Although Ren had thought before that he wouldn't grieve if Solo were killed, now that the Ironhook Gang was attacking, he was a target too.
This, Ren could not tolerate. He had just learned some grappling, after all. He shot up and threw a punch. The iron plates on the gauntlets he hadn't taken off yet slammed viciously into an enemy's face, and with the sound of cracking bone, the man went flying.
He followed up with an elbow strike, a whip kick, and then a straight kick with his left foot, dropping the next few men who rushed him.
But too many were swarming him. Ren quickly used the Light Body Technique he had just learned that morning. His agility and speed increased, allowing him to fight while retreating. He couldn't take this head-on. As the great military strategists said: of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best.
Real combat was the best teacher. Aided by the Beginner Brawling Talent from his gift pack, Ren's fighting became faster, more precise, and more ruthless. Coupled with his Beginner Self-Healing Body, which allowed him to tank a few hits, he was in no mortal danger for the time being.
The good news: Ren was about to break out of the fray.
The bad news: Ren was the only one left on his side, and everywhere he looked, he saw enemies with depraved smiles and bloodthirsty eyes.
Just as the thugs were about to swarm him, Gangplank, who was watching from the back, shouted out:
"Hold it!"
He pointed a finger at Ren. "This kid—don't kill him."
Ren, whose nerves were stretched taut, let out a slight breath of relief.
As the old saying goes, a great man lives between heaven and earth; how can he languidly remain under another's thumb? And another says, he who understands the times is a wise man. Just as he was about to open his mouth and beg for mercy...
Gangplank, having spoken, turned to leave. As he turned, he casually raised his hand back towards Ren and flicked it upwards. Then, Gangplank's bright, cheerful voice drifted back:
"Take him alive. I'm going to use him for a bone carving."
The words of surrender that had been on the tip of Ren's tongue transformed into: "Gangplank, f--- you!"
He grabbed a crate to his right, hurled it forward, and spun around, sprinting for his life. After knocking down a few more men and taking several nasty hits, he broke through the weakest point in the encirclement.
The thugs of the Ironhook Gang gave chase, with a few, high on the thrill of the fight, firing their guns from the back. Luckily, most of the shots missed. Ren only took two bullets, neither in a vital spot. Even more luckily, a commotion broke out behind him, and the gunfire stopped. Ren risked a glance back and saw that a few shots had hit their own allies. After some... physical persuasion from their comrades, the shooters put away their pistols.
Ignoring the dispute behind him, Ren fled for his life, ducking into an alley. After a series of twists and turns, he ran straight into a dead end. Seeing this, his pursuers slowed their pace, approaching him with "friendly" smiles.
With his back to the chasers, a smirk curled on Ren's lips. He vanished on the spot. Except for a faint golden shimmer, it was as if he had never been there at all.
And that's my secret escape route! After using Flash, Ren didn't linger. He kept his head low and moved a considerable distance, using Flash several more times without regard for the mana cost until he reached a safe spot and hid.
He waited quietly for more than ten minutes. Once he confirmed he was safe, his tense nerves finally relaxed. He hadn't felt it before, but now that he had relaxed, he was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. He glanced at his arms; thanks to his Beginner Self-Healing Body, the serious wounds were no longer visible. Confident that he was safe, Ren slowly closed his eyes.
The young man was still too careless. If he had checked himself more carefully, he would have noticed that while his minor wounds were healing slowly, the two gunshot wounds in his back were still bleeding...
A silent alley. A bleeding Ren. And a woman with fiery red hair.
The look of surprise on her face faded, replaced by an interested smile. Sarah walked forward and looked down at the injured Ren. "An interesting young man, and appearing at a time like this, no less."
The red-haired beauty was the same 'Miss Fortune' from before.
==============
"Alright, I'll get it back for you."
"I look forward to your success. A pleasure doing business with you."
As Ren slowly regained consciousness, he vaguely heard someone speaking. He didn't make a sound or a move. Silently sensing the state of his injuries and realizing he wasn't tied up, he decided to play dead.
Click-clack, click-clack. The sound of high heels. The person approaching was a woman.
A delicate touch. She was touching his face. The itchy sensation made his face twitch almost imperceptibly.
Don't move! Hold on, I'm still unconscious!
As if sensing Ren's struggle, the small hand left his cheek, then moved to rest just below his nose.
Ren slowed his breathing as much as he could, but the owner of the hand let out a surprised gasp.
"He's not breathing. Did he not make it after all?"
"What a shame. Life is so fragile. Rafen, come give me a hand. Deal with the body."
"Let's not waste it. Old Dougie hasn't eaten all day. Chop him up and feed him to the dog."
A deep male voice replied, "Right away, Captain."
Ren, who had been lying flat, shot up and stood on the ground. He looked at the woman opposite him—who wore a ladies' sun hat, a gorgeous green dress, a thin black veil over her face, and a wig of long, golden hair—and spoke:
"What a coincidence, right? I was just on my last breath, but then you walked over, and suddenly, I'm all better!"
"What do you call that? You call that a miracle of life!"
The beautiful woman opposite him didn't speak. An attractive smile played on her lips as she gave him a slight nod, as if to say, go on.
"Have we met before? You look familiar."
"Are you Miss For—" "Yes, it's me. Sarah," the red-haired beauty, now having removed her hat, wig, and veil, responded.
"But there's no prize for guessing." As soon as she finished speaking, the cold steel of a pistol pressed against the back of his head. Ren glanced behind him to see a brown-skinned, middle-aged man.
His gaze snapped forward. Another pistol was now pressed against his forehead, held by a burly man.
"Hello, I'm Ren. So, which one of you is Rafen?"
"The one in front of you," Sarah said.
"Ren. The bookkeeper of the Tidal Shark, Solo's right-hand man. I didn't expect you to be a mage as well. No wonder Solo valued you so much, enough to entrust you with the ship's finances."
Sarah continued, "Your captain of many years was killed just for looking at someone the wrong way, and your entire crew was slaughtered. And the one who did it was Gangplank, leaving you completely helpless against him. That can't feel good, can it?"
"But right now, there's an opportunity. A chance to wipe out Gangplank and his Ironhook Gang. Care to help me, Mr. Ren?"
Ren didn't bother to correct her on the point about his whole crew being killed. While there were still pirates left behind to guard the ship, if they weren't smart enough to run for it in this situation, they deserved to be fish food later.
"Respected Miss Sarah, you might have a slight misunderstanding. I'm not from Bilgewater. I was abducted by Solo and forced onto his ship when I was a child. I always hid and never participated when they robbed merchant ships. A lot of the crew were unhappy with me for that."
"So, the fact that they were killed? I'm not sad about it at all."
Sarah's eyebrow arched slightly. Then, in an unconcerned tone, she continued:
"That, I didn't know. But it's a shame you won't be helping me in the upcoming operation."
Ren saw Rafen's finger seem to twitch. He didn't have to guess; the man behind him would do the same.
"Hahaha," Ren laughed.
"While I don't care that they were killed, that bastard Gangplank came after me, and even wanted to turn me into a bone carving."
"I can't take him on now, so I could just hide and come back for him later."
"However," he said, locking eyes with her, "Miss Sarah has provided an opportunity to deal with him right now. In that case, I'd be more than happy to participate."
"So, can you count me in?"
It was only then that Sarah seemed to show a genuine smile.
"Welcome aboard, Mage Ren." Rafen and the man behind him lowered their pistols. Rafen, that rugged brute, even revealed a warm smile.
Ren and Sarah sat down in the living area. The middle-aged man brought over drinks, fruit, and pastries, then retreated. Rafen stood behind Sarah's chair.
Over drinks, the two began to discuss the details. Sarah laid out the general plan, deliberately skipping over specifics while emphasizing what she needed Ren to do, how to do it, and when.
As his thoughts settled, Ren realized what was happening. He had arrived right on the timeline of the Burning Tides. As for the details Sarah deliberately skipped, he wasn't worried. He knew this part of the story by heart.
With his mind at ease, Ren began to think about how to execute the plan more perfectly. He couldn't let Gangplank escape like he did in the original story. Not after that bastard had wanted to turn him into a bone carving.
For any readers who might not know, bone carving is a nearly lost art in Bilgewater, and Captain Gangplank is a master of it.
Bone carving, as the name implies, is the art of carving patterns and designs into bone.
What makes it a little different from other art forms is that bone carving is done on a living person.
Furthermore, drugs or other methods must be used to keep the victim conscious as their flesh is stripped away and the residual tissue is scraped off the bone, exposing it in its purest form for carving. This process can last for hours, possibly even longer.
So now, as Ren recalled Gangplank's words, his resolve hardened. I'm ending him. This time, I'm ending him for good. I won't give his ex-girlfriend a single chance to help him like she did in the story.