Chapter 2496: My Wife Is a Pirate 26

But Bu Changji, who was fuming, simply didn't know how to express himself properly; he only felt that Jin Chen was questioning his feelings, imagining him in the worst possible way.

Extreme anger and resentment made him speak without restraint, almost shouting in despair: "Yes, exactly like that! I did it for the treasure—are you satisfied now?"

"From the start I was just using you to fish for clues—you know that now, right?"

After shouting, his chest heaved violently, his eye sockets reddened, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

Jin Chen's brows knit tightly, his voice sinking: "Bu Changji, speak properly."

"I'm just this kind of person—not the fragile, pitiful refugee you imagine, nor some damn Heir Apparent! I'm a pirate, vile and shameless, profit-driven! Do you see it clearly now?"

Bu Changji roared like a man who had given up, each word stabbing his own heart like a knife.

Jin Chen looked at his self-destructive, uncommunicative demeanor, suppressed his inner fire, and said, "Bu Changji."

Bu Changji stared at Jin Chen with red-rimmed eyes, afraid to hear another word that would break his heart, and unable to bear it any longer, he turned and fled.

"... Um, see you later." Fang Yunyao said to Jin Chen.

Fang Yunyao, who had been standing dumbfounded to the side, finally realized he might have caused a huge disaster, and hurried after Bu Changji.

"I'm sorry… I told Yue Ling that the stuff in the treasure vault can still be split evenly with you, you…"

"Get lost!" Bu Changji snapped his head around, his eyes icy as a blade, his voice hoarse: "Who would want to cooperate with someone like you who breaks promises! Get the hell away from me!"

Fang Yunyao shuddered at his outburst and dared not speak another word.

Bu Changji stood where he was for a moment, then lifted his hand and roughly wiped his face; his fingertips felt the icy wetness.

Returning to the stone chamber where Jin Chen had slept the night before, Bu Changji looked at the empty bed; the pent-up resentment and panic finally burst, and he slammed a fist into the nearby wooden table.

A dull thud sounded, and the table shook.

The coarse red cord around his wrist tightened, and the small shell tied to it knocked hard against the table's hard edge, making his fingertip jerk from pain.

Bu Changji lowered his head, looking at the tiny shell that was inconspicuous in the dim light—it was the one Jin Chen had braided and given him.

They were supposed to form a bond.

"Damn it…" Bu Changji muttered under his breath, voice choking, and tears finally spilled over.

He weakly leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor.

Jin Chen now knows he isn't Fang Yunyao… and sure enough, he doesn't want him anymore.

——

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +10, total 63!】

Elsewhere, Jin Chen returned to the hut with a grim face.

Liu Ping'an was waiting at the door; seeing him come back, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Chenzi, where have you been? I've been waiting half a day and didn't see you."

Jin Chen kept a straight face: "Shitou Lou."

Liu Ping'an blinked: "That's not the pirates' den, huh… oh right, I forgot—you and those pirates… your relationship seems pretty good."

"So what did you go there for, just to visit?"

Jin Chen kept his stern face and spat out two words: "Argued."

Liu Ping'an: "Ah???"

He didn't dare ask more, recalling the matter: "Um… I came to ask you, are we still going out to sea today? The weather looks okay."

Jin Chen was feeling restless and had nowhere to vent; hearing that, he immediately said: "Let's go."

The two grabbed their tools and set out to sea by boat.

Upon reaching the familiar sea area, Jin Chen said nothing and dove straight into the cold water.

Today, the seabed's shark pods seemed to sense an unusual, murderous low pressure, and they scattered in terror.

——

After a few more days, the sky over the sea gathered even darker, heavier rain clouds, piling up black and oppressive on the horizon, as if it would swallow the entire sea.

This was completely different from the usual light rain; the experienced old fishermen by the coast called it "dragon aura," foretelling the impending terrifying storm capable of raising towering waves.

Such a storm's power is astonishing—sweeping away seaside houses, overturning fishing boats, common occurrences, and the most feared natural disaster for all who make their living from the sea.

In the valley, the fishermen needed no saying—no one dared go out to sea; every household shut doors and windows, propped up roofs with bamboo poles, and waited anxiously for the storm's arrival.

Jin Chen was checking the house's sturdiness when he suddenly heard abnormal noisy clamor and wailing from outside, even drowning out the howling wind.

He frowned, braced against the increasingly fierce wind, and shoved the wooden door open.

He saw many fishermen disregarding the wind and rain, gathered outside, each with panicked faces.

A neighbor spotted Jin Chen and shouted urgently: "Chenzi, it's terrible! This morning six boats went out to sea—all from our valley! Now the storm has come, they're trapped out at sea and can't return!"

"Just now a youngster who barely made it back said they were captured by pirates!"

"It's that gang of vicious pirates who raided the neighboring valley half a year ago, killing many— the most ruthless bunch!"

Another fisherman added.

Jin Chen followed the crowd running toward the shore.

At that moment, the clouds pressed down, the sky darkened as if it were night, and the coastal waves rose one after another, slamming violently against the rocks.

What's astonishing is that, at the edge of this treacherous sea, a huge, fearsome-looking pirate ship was moored—none other than Bu Changji's Slaughter Wave Warship.

The families and wives of the trapped fishermen, heedless of everything, dropped to their knees in the muddy sand beneath the Slaughter Wave Warship, crying out to the pirates on board, begging them to show mercy and help rescue the people.

It was precisely because this pirate gang had resided for so long in the eastern Shitou Lou, notorious though they were, yet had never truly harassed the valley's residents, that these desperate fishermen's families dared to pluck up courage and plead with them.