Chapter 163: Actor Danitz
"Why did you kill him?!"
Danitz roared, utterly exasperated, his eyes fixed on Alger.
Alger was momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events, reacting a beat too late.
Dead?!
He instinctively released his grip and quickly stood up. At his feet, the 'Brando' he had just been pinning down lay motionless on the dirty floor, his eyes wide open and devoid of all light.
The wound in his abdomen was still oozing blood, staining the ground beneath him a dark red.
Alger knelt down and reached out a slightly trembling finger to check for a breath.
Cold, not a single breath. He was indeed dead.
Damn it! How could he die so easily—he cursed inwardly, his expression turning incredibly grim.
"Shit! I told you to stop him, not kill him!" Danitz immediately rushed forward, pointing at Alger's nose, his face full of anger as he argued.
Alger quickly snapped out of his initial dismay. He abruptly stood up and retorted, not to be outdone: "Why are you yelling at me? His fatal wound was clearly from your shot! I was just kindly helping you stop him, and you were the one who told me to."
"Nonsense!" Danitz's eyes were red. "You clearly used too much force and accidentally killed him!"
"I just pinned him down! How could an injured ordinary Beyonder die from me pinning him down?!"
"He was already close to death, and you used so much force!"
With ten thousand pounds at stake, the two of them, in this dark alley, argued fiercely over a corpse like two fighting roosters.
Just then, a strange light suddenly appeared on 'Brando's' corpse. Immediately after, a translucent Beyonder characteristic, condensed with spirituality, slowly separated from the corpse, instantly drawing their attention.
Their arguing stopped abruptly.
"Damn it!" Danitz slapped his forehead, walking over in 'annoyance' and grabbing the Beyonder characteristic.
"Too late! I forgot to commune with the spirit first!"
Seeing this, Alger also felt a pang of regret. He had been too careless, forgetting such an important matter because of their argument.
To be worth ten thousand pounds, this 'Brando' must have had many secrets. If the truth could have been learned through spiritual communion, the value of that information alone would probably not be less than a thousand pounds!
Now, everything had vanished with the dissipation of the spirit body.
A moment later, Alger was the first to break the silence. He glanced at the now cold corpse and said in a deep voice: "No matter what, it's done. Let's discuss the bounty first."
"You killed him, and you still want a share of the bounty?" Danitz immediately jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"I'll say it again, his death has nothing to do with me!"
The two then argued again over the 'division of spoils'.
In the end, Danitz was the first to 'give in'. He glanced around and said impatiently: "Alright! This isn't the place to talk business!"
He gestured to Alger, and together they hoisted the unlucky corpse and returned to the dilapidated Houses.
Back inside, Danitz threw the corpse on the ground, plopped down in a chair, and took a big swig of wine before saying resentfully: "Actually, the last time we played cards, I had already agreed to take this Brando on as a subordinate, but because of time constraints,
I didn't get a chance to bring him aboard the Golden Dream.
As it turns out, this guy got into trouble outside and coincidentally ran into me, wanting me to shelter him—hehe."
Hearing this, Alger couldn't help but inwardly mock 'Brando's' naivety.
On the high seas, to actually believe such a verbal promise, especially when that promise came from a pirate.
Then, he asked: "You really don't know who he offended?"
Danitz glanced at him, then took another swig of wine: "He said he started fleeing because he offended Disease Maiden Tracy, but he himself didn't seem to know much about the bounty."
"Otherwise, even he wouldn't be stupid enough to actively seek me out."
Alger crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow, and gestured for him to continue.
"As for how he offended Disease Maiden, he didn't elaborate, and I don't really want to know." Danitz waved his hand. "Our captain taught us that the less you know, the safer you are."
Disease Maiden, a new adventurer—Alger silently pondered this information. There must be a hidden story.
He temporarily suppressed the doubts in his heart, looked at Danitz, and asked the question he was most concerned about:
"What about the bounty?"
"If he's dead, the bounty might not count."
"We might even get into trouble."
"That problem isn't too bad." Just as Alger was secretly annoyed, Danitz spoke: "Although the bounty warrant asked for him alive,
this guy told me before he died that Disease Maiden wanted to kill him—and he showed extreme fear.
Shit, with his guts, he still wanted to adventure on the sea." Danitz downed the wine in his cup, then continued:
"So I think a corpse should also be able to get the bounty. It's just that the price will probably be discounted."
Alger nodded, acknowledging Danitz's statement.
"Sigh—finders keepers, how about I give you ten percent of the bounty?" Danitz seemed reluctant to talk much with Alger and wanted to quickly send him away.
Ten percent? Alger's mouth twitched. This was too disrespectful of him. He held up four fingers and said coldly: "I want at least forty percent." "Shit! Are you trying to take advantage of the situation?!" Danitz refused without thinking.
His current emotions were not entirely an act. After all, Luo En had promised him that once Tracy was successfully tricked, all the bounty money would belong to him.
The more Alger wanted, the less he would get. Exchanging a corpse for money already involved a discount, and Alger was taking away forty percent at once. How much of that ten thousand pounds would be left for him?
"How about this!" Danitz held up two fingers, his voice pained: "For your help, twenty percent!"
Alger shook his head, looking like he had him cornered: "Forty percent."
"You..."
The two then haggled for a while.
Finally, with his eloquence, Alger still managed to persuade Danitz.
However, Danitz also made conditions.
He could give Alger forty percent, but the task of claiming the bounty had to be done by Alger, as his own channels were inconvenient. Secondly, the Beyonder characteristic separated from the corpse would be his. Most importantly, when claiming the bounty, Alger must never reveal his existence, and simply say that 'Brando' was captured by him alone, and also accidentally killed by him alone.
"Why?" Alger knew Danitz wanted to distance himself, but he still asked, wanting to see what kind of excuse the other party would come up with.
"Sigh—" Danitz hesitated a bit, but still spoke: "Since we're cooperating, I'll tell you, but you have to keep it a secret."
"Of course."
"Actually, the captain and the others will be taking action at sea recently and need me for support, but because of the Storm Church, our plan has been delayed for now..."
"In short, I can't let anyone know that I'm still in Bayam during this time."
Is that so? Alger pondered. This reason sounded plausible, but he always felt something was off. However, he didn't delve deeper.
For him, going to collect the reward himself, although risky, was relatively easier to manage and ensured that the money would eventually pass through his hands.
He reluctantly agreed to Danitz's request.
After everything was settled, Danitz took out a satchel from the corner of the room and a pair of pants, handing them to Alger.
He indicated that these could be given to him as evidence first, and once he had finalized the bounty matter, he would then give him the corpse.
This guy still doesn't trust me. Well, it's free money anyway—Alger took the items Danitz handed him and agreed to the other party's request.
Before leaving, Danitz suddenly remembered something and said:
"Oh, by the way, this Brando actually had an Orange Cat, but the cat ran away."
Cat? Alger noted this information, waved his hand, and quickly left the place.
About twenty minutes later, a rhythmic knocking sound was heard.
Hearing the pre-arranged signal, Danitz opened the door.
Luo En, wearing a semi-top hat, pushed the door open and entered.
"Today's operation went unexpectedly smoothly."
"Also," Luo En looked at Danitz, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes behind his glasses, "You acted well."