24.Childhood lost under fire

Bo Dric had taken control of the Silver Port guild in his youth, dominating both the criminal underworld and legitimate businesses for decades, with significant influence amidst the complex forces in Silver Port. However, as he grew older, the warmth he had not known in his youth began to creep into his heart, affecting his judgment, decisions, and actions.

Uncle Bo had noticed this trend over a decade ago and started gradually handing over power to the next generation, to his nephew, Lide. Lide was still young and in the prime of his life, capable of maintaining the guild's dignity. Although sometimes his recklessness led to mistakes, the later assistance of Mason helped to resolve these issues.

So, could Bo Dric accept his own weakness and show his true, gentle side to the younger generation? He often asked himself this question. It was selfish, he knew. But it was reality, an inevitable reality that no one could resist. But since he had made a selfish decision, he must be prepared to have opinions that differ from Lide's and the guild's.

For instance, now, Lide firmly believed that Klaw was related to Rat-Eye's death - which was not reasonable, because there was only eyewitness testimony of Rat-Eye being attacked, and no evidence that he was dead. Moreover, forcibly linking Klaw and Eric with Rat-Eye lacked basis. But for the sake of the guild's interests, this was necessary. Even if the truth of the matter could not be determined, it was necessary to deter those inside and outside Silver Port.

For this reason, he had an argument with Lide. His nephew was very stubborn, just like when he was young. Damn it, why was he so stubborn when he was young? It made the older him dislike!

"Klaw, what do you want now?" he asked with mixed feelings. He shouldn't have asked like this, this question should be asked by Klaw.

"I..." Klaw was a bit confused. He saw Uncle Bo's strange attitude and knew he had made trouble.

"I want to find... um... the things Rat-Eye stole, this is what I promised to Lord Bard, I want to return to the owner."

He shirked responsibility, he didn't mention the role he played in this theft. But Klaw was not ashamed of this, because he was really framed by Rat-Eye this time.

"Those things are at the dock, in the warehouse Rat-Eye bought quietly." Uncle Bo said wearily. "Klaw, Eric, come with me, the others, you retreat first, give us some space, wait nearby."

"But... leader, this..."

"I will explain to Lide later." Uncle Bo said firmly.

The guild's thugs retreated, silently protecting the leader's safety, seemingly firmly believing that Klaw would have ulterior motives against Uncle Bo.

"Uncle Bo." Klaw called out, this man who claimed to be smart, for the first time showed a weak side.

"Okay, okay, let's go. I believe you haven't done anything to betray the guild."

Klaw understood Uncle Bo's meaning, he didn't mention Lide or Mason, that is, he didn't violate the guild's decision... He suddenly thought of Duncan's question: "You will not betray the guild, or will you not betray the old wolf - Bo Dric?"

Is Uncle Bo's will really separated from the guild?

"Okay, let's go, let me have a look at your masterpiece. The guild doesn't want to take these things, And Rat-Eye has taken in a lot of men over the years, so we let them complete this transport."

"I... Uncle Bo, Rat-Eye betrayed us." Klaw said excitedly, pulling Eric to his side.

"I understand, I understand," Uncle Bo sighed, "This is a fact that is easy to understand. How could you, Klaw, take such a great risk to steal something that the guild doesn't care about... There must have been a problem with the information, and the Red Brick Tavern is not absolutely confidential. Lide also knows about it, we all know you were betrayed, but this is not a good thing, Klaw, it's not a good thing. The guild's top brass will think this will become your motive for revenge against Rat-Eye."

"Motive? I haven't been in the city these past few days. I was kidnapped by that Lord Bard, or I was staying in a small house by the sea."

"In fact, you were not deprived of your freedom, were you?" Uncle Bo said sharply, "I know Lide and his thoughts. You could serve the Bard family and provide information to get rid of Rat-Eye, the 'ringleader.'"

"I didn't! My relationship with the Bard family is only a cooperation, and it's definitely not a subordinate relationship."

"I can prove this, although I'm just a bodyguard," Captain Ludwig said leisurely on the side.

"But what are you cooperating in?"

"We are... Oh, Uncle Bo, I'm going to sea, I'm going to look for treasure."

He was very excited, on the one hand, he was eager to defend himself, and on the other hand, he was eager to tell his elders about his aspirations. Uncle Bo saw Klaw's will, and he nodded slightly.

"Going to sea is a great experience, but you must carefully investigate the ownership of the sailboat, the distribution of wages, and the personality of the captain. If you meet unreasonable people - which is very likely - then going to sea is a risky move."

These were Uncle Bo's real experiences, and he had said it more than once. The situation of sailors in the 17th and 18th centuries was difficult, not only having to endure long sea voyages but also encountering disasters such as storms, famine, water shortages, poisoning, and diseases. Many people would die during the voyage, and the ruthless shipowners and captains would try every means to deduct their already meager wages.

"I know... Then, we need to lure out the people who covet the gold coins. Lord Bard has his own intelligence network, and he said that we must use false information to lure out the bad guys and set off after eliminating them."

"There have indeed been some restless elements in Silver Port recently," Uncle Bo said thoughtfully. "Generally, we wouldn't care about this kind of change, after all, Silver Port is a place where all kinds of people mix..."

"But Rat-Eye's thing has sounded the alarm for us," Klaw said seriously, "I once wanted to escape this idea, thinking it was just Lord Bard's scare tactic, but I didn't expect it to really happen... Uncle Bo, is Rat-Eye really dead?"

"Some people saw him being attacked, and then he was taken away. In a place like Silver Port, can't hide the living."

"Could it be at sea?" Eric slapped his forehead and asked, "There are so many ships at the dock, and even more on the high seas. Maybe Rat-Eye is still alive, just taken out to sea?"

"But why?" Uncle Bo said, puzzled, "We know Lord Bard has a pirate gold coin, which is of considerable value. Is that gold coin on Rat-Eye? Klaw, among the things you stole, did you find anything like a gold coin?"

"Well, I didn't look closely..." Klaw said with some guilt. He still hasn't told Uncle Bo that the gold coin is in his mouth. This is already quite ungrateful, even can be called ungrateful. Uncle Bo trusted him so much, defended him, and helped him out of trouble, he should have confessed everything to Uncle Bo.

While Klaw was still entangled, they had already arrived at Rat-Eye's warehouse. This is a dilapidated property, with a roof full of holes and worm-eaten wooden walls, which seems to be a building that was built hastily just to occupy the land, and it is unstable here, with the risk of tilting and collapsing when the tide rises.

It's a house that suits Rat-Eye's petty style. Klaw thought.

Uncle Bo pushed open the door - the thing that barely counts as a door was not locked, and it was filled with the "treasures" Klaw had stolen at the auction, Eric picked up a painting and frowned to distinguish the patterns on it.

"Don't think too much, this must be the work of some child. But it was taken by Lord Bard to entertain the rich and noble." Klaw said, thinking of him sweating at the auction, like a fool fell into Lord Bard's trap, he felt very annoyed.

"You can't deny that the master has a sense of humor." Ludwig said impartially.

"Sir, there are no other people here, so I have to ask carefully, what is your master's plan? I don't object to your cooperation with Klaw, but if it harms the interests of the guild, it would be embarrassing."

"I'm just a bodyguard, old man." Ludwig said casually, "As long as there's money to be made and wine to drink, I generally won't care about the master's troubles."

"Good dog." Uncle Bo said expressionlessly, as if he didn't expect Ludwig to say anything. He walked out of the warehouse and came to the seaside with Klaw and Eric, watching countless sailboats come and go between the dock and the open sea.

"Uncle Bo, I have to confess, I lied to you." Klaw finally blurted out.

"What?" Eric was greatly shocked. He didn't expect Klaw to deceive, and even dare to deceive their beloved Uncle Bo.

"Is it about the gold coin?" Uncle Bo sighed. "For many days, I have been told about the significance of this gold coin—it is true, Klaw, the guild is concerned about this gold coin, and is also aware of its legends and origins. The London guild covets the value of the gold coin, but it is unrealistic for us, the Silver Port guild, to take risks for it."

"The London guild?" Eric gritted his teeth and said, "We don't listen to their orders. These damn parasites only exploit our labor and suck our blood!"

"But we are still nominally a branch of the London guild," Uncle Bo said gloomily. "Even though there are disputes, I still believe that dialogue can resolve most of the issues, without sending people to Silver Port to act recklessly."

"You mean those guys who sneaked into Silver Port are from the London guild?" Klaw asked in surprise.

"Yes, many people from London have come to Silver Port. Some have revealed their identities and have been treated as distinguished guests by us, while others... don't even have the surface friendliness."

Unexpectedly, the bad guys who were finally fished out were nominally their own people. Duncan's soul question could also be explained. Uncle Bo and Lord Bard both had their news channels. Since they both made such statements, the actual situation should be roughly the same. However, Klaw also suspected that the London guild had other intentions. They have always coveted the power of the Silver Port guild in the New World, the advantage of controlling regional resources and information, which must not be owned by organizations other than the capital guild of the empire that never sets. At least, if Klaw were the head of the London guild, he would have this idea.

"Uncle Bo, what should we do now?" Klaw asked.

"Klaw, even knowing that it will be an enemy of the London guild, are you still going to go to sea with Lord Bard?"

Klaw's sense of guilt became more intense, so intense that he could hardly respond. Uncle Bo saw Klaw's difficulty and said, "What, don't be discouraged. Our Silver Port hasn't fallen to the point of looking at other people's faces."

This was Uncle Bo's style when he was young, undoubtedly an encouragement to Klaw. Eric was in awe, and even Ludwig, an outsider, also became solemn.

"I understand, I will go to sea and search for the treasure in the name of the Silver Port guild."

"You must do your best and be wary of that old fox, Lord Bard, to earn the share that the guild deserves." Uncle Bo said domineeringly.

"I understand, what about Lide?"

"When you go to sea, I will tell him the truth. It's time for Silver Port to show its attitude. We will never be coerced by those guys in London."

"Hey, look at that." Eric suddenly said.

He faced the sea and saw a sailboat heading towards the shore, and its target was not the dock, but Rat-Eye's warehouse, the very place they were at.

People on the shore also noticed the difference, they stretched their necks, curiously watching the boat, some people laughed and loudly pointed out the fact: some unprofessional helmsman was drunk, he deviated from the course, and it would be troublesome to stop at the dock again.

It seems that it was as he said, the sailboat began to stop and turn urgently, turning the bow to the position of the dock.

But can the boat stop like this? Klaw didn't understand navigation, he looked at Uncle Bo, only to see Uncle Bo's brows tightly wrinkled, seemingly unable to guess the helmsman's thoughts.

"Something is wrong, let's leave here first," he said nervously.

More and more people gathered on the shore, and the guild's thugs could no longer give Uncle Bo "enough space". They came out and surrounded Uncle Bo and others, carefully evacuating to the outside.

Klaw was still looking at the situation of the sailboat - at this time, its side was already in front of everyone, it was a fast two-masted schooner, about a hundred tons of specifications, and the owner's family emblem was flying high on the mast - it was a sailboat from the Ottoman Empire, but this had nothing to do with this incident.

The next scene was terrifying, without any warning, the mouth of the sailboat's cannon opened, and four cannons began to spit fire continuously. The warehouse where Klaw had just stayed was blown up, and the surrounding weeds also caught fire. People scattered in fear, and the guild's thugs surrounded Uncle Bo, protecting him from being pushed and trampled. And the sailboat, after a round of gunfire, shifted its target and began to attack the dock, the houses by the sea, and everything within its sight that was a product of civilization.

"It's pirates, we're being attacked by pirates!" Eric shouted loudly, pulling Uncle Bo, trying to run inland, but the crowded crowd made this impossible.

Smoke appeared in front of Klaw's eyes, which was a type of smoke bomb placed on the sea to send messages and mark positions. Red smoke rose into the sky and soon attracted the attention of the devil. The pirate ship lowered several small boats, and while the ship's cannon was still bombarding the dock, these small boats hurriedly came towards Klaw.

"Are they targeting us?" Klaw shouted in horror.

Gold coins, they must have been targeting the gold coins.

No matter whether the enemy was a pirate or the London guild, in short, Klaw is now in a desperate situation!

"Get out of here quickly!" Uncle Bo shouted. But the people who came out of the smoke blocked their way. They were more than twenty guys who were masked in broad daylight, dirty and fierce, and most loved to lick blood on the blade.

"Kill them!" the leader of the group commanded, and with that, the gang drew their daggers and began a bloody massacre. They spread out, stabbing to death several civilians who were running towards them.

"Only kill the guild members, don't cause trouble!" the leader cursed.

Unexpectedly, these people really let go of the civilians and only surrounded Uncle Bo and others. Their target was very clear, that is, to cooperate with the sailboat at sea to directly surround and kill their opponents.

"It's pirates, be careful!" Ludwig became spirited, vigilantly observing the enemies. These people had no guns, only daggers, and judging from the action of stabbing the civilians just now, they were not good at using swords.

But the problem was that the guild's dozen or so thugs didn't even have a sharp weapon to fight back. Some of the brave ones had already launched an attack on the pirates, and then they were easily stabbed and easily lost their lives.

"Back off, back off! What do you want?" Uncle Bo commanded the remaining people while trying to negotiate, but the other party ignored Uncle Bo's words and continued to press towards them.

"This won't do, if the space is compressed, there will be no chance." Ludwig said nervously, "Now is the time, charge, seek a way out in the melee!"

He was right, but the guild's thugs did not obey the command of an outsider, and what was worse, the pirate ship turned the muzzle of the gun again and began to fire towards this side.

"Are they crazy?" Eric's cry was drowned out by the roar. Taking advantage of the chaos, Ludwig rushed up, deftly evaded the stabbing, confiscated the pirate's sword, and killed him with one sword.

Seeing Ludwig's performance, the guild's people finally cheered up, they shouted and rushed to kill, and fought with the pirates. Eric knocked out an enemy with a punch, picked up a sword, and kept waving around. Uncle Bo also seized a weapon, he was old and did not have the physical strength to fight, and could only barely parry the enemy's sword attack. Seeing this, Klaw, regardless of his own safety, rushed towards Uncle Bo.

A gunshot seemed to pierce the roar of the cannon, and Klaw looked at Uncle Bo in worry - he was fine, the bullet missed by a few centimeters and just killed a rampant pirate. That was from the pirates on the small boat, they had landed and were roaring towards this side at a rapid pace.

Klaw thought it was funny, but the next second, he felt that he would never be able to laugh in his life. Someone had attacked the old wolf of the guild from behind, stabbing the sword from his back into his abdomen.

Uncle Bo's eyes widened in shock.

"Uncle Bo!" Klaw and Eric shouted in heart-wrenching cries. But in the next second, darkness would envelop them. The pirate on the boat hit Klaw on the head with a stick, and he passed out, his eyes still filled with Uncle Bo's dilated gaze.

That kind and approachable elder, that strong-willed elder, that old man who told them fairy tales and maritime legends, died with resentment amidst the cannon fire...