The White Bone Pirate Crew’s branch was destroyed.
I had already heard the news.

The leader of the White Bone Pirate Crew, Edmund, gathered his subordinates.

“There’s nowhere to retreat.”
“Why, why is there nowhere to retreat? If we escape now…”
“If we run, she’ll chase us. That crazy woman can’t stand pirates under the sky.”
“…Why does the captain speak as if he knows the invader?”

At his subordinate's question, Edmund recalled the past.
It was the memory from the time of his death.

‘I can’t forget it.’

After all, he was one of the many pirates who died in her fleet.

─ You damn pirates. Where are you running off to?
─ The slim woman you’ve been desperately searching for has come to the sea herself! Where are you going?

The Abella that Edmund remembered was different from the present Abella.
The Abella he remembered was a young woman who had been hunting pirates at her peak.

‘How could I forget?’

The face of the one who killed him, her voice.
It’s natural that he could never forget.

Edmund gritted his teeth.

“That crazy woman will chase us to the ends of hell. Just because you’ve been pirates. So we must fight. It’s the most likely way to survive.”

Had Edmund been the one to engage in piracy in the kingdom of Bellada, he would have never even thought of fighting.
He knew better than anyone that he had no chance against a Mana Expert like Abella.

‘We would’ve just run away with our tails between our legs.’

But!

Edmund, who had rolled through the Tower of Struggle’s third floor, was different.

He killed the weak and absorbed their souls.
He acquired new skills and gathered equipment.

‘I can win. I can hunt even a Mana Expert.’

It wouldn’t be easy.
But the thought that it was impossible never crossed his mind.

Edmund encouraged his subordinates and set sail.

Boom-!
“C-Captain! We’re sinking!”

The ship struck by a cannonball sank.
The speed at which it sank was beyond imagination.

‘Is its durability already exhausted?’

The ship, which had been half-destroyed, fell without even being given a chance for repairs.
The crew couldn’t even attempt to escape and fell directly into the sea.

They struggled to survive, but unfortunately, most of them drowned.

Edmund did not give up.
He clung to the hope that if he just destroyed the ships, they could win.

“…Dragon?”

That was before the brilliant light poured from the sky.

In terms of sheer manpower, the White Bone Pirate Crew had the advantage.

The damage they caused by shooting at the islands here and there was hard to call their full power.
Their true strength was gathered at their base on Island 9.

‘The size of Island 9 is overwhelmingly larger than the other islands.’

Island 9 was the last gateway leading to the fourth floor.
Compared to Island 1, it was thousands of times bigger.

“They’ve even brought the players they had kept as slaves into their forces.”
“…That’s likely.”

Hikari had already circled the White Bone Pirate Crew and had a rough idea of their forces.

“Wouldn’t it be quicker to go for the captain first?”
“Is that possible?”

We didn’t even know how strong the captain was.
We had never even seen the face of the leader of the White Bone Pirate Crew.

We were relying entirely on Hikari’s information.

“He wasn’t extremely strong. It depends on what skills he has, though.”
“That’s good enough.”

An overwhelmingly strong person is noticeable just by breathing.
Look at Abella.
Her spirit was exceptional.

‘Mana Experts, peak martial artists, these kinds of people have a distinct aura.’

They exude the energy of the strong.

‘Now that I think about it, Yuki was like that too.’

When we first met, Yuki had worn a confident smile.
Unlike the weaklings who immediately try to attack with their scans.

‘…I think we can win easily.’

The White Bone Pirate Crew captain’s strength?
It wasn’t enough to scare us.

The reason was simple.

‘If he were an abnormal strong person, he would have ascended to the fourth floor by now.’

The fact that he remained on the third floor and ruled as the king of a small pirate crew showed how weak he was.
Just like the ambiguous gladiators on the second floor.

“Take me to the captain.”
“…Are we not letting Abella handle it?”

A pirate captain like that probably has something special.

‘I might be able to absorb his soul.’

I couldn’t leave it to Abella.

“…Hold on.”

Hikari scanned the White Bone Pirate Crew’s ship.

“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“The captain. He’s dead.”

What?

“They’re all looking for the captain. From what I heard, it seems like he was on the ship that got hit by the breath attack.”
“......”

It was the most powerful ship.

‘General Yi Sun-sin also rode on the turtle ship, didn’t he? Of course, the strongest would be on the most powerful ship.’

But I never imagined he would die so easily from a breath attack while standing on that deck.

“Well, whatever. Let’s hurry up and get off.”

Abella shouted something.
The ship moved forward and collided with the White Bone Pirate Crew’s ship.

‘This crazy senile old woman is already going into close combat….’

There was no time to waste.

“Ugh, ugh. Run!”
“Where to? You can’t jump into the sea. You can’t escape!”

They climbed onto the only remaining functional ship.

The pirates who faced me trembled, unable to control their shaking bodies.
They were terrified by the display of power in the sky.

“Damn it! Fight! If you don’t want to die here!”

Some of the pirates were brave enough to step forward.
I eagerly accepted their desperate struggle.

[Ground Smash]

I slammed the deck with all my might.
The wooden planks in front of me shot up, sending the enemy flying into the air.

Thud-.

I barely got the enemy airborne and tried to follow up with a combo, but he died from the impact of the ground smash.

‘The damage is over 300...’

Enduring even a single hit wasn’t easy.

“Bakel!”

The dead man’s name was Bakel.
He was a Midgardian.

The pirates screamed, unable to believe his death.
But they didn’t dare to approach.

“If you don’t come, I’ll go to you.”

I had no intention of letting the pirates go free.

Such an opportunity, where so many villains were gathered, might never come again.
I had to use it to further my growth.

Thud—!

I stabbed, shot poison needles, fired cannonballs, and froze them to death with ice walls.

It didn’t take long to clean up a single ship.

“Uwooo!”
“Die!”

I moved to the next ship.
There, players who had been slaves were wielding swords against the White Bone Pirate Crew.

“You damn bastards!”

Blood splattered.
As the players fought among themselves, there were casualties on both sides.

Not just the pirates, but many others also died.
However, they didn’t back down.

“Because of these bastards! Ugh, our sister!”

The battlefield was almost frenzied, close to madness.

‘...That’s probably how much they’ve suffered.’

The time they had spent as slaves must have accumulated resentment.
They saw Abella’s appearance as an opportunity to vent all their anger.

“Please, save me. Please. I didn’t do anything!”

A pirate shouted as he was stabbed by a sword.
It was a fatal wound, and unless someone helped, he would die.

“Shut up, you bastard!”
Gasp…!

A woman drove her sword into his neck.
Blood sprayed everywhere, but the woman didn’t care.

She had a pretty face.
What kind of horrible things she must have endured—no need to ask, I could tell.

There was no stopping the rage.

“Pirates can be killed. It’s a human’s duty to clean up the garbage that pollutes the sea!”

Abella had no intention of stopping them.
In fact, she was encouraging them.

‘...Is she enjoying this?’

A smile filled with joy.
It seemed like she was enjoying the bloody chaos.

A chill ran down my spine.

The pirate crew, now without their leader, collapsed helplessly.
With the asymmetric force already tilting the balance, they couldn’t turn the tide.

Abella landed on Island 9.

“There may still be pirates left. Don’t let your guard down!”

With Hikari’s help, we searched the island thoroughly.

We quickly wiped out the remaining White Bone Pirate Crew.

More people than expected were caught trying to escape.

We freed the enslaved players as well.
They shed tears of joy.

The surviving players, who had participated in the battle, were especially emotional.
Seeing the players who had been slaves, their emotions were overflowing.

Abella looked at the people embracing each other and smiled contentedly.

“How is it? Doesn’t it feel good?”
“…What?”
“I’m practicing justice with my own strength. I’m cleaning up the pirate trash that’s been disturbing the sea. Only the navy can feel this emotion.”

Was this the same woman who used to run around on the ship, scattering sword energy?
The atmosphere was completely different.

“Are you thinking of going up to the fourth floor?”
“I have to.”

“All I had to do was find the coordinates.
If I circle around Island 9, I think I can get everything.”

‘If I keep grinding with auto-hunting, it’ll eventually accumulate.’

There was no need to search for the coordinates for Island 10.
The map I obtained from Island 1 already had the coordinates.

“Right. I can’t stop anyone who wants to go up.”
“What about you, Grandma?”
“Well, I’ll stay in the sea. I’ve enjoyed life, and there’s nothing left for me to accomplish.”