Slash!

Large ships lined up and cut through the current of the Yangtze River.

The clearest sky. The cold river and wind blowing. And even the fleets advancing, creating foam in the water.

Although it was a wonderful sight from the outside, it wasn’t so beautiful in reality.

“I didn’t know sooner!”

“These little pirates are falling into the water… no, you want to hang upside down?”

Bandits.

These rugged people, who by nature were supposed to stay away from water and loved the mountains and forests, were on the ship, scolding the pirates.

“Stir faster! If the ship is late, we get yelled at, too!”

“Beat the damn drums! Speed up now!”

“Ughhhh!”

On the floor of the deck, the pirates frowned and moved their oars. Every time they moved, the muscles in their entire bodies began to swell up and scream.

Thanks to that, the ship went straight through the rough waters of the Yangtze River.

“Ugh, so refreshing.”

Chung Myung smiled as the wind blew into his face. Basically, he preferred mountains to rivers, but on a day like this, the river winds didn’t seem that bad.

Of course, this wind was… closer to something created by people rather than the river.

“Hmm. So refreshing… um… cool….”

Chung Myung’s face, which had been relaxed, began to contort. Then, his face suddenly distorted.

“I don’t get it! Didn’t they all eat their meals! Why is this going so slowly!”

“… I think this is fast enough?”

“It was 5 times faster when I drove it.”

“… For an ordinary person, this is the best.”

“Anyway, people these days don’t even have guts, guts, I am telling you! Can they not drive faster!”

The Green Forest bandits, who were watching from behind, spoke cautiously with dejected looks on their faces.

“That… we are pushing the pirates to their limit, but there are so many injured pirates, so we don’t have enough people to row.”

“What nonsense is that? There aren’t enough people?”

“During the battle that happened….”

“I didn’t ask for all those details!”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung stared at the bandits with a thoughtful glance.

The bandit who caught his gaze tilted his head with a puzzled look.

“You mean us?”

“Then who else would I mean?”

“… We are bandits, though?”

“Don’t bandits have hands? It cannot be that you don’t hold an oar, right?”

“Ah, of course, we have hands, so we should row.”

“Right?”

Chung Myung blinked at the cheerful answer that came. Why were these bandits being so cooperative…

“As long as it isn’t in that state….”

“Pukeeee!”

“Coughhhh!”

“Cough… my stomach… even my intestines are coming out….”

“S-spare me….”

“…”

All the bandits who were holding onto the railing were puking something out from inside them.

“Ah, no, what kind of warriors are they even….”

“…Seasickness is different from that.”

“Tsk tsk. If you are weak, you die! Where has the Green Forest King gone?”

“He is right over there, though?”

“Where?”

“There, among the puking ones.”

“….”

Indeed, among the bear-like bastards clinging to the railing, there was one small person stuck between them.

“UGHHHHHH! Cough! Cough! Ugh… my lung disease… cough! Cough! Pukee!”

Chung Myung, seeing all this, turned his head away.

“Be it this guy or that guy…”

There was no sane human around.

“Hehe. We are mountain people, to begin with, so we never get on ships or boats. And no matter how many people are on the boat, there will be no answer if the ship shakes like this.”

“Aren’t you all just weak?”

“Ehh, see there.”

“What?”

“The other side.”

Chung Myung’s gaze turned to the other side of the railing where Im So-Byeong and the bandits clung.

“Eukkkkk!”

“Kuaakkkk!”

“I am dying! If this continues, I will die!”

The disciples of Mount Hua were each holding onto the railing and puking their hearts out. Chung Myung covered his face with both hands.

No. Let us say those people are like that.

But why was that bald head also throwing up? As if his stomach was exploding?

“Eukkk!”

At that moment, he was almost spitting out his intestines, so he even hit his head on the railing and mumbled like he was losing consciousness.

“Uh… my head. I feel dizzy… sahyung… if this continues, I might die before I even fight.”

“Euk, I don’t think it was this bad before.”

“Tell him to slow down the speed!”

“Soso. Do you not have any medicine for motion sickness?”

“… do such things exist?”

“Ugh.”

Didn’t one get used to this by riding the ship?

Unfortunately, the people gathered on the ship were from Sichuan, where there was no river even if one looked for it, and from Shaanxi, where only mountains existed.

Since it was a warrior’s place, they could overcome a little bit of seasickness. Still, there was nothing they could do on a ship that was shaking so violently that even sailors were finding it difficult.

“Island! Where is the damned island!”

“Please… please let me just fight.”

“I feel like I can do anything as long as I put my feet on the ground! Please!”

By nature, people only knew something was precious to them when they lost it. Mount Hua’s disciples were also endlessly missing the existence of land below their feet, which they always took for granted.

“Eukk…”

At that time, Im So-Byeong, who had gone from a pure white face to pale blue, stumbled to Chung Myung.

“You…”

“Uh?”

Jo Seung, who was holding his breath for fear of life, was startled by Im So-Byeong’s gesture and jumped up from his place. Im So-Byeong asked in a dying voice.

“Island… where is the island? Is it far?”

“The exact location… is… I don’t know for sure….”

“You don’t know?”

“Ah, no. I know. But….”

Im So-Byeong’s eyes turned red at the response.

“Should I skin you alive and sprinkle salt on the flesh? How well can you dance in that state?”

“S-spare me, please!”

Jo Seung, who remembered once again that this person was the Green Forest King, became thoughtful of his words and shook his head.

“No, there is something you can see when we get… there, over there! That place! Ugh! I can see it there!”

“Ugh. Where?”

“There!”

Jo Seung, who found a way to survive, pointed ahead.

Sure enough, there was something small floating in the middle of the river.

“… But, is that an island?”

“It looks small now because it is far, but it surely is not small. It is actually bigger than where our base was.”

“What did you say?”

“Actually, it is better too…”

“No, before that? What? Is it far?”

“…”

“Eukkkk! Eukkkkkk!”

“Ahh! Don’t throw up here! That’s disgusting!”

Chung Myung hurriedly grabbed Im So-Byeong by the back of his neck and threw him to the railing. Then he shook his hands, looking at the island in the distance.

“Hmm.”

It was hard to see the island clearly because of the thick reeds, but it certainly seemed like it would be big enough for a pirate’s base.

“Interesting. In the middle of the river.”

Chung Myung mumbled and touched his chin but suddenly stopped.

“Hmm?”

A smile slowly formed on his lips.

“Yah, water ghost.”

“… Yes!”

“It seems like they are coming to meet us from there?”

“Huh?”

Jo Seung lifted his head and looked toward the island.

“What?”

As expected.

Small dot-like things began to appear around the island in the distance. If it was a dot floating on the water, it wasn’t hard to guess what it could be.

As the dots continued to get closer, they began to take the shape of ships.

“I-it is the pirates! Get ready for battle!”

“B-battle?”

“In this situation?”

The eyes of the bandits shook.

Their stomachs were a mess… sure, they could fight while puking, but it would be unsightly. And what about the headaches and dizziness? It was hard to stand up properly.

“Ugh. I am dying.”

Only then did the bandits realize how advantageous the previous battle was. Fighting the pirates on land was no different from fighting sharks that had been pulled ashore.

Even if they were cats, they didn’t have to get too close to a tiger; they could easily eat the struggling shark.

But if the location was a river, the entire situation changed. Even if it was a tiger and not a cat, they would end up as a meal for the shark in the water.

‘This is why we cannot mess with the pirates in water.’

“Ugh. I don’t get it. It seems like a natural fortress.”

Before he knew it, Im So-Byeong came back from puking and spoke with a pale face.

“Why were the pirates neglecting such a place?”

“Because there is no place to sink.”

“Why?”

“First, isn’t that place too noticeable?”

“… right.”

“Furthermore, the water around there has wild waves because it is an island. The flow speed is twice as fast, and the water channels all seem mixed, creating a vortex in an instant. No matter how skillful a captain is, a ship will capsize if they aren’t careful. So how can one create a pirate base in such a place?”

“But those people did it, right?”

“… those people are…”

Jo Seung scratched his head with a grim look.

“Anyway, it’s because it’s those bastards, right?”

Chung Myung’s eyes became bright as he watched them.

“Let’s make them all into fish food and then think about it! Everyone to the battle….”

Kwaaang!

“Uh?”

But at that moment, with the sound of lightning falling, the ship next to them was destroyed.

“F-fire?”

Chung Myung’s eyes widened as he glanced at the ships approaching from the other side. He could clearly see the black and white smoke mixing and spreading out.

“They’re using cannons too? Are those guys insane?”

Gunpowder was a weapon prohibited by the government. In other words, from the moment they used gunpowder, they would be tracked down. Salt and gunpowder were the most targeted items by the officials, so one could not carelessly touch them, right?

The pirates had mixed a small amount of gunpowder with this harpoon-like device and fired it. Still, no matter how they looked, the weapons on that ship seemed like a full-on artillery unit.

“That… it looks like the White Thunder Cannon?”

Chung Myung turned his head at Im So-Byeong’s words.

“White Thunder Cannon? What is that?”

“That… well, it is a piece of artillery made by a place called the White Thunder Clan, which was really famous in the past.”

“… if it is the White Thunder Clan, then is it a martial clan?”

“Yes. It is a clan that used gunpowder a lot.”

“Are they made of insane people? There are bastards like that, and the officials just watched?”

“Would they have watched? That is the reason the clan got ruined.”

“…”

“But the artillery and bombs they manufactured are still being secretly traded. It looks like the pirates got to them…”

Kwaaang!

The head of another ship was completely blown off.

“AHHH! We are sinking!”

“Ugh! Pueah! Help me! I cannot swim!”

“B-be careful of the water! Those bastards will come after you! Grab a plank and climb up! Or get on the ship next to you, you bastards!”

In an instant, everything turned to chaos.

“Come on, harpoon! We have a harpoon too, right?”

“… ehh. Icouldn’t’t possibly reach that far.”

Jo Seung, who was watching, waved his hand.

“Uh? They are slowing down?”

“Uh?”

“It seems like they plan to keep their distance and destroy us.”

“Those cowardly bastards! If they are warriors, they should fight fairly!”

“… they are pirates!”

Things were fair and square only when needed, but even that felt meaningless in the face of pirates.

Kwaang!

“Ackkk!”

The moment another ship got destroyed, Chung Myung rolled his eyes.

“These bastards are crossing the damn line?!”

“Oh?”

Im So-Byeong looked back at Chung Myung with a touched expression.

The disciples of Mount Hua were on this ship. The story went that only the ships with bandits got cracked. But seeing him get angry, doesn’t that mean Chung Myung considers the Green Forest bandits his true colleagues?

“We are alright….”

“How big are all their fucking ships!”

“….”

Ahh… so that was added to their property list?

How nice. He was embarrassed for him as a bandit.

“Okay! They are shooting artillery, right?”

At that moment, Chung Myung jumped up to the railing.

And!

“I will tell them that even a stomach has a head of its own! Okayyyyy!”

Kwang!

He kicked the railing, making it crack, and began to fly like a cannon in the air.