When the man with the scarred beard told them to run quickly, he noticed someone on a ship in the distance rushing toward them through the air. The figure moved so fast that in the blink of an eye, he was almost upon them.
Once the scarred-bearded man clearly saw the person's face, his expression turned pale.
"It's over, there's no way I can escape this time."
"Captain, what happened?"
A fishman, panicked, ran over, followed by the other crew members from the ship.
The scarred man remained silent, simply staring off into the distance.
Everyone followed his gaze, and when they finally saw who was approaching, the ship fell silent.
"He—he—why is he here?"
Thiessen's face turned white, his voice trembling as he spoke.
The rest of the crew reacted similarly. Some even dropped their weapons without thinking. At that moment, none of them had the courage to resist. Fear was evident on every face.
As the figure drew closer, the tension on the ship grew more suffocating.
A sense of despair quietly spread.
Finally, with a sharp sound slicing through the air, Rayleigh landed on the ship's sail.
Looking down at them, a smile appeared on Rayleigh's face. "Long time no see, Xiaodao."
Xiaodao was a term used to address juniors or subordinates.
Knife, or Xiaodao, was what Rayleigh called the scarred man, although the scarred man looked much older than Rayleigh.
But when Rayleigh called him Xiaodao, the scarred man didn't seem upset at all. Instead, he smiled in a fawning manner. "What a coincidence!"
"Yes, quite the coincidence."
Rayleigh's gaze shifted from Xiaodao and finally settled on the fishman, Thiessen.
Rayleigh's eyes were as sharp as blades, and Thiessen felt like they were slicing through him.
Thiessen shuddered, his face a mix of human and fish displaying sheer terror. He couldn't understand why Rayleigh kept staring at him.
Then Rayleigh said, "I'd like to invite this friend to come with me."
He didn't explain why or when Thiessen would return.
Rayleigh's tone was calm, as though it was just a simple request.
Thiessen's body froze. He fought back the urge to jump into the sea and flee. Looking at Rayleigh with embarrassment, he stammered, "I... I..."
"Don't be nervous. I just want to 'invite' you."
Rayleigh emphasized the word "invite."
Thiessen tentatively asked, "Can I not go...?"
His instincts screamed that if he went with Rayleigh, returning alive was uncertain.
Xiaodao turned and shot him a frantic look. "If he tells you to go, you go! Stop with the excuses!"
Thiessen felt like crying. His captain had sold him out without hesitation. What choice did he have left?
Rayleigh looked at Thiessen with a smile in his eyes. "Come with me."
Xiaodao, in a sycophantic tone, said to Rayleigh, "I won't be going!" Then, turning to Thiessen, he added, "You can swim over yourself."
Rayleigh glanced at Thiessen. "Then I'll head back and wait for you."
The exchange left Thiessen with no room to refuse.
After Rayleigh left, Xiaodao looked at Thiessen with pity. "Brother..."
Thiessen, voice trembling, replied, "Brother, can't you think of something?"
The situation had spiraled out of control, far beyond what Xiaodao and Thiessen had expected. Just moments earlier, they had been dreaming of the fortune they'd make upon entering Yerug. But Rayleigh's appearance shattered all those illusions.
"I knew it. I knew it."
Xiaodao raised his voice, frustration clear in his tone. "I knew they wouldn't just let this slide for something this big."
Thiessen fell silent, listening to Xiaodao's words as the painful memories from deep within their hearts resurfaced.
The Roger Pirates...
Although Roger was not yet called the Pirate King, and the Roger Pirates had not yet achieved the fame they would hold in the future, the name "Roger Pirates" was already a nightmare for some.
After Rayleigh returned to the ship, Larson, looking at the fish-man struggling to swim over in the distance, asked with curiosity, "What did you say to them just now? How did you get him to listen so obediently?"
He was genuinely intrigued by what Rayleigh had said.
Larson hadn't even seen Rayleigh make any moves, so he couldn't understand why the fish-man was complying so easily.
Rayleigh smiled. "I just asked him to come over. As for why he was so obedient… well, it all started with something that happened a long time ago."
"Hm?" Larson leaned in. "Tell me about it."
Since they had a few seconds while waiting for the fish-man to swim over, he didn't mind hearing a quick story.
Rayleigh thought for a moment, then began:
"It was about a year ago. Not long after we joined forces with the Navy to fight against the Rocks Pirates, we were sailing when a group of pirates suddenly blocked our path."
"They stopped you? What did they want?" Larson asked, surprised.
Rayleigh sighed. "They wanted to rob us."
"Rob you?"
Larson was almost stunned. Who would dare try to rob the Roger Pirates?
At that time, the Roger Pirates had just clashed with the Rocks Pirates and were at the height of their notoriety. There weren't many who would dare to challenge them. Yet, somehow, this group had the nerve to try and rob them.
"We found it quite amusing," Rayleigh continued with a chuckle. "They were bold, so we decided to teach them a lesson—but we didn't kill them."
Rayleigh paused for a moment before adding, "What's funny is that after we let them go, the Navy put a bounty on their heads. Apparently, the reason was because they were one of the few pirates to challenge the Roger Pirates and live to tell the tale."
Larson blinked in disbelief.
"Is that even possible?"
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The fact that those pirates had gained fame solely because Rayleigh and the others had spared them was something Larson hadn't expected at all!