Crash—

"What? Are you saying that 'Octopus Ghost' Hawkins is planning another massacre?!" Hearing William's words, Aiven's excitement affected the White Seagull as well, suddenly spreading its wings on the chair, knocking over an ink bottle onto the floor.

Smack!

A large ink stain was left on the wooden floor.

"No, no, no, I didn't say he's preparing to launch another massacre.

I just said that his target is not just White Whale Port, and his steps won't stop there. There's definitely another conspiracy hidden in the dark."

Seeing the White Seagull's intense reaction, William didn't care about his floor, fearing Aiven would misunderstand him, he hurriedly explained:

"Months before launching the massacre, Hawkins sent people to the vicinity of 'Leiden River Valley' multiple times to gather various intelligence, including business information, hydrological data, defense deployments, local customs, major festivals, and more.

Even after deploying over two hundred pirate ships and tens of thousands of pirates to 'White Whale Port', he didn't call back his elite pirates under his command.

So I know there's definitely a conspiracy!

This Pirate King is very cautious; even the specific executors of intelligence gathering don't know where their real target is, but the previous actions could not escape the eyes of my insider."

"Other targets?" Aiven silently mulled over William's intelligence. In fact, countries had already suspected the real purpose behind 'Octopus Ghost' Hawkins launching the massacre.

Because on the surface, this massacre is an extreme case of much ado about nothing!

Seeking wealth? As the Black Sea Pirate King, could he really lack funds? Or lack funds that come with such high risk?

Seeking fame? Already being a powerful Tier 3 Peak extraordinary, and crowned as the Pirate King in the Black Sea, he's already a well-known figure.

Instead, the cruel and ruthless plunder that is the "massacre" led the 'Kingdom Joint Investigation Team' heading to White Whale Port to draw some unpleasant associations.

This method doesn't seem like simple plunder, but rather resembles actions of certain Evil God Sects targeting the souls and lives of living people!

This discovery aroused intense vigilance among various countries.

Pirates active in the black zones have their own reasons for survival to some extent, even though the Tulip Alliance's policy through the Church is to kill pirates on sight.

But the attitudes of many other forces aren't always the same. Some even treat these sea hyenas as money-making trees, forming a bloody black industry chain to continuously bring benefits to their countries.

However, when it comes to Evil God Sects, the attitudes of all human nations are very consistent.

Because they not only cannot create wealth for those in power, but they also constantly covet the lives and souls of the nation's people, eroding the very foundation of a country. They are something all governments and the True God Church are determined to eradicate!

The principle is to extinguish the slightest spark, absolutely not letting a single one go!

Therefore, after subtly crossing the bottom lines of various countries, although there was no evidence that 'Octopus Ghost' Hawkins has joined forces under an Evil God, he himself has already entered the first sequence of the key surveillance lists of various nations.

Even with many pirates to disperse attention, the hunt led by the Church has still been put on the agenda.

In such circumstances, if Hawkins wants to preserve his life, unless... he can acquire the power of not fearing the guardians titled by the nations in a short time.

That is—Tier 4 Extraordinary!

"The Leiden River is the largest exorheic river in the Tyrone Kingdom within the Tulip Alliance. The Leiden River Valley, with its abundant freshwater resources and flat, fertile lands, has many large cities along its lines.

Including the commercial and artistic hubs at the estuary 'Bridge Capital', 'City of Light', Water City Nisk, the 'City of Wealth' Golden Lion City where major trade associations gather, and Brandenburg, the political capital of Salt Lake County. There are even more small cities, with at least twenty different cities of various sizes along the Leiden River.

So just a name 'Leiden River Valley' can't determine what Hawkins intends to do next!"

Considering the precedent of White Whale Port, Aiven, upon hearing the name 'Leiden River Valley', first thought of his potential target on another city.

After pondering for a while without any leads, Aiven could only temporarily suppress the matter.

Evidently, with the prudent style of the 'Pirate King', even if there is a mole, it's almost impossible to get further information before the actual action begins.

Once intelligence loses precision, its value takes a significant hit. So Aiven said, "Not enough!"

William also knew that a piece of intelligence that could only be considered speculative, combined with subjective conjecture, was a bit too light. Perhaps the Pirate King was just checking which seafood restaurant's skills are best, sending his men ahead?

It's not entirely impossible.

However, his background wasn't that wealthy to begin with, and he still needed to repair the damages incurred by the 'Iron Bone' during the previous pursuit battle. Even if he had some savings before, they'd have been exhausted already.

However, preserving one's life is the most important thing. Now, William could only force a bitter smile:

"You see, besides this 'pirate ship' under our feet, the most valuable thing is my head.

How about this, I have three ancient gold coins from the Ancient Inca Empire here. One coin for each time I help you risk my life, how about that?"

He said, taking out three exquisitely crafted ancient gold coins from his pocket and placing them on the table.

His experience in the Navy told him that the higher the rank, the faster they might turn against you. If he couldn't satisfy the other party, the next second, the scorching cannonballs of a 24-pounder might tear both him and the "Iron Bone" apart.

Stare——

Standing on the back of the chair, the White Seagull tilted its head and stared straight at William for half a minute, until he sweat slightly on his forehead, only then did Aiven gently nod in agreement.

Seeing that he didn't seem to have much left to offer, Aiven went with the flow and spared him.

In reality, this guy was just scaring himself. Aiven hadn't planned to do anything to him, after all, there were already too few interesting people like him on the sea.

For now, let him live.

"Alright, Captain William, remember what you said. We'll meet again! Hahaha..."

The White Seagull picked up the three exquisite ancient gold coins from the table with its beak, flapped its wings, and flew out through the porthole.

As William slightly exhaled in relief, his face froze slightly. Wasn't that what he said the first time they met when he left?

Not taking any losses, truly a grudge-bearing fellow!

Actually.

Aiven initially wanted to have him personally run to Pirate City and send a letter to his sister, informing her of his current status. Though it might be somewhat troublesome, given William's identity as a Great Pirate, getting into "Sunken Ship Bay" shouldn't be impossible.

But after thinking it over, Aiven decided there was no need to expose the relationship between himself and Anita to this guy. This wasn't urgent, and finding a way to contact his sister could wait.

Then.

The Navy on the "Skeleton Tomb" saw the "Iron Bone," which was originally parked not far away, turn its bow to draw a perfect arc, catching the wind and... escaped without looking back.

"Is this an escape?"

The officers exchanged looks but refrained from speaking, seeing the captain still eagerly studying his new toy.

Let them escape, after all, it's not the target of this mission, nor would it count towards their merits, so it's best not to disturb the captain's interest over it.

In fact, if it weren't for the special mission to hunt down specific pirates, with all the layers of rewards added, for the Navy, fighting pirates was the most hated and least cost-effective thing since it's both dangerous and lacking in profit.

Instead, capturing an enemy nation's merchant ship would be better, as one lucky catch could last a year.

Thus, under the unanimous tacit agreement on the "Conch," even if the "Iron Bone" was heavily damaged, it still smoothly escaped their sight.

Hmm, everyone was happy.

On the other side.

Aiven carefully inspected the battleship and found it satisfactory, given that it hadn't been in service long. Although poorly maintained under Basem, its condition was still alright.

However, the sharp smell of decay from the corpses in the cabin made Aiven feel sick to his stomach.

"First Mate, take the men and clean this battleship thoroughly! Wash it several times! From now on, this battleship will be our 'New Conch'!"

"Yes, sir!"

The crew responded in unison, with voices like thunder.

Upon hearing Aiven's order, from officers to ordinary crew members, they acted as if injected with adrenaline. How long has it been? They leapt from an ignored Level 6 ship to occupy a genuine Level 4 battleship.

Cleaning a cabin with corpse odor?

A piece of cake, don't try to compete with me!

With tools fetched from the "Conch," the crew, under the officers' command, eagerly began the massive cleanup. Removing the piles of yellow sand, grave earth, human remains, and dry vines from the ship, they cleaned the lower cabin bit by bit...

The "garbage" from the ship was thrown into the sea, unsurprisingly attracting a horde of bloodthirsty sharks, leading to a predator's feast.

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