Chapter 98

Fighting such a large group was entirely different from facing a group of five or eight people, whom he could take by surprise.

For a man who could easily break the backs of giant monsters, the first few minutes of this battle didn't result in the defeat of any of the pirates.

While surrounded on all sides, Bill heard a crack and felt a bullet pierce his chest.

Looking around, he saw three puffs of smoke and then felt three hits to his left arm and side.

Instead of slowing down the big Sailor, Bill saw red before his eyes and swung his hammer, striking the nearest pirate, whose head exploded like a water balloon.

Before the other pirates could realize what had happened, he turned into a wolf among a flock of sheep.

Swinging the hammer so fast it literally tore people to pieces, Bill saw blood flying through the air. When the last pirate raised his musket, Bill threw the hammer so forcefully that it pierced the man like a spear.

And with that, the fight ended in under a minute.

Only when there were no more movements did Bill grab his chest and realize he had stopped breathing.

"Foolish!"

"Foolish…"

Clutching his chest, Bill staggered away from the entrance to the cave as quickly as possible, cursing himself with each shallow breath.

Having mastered the technique of Life Return, he could accurately determine the bullets' locations in his body.

He was wounded four times—once in the chest, twice in the left arm, and once in the left thigh.

In addition, he was grazed by three more shots, which hit his right forearm and shoulder.

The worst was the wound in his chest. Whether it was a lucky shot or not, the bullet got lodged in the lower part of Bill's sternum.

It was painful to breathe, and walking was difficult too.

But more than anything, Bill was hurt by the fact that he had to run, and for the first time in many years, he prayed; he prayed that the people in those tunnels would be alright.

That was all he could do because in his mind, he had foolishly exhausted his strength.

Lifting his head, he slowly looked at where he was heading.

On each level of this island, trees grew, and as he made his way toward the forested strip, Bill knew he couldn't stop.

If it weren't for the technique of Life Return, he would have collapsed.

Although this technique was miraculous, he could only slow the bleeding and force his body to recover step by step.

As for the hole in his chest, Bill was unsure. The bullet was stuck under the bone.

He walked and walked.

Realizing where one of the bullets was in his left arm, Bill tensed the muscles around it and began to rotate it upward.

Fortunately, the bullet hadn't hit the bone.

But although that was good, the bullet deformed on impact, causing small tears as it slowly made its way to the surface.

Then, halfway to the forested strip, Bill used his right hand to pull the bullet out of his skin, resulting in a gush of blood from underneath.

After removing the first bullet, he began working on the other one lodged in his arm. This bullet was stopped at the bone just above the elbow.

His arm ached, but it wasn't numb.

"Foolish..."

Although this wound was less deep, Bill spent more time extracting the bullet. Only when he reached the forested strip did the flattened lead ball fall to the ground.

If at first he reached the cave entrance quickly, now he barely covered fifty meters in more than two minutes.

He still couldn't breathe properly, and sweat began to cover him.

Since he mastered Life Return, Bill almost never sweated because he could regulate his body temperature.

Seeing drops falling from his nose as he looked at the ground and feeling his leg go numb, the Sailor couldn't stop his heart from racing.

Entering the small forest, Bill couldn't take it anymore and stopped for half a minute.

Leaning his back against a tree, he carefully touched his leg before recoiling.

The bullet had struck his upper thigh almost at the waist level.

Since he couldn't easily bend, Bill began unbuckling his belt.

It was a delicate process, complicated by wearing the standard Sailor uniform.

However, if someone saw him now, they wouldn't see the usual white shirt and blue trousers. Instead, his shirt was almost entirely dyed dark red, and his trousers had turned a rusty brown from dried blood.

Unfastening the buckle, Bill lowered his pants and leaned slightly forward. The bullet was lodged in the fleshy part of his thigh, but with the hole in his chest, any movement was difficult.

Breathing heavily, he began the same process as before, shifting almost all his weight onto his right leg and the tree.

After several painful minutes, the bullet moved close enough to the surface to be pulled out.

Using his left hand was difficult, but without bending, the right wouldn't reach.

With great effort, he extracted the bullet with a painful groan and slowly continued walking.

Now he started to grow tired.

After weeks of both mental and physical struggle, undernourishment, and now blood loss, his body was in far worse condition than he could have imagined just a month ago.

As he walked, each of his steps became increasingly unsteady, but he couldn't stop here.

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