Zhang Ba Hai was momentarily stunned when the man he expected to be an enemy praised him upon first meeting. But after a brief pause, he let out a proud, booming laugh.
"Ha ha ha! What do you think? This is my pirate crew! I am Zhang Ba Hai—the pirate with a bounty of 100,000 credits! So, how about it? Wanna join my crew?"
Upon hearing the word bounty, Lan Hao Tian's eyes lit up once again. He rushed forward and inspected Zhang Ba Hai from head to toe as if studying some rare animal.
Zhang Ba Hai's face darkened. This was the first time he'd encountered such a reaction. Most people either trembled in fear or charged straight at him—not smile and gawk like this.
Still, despite the irritation, he couldn't let his pride falter. With his head held high, he said arrogantly:
"You still haven't answered my question."
Lan Hao Tian stopped bouncing around, cracked his knuckles with a grin, and replied:
"I'm here to defeat you—and to steal a ship."
The moment the words left his mouth, a fire ignited in his eyes. Anyone observant enough would recognize the burning battle spirit within them.
Veins bulged on Zhang Ba Hai's forehead as the corner of his mouth twitched. He cursed:
"Damn it, are you mocking me?! I'm Zhang Ba Hai, you little brat!"
With that, he lunged at Lan Hao Tian, swinging his massive spiked mace with all his might.
Lan Hao Tian's eyes widened slightly as he watched the weapon—covered in deadly spikes—come barreling toward his ribs at blinding speed. A bead of sweat slid down his temple.
Though he'd fought countless beasts in the wild, battling a human was a whole different game.
Whoosh!
The spiked mace tore through the air, missing its mark. Lan Hao Tian had already stepped back just in time to dodge it.
He exhaled in relief and said playfully:
"Whew, that was close. I almost took a serious hit."
Despite his words, the grin on his face remained completely unbothered—if anything, he seemed to be enjoying himself even more.
He looked at his opponent and grinned:
"Alright. Now I'm getting serious."
Zhang Ba Hai felt utterly insulted by the scene. That grin—wasn't it just saying you've been playing around this whole time?
He roared:
"You little punk! I'll smash you to pieces!"
And just like that, the two of them clashed in a fierce battle.
Wu Xian boarded the ship right after Lan Hao Tian. Up until now, he'd just been standing there, quietly enjoying the show.
It wasn't that he was too forgettable—it was simply that his captain was far too flashy. All attention had been drawn to Zhang Ba Hai, leaving no one to spare a glance at him.
But now that Zhang Ba Hai was locked in combat, the rest of the pirate crew, unwilling to interrupt their furious captain, had to find something else to do.
Coincidentally, Wu Xian looked like the perfect distraction.
A scar-faced pirate with a menacing look approached him and growled:
"If you surrender quietly, I'll go easy on you."
Wu Xian raised an eyebrow and blinked in confusion.
"Wait… Aren't you supposed to say you'll let me go if I surrender? Why is it just going easy on me?"
The pirates around him burst into laughter. The scar-faced man chuckled and said:
"Ha! We're pirates, mate. Beating people up is what we do. It only makes sense. So, what'll it be?"
Wu Xian's mouth twitched slightly. He raised a hand to his forehead and sighed.
Sigh... I just wanted to enjoy the show, but I guess that's out of the question now.
Seeing this, the scar-faced pirate's expression turned nastier. He sneered,
"Oh? So you're planning to fight back?"
His crewmates had already drawn their weapons, ready to strike.
"I surrender!"
Wu Xian threw his hands into the air before they could move, startling the pirates so much they nearly tripped over themselves.
The scar-faced man looked completely baffled, then cursed:
"Damn it, are you messing with me?!"
Wu Xian, still holding his hands up high, shook his head with an innocent look on his face.
"No, not at all! I mean, there's so many of you—I'd have to be an idiot not to surrender. I know my limits, you know?"
Though his words were perfectly reasonable, the pirates couldn't shake the feeling that they were somehow being mocked.
The scar-faced pirate's expression darkened.
"Hmph. On second thought, I have to at least slash you once."
With that, he raised his blade and swung it at Wu Xian.
Wu Xian yelped and threw himself to the ground, arms shielding his head. But by sheer coincidence, as he fell, his head slammed directly into the scar-faced man's supporting leg.
The pirate felt something heavy crash into his shin, sending him toppling to the deck in a very undignified heap. Humiliated, he gritted his teeth—he never imagined that a seasoned pirate like him would be knocked over by a bumbling amateur.
A crewmate behind him, seeing this, rushed forward with a dagger to assist. But just then, a single droplet of water—flicked from above—landed squarely on the man's back, causing him to slip.
He pitched forward headfirst.
And his dagger?
It stabbed directly into the scar-faced pirate's backside.
"AAAAARGHH!!"
The man's shriek pierced through the entire ship like a wounded sea beast. Everyone nearby winced, feeling the pain as if it were their own.
The scar-faced pirate howled in rage, blindly kicked back with all his strength, and launched his "helpful" crewmate straight into another group of pirates. His foot connected with such force that the man slammed into one of them, causing the unfortunate soul to stumble backward, elbow-first—right into someone else's face.
The new victim reeled from the blow, dazed and wobbling. As he staggered, the sword in his hand swung wildly and, by another stroke of cruel fate, sliced into yet another pirate's leg.
"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!"
The wounded pirate roared and raised his fist, only for it to smack straight into the nose of a man trying to help him. Blood spurted out instantly.
"YOU SON OF A—! I'LL RIP YOU APART!"
And thus, the chaos spiraled.
One moment, a group of vicious pirates were teaming up to bully the helpless Wu Xian. The next, they had devolved into a full-blown melee, beating the hell out of each other.
All the while, the so-called source of it all—Wu Xian—was lying face down on the deck, hands over his head. No matter how you looked at him, he seemed completely harmless.
And truth be told, even he didn't expect things to go this smoothly.
Several pirates who hadn't yet been drawn into the chaos glanced at Wu Xian's pitiful pose and couldn't be bothered to waste their energy. Instead, they turned their attention to stopping the pointless brawl before someone got seriously hurt.