Crimson blood dyed the entire area red.
Blood drifted across the emerald sea, blending seamlessly with the water.
Under the sunlight, the water in this area turned a crimson hue.
Reflecting a vibrant hue.
Several slender rowboats rested on the surface, some capsized, only half exposed.
Also emerging from the surface were numerous bodies lying in the water.
Parts of them, held aloft by the buoyancy of the sea.
Arka and the others' Flying Swallow glided across this sea of blood, its bow slicing through the crimson hue.
The boat rammed aside the bodies blocking its path.
It headed straight for the small village floating on the sea.
I hadn't wanted to go, but now that things had come to this, it seemed impossible not to.
Julia sat on the edge of the boat, watching the blood and bodies drift by.
If there was a single good thing, it might be that most of the bodies were relatively intact, not overly gory.
At most, the heads were separated from the bodies, and most of them only had fatal wounds to the head.
After all, the puppet girls were so large. To take down humans larger than them, they naturally had to strike at the most vulnerable areas.
A single strike was ideal.
The blood-red energy gave their attacks incredible penetrating power. Naturally, the head was the best target.
"Well, the fish here are blessed,"
Julia muttered to herself.
Several Sentinel patrol planes took to the sky, arriving at the village ahead of them.
Jacks and arrows could be seen flying into the sky, attempting to shoot down the patrol planes.
There were also a few scattered magic bullets.
This was essentially the strongest attack the remaining villains had.
But it was clearly futile.
A dull sound echoed.
Some of the bandits who resisted were instantly beaten to pieces and fell to the ground.
A clanging sound echoed.
The bandits dropped their weapons and crouched, no longer resisting.
The entire movement looked incredibly skillful.
Simon, aboard the Swallow, nodded.
"Yes, the situation inside has been resolved."
The Swallow passed through the gate without slowing down.
The stench of decay, mixed with various other odors, filled the air as soon as they entered.
It was completely unbearable for Pororo.
"You all go in, I'll be outside."
Alka smiled and walked in with the others.
They reached the upper level via a specially constructed bamboo ladder.
The floor here was made of bamboo frames, planks, and thatch.
It creaked when walked on, and occasionally swayed.
He casually dragged a kneeling pirate over.
"Tell me, who are you?"
"Huh?" The bandit was a little confused by the question, looking up at Alka with a puzzled look.
"Don't understand?" Alka said, a long-unused weapon appearing in his hand. He placed the blade on the bandit's neck.
"No, no, no, I understand, I understand," he shouted, begging for mercy.
The language he spoke was the common language of the Home Sea.
Then he answered the question: "We, uh... are pirates."
"Pirates?" Alka repeated, frowning, then glanced around.
"Then why don't you have a boat? Where are your boats?"
If you're a pirate without a boat, how can you still be called a pirate?
Or has the main ship sailed out, and this is your rear base?
Alka couldn't help but wonder.
The pirate stretched out a trembling hand and pointed at the long, overturned rowboats outside the gate.
"That...that."
"You call that a boat?" Alka exclaimed in surprise, then struck the pirate hard on the head with the hilt of his knife.
He'd really been overthinking it.
"Then you're just bandits. Pirates are too high a standard."
"Yes, yes, we are bandits."
"What about your boss? The leader?"
"He's dead, right outside."
"Okay, good answer," Alka said, standing up and slashing his neck with the knife.
He looked up, clutching his neck in disbelief, but the blood continued to flow. He opened his mouth to say something.
But Alka ignored him and kicked him down.
The pirate, clutching his neck, fell into the water, struggling briefly before falling still.
Watching Alka's brutality, the pirates around him shuddered, their hearts trembling uncontrollably.
Alka glanced at the kneeling pirates around him, then came over. He casually picked up some hemp rope from a wooden pole and tossed it to the ground.
"Come one by one, grab the ropes and tie yourselves up. Remember to tie them tightly."
He then looked toward a larger hut not far away and the surrounding thatched houses.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
Then he shook his head at Jason and Sofia.
The two nodded and followed Alka toward the rooms.
Jason Juanlu and the others took Alka's place, watching as the pirates shakily approached, picked up ropes, and began to tie themselves up.
Some who hadn't tied themselves up properly even began to tie each other up.
"Honestly, Alka's behavior just now scared me," Simon said.
Matrica, standing nearby, nodded uncontrollably.
Alka's aura shocked even her companion.
"You really acted like a villain just now," Jason said, walking beside Alka and giving him a thumbs-up.
"Hey, I'm the villain," Alka said with a smile.
Then, with a serious expression, he said to the two men, "There should be someone in this house."
As soon as he finished speaking, a faint silver wave was transmitted.
The silver ripples were enormous, instantly enveloping the entire small village.
After all, calling it a village was a bit of an exaggeration.
It was just this area.
It could house a hundred people, at least.
As the silver ripples detected the situation, Sofia's expression changed drastically, becoming as gloomy as water.
"What's wrong?"
Sofia took a deep breath. "There are some bodies, mostly women, and some children."
Upon hearing this, the two men understood instantly.
They hurriedly entered the houses with Sofia.
The center was probably where their boss lived. It was the largest area, and there was a large hall that seemed to be used for meetings.
Inside, they found a large bed and a table next to it, surrounded by animal skins.
In the corner under the bed, two naked girls huddled together, staring at them with expressions of horror.
Alka and Jason stepped aside: "I'll leave it to you."
Sofia nodded and walked over.
Looking at the two terrified girls, she crouched down.
With a gentle expression, she said, "It's okay. You're safe now."
The two girls looked at her in horror, then in disbelief, tears already streaming.
"It's okay, it's okay."
Sofia hugged the two girls, resting her hands on their heads.
"Wait, that's not right." Jason, who was leaning against Alka, suddenly frowned.
He quickly leaned forward: "Be careful!"
Alka followed closely behind, also poking his head out.
Although he didn't know what was going on, it was clearly not a good thing.
As soon as they peeked out, they saw Sofia already holding the two girls' heads. But their heads were tilted to the side, clearly at a wrong angle. Blood oozed from the girl's mouth.
She groaned in pain.
"You..."
"Hmph, you bitch!" Sofia said with a sullen expression, standing up and patting himself.
The two naked girls fell to the ground.
There were two clinking sounds, and two daggers slipped from their hands.
Sofia turned with an unhappy expression, glaring at Alka and the other man with a murderous look in his eyes.
The two men immediately turned away.
"Um, I'll go down and take a look."
"Then I'll go too."
The two men hurried away.
Alka asked as they walked, "How did you notice something was wrong?"
"I smelled danger. It was clearly not normal."
Hearing Jason's words, Alka nodded in understanding.
How could there be any danger in such a situation?
"So you know why she seemed to notice it before me?" Jason was puzzled.
Alka shook her head and shrugged. "How would I know? Maybe her silver ripples picked up on something."
Although Alka didn't quite believe her own words.
The two of them descended via a wooden ladder.
It was even more humid here, and there was a strong stench—not of decay, but of excrement.
Jason raised his hand, flicking on the light.
The dim environment was illuminated.
The women and children trapped in the cages immediately huddled together like frightened animals.
They stared at the two men in horror.
Seeing their expressions, Jason and Alka frowned, a hint of anger rising.
"What a bunch of scumbags!"
Jason said, preparing to go over and help these people.
Alka quickly grabbed him and said, "Let's go up. Let Sofia and the others come. We're not suitable."
Hearing this, Jason turned and looked at the people.
The women and children looked at the two men with fear and hatred in their eyes.
"You're right. I wasn't very considerate."
He suppressed his anger and took a deep breath.
With that, the two of them walked upwards.
They happened to meet Sofia, who was about to come down.
"What's the situation down there?"
"Not good. You go down and help them. I'll go get Julia and the others," Alka said sternly.
Sofia nodded and walked down alone, radiating a soft, gentle glow. He was already getting ready.
The two of them arrived at the central square.
By this time, the pirates had their hands tied tightly.
Simon and the others were sitting nearby, chatting.
Seeing the two approach, they asked, "What's up? Anything?"
Then they noticed their gloomy expressions.
It seemed the situation wasn't good.
Alka walked over and patted Julia and Matresa on the shoulders, then turned to Lucelia.
"Go over there. Sofia needs your help. Send the puppet girls as well."
The others nodded, and Lucelia, leading the puppet girls, quickly ran towards the central building.
Alka, knife in hand, approached the pirates.
Jason approached Simon and the others.
"What happened?" Simon asked quietly.
At this moment, a pirate standing before Alka smiled flatteringly, "Sir, we've tied ourselves up."
"Oh? Really?" Alka smiled, walking over.
"Yes, yes."
"Let me see?" Alka looked at the pirate's bound hands.
He gently pried twice with his knife. It was indeed secure, a very tight binding, making it difficult to break free.
With a flick of his blade, the rope snapped.
Seeing this, the pirate's face lit up with surprise. He looked up at Alka.
"Thank you..."
The knife flashed.
Blood immediately spurted out, splashing onto the surrounding pirates. The pirates quickly lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe, their bodies trembling.
The corpse fell to the ground, its eyes wide open in disbelief.
Alka shook the blood off his knife.
"Looks like you didn't tie yourself up tight enough."
Then he frowned and sniffed.
"What's that smell?"
He looked at the pirate next to him, his face splattered with blood, trembling constantly, and the water stains on his legs.
He swung his knife again.
"You actually peed yourself, you bastard! You're such a jerk! You're no good! You should have cut your own hair when you were a kid!"
Then he shook the blood off the blade. Clear water appeared in his hand, forming a stream that completely washed the blood off the knife.
"You've really filthyed my knife."
He raised his knife to strike again, then thought better of it. He sheathed it and returned to Jason and the others.
Already understanding the general situation from Jace, Juanlu looked at Alka.
"Why don't you kill them? Why keep them?" He said, looking at the pirates with disdain.
Alka sat nearby, watching the pirates, their heads lowered and still trembling slightly.
"No rush, keep them. If you're unhappy, kill one every few minutes. Remember to find a reason; the more outrageous, the better."
Juanlu nodded, a pistol appearing in his hand, ready to go and vent his anger later.
"They're filled with fear," Jason said with a smile.
"Isn't that good? Let's feel it later. Breaking down is best."
Just after two minutes, Juanlu suddenly fired a shot at the pirates' gathering.
"Bang!"
The sound was muffled, yet clear.
"Ah!"
A pirate, struck directly in the thigh, fell to the ground, wailing.
Hearing the cry, Juanlu raised his hand and fired.
The pirate, screaming in pain, had a bloody hole in his head, and ceased struggling.
The surrounding pirates trembled. "What are you yelling about? It was an accidental discharge. Can't you forgive me?"
"Huh?" Simon stared at him with wide eyes.
This excuse was truly outrageous.
"The smell of fear is even stronger."
Jason laughed beside him.
Then, every few minutes, they began to find various excuses.
But this time, they didn't kill anyone; they simply injured the pirates in various ways.
The pirates were on the verge of collapse.
But then, Alka didn't kill them, which gave them some hope.
"You won't let us kill them. What kind of perverted idea are you thinking? They deserve it, though."
Hearing Jason's words, Alka smiled.
"Let them learn the lesson they deserve."
It wasn't long before Sofia and the others emerged from below.
The rescued children and women no longer had the strong odor and appeared to have been cleaned up.
They were also dressed in various clothes, which were clearly freshly made.
They had seen the materials before: sheets, curtains, and some decorative items.