Chapter 550: Sword Unsheathed! (III)

The North Sea.

More merchant ships appeared along the way as Li Hao continued on his route. There were also more pirates, but to Li Hao’s amazement, there wasn’t the expected atmosphere of animosity between the two! He even saw a few pirates board the merchant vessels, then merrily return to their ships while escorted by fawning managers.

“You can take down the White Shark flag now,” a voice traveled into his ear. “That trash White Shark ate a huge loss in Silver Moon and there probably won’t be a place for him in the North Sea in the future. You guys can cut down on your expenses a bit and forgo what you usually pay to him. Of course, more taxes will go to the other factions, but it won’t add up to what you used to pay White Shark...”

“Thank you, milord soldier!” flattered a manager.

The wind carried these words to Li Hao’s ear.

Expenses... taxes... milord soldier...

No, these were pirates. He was certain these were pirates. But these pirates were blatantly extracting taxes from merchants that operated in these waters. They no longer raided their targets!

Raiding and looting was to catch fish by draining the pond. Collecting taxes, no matter how heavy they were, was a much more lucrative and acceptable practice. Commerce was immensely profitable and certain trading companies were willing to pay the tolls. Even after taking this expense into account, they were still able to reap massive profits.

Li Hao didn’t take action on this encounter, he was running short on time. He committed a few faces to memory and recalled some other ones. Each of the eight pirate factions had their own flag. The White Shark Raiders had been ranked fourth—an enormous shark featured on their flag.

The most famous and strongest pirate faction was the Starlight Pirates. They claimed everything that starlight touched to be their territory. If rumors were to be believed, they boasted of ten thousand supernaturals in their ranks. Regardless of whether or not that was true, they surely had many powerhouses among them.

The White Shark Raiders only had three commanders, whereas the leader of the Starlight Pirates claimed to be the North Sea King. His nine direct subordinates were the Nine Starlight Dukes—self-styled dukes, as they were. Their flag bore ten stars, a nod to twinkling cosmic radiance. The North Sea King and Nine Starlight Dukes jointly ruled the Starlight Pirates.

Information quickly flashed through Li Hao’s mind. He didn’t know if he’d run into any of them as he was now in the North Sea. They couldn’t possibly ignore the happenings as they were the greatest faction of the area; they may want to get involved.

Something twitched in his pocket and the young man took out the jade pendant from earlier. There was a new line of text on it.

“Ship 307 of the Four Seas trading company, you are off course. You are not to proceed on your current route. Battle occurred four hundred kilometers ahead of you ten minutes ago. Light Sword killed a Nova and adjusted her bearing toward you!” Li Hao blinked, was the message for him?

Actually, it might be. The ship he’d boarded earlier might’ve been number 307. Then this meant the transmission hub was locked onto the pendant’s location and noticed that it was off course. Although he was very far away at four hundred kilometers, he might soon come across Light Sword if he continued at his current speed.

That warning’s a bit useless... or is it just to confuse me?

His speed was so fast that it was beyond the capacity of a regular ship. Had the transmission hub not noticed anything amiss? Perhaps they had, but it was possible that his location was broadcasted only at certain intervals. They may not know where he was at the moment.

Li Hao put the question out of his mind. Four hundred kilometers? Ten minutes ago... that meant that he’d almost caught up to Light Sword.

The young man picked up speed. So she was still alive and had just killed a Nova. Damn, she was tenacious! He wasn’t thinking about any grudges at this point. Firstly, he’d received payment to help her. Secondly, she was still alive after snapping a supernatural lock. This kind of stubborn nature was rather reminiscent of Silver Moon martial masters.

Well, she

was

one to begin with.

Li Hao urged the Divine Kun Ship forward—fifty kilometers, one hundred kilometers... He zoomed at top speed for nearly two hundred kilometers, consuming a great deal of resources before finally seeing some balls of light. They didn’t belong to Light Sword—but some Solars and Novas. There seemed to be a blockade ahead and powerhouses in the air. Golden light emanated from someone’s eyes as they scanned the premises.

One of them sensed Li Hao and a voice boomed in his direction, “The Starlight Troops have sealed off this area! No one is allowed in!”

“Friends from far away, Light Sword has killed one of our brothers. We must have vengeance and any who seek to stop us will be our enemy!”

“......” Powerhouses constantly broadcasted various announcements around the area. Heavyweights stood outside the blockade—some cursing to themselves, others with eyes darting around the area and waiting for the right timing.

Plainly, Light Sword was corralled in the area ahead. The Starlight Pirates had moved in.

People were standing over the water not too far from Li Hao. One of them snorted.

“So the Steadfast Duke has hired the Starlight Pirates?” another clucked their tongue. “That’s a big expenditure—there’s at least ten Solars here, isn’t there? And two Novas in residence... and this is only from one direction. Are there more pirates in the other cardinal directions?”

The thought was mind-boggling! Pirates of the North Sea really had become a force unto themselves!

“It might not be the Steadfast Duke, it could be...” someone chuckled and finished their words via transmission.

Li Hao frowned. So the pirates really had reached an accord among themselves; no one dared get on their bad side. The North Sea was a strategic passageway that connected the nineteen northern provinces to the central region. The two sides would be cut off from each other if it was blocked off by pirates. No one would be able to exterminate them then.

Li Hao looked at the Starlight Novas—they were just initial Nova. He looked at Panther, the dog looked at Li Hao.

“I’ll take one and you take one.” The young man suddenly grinned. “Even pirates can show off these days. This world is seriously full of strange things!”

The others may be afraid, he wasn’t. He had nothing to lose in this situation, so what was he afraid of? Would these people dare take revenge on Silver Moon?

As discourse buzzed in the surroundings, the pirates in the air looked down loftily! The North Sea was their territory! No matter how strong these people were on land, they had to scrape and bow in the sea!

Light Sword was dead without a doubt, leaving the Starlight Pirates the greatest winner. Someone had offered thirty thousand mysterious power stones, three drops of Water of Life, and ten origin weapons to purchase her body and the Windchaser Boot.

The pirates didn’t know who the buyer was, but it certainly wasn’t an individual. It must be a major faction not at liberty to show themselves. Perhaps it was the other two founding dukes of the dynasty. The three had always been at odds with each other and wouldn’t mind paying a high price for the Windchaser Boot.

The other two dukes were in charge of the south and west. They were possibly too far away to make it in time, which was why they offered such a high price to outright purchase the body and treasure.

The two Novas were still considering who the mysterious buyer may be and busy exerting influence on all sides when startled cries sounded from below. One of them raised their heads, uncomprehending of what they saw. It was... a sword!

“How dare...” he began to shout. Internal shock roiled him. Who was this?

ROAR!

A ferocious tiger roar erupted by the ear like a volcano. A harsh whistle pierced through one’s eardrums as light from a longsword illuminated the world. A sword stroke pierced through the heavens—bam!

The sword descended amid sparkling sword light!

BOOM!

After that shout, the initial Nova was ripped apart like cloth by the light. The longsword descended to finish bisecting him! Li Hao swept the body onto the ship with a careless sweep.

Off to the side, the other horrified Nova quickly didn’t have time to consider anything else. A dog had soundlessly snuck upon him—he was about to flee when the dog struck with its paw. Nine layers of force overlaid on each other and raised great waves in the ocean!

BOOM!

The waves churned and reached for the skies. Panther reached out amid the frothy spray and ripped the Nova to pieces!

The premises immediately quieted. Although the Solar pirates immediately fled for their lives, sword light flashed and sent pirate heads rolling on the ground in the blink of an eye. That sent the other powerhouses stirring with motion and they all ran as well.

“Who was that??”

“A tiger roar... It reminded me of the Five Styles...”

“Sword light...”

“It’s Li Hao! Demon Sword Li Hao! He’s here and killed experts of the Starlight Pirates!”

“And that dog...”

“......” Shocked powerhouses fled for their lives. Two Novas had died in an instant! Li Hao was horrifying!

The young man had no intention of covering his tracks. It’s not like people were blind. He was here already, so he killed all of the remaining pirates in another heartbeat. Li Hao threw his head back with laughter, in exceedingly good spirits. He then flew ahead, supposing that Light Sword was nearby.

Li Hao naturally had a few cards up his sleeve to be this cocky. He was the height of arrogance and killed without blinking. Whether it was pirates or anyone else, he would kill everyone he could if they dared stand in his way!