Pirate Kingship
Chapter 56 - 55 The Faceless One, Spirit Behind

Chapter 56: Chapter 55 The Faceless One, Spirit Behind

The attacker from a third party, the "Gunpowder Artist," still sat motionless on the beach at the far end of Oriole Street.

It was as if the spectacular fireworks show just now had nothing to do with her.

The color beneath her mask was as pale as Byron’s.

I almost got fooled by that old fox. The pirates I assassinated before were clearly just small fry, pushed out to create a diversion. This one is the real prize. Red Beard is stronger than I imagined. Despite having served as a member of parliament twice, he still concealed a trump card no one knew about. These veteran pirates truly are old sea dogs, survivors of countless storms. Targeting him next time will be even harder.

In the pirate community, a glance at the Wanted Criminals list usually allows one to roughly gauge a person’s strength and danger level.

[Low Sequence]: First Order Servant, Third-Rate Wanted Criminal, 0-3,000 pounds; Second Order Professional, Second Grade Wanted Criminal, 3,000-10,000 pounds;

[Middle Sequence]: Third Order Elite, Level 1 Wanted Criminal, 10,000 to 50,000 pounds; Tier 4 Hero, special-grade Wanted Criminal, over 50,000 pounds.

Further up, there are practically no High Sequence pirates on the Wanted Criminals list.

At that level, one already has the right to sit at the table and share the spoils openly with the rulers of various countries.

So, when the Overlord comes after you on the pretext that you have a major weapon, you better really have one!

Iron Anchor Bay is well aware that there are no longer any Fourth Order Transcendents among the pirates within the North Sea. The members of parliament are all Third Order great pirates.

The true strength of "Red Beard" Edward is hard to say.

But just the bounty amount equivalent to Fourth Order, even if it’s just the Fourth Order’s base price, is enough to indirectly illustrate just how fierce this menace is.

Things are looking grim for Iron Anchor Bay. If that murderer becomes the Military Governor, it certainly won’t be lucky for the Bayfolk.

The "Gunpowder Artist" turned and left, preparing to recheck control permissions for the hundreds of Fortress Cannons and gunners in the port.

As a Third Order Artisan, she firmly believed that in this world, range was truth and firepower was authority.

If they couldn’t solve the problem, it must be because the quantity of gunpowder wasn’t enough!

Unfortunately, she clearly underestimated the enemy’s determination and ruthlessness, still unaware of what she and Iron Anchor Bay were about to face.

「...」

The brief day slipped away in an instant.

In a corner of the port city, within the area where the Bayfolk lived, a faint light shone from a household’s window.

A pair of siblings, one older and one younger, were lying by the window peering outside through the evidently poorly made glass.

"Sis, I’m hungry. Why hasn’t Mom come back yet?"

But time and time again, their hopeful expectations only led to disappointment.

Under the pitch-black night that had already set in completely, the familiar tender figure never appeared.

At this time of day, their mother, who worked at the bakery, would have already been home, and she certainly would have brought them fragrant white bread.

Sometimes there were also sweet honey bread and memorable jam bread...

Those small surprises were the most precious memories of their childhood.

"Little Amy, hang in there a bit longer. Mom must have been delayed by something and will be back soon. If you’re really hungry, drink some of the mushroom soup left from lunch."

The sister, no more than ten years old, suppressed her concern and comforted her younger sibling.

And so, after another half an hour of waiting, during which they added more wood to the fireplace, they were about to fall asleep on the windowsill when they suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Mom’s back!"

The two sisters jumped up happily on the spot and fluttered towards the door like two little butterflies.

But as they opened the door together, ready to throw themselves into their long-awaited mother’s arms, they simultaneously stopped in their tracks.

"Mom, what’s happened to you?!"

Indeed, it was their mother at the door.

But she seemed to have taken a fall, her clothes stained with mud, the hem of her skirt torn, and she carried a faint scent of blood.

The woman with an unusually pale face lifted the basket that was hooked in her arm and explained in a slightly stiff tone, "I accidentally fell on the way and twisted my ankle. I didn’t run into anyone familiar and it took a lot of effort to walk back alone, children, please help me in."

The sisters immediately forgot their confusion about why their mother had come back so late.

They hurried to her side, one on the left and one on the right, and carefully supported the woman into the house.

They were so concerned that they didn’t realize their mother’s hands were ice cold, like two blocks of ice.

Moreover, at the doorway, there remained a series of footsteps that wandered back and forth like a headless fly.

Before they invited their mother in, her feet never... touched the threshold!

The two young girls helped the woman sit down on a chair, one fetched her medicinal liquor, and the other poured her a cup of hot water.

"Mom, I’m so hungry, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

Unable to resist her hunger, the younger sister whined to their mother.

But when she looked up, she didn’t see the sweet white bread she had imagined coming out of the basket.

Instead, there was a pile of bloodstained cutlery, axes, and saws!

And then they saw their mother—no, that thing that they didn’t know what it was—with ghastly green eyes and lips curled into a chilling smile.

"What are you staring at? Come here, Mom is about to start the meal."

HISS!

Their hairs stood on end.

The sisters had grown up hearing various bizarre tales from this pirate port and were not naive little girls from some secluded countryside.

They immediately realized something was terribly wrong.

Just as they turned to flee the house, they were horrified to find their "mother’s" shadow suddenly stretching long, linking all their shadows together.

In an instant, they couldn’t move a finger and their faces froze with sheer terror.

Then, they saw their "mother" pick up the blood-dripping axe from the table and slowly move towards them.

Looking left and right, as if seriously considering which one to eat first.

The sisters could neither run away nor shout for help, only silent tears rolled down their cheeks.

Their sadness stemmed not only from the fact that they were about to die but also from the fear that their real mother probably... would never come back.

Watching as the "mother" raised the axe high, ready to swing it down forcefully towards the more tender younger sister, her movement suddenly hesitated.

The sisters’ eyes widened as they saw a deathly pale, faceless figure emerge from behind their "mother," its toes perched beneath her heel.

A blood-red rune on its forehead flashed with an urgent glow.

How annoying, even having dinner isn’t peaceful. Rush, rush, rush! It’s just killing a mere ’Mad Hunt’, isn’t it? How can I kill him if I don’t run into him? What do I care if the bait you sent out lives or dies? Don’t you still have ’Jack the Ripper’ around?

The delicacy before it, the thing was about to swing the axe again when it seemed the person on the other end of the contract used some kind of compulsion, causing the deathly pale figure to flicker.

Suddenly, as if pulled by a rope at the back of the head, it levitated then vanished into thin air.

The soul and life force within the "mother" were also pulled out by the Faceless Man in his struggle, drawn into a silver coin embedded in his chest, one bearing an octopus insignia.

That was the very element of the Bay National Group.

His roar lingered in the room:

"Damn you, Red Beard, I will eat you sooner or later!"

The "mother" also slumped limply to the floor.

「After a long while.」

The cries of despair and helplessness from the sisters began to spread through the house.

A happy family was shattered in an instant.

And this was merely the beginning of the many tragedies at Iron Anchor Bay.