Capítulo 8: Ⅷ. Ancestor's Law
On the path to the secret port.
"Who?"
Rein, noticing the rustling in the trees, immediately dropped the warrant.
With a loud bang, like thunder shaking the earth, the air from the sword's swing nearly snapped the surrounding grass leaves, rustling loudly.
Ox drew his sword and struck horizontally with a force unstoppable by anything, severing a tree thick as a basin cleanly at its trunk, the smooth cut accompanied by a long crashing sound as the tree fell to the side, raising a cloud of dust.
"It's me."
Swan, nimble, jumped to another tree branch and then agilely landed on the ground without making a sound.
Rein could see the newcomer clearly.
Rein himself didn't think much of Swan, who likely was hiding his affiliations with the Thief Guild and might cause trouble later on.
"What are you doing here?"
Ox was also wary of this mysterious Tiger-man.
Swan informed them about the situation in the city, the task was done, the money was secured, the First Officer and Shadi were right behind along with a group of laborers, the Captain and Brother Sha were handling the final matters.
He had heard some noise over here and came to check it out, not expecting to find Ox and the other.
"Whose dead men are these?"
Swan looked down at the severed parts on the ground and the corpse of Heart Flying, asking curiously.
"Just some ignorant Bounty Hunters."
Ox sized up Swan, appearing to scrutinize him thoroughly.
After assessing the situation, Swan placed two fingers to his lips and blew a loud whistle.
In a moment, Fen and Shadi, followed by a group of laborers, arrived.
Rein opened his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.
"Come back, General Fen, my proudest belief.
The magic so vivid before my eyes, tears flowing without reason.
I vaguely remember Blue Bay Port and the powerful Necromancy.
Driving back all foes, annihilating all navies."
Rein burst into song.
Ox's face soured like he had eaten a lemon. Fen was even more gobsmacked—this guy was too damn abstract, utterly moronic. If Liszt did not control his speech, soon all of Black Sail would turn into such rabid dogs, completely unsound.
Fen pinched the bridge of his nose, setting that aside, and asked Ox in detail about the happenings here. After hearing Ox's analysis, Fen agreed that these Bounty Hunters acted alone in their greed for wealth.
As for the group of laborers following, they were already anxious about taking the backroads, but now seeing the corpses on the ground, when had they ever seen such a spectacle?
"Gentlemen, you don't need to pay us; we can't go any further."
The leading laborer spoke apprehensively, also seeing Ox and Rein, two tall members of an Alien Race, with fresh blood on their swords and claws.
The laborers, already drenched in sweat and exhausted from carrying the load for so long, lost all their strength at this gruesome sight, their legs weakened, one of them collapsing under the weight he carried.
Ox secured his Special Large Sword, looking at these laborers. The secret port wasn't far, just a few miles away, he simply grabbed a hemp rope from one laborer, tied six large hemp bags together, and slung them over his shoulder with the rope, his muscular arms visibly bulking up, carrying the load with ease.
The laborers gaped in awe; one bag alone weighed at least seventy or eighty pounds. Shadi, no matter how many times he witnessed it, was still shocked by this monster strength. Though Wolman was the biggest and had solid strength, being mostly muscular, Ox's physique was fearsome, his body muscles hardened, nearly zero body fat—simply put, he was dominantly mighty.
Fen wouldn't forgo paying them though. Despite becoming a pirate, his nobility still showed.
"Carrying such heavy loads for over ten miles, how could we not pay you?"
Generously, Fen immediately lined ten silver coins in his hand, offering them to the lead laborer to divide among themselves.
"This is too much; how can we accept?"
The leading laborer feared causing a fuss.
"Stop babbling, take it and get out."
Ox commanded coldly.
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
The laborers bowed repeatedly, intertwining their fingers in gratitude. Seeing the dead bodies on the ground, they didn't dare stay long and nearly ran away from the scene.
"What a grand harvest," Ox said, eyeing the bags, "How much money is in the treasury?"
Rein couldn't wait to ask,
"We need to go back to the ship to count carefully. There are too many scattered silver coins and copper coins. As for the total count, including what you guys have, there are just over four hundred Golden Dragons—maybe around four hundred thirty-four."
Fen said calmly, this wasn't the most Black Sail had ever earned, but it was definitely the most efficient bounty yet—minimal investment, short cycle, high return, low risk—a real bloodbath of profit.
"Damn..."
Rein didn't know what to say, he was just messing around in Londen City, and it was insanely easy. What's the point of being a pirate? Respectable folks don't drift at sea. Maybe he should just stick to robbing people here from now on.
"What's this counting for?"
Shadi lifted a corner of the burlap sack, exposing the jewelry inside that glittered under the sunlight, and quickly tied the sack back up.
"We really hit the jackpot, thank heavens for Lord Guan!"
Rein crossed his fingers too and bowed toward the sky, this time Lord Guan truly blessed them.
People on the East Coast generally worship the Holy Spirit Sect's Wave and Storm Saint Spirit, also known as the 'Endless Azure Lord.'
According to Rein, if everyone believed, then it was as if no one believed. For example, when it came to fighting, if everyone believed in him, whom would the old Holy Spirit help? Was he supposed to come down from heaven and mediate? How big of a face would that need? Would a deity really care about you?
That's why you should worship a different god. His crew wasn't large, and if the Holy Spirit did care, he would give face to this god—mixing it up with the heavenly hosts, backing us up a bit.
Rein didn't even know what kind of Holy Spirit Emperor Guan was; it was the deity worshipped in Liszt's homeland.
Ordinarily, Liszt was an atheist and urged crew members not to be superstitious. Religions from the Western Continent each boasted more than the next, with deities claiming to overturn the universe and everything in it. After so many years, documented meticulously in the Saint Aran Calendar for over a thousand years, nothing big had ever happened. Stir something up, why don't you? The reason Fen knew Magic Technique was due to other mystic reasons, not some personified deity.
But when asked why there was a god's idol in the captain's cabin,
Liszt merely replied that one must adhere to ancestral customs; preach one thing, practice another. That wooden sculpture was painstakingly carved by a highly skilled old craftsman after several attempts.
This only made the other crew members believe that Emperor Guan was truly powerful, that worshipping him really worked, and they had to worship too.
"There might still be Bounty Hunters in ambush, I should head back to the city to help them, they're not aware of the situation yet. You guys shouldn't go, the cargo is most important."
After weighing his options, Fen said this candidly and tossed a money bag containing over three hundred Golden Dragons to Rein, who caught it steadily.
"Are you going to be alright by yourself?"
Swan asked.
"You underestimate General Fen too much, I'm most proud of..."
Before Rein could finish, Fen, not wanting to endure his foolish bragging, had already walked away.
Swan said to Shadi: "He just said he wouldn't go rescue them."
Seeing that there were two packs of burlap still unclaimed, Shadi easily picked one up and replied, "You should understand by now, these people always say one thing and do another."
He thought Rein, being so big, should easily carry two sacks, but Shadi just tossed one large sack at Rein. However, Rein preferred to go empty-handed.
"You were the main force this time, scoping out and skinning people, so it makes sense for you to keep the loot."
Rein threw the burlap sack back to Shadi, who had boasted that he had learned Qigong in Wan Country, and from his performance in battle, it seemed true; he certainly had the strength.
"No no no, you are both the sailor and the boatswain, the hardest worker, it should go to you."
Shadi tossed it back again.
"Ah yes yes yes, that's right, you've been on the ship longer, have more seniority, it's more fitting for you to have it."
"Ah yes yes yes, Londen City is so big, you've been running around collecting debts. Collecting from those sharp characters isn't easy, and the weather's been turning cold too, you've had it tougher."
"You should keep it."
"You keep it."
"Please, you."
"Please, you."
"Brother Shadi, tall."
"Brother Rein, tough."
They were at an impasse for nearly a minute.
Ox was about to lose his mind with these two making a big fuss over nothing.
"Don't waste time."
Ox picked up the remaining burlap sacks, weary of these fools.
Rein and Shadi chorused: "Brother Ox, both tall and tough!"
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