Chapter 144: The Traitor Admiral

It was true that the pirates had established their base in an extremely difficult-to-approach location.

But it was hard for Billigert to exert influence all the way out to the distant seas.

The navy ships were much larger and stronger, after all.

Even in that situation, only the Schultz Trading Company was suffering losses?

That must mean the navy and the pirates are colluding.

Until now it had been nothing more than speculation.

However, now that the naval admiral had been discovered here, there would be no escaping the facts.

If I could just capture that bastard.

But there are too many troops.

According to Cordell McNeil’s investigation, Billigert was just an ordinary pirate crew.

In overall ranking, they were probably a mid-sized group operating only one or two ships.

However, it seemed I needed to revise that evaluation now.

They had this enormous hideout with a dedicated dock and more than ten pirate ships.

Ah, but weren’t there way more ships than that?

They must be the ones the guests arrived on.

They brought food and daily necessities and exchanged them for stolen goods or slaves in a barter system.

That was the core function of this hideout.

In a place like this, food held far more value than gold coins.

I closely observed Naval Admiral Nigel Baileys.

He was talking with the pirates, acting like their superior.

He pointed his finger at various places in the slave trading area and gave orders.

It looked very natural.

With this, there’s absolutely no way I can claim I came here to spy.

I couldn’t be the only one who saw that scene.

The prisoners locked in the iron cages were staring with wide-open eyes.

There were a full thousand of them.

Even if just a few testified, pinning Nigel Baileys would be easy.

The issue was that there could be more collaborators besides him…….

I immediately pulled up the information windows of the people loitering around the slave trading area.

“Ugh! This is dizzying.”

A flood of countless letters poured before my eyes, making me feel momentarily lightheaded.

After calmly closing the windows one by one, only a few suspicious ones remained.

There they are, as expected.

Two naval officers and twenty combat soldiers.

Checking their affiliations, they appeared to be Nigel Baileys’ escorts.

Of course, they might have simply been dragged along on their superior’s orders.

But they didn’t seem that innocent.

They were all peering in front of the iron cages.

They were probably trying to get slaves or jewels at a cheap price.

“Now that I’ve found them all, shall we slowly get started?”

There was no need to complicate things.

This was an isolated space anyway.

Since I had destroyed all the ship rudders, there was no escape.

I just needed to beat every last one of them and leave at my leisure.

Of course, I had to completely demolish this hideout as well.

So the pirate bastards could never set up camp here again.

I slowly approached the head position of the slave trading area.

“What? I don’t recognize that face?”

“His outfit looks similar to ours?”

“He must be an escort brought by a trader.”

The pirates tilted their heads and began chattering among themselves.

I did look a bit suspicious, but they didn’t dare make a move.

They probably thought I was one of the naval combat soldiers.

• Interest

I jerked my chin toward the back and glared at them with arrogant eyes.

“What are you looking at? Something seems to be happening at the dock. Why don’t you go check it out over there?”

“Those prisoner bastards resisting isn’t just a day or two thing. Don’t worry about our business.”

“Can’t you get rid of that rotten face? It’s disgusting.”

“Seeing how neat and tidy you are, you must be one of those navy guys for sure.”

“If you know, then piss off, you pirate scum.”

“Act appropriately. Have you forgotten where this is?”

“Tch! Even dogs bark louder in their own house, they say.”

I frowned and sharply turned my head away.

I had spat out harsh words based on the navy-pirate relationship, and it seemed to have worked perfectly.

Those guys no longer suspected me in the slightest.

When I subtly moved closer to the head seat, they completely averted their eyes.

Thanks to that, I was able to easily approach Nigel Baileys.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

When I tapped him on the shoulder, Admiral Baileys glared at me with displeasure.

There probably wasn’t anyone in this hideout who would dare touch him.

“Who the hell are you……. Huh?”

But soon he made a puzzled expression.

He seemed to have realized something was wrong.

A naval admiral was at minimum a count-level noble.

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize my face.

It was simply that encountering me in such an unexpected place had momentarily frozen his brain.

Soon, his eyes widened as he spoke.

“Th-the Northern Mad Warrior?”

I thought he would first say something like Your Grace the Duke, Chief Justice, or Mayor.

Calling me by the rough nickname I earned on the front lines—how very military of him.

“Naval Admiral Nigel Baileys.”

“Y-yes. Yes.”

“I am arresting you for treasonous acts and large-scale human trafficking. Ah, but before that, I have one request.”

“What is it?”

“Please resist a little. So that I can hit you.”

”

Admiral Baileys twisted his face fiercely and quickly looked left and right.

He seemed to have sent some signal.

Sure enough, the escorts disguised as pirates simultaneously drew their swords.

Shing! Clang!

I smiled coldly and said this.

“I’m truly grateful you’re such a stereotypical villain.”

“I heard you suddenly came to your senses and started doing good deeds, but rumors really can’t be trusted.”

“We have to treat good citizens and scumbag trash differently. Not knowing such an obvious principle? How disappointing.”

“Puhahaha! You talk well. But will you be able to keep it up a little later?”

“Feeling confident, huh?”

“Do you still think you’re on the northern plains? This is the middle of the sea. I’ll show you how we handle knight bastards.”

It was a truly laughable statement.

For a naval admiral to identify himself with pirates—just how rotten to the core had he become?

It seemed he no longer had any intention of hiding it at all.

“Hah!”

Thud!

I gifted the escort charging from the left with a warhammer to the abdomen.

The downward swing was so big that I couldn’t just let it pass.

“Guh! Uweeeek!”

He vomited and rolled down the stairs.

Countless linked attacks began immediately afterward.

Whoosh! Kang! Clang!!

Wide-bladed swords and hook sickles flew in from all directions.

It was originally difficult to manifest aura with unfamiliar weapons.

But the escorts seemed quite proficient.

Their high level probably let them display their true strength even with hooks.

At this level, they would be mid-tier in the western defense force’s knight order.

By South Sea Fleet standards, they probably belonged to the top group.

For even these high-level knights to be involved, it seems far more corrupt than I thought?

I calmly blocked the fierce offensive while occasionally thrusting Hector Punisher.

It was a simple motion, but the attacks unleashed were absolutely not to be ignored.

The spear tip at the end precisely targeted only vital points.

“Ugh! Th-this!”

“Your basics are good. But how can you panic over such a simple irregular attack?”

“Shut your mou….”

“Yes, I’ll shut it for you.”

Smack!

I was leisurely giving advice when I suddenly smashed the knight’s head.

The moment he lost his composure, a huge opening appeared.

It would be rude to miss such an opportunity.

He fainted from a single blow and rolled down the stairs.

Once the number of guys I had knocked out passed double digits, Admiral Baileys’ face turned deathly pale.

“Wh-what are you all doing? Hurry and kill that bastard! It’s the imperial subjugation force!”

A cry close to desperation.

Surprisingly, the pirates began to move.

But their numbers weren’t that many.

“Wh-why are there only this many troops?”

“Could he have really come all the way here alone?”

I nodded toward the dock side.

At that moment, thick black smoke was rising from there.

It seemed a fire had broken out amid the fighting.

Nigel Baileys’ face turned from blue to pitch black.

He seemed to have realized his escape routes had vanished.

At this point, he would probably go all out?

“We have to kill him no matter what. Where’s the captain?”

“He’s coming this way.”

“Ughhh! There’s no time!”

Admiral Baileys hurriedly backed away and started running somewhere.

I swiftly leaped over the platform following him.

But I couldn’t continue the chase.

A tremendous whooshing sound rang out, and a scorching sensation hit my back.

What is this?

Swoooooosh!

When I suddenly turned around, some large object was flying toward me.

It seemed the ballista installed on the low rocky hill had fired its arrow.

In shape it was an arrow, but it was practically a wooden pillar being shot. I reflexively swung Hector Punisher and activated the skill.

Vrrrr—!

[Choice: ‘Defense’]

You will enter ‘Water Fist’ state.

BOOOOM!

Extreme Choice Activated

I barely managed to hit the arrowhead, but the enormous force wasn’t completely resolved at once.

Any ordinary knight would have been sent flying from the massive impact.

But I only took a few steps sideways with almost no damage.

Whew! Good thing I didn’t try to block it directly. How is it this powerful?

It was a natural result.

A large ballista like that would have been installed to deal with sailing ships.

To shoot at military vessels approaching the hideout.

“No, but thinking about it now, this is ridiculous. Using something like that on a person?”

I let out a hollow laugh for a moment.

I tried to pursue Nigel Baileys again.

There were no more obstacles in the way now.

The knights were all knocked down, and the pirates didn’t even think of approaching.

As expected, when it came to self-preservation, nothing beat them.

“Isn’t he a monster! Hurry and summon the Sea God!”

Admiral Baileys was grabbing someone and passionately arguing.

Black tricorn hat and blue coat.

With a pipe in his mouth, he looked utterly relaxed.

Judging by his appearance, that guy must be Billigert’s pirate captain.

The man exhaled pipe smoke and spoke.

“Don’t worry. Even without the Sea God descending, that kind of guy is easy.”

“H-how?”

“We just do what we always do.”

The pirate captain smiled coldly and pulled the lever right beside him.

Then an astonishing thing happened.

Clunk!

The plank flipped open, and a fairly wide area disappeared in an instant.

Naturally, my body had no choice but to fall below.

“Uahaha! There was a trap like this. As expected of Captain Branto!”

“This much preparation is basic.”

Admiral Baileys’ hearty laughter and the pirate captain’s smug voice could be heard.

I quietly crossed my arms and shook my head.

“This is too stereotypical.”

It was roughly several dozen meters high, but I didn’t think I’d die from the fall.

Seawater was waiting at the end of the trap.

But I had no intention of falling in there.

Crunch—!

I slammed Hector Punisher into the wall, and my falling body came to a complete stop.

The spear tip at the end dug into the rock and held the force.

In that state, I quickly moved my feet.

I kicked the wall repeatedly while spinning round and round.

I was using centrifugal force and grip to climb upward.

When I reached a spot where the slope was gentle.

“Hah!”

I let out a battle cry and leaped into the air.

Then the startled faces of Admiral Baileys and the pirate captain came into view.

“Nice expression! Look here. Click!”

Smack!