head.
"Do you want to eat?"
"Oink! Oink!"
"No? So, do you want to be on the lookout alongside me?"
"Oink!"
"Good girl."
Valerie rubbed the piglet's head with a smile. She then carried the piglet and started to look around the vast ocean. Even though Valerie dislikes being the one on the lookout, she can't deny that the view while on the job was spectacular.
"Ahh, this is why I became a pirate... It's so big and wide!"
As if it can understand her, the piglet nodded in return, making Valerie chuckle.
"Ah right, I forgot to include you."
"Oink! Oink! "
"Haha, I know I'm so- hmm?"
Valerie came to a halt and narrowed her eyes to get a better look at what she was seeing from a distance. She then noticed a black dot on the horizon that was slowly taking shape as it seemed to get closer and closer. Valerie frowned and put on her binoculars to get a better look at the black dot.
Valerie focuses her vision and immediately becomes serious after identifying the object on the horizon as a boat. Valerie's brow furrowed as she observed this.
"What in the world is a boat doing in the middle of the ocean?"
Valerie narrowed her vision and slightly gasped as she noticed a figure dressed in black sitting on the boat.
"What in the world... Is that boat possibly stranded?"
"Oink?"
Valerie then turns her attention to the piglet and nods. She then made the piglet put on the binoculars so it could see while she raised her voice to attract Paris' and the others' attention below.
"Stranded person on a boat approaching from 1 o'clock!"
When Paris and the other crew members looked up, they noticed Valerie pointing in a specific direction. Then they all turned their heads to see what she was talking about. Paris then gasped in amusement.
"Is it a stranded boat? Those are pretty rare nowadays."
A bulky crewmate then came forward and spoke to Paris with wariness.
"Be careful, captain; it could be a trap."
Paris nodded and motioned for the rest of the crew to move.
"Capture the man that is on the boat immediately."
The crewmates nodded and began preparing their weapons and ropes. They then just wait for the boat to come in contact with their ship, as they do that, they examine the black-clothed man on the boat.
"He appears to be completely alone."
"I also don't see anything on his boat."
The crewmates exchanged puzzled looks before shrugging their shoulders. They simply assumed it was a nobody who had been washed away by the waves.
Tap!
Paris then spoke to the crewmates after they heard the boat make contact with their ship.
"Get the man."
The crewmates nodded and immediately jumped down, laughing uncontrollably. Even though what they are greeting is just one man in a boat, they could not resist laughing as they always use laughter as a taunt to the ships they've wrecked.
The bulky man then jumped down onto the boat, causing it to rock violently and even catapult the man into the ocean if he hadn't gripped onto the boat in time.
Because of the sudden shock, Luke, the man on the boat, nearly ripped off the wooden boat.
"Jesus Christ!"
Luke clenched his teeth and gripped the boat as tightly as he could to keep his balance and avoid falling off. He then looked at the bulky man in front of him, restraining himself from glaring at him.
'Even though pirates are known as savages, I never expected them to be this extreme with a man in a rotten wooden boat!'
Luke frowned internally, suddenly regretting his life choices and wondering if he could ever go back, he just wants to go home now.
Luke tried to calm himself down by smiling up at the bulky man, which caught the bulky man off guard. Luke ignored the bulky man's puzzled look and began to speak while still smiling.
"What is your name? What are you doing in my boat? Are you interested in joining me on an adventure on the high seas? "
The bulky man was perplexed as he looked down on the unknown man, who was still smiling stupidly at him. He then raises his head and meets Paris's gaze.
"Captain, I think this guy is dumb"
For a split second, Luke looked at the bulky man with soulless eyes. Even if his intention was to appear stupid in the pirate's eyes, he can't help but interpret it as a personal attack for some reason.
'Can I Strangle this man?'
Luke resisted the urge to perform the aforementioned action and simply smiled. The bulky man then looked down at him, disappointed in him. Luke then noticed the bulky man sighing and pulling a rope from his pocket. Luke then smiled and pointed to it. He then began to spew nonsense.
"Oh, you've got a rope! And it appears to be a lengthy one! We can make a net out of it and catch sardines—oh? Why are you tying me up?"
Luke smiled while looking at the bulky man tying the rope around his body. He then let the man carry him like a potato sack on his shoulders and began climbing his way up to the ship. Luke then does a burst of mild laughter.
"You didn't say you had such a big boat! This feels like a promotion; after so long on the small boat, I can finally be on the big one!"
The hulking man scowled.
"Will you please stop talking?"
"Why?"
"Because your voice irritates me."
"Okay!"
Luke then sighed quietly to himself.
'Thank goodness you gave me a reason to stop talking.'
Luke doesn't like what he's doing right now; even he finds his words irritating, and he's been begging someone to put a gag in his mouth to stop himself from spouting nonsense.
Luke then allowed the man to place him against a wooden pole and tie him to it. Luke frowned slightly at how tightly they tied him to the pole, but quickly returned to character when he noticed all of the pirates gathered around him. He then gave them a friendly smile.
"Oh my goodness, is there a party going on in this huge boat? It's especially exciting for me because I've been alone for months-"
"Enough, who are you?"
Luke came to a halt and smiled as he tilted his head towards the dark blue-haired man. For a few seconds, Luke locked eye contact with him, creating a tense atmosphere between them. But it was soon broken when Luke spoke up in a cheerful tone.
"I don't know."
The man with dark blue hair frowned.
"Are you playing with me?"
Luke cracked a giggle.
"Nope."
Paris fixed his gaze on Luke, who was beaming.
"It appears that the sharks will have a new meal tonight."
"Hmm? Do you keep sharks as pets? That's fantastic! Back at home, I have a goldfish-"
"Be quiet."
Luke simply smiled as he zipped his mouth shut. The crew members just massaged their heads and began to scatter, as if Luke no longer piqued their interest because he was going to be fed sharks anyway. The same thing happened in Paris; everyone just went back to doing what they were doing before.
"Hey you, weirdo."
Luke turned to face the source of the voice. When he realized who it was, he grinned internally.
'Got you now, Valerie.'
"Hello there, miss."
Valerie sat in front of Luke and scrutinized his features. While doing so, she asked him a question.
"Are you a beggar?"
"I live in a dilapidated shack, washed away to the seas because I couldn't afford an oar, only eats expired biscuits to survive being in the middle of the ocean, yes, I think I am miss."
Valerie regarded Luke with skepticism.
"You look handsome to be a beggar."
Luke blushed and laughed after that.
"Thank you for your kind words, miss."
Valerie locked her gaze on Luke's daring expression for a few moments. The longer she stared at his face, the more enthralling he appeared in her eyes. This caused her to be dazed while speaking with him.
"Hey, are you single?
Luke paused for a moment. He never expected the princess to ask him such questions. He almost broke character because he was caught off guard. However, despite being shocked, Luke just smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I've never had a relationship in my entire life."
"Are you certain? You look so good that it's impossible for you to be single right now."
"Believe me miss, I am."
Valerie looked at Luke for a moment longer before speaking.
"Then... Would you like to be my boyfriend?"
Luke's lips twitched slightly in response to the unexpected question. This is not at all what he is aiming for.
• No way! I don't want a mom! Plus she looks ugly! Blegh!
Internally, Luke frowned as Nash disagreed in his head.
"...No, I am not interested."
"Too bad a face like yours will just be fed to the sharks, what a waste."
Valerie then frowned, as if she was deep in thought. Luke just stared at her, resisting the urge to frown or make any other unflattering expressions in front of her. Luke's gaze was drawn to the side when he noticed a piglet approaching him. Luke then smiled at it, though he was baffled on the inside.
'What does a piglet have to do here? Aren't parrots the usual animal companion of pirates? Why a pig?'
While asking useless questions in his head, the piglet then started to nuzzle his ragged clothing. Valerie noticed this and patted the piglet on the head.
"Do you like him as well?"
"Oink, oink!"
Luke smiled as he observed the human and piglet conversing with one another. Even though he smiles on the outside, he is deeply confused on the inside. He is perplexed for a variety of reasons, but he has no time to ponder such thoughts because his target is right in front of him.
"I may not become your boyfriend, Miss, but I am willing to be your friend."
Valerie had a strange expression on her face as she looked at Luke.
"You speak so formally for a beggar..."
"Ah, I had a friend that belongs to nobility; he helped me a lot with words."
"A noble friend?"
"Yes, but he hasn't seen me in a while, so I decided to cross the seas! But, since you're here, would you like to be my friend?"
"Hmmm..."
Valerie examined Luke as if she were analyzing him. She then examined him from head to toe, and Luke simply smiled as he let her analyze him with her uneasy stares. Luke then swore that after this was all over, he would rest; he definitely needs a long break.
"Okay!"
Luke remained silent for a moment before brightly smiling.
"Really?! I've made a new friend! Great!"
Valerie clapped and moved closer to Luke. She then begins to untie Luke, which Paris notices.
"Valerie? Hey, hey, hey what are you doing?!"
Valerie slowly shifted her gaze to Paris. She then gave him a friendly smile.
"Can I keep him, Captain?"
"No, we don't know him, and it's risky."
"However, I'll keep an eye on him! I swear to you!"
"Valerie..."
Paris fixed his gaze on Valerie, who returned his gaze. Luke stood in the middle of those intense stares, just staring at them, wondering when he would be untied from the pole. Paris scowled and turned his back on them after a good two minutes of silence.
"Do what you want."
Valerie smiled triumphantly as she continued to untie Luke from the pole. Luke then gave her a strange look. He felt like he was in the middle of a romance novel, and he was one of the love interests. That thought made him cringe a little.
"There you have it! You are now freed!"
Luke exhaled a sigh of relief and rose to his feet. He then felt the other crewmates' intense stares directed at him. Luke looked them in the eyes and then smiled, causing the pirates to flinch.
"What a strange guy..."
"Yeah..."
"Did he bump his head when he was a baby or something?"
When he heard the pirates talking about him, Luke's ears twitched. He wants to smack them, but he chooses to remain in character and simply walk by them while following Valerie, who is moving up to the top of the deck. Valerie then smiled and handed the binoculars to Luke and allowing him to carry the piglet. Luke looked at this with a slightly confused expression, Valerie noticed this and chuckled.
"Do you think you're free now that you're no longer tied to the pole? You must work so that Paris changes his mind and does not feed you to the sharks."
Luke smiled and nodded.
"I see, I'll keep an eye out and carry uh... this..."
"Songbird."
Luke blinked a few times as he turned his head towards Valerie. He then opened and closed his mouth several times.
"Songbird? Is that her name?"
"Yes, I named her; doesn't that sound cool?"
• More like odd and out of place, I'm sure dad can name that piglet better because, after all, he named me.
Luke sighed internally as he ignored Nash's babblings in his head.
"Alright, I shall take good care of Songbird while I am at it."
Valerie smiled and bumped his shoulders, which perplexed Luke for a moment before he realized it was just a pirate thing.
"That's the spirit! Now, big guy, get to work!"
Luke nodded and began to look around the sea, he then frowned for a fraction of a second.
'Is that it? Is this all I had to do? Are you serious? Will they not assign me a more difficult task? Like mopping the floor?'
And as if Paris had read his mind, he approached him with a wooden bucket and a mop in hand. When Luke looked at Paris, he was met with a scowl.
"Go get to work."
Luke then suddenly regrets what he was just thinking; he just wants to be on the lookout, not a janitor once again.
"Uh... But my friend said I should be on the lookout and look after Songbird..."
Paris then smirked.
"Who says you can't do it all? To be accepted here, you had to do at least this much."
Luke then allowed Paris to pass him the mop and bucket. Paris smiled cockily at Luke's blank face and then turns around. Luke then looked down at his hands, which were literally full. He's got a piglet, a binocular, a mop, and a bucket. Luke then thought of something.
'Perhaps I should have just agreed with Mira or Grandpa...'
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone