Pirates Board the Ship

Weighing the heavy gold coins in his hand, the pickpocket's impression of Yue Shi changed instantly.

He was a generous man.

He lowered his voice and explained to Yue Shi, "The 'Ghost Face' is a pirate group that has made a terrifying name for itself in these waters over the past six months."

"Their people are incredibly cruel and act without any restraint. Looting ships is just the norm for them; I've heard they enjoy torturing captives, eating 'sheep,' and even feeding entire crews to sea monsters!"

"That tattoo is their symbol. They say that few who see the ghost face live to tell the tale."

As he spoke, he stole a glance at the bare-chested man in the center of the room and shrank back even further.

After listening, Yue Shi gave a soft "oh."

These pirates didn't seem particularly wicked to him.

At this moment, Captain Colt's facial muscles were taut, a struggle of calculation flickering deep in his eyes.

He clearly recognized what the ghost face tattoo represented. These weren't petty, common pirates; they were the Ghost Face Pirates, a group that had risen rapidly over the last half-year through extreme cruelty and mysterious methods, striking fear into everyone.

In an unprepared state, a head-on conflict with such a force carried immense risk.

Especially since this ship was full of distinguished guests and had a complex structure not suited for combat.

Who could have imagined that pirates would dare rob this entertainment ship? Did they not know who was backing them?

After a brief silence, Colt spoke with difficulty, attempting to negotiate. "Leave the ship immediately and do not harm any more innocents. I can pretend tonight's events never happened."

This was already the greatest concession he could make.

"Yo-ho-ho-ho!" The pirate holding the monster laughed as if he had heard a joke, throwing his head back in a cackle filled with sharp disdain.

He tilted his head and pointed a withered finger at Colt.

"Are you afraid?"

"It's only right that you are! Otherwise, wouldn't our Ghost Face Pirates have killed all those people and built our terrifying reputation for nothing?"

"Are the Ghost Face Pirates determined to oppose us to the end? Do not forget that the capital behind us is the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop," Colt said, his eyes sharpening as he brought up his backers as a deterrent.

The pirate slowly re-buttoned his coat, his movements as composed as if he were adjusting a formal suit.

"The Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop? You're just a low-life fake. You've gotten addicted to riding their coattails, haven't you?"

"You should know perfectly well why this ship only wanders the waters near the continent."

"Oh, my apologies, I forgot—you're just a security guard."

"Even if I burned this ship to the ground, the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop would only clap and cheer. After all, I'd be helping them strike down on piracy."

Hearing this, the tourists exchanged looks of confusion, and Colt's expression turned even uglier. "What exactly do you want?"

The pirate patted the monster resting quietly on his shoulder. "I made myself very clear. This time, my child is just hungry. I intend to feed it."

"Anyone who tries to stop me is making an enemy of the Ghost Face Pirates!"

As his voice fell, the infant-like monster on his shoulder immediately raised its head. Its mouth instantly expanded to its limit, letting out a sharp hiss. It pushed off its master's shoulder with its limbs and shot toward Colt's face like a bolt of black lightning, moving so fast it left an afterimage in the air!

Negotiations had failed.

"Attack!"

Colt hesitated no longer. With a roar of rage, his long blade whipped up a sheet of brilliant light to meet the pouncing monster.

At the same time, he signaled his team members to open fire, aiming directly at the pirate himself.

Combat erupted once more, more intense than before.

Colt's swordsmanship was exquisite and his experience vast, but the monster was incredibly fast and fought with reckless abandon.

Furthermore, while the pirate himself was gaunt, his movements were exceptionally slippery. Occasionally, tentacles would surge from his waving hands to interfere with attacks or even deflect incoming bullets.

Even if this maritime entertainment ship was using the name of the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop as a false front, as a den of indulgence of this scale, its security forces were by no means weak.

Besides Colt, there were other experts stationed in the shadows.

However, the fact that the Ghost Face Pirates dared to appear so brazenly and commit murder without hiding their identity meant this was clearly no impulsive act.

They had likely made thorough preparations to plunder this ship.

Sure enough, while Colt was locked in a fierce battle with the pirate and the monster, before a clear winner could emerge...

Boom!

"Ah, help!"

"Pirates! Pirates have boarded the ship!"

"Quick! Hold the corridor! Agh..."

Violent explosions, the screams of tourists, the sounds of shouting and killing, and the clashing of metal surged like a plague from the lower decks, from the corridors of other floors, from the casino, and from the ballroom.

The sounds were chaotic and dense; clearly, more than one location was under attack.

The pirates had boarded!

And in significant numbers, definitely not just one or two.

Colt's heart sank. His worst premonition had come true.

The Ghost Face Pirates were not acting alone; they had invaded this giant vessel in an organized and planned manner.

The arrogant fellow in the restaurant was likely just bait to draw attention or a vanguard responsible for sowing chaos.

The entertainment ship was being attacked from both within and without; the situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse.

Though Colt was brave, he gradually began to fall into a disadvantage under the combined assault of the monster and the pirate.

While fighting back with all his might, he looked at the panicked guests around him.

He knew there must be people with extraordinary abilities among the tourists, so he roared out.

"Everyone, lend me a hand! Once we've wiped out the pirates, there will be a massive reward! Personal compensation, shares in the ship, rare resources—everything is negotiable! Come and help me!"

The conditions he shouted were certainly generous, but in the face of death and the terrifying reputation of the Ghost Face Pirates, no one responded.

Most of the guests, especially the wealthy merchants and nobles who valued their lives, only wanted to get away from this bloody mess as quickly as possible.

Help them fight pirates?

What a joke!

Who knew how many pirates had come or if there were even more powerful figures among them?

Throwing their lives away for some money and benefits?

It wasn't worth it.

The tourists began to desperately try to break through the blockade the security team was barely maintaining, wanting to flee and find a safer refuge.

The restaurant became even more chaotic, a mess of pushing and cursing.

"It's over, it's all over! The pirates are on the ship! What do we do? What do we do now?!"

The pickpocket standing next to Yue Shi was now as pale as a ghost. Watching the increasingly fierce battle nearby and the spiraling chaos around them, his voice was frantic.

He instinctively looked at Yue Shi, only to see him pick up the juice on the table and take a slow, deliberate sip as his gaze swept over the chaotic crowd.

"Sit and watch the show."

"W-Watch the show?" The pickpocket's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

He looked Yue Shi up and down. The man didn't look particularly strong, and that snow leopard didn't look like a combat-type pet either.

"Big brother, this is a life-and-death situation! Someone like you... if those cold-blooded pirates catch you, your end will definitely be worse than that guy who got his brains eaten."

These words were a well-intentioned warning from a fellow traveler.

Yue Shi glanced at him, his tone still devoid of any ripples. "Don't worry."

Don't worry?

How could he not worry?

The thief was so anxious he was scratching his head, thinking this person was either scared witless or simply didn't know the heights of the heavens.

Good advice can't save a ghost determined to die; he couldn't stay here and wait for death himself.

The pickpocket made up his mind to escape through the chaos.

As Colt and the others fought the pirate, the other security guards' attention was diverted, and the guests surged outward in a mess. The pickpocket crouched low, moving like a loach. Relying on his natural adaptability to chaos, he nimbly slipped through the gaps in the crowd, trying to sneak out through an inconspicuous back door leading to the kitchen.

That back door was very unremarkable.

But unfortunately, the other tourists present were no fools.

The pickpocket could think of sneaking out through the back door, and so could other guests.

Consequently, that unremarkable back door suddenly became a hot commodity.

The pickpocket simply couldn't out-shove the others.

Feeling helpless, he instinctively glanced back.

That single glance made him freeze instantly.

The entire restaurant had turned into a chaotic mess; people were fleeing in terror, tables and chairs were overturned, and dishes were scattered everywhere.

The flashes of blades in battle were constant, and the smell of blood and gunpowder mingled.

However, in the midst of this absolute chaos, only the small area where Yue Shi sat seemed to be separated by an invisible barrier.

With his table as the center, everything within a two-meter radius was normal.

No panicked guests crashed into it, no flying debris fell inside, and even the aftershocks of the battle weirdly bypassed it.

Yue Shi was still sitting there quietly drinking juice, while the snow leopard lazily licked its paws.

The ground around him was perfectly clean, looking like it belonged to a different space-time compared to the chaotic mess just a step away.

It was as if some power was causing everyone's subconscious to ignore that corner, instinctively avoiding it.

The pickpocket was stunned, frozen in his crouching, scurrying posture for three full seconds.

Three seconds later, a thought struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.

This man... he was definitely a top-tier powerhouse hiding in plain sight!

Only absolute strength could maintain such an eerie calm in such a slaughterhouse!

No wonder he was so composed and even dared to bring such a conspicuous pet.

He wasn't stupid; he simply didn't care.

Once he realized this, the pickpocket's heart hammered wildly—not from fear, but from a complex mix of shock, relief, and lingering dread.

Without any hesitation, he immediately made what he considered to be his wisest decision.

He gave up on running. Instead, moving even faster, he crouched and scurried back, plopping himself right back onto the chair opposite Yue Shi.

He even reached out and grabbed the glass pitcher on the table to pour himself a glass of juice, though his hand was still shaking a little.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Mimicking Yue Shi, he squeezed out a strained, relaxed smile, then picked up the glass and took a large gulp.

Right. Watch the show, watch the show.

With this expert by his side, if the sky fell, there would be a tall guy to hold it up... right?

The pickpocket comforted himself frantically in his mind, yet his eyes couldn't help but steal glances at the battlefield and the guests who were wailing for their parents. He actually began to feel a bizarre sense of being a spectator.

The Ghost Face Pirates had clearly come prepared, seeming to have a thorough understanding of the ship's internal structure and security layout.

Their invasion was both precise and efficient.

As such, the battle did not last long. The pirate group soon gained a total advantage.

Attacking from both inside and out and possessing prior intelligence, they quickly dismantled the maritime entertainment ship's defense system.

Colt eventually fell to the combined strength of the monster and the pirate. Struck in the chest by a tentacle, he coughed up blood and collapsed, heavily wounded, before being crudely tied up by someone.

Resistance in other areas was also extinguished one by one.

About an hour later, the clamor across the entire giant ship gradually faded, leaving only the occasional sound of suppressed weeping.

Teams of fierce-looking pirates, dressed in a hodgepodge of clothing and all bearing ghost face tattoos, began to systematically clear the battlefield and take control of every area.

They kicked open every door, dragging out guests or crew members hiding under beds, in storage rooms, or even in ventilation ducts, crudely herding them into several open halls and onto the deck.

Naturally, a team of pirates also stormed into the restaurant where Yue Shi was.

"Everyone, hands behind your heads! Squat against the wall, now!"

The lead pirate held a blood-stained golden scimitar and barked out orders.

The guests had long since lost their courage. Upon hearing this, they immediately acted like frightened quails, trembling as they did as told, huddling against the wall with their heads down, not daring to look at the pirates.

Only the two at Yue Shi's table remained seated—one calmly drinking juice, the other pretending to be calm while also holding a glass and drinking.

The pirates seemed to completely ignore them, only threatening the other tourists.

"Listen up! The Ghost Face Pirates are at work. If you're smart, hand over everything of value on you! Put it on the floor in front of you!"

He kicked a corpse by his feet.

"Anyone who dares hide anything will end up like this."

"We'll have people check you one by one. Don't try any tricks."

"Hurry up! Move it!"

Low cries and pleas rose, but under the fierce glares of the pirates, no one dared to resist.

With trembling hands, the tourists began to take off watches, necklaces, and rings, pulling out wallets and placing their valuables on the floor.

They were just material possessions; they only hoped these pirates would take the money and leave it at that.

Unfortunately, things did not go as they had imagined.

These pirates were like greedy vultures. After collecting the wealth, they had no intention of letting the tourists go.

The monsters kept by the pirates wanted to eat brains, and attractive service staff were dragged away, with various tragic sounds rising and falling.

The pickpocket drank his juice mechanically, stealing glances at Yue Shi with the corner of his eye. His heart was thumping in his chest, yet he kept his face calm and composed.

"With how much they value money, these pirates must be small fry."

Yue Shi nodded. It was normal for common crew members to be greedy for wealth.

But the captain and high-level officers of the Ghost Face Pirates likely weren't ordinary people; otherwise, they couldn't sustain such a large pirate organization.

For those with supernatural power, amassing vast wealth was easy; money was something within their reach.

"This maritime entertainment ship is just a hollow shell—looks good but useless."

"It was taken down by pirates in just a short while. It seems what that pirate said earlier was true—this ship isn't backed by the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop. They were just borrowing its name as a fake banner."

The pickpocket whispered his critique.

Yue Shi asked him, "You know a lot about the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop?"

The pickpocket shook his head hurriedly. "What kind of important person do you think I am? I've just heard some rumors."

Yue Shi said with interest, "Tell me. What rumors have you heard?"

The pickpocket thought for a moment. "The Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop is a super-giant tower ship. They say it carries three hundred billion mortals..."