“Captain!”

“Eukk…”

Ga Nam-Pyung, the captain of Hidden Water’s Blue Base—a new pirate group that had dominated the island in the middle of the Yangtze River—frowned when he saw the ships floating up to the land.

The ships he had sent out were being driven away and were stuck on the sandbank. This meant there wasn’t even time to moderately slow down and stop the ship.

The pirate ships were following behind them at breakneck speed.

Defeat.

At least, they had no choice but to admit that they were completely defeated.

His men hurriedly jumped out of the tilting ship and crawled onto the land.

“Damn it.”

Anyone could see that these were the looks of defeated soldiers.

If the opponents were people well-versed in piracy or any water art, this defeat would be understandable. His subordinates weren’t well-trained either.

But weren’t the opponents just bandits?

It was like using the name ‘pirates’ vaguely, being chased by bandits who never even put their toes in water…

He had considered many situations while using this natural fortress as a base but never thought something this absurd would happen.

“W-what should I do?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Ga Nam-Pyung gestured to the ship with his chin.

“Yes, they are bandits. Catch them and kill them all!”

“B-But…”

As the subordinate looked at him with trembling eyes, Ga Nam-Pyung’s eyes narrowed.

“If not? Are you planning to run from here? From this island?”

“….”

“It is the same whether we die by drowning or by fighting. If you really want to live, at least take down one more of their men!”

“Ah, I understand!”

The subordinate lowered his head and ran to the riverside with all his might. Ga Nam-Pyung snorted briefly at this.

“What idiots are these?”

“I guess it is only natural with so many people gathered together.”

Ga Nam-Pyung slightly turned his gaze at the voice he heard.

A man with a cold appearance, his whole body covered in a robe stained with black blood.

“Who was it that asked you to gather all those idiots together?”

“Who would have imagined that Green Forest would intervene?”

“Damn it!”

The person speaking to Ga Nam-Pyung was none other than the person who had previously attacked the Eunha special delivery person. The deep scars on his face were proof of it.

“What will you do now?”

“We fight.”

He spoke harshly.

“Or we leave everything and run.”

“…”

Ga Nam-Pyung gritted his teeth.

“Black-Haired Ghost, this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t acted impulsively, right?”

“What do you mean by impulsively? Making the pirates strong? Or attacking the special delivery person?”

The one called Black-Haired Ghost stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.

“Either way, you ultimately agreed to it. But now, it would be a little unfair to hold me solely responsible for this, right?”

“Cheeky bastard…”

Ga Nam-Pyung glared at the Black-Haired Ghost with snake-like eyes.

If anyone saw it, they would consider this a bizarre sight.

Pirates were basically a vertical power structure. As rough people gathered around, the ties between superiors and subordinates were often stricter than those in the Justice faction sects. But the current attitude of this Black-Haired Ghost towards the captain was no different from the attitude of a captain towards his subordinate.

“If all goes well, all the riches and glory will be yours. Right?”

“What do you even mean to say?”

“It means that with rights come responsibilities. If what you want to achieve is big, then what you need to endure will also be huge.”

“Haa!”

Ga Nam-Pyung’s eyes turned cold in an instant. Just by looking at his eyes, it seemed like he would pull out his blade at any moment to attack the man.

“There is nothing to be so excited about. Because this is also a chance.”

“Chance?”

“Anyway, those people only fight in the mountains. They wouldn’t be used to battles like this. If we just bury all those people here, the reputation of the pirates will increase, and there will be more things to gain.”

“….”

“All we need to do is get past this crisis.”

“You speak so well.”

When the sarcastic answer came back, Black Haired-Ghost’s eyes narrowed for a moment.

“I hope you will stop being this perverse. Who is the person who rescued those White Thunder cannons, collected the gunpowder, and helped make the pirates? Who else handed over the position of captain for the sake of the waters which got created without any regret?”

“…”

“Do not forget. I am the one who showed favor to you.”

Kakak!

A sharp trident protruded from inside the Black Haired-Ghost’s sleeve. The man, clutching the three prongs, glanced at Ga Nam-Pyung and then turned.

“If you delay, you will miss the timing. We need to let them know that this is the most dangerous part.”

Ga Nam-Pyung stared intently, without blinking, at Black Haired-Ghost, who was heading towards the water without waiting for an answer. The sound of teeth-gritting came from his lips.

‘Just wait.’

If it wasn’t for the fame, he wouldn’t have the ability to even make a pirate group!

“Huh!”

Ga Nam-Pyung pulled out the blade from his belt.

It was almost like a sword rather than a blade. A horizontal blade with an edge on only one side of the straight iron without any bends.

“I will kill you all!”

Ga Nam-Pyung’s eyes shone, and he ran to the waters.

“Rush!”

“Push away!”

“Kill them all!”

The ship carrying Chung Myung was the one that failed to slow down and crashed into the other ship. Still, there weren’t many idiots who would repeat the same thing after seeing that happen.

Of course, the fact that there wasn’t much doesn’t mean there wasn’t any, but… well, most of the ships slowed down and stopped safely at the edge.

Splash! Plop!

The Green Forest bandits jumped off the ship and rushed to the island.

“Ugh, guys? They seem prepared…”

“Ohhh!”

“Fight!”

“I will turn them into water ghosts today!”

Im So-Byeong, who was speechless, let out a deep sigh.

‘It is my turn.’

The art of war began with training soldiers who followed instructions. But unfortunately, the bandits here were the worst kind to follow such orders.

This meant there was a reason why the Green Forest King had simply and ignorantly destroyed the strategy with force.

In the first place, why would people who have the patience to receive instructions and follow them exactly as told come to deserted mountains and join bandits?

And this was a limitation of the Green Forest itself, which even the Green Forest warriors brought together for decades couldn’t escape.

And…

“Let’s go!”

“Ohhhhh!”

Chung Myung, who was at the forefront, waved his sword in the air to boost their morale.

“….”

Was it an illusion that the Green Forest bandits following behind him and repeated the cheers, looked several times more energetic than Im So-Byeong, who was in the lead?

“Okay!”

As Chung Myung attacked the fleeing enemies at the forefront, Mount Hua’s disciples followed, and the Green Forest bandits began to sweep away the weak ones like hungry tigers.

This was a disaster.

There was no other way to express this.

The pirates waiting on the island were frightened by the sight of the ship escaping and crashing into the sandbank. They were secondarily frightened by the sight of the bandits who rushed out of the ships.

In the meantime, could they come to their senses when their pursuers rushed at them with a force that could break down the mountains?

There was a difference in strength that made them wonder if they would even fight well against them, and with the losing momentum on their side, there was no way it would be a fight.

“Ahahahah! These bastards, how dare they touch Mount Hua?”

“We will make sure to make you pay for it!”

Jo Gul was taken aback by the voices coming from both sides and turned to see Yoon Jong.

“… aren’t those the bandits? Green Forest?”

“Who cares about that! Damn it! Just die, you pirate bastards!”

Jo Gul was shocked to see Yoon Jong running with his eyes closed.

“Uh… that reckless role is mine! S-sahyung! Let us go together!”

Gritting his teeth, Yoon Jong wielded his sword.

Paat!

His sword moved among the pirates more roughly than usual. Just as he had defeated several pirates in an instant and was about to seek his next target—

“You little brat!”

A loud roar came from behind. A man, whose attire was different from the other pirates, ran straight at Yoon Jong.

“I will rip you apart!”

Yoon Jong’s eyes gleamed with determination.

Tang!

Yoon Jong hit the ground and launched himself headfirst at the pirate.

“Huh!”

The pirate’s face showed bewilderment, clearly not expecting such a counter.

In a split second, Yoon Jong’s sword flew towards the pirate’s face like a beam of light.

“Tsk!”

Kakang!

The pirate’s blade barely managed to block Yoon Jong’s sword. But Yoon Jong’s sword, which bounced back faster, struck down the pirate’s blade again.

Kaang!

The powerful blow pushed the pirate’s blade back.

Yoon Jong’s sword then swung and cut the pirate’s chest horizontally.

“Kuaak….”

Thud!

Yoon Jong shouted loudly as he kicked the groaning pirate in the stomach.

“Defeat!”

“Woahh….”

“Come to your senses and fight right!”

“Yes, yes, sahyung!”

Jo Gul, regaining his composure, swung his sword.

Yoon Jong was probably very angry because these people had kidnapped civilians. Normally, this would result in a month-long nagging.

It was then.

“Sasuk! Take the lead! Sago! Please take the left side.”

“Okay!”

“Yes.”

“Soso! Stick behind Sasuk!”

“Okay!”

Chung Myung gestured around and shouted, looking at the Green Forest bandits.

“Push them!”

“Ohhh!”

The bandits rushed ahead with faces full of courage.

“Hmm.”

After carefully examining the situation, Chung Myung lowered his sword.

The battle had ended.

In large-scale battles, the side with the rising momentum will most likely win. In particular, in places where new terrain did not favor either side, the results were usually as good as full-strength battles.

There was no need for him to come ahead and take down the pirates in the hands of his sahyungs.

‘Just let them experience it all.’

Not everything he said at Mount Hua was empty words. In the past, just dragging them around was enough, but now that wasn’t sufficient. They needed to go through more and more experiences to learn.

‘That is right, but….’

Chung Myung was lost in thought for a moment and looked around with strange eyes.

‘It’s simpler than I thought, right?’

Although the scale of the island seemed large, neither the pirate fight that took place in the water nor now did it feel threatening to Chung Myung. The White Thunder cannons were a sure threat, but these people were nothing.

These people made such measly pirate groups and dared to touch Mount Hua?

“… is it because they are new?”

If one thought back, if this was a powerful pirate group, they would have backed out already. It would be even more strange if a newly formed pirate group did such a thing.

One could say that they were ignorant and thoughtless as they touched the civilians, but then they touched Mount Hua, and…?

‘Something doesn’t feel right?’

It was a moment when he thought he had to find the source of his discomfort.

“ACKKKKK!”

Chung Myung’s head suddenly rose at the loud scream from ahead. It was something different from the screams he heard before.

“What?”

At the place where the screams came from, a man half a foot taller than the others stood with a long blade. The bandits who tried to fight him were falling down, their bodies bloody.

The man shouted in anger.

“What are you doing! Turn back and run! But there is nowhere to run! If you don’t want to die, then fight me to the end!”

“Ohh?”

At a glance, he didn’t seem so special.

“Is that the captain?”

Well, no matter what one does, one needs to have the power to attract the attention of many.

Now then, who should he send…

Tat.

But before Chung Myung could even worry about it, someone jumped and landed in front of Ga Nam-Pyung.

“… uh?”

“Mount Hua’s Yu Yiseol.”

She spoke softly, aiming her sword at the captain’s neck.

“Will take that neck.”

Ga Nam-Pyung’s face contorted at that.