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Hague Island is a small island located between Divine Island and the Eastern Continent. It has just over ten thousand residents, but it serves as the headquarters for the Joint Naval Command Center of the Western Continent and is also where pirates are detained and tried. Currently, there are more than six hundred prisoners on Hague Island, all of whom are pirates. However, incidents of intercepting ferry criminals at sea have never occurred; important criminals are escorted by the Navy, and those who get caught would not resort to robbing a few people.
Cui Ming whispered, "Before we act, we need to understand the situation. Let's not rush; let's observe those two escorts first."
The Fishman arrived near the lifeboat and pointed at the two escorts. "You're lucky; Big Guy doesn't want to hurt anyone. We're practitioners, so you can jump ship and leave."
One of the escorts mustered his courage to ask, "Is there someone very important among them?" This question was certainly valid; when pirates appeared, the escorts knew that among the ten minor offenders they were escorting, there was likely a significant criminal hidden among them. If they weren't minor offenders, they wouldn't be using a ferry.
The Fishman looked at the escorts and said, "Neither of us wants to kill anyone, but some people enjoy killing. If you want to stall for time, feel free." The Fishman was not in a hurry; he was more concerned about the six practitioners. He had checked the tickets earlier, and there were no issues with the passengers. These six individuals had booked a high-class business cabin through a company and had not registered using practitioner credentials. Although they used their real names, a quick glance did not match them with any known identities.
Originally, this situation did not involve them; Lank could handle it alone. However, Big Guy wanted to avoid Lank slaughtering everyone on board, so he volunteered to come along for a look. Unexpectedly, they encountered practitioners—six of them. Nevertheless, the Fishman was not worried; he had enough advantages at sea.
Beiyue remarked, "This won't be easy." Their combat effectiveness relied on fighting on ships or at sea. They had never trained for naval or water battles and observed how Big Guy and Fishman moved in the ocean like fish. Their ability to quickly dive into the water gave them an unbeatable edge.
Wei Wei firmly stated, "Alliance Hunters can die in battle, but we cannot retreat in situations like this." It was their responsibility to protect civilians. If pirates were discovered somewhere and they were absent, it would be fine. But if they were present and did nothing while civilians were killed by pirates right in front of them, it would violate the honor and bottom line of Alliance Hunters. Moreover, regarding this matter, even if they did not kill civilians, they probably could not let Lank's target go free because that person was extremely important; otherwise, Lank wouldn't have made such a fuss.
Cui Ming leaned closer to Wei Wei's ear and said, "Did you notice? Big Guy and Fishman don't intend to kill anyone; they've left that task to Lank. If we intervene, they'll attack us."
"What can we do?"
"Cut off their support; take him down twice."
The two escorts were unwilling to leave immediately and chose to engage in conversation with Fishman instead. Fishman was not in a hurry either; he sat on Harpoon and drifted with the waves while ignoring their questions. Big Guy walked steadily across the water with an anchor in hand, controlling the distance between himself and Cui Ming's group as well as the target lifeboat. His stance was clear: if you don't interfere, we are not enemies.
Finally, the pirate ship arrived—a cruiser-like vessel approached with a middle-aged man dressed in pirate attire at its bow. He sported a thick mustache and wore a pirate tricorn hat. In his right hand was a pistol while his left held a scimitar. He leaped onto the water's surface and quickly made his way over.
Lank first looked up at Cui Ming's group seventy meters away without concern before stepping forward to aim his gun at one of the escorts without saying a word, preparing to execute him. At that moment, Cui Ming's voice came through a loudspeaker: "Lank, if you're going to kill someone, then we have no choice but to intervene. You take your person away; we'll pretend we didn't see anything."
Lank scoffed lightly as he transmitted his voice using his practiced technique: "Who do you think you are? Just because you're practitioners doesn't mean you have the right to negotiate."
As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Ming appeared behind Lank and said, "I'm just an assassin." With Fate Card teleportation activated, Cui Ming had his own means of survival. He was willing to take risks because although he wasn't exactly a good person by standard definitions, he still adhered to certain principles. Given Lank's attitude and considering those nearby lifeboats as well as the crew on the ferry, it seemed likely that everyone would be slaughtered unless they spared the six practitioners' lives.
Lank remained silent, beads of sweat forming on his forehead and turning into cold droplets that trickled down. There was no sign of any summons appearing behind him, not a single moment off. Cui Ming's ominous words filled Lank with a sense of dread. He quickly composed himself and said, "Even if you can kill me, you won't escape my companion's attack." Assassins were vulnerable after a strike, and although Cui Ming's ally was still seventy meters away, Lank acknowledged that Cui Ming had the capability to end his life.
Cui Ming replied, "I don't intend to kill you, but I also can't stand by and watch you commit evil. How about we both take a step back? You can take your people, but no indiscriminate killing."
"Agreed," Lank responded.
"You two, jump into the sea," Cui Ming instructed the two captors. He himself was in no hurry, leisurely stepping into the water and making his way back to the ship at a calm pace. This was akin to playing poker; there was no need to panic with good cards or fret over bad ones.
The two captors jumped into the sea, striving towards the nearest lifeboat. Lank sheathed his scimitar with his left hand and withdrew his gaze from Cui Ming as a prisoner stood up. Lank took a few steps forward, grabbed the prisoner under his arm, and headed towards his pirate ship.
The Fishman completed his task and dove into the ocean, disappearing beneath the waves.
"Ready?" Li Qing asked.
"Yes," Wei Wei replied. "Ready for battle."
Li Qing kicked Wei Wei in the rear, sending him flying like an arrow. In mid-air, he drew back his bow and activated Eagle Eye, locking onto his target. Releasing the arrow, a Force arrow struck true against the body of the person Lank had under his arm. The victim fell silent—dead in an instant. Lank felt a tremor in his grip and turned to see that Wei Wei had already entered stealth mode and was descending towards the water's surface.
Looking again at the person under his arm, Lank realized they were already dead. He stood frozen for a moment before turning around but saw no one. How had this person died? It had to be that assassin—the long-distance teleporting assassin—there was no other explanation. In a fit of rage, Lank tossed aside the corpse and fired a shot into the water as he sprinted toward the ferry.
The phrase "burning one's boats" means that when a person has no way out, they will unleash tremendous courage for a final struggle. The best way to deal with someone who is desperate is to give them an escape route. By eliminating those Lank sought to save, he would have no reason to fight to the death; although he might still turn hostile, it wouldn't lead to a fatal confrontation. Moreover, Cui Ming deduced that both Big Guy and Fishman disliked killing and preferred to avoid excessive conflict, thus leading him to adopt this strategy.
Beiyue was already on the ship's railing when he saw Lank charging alone toward him. He leaped down to slash at Lank. Beiyue's four greatswords showed significant changes; one glimmered with white light while another radiated murderous intent, with two others remaining unchanged. From this, Cui Ming inferred that Beiyue had refined one and a half of his greatswords.
Soaring through the air like a silver streak, Beiyue appeared sharp and magnificent…
Yet Lank showed no signs of slowing down as they closed in on each other. With his left hand wielding a sword and right hand holding a gun raised high, seven barrels of gunpowder appeared fifteen meters ahead of him. As he aimed with his right-hand pistol, Beiyue charged directly into the array of barrels. A bullet struck one barrel, triggering a chain reaction of seven explosions that roared like thunderclaps, sending seawater soaring dozens of meters high.
The auxiliary enhancement-type Beiyue was thrown back by the blast and crashed against the ship's hull, creating an indentation shaped like a person as he fell onto the surface of the sea—injured. This was Cui Ming's first time witnessing Beiyue wounded; it was hard for him to imagine Beiyue getting hurt from just one encounter with an opponent. At that moment, he recalled Li Qing's words: "You are an enhancement type, not an auxiliary enhancement type." There was quite a significant gap between true enhancement types and auxiliary enhancement types.
What is a true enhancement type? Big Guy exemplified this as Cui Ming joined forces with Mi Xiaonan against him once more. Mi Xiaonan unleashed Chidori: Sixfold while Cui Ming immobilized Big Guy with flying cards; Mi Xiaonan's Ultimate Thunderstorm exploded against Big Guy's body. Big Guy staggered under the force but quickly regained composure; despite being injured himself, he healed rapidly—and injuries affected him very differently than they did Beiyue.
"Who will be my opponent?" Fishman appeared from the side.
Fishman, Lank, and Big Guy surrounded Ferry in a triangular formation. Lank said, "Smash the boat." He wasn't foolish enough to rush onto the ship and face six practitioners alone... Oddly, there were only five.
Big Guy declared, "If you don't come down to fight, I'll have no choice but to sink the ship." He swung his massive Anchor.
On the ship, Cui Ming supported Beiyue and asked with concern, "How are you?"
"I'm fine," Beiyue replied, glancing at Lank. "I might not be his match. His explosive barrel formation is set up using Force: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16. Each additional barrel doubles its power. It's a weapon designed to break through close combat. Unless we continuously deplete his barrels and force him to exhaust his Force quickly."
"His Force is quite substantial," Li Qing clenched his fists. "I'll give it a try." The only one capable of attacking Lank from a distance was Cui Ming; as for Wei Wei, she was busy with something else.
Vlad adjusted his bow tie and said, "Let me handle this."
With that, he jumped off the ship and politely bowed halfway. "Mr. Lank, I've heard much about you. How about we have a one-on-one match? If I lose, I won't interfere anymore. If I win, then I ask you to leave."
This condition favored Lank and his group since they were six against one; eliminating one opponent would be beneficial.
"Alright," Lank nodded before darkly adding, "You killed my best assistant; I'll make you pay for that." It was a psychological pressure tactic.
Vlad calmly nodded. "Then let's begin."
Fishman and Big Guy stepped back a bit to watch the fight unfold. Cui Ming and the others gathered at the stern of the ship while the crew on Ferry mustered their courage to watch the spectacle. Even those on nearby lifeboats stood on tiptoes to get a better view. This might be the first time a conflict between practitioners occurred under the gaze of many ordinary people, with some eager crew members even pulling out cameras to take pictures. (To be continued.)
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