Chapter 501 Attack

Late at night.

Bright moonlight drifted down from a brilliant starry sky, casting a silvery veil over the rolling sea.

The faint silhouette of a merchant ship bobbed in the distant night. Amid the soft wash of waves against the reefs, an inconspicuous wooden boat quietly came ashore, leaving a long groove in the soft sand.

Under the cover of darkness, Xia Nan and the Shield of Iron Rock party—a group of five—slipped onto Wild Berry Cliff Island.

To minimize the risk of premature discovery, they had timed their operation for the dead of night and taken their disguised merchant ship on a wide detour, approaching Wild Berry Cliff from the northwest.

The terrain here was significantly higher and steeper than on the southeastern side of the island, and the shore was fraught with dangerous undercurrents and jagged reefs.

In a way, it served as a natural defense.

The Ebb Tide Gang and the pirates obviously wouldn't station many guards on this side of the island.

Taking advantage of this, Xia Nan and the others crept in unnoticed.

As for those jagged reefs and swirling undercurrents... they might have proven deadly to ordinary fishermen.

But with five veteran adventurers on board, all possessing formal Class Levels, the hazards were hardly worth mentioning.

Without Xia Nan even needing to use his Perception to guide them, the human ranger Seli had relied on her experience to navigate the coastal dangers, steering the boat smoothly onto the beach.

After carefully erasing their tracks on the shore and hiding the boat deep in a nearby cave for emergencies, the group huddled in the darkness to discuss their next steps.

"Tsk. This pirate gang has quite the setup!"

The half-orc Hogk lay flat on the ground without the slightest regard for appearances, his slightly murky eyes gazing at the lights flickering through the distant woods.

Next to him, the heavily armored hill dwarf Habik showed no surprise beneath his barrel helm.

"Their ties with the Ebb Tide Gang run deep. Back in Barracuda Bay, a lot of them were just gang lackeys. Once they leave the port, they become pirates. There's no real distinction."

Establishing a faction and securing a foothold in the Southern Archipelagos—especially in a core town like Barracuda Bay—required a staggering amount of resources, even for a small, commonplace organization.

Under such circumstances, gangs and adventurers naturally leveraged the vast, complex waters of the Southern Archipelagos to earn some extra coin.

The pirate gang they were about to face essentially acted as the Ebb Tide Gang's black gloves, handling their dirty work on the open sea.

They might even share the same leader.

Since they were in the middle of a mission, Habik didn't have time to explain all this to the half-orc.

Resting his Faceted Hammer on his shoulder, he looked toward Seli, who was keeping watch on their surroundings. "Well? Notice anything?"

Seli shook her head, her sharp gaze looking even more focused in the dark.

"So far, our operation is going smoothly. Nothing unexpected."

"Next... we can move closer and start looking for Auriel's hidden cargo."

The plan was proceeding smoothly, so there was no need for impromptu changes.

Xia Nan remained faintly isolated from the decision-making process, untrusted by the rest of the squad.

It didn't really matter.

Because the moment he had stepped onto Wild Berry Cliff, Xia Nan's keen Perception had faintly detected a familiar aura lingering in the air.

He couldn't be certain, but he silently raised his guard.

The group continued forward.

Unlike his previous adventurer squads, where he had either hung back to protect the core or roamed the flanks to respond to emergencies, his current position was different.

After the Shield of Iron Rock's brief deliberation, Xia Nan was assigned to the front flank.

He trailed half a pace behind Habik, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hogk, and had Seli and the gnome Rogue Agu right behind him.

On the surface, it seemed fine, but in reality, he was essentially boxed in by the Shield of Iron Rock.

Any sudden moves he made would be laid bare under their watchful eyes.

Xia Nan understood that this secure formation stemmed from their distrust of him.

At the same time, being encircled like this inevitably prompted him to consider the worst-case scenario.

'I'll have to deal with the ranger first.'

'A calm, highly experienced ranged attacker like her will be troublesome if left unchecked. She needs to be eliminated at the very start.'

'Fortunately, her class has a low margin for error, and her supposedly outstanding Agility won't mean a thing against my [Fang Hunt].'

Xia Nan was confident he could lop off her head within three seconds of a fight breaking out.

Next would be the gnome Rogue, Agu.

Although he had a low presence and rarely spoke, his actual threat level was second only to Seli's. He was another priority target.

Moreover, Xia Nan's double-digit Perception was the absolute bane of such low-level Rogues. Launching a surprise attack with [Gravity Control] and [Heavy Tide] before the gnome could react would yield excellent results.

Once those two were dealt with, the dwarf and the half-orc—whose sluggish movements and combat styles were completely countered by Xia Nan—would pose almost no threat.

He pondered this while remaining focused on the mission.

Trailing at the rear and constantly monitoring Xia Nan's movements, Seli felt an involuntary chill run down her spine. Finding the night breeze inexplicably cold, she wondered what was wrong.

From the Shield of Iron Rock's perspective, there was nothing wrong with their arrangement.

But on the other hand, heightening Xia Nan's vigilance to this degree... might not be a good thing.

...

...

The dead of night was silent.

Firewood crackled and popped in orange-red flames. The rustle of leaves and the wash of the coastal tide against the reefs provided a steady backdrop of white noise.

Two pirate lackeys clad in standard leather armor, though looking rather sloppy, stood guard on either side of a wooden door.

Through the cracks in the wood, a set of stairs leading underground was vaguely visible, resembling a crude dungeon.

"Yawn..."

The younger-looking lackey stretched lazily, his one-handed sword swaying and clinking lightly against his armor.

It was the sleepiest time of night. Having spent the day drinking and messing around with the others, he could barely keep his eyes open.

He swayed on his feet, looking ready to fall asleep standing up.

Yawning incessantly, he rubbed his bloodshot eyes and said to his companion, "I really can't hold on anymore. I'm gonna find a place to snooze. Cover for me for two hours, will you? If anyone asks, just say I went to take a piss, then come wake me up."

His companion, slightly older and sporting a full beard, was clearly no saint either.

Seeing his partner trying to ditch the watch, he immediately refused, his voice rising a pitch. "Why the hell should I cover for you?"

"You think I'm not tired? Unless..."

A smile with pointed meaning appeared on the bearded man's face as he held out his hand, gesturing the number eight.

"Eight copper coins!?"

"Are you crazy for money?"

"If I were willing to spend that much, I'd have paid someone else to cover for me tonight! Would I have dragged it out until now?"

Seeing his companion's greed, the young man gave up. He stretched in place, trying to wake himself up, and grumbled.

"If you really want to make money that badly, you should head back to Barracuda Bay."

"The Horned Shark Gang offended some big shot earlier and their upper brass got wiped out. Our gang is operating out of their turf now."

"If you can get transferred over, just skimming a little off the top would be enough for you to live it up."

Hearing this, the bearded pirate angrily spat on the ground. "You think I don't want to?"

"If I could've stayed in Barracuda Bay, who'd want to come to this godforsaken shithole? You can't even see a woman out here."

"We're only stuck out here because we don't have the connections to get back!"

His complaints struck a chord. The young man's resentment faded slightly, and he offered some comfort. "Bro, don't get too hung up on it."

"Look at the boss. Didn't he leave Barracuda Bay to come out here with us? Going by the gang's recent moves, there might be some new business lined up."

When he said "new business," he subconsciously glanced toward the wooden door before quickly looking away.

"When the time comes, as long as we follow the boss, even if we don't get the meat, we'll at least get a taste of the broth."

Seeing that the bearded man still looked indignant, the young man suddenly glanced around like a nervous thief. Confirming no one was nearby, he carefully leaned forward, covered his mouth, and feigned a mysterious tone.

"Just last night, when I went to the boss's room to deliver some wine, guess what I saw?"

Without waiting for a reply, he eagerly blurted out, a hint of excitement on his face. "A monster crawling out of the sea with multiple arms and covered in scales—"

The bearded pirate's attention was fully captured by this secret, completely engrossed.

But just as the young man was about to reach the most crucial part...

Incredibly abruptly.

A blurry shadow flashed past in the depths of the night behind the young man.

His speech ground to an instant halt, his animated expression freezing as if someone had pressed pause.

He went stiff for a split second before his face twisted in agony.

It happened so fast the bearded pirate didn't even realize what was going on.

The very next second.

Squelch.

Hot, coppery blood splattered across his face as the cold, gleaming tip of a Short Dagger pierced through the young man's chest.

His pupils constricted!

The bearded man's expression froze. His mouth parted, a yell of alarm on the verge of bursting from his throat.

But just as the sound was about to erupt, a calloused hand reached out from the darkness behind him, clamping firmly over his open mouth.

The roar of shock and fury was instantly smothered into panicked, muffled whimpers.

Swish—

A blade swept smoothly across his neck, instantly severing his windpipe.

Agonizing pain and survival instinct caused him to claw at the arm covering his mouth.

It felt slender, yet it was as unyielding as an iron hoop, completely immovable.

One second, two seconds...

His life force rapidly drained away along with the blood spurting from his neck.

The bearded man convulsed twice in a final death throe, his eyes losing focus as his corpse was silently lowered to the ground.

Casually wiping the blood from her blade on his clothes, Seli nodded to the gnome Rogue Agu, who had just finished off the younger pirate, before sheathing her dagger.

Meanwhile, Xia Nan, Habik, and Hogk emerged from the nearby bushes and approached the two.

This spot was on the perimeter of the pirate stronghold and clearly wasn't a particularly important location, as evidenced by the mere two lackeys stationed here.

There were many similar small outposts scattered across the island.

Seeing Habik walk over, Seli immediately admitted her mistake. "Captain, that was my fault."

According to their plan, the bearded pirate was supposed to be kept alive for interrogation about the island's defenses.

However, he had reacted too strongly. Afraid his struggle would draw unwanted attention, Seli had chosen to slit his throat instead.

"It's nothing. We'll just grab another one later," Habik replied casually, his gaze moving past the two corpses to the wooden door.

They had been observing the perimeter of the pirate base for a while. There were many similar setups, and almost every small post was guarded by two or three lackeys.

It made the dwarf somewhat curious.

Pondering this, he waved his teammates over and approached the door.

There was no need for lockpicking.

The wooden door wasn't particularly sturdy to begin with. With a forceful yank from the half-orc, it was torn open as easily as paper.

It revealed a set of dirt stairs leading underground.

"This is..."

A look of surprise appeared on the dwarf's face.

At the same time, Xia Nan carefully observed the environment behind the door.

The dirt steps led downward, and the walls on both sides still bore the marks of shovels and picks. Embedded in the damp soil were crushed rocks and tree roots. It was incredibly crude, clearly dug out not long ago.

A distinct stench of urine hung in the air, accompanied by faint human voices echoing from deep within.

"Perhaps... it's a dungeon?"