"Hah!… Hah!"
Panting heavily, Martin crawled up to the quarterdeck. His face had turned pale and covered with dust and dirt.
SCORCH!
In daylight, the red and orange flames appeared dim yellow with a thin fog of black smoke just about the deck.
"Cough! Cough!"
On the remaining parts of the main deck, surviving sailors with dizzy heads tried to stand up aggressively because the pirates were approaching quickly.
"Ahhgge!"
Some immediately found themselves succumbing to intense pain and so loud groans sounded. Martin struggled and finally reached the quarterdeck with stiffness in his body.
"Hah… hah…"
Using the taffrail as support, he used all his strength in his arms and stood up. His silky and smooth hair had now turned dry and messy, completely disheveled.
Small portions of his clothes were burnt revealing his fair bare skin. It wouldn't be incorrect to say that Martin was rich and held authority. Taking care of your appearance, it was something only rich people, such as Merchants, Nobles and the Rulers could do.
"C-Crew? Can you all hear me?"
Martin called out loudly but didn't get any response. It seems the whole crew suffered and were in a miserable condition.
"Captain!"
A familiar voice was heard. It was the first-mate, he walked to Martin with difficult movements. His left hand was crushed and hung like a bag.
Martin's face changed, he supported his friend and laid him down on the wooden floor. Looking at his left hand, Martin knew it was impossible to heal it even with healing portions.
"Don't worry about me, Captain. I can fight."
The first-mate reassured Martin as he pulled out his cutlass and gave a grinning experience. But Martin understood, behind that grinning face, hidden was misery and pain. For years they have been together, traveling in the sea with determination and confidence in themselves, and they indeed achieved great success.
From a tiny boat and two men, to a huge merchant with more than fifteen crew members and a large ship. It was as if only yesterday they had started their journey together.
"Robin, we will survive. Then we can retire and open a farm. I will appoint you as my secretary dealing with cows."
Martin placed his hands on Robin's shoulder and said with a forced smile. Tears streamed down his eyes.
"Affirmative, Captain!"
Robin nodded his head and continued to grin waiting for the pirates to make their entrance.
Martin stood up and looked towards the direction of the advancing pirate ship, it almost felt like awaiting his death.
* * *
On the helm, Corpse handled the wheel and directed the ship to move on towards the left side of the merchant ship.
"Tie the sails! No need for movement. Grab on the ropes and prepare to board their ship, on my command."
"Aye, Captain!"
The crew shouted back. Then six of them climbed on the masts and pulled the sails up with the help of ropes tied on the sails. Jackson hurried with some crew members and brought firearms and swords, then he distributed them to the rest.
Roger walked up to Corpse and shifted himself to face towards the merchant ship. His eyes that have seen almost every emotion on a human, flashed with a light.
As Daisy arrived near the merchant ship, everyone positioned themselves and clenched on their weapons tightly.
Their hearts quickened, nervous and stressed they were, after all it was their first time being a real pirate.
"Old man Roger, don't you need a weapon?"
Asked Corpse as he scanned Roger and found him with no firearm or swords. As old as he was, with no weapons on him, he was no more than a duck on duck on dry land.
"Look at them, my presence there won't make any difference."
Roger pointed towards the merchant ship, which now was almost destroyed internally. One would notice that the ship was slowly sinking as well.
The sailors on board there were all frightened, and horrified. Anyone would be if pirates came to invade while their ship was no more than a shipwreck. Few of them were already dead and some lost their limbs. The ones who could fight couldn't gather their courage.
Daisy stopped as she came beside the merchant ship. The crew members each held on a rope tied on the masts, for the purpose of swinging on and boarding on the merchant ship.
Since the Birex-X was slightly bigger than their ship, their vision was locked up. Corpse jumped and stood up on the taffrail.
* * *
The gusty winds blew up fast and pushed tiny waves on the water surface. The bright sun shone up in the sky, very few clouds floated up there.
On the edge of the quarterdeck of the Birex-X, Martin held his long cutlass and stood with his head high. His face was solemn and serious, as he was about to face a battle which might be to death.
His blue eyes, just like a clear sea, cast a gaze down on the pirate ship's captain. Like a dead man, his face pale and with no expressions on him.
'As expected, a new pirate group has emerged from the sea.'
Thought Martin. He extended his hand holding the cutlass, and pointed it at the pirate captain.
"Ah, the will to die. He has great courage and is willing to fight for his right to live."
A smile bloomed on Roger's face, his eyes stared at Martin and old memories surfaced up in his mind. Corpse raised his eyebrow hearing Roger's comment.
Then, he looked at Martin and came into an agreement with Roger. One who was willing to die for living, is the one who could be spared.
But as a pirate, Corpse showed no pity and sympathy. He had decided on being harsh and cruel, the moment he saw his father get killed like a dog on the sinking ship.
"Captain, command?"
Jackson, who was on the main deck, ready to launch himself to the merchant ship, asked. It was very hard to control oneself when they were facing such situations.
Corpse didn't reply, instead, he gestured to Martin with his finger: 'May I come?'
Seeing his gesture, Martin stepped back and made room on the quarterdeck. Corpse leaped from the taffrail and boarded the merchant ship.
THUD!
His hard boots slammed on the wooden floor, producing a loud sound. He shifted his eyes from Martin to Robin, who leaned on the helm with high spirited eyes.
"Are you prepared to die?"
"I am not obliged to answer."
Corpse gave a nod and unsheathed his cutlass. Clear enough to see yourself on its blade, sharp enough to cut through flesh and bones, it was a great sword.
"How about it? Either kill or beat me, and you are free to go with your remaining crew."
Corpse faced Martin with a smile, his imposing figure only caused Martin to back further. Like the falling night, engulfing the skies and lands.
"Captain?"
"Captain, what are you saying?"
Jackson and the rest of the crew, except Roger, were surprised by his change of decision. It wasn't very pirate-like to let your prey leave after catching up with it.
Time, hard work and sweat would be wasted all for nothing. And it wasn't a wise choice to let down your crew just after becoming a captain. This could create an issue regarding trust.
"Quiet! I am the captain, and my words are the law at sea!"
Corpse stomped his foot on the floor and roared out loudly. Silence followed behind as the crew closed their mouths and watched.
"Come now, let's battle to death!"
Corpse loosened his arms, then relaxed his body. His stiff spine bent and his entire figure slant towards the front. An image of death, circled around him, and delivered a dreadful impression on Martin.
His pale face glared at Martin, his abyss-like eyes fixed on him. All this was pretty scary and frightening.
"Huuu…"
Martin exhaled a breath, then composed himself before dashing forward and stabbing his cutlass at Corpse.
TING!
A strong force stopped his cutlass from advancing any further. Looking at Corpse, who held out his cutlass and blocked him, Martin sighed.
It was truly impossible to end the fight with a single blow. The two exchange some moves, various slashes from different angles cut at Corpse only to be blocked by him.
It was a display of swiftness and strong postures. Both the men showed how great they were with their swords.
One concentrated more on attacks, the other concentrated only on defense.
"Waaah! Captain's so cool!"
"I knew it! He must be confident enough or else he would have never made a statement like that."
The praises from his crew made Corpse happy within. But he had no time to savor the moment as he faced Martin, who was dead serious on killing him.
Each strike from his cutlass contained fury and power. Corpse moved closer to the center while pushing Martin to the edge. No matter how good someone was in fighting, when no space to move, they will only have little to fight back.
"Ha!"
Cutting down his cutlass with all his might, Corpse successfully pushed Martin to the edge of the quarterdeck right next to the taffrail.
TING!
The two cutlass clashed one final time before Corpse lifted his right foot and kicked Martin on the taffrail. Then he brought his cutlass right to Martin's face, almost cutting his nose in the process.
Unfortunately, Martin was somewhat prepared and positioned his cutlass in between blocking the blade from slicing his face.
With their faces, inches away from each other. Their eyes locked on and Corpse grinned, his pale face seemed like a ghost on death night.
"...Do I see fear?"
Asked Corpse. He clenched the handle of his cutlass tighter and weighted his entire body on Martin.
It was a precarious situation for Martin, his upper body was pushed back by Corpse to limits and anymore would cause him to fall in the sea. But there was a way for him to escape from this position, it was to use Corpse's own weight on himself and throw him in the sea instead.
Before Martin could prepare his next move, he saw his first-mate, Robin stand up and charge towards Corpse with his sword.
"Die, Pirate!"
"No! Stop i-!"
BANG!
The loud gunshot, as clear as the sky today, resonated in the sea. Robin lowered his head with stiff movements, blood gushed out of his chest and soaked his white shirt underneath his coat.
The feeling of wanting to vomit, the sensation of pain and the realization of him dying, made Robin stumble and fall down on his butt.
THUD!
His face still revealed the shock and surprise, he didn't see how he was shot or how Corpse was already cautious and prepared for a surprise attack.
"R-Robin?"
Due to Corpse having to move himself to shoot Robin, he unknowingly gave Martin some space. Yet, he didn't get any of the expected attacks from Martin.
He turned to look and was in enlightenment, Martin stood on the edge with his devastated expression as if the world had come to an end.
"Hahaha!"
A series of laughter came out from Corpse's mouth. Then his entire crew on Daisy, bursted into laughter as well.
"Remember me! Mine Crew! And mine ship!"
Saying so, Corpse raised his right foot once again and kicked Martin off the ship into the sea.