As wave after wave of cannon fire came to an end, more than half of the coastal artillery and pirates on Pirate Island had already been destroyed.
Their morale had completely collapsed.
But before they could recover, the second and third volleys followed immediately.
The remaining coastal defenses were annihilated in an instant.
The pirates gathered around the harbor were stunned at first.
Then, once they realized what was happening, they turned and ran for their lives.
None of them could understand why the Golden Merry had suddenly launched an attack on Pirate Island.
Captain Sandstorm and the group of pirates aboard the ship were clearly their own people.
The Golden Merry was even flying a black flag!
A terrible possibility immediately occurred to them.
"Could Captain Sandstorm have betrayed us?"
"Did he actually bring the Lothar Kingdom’s naval forces here to attack his own people?"
"That must be it!"
"Captain Sandstorm must have been captured by the Lothar Kingdom’s naval forces!"
"To save his own life, he made a deal with them!"
"And we are part of that deal!"
"That damned pirate!"
"That cowardly bastard!"
"Damn you, Captain Sandstorm!"
"Even if I die, I’ll never forgive you!"
The pirates did not know the truth.
All they knew was that Captain Sandstorm had brought the Golden Merry into their stronghold.
And now, the Golden Merry was bombarding their island.
There could only be one explanation—
Captain Sandstorm had colluded with the naval forces and intended to wipe out the Gale Pirates.
At this moment, the pirates fortunate enough to escape the bombardment already hated Captain Sandstorm to the bone.
They wanted nothing more than to tear him apart and devour his flesh.
John raised his monocular telescope and coldly observed the hellish scene before him.
A faint sneer appeared on his face.
Meanwhile, the pirates standing on the deck of the Golden Merry were equally stunned.
Panic spread through their hearts.
"Why?"
"Why are we suddenly attacking the Gale Pirates’ home island?!"
Captain Sandstorm reacted immediately.
"JOHN!"
He roared furiously and prepared to head toward the command room to demand an explanation.
But before he could take more than two steps—
squad after squad of elite soldiers raised their muskets and aimed directly at Captain Sandstorm and the other pirates.
Their eyes were utterly cold.
They looked at the pirates as though they were already corpses.
Their fingers were already resting on the triggers.
The moment an order was given, they would pull without hesitation and send every pirate here to their death.
The sight of hundreds of muskets instantly forced Captain Sandstorm to calm down.
His expression darkened.
"Damn it."
"We fell into a trap."
"John probably intended to attack the Gale Pirates from the very beginning."
"That’s why he pretended to bring us home."
"He wanted to use our identities to enter the island without resistance and make everyone lower their guard."
"Only then did he launch the attack."
"That way, he could minimize his own losses."
Once Captain Sandstorm understood everything, cold sweat poured down his back.
"Damn..."
"Is this really the same idiot John from before?"
"His mentality and methods are already comparable to those of a ruthless veteran captain."
At that moment, John appeared before the pirates, surrounded by a group of guards.
Woop looked at him with complicated emotions.
The person before him had truly become someone else.
He was no longer the childhood friend Woop once knew.
Only the legendary great figures of the seas possessed methods as ruthless and decisive as John’s.
John looked toward Captain Sandstorm and spoke calmly.
"I’ll give all of you two choices."
"First—die."
"Second—each of you personally kills one pirate from the Gale Pirates."
"As for you, Sandstorm..."
"You must kill one hundred."
"The two captains currently on Pirate Island will also be your responsibility."
After saying that, John swept his icy gaze across the group.
The Gale Pirates had three captains.
Captain Mad Shark was one of them.
The other two were currently on the island.
If John wanted to subdue these pirates, then he had to follow pirate rules.
And among pirates, there was one thing that mattered more than words—
a pledge of blood.
If they wanted to survive, they had to kill their former comrades with their own hands.
As for the three captains...
none of them could be allowed to remain.
John was not worried about Captain Mad Shark rebelling.
He had already cornered him completely.
If Mad Shark wanted to live, then he would have to kill.
And his targets would be the other two leaders on the island.
From the moment John appeared, Captain Mad Shark had been clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
He gritted his teeth.
The fury in his eyes was so obvious that even a blind man could have sensed it.
But he did not dare attack.
He did not want to die.
After hearing John’s demand, a determined gleam flashed through Captain Mad Shark’s eyes.
Without saying a word, he drew the short blade at his waist and became the first to jump into the sea.
He began swimming toward the harbor.
Woop stared deeply at John.
Then he jumped as well.
A third pirate followed.
Then a fourth.
Soon, hundreds of pirates plunged into the sea.
If they wanted to live, they had no choice but to kill their former comrades as a pledge of loyalty.
Only then would they earn even the bare minimum of John’s trust.
Immediately afterward, the Golden Merry slowly began moving toward the harbor.
Its cannons continued bombarding the island the entire time.
When the Golden Merry finally reached the port, the boarding bridges were lowered.
Squad after squad of elite musketeers quickly disembarked and began surrounding and capturing the pirates.
Anyone who resisted—
was killed without mercy.
Anyone who surrendered—
was allowed to live.
...
John stepped onto the soil of Pirate Island.
Feeling the solid ground beneath his feet, his expression remained calm.
This place...
would become the first stronghold of his rise.
Before long, reports from across the battlefield began arriving.
One subordinate stepped forward.
"My lord, we captured two medium-sized vessels and five small tugboats."
"We have also taken thirty-five hundred prisoners."
"We seized grain, alcohol, metal, cotton cloth, ammunition, and various other supplies."
"In addition..."
"We discovered correspondence between the Gale Pirates and several foreign kingdoms."
John waved his hand dismissively.
He did not care much about any of those things.
Compared to John’s personal wealth, the assets of the Gale Pirates were insignificant.
At present, John still had more than 9.9 billion gold coins stored in his personal space.
It was questionable whether the entire Gale Pirates organization was worth even one hundred thousand gold coins in total.
As for the prisoners...
these pirates were desperate men who lived with death every day.
They were excellent cannon fodder.
They were also experienced at naval combat.
With a little training, they could easily become elite troops.
What John lacked most right now was not warships.
It was people.
He needed countless people.
If he recklessly recruited too many men through normal channels, the various maritime kingdoms would inevitably notice him.
In that case...
becoming an Overlord of the seas through piracy was the fastest path to power.
Pirates respected only strength.
That made things much easier.
John spoke.
"We currently possess one armed merchant ship and two medium-sized vessels."
"Incorporate all three into the fleet."
"As for the prisoners, deal with them."
"Anyone willing to stay gets paid."
"Anyone unwilling..."
"Kill them."
"We will rest and reorganize for two days."
"Three days from now..."
"We attack the Blazing Fire Pirates and wipe them out."
...
While John reorganized his forces—
inside Esca City of the Heller Kingdom...
Holly stared at the exquisite delicacies before her and found that she had completely lost her appetite.
No matter how delicious a dish might be, anyone forced to eat the same kind of luxury every single day would eventually grow tired of it.
Sometimes, when one was truly starving, even a coarse wheat flatbread could taste far better.
In front of Holly sat an enormous roasted beast leg, crisp and golden on the outside while tender and dripping with juices within.
There were desserts and elaborate dishes that the royal chefs had spent hours preparing.
There was even Golden Honey Mead brought across the ocean from the Far West.
And yet...
Holly still found everything bland.
For some reason, she suddenly found herself remembering the most ordinary roadside food stalls in the human cities of the Myriad Gods Universe.