Translator: Cinder Translations
...
"Boss!" The vice-captain of the pirate gang trembled as he suggested to "Eel" Jaden, "Shouldn't we retreat first? Their weapons are too powerful."
Several leaders who hadn't participated in the battle and thus hadn't taken the drug a second time remained rational.
However, his suggestion received no response. The pirate leader stood dumbfounded, watching as the enemy slowly slaughtered the underlings.
"Captain Jaden?"
After calling out several times without a response, the vice-captain cautiously reached out and tapped Jaden's shoulder.
What happened next was beyond anyone's expectations. Jaden swiftly turned around at a speed almost too fast to see clearly, grabbed the vice-captain's throat with his right hand, and with a quick upward motion, lifted the vice-captain's feet off the deck.
A near-growl emanated from the pirate leader's throat, "Coward! If it weren't for your incompetence, we wouldn't be in this situation!"
"I... I..." The vice-captain struggled to pry Jaden's fingers from his neck, but no matter how hard he tried, Jaden's grip was like a vice, crushing his windpipe.
The surrounding pirate leaders were shocked by this sudden turn of events; no one dared to approach to intervene.
Soon, the vice-captain's face turned liver-colored due to lack of oxygen, and his struggling gradually weakened. Finally, he lay still, held by Jaden by the throat, his body swaying from the recent ordeal.
"Ah!" Jaden bellowed in release, tightening his right hand's five fingers.
His fingers dug viciously into the vice-captain's throat, tearing out a large chunk of flesh along with his Adam's apple, blood pouring out profusely.
"Snap!" The vice-captain's body collapsed onto the deck, fatally wounded in the throat, certainly beyond survival.
The remaining pirate leaders on the ship stared dumbfounded, unable to comprehend their leader's sudden, severe action.
They faintly sensed: this Jaden was no longer the leader who was accustomed to restraint, whose emotions were hidden.
Jaden stared at the vice-captain's body, gasping for breath, then suddenly looked up at the others.
From the pirate leader's mouth came a chilling voice, "What are you bastards still doing here?"
Why were they still here? Were they planning to jump onto the enemy's ship like those underlings and get slaughtered? Everyone thought to themselves.
"All of you, go kill!"
"All of you, go fight!"
"All! Get! Out! There! Fight! To! The! Death!"
The pirate leader roared at the top of his lungs like a madman.
As soon as Jaden finished speaking, a stray bullet flew in, piercing through one leader's head. The high kinetic energy of the lead bullet directly shattered his skull, splattering brain matter on those nearby.
"Splash!" Another leader jumped into the sea, swimming desperately towards a nearby navy warship that was nearly done with the battle.
Following him, the second, the third... eventually, all the leaders left beside Jaden jumped into the sea, swimming towards the enemy warship.
"We surrender!" "We surrender!"
They shouted loudly towards the naval officers and soldiers on the warship in the icy cold seawater.
Their underlings were almost all dead, their own leader had gone mad, and the pirate ship was entangled with the navy's warship. There was no time to run, so other than surrender, what other choices did they have?
To fight to the death with heroic resilience? What bullshit, they were pirates.
The shocking sight of skulls being blown apart prompted these helm-turning pirate leaders to instantly make the most advantageous choice for themselves.
The soldiers on each warship were busy cleaning up the aftermath and temporarily had no time to pay attention to them. One officer loudly ordered them to stay put in the water and not move, knowing well that these guys were excellent swimmers.
Meanwhile, the "Hope" also finished its battle with the three pirate ships from earlier.
With their numerical advantage, these three pirate ships could have taken down the "Hope" if they had brazenly approached under cannon fire. However, their time with the "Eel" pirate gang was short, and regardless of before or after joining, they were not under unified command. The captains were all focused on preserving their own strength.
So each ship hesitated to move forward, hoping someone else would take the lead.
Without the danger of being directly engaged, the "Hope" calmly fired continuously. Although not every shot hit an enemy ship, they steadily inflicted increasing casualties on the pirates.
Then, the core forces of Jaden's closest followers from the three pirate ships rushed recklessly towards the other Alden military ships.
The course of the battle left some people's eyes almost popping out on the deck. They had expected, with the help of mysterious drugs, that while the process wouldn't be easy, they could certainly defeat the navy.
But reality harshly slapped them in the face. With victory completely tipping in favor of the Alden navy, one pirate ship fled into the distance, while the remaining two raised white flags and surrendered to the "Hope."
The battles on the decks of each ship quickly concluded. Most pirates were killed, a small portion surrendered voluntarily, and another portion, incapacitated due to severe injuries, were captured.
Guided by the prisoners, the naval officers and soldiers saw "Eel" Jaden left alone on the pirate ship.
They maneuvered their ships to encircle the vessel where Jaden was.
"Surrender! You have no way out!" someone shouted at him.
"Why bother with surrender? Just shoot him dead with one shot!" another impatiently suggested for his immediate death.
"Why not blast him with the cannon? It'd be more satisfying than just shooting."
...
At this moment, the pirate leader paid no heed to the various voices around him, muttering to himself, "It shouldn't be like this! It shouldn't be like this!"
His eyes widened, his mouth twisted back, almost into a grotesque smile.
He couldn't accept reality.
After diligently accumulating strength and cautiously making every decision, his pirate gang had finally started looking respectable.
Then a mysterious figure claiming to be a "wizard" appeared, giving him tremendous power. With the wizard's mysterious abilities, his pirate gang quickly grew in strength.
Watching his dream of becoming the second maritime giant after Edward about to come true, he never expected that one careless move would turn his long efforts into nothing.
"It shouldn't be like this!"
Jaden roared, drawing the attention of the officers and soldiers discussing how to deal with him.
Under the incomprehensible gaze of the crowd, Jaden tremblingly took out a bag from his waist and aimed the opening towards his mouth, continuously pouring something inside.
A prisoner explained to the naval officers guarding him, "He's taking drugs. After taking that kind of drug, he gains strength far beyond ordinary people!"
The officers and soldiers were intrigued, closely observing the pirate leader's "performance."
"What's happening to his body?" one soldier exclaimed incredulously.
"I'm going to kill all of you! I'm going to kill all of you!" Amidst his frenzy, Jaden, heavily drugged, suddenly began to swell, his height shooting up to around two meters.
His clothing burst open, exposing explosive muscles on his chest, arms, and thighs.
Jaden's face also gradually twisted into an indescribable appearance, veins bulging on his face, making anyone who saw it feel their scalp tingling.
His fists grew to the size of cooking pots — not an exaggeration, they were actually that large. At the ends of his thick fingers were nails resembling small daggers.
The creature before their eyes could no longer be called a "human"; he had completely transformed into a monster.
Yet the officers and soldiers watching were not afraid because anyone could see that this "monster" was now enduring immense pain.
Roaring as a monster, Jaden repeatedly slammed his head against the mast, shaking it as if it might break.
Then he wildly dug into his own chest with his sharp nails, quickly turning his body into a bloody mess.
Watching the pirate leader's tragic sight, the people didn't know whether to sympathize with him or to hate him.
Commander Austin of the navy shook his head and gave the order to the sailors, "Finish him."
A row of sailors with rifles aimed at Jaden. After the gunfire, the sea returned to tranquility.
---
(End of the Chapter)