Part 3 THE TRAVELLER CHAPTER XXIII A SERVANT WORTH THREE THOUSAND POUNDS
”Captain, the Red Skull has escaped!”
A sailor rushed into the captain’s cabin.
”Ran away?” Erland raised his binoculars and examined the gently rippling sea in confusion, just in time to see the Red Skull disappear into the sky.
His brow furrowed in confusion at this development.
In his opinion, the armed forces of the “White Onyx” ship was definitely not able to scare off the Red Skull Pirate Corps directly, and both sides would inevitably circle around dozens of times and fire many times before the other side felt that they couldn’t gnaw on this hard bone, and didn’t dare to dwell on it for a long period of time, and then retreated in a sensible manner.
Could it be that the “Red Skull” ship was just passing by, without the idea of plundering? However, if they didn’t plunder, what were they doing in this channel? This is the easiest place to be blocked by the naval fleet and church ships, even the four kings and seven generals will try to keep a low profile when passing through the nearby waters……. Aeran was filled with doubt in his heart and felt that things were not so simple.
Prudence saves one from disaster, and one cannot be careless …… Aerland put away his yellowish brown monocular and paced back and forth a few times.
He half raised his hand and addressed the chief navigator:
”Dock at Bansi Harbor tonight.
”Report the encounter with the pirates to the Navy and the Church.”
According to the normal plan, the next place where the White Onyx would dock would be Tijana Harbor, and it would take roughly three more days of sailing at 13 knots to reach it, and from Tijana Harbor, it would go straight to its final destination, the capital of the Rothschild Archipelago, the city of generosity, Bayam.
And there is a faster way to sail from Port Prize to Byam, and that is to make only one stopover, at the port of Bansi, which is 120 nautical miles from Damir Harbor.
……
”The Red Skull really left?” Uldi Blanche, Donna’s father, walked over to the window and looked out into the distance.
Krivis nodded quietly:
”Yes.”
No sooner had he spoken than a sailor’s cry came from outside:
”Danger averted! Danger averted!”
Hearing the official confirmation, Donna and Denton’s siblings finally relaxed and had the courage to come near the window and survey the situation outside.
”Are the Red Skull Pirates powerful?” Donna’s eyes widened as she searched for the ships that had moved away.
”Very impressive.” Krivis gave his reply.
”How powerful?” Denton immediately pressed.
Tigre, the bodyguard on the other side, straightened his hair and grinned:
”Even if you don’t count the ship’s artillery and the several hundred pirates, just the captain Johansson and the first mate Andersen are very powerful.
”Andersson, nicknamed ‘One-Eye,’ has a bounty of 500 pounds in the kingdom, and all of us in this room together, with the help of a few sailors, might be able to defeat him in an encounter, while Johnsson, nicknamed ‘Sea Wolf ‘ Johansson, on the other hand, could easily take care of such an opponent, and if they boarded the ship, the ‘Sea Wolf’ would have no one to defend himself against, and his bounty is a full 900 pounds, close to 1,000 pounds!”
”Is that a lot?” Donna was again shocked at the power of “Sea Wolf” and “One Eye”, and amazed at their bounty.
She was under the impression that her own father earned a full 1500 pounds a year!
”A lot, this is the bounty that they or their heads can be directly exchanged for, the items on their bodies, the things they looted, belong to you as well, the kingdom will buy them at the market price, and, you will also have the chance to get the bounties from other countries.” Cecil explained from the side, “At sea, pirates with a bounty of 300 pounds or more are quite powerful, the kind that are close to or over 1000 pounds will be famous at least in the sea they are in, I mean the Sunia Sea, the Misty Sea, and such large seas.”
”So the four kings and seven generals belong to the five seas that are famous?” Donna asked slightly naively.
Krivis responded seriously:
”Yes.”
”So, the Red Skull Pirates are famous throughout the Sunia Sea?” Donna followed up logically.
”Right.” Tigre nodded.
”But why did they run?” Donna blinked.
”Not necessarily running ……” Cecil didn’t quite understand the reason himself.
Krivis looked out the window again, his forehead slightly “Kaw” shaped:
”Maybe there’s another reason, maybe they didn’t want to loot at all this time, just simply encountered it.”
Another reason? Donna suddenly had a guess in the midst of her rambling thoughts.
Could it be that Uncle Sparrow’s house-high gentle messenger had scared them off? Uh-huh! It was really scary! Donna’s mind gurgled and bubbled like boiling water.
She twisted her head in excitement and looked down the slant to find her brother Denton’s eyes glowing just as brightly.
The two pursed their mouths in no particular order, and realized in a whirlwind that the other was thinking much the same thing she was.
”Let’s go out and blow off some steam, just on this level.” Donna made an excuse and pulled her brother out of room 305.
Once outside, Denton pressed his voice:
”We’re going to Uncle Sparrow?”
”The right answer!” Donna laughed in high spirits, “I saw him go into 312 earlier.”
……
Inside room 312.
No longer mentioning the “Iceberg Admiral”, “Flame” Danez looked back at the Red Skull, which had turned its bow, and tsked and laughed:
”They must have been frightened by the declaration of the navy’s huge ships and cannons and the news that a pirate group had been destroyed before, so they even ventured into this channel to plunder, wanting to earn enough money to leave the sea earlier.
”Heh, so what if there are giant ships and cannons? There are many things that the navy and the church are powerful and have always existed, and it hasn’t caused a situation where we can’t be pirates, if we can’t beat them head on, we can always run away, right? They can’t be escorting those merchant ships all the time, right?
”I know, the ironclad is getting bigger and bigger, the installed steam engine will also be more and more powerful, the speed will one day be able to break through 18 knots, 20 knots, once they bite, can only wait to be caught up, but the sea is so vast, thousands of tens of thousands of ships thrown down also can’t fill up a corner, human unexplored sea also there are still a lot of a lot of things to do, to hide in those places. Although it is dangerous, but the same opportunity exists.”
This guy really is the type that talks too much …… Don’t you think a crazy adventurer wouldn’t care about these things at all? Klein withdrew his gaze and scanned the room.
His eyes eventually landed on his leather suitcase, and then he raised his chin there:
”Wash the dirty clothes in there.”
The expression on Daniz’s face, who had been about to speak at length, froze for a moment, itching to set the entire ship on fire.
He felt his anger like a spurt of steam, pushing up against the floodgates called sanity.
Danez opened his mouth, took a breath, opened it again, and took a breath.
His reddened face eased and he asked without a smile in sight:
”Is that all?”
”Only the dirty ones, just brush the jacket.” Klein almost laughed at the other man’s display of forced anger, thinking it was the treatment Danez deserved after robbing an innocent.
–Inside the suitcase were the clothes he’d changed out of last night, and since he was a bit guilty of laziness, he’d only scrubbed his underwear for the time being.
Calm down, can’t lose control, calm down, can’t lose control …… Daniz admonished himself several times in a row, walked over to Germaine Sparrow’s suitcase, opened it up, and took out the clothes that needed to be cleaned.
He had just started to get busy in the washroom when he heard the doorbell being pulled and jingled.
Klein opened the door to his room to find that it was the siblings Donna and Denton.
”Uncle Sparrow, I’m not disturbing you, am I?” Donna’s eyes rolled from side to side.
”No.” Klein stepped out of the way.
The two little ones entered the room and were surprised to see Danez slurping laundry.
”Where’s the servant?” Denton asked subconsciously.
”Didn’t bring one.” Klein answered for Daniz.
Donna said, slightly confused:
”But first class has its own plasma maid, ah, and charges by the bucket.”
Before her words left her mouth, Daniz had frozen.
He had been so angry earlier that he had forgotten about it.
Daniz shook the water droplets on his hands, turned his body, squeezed out a smile, and said to Germaine Sparrow:
”May I have the help of the slurry maid?”
Without the malice of necessarily watching the other man make a fool of himself, Klein grinned:
”I only recognize results.”
Whew, Danez was visibly relieved.
This question and answer between the two made Donna notice something was wrong, and the little girl spoke up suspiciously:
”Uncle Sparrow, aren’t you guys friends? He, why does he look different from earlier!”
Klein found a chair and sat down, undisguised, and said flatly:
”To be precise, he is my prisoner of war.”
”Prisoner of war?” Denton looked dully left and right, not remembering any conflict between the two uncles.
Donna was puzzled at first, then her mind wandered and she asked cheerfully:
”He’s, he’s a pirate?”
”Uh-huh.” Klein nodded gently.
”The Red Skull Pirates were also scared off by you, Uncle Sparrow?” Donna pursued excitedly.
Klein glanced at Danez and replied without much expression:
”Sort of.”
Having all her doubts answered made Donna unusually satisfied, she looked at Daniz and unconsciously lowered her voice:
”Uncle Sparrow, does he have a name? No. Does he have a bounty?”
No! No one must know that this has happened to me! Danez opened his mouth and snatched at the answer:
”My name is Ziggy!”
This time, Klein spoke softly:
”Daniz.”
”Daniz ……” Donna and Denton looked at each other without asking any more questions.
The siblings didn’t stay long before excusing themselves and leaving, they always felt that the pirate had a mean look in his eyes.
Back in room 305, seeing that Papa and Uncle Clevis and the others were still discussing, Donna interjected with feigned innocence:
”Just now quite a few people were discussing pirates, there was some mention of Daniz, is he very powerful?”
”Daniz …… ‘Blaze’ Daniz, he is ‘Iceberg Lieutenant General’s’ subordinates, ‘Golden Dream ship ”Fourth Sailor Captain ……,” Krivis replied simply.
When he said this, he suddenly fell silent, his eyes closing inward as if he was remembering something.
The pirate general’s henchman …… Donna curiously pursued the question:
”How much bounty does he have?”
Clevis returned to normal and spoke in a low voice:
”Three thousand pounds.”
Three, three thousand pounds? Donna and Denton’s mouths opened a little, almost forgetting to close.
The captain of the Red Skull had only offered a reward of 900 pounds, and that guy who looked like a servant just now was worth 3,000 pounds? The siblings looked at me and I looked at you, unable to speak.
……
At 6:00 in the evening, the White Onyx entered the harbor again.
”Banshee Harbor? Aeran is very cautious. …… “Daniz stood by the window, looking at the already dim harbor and the tall lighthouse and said.
Not waiting for Krynn to respond, he let out a chuckle to himself:
”There seem to be some bad legends around here.”