Chapter 493 Another Encounter and a Frantic Escape

The Ebb Tide Gang boasted a solid number of high-ranking Class Holders. In an ordinary town, a gang this size could run roughshod over the locals and easily establish itself as a top-tier underworld syndicate.

But here in Barracuda Bay—a major adventuring hub, a crucial port of the kingdom, and the heart of the Southern Archipelagos—their numbers and strength simply weren't enough to make a splash.

They had only prospered because their local rivals, the Horned Shark Gang, had bitten off more than they could chew. By provoking a powerful adventurer far beyond their weight class, the Sharks had been wiped out overnight, leaving the Ebb Tide Gang to happily gorge themselves on the leftovers. Had that not happened, they would still be holed up in the cramped, suffocating streets of Winding Alley, scraping by on shady, low-paying rackets.

The Ebb Tide Gang's overhead was steep, and their recent frantic push to recruit peripheral members and expand their territory had stretched their finances to a breaking point.

Their largest single expense was naturally the "tribute" paid out to the law enforcement in the Saltwater District. Bribes across their various channels ate up more than half of their total income.

This was a necessary cost of doing business; they couldn't cut corners here.

Following closely behind was the pay and bonuses for their core members.

Having finally carved out a respectable slice of Barracuda Bay, the Class Holders serving as the gang's backbone weren't about to live in poverty. Unrestricted, massive withdrawals from the gang's coffers had become an everyday occurrence.

As for the peripheral members—the "small fry"—simply joining the Ebb Tide Gang was an unparalleled honor. Being able to throw their weight around on the streets under the gang's banner was considered payment enough. At most, a minor boss might occasionally treat his boys to a decent meal at a cheap tavern. The concepts of regular wages or death benefits simply didn't exist for them.

Tack on the procurement of weapons and armor, operational funds for informants, and the occasional showy reward handed out to a standout member just to dangle a carrot in front of the rest...

All of this pushed the Ebb Tide Gang's spending to an all-time high just as they were trying to expand.

Under these circumstances, they were desperate to find new revenue streams.

They shook down ships with weak backing for protection money, took a cut from the dockworkers' loading fees, and even dipped their toes into highly dangerous smuggling operations.

Unfortunately, their reach was still too limited, and they lacked high-level Class Holders to anchor their presence. They couldn't even get a foot in the door at the most lucrative operations in Barracuda Bay—the casinos and brothels. Their only option was to hire themselves out as thugs and bodyguards in the hopes of rubbing shoulders with higher-tier factions and the big shots in town.

Hogen felt his luck had been rather poor lately.

As a recent recruit to the gang, he felt he had executed the tasks handed down by his bosses flawlessly. He kept every precaution firmly in mind and followed the rules to the letter.

Even when targeting people at the docks who looked like ordinary civilians at a glance, he made sure to double and triple-check before signaling his boys to move in. His extreme caution had even cost them a few marks who were snatched up by rival gangs first.

He had believed his prudence would keep him out of trouble, but then, exactly a week ago...

To this day, Hogen vividly remembered that foolish-looking runt—and the terrifying figure with black hair, dark eyes, sharp features, and an impossibly deep, chilling aura who stood beside him.

It wasn't until he returned to the Ebb Tide Gang's core headquarters in Barracuda Bay and described the man to their informants that his fears were confirmed. He had actually run into the legendary butcher who single-handedly chopped off the heads of the entire Horned Shark Gang's leadership—"Sea Fang" Xia Nan.

And according to the latest rumors circulating among adventurers, this "Sea Fang" had temporarily joined the renowned "Blade of Vengeance" fleet.

By that logic, the "fat sheep" he had targeted—the naive-looking short guy who didn't seem to know how the world worked—was likely a member of the "Blade of Vengeance" squad too.

Hogen had already picked out the way he was going to die in his head.

He just hoped it would be quick and painless. To ensure it, he was entirely willing to hand over his entire life savings—three gold, six silver, and two copper coins—along with a Threaded Shortsword he had stolen from a cheap blacksmith.

Actually... if possible, he wanted to have one last good meal before he kicked the bucket. Nothing fancy—just a plate of roasted meat and a massive, ice-cold mug of ale would do it.

Hogen spent three full days cowering in fear in his miserable hole at the deepest end of an alley. Terrified of being implicated, the Ebb Tide Gang had kicked him right out of their headquarters.

But to his surprise, death never came.

Perhaps a big shot like Sea Fang simply couldn't be bothered with a nobody like him. Over those three days, not a single person came looking for trouble, and even the Ebb Tide Gang remained quiet.

Hogen tentatively poked his head out of his den. He sat nervously in the corner of a tavern, eavesdropping for news about the "Blade of Vengeance". Any mention of Sea Fang made his chest tighten, terrified that his own name might be uttered next.

Yet the outcome mirrored his sweetest fantasies: Sea Fang and the Blade of Vengeance didn't care about a lowly street rat like him at all.

Hogen had survived.

Meanwhile, the story of his encounter at the docks had slowly trickled through the Ebb Tide Gang. While it didn't make him a legend, it did earn him a solid amount of street cred among the bottom-tier thugs. After all, it wasn't every day someone offended such professional adventurers and walked away completely unscathed.

So, when Hogen returned to the gang headquarters in one piece, he naturally resumed his place in the Ebb Tide Gang. Supported by his fellow thugs, he was even elevated to the rank of minor boss.

The only downside was that his superiors—likely worried he might accidentally piss off another big shot—pulled him off his lucrative post at the docks. Instead, he was reassigned to the coastline. While he could still collect protection money from the local fishermen, he and his boys were also expected to do some fishing of their own. If they managed to catch any Rare species, they'd even score a bonus.

Hogen was full of energy.

He genuinely believed his survival was a blessing from the heavens—maybe the Goddess of Luck, or perhaps even the Goddess of the Ocean herself.

He was destined to firmly establish himself in Barracuda Bay as an Ebb Tide Gang member, and maybe one day he'd even be rubbing shoulders and laughing with the very people he currently had to look up to.

And today would be the beginning of it all!

Hogen had heard from local fishermen that there was a massive Coral Reef here teeming with fish. It was completely unguarded, and fishers often came here to cast their lines and nets. Upon hearing this, Hogen gathered his men and sailed a fishing boat straight over.

"Boss Hogen, there really are a ton of fish here! Whole schools of them, you can see 'em right through the water!" a subordinate yelled excitedly, leaning over the side of the boat to peer out.

The taste of power was intoxicating. Being called "Boss" made Hogen feel like he was walking on clouds, floating on air.

Mimicking the mannerisms of the big shots he had seen before, he reached out and waved his hand with feigned composure.

"Cast the net."

"Yes, Boss!"

The thugs gripped the fine-meshed fishing nets tightly. Twisting their waists and core, they drove the momentum through their arms, preparing to hurl the nets downward.

Whoosh—

Just as a Short-Tailed Albatross darted past overhead, a sudden, violent gale swept across the deck.

The weather was perfectly clear, with white clouds drifting by and not a single sign of an impending storm, yet the gale was incredibly strong. It whipped up the waves, which slammed violently into the side of the boat. The thugs lost their balance, staggering and tumbling to the deck.

The nets were ripped right out of their hands, spiraling high into the air before being blown all the way onto the distant shore.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Where did that wind come from?"

The Ebb Tide Gang thugs cursed in confusion, assuming it was just a bizarre natural phenomenon out on the sea.

Gripping the railing tight to steady himself, Hogen felt a sudden, icy jolt of realization.

He instinctively looked up, his eyes tracking the pure white albatross flying away in the distance.

A chillingly familiar sensation brushed past his neck. He violently shuddered and whirled around, staring instinctively toward the coast.

There, standing silently upon a flat stretch of reef rock, was a dark, impossibly familiar figure—a sight that made Hogen's body tremble involuntarily.

Their eyes met.

"Go! Move, now!!!"

A piercing shriek tore from Hogen's throat—a sound higher and more desperate than anything he had ever produced in his life, his voice cracking wildly.

Stark terror twisted his expression into a grotesque mask.

Forgetting completely about his newfound status as a minor boss, he scrambled across the violently pitching deck. Ignoring the fact that he tripped and faceplanted, he shoved the helmsman aside and cranked the ship's wheel with every ounce of strength he possessed, turning it so hard he nearly sparked the wood.

Seeing Hogen panic like a madman, the underlings had no idea what was going on, but they knew better than to ask questions. Abandoning their fishing entirely, they scrambled to help swing the boat around, steering it as far and as fast away from the Coral Reef as possible.

...

Hum—

The high-frequency hum of vibrating magic particles echoed across the shore once again.

As motes of light cascaded down, Hein shifted back into her human form. Taking a few quick steps to steady herself, she wore a deeply perplexed expression.

"What was that all about? Are those thugs really so cowardly that a single gust of wind scares them off?"

As the guardian of this Coral Reef, she had naturally dealt with opportunists trying to overfish the area before; she was quite experienced at this.

Usually, unless the trespassers had high Perception, the vast majority wouldn't notice anything strange about the sudden gale. They would just assume it was a quirk of the weather, and even if they noticed something off, they wouldn't think twice about it.

The next step of her routine involved using one of the few spells she could cast while shapeshifted, causing kelp and seaweed to rapidly sprout across the intruders' bodies and their deck.

At that point, they would realize the reef was protected by a Druid, and most ordinary people lacking Transcendent Tier abilities would quickly back down.

If anyone stubbornly persisted after that warning...

Hein would have to retreat for the moment. Staying in her albatross form, she would memorize the intruders' faces and distinctive traits, then contact Lorraine and the others later to settle the score.

It wasn't that she was a coward, nor was her faith in her circle's beliefs impure. Rather, as the core of the "Blade of Vengeance" squad and their sole Spellcaster, her survival was paramount.

If she sustained some random injury and had to sit out a mission, the entire fleet's tactical depth and overall combat effectiveness would take a massive hit.

So under normal circumstances, Hein really had no way of dealing with trespassers who decided to ignore her warnings and force their way in.

Today, however, Xia Nan happened to be present, which gave her plenty of confidence.

She just hadn't expected those thugs to be so timid that a single gust of wind would send them fleeing in terror.

"They're probably with the Ebb Tide Gang. I recognized one of them from the port," Xia Nan explained, seeing Hein's confusion.

"Oh... the ones who almost robbed Alton? Haha, no wonder they ran the second they saw you."

A week had passed since they returned to port, and practically the entire "Blade of Vengeance" fleet had heard about Alton's run-in. Aken, the Barbarian, had wanted to go make trouble for the Ebb Tide Gang right then and there—despite being wrapped in bandages and heavily injured. After being talked down, and seeing that the halfling didn't even care, plus the fact that Xia Nan had arrived in time to prevent any actual loss, Aken had dropped the issue for now. He just swore he'd pay their headquarters a visit once his wounds were fully healed.

"But I have heard the Ebb Tide Gang mentioned a lot in the taverns over the past few days. They've been making quite a stir lately," Hein said, glancing down at the grouper beneath Xia Nan's foot.

"They're probably trying to expand their territory," Xia Nan replied absentmindedly, completely unbothered by the news.

He had no desire to get tangled up with local gangs. No matter how much they expanded, it had nothing to do with him.

Honestly, if Xia Nan were a higher-up in that gang, he definitely wouldn't be making such a spectacle of it. They were drawing so much attention that their name was constantly circulating in places like the Three-Legged Sea Dog Tavern.

In a motley, chaotic place like Barracuda Bay, being overly high-profile only invited unnecessary trouble.

To put it bluntly, if the hot-tempered Aken—or the fiercely ruthless Lorraine—had been the one to catch them surrounding Alton instead of him, the name "Ebb Tide Gang" would likely no longer exist.

Even Xia Nan sometimes worried that his alias, "Sea Fang," and his recent stunt at the Horned Shark Gang's lair might make him too conspicuous and negatively impact his future in Barracuda Bay.

Shaking his head, Xia Nan pushed the thoughts aside.

Coating the tip of his leather boot in [Heavy Tide], he delivered another vicious kick to the grouper on the ground, ensuring it was completely dead.

He then clicked the button on his Pocket Watch and waited in silence for three seconds as the hands spun.

Hum—

Space distorted for a fraction of a second, and the massive grouper—which was larger than a full-grown man—vanished without a trace.

In its place, a miniature black fish icon appeared on the watch face.

"It's getting late. Let's call it a day," Xia Nan said, giving Hein a slight nod. "Someone was interested in that Execution Platform you guys brought back from Twin Canyon, right? Didn't they say they were coming over specifically to have it appraised? Judging by the time, it should be this afternoon."

Hearing Xia Nan's reminder, Hein froze, having clearly forgotten all about it. Snapping back to reality, she nodded vigorously. "Right, right! If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten. Let's hurry back, or the Captain is going to scold me again for being late!"