The pirates are coming.
Screams spread through the ship.
In the midst of the chaos, Arlo and Nami were forced to halt their petty argument, their focus shifting to the impending threat.
Through the window, they could see the flags of massive pirate vessels drawing near.
Arlo's breath hitched as he recognized a familiar symbol. It was the armada of Don Krieg, closing in to plunder the luxurious liner.
Naturally, the ship had its guards, but they were being systematically overwhelmed, one by one, and panic was rippling through the passengers as the enemy drew closer.
Watching the scene unfold, Nami's eyes gleamed. This chaos was the perfect chance for her to slip away.
Yet, once again, that infuriating man thwarted her, his hand snapping out to encircle her wrist.
The worst part was that she couldn't break free.
The girl was no frontline combatant, but she could easily handle an ordinary man. Arlo, however, was far from ordinary.
With effortless strength, he pulled her flush against him, his arms winding around her waist and trapping her. She could feel the hard, unyielding planes of his chest against her body.
"No need to rush, kitten," he murmured, his breath warm against her ear, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine. "We've barely had a chance to talk."
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice laced with irritation. "I don't have time for games. We need to escape."
"I just want to borrow your... talents," the man replied, a confident smile in his voice.
His arm tightened around Nami's waist, pulling the enticing curve of her hips more firmly against his own. In one fluid motion, he took two swift steps back, pulling them both out of the path of a cannonball that had been fired from the pirate armada's flagship. The heat of the projectile washed over them.
"Oh, I know you want to run, but why don't we steal that thing instead?" Finally, Arlo released her, but his gaze remained locked on hers, hot and intent, before he pointed toward the massive warship from which dozens of pirates were now swarming.
It was the perfect opportunity to rob Don Krieg blind. With his crew distracted by the attack on the liner, his own defenses would be lowered.
"And I know you're the best partner to have for this little venture," Arlo commented, his voice dripping with confidence as he stretched his hand out to Nami. Her skin still tingled from his grip. "After all, robbing pirates is your specialty, isn't it?"
The girl was taken aback that Arlo knew about that.
Ever since they'd met, she couldn't shake the discomfort of how well he seemed to know her, his gaze always seeming to see right through her.
That being said, the prospect of a massive payday was more important than her unease. Her eyes glittered with avarice at the possibility, and she had already noted that Arlo was far from weak.
In a worst-case scenario, she could always escape and leave him behind to face the consequences.
"What's your plan?" she asked.
"Nothing complicated," Arlo admitted, his confident voice cutting through the surrounding chaos. "I'll join the guards and draw Krieg's personal attention. Meanwhile, you will pay his flagship a visit, defeat anyone there, and steal the ship."
"You expect to distract them all by yourself?" Nami asked, doubt lacing her tone, though her pulse quickened at the sheer audacity of it.
Arlo's eyes brightened with a confidence only he could have.
He closed the small distance between them in one fluid step. Before she could react, his hands found the generous curve of her hips, then slid down to cup her ass, squeezing firmly through the fabric of her dress.
A sharp, involuntary gasp escaped Nami's lips, her face flushing with a heat that had nothing to do with the burning ship around them.
"Perhaps you're worried about me, hottie?" he whispered, his breath hot against her ear as he pulled her against the hard, unyielding line of his body. She could feel the potent strength in him. "You can trust me. I'm far stronger than you can imagine."
In the past few days, Arlo had poured nearly every System point he earned into his combat power. And the daily missions provided a steady stream of points.
Besides, for the first time, he had the resources to eat and train properly, forging his body into a sharper weapon. That said, he wasn't at Hina's level yet. And the path to becoming the strongest was a long one.
But this was a perfect opportunity to gain real combat experience and test his new limits. Taking on Krieg's entire fleet alone was a fool's errand; the sheer numbers would exhaust him before he could claim victory. However, causing catastrophic chaos would be easy.
"Ok, let's do it," Nami agreed to the plan.
Arlo let Nami slip from his grip with the same casualness as someone shrugging off a cloak. He gave her a light tap to her sexy rear, then melted into the crowd like a shadow deciding to be noticed.
The girl was a bit annoyed with the ease with which the boy touched her, but she let it slide, focusing on doing her part of the job.
Arlo threaded through the panicked mob toward the liner's makeshift militia and easily mixed in with the forces that were fighting against Krieg's armada.
He grabbed a dead man's musket and snapped it like a twig. Then he advanced in the enemy's direction.
"Oi!" the one commanding the guards shouted. "What are you planning?"
Arlo ignored him completely. With two sweeping steps, he closed the distance to the first wave of Krieg's pirates and collided with them head-on.
With his perfect shots, he killed three men. And two more were launched far away, as he swung his musket like a baseball bat.
And he kept advancing, as men tried to avoid fighting the madman, the formation was broken completely, and chaos started quickly.
Then a cannon barked from the flagship.
Many men drowned in the cold water, but Arlo evaded the shot easily. They really were becoming desperate to defeat him, using all they had.
Arlo laughed, high and careless, getting his enemies' attention.
"Kill that man!" Krieg ordered with a loud roar, seeing how Arlo was causing such big problems.