Chapter 35: Unexpected Help

Saberi, seeing that Ethan had deduced the reason behind their land, nodded proudly.

"That's right! In the Northern Territories, without the Grand Duke of the Northern Frontier's permission, even the Emperor himself wouldn't dare issue a colonization order there. No one would dare to attempt to settle there without his blessing."

Ethan felt a bit puzzled. "If the Grand Duke has such influence, why did our land get attacked?"

Saberi gave a bitter smile. "Our territory was attacked by orcs and bandits. How can the Duke admit that either orcs slipped in right under his nose or that bandits run rampant in his territory? In reality, he's already helped us a lot. Every time a cargo ship arrives at port, it's his troops who come to pick up the goods. All we have to do is unload the cargo, and that's it. Easy, right?

"They even built that road for us, claiming it was to facilitate the purchase of goods from our land. Not only did they build the road, but they also managed to secure a road construction subsidy from the Empire, citing strategic reasons. To be honest, he's done everything he could. The rest is up to us. If we can't defend that land, it means we're not fit to be the Grand Duke's allies and don't deserve the benefits that come with it."

After hearing this, Ethan's expression turned strange.

"I understand. Thank you for telling me this. But right now, we should focus on dealing with those pirates! Look, they're about to crash into us!"

"Don't worry," Saberi said casually. "They always do this, thinking they can scare us. They know their ship looks big and sturdy, but it's actually one of our old decommissioned models, barely seaworthy. Our ship is not only bigger and heavier, but it's also reinforced. If we collide, we might sustain some damage, but they'll be feeding the fish. They just want to force us to slow down so they can board. If we ignore them and speed up, we'll leave them in our wake in no time."

"Got it."

As Saberi predicted, the pirate ship veered off at the last moment, narrowly avoiding collision. The two ships passed each other with only about ten meters between them.

Ethan squinted at the passing pirate ship, examining it closely. It was about 45 meters long and 14 meters wide at its broadest point, similar in design to their own cargo ship, with a pointed bow, a wide stern, wind-powered sails, and a massive aft castle.

Ethan's eyes lit up as he shouted to Saberi, "Slow down! Let them catch up."

Saberi was shocked. "What are you thinking?"

Ethan smiled. "We're going to rob them!"

"Rob the pirates?" ...

Under Ethan's urging, Saberi reluctantly reduced the sails and slowed down, maintaining a low speed. The pirates, seeing the sails drop, hurriedly turned and sped up to catch up. After half an hour, they were side by side, about five meters apart.

Nearly a hundred pirates, armed with various weapons, began shouting and threw grappling hooks to board the ship. Just as they started to climb, a shadow leapt from above and landed on their deck.

The pirates, seeing someone jump over to their ship, laughed and charged at Ethan with their weapons raised. Ethan had waited until they had secured their hooks before jumping over, not wanting to lose the opportunity to take the ship. As soon as he landed, he activated his "Quantum Fund" skill and his "Lever" skill, unleashing a frenzy of attacks.

To his surprise, despite the nearly hundred pirates, they were all ordinary people, not a single skilled fighter among them. Each swing of his sword cut through both the pirates and their weapons with ease. After cutting down dozens, the remaining pirates were terrified, with some jumping into the sea.

Ethan was frustrated. Those pirates were potential skill points, and he couldn't let them escape. He slowed his pace to avoid scaring them too much. Fortunately, since they were on a moving ship, jumping overboard didn't guarantee survival. Most of the pirates hid below deck.

Ethan looked at the few who had jumped into the sea, feeling a pang of loss. "My skill points!"

There was nothing he could do. He couldn't jump in after them.

Reluctantly, Ethan entered the ship's hold, determined to capture the remaining pirates. He locked the door behind him to prevent any from escaping and began a methodical hunt.

In the dimly lit hold, his senses guided him to each hidden pirate.

"Are you ready, little ones? Here I come!" he taunted, dragging his sword along the floor to create a menacing sound.

Clang! "Found you!" He stabbed into a pile of junk, hearing the satisfying squelch of flesh and the pirate's scream.

One by one, he hunted them down, taunting them until the last few surrendered in terror. Ethan agreed to their surrender but brought them onto the deck and executed them one by one, using his "Lever" skill to maximize his gains.

The deck became a grisly scene of dismembered limbs, blood, and gore. Ethan's pragmatic reason for bringing them on deck was simple—cleaning up the mess in the hold would be too much trouble. He planned to take the ship with him to his territory, using it for shelter and storage.

After the cleanup, he called for Saberi to send down more men to help.

When Saberi's guardian knight, Storio, stumbled drunkenly onto the pirate ship, he found Ethan tossing bodies overboard.

"You've already taken care of them. Why call me down?" Storio asked, puzzled.

Ethan shouted back at Saberi, "I asked for help cleaning up, not a drunk! Also, get some men to secure this ship. We're taking it with us!"

The crew of the "Popeye the Sailor" watched in awe from the railings, their eyes filled with newfound respect and fear. Even Lily was speechless, having witnessed a side of Ethan she had never imagined. Today, they had seen something extraordinary.