Late at night.
Bright moonlight cascaded from the brilliant starry vault of the sky, draping a silver-white veil over the undulating waves of the sea.
The tiny silhouette of a merchant ship drifted far off in the depths of the night. Amidst the fragmented sound of waves crashing against reefs, an inconspicuous wooden boat had quietly come ashore, leaving a long indentation upon the soft sand.
Under the cover of darkness, Xia Nan and the five members of the Iron Rock Shield party had stealthily arrived on Wildberry Cliff Island.
To minimize the possibility of their plan being discovered prematurely, they had not only scheduled their operation for the dead of midnight but had also taken the disguised merchant ship in a wide circle around the island beforehand, arriving at the northwest side of Wildberry Cliff.
The terrain here was significantly higher than that of the southeast side, and the shoreline was riddled with dangerous undercurrents and sharp reefs.
To some extent, it served as a natural geographic defense.
The Ebb Tide Gang and the pirates clearly would not deploy much security on this side of the island.
Xia Nan and his companions were taking advantage of this terrain to infiltrate in secret.
As for those jagged rocks and swirling currents... if the arrivals were mere ordinary fishermen, it might be extremely dangerous.
But when the occupants of the small boat were five veteran adventurers who had already obtained professional levels, such things were negligible.
Without Xia Nan even needing to use his perception to offer warnings, the human ranger, Celi, who was responsible for guiding the boat's direction, had already used her experience to bypass all the hazards along the coast, bringing the vessel to a steady stop on the beach.
After meticulously erasing the traces left upon landing and hiding the boat deep within a nearby sea cave for emergencies, the group discussed their next steps in the dark.
"Tsk tsk, this band of pirates looks like they've got quite a scale to them!"
The half-orc, Hog, lay sprawled on the ground without a shred of dignity, his slightly cloudy eyes gazing at the distant lights flickering from within the woods.
In response, his captain—the hill dwarf Habick, clad in heavy armor—showed no surprise on the face visible within his bucket helm.
"They have deep ties with the Ebb Tide Gang. Many of them were just thugs and lackeys in the gang back in Barracuda Bay; once they left the port, they became pirates. It's hard to tell them apart."
To establish a force and gain a foothold in the Southern Archipelago, especially in a core town like Barracuda Bay, the resources required were staggering, even for a common small-scale organization.
Under such circumstances, gang forces—or rather, adventurers—naturally had to leverage their own advantages, using the vast and complex waters between the Southern Islands to earn some extra money.
To a certain degree, the band of pirates they were about to face was essentially the "black glove" of the Ebb Tide Gang, specifically responsible for doing the dirty work in the open seas.
It was quite possible that they even shared the same leader.
Being in the middle of a mission, Habick had no time to explain too much to the half-orc. He shouldered his flanged mace with one hand and looked toward the ranger Celi, who was vigilantly scanning the surroundings, and consulted her
"Well? Any findings?"
Celi shook her head, her already sharp gaze appearing even more focused against the backdrop of the night.
"At least so far, our operation is going smoothly. Nothing outside the plan has occurred."
"Next... we can move closer and begin searching for the hiding spot of Olyet's cargo."
The plan was progressing quite smoothly, so there was naturally no need for spontaneous changes.
Xia Nan remained vaguely isolated from the decision-making process, not trusted by the teammates around him.
He didn't particularly mind.
Because from the moment his feet left the boat and stepped onto the soil of Wildberry Cliff, his extremely keen perception had allowed him to faintly sense a trace of a familiar scent in the air.
He couldn't be certain, but he secretly heightened his vigilance.
The group continued forward.
It was worth noting that, unlike previous adventurer parties where he either lagged behind to protect the core or roamed the flanks to adapt to changes, Xia Nan's position was different this time.
After discussing it with the Iron Rock Shield party, Xia Nan was placed at the front-side of the formation.
He was half a step behind the dwarf Habick and side-by-side with the half-orc Hog, with Celi and the gnome rogue Agu behind him.
On the surface, it seemed fine, but in reality, he was effectively surrounded by the members of the Iron Rock Shield.
Any abnormal movement would be completely exposed under their gaze.
Xia Nan understood that this was a relatively secure positioning born from their distrust of him.
But at the same time, because they operated this way, he—being surrounded—couldn't help but contemplate the best course of action for the worst-case scenario.
*Right, I should deal with that ranger first.*
A long-range attacker who was both experienced in combat and calm would be troublesome if left alone; she needed to be dealt with cleanly at the very start of the fight.
Fortunately, given her professional role, her margin for error was low, and her outstanding agility was completely insignificant compared to his [Fang Hunt].
Xia Nan was confident he could take her head within three seconds of the battle breaking out.
Then, there was the gnome rogue, Agu.
Although the other party usually had a low presence and rarely spoke, his actual danger level was second only to the ranger Celi and likewise needed to be prioritized.
Xia Nan's perception attribute, which reached double digits, was precisely the bane of such low-level rogues. If he seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack using [Gravity Control] and [Heavy Tide] before the other noticed, he should achieve a good result.
Once those two were dealt with, the remaining dwarf and half-orc—who were relatively slow and whose combat styles were completely countered by Xia Nan—would pose almost no threat.
He focused on the mission while pondering these thoughts in his heart.
Celi, who was lagging slightly behind the group and constantly monitoring Xia Nan's movements, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She felt the night wind grow cold and wondered why.
From the perspective of the Iron Rock Shield party, there was nothing wrong with what they were doing.
But on the other hand, deepening Xia Nan's vigilance in such a manner might... not be a good thing.
...
...
The dead of night.
Firewood wrapped in orange-red flames occasionally let out popping and cracking sounds. The air was filled with the white noise of rubbing branches and the sound of the tide hitting the reefs.
Two pirate lackeys, dressed in standard leather armor but appearing somewhat slovenly, were guarding either side of a wooden door.
Through the gaps in the door, one could faintly glimpse stairs leading underground; it seemed to be a crude dungeon.
"Haaah..."
The younger-looking lackey stretched lazily, causing the one-handed sword hanging at his waist to sway and clink against his armor.
It was the sleepiest time of the day, and since he had spent the daylight hours drinking and fooling around with his colleagues without any real rest, the lackey could barely keep his eyelids open.
Standing in place, his body swayed, as if he might fall asleep standing up in the next second.
"I can't do this anymore. I'm going to find a place to nap for a bit. Cover for me for two hours; if anyone asks, just say I went to piss, then come wake me up."
Yawning incessantly and seemingly unable to hold on any longer, he rubbed his already red eyes and called out to his colleague.
In response, although the pirate lackey beside him looked slightly more mature and sported a full beard, anyone in this line of work was clearly not a virtuous soul.
Seeing his teammate wanting to rest and leave the work to him alone, he immediately bristled, his voice rising slightly
"Why the hell should I cover for you?"
"You think I'm not tired? Unless..."
A suggestive smile appeared on the bearded man's face as he reached out and held up eight fingers.
"Eight copper coins!?"
"Are you crazy for money?"
"If I were really willing to spend that much, I would have had someone else cover for me tonight; why would I have lasted until now?"
Seeing his colleague's greed, the youth could only give up. He stretched his body a few times to try and wake himself up, complaining as he spoke.
"If you really want to make money that badly, you should go back to Barracuda Bay."
"That Hammerhead Gang offended some big shot, and all the higher-ups are dead. The gang is currently operating on their turf."
"If you could actually apply to get in, just skimming a little off the top would be enough for you to live in luxury."
Hearing this, the bearded man spat indignantly on the ground.
"You think I don't want to?"
"If I could stay in Barracuda Bay, who would want to come to this godforsaken place where you can't even see a woman all day?"
"It's just that us guys don't have the connections, that's why we can't go back!"
His complaint seemed to strike a chord with his colleague, causing the youth's resentment to dissipate slightly. He proactively offered some comfort
"Buddy, don't get too hung up on it."
"Look, the Boss himself didn't stay in Barracuda Bay; he came out with us. Based on the gang's recent movements, there might be some new business."
When he mentioned "new business," he subconsciously glanced toward the wooden door and quickly looked away.
"When the time comes, as long as we follow the Boss's ass, even if we can't grab the meat, we'll at least get to drink some soup."
Seeing the indignation still on the bearded man's face, the youth suddenly looked around guiltily. Seeing no one nearby, he leaned forward cautiously, covering his mouth with his hand and speaking mysteriously
"Just last night, I went to the Boss's room to bring him some wine. Guess what I saw?"
Without waiting for a reply, he couldn't contain his urge to share. With a look of excitement, he said hurriedly
"A thing with several arms, covered in scales, crawled out of the sea..."
The bearded man's attention was clearly captured by the secret the youth was revealing, and he listened with full concentration.
But just as the other was about to reach the most critical part.
Abruptly.
In the depths of the night behind the youth, a blurred black shadow seemed to flash by.
The smooth flow of speech stopped instantly, and the vivid expression on his face looked as if a pause button had been pressed.
First came a moment of rigidity, then a distorted frown.
The time was too short; the bearded man hadn't even realized what had happened.
The next second.
*Squelch.*
Fishy, hot blood splashed onto his face. The sharp tip of a flashing short dagger protruded from the youth's chest.
His pupils contracted!
The bearded man's expression also froze, his closed mouth opening instinctively, a warning shout poised to erupt from his throat.
But just as the sound was about to burst forth, a calloused palm reached out from the darkness behind him, firmly covering his open mouth.
The shout, originally filled with shock and rage, turned into a panicked, muffled "mmph mmph."
*Ssh—*
The edge of the blade slid across his neck, directly severing the bearded man's windpipe.
Intense pain and the instinct for survival made him instinctively claw upward at the arm covering his mouth.
It seemed slender, yet it was as solid and immovable as an iron shackle.
One second, two seconds...
The breath of life rapidly ebbed away along with the gouts of blood spurting from his neck.
The bearded man's body gave a few final, reflexive twitches, his eyes lost focus, and his corpse was silently lowered to the ground.
Wiping the blade on his clothes to remove the bloodstains, Celi nodded to the gnome rogue Agu, who had similarly dealt with the young pirate, before she sheathed her short sword back at her waist.
At the same time, Xia Nan, Habick, and Hog stepped out from the nearby bushes and approached the two.
This location was on the edge of the pirate base and wasn't a particularly important place, which was evident from the fact that only two lackeys were guarding it.
There were many similar small camps across the island.
"Captain, my mistake."
Seeing Habick approach, Celi immediately took the blame.
According to the original plan, the bearded pirate she had just killed was supposed to be kept alive for interrogation regarding the situation on the island.
However, the man's reaction had been too great, and Celi, fearing the commotion would attract others, had acted to completely slit his throat.
"It's nothing. We'll just catch another one later," Habick said casually. His gaze, however, had already passed over the two corpses on the ground and looked toward the wooden door they had been guarding.
They had been observing the pirate base for some time; layouts like this were very common, and almost every small camp was guarded by two or three lackeys.
It made the dwarf curious.
Thinking to himself, he beckoned to his teammates and moved toward the door.
There was no need for lock-picking skills.
The wooden door itself wasn't sturdy; the half-orc simply grabbed the edge of the doorframe and pulled hard, tearing it open like a piece of paper.
Revealing dirt steps leading underground.
"This is..."
The expression on the dwarf's face was one of surprise.
At the same time, Xia Nan, following in the group, carefully observed the environment behind the door.
The mud-stone steps led underground, and the walls on both sides still bore the marks of shovels and picks. Broken stones and tree roots were embedded in the damp soil; it was very crude, clearly having been dug and built recently.
A distinct foul stench could be smelled in the air, accompanied by faint human voices coming from the depths.
"Perhaps... it's a dungeon?"
(End of Chapter)