Boom!
The side of the Black Sail Warship mercilessly fired cannonballs, rushing towards the black sail ship, hitting the nearby water surface and splashing up giant water blooms. After the side cannons were done firing, the Black Sail Warship immediately changed course, charging fiercely at the black sail ship, while the main cannon at the front of the deck continued shooting cannonballs.
Their distance was not close, with the speed of a warship, it was difficult to catch up to a fast ship, only cannon fire could be used.
But at this distance, hitting the target with cannon fire was also very difficult.
"Let me!"
Seeing the cannonballs failing to hit, Sage anxiously strode up with Moon Step, jumping low towards the black sail ship. When he was halfway to the black sail ship, he stamped his leg and jumped high into the air, raising his right leg high to his head.
"Rankyaku..."
Sage fixed his gaze on the black sail ship, swinging his leg powerfully downwards.
"Great Helm Break!"
Swish!
A huge pale blue slash charged fiercely, its tail end slashing through the water surface, forming a giant inverted V mark. With incredible speed, it caught up to the black sail ship, slicing through the stern like cutting through butter, all the way to the ship's bow, splitting the entire ship in half, even the mast was cleaved into two, completely severed.
Sage stepped down a few times in the air, swiftly landing at the stern of the black sail ship, menacingly saying: "Run! Keep running! Let's see where you run to now!"
After being wronged for days, he finally found the culprits!
The pirates on the ship stood dumbfounded on either side of the severed ship, their faces revealing terror, evidently still not reacting to the scene of the ship being slashed in half.
Sage scanned around, finding only ordinary pirates, and asked: "Where is the man in the black cloak?"
"Wha, what black cloak man?" a pirate stammered.
"Where is your leader!"
Sage directly jumped in front of this pirate, grabbed his collar, and viciously said: "You robbed Kampas Town, right? But do you know that the warship has been chasing me every day? Where is your hideout, and where are the treasures kept?!"
"I, I don't know anything..." the pirate shouted nervously: "We just robbed this town, nothing else!"
Facing someone who could cut a ship in half with a single strike, they indeed lost the courage to fight back.
"Alright, not talking, huh..."
Sage tapped the pirate's forehead backwards, making the pirate freeze motionless, only his eyes darting around anxiously.
He looked at the other pirates, saying: "I've struck his Secret Hole, he won't move for half a day, and now..."
Crash!
He kicked the man into the sea.
"Pirates are good with water, aren't they? But if you can't move in the water for half a day, can you still showcase your swimming skills?"
Sage sneered at the pirates: "You wouldn't want to drown in the ocean you love, would you?"
"Don't, don't be afraid!"
A pirate who seemed to be the leader clutched his blade tightly, stammering: "He is only one man, and we are all proud pirates! Lads, just get rid of him!"
"Is that so?"
Sage stepped towards the pirate.
With just that one step, the pirate immediately dropped the blade, knelt on the ground, and shouted loudly:
"Sumimasen! We are the pirates from Nadia Kingdom! We're sorry for causing you trouble!"
The pirate who was kicked into the sea directly sank, and hasn't resurfaced yet.
He didn't want to be the second one.
"Tsk, pride..."
Sage turned back, glanced at the Black Sail Warship gradually approaching, and kept quiet, waiting for his men to come over.
There were only about twenty pirates on the fast ship, not many, who were intimidated by Sage and dared not resist. Soon, along with the looted treasures, they were all taken onto the ship.
About twenty pirates were bound with ropes, kneeling on the deck, surrounded by a group of sneering pirates wielding swords.
Lily brought a chair and placed it on the deck for Sage to sit down. At this moment, he was holding a stack of Belly, tapping it on his hand, while looking at these pirate captives, "Your 'Nadia'..."
"It's Nadia!" Lily suddenly corrected.
"Is there any difference?" Sage looked at Lily.
"No..." Lily shook her head: "It just feels a bit off. It's better to say it correctly."
She couldn't pinpoint why she felt that way, but somehow, calling it 'Nadia' didn't feel right.
"Alright, Nadia..."
Sage said: "Your Nadia Kingdom ordered you to become pirates and plunder?"
This group of Black Sail Pirates came from the nearby Nadia Kingdom, and all their plundering actions were directed by that kingdom.
Including the recent robbery of three major commercial towns, it was all done by them.
Just flew the black sail, escaped quickly, and no one could ever know who did it.
Originally, after they finished the robbery, the Kingdom told them to wait for a while, to wait for things to calm down before going out again. According to what people above said, it seems they were planning to create a treasure. With that treasure, they would not need to fear the Navy's pursuit in future robberies.
Everyone was supposed to be recuperating, but at this time, they heard a rumor that another group of Black Sail Pirates had appeared somewhere and had even hijacked a warship, and were now being pursued by the Navy.
After repeatedly confirming it wasn't them, many pirates began to have their own ideas.
Someone had drawn the attention away from them, so why not take this opportunity to rob more?
So they organized their own pirate crew to rob other places, but as soon as they had just hit a town, they got discovered by Sage...
"Were you the privateering pirates established by your King?" Sage frowned and asked.
The pirates, at this point, remained silent, each lowering their heads without saying a word.
Sage didn't press further as no one would believe it even if they admitted.
A King organizing a pirate crew is not unheard of, but such matters are spoken of in private and never acknowledged openly.
One is a King ruling a country, and the other is a notorious pirate; the gap between them is too vast.
"Alright, found the culprits, now I have another question..."
Sage tossed the Belly in his hand and said, "That town seemed to have a large building, why didn't you rob that, only robbing some common people?"
The loot on this ship included several pieces of gold and silver jewelry and one million Belly.
This loot wasn't insignificant; even if divided among the pirates, it was still a decent amount.
An ordinary person's monthly salary is about a hundred thousand Belly, so this trip equals half a month or even a month's worth.
Being a pirate is indeed a quick way to get rich.
"That tycoon has a very strong defense force; we didn't dare to approach, and we also feared the Navy would come, so we grabbed some money and took off," the pirate said honestly.
"Just that? Then what kind of pirate are you?"
Sage sneered and waved his hand, "Throw them overboard."
His men took these bound pirates and threw them into the sea one by one, leaving their survival to fate.
The sea itself is cruel.
Being a pirate means putting your life at your waist.
Sage had already made that preparation when he first became a pirate.
"Sage, head straight to Nadia?" Lily asked.
"No rush."
Sage shook his head, looking at the town, dim in the front and brightly lit in the back. "Since we're already taking the blame, we might as well take it all. They're all Black Sail Pirates, so let's finish what they failed to do! Boys, head towards the town, keep robbing!"
"Oh!!"
The pirates raised their blades and shouted, then began to turn their ship's course, heading directly for the town.
Before long, the Black Sail Warship was close to the town.
Sage grabbed a burlap sack and leapt off the ship's edge, followed by Lily and Gin, with Pearl leading a group of pirates, advancing towards the town.
The people there were putting out fires; earlier, the Black Sail Pirates fired a few shots, causing chaos.
The fire just got extinguished, and among the robbed civilians, some were kneeling and weeping towards their homes, while others clung to injured civilians, comforting each other.
Then they saw the Black Sail Pirates returning...
"Everyone! We can't let them rob us again!"
A civilian, who had previously fought with the pirates and still had an abdominal wound, stood out, gritting their teeth. "We've run out of money. If they rob us again, we won't even be able to survive. We must drive them off!"
A group of civilians, holding wooden sticks and pitchforks, quickly gathered, filled with hatred towards the approaching pirates.
If they continue robbing, the Mayor's tax won't be payable!
If they can't pay taxes, what they would suffer would be far worse than just being robbed; no matter what, they must...
Bang...
Sage tossed the bag toward the group of people, and as the bag's mouth opened, Belly and gold and silver jewelry spilled out.
This scene left the civilians stunned.
That seems to be their property...
"Step aside! What I want to rob is the wealthiest man at the highest place!" Sage shouted.
"Got it!"
The previously hostile civilians quickly parted the way, allowing Sage and the others to advance.
The wealthy man...
Isn't that the mayor?
Then it's all good.