Chapter 21: Chapter Twenty-One: The Human Tank

"My boys, follow me!"

"Kill! Tear Baiye into a thousand pieces!"

A large group of pirates ran through the streets of the royal capital; upon seeing this, the commoners screamed and scattered.

As the pirates charged toward the palace, every ruthless pirate along the way set fires.

Flames roared outside the city walls; soon, thick smoke rolled through the city as well.

Su Xiao moved through the night, quickly overtaking the pirates and arriving ahead at the palace.

The Kingdom of Goya was only a small nation in the pirate world, so its palace was merely a modest castle.

Hidden near the kingdom, Su Xiao began waiting for the Clank Pirates.

The royal capital was divided into three zones: the outermost was the commoner district, then the central street, and at the center lay the palace.

Outside the palace zone stood a wall, but it was not very tall; the Clank Pirates would soon breach it and storm into the palace zone.

The palace guards had already deployed in full force; not long after, the sounds of battle reached the outer walls.

Su Xiao still waited. From what he knew, the palace guards were all show and no substance—those unaccustomed to bloodshed stood no chance against the pirates.

As expected, within half an hour, the palace guards were driven back, retreating to the palace entrance.

The guards were in disarray, frantic and heavily wounded; some of the weakest simply fled on the spot.

"My boys, the palace is right ahead—take it!"

Clank’s eyes were bloodshot—he had been deceived by Su Xiao, then fought his way through, driving the pirate captain utterly mad.

"Kill them all. No survivors."

At Clank’s command, his hundreds of pirates roared and charged the palace, clashing with the guards.

The fiercest hand-to-hand combat erupted; gunshots cracked like popping beans; blood sprayed, severed limbs fell one after another.

Inside the palace, the king, who had already retired, was jolted awake by the noise outside.

The king of Goya was a man nearing sixty, with jet-black hair and a thick beard.

Thanks to luxurious meals and the palace’s elite physicians, he showed no signs of age.

"What’s going on outside? Why all this noise?"

King Philip Herbert rose irritably; beside him, the queen sat up, bewildered.

"Your Majesty, it sounds like gunfire—something’s happened."

The queen was young, trembling as she clung to the king.

"Someone! Come in!"

The bedroom door burst open; a massive man charged in, his face carved with a deep scar that stretched across his entire face, making him look monstrous.

"Hausen, what’s happening outside?"

This man, called Hausen, was the king’s personal bodyguard.

But around his neck was a metal collar—iron-black, with intricate mechanisms at the joints.

If Su Xiao were present, he would recognize it: a slave collar from the pirate world.

This massive man, Hausen, was in fact a slave—his life and death controlled by the king. No wonder the king had made him his personal guard.

Hausen said nothing, only made a few hand gestures.

Hausen could no longer speak—his tongue had been cut out by slave traders. Had he not been unnaturally strong, he would have been killed long ago.

"Pirates? How could pirates be inside the palace? Right Minister, send men to deal with them."

Though the king sensed something was off, he paid it little mind—he was supremely confident in his palace guards.

Hausen stood frozen in the room, his slave collar binding his freedom—this collar could be detonated, killing him instantly.

Outside the palace, Su Xiao waited for his moment.

Not yet. Though the fighting inside was fierce, it had not yet reached its peak.

After about an hour of chaos, the king inside the palace could no longer remain calm—he clearly felt the battle cries drawing nearer.

At that moment, the king finally realized the gravity of the situation.

With a crash, the door burst open; the Right Minister, drenched in blood, stumbled into the bedroom.

"Your Majesty, disaster! The pirates have broken through—they’ve reached the third floor!"

The king’s face turned ashen.

"Impossible! Where are my guards? They were carefully selected—how could they be driven back so easily?"

The Right Minister knelt on the floor, curled up, too terrified to reply.

The palace guards weren’t elite—they were merely young men bought at great expense.

"Hausen, you go—wait—"

The king hesitated. Hausen was indeed powerful, but sending him meant leaving himself unprotected.

Yet if he didn’t send Hausen, the pirates would reach him soon—and bullets had no mercy.

"Deal with those pirates as fast as possible, then return immediately. Even if you’re wounded, it doesn’t matter—understood?"

"If I die, you die with me."

Hausen’s eyes showed no emotion—only a blank nod, then he left the room.

Outside the palace, Su Xiao heard a thunderous boom from within—on the third floor, a vast expanse of purple poison gas spread.

"Finally, the moment has come."

Su Xiao leapt upward, clinging to the castle’s outer wall like a gecko.

He climbed swiftly, bypassing the third floor entirely.

The battle was on the third floor—so the king couldn’t be below it.

Arriving at the third floor, Su Xiao peered through a window and saw two figures fighting: Clank and a massive man.

But to Su Xiao’s surprise, Clank was being crushed—his arm hung limp, barely functional.

That massive man was a living tank—each charge shattered entire walls. If Su Xiao fought such a monster, he’d be defeated in under two minutes.

He had been right not to assassinate the king directly—fighting such an enemy was suicide.

That man’s strength stat, conservatively estimated, exceeded 20 points.

Clank was nearly spent—time was short. Su Xiao had to act quickly.

The palace had many rooms; Su Xiao swiftly checked each window.

No sign of the king on the fourth floor, then the fifth, sixth…

After rapid searching, Su Xiao finally spotted the king through a window.

He wasn’t in any room—he was fleeing down a corridor, clearly trying to escape upward to reduce the chance of being found by pirates.

The constant tremors from below had thrown the king into panic.

Moonlight streamed through the windows as the king sprinted down the corridor.

"Your Majesty, huff— I—I can’t run anymore… let me rest."

The queen, panting, collapsed onto the floor.

The king’s expression shifted—this woman still held some novelty for him, so he didn’t want to abandon her. But compared to his life, she meant nothing.

"Then my beloved, rest here."

With that, the king turned to leave, abandoning the queen, who sat dazed on the floor.

At that moment, the glass window beside the corridor shattered with a crash—a shadow wielding a blade burst through.