Old Bertha slowly approached the airship. The sun was in the middle of the sky, roasting everything under. Anyone on the sea could feel the ocean breeze getting warmer and warmer to the point it made them sweat under their loose shirts.
"You gotta be kidding me" Tiberius looked at the approaching ship through the window. He could vaguely see the sorry state of old bertha. Lucier went to buy a new ship and an old ship was sailing towards them after some time, it didn't take a genius to figure out they bought the old ship.
"Shit" Tiberius heard Sadie curse from the window next to him. He turned to see her looking through the spyglass.
"What?" Tiberius asked. She was shivering slightly. Hence he was curious.
"See for yourself" Sadie handed over the spyglass to Tiberius.
Closing his one eye, Tiberius placed the spyglass on the other to look through it. The surrounding war frigates looked bigger and clear as well as the old ship sailing towards them.
"I'll be damned" Tiberius mumbled the moment he saw the bodies hanging from the sail poles. The bodies were still bleeding. Some bodies had their chests caved in, some had shoulders cut off, some had a hole in their head right between the eyes.
He moved the spyglass to see Lucifer sitting leisurely on the steps with a calm face. Then he moved a couple of inches up to see Gibson holding the rudder while Maxine moved around the deck, keeping the sails intact.
He could vaguely see the blood splatters on her cream-white top.
"Gotta love that woman" Tiberius could guess who was responsible for the hanging bodies.
"Whoever they are, they just called in the devil" A cold sweatdrop appeared on Sadie's forehead,
"You believe in that shit. I mean he's a freak of nature but I don't think he is a god as Maxine or you people claim him to be" Tiberius rolled his eyes,
"You're either stupid or ignorant to believe otherwise. Not even an immortal can use cultivation in the southern continent but he does that. Have you heard of Guardians?" Sadie asked while he was slightly in shock of her direct approach,
"Yeah, they are some big potatoes in your part of the world right?"
"They are one of the most powerful organizations in the world. If they wanted, they could take over the world in a few weeks. Still, they started to piss their pants when he made his mark. I'm telling you Tiberius, he's not a human. At best, he's a god, at worst, he's the devil" Sadie said. Her voice and face couldn't be any more serious.
"Either way, we are here because of him" Suddenly they heard another voice. They immediately turned back and saw Aria standing in front of them
Her gratitude towards Lucifer was multiplied by several folds when he agreed to cure her brothers. In a week or so, her brothers would be completely healed. He performed a miracle in her life. She would never forget what he did for her.
"When my brothers wake up, we are gonna dedicate our lives to his cause and get rid of all those fucking slave traders from this world" Sadie could see the murderous intent in her eyes. Her voice sounded so cold.
*******************************
Big Bertha slowly sailed towards the war frigates surrounding the airship. The cannons on the upper deck were tilted up aimed at the airship. At this close range, there was no way the airship could escape if the pirates decided to fire at will.
"That son of a bitch" Maxine came to his side before handing over the spyglass to him.
"It's Sheyan" As he was looking at Sheyan through the spyglass, he heard Maxine's annoyed voice which also had a tinge of shock.
"So they are here on Pirate Lord Vance's orders?" Michael asked,
"No. The other ships, they belonged to Corey my lord. The eight-petal flower symbol on the flags, that's Corey's crest"
"Hmm, Gibson, slowly sail towards Sheyan's ship in the front"
Michael calmly waited for their ship to get closer to Sheyan's. Sheyan's ship was a war frigate. The ship was almost 60 meters long and seemed to have up to 124 guns: four at the bow, eight at the stern, and 56 in each broadside. The sails were dyed in muddy brows just like the hull. Unlike the rest of the ships, Sheyan had a blood-red shark in the flag.
Although Bertha was bigger than any war frigates surrounding the airship, she had zero firepower at the moment. The size of Bertha intimidated some pirates. Of course, she was not as scary as the Silent Reaper, however, she was intimidating with her sheer size and speed.
When Bertha sailed adjacent to Sheyan's ship, Sheyan along with a couple of other pirates came to Bertha using rope swings.
"Hello Marina, ship sucks but I dig the decoration" he looked at the bleeding bodies hanging from the sail poles above them. Maxine looked at Michael, asking wordlessly for his permission to talk. He nodded, giving her permission to talk.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing, Pirate Lord Corey just wants to meet you"
"There is no just Sheyan. Cut the crap, this is a fucking fleet. You are taking the airship hostage and what the hell are you doing here? You don't answer to Corey"
"I think you are mistaken about the situation here MArina. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. If I were you" Sheyan snickered as he looked around the ship.
"I'd pick the easy way"
"We will pick the easy way"
"The silent queen talks" Sheyan laughed when he heard Michael finally talk. He had a feeling that this youngster is the one running the show behind Marina.
"You made the right choice, now if you follow us"
"Lead the way Captain Sheyan," Michael said with a smile,
"I like you"
The respectful way Michael addressed him put a smile on his face. However, in Gibson's eyes, Sheyan looked like a sheep calling the wolf with a wide grin on its face.
"And if you don't mind, we will remove these decorations," Sheyan asked. It didn't sound like a request but an order.
"Of course" Yet again Michael nodded with a smile,
"And the airship coming with us"
Maxine wanted to leap at Sheyan, rip his throat off for making too many requests at Lord Lucifer.
"As you wish"
"I like you more and more, big fella," Sheyan laughed out aloud.
Michael was six foot three and almost looked six foot four with his muscular build. Even with a large shirt and long coat, his muscles were visible.
Height was another thing that changed about him. Abras was six feet tall but recently Michael had grown extra three inches. Fortunately, the system ensured Michael would grow taller unless he wanted to.
"Aria, follow us!" Sheyan saw the youngster mumble something under his breath, keeping his hand on the right ear.
"They will follow us Captain Sheyan"
Sheyan pointed his finger at the hanging bodies before jumping back onto his ship. The pirates climbed the poles as though they were human monkeys. In a few short moments, they cut down all the bodies from the ropes. As the pirates were lining up the bodies, Gibson followed Sheyan's ship while the rest of the ships followed Sheyan's ship. The airship also slowly moved.
"My lord, what's the plan?" Maxine whispered,
"Just go and have a nice long chat with Pirate Captain Corey"
Six hours had passed in a blink of an eye. In the six hours, Michael was inside the captain's cabin meditating. The captain's cabin was a dust-covered, broken mess. There was no table, chair, or anything but only broken wooden plans and empty ale bottles. The place seemed like the go-to place for pirate parties. The room reeked of piss and ale yet Michael controlled all his senses through meditation. He learned meditation from a Shaolin monk back on earth when he trained under Specter.
"My Lord" He could hear the door creak open, He slowly opened his eyes to see Maxine standing by the door.
With a nod, Michael stood up. He walked towards the door, feeling the anger within him calming down. When he stepped out of the door, he was welcomed by a colorful island under millions of stars and a fool golden moon.
There were countless warships lined up before the island. The peculiar feature about the island was the glowing flowers. The scenery looked as though the island was a Christmas tree and the flowers were the decorations. Everywhere he turned, he could see the glowing flowers. Red, blue, orange, golden, silver, green, every color flower could be seen on the island.
In addition to the glowing flowers, the island's atmosphere resembled a party. A piece of loud music reverberated the island while the cheers of the pirates were earsplitting.
"I love this world" He took in the beautiful sight of the island. A smile appeared on his face after a while.
"Lead the way, Maxine" as Maxine led the way, he saw Sheyan and his crew walking in front of them. The airship was still above the same fleet that came to surround the ship earlier.
Although Michael seemed to be walking looking at the path before him, he was scanning his surroundings. Thanks to the Environmental scanning skill, he didn't have to make a mental map like he used to.
For a few minutes, they continued to walk on the wooden platform that led to a huge manor in the center of the island.
It was neither a castle nor a fancy manor like Bradford manor but it was huge. Three stories, a balcony where several couples of pirates were making out, lawn filled with drunken pirates singing and dancing, and tiny glowing flowers decorated the entire manor like led lights.
Following Maxine and Sheyan's group, Michael entered the manor through the main door.
From the outside, the manor looked delightful, rustic, and folksy. When he stepped inside he was welcomed by redwood walls and thick, stone beams as well as a sense of home and the smell of alcohol.
It was as charming inside as it is on the outside. Tree logs supported the upper floor and the sconces attached to them. The walls were decorated with veins, the same glowing followers that Michael saw outside and several pot plants. He felt like he had entered a tavern inside a botanical garden. It was clear Corey was a lover of nature.
The manor itself was packed with pirates. Several long tables were occupied by separate groups of pirates, all enjoying themselves, but they kept to themselves. The other, smaller tables were also occupied by people who are clearly having a good time. Even most of the stools at the bar were occupied, though nobody seemed to mind more company.
"Welcome to witch island folks" Sheyan turned around with a wide grin on his face to welcome them.