Sonney covered her mouth and felt her tears run down her cheeks.
“I brought her here because she told me that she had another body in here.” Ambrose said and crossed his legs. “Well, does she?”
Sonney and Lonney looked at each other with a conflicted look and wondered whether they should show it to this strange man, but then they saw the eye swimming inside the pearl, which shook rapidly.
“Bonney… are you sure?” Sonney asked with shock.
The eye continued to shake.
“All right…” Lonney glanced at Ambrose and said, “Follow us.”
Ambrose stood up and followed them to the dark basement.
After the lights came on, Ambrose’s jaw almost dropped as he saw many strange pods lined up in the room with skeletons that had little bit flesh floating in greenish liquid.
However, one of the pods had the naked body of a beautiful woman—looking exactly like Sonney and Lonney.
After pressing a button on that particular pod, the greenish liquid vanished and the pod opened up. The naked body of a woman fell to the ground like a lifeless doll.
At that moment, Lonney opened the Sky Fall pearl, and gently took out the eye out while Sonney opened one of the naked woman’s eyelids, with no eye inside.
After that, Lonney inserted the Bonney’s eye inside the socket and closed the eyelid.
Meanwhile, Sonney went to another room and soon came back with another eye that was swimming inside a bowl. She then inserted that eye into another eyeless socket.
And after they were done, they put the unconscious woman on the chair and looked at her in silence.
At that moment, the naked woman flinched as her heart started to slowly beat, and then her eyelids fluttered before opening wide.
“Haah…” She let out a short breath and touched her throat with a relieved look. “F-finally…”
“Bonney!” Lonney and Sonney smiled. “What happened to you?”
“It’s a long… story…” Bonney sat up, and looked at the black-haired young man with a deep gaze. “Ambrose, thank you. I owe you my life…”
“We had a deal, remember?” Ambrose crossed his arms. “I help you to get back to your body. You’ll help me to kill that fucking Mars.”
“I won’t let you… down.” Bonney said and then looked down at her naked body.
Sonney quickly brought her some clothes and helped her dress.
She had some difficulty moving, as she was basically born into a new body.
Ambrose went to pick up the Sky Fall pearl and stored it back inside his inventory. Even without the eye, it should still work.
“Well, what happened?” Lonney sat beside Bonney and grabbed her by the hand. “We have time.”
Bonney sighed and started recalling what happened and what led to this.
Meanwhile, Ambrose left the basement and sat down near the window, looking towards the starry sky with a thoughtful look.
‘I wonder how she is doing.’ He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to remember her face. ‘Once I am out of Mars’ cluthes, I’ll return to Amaterasu. It has been quite sometime since I was last there.’
At that moment, he also remembered Alice and her Silver Heart guild. Those memories felt like a distant past, but he knew he had to face them soon.
As he enjoyed the view of the stars, occupied by his thoughts, the basement door opened, and Lonney looked around until she saw Ambrose and then approached him.
“I am grateful to you.” Lonney sat near him elegantly. “For helping Bonney, we are very grateful to you.”
“I am quite out of touch with this cloning business, but based on your secrecy, it’s not really allowed, is it?” Ambrose asked curiously.
“No…” Lonney shook her head. “Our father played around with black magic, and his life’s work was to create us. He died around decade old, but we and the clones in those pods are the last remaining proof of his life.”
“I see…” Ambrose nodded. “Why did he want to create y’all?”
“He created us in the image of his first-born daughter.” Lonney sighed. “Who is basically our sister. However, she died very early, and then our mother as well. To fulfill the empty void in his heart, he created us in the image of his daughter and wife.”
“I see.” Ambrose nodded with a sigh, not understanding just how deep the rabbit hole went. “Does Sea King know about Bonney?”
“No. If he did, he would’ve killed us.” Lonney looked out of the window. “In the eyes of many, clones are not real human beings. No one would feel pain in killing us.”
‘As if they are NPCs in the eyes of other NPCs… It’s how most of the players treat NPCs.’ Ambrose turned silent because of the thought.
“Anyway, Bonney said she has to fulfill some kind of promise to you.” Lonney looked curiously at him. “Who is this Mars?”
“My captain.” Ambrose scoffed and then moved his hair, showing the black heart mark on his forehead. “He has put a slave contract mark on me. I have to kill him to escape this.”
“Is he the one who killed Bonney?” Lonney asked.
“Yes.” Ambrose nodded.
“I see…” Lonney clenched her hands. “Well then, I wish you’ll wish will come true.”
“Me as well…” Ambrose whispered and saw Lonney return to the basement.
‘Mars, I am becoming stronger.’ He formed fists with his hands. ‘This is just the beginning.’
…
After a day passed, bright lights shone from the Sea King’s castle.
It was time for the auction, and thousands of pirates walked up the mountain, heading towards the auction hall.
It was the biggest auction in Pirate Battleground and seasoned pirate captains, all of them with over a million bounties on their heads, gathered here to sell their most valuable spoils from their journey.
The atmosphere was tense and electric, filled with the anticipation of a bidding war.
The auction hall had enough seats for nearly two thousand people, but it was getting filled quickly.
On the top floor of the auction, there were about ten VIP rooms reserved for special guests, including a few Kings with bounties of over ten million silvers.
These rooms were the most sought-after and highly guarded areas of the hall.
At the entrance of the hall, Mars arrived with his hands slipped inside his suit trousers. He rarely wore any suits but thought that today was a good occasion.
It wasn’t only him; all the pirates wore their suits, as the Sea King wanted this to look like a proper event and not some gathering of evil pirates.
He was the type of guy who liked to keep up appearances.
Inside one of the VIP rooms, Tyrannus looked at the nearly-full auction hall with a small smile. On his hand, there was a cup of red wine, and his wife sat beside him, her face covered by a veil.
At that moment, the door opened, and three figures stepped inside.
“This place is secured,” Arkham said with his arms behind his back.
Beside him, Dreadnought, his face hidden behind an orange skull mask, looked out of the window towards the hall. It was never possible to tell what he was thinking about.
Adam yawned loudly, and his hair was still slightly disheveled. He spent the entire previous night and the entire day today with the women he met last night at the bar.
It had been a very busy and exercise-heavy day for him.
“Adam, you look unruly. Your tie is loose, and your hair is messy!” Tyrannus said angrily, narrowing his eyes into a glare. “You want me to throw you out.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Adam yawned and left the VIP room.
‘You think I wanted to stay here with you all? Fuck nah, I’ll go get drunk.’ Adam chuckled and then easily put on a proper appearance with just a few quick adjustments.
‘I wonder if Ambrose has arrived already. Maybe he’ll go get a drink with me before the auction starts.’