Establishing Might
“And the other gift?” Leylin looked at the appealing fox lady in front of him. There was a glimmer of anticipation on his face like that of a little boy-next-door.
Such an attitude made Madam Tillen blush instantly, and her heart almost could not take it, “Although I know perfectly well that you’re just putting on an act, I still was nearly captivated by you…”
Tillen swayed her hips. Her fiery-red fox tail drifting gently with the wind, “The second one is an intelligence report. It’s about the God of Murder’s church.”
Leylin’s expression turned solemn as he listened carefully.
……
After several days, the Scarlet Tiger had been repaired at the pier of Pirates' Cove. The blood-red flag with the skull and dagger motif fluttered in the wind.
The damage to the ship’s hull had been completely mended, the bottom of the ship polished, and even the bow of the ship had been replaced. The entire ship seemed to have been given new life, making Leylin feel deeply moved and feeling that his gold coins had been well-spent.
Now, Leylin was standing at the front of the deck with his hands behind his back, looking down at more than a hundred pirates.
These men were all recruited at Pirates' Cove, and would make up the members in his future pirate crew.
Although Hulk and Giant had diligently attended to the matter, Leylin still had a glimmer of dissatisfaction due to the short period of time they had.
It could not be said that he was discontented with these pirates below him. It would be a wonder if these stubborn and unruly pirates submitted immediately upon discovering that their boss was a youngster. Thus, Leylin was not upset about that. What made him unhappy was how weak these pirates were.
The number of Professionals were so low that it could be counted with his fingers, and not a single one was above rank 5. Ronaldo’s group was already considered the cream of the crop, but they had at least seen bloodshed before, so they wouldn’t be lenient during a battle.
Furthermore, the few who had pretty decent strength seemed to be up to no good. They didn’t even have the inclination to lay low for a while, which made Leylin shake his head inwardly.
‘Forget it, an elite pirate crew isn’t made in one or two days. Hulk and Giant have done quite well.’
Leylin sighed secretly, then stood in front of everyone, “I am the captain of the Scarlet Tiger and will be your captain in the future. Does anyone have anything to say?”
He roared loudly all of a sudden, and his voice even made the pirates’ eardrums hurt, “I know many among you are unwilling to obey me.”
Leylin slowly ran his eyes through the crowd, seemingly able to read every single pirate’s heart, “Some of you have your eyes on the handsome pay. Others are here purely to have some fun. Furthermore, some of you, perhaps, simply harbor prohibited thoughts and wish to kill me and seize control of the boat at sea.”
An uproar came from the pirates below, but Leylin’s voice was loud enough to repress it.
“But it doesn’t matter, I can put all that aside. However, if you disobey my orders on the ship, or are unable to complete even my most basic requests, I will wring your brain out and stuff it up your anus. Do you understand?”
This arrogant threat immediately created a commotion among many of the pirates. Even Ronaldo was slightly displeased.
“Ya tender white swine! How dare ye speak to adults like that! Be a good lil’ boy and run back to yer mommy’s bosom to drink her milk!”
A jarring voice sounded from the crowd and hoots of laughter instantly erupted.
“Stop hidin’, Damphair Aeron. I can see ye. Get out here!” Giant and Hulk were rather furious.
“Hey! Hey! Mateys! Are we gin’ let a mischievous imp climb over our heads?” The crowd parted. A pirate with a fake eye and yellowing teeth walked out with more than a dozen men behind him.
“Browntooth Torworld, Pinchface Jon Myre, Red Oarsman Lucas Codd, Quellon Humble…” Giant’s expression grew worse as these names were called out one by one.
These were all famous pirates. Most of them worked alone, but they still were forces to be reckoned with.
Moreover, they had great popularity among the various pirates. Even Cyclops felt that this wouldn’t be easy to settle.
“Finally, you appear.” Leylin shook his head, “Then what do you plan on doing? Don’t forget we are still at the pier.”
Leylin was speechless regarding how those few had appeared all of a sudden. Even if they were just being compliant on the surface, but were secretly conspiring to seize control of the authority, Leylin could still use them temporarily for a period of time. It was better than disposing of them immediately.
“Nothin’, respectable young master!” Aeron snarled, making his yellowing teeth even more conspicuous, “I’m just hopin’ that young master can appoint me and these mateys as assistants onboard. This way, we’ll be able to pass on a portion of the benefits to ye. A person with such honorable status like yourself can refrain from headin’ out to sea and takin’ risks. Ain’t that reasonable?”
“Is this what all of you think too?” Leylin looked down at the newly recruited pirates.
At this point, even Giant, the most slow-witted of them all, understood that they were plotting to seize control. He immediately stood behind Leylin, along with Cyclops and the other older pirates. Their gazes were filled with pity.
Based on what they knew of Leylin, they instantly predicted that this was the beginning of a show of force and massacre.
The majority of the pirates lowered their heads, but a few jeered rowdily. The crowd still showed tacit approval on the whole.
The loyalty of pirates was as chaste as prostitutes.
“Aeron! You’re too much!” Ronald stood apart together with his brothers, drawing the boundaries with him.
“A silent majority, and a handful of rebellious people?” Leylin laughed while looking at Aeron, who seemed to be at a loss of what to do. His eyes were filled with panic.
Upon seeing Ronald step out, he evidently understood that the situation had escalated to a point where it would be difficult to tell what would happen.
At first, they had more than a dozen brothers that were not inferior to Leylin’s men. While the remaining newly recruited pirates wouldn’t have helped an outsider.
But now, the tables had turned. Since Ronald decided to defect while bringing some people along, the tides turned immediately. The number of people in Leylin’s team rapidly increased, which intimidated majority of the remaining pirates.
Aeron deeply understood that, with his reputation, it was possible to get some of these pirates to fight for him. However, it would be impossible for Ronald to fight for Aeron as if his life depended on it.
“Damn it Ronald, ye made me lose such a huge juicy sheep! Watch out!” Aeron cursed and moved to leave with his subordinates. Death, however, was already knocking on his door. A nimble black silhouette suddenly appeared out of thin air.
“Shadow Stealth!” The figure that had appeared was an assassin. Her dagger slashed an elegant arc across his neck.
Assassin skill— Cutthroat!
A great amount of fresh blood splurted out. Aeron covered his throat with both hands, and struggled as he collapsed on the floor. His death was quick.
“Anyone with the audacity to offend my master, will die.” Karen stood behind Leylin, wielding the dagger.
After the poison was expelled from her body, Karen finally returned to her original strength as a rank 5 assassin, which immediately intimidated a few people.
Now, she faced these pirates with the blade of vengeance.
“A rank 5 assassin! Mateys, charge! Avenge Aeron!” A red-haired pirate, who had been standing behind Aeron, immediately yelled out as a layer of qi burst forth from his body.
“Don’t move, all of you!” Leylin raised his hands and stopped his subordinates from causing trouble.
“Perhaps you once heard how the captain of the Scarlet Tiger was a powerful wizard but, upon seeing me, you instantly thought it was only a rumour,” Leylin strolled in front of those traitors. What he said made their expression change drastically and, at this point, many of them were already secretly regretting their actions.
“But let me tell you that, unfortunately, your guesses are wrong.” A refined and courteous smile was plastered on Leylin’s face. What he did next, however, wasn’t so civilized.
“Fireball!” Two balls of fire shot out, and the red-haired pirate was instantly torched.
The powerful force of the spell immediately made numerous pirates retreat one by one, a look of respect emerging on their faces.
“Animate Rope!” Leylin pointed his finger. The once useless cable suddenly started moving about, as if it had a life of its own. It nimbly bound the rebellious pirates together, and hung them upside-down on the deck.
The numerous ropes resembled the tentacles of a formidable monster as they danced around continuously, while Leylin looked like the powerful wizard who tamed the monsters of the sea only found in legends. Many pirates couldn’t help but kneel down.
“Ah! Release me! Release me! This is the Pirates' Cove, ye can’t do this! The Barbarian Pirates crew ain’t gonna let ye off!”
A few pirates were still putting up their final struggle. Their high-pitched voices pierced the air, attracting a team of barbarian guards.
There was a glimmer of hope on the faces of the captive whey they saw the guards. However, it was unfortunate that their hopes were immediately smashed to smithereens.
Upon seeing the flag of the Scarlet Tiger, these barbarians left immediately, not even bothering about the tragedy that was taking place.
“This treatment! It means there’s an alliance with the Barbarian Pirates crew! Boss has already made an alliance with the Barbarians!” The numerous pirates immediately began to heartily surrender. With the assistance of the prestigious Barbarian Pirates and his own formidable strength, Leylin knew that he had finally established a definite amount of trust with these newly recruited pirates, at least for the time being.
“Boss! Please spare us!” “Respectable and powerful Lord Wizard! Red Oarsman Lucas Codd is willin’ to pledge loyalty to ye!”
At this point, the pirates hanging upside-down sank into despair, and many began begging for forgiveness.
“Traitors must be dealt with strictly and severely. That way, the others can witness how high a price one must pay for betraying me!” Leylin’s indifferent tone sent a chill through the hearts of the other pirates.
Following his orders, the cable ropes suddenly tightened, forcing out copious amounts of blood.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!*
Splashes of blood burst out. The gazes of the other pirates were filled with fear; right now, Leylin looked like the king of all devils.