Chapter 121: Obtained Two Sea Vessels!

Next, the dull thuds in the arena continued for a full two minutes.

During those two minutes, all of Gervas's hundred punches landed squarely on the Skeleton Boss's face.

Those who had seen Gervas deal with other enemies knew that his lord had previously disciplined foes using only his palm.

Only this Skeleton Boss enjoyed the fist the size of a sand pot.

Thus, it was clear this fellow truly brought his own ruin upon himself.

In an instant, the Skeleton Boss's nose collapsed, his teeth shattered, and a mixture of saliva, tears, and blood flowed continuously.

It was enough to make onlookers gasp in horror and those who heard of it feel their hair stand on end.

Miserable!

It was truly too miserable!

"Give... give me a quick death... uh..."

In his dying moments, the Skeleton Boss finally experienced what it meant to reap what one sows, using his last bit of strength to beg for a quick end.

Fortunately, his life had reached its limit.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he failed to draw breath, his head tilted sideways, and he fell silent.

The Skeleton Boss, deceased!

"What is your name!"

Thud!

"N-noble l-lord, m-m-my name is B-Bernard..."

Bernard's legs were trembling, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.

Cruel!

It was truly too cruel.

Of course, the satisfaction was also real.

These damned pirates; if this noble lord had not arrived in time, all the women, including his own wife, would have been violated, and the villagers would have become their slaves.

Of course, regardless of the outcome, this noble lord's methods made Bernard feel a chill run down his spine.

If it had been him, he would have preferred this noble lord to strike him with a blade rather than endure such pain.

"Bernard, you need not fear; you are not like them. You have presented the Sea God Stone, which is a great achievement, and I can pardon you!"

"Tell me how you obtained the Sea God Stone!"

Gervas pointed to the villagers bound nearby.

This gesture immediately terrified the villagers into shivering, and the timid ones even wet themselves from fear.

After all, even Bernard, who had achieved merit, was shaken with fear.

They, these 'sinners', were naturally so frightened they lost their souls.

"Y-yes... yes! Noble lord, the reason I was able to find the Sea God Stone..."

Immediately, Bernard described in detail the process of how he found the Sea God Stone.

It turned out that after pushing aside the village chief's confidant, he had run all the way to the seaside cliff and hidden in the bushes.

However, later, hearing of the pirates' attack, he worried about his wife and children, so he quietly snuck back.

On his way back, he happened to see the Skeleton Boss hiding the Sea God Stone beneath a rock.

Thus, after seeing the pirates defeated, he retrieved the Sea God Stone and proactively approached the Storm Guards responsible for the watch.

Gervas nodded; not only was this refugee lucky, but his own luck was also quite good.

"Bernard, your achievement is significant; besides pardoning you and your family, I can also fulfill one request of yours!"

"So, tell me, what do you want? Gold coins, fields, a house; I can fulfill any of them!"

Hearing this, Bernard glanced at the shivering villagers, gritted his teeth, and said, "N-noble l-lord, I do not want gold coins or a house; I beg... I beg the noble lord to spare the villagers' lives!"

Gervas raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested. "Bernard, you must understand that your achievement is worth at least two gold coins, which could ensure you and your family a worry-free rest of your lives!"

"But if you beg for mercy for these refugees, not only will the reward vanish, but you might even anger me, after all, I originally intended to kill these fellows who dared to offend me!"

A flicker of struggle passed through Bernard's eyes, but he continued anyway: "Noble lord, I beg your mercy; all of this was ordered by the village chief; in fact, the villagers had no intention of offending you that day!"

"Moreover, I also know of a second Sea God Stone, plus a sea vessel, and additionally, there are likely several dozen gold coins!"

"Is that so?" Gervas paused, not expecting such an unexpected surprise.

Half an hour later, Gervas stood before a slightly old-fashioned single-masted sailboat, holding a fist-sized Sea God Stone.

This was a wide-bodied single-masted merchant ship, hidden within a dense forest by the coast.

Although somewhat aged, according to Old Jack's inspection, this merchant ship, though old, could still serve in coastal waters for over a decade after repairs.

From this point on, adding that warship, Gervas had obtained two sea vessels today in total.

As for the origin of this second Sea God Stone and the second sea vessel, they had seized them from a noble family when they were refugees back then.

Eight years ago, their group of over three hundred people still belonged to a Count family named Silver Spear.

The Silver Spear family had long conducted trade via sea vessels.

And the Easter Island village chief at that time was the steward of this merchant ship.

Because of his gambling addiction, he went to gamble when the trade caravan docked at Yate City, and as a result, he lost more than ten gold coins.

Such a large sum of gold coins not only wiped out the village chief's savings accumulated over many years but also left him in debt of five or six gold coins.

With his eyes red from losing, the village chief simply returned to the merchant ship and stole the family's gold coins.

Originally, he intended to win back his losses, planning to return the gold coins to the treasury once he won them back.

Who would have thought that subsequently, he not only failed to win but lost even more.

Thus, the village chief, having nothing left to lose, simply pretended the gold coins were stolen and reported the matter to the caravan and the crew.

When the merchant caravan crew was terrified and at a loss, the village elder incited everyone to steal the ship and flee.

Because so many gold coins were stolen, if they were not found within a day, everyone on the ship would be subjected to severe torture.

The other merchant caravan members recalled their families' harsh rules; since it involved the theft of dozens of gold coins, they indeed would not have a good outcome.

Thus, everyone heeded the village elder's instigation and, before the captain and the guard captain returned to the ship, directly raised the sails and set sail, stealing the sea vessel.

What followed was that they drifted to this island and, relying on the supplies aboard the sea vessel, settled on Easter Island.

Of course, to avoid being discovered, after the village elder proposed hauling the sea vessel ashore to hide it, he took the Sea God Stone.

Bernar was then a steward's apprentice; although he felt the theft of the gold coins was suspicious, he lacked the power to influence the situation.

And this time, Gervas's arrival to recruit, coupled with the village elder's abnormal reaction, made him feel even stranger.

Therefore, Bernar deduced that the gold coins back then were very likely stolen by the steward himself.

And just now, when the Sea God Stone was searched out from the village elder's room, a wooden box containing more than fifty gold coins was also found, which confirmed the steward's act of embezzlement.

This was also why he strongly opposed Gervas's recruitment, even though Gervas seemed truly willing to pardon them!

And after clarifying the situation, Gervas unceremoniously ordered the village elder's execution.

Such a person harboring evil intentions and addicted to gambling, even if he knew how to read and do arithmetic, he would not want.

After executing the village elder, he pardoned the death penalty for the group of fugitives.

Of course, the old rule applied: the death penalty could be spared, but the living punishment was inescapable.

All the villagers were demoted to slaves and needed to work hard subsequently to restore their status as serfs.

As for Bernar, learning that the other party was also a steward's apprentice on the sea vessel back then, he was not only not demoted to a slave but was appointed as the merchant caravan steward of Storm Hold.

Henceforth, he would be responsible for managing the merchant caravan of Storm Hold to sell sea fish in Iron Wolf City.