Chapter 336 - 331: Bloody Celebration

Chapter 336: Chapter 331: Bloody Celebration

Leg stepped aside, clearing the entrance to the cave.

Kael didn’t move. The squad members behind him remained on alert.

Damp air wafted out from the depths of the cave, carrying the scent of earth, medicinal herbs, and blood.

"Please, come in," Leg said again, his voice tinged with exhaustion.

Kael gave a hand signal. Two squad members entered first. Only after they confirmed it was safe did Kael lead the rest of his people inside.

Xiaolan followed behind Kael. The dimness of the cave gave her a sliver of comfort; at least she no longer had to look at the gory scenes outside.

The cave passage was narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk abreast.

Torches made of fish oil were stuck into the rock walls at regular intervals, casting a dim, yellow light that stretched their shadows long.

Deeper inside, the space suddenly opened up.

It was a massive natural cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and water droplets dripped from their tips, forming small puddles on the floor below.

The cavern was packed with people.

The old, women, children. They were sitting or lying down, wrapped in tattered blankets and animal hides.

Numbness and fear were written on every face. When they saw Kael’s group enter, a new wariness flickered in their eyes.

No one spoke. There was only the sound of suppressed coughs and the occasional cry of a baby.

Leg led them through the crowd toward a corner deeper in the cavern.

It was partitioned off with several large pieces of canvas, like a makeshift medical area.

A low chanting sound drifted from behind the canvas.

"Lord Elias is inside," Leg said, stopping.

He lifted a corner of the canvas.

The space inside wasn’t large. The ground was covered with dry grass, where seven or eight wounded people lay.

A young man was kneeling beside one of the wounded.

He wore the simplest of coarse linen clothes. His dark brown hair had a bluish tint in the torchlight, and his gray-green eyes were focused on the injured person before him.

The wounded man had a rather large gash on his chest, the flesh torn open, faintly revealing white bone. However, the overall bleeding was not severe, and the man’s mental state seemed stable.

The young man held his palm over the wound, his eyes closed, chanting incomprehensible syllables.

There was no glow from his palm, nor did the wound show any immediate change.

But the wounded man on the ground, whose body had been convulsing from the intense pain, gradually calmed.

Mia narrowed her eyes.

She had seen Fabian, the Priest from the Eternal Radiance Church, perform a Divine Art. It involved Holy Light, prayers, and waves of sacred energy.

The process this person was using seemed similar, yet it felt somehow different.

There was no powerful infusion of energy; it was more like... he was guiding something.

The muscles at the edge of the wound were squirming with extreme slowness. Tiny tendrils of flesh began to grow from deep within the tissue, trying to knit together.

The process was slow, but it was definitely happening.

Mia sniffed the air.

’Is that life force... Is he agitating the wounded man’s own life force?’

A few minutes later, the young man stopped chanting.

He opened his eyes. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and his face was pale.

Although the wound hadn’t healed, the bleeding had stopped, and the most critical danger had been stabilized.

He stood up, swaying slightly, and someone next to him immediately caught him.

"Lord Elias, you should rest."

"I’m fine." Elias shook his head, his gaze shifting to Kael and his group at the entrance.

Leg stepped forward and quietly explained the situation to him.

After Elias finished listening, his eyes held no gratitude, only scrutiny and vigilance.

Kael met his gaze, pulled a crest from within his coat, and held it out.

The crest was forged from pure silver, bearing the thorned emblem of the Klein Clan.

"Velin Klein, Baron of the Grey Marsh Territory, ennobled by the Duchy Council and legal pioneer of the Southern Islands. He is my master, and he wishes to cooperate with the friends of this island."

Elias looked at the crest, his expression turning complex.

"A Baron," he repeated the word. "A nobleman..."

He did not take the crest.

"The pirates stole our home, and now a nobleman shows up. What a party."

Hostility ignited in the once-numb eyes of the surviving Namiya people.

In their eyes, there was no difference between pirates and nobles. Both were outsiders, both were plunderers.

Elias took a step forward, looking Kael straight in the eye.

"Your master, the Baron... does he want a new group of slaves to mine Sea Fire Stone and pearls for him, or does he actually see us as human beings?"

The question was direct and filled with hostility.

Beneath Kael’s mask, his expression didn’t change.

"My master only cares about value."

This statement made the resistance fighters around them frown slightly.

"Your homes, your skills, your knowledge of these waters. This is your value. Prove your value, and you will earn the corresponding dignity."

"Why should we pledge our loyalty to him? And what can he give us in return?" Elias asked, watching Kael’s eyes as he studied his reaction.

"This isn’t simply about loyalty," Kael corrected. "Look at how many people you have left who can still fight. Without us, what were you planning to do?"

Elias was taken aback by the question, and the sharp edge in his eyes softened slightly.

Kael did not miss this opportunity.

"Right now, you are just dying a slow death. The pirates have occupied Peace Bay’s port and control the granary on Turtle Island. You’re hiding in a cave. Your food and medicine will only dwindle. Your so-called resistance is merely delaying the moment you’re all strangled."

Kael’s words were blunt, stabbing into the heart of every Namiya person like a knife.

The cave fell deathly silent, with only the CRACKLE of the burning torches.

After a long moment, Elias spoke.

"The situation... isn’t as desperate as you think."

Kael watched him.

"The Bloodsail Brotherhood has been shrinking its control zone recently," Elias revealed, sharing a startling piece of news. "They’re establishing a stronghold in Peace Bay while simultaneously gathering the pirates from the outer islands."

"What does that mean? Are they planning to run?" one of Kael’s squad members asked in a low voice.

"That’s a possibility," Elias nodded. "Barbossa has already plundered quite a lot..."

He paused, then revealed the most critical piece of intelligence.

"Two weeks from now, in Peace Bay, they’re holding a ’Crimson Festival.’ All the pirate chieftains, along with the black-market merchants who collude with them, will be there. On that day, they will count and divide all their plundered goods. As for whether they’ll use the money to buy weapons and build a permanent fortress, or set sail for distant shores... no one knows."

Kael’s body went ramrod straight.

Peace Bay. The Crimson Festival. All the leaders gathered in one place.

Where others saw a hoard of treasure, he saw the perfect opportunity to wipe out their enemies in one fell swoop.

This intelligence had to be delivered to Lord Velin immediately.

He looked at Elias. "I need your help. We need a safe and fast route back to our landing point. In exchange, I and most of my people will stay behind, along with these medical supplies, as a show of our sincerity to cooperate."

Elias looked at Kael, then at the elite warriors behind him, and at the potent medicines the likes of which they had never seen before.

Hope. The word surfaced in his mind.

A tangible, real hope that could perhaps pull his people from the abyss.

"You don’t have a choice," Kael replied. "You can only choose to trust us."