Memories flashed by like a carousel.
Back then, there had been no gargantuan ship like the SS Fuma Keqing Revenge, only a "broken sampan" about twenty meters long that got nearly destroyed by cannon fire during one operation.
A new ship was urgently needed.
At that time, the core group of the Black Sail wasn’t large—they couldn’t scrape together four hundred Golden Dragons to buy a ship.
It was well known that a wealthy politician seeking refuge lived in a castle on the eastern outskirts of the city. He had no real skills but was accompanying a huge sum of money.
Liszt decided to break in and rob the place that night.
The plan was simple—Mika would keep watch on the nearest street, and the others would grab the loot and run.
Without saying another word, Liszt led the charge, embodying the Assassin’s Creed, and flipped through a window into what appeared to be a study on the second floor, using the engraved stone columns on the wall.
At that moment, Mika, who had been keeping watch, returned.
He said the situation had changed—that was news from two days ago. A monstrous individual had chopped up the original owner and his bodyguard and taken residence themselves.
Inside the house, the shimmering red bloodlight flickered, casting the surrounding jungle in an infernal, blood-red hue from the windows.
The rest of them ran away at the speed of light.
Liszt proceeded with the burglary alone.
Dreya found this clumsy thief quite intriguing, noticing every little sound, ready to toy with him.
On the streets of Heaven Port,
footprints formed one after the other in the snow with each step of Salsa.
Now Liszt’s status had changed. Under the trust system he had built and the iron rule of fugitive deaths, anyone ambitious enough to grow in power would uphold his status.
Dreya’s prospects looked grim.
The best course of action would be to take everyone straight to wipe out the Skull Club. Liszt noticed the heavy eye bags of that tall skinny man—he knew that he was a drug addict, a member of the Skull Club.
His face naturally turned private affairs into public ones.
"She’s still alive, right?"
Liszt didn’t doubt Dreya’s capabilities; after all, no fool on this island would dare set a trap for him without being fully prepared.
"She’s in the abandoned church in the west end of the city."
The tall skinny man answered, but to be honest, he didn’t know either. He had heard she was captured, so he came to give Liszt a heads-up.
Liszt clearly understood the kind of scoundrels that inhabited the island. Even if he died, Dreya probably wouldn’t survive either; an accident might have already happened by now without him needing to go there.
Yet even so, he couldn’t bring himself to bring people along,
always unable to... accept her death.
The tall skinny man led the way ahead, not dressed warmly yet feeling chilly gusts on his back, which made him turn around involuntarily.
It was unbelievable; he couldn’t possibly have been unaware that this was a death trap, yet he showed no emotion, just calmly following with a stoic face.
The tall skinny man continued leading the way, seemingly forgetting how to walk properly, his steps uneven.
After all, this was the captain of the Black Sail.
"Hurry up, I’m in a rush. Aren’t we all in the same line of work? You should always be prepared to die."
Liszt put his hand on his shoulder,
which startled the tall skinny man but also steeled his resolve.
"You’d better... hold off, that woman is still with us."
The tall skinny man said with a fierceness belied by his timid heart.
"I know, no need to repeat. Just don’t keep Jeremy waiting."
Liszt figured Jeremy was too cowardly to set a trap alone; the Twin Group was also involved, but some small fry were inconsequential.
The core members of those two forces were not to be trifled with either.
Therefore, he had already shaved, and the corpse could at least look somewhat decent.
Twenty minutes later.
The island, developed by the Emperor and where the Eternal Sect had also built a church, perhaps included a superstitious element; they believed such places could suppress the Blood Clan.
The church in the west of the city had long been abandoned. The bronze statue of Eternal and Time Dragon had been smashed and sold for money, leaving only the base with some sharp broken edges.
And the church exterior was already overgrown with vine plants, extremely bleak under the pre-spring snowscape.
The desolate church square, from here one could see the fireworks launching repeatedly in the Inner City, bursting magnificently in the sky.
About seventy people were here, all carrying torches, Jeremy and the elder of the Twins were present to graciously welcome the arrival of the Black Sail Captain. Newest update provided by Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
Dreya was already inside the church, along with most of the core backbone of the Skull Club and the Twin Group. They watched Dreya and couldn’t kill her before Liszt arrived.
As for Liszt, his daring to come alone showed he truly had guts, so that was settled.
Jeremy watched the edge of the square, as two figures appeared and became increasingly clear, the tall thin man had brought Liszt.
The Skull Club chief, Jeremy, clapped in praise.
"Not unworthy of being a Captain," he said. "Indeed, more honorable than us scum. Your lady is unharmed; rest assured. There might be some injuries, but they probably are nothing to her."
Jeremy pulled a stone out of his pocket, which shone intensely in the pitch-black night, dazzling people’s eyes and seemingly raising the temperature of the surrounding area.
He quickly pocketed it again.
Liszt, who had already guessed, how could he not understand the people on the island?
"If you want money, I have enough. You should have negotiated with me beforehand. Though your Skull Club’s reputation isn’t great, you still need to be smart. Name your price, let her go, I can afford up to ten thousand Golden Dragons."
Jeremy was extremely surprised. Coming alone took guts, and maintaining composure was commendable. Plus, ten thousand Golden Dragons? Are you kidding? If you had that much, Liszt, you wouldn’t be a pirate; you could easily buy a high-ranking office in a small country.
It wasn’t just about the amount of money; this man had to be eliminated, or he would become a significant threat.
"Liszt, I respect you as a person of worth. Normal people I have no interest in torturing. We should release the person due and even let you see that woman one last time. You might have forgotten, three months ago in the frozen meat storage, you were quite wild. Here’s an idea..."
Jeremy produced a dagger from an inner pocket of his jacket, threw it on the ground, and then kicked it toward Liszt.
"Take your own life. I will let your wife die with dignity, without the...inhuman treatments."
Jeremy said coldly, standing beside the elder Twin and the top members of the Skull Club, one called the Scanna Peninsula Meat Grinder, holding an axe, and another called the Flying Leopard from Aisnor Province, a tall Leopard Man wielding a scimitar.
All awaiting the spectacle.
Liszt could no longer run.
Liszt, anticipating this outcome, knew Dreya wasn’t just a pretty face and that only her death could put his mind at ease. He only couldn’t accept that negotiations failed.
He picked up the dagger.
Jeremy leaned forward slightly, awaiting Liszt’s move.
Liszt slashed the tall man’s throat with a swift cut, opening a red line before blood gushed out.
"I came prepared for my last appearance, you bastards."
Liszt pulled out a flintlock gun from inside his clothes and fired at Jeremy.
Jeremy grabbed a subordinate to shield himself. The bullet pierced through his right lung, blood gushing out.
"Damn it, go in there and kill that vampire. All of you attack together, slaughter him; capturing him alive works too, let him watch the vampire get dismembered!" Jeremy barked viciously, "Liszt, even if I don’t lift a finger, there are enough people to kill you; you really have a death wish!"
Jeremy’s seventy or so men were all armed with matchlock guns.
They aimed at Liszt and pulled the trigger.
The gunshots caused the snow on the trees to fall, filling the air with gun smoke.