Chapter 118: Pirates Attack!

Berna did not know that, seeing him lost in thought, the village chief's eyes flickered with cruelty.

"Berna, given your unwavering desire to defect to the nobility, I now, as village chief, decree that you be detained."

"To prevent you from colluding with the nobility and causing Rebirth Island to fall into their hands!"

Berna doubted he had misheard, "Village chief, you're detaining me? You have no such authority!"

The village chief sneered; several loyalists moved to surround Berna.

Ding-ding-ding!

But at that moment, a shrill alarm rang out, leaving everyone in the square stunned.

"What's going on?" Everyone gasped.

Seizing the opportunity, Berna shoved the two villagers before him aside and sprinted out of the meeting hall!

"Damn it, catch him!" The village chief startled, immediately moving to pursue.

But as he reached the hall's entrance, two pale-faced villagers hurried toward him.

"Bad news, my lord—a ship has anchored offshore, and they've already launched several sampans, preparing to land!"

"What? Is it that noble? How many men?" The village chief's heart sank; he no longer cared about Berna.

"My lord, that ship isn't the noble's—we've never seen one so narrow and pointed, with a different mast flag: a black-and-white skull banner!"

"Not the noble's ship? And a skull flag?"

The village chief's pupils contracted; he knew exactly what the skull flag meant—it was likely something even more terrifying than the nobility.

"Everyone, grab weapons and head to the beach!" The village chief gritted his teeth and rushed toward the shore with the villagers.

When they reached the beach, they indeed saw a long, slender ship anchored over a hundred meters offshore, with three sampans beneath it.

The sampans were now crammed with ragged men wielding all manner of weapons.

These men were howling as they rowed toward the shore.

"Pirates! Damn it, they're pirates!"

A few villagers with experience immediately screamed.

Before becoming fugitives, they had been serfs of northern coastal nobles.

So they knew pirates existed, and knew their cruelty.

These pirates clearly terrified them more than the noble they had encountered before.

"Quick, archers, spear throwers—attack!"

"Everyone else, if you don't want to die, follow me—no letting them land!"

The village chief knew well: this was no time for fear.

If they didn't stop the pirates, they were all dead.

Under the village chief's command, the villagers trembled as they began to counterattack.

Three archers and over a dozen spear throwers immediately launched volleys at the approaching sampans.

Undeniably, thanks to the village chief's lifelong fear of nobles, these spear throwers had been trained for years.

As a result, their impact was surprisingly effective.

Arrows and spears struck with good accuracy, hitting the packed sampans and instantly triggering screams.

Several unlucky pirates were pierced clean through.

The sight terrified the pirate sampans; they halted their advance and veered sideways, trying to flank.

"Keep firing!" The village chief rejoiced, urgently ordering the spear throwers and archers to continue.

Thus, the once fearsome pirates were firmly held back a hundred meters offshore, unable to advance, forced only to hurl curses into the sea!

"Ha! Pirates aren't so terrifying after all!"

The Rebirth Island villagers beamed, believing they had truly repelled the pirates.

Unfortunately, any island capable of owning a warship could never be so easily defeated.

Just as they felt victory was certain, a string of screams erupted from the side.

Turning, they saw pirate figures atop the watchtower built along the shore.

The pirates were cunning—even against a seemingly defenseless fugitive island like Rebirth, they chose the most cautious approach.

That was to openly launch sampans from the front, drawing full attention.

Meanwhile, on the ship's opposite side, over a dozen elite pirates had stealthily slipped into the sea, crawling beneath the waves, then circling through nearby rocks to land unseen.

Thus, the sampans' assault was purely a distraction.

Several villagers near the tower had already become the pirates' victims.

"Ha! You miserable brats, really think you can stop the Skull Gang? Dream on!"

"You've made a huge mistake, ha! Prepare for terror to descend!"

A burly pirate licked blood from his blade, grinning savagely at the crowd.

Without delay, he shouted, "Follow me—kill anyone who resists!"

The burly pirate charged forward with over a dozen pirates clad in tattered leather armor, shields in hand.

"Quick, spear throwers—stop them!" The village chief screamed.

But sadly, the pirates held shields and constantly shifted their paths, causing every thrown spear to miss.

"Die, you brats!"

The pirates reached the front line and surged like wolves among sheep, cutting down several spear throwers in succession.

The other villagers, already terrified, broke and fled in wailing chaos, scattering in all directions.

……

Splash-splash-splash!

"Master!"

"Evelyn, how is the situation?"

Meanwhile, in the sea ten li south of Easter Island, a ship lowered its sails and anchored tightly on the calm surface.

This was naturally Gervas and his group, arriving to wait for the opportune moment.

As the Demon Swift Eagle landed, Gervas immediately asked.

"Master, the pirates have appeared on Easter Island. They are aboard an even more slender ship, with over a hundred men."

"The pirates have already stormed the island!"

"It's actually a warship?!"

Good heavens! Gervas exclaimed, "Good heavens!"

The pirates actually have a warship!

Fortunately, I have an intelligence system; otherwise, even if I might not have encountered the pirates today,

if they wish to develop, they will inevitably explore the surrounding seas in the future.

So, if the Stormwind accidentally meets these pirates at sea in the future, we can only surrender.

Because the pirates' warship has been specially modified, with a sturdy ram specifically installed on its bow.

Conversely, merchant ships have no advantages other than large cargo capacity; they are simply not prepared for combat.

Fortunately, I now have an intelligence system.

Then, that pirate warship will bear my name, Gervas!

"Old Jack, raise the sails and set course for Easter Island!"

"Everyone else, prepare according to the plan!"

One hour later.

Inside Easter Island village, all the villagers were terrified and bound in the open square.

Meanwhile, over a hundred pirates were laughing and chatting around a bonfire, feasting heartily.

Under pressure, the women in the village trembled as they cooked food and poured juice for the pirates.

Since they intended to use this place as a pirate base, after killing a few villagers to scare the rest into submission, these pirates ceased their slaughter.

Because these villagers would become the pirates' best servants in the future.