Chapter 49 - The Boogeyman, Part 1

AN:

Enjoy four chapters in a row. And please, please comment your thoughts down below.

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A thousand meters over the sea, Victor flew fast in the same general direction as his warship.

It didn't take long, just after about 15 minutes, an island cloaked in the darkness gradually emerged in the field of his vision, which caused him to suddenly come to a halt from the rapid flight.

"Hmm... This must be it," he mumbled to himself, adjusting his gaze between the island in front of him and the mini-map projected on his eye.

Descending to about a hundred meters, he searched for a covertly convenient location to disable his suit's invisibility.

After all, the camouflage ability of the nano suit is something that is best kept a secret, for use as a trump card when the time comes.

And while he was looking about, he noticed that there were a few ships, including pirate ships, docked close to the harbor.

"So the Bone Butcher Pirates were here all along..." Victor muttered, seeing a Jolly Roger on one of them.

This particular pirate group has been terrorizing a number of islands inhabited by civilians, which was the reason his warship was making its way to this island in the first place, in order to apprehend them.

"That's..." Not far from the Bone Butcher pirate ship, a second pirate ship moored, flying the jolly roger of another, a more infamous pirate group. "What's this lot doing here, all the way away from the New-World?"

At the same time, inside this small village's sole pub.

Rustling and hustling sounded out loud within the pub as everyone laughed their lungs out, while the majority of the others spoke aloud as a result.

They were clearly not village residents at first glance, since they were all dressed in classic pirate gear. Their clothes were filthy, their teeth were as brown as wood, and the bulk of them had wounds all over their exposed bodies.

"Captain, this guy is the Bone Butcher, the new rookie with a bounty of 80 million..."

Three men sat at the table in the very center of the pub. One of them, a man that had a hideous scar on his right cheek said to the man in front of him while motioning to another on his right.

The individual who was referred to as the captain turned his attention to the man in question before asking, "Butcher... Do you know who we are?"

Bone Butcher, the man in question, was a big man with white hair and a dark complexion. "I'd be stupid not to recognize who you are... The infamous Human Blade..." He responded in a horse voice.

The captain, now called the Human Blade, was also a hefty man in comparison to the majority of those present inside this pub. He had brown hair and a brown complexion, and he wore black pants and a naked upper body with a scarlet cloak — characteristic of pirate commanders — slung over his shoulders.

The attention of everyone inside the pub got grabbed by a sudden sound of *BOOM* followed by the ground slightly shaking, seemingly something heavy falling to the ground not too far away from the bar.

The bar fell into stillness, and before their curiosity could take any action, the entry door opened, revealing a tall figure. However, because of the light coming in from outside, it was impossible for anybody to see the person's face.

*Step*

*Step*

The appearance started to clear as the individual moved slowly inside towards the last empty table. The figure had eyes as crimson as blood, clad in full black, and a black cloak that reached below the knees.

Every step the figure made filled the room with a sense of foreboding that radiated along with it, making the people inside feel as if it were the tik of their final moments.

*Step*

*Step*

Walking slowly to the table was deliberate, because in that little span of time, his glance crossed every face within the tavern, while Jaya did the scanning.

'Sure enough, all pirates...' He thought, focused on the transparent prompts in the corner of his vision.

The stillness continued, and everyone's attention continued to be focused on him, not surprisingly, because of the odd attire, coupled with the eerie sensation when he entered.

Then everyone saw the figure abruptly turn his attention in the direction of the bartender.

"Water in a glass, and meat..." Victor spoke looking across. No one could tell who it was since the sound modulator on the suit made the voice creak heavy and artificial.

The bartender stared back dumbfounded, his hand that was previously wiping a glass had long come to a stop when Victor entered. His mouth kept agape, however, to get him out of distraction, Victor let out a bit louder this time, "Water!"

The latter awoke from his trance and cried out, "Ri... Right away, sir..." before rushing in the direction of the glass bottles to his right.

The crowd eventually stopped being distracted, and the pub gradually returned to its boisterous environment.

"Who's this punk?"

Back at the table where the pirate Butcher sat, one of them, the one who appeared to be the captain Human Blade's subordinate , suddenly exclaimed.

And the tone he employed gave the impression that he was carefree, but the sweat beads that had formed a moment before contradicted his effort at nonchalance.

"Not our business..." Human Blade stated after glancing at Victor one more before swiftly retracting his gaze. He too felt a sensation of enormous crisis when Victor had previously crossed eyes with him. Something he felt only from his captain and his rivals.

Therefore, he decided right here and there to get out of the fray, unless of course, the other party deliberately decided to provoke. Even though the latter appeared to be dangerous, he wasn't the person to back down.

After all, his captain, the undisputed overlord of the current sea, would be losing face if he were to do so.