Chapter 2348: Chapter 2349: The Pigpen

Walking through the fog-enveloped forest, a deep and blurry scene unfolded before them, but the bearded Captain Barlow and the small-built Birch moved at a considerable pace.

It’s normal for Birch to walk fast, after all, he occasionally comes here to meet Little Jump. Barlow’s speed was also swift, even surpassing Birch, which clearly showed that Barlow was very familiar with dock No.1.

Judging from the familiarity, even Birch felt somewhat inadequate: "Captain, you seem more familiar with this place than me. Surely you haven’t given up, have you?"

Barlow didn’t turn his head and continued to stride quickly through the forest: "Give up on what?"

"On seizing dock No.1."

Barlow paused for a second, then continued to walk ahead unperturbed: "Dock No.1 has the best location, backed by a fertile plain, yet those pirates have no idea about planting, it’s simply a waste of resources."

"So, Captain really still has it in mind. No wonder you’re so familiar with this place, you must have come often."

"Hmph." Barlow snorted, releasing a puff of turbid air, yet did not deny it.

He actually doesn’t want to ponder it, but as long as the mist persists, leaving the island is a distant hope. Since long-term survival on this tormenting ghost island is necessary, naturally hoping for a better living place.

However... Renko, it can’t be helped, Renko.

"If the day really comes to seize dock No.1, we must be careful not to get Little Jump trapped."

"I am naturally aware of that. However..." Barlow paused: "When that day arrives, I reckon Little Jump would already be captured by us. After all, capturing Little Jump is something Renko is not so obsessed with."

Little Jump is a doctor, and Little Jump did not come aboard the Broken Blood voluntarily, given Renko’s knightly principles, capturing Little Jump may still be possible.

"Enough said, be silent, ahead is their aft. There are usually people on guard, if they hear us, we will have no choice but to escape."

The two carefully traversed the fog-enveloped forest, walking only a few meters, and saw a bright light in the mist, behind which a huge arched outline was faintly visible; there was dock No.1.

Treading carefully for a few more steps, Barlow whispered to Birch: "There’s usually someone guarding the aft door, you wait here behind this tree, I’ll go check who it is."

Birch nodded and leaned against the dark big tree, silently waiting.

Before long, Barlow quietly returned with a touch of joy in his eyes: "Today, it’s Half-ear on duty. Moreover, luck is on our side, Scarface is guarding with Half-ear."

Scarface and Half-ear? Who are they, and why does the captain seem so familiar?

"Scarface is a pervert, often sneaking off to the pigsty after a short guard. Half-ear guards diligently, but he’s extremely suspicious. Previously, I exploited this flaw to trick him, and this time, it shouldn’t be a problem."

Birch silently watched Barlow’s confident demeanor. He really wanted to ask, Captain, just how many times have you secretly come to dock No.1, even giving the guards nicknames and knowing their personalities well?

Since Barlow seemed so certain, Birch did not question him, at worst they’d be discovered and forced to flee... He was confident in escaping.

Under Barlow’s leadership, they hid behind a large rock near the aft.

From there, they could see, not far from the door, indeed two people stood; one with a scarred face, lazily sitting on the threshold, staring blankly at the illuminated torch above; the other had a notch on his right ear, likely Half-ear, though he leaned against the wall, his eyes continuously scanned all sides, occasionally tilting an ear to listen, remaining highly alert.

They waited behind the rock for half an hour, and sure enough, Scarface, as Barlow predicted, couldn’t sit still. Occasionally tapping his crotch with his hand, his gaze kept drifting towards the back of the door.

A few minutes later, Scarface stood up, said a few words to Half-ear, and headed through the door; his direction clearly indicated he’s heading to the pigsty.

Now only Half-ear was left, his vigilance heightened, previously only scanning with his eyes, now he continuously turned his head to observe all directions.

"He’s keeping such a close watch, how can we get in?" Birch whispered gently.

"Don’t worry, I have a plan. Because of Scarface’s recent departure, Half-ear is currently on high alert, but it won’t last long. Wait a few minutes until Half-ear slightly lowers his guard, then I’ll act."

"Act? Are you planning to knock him out, won’t that cause any trouble?"

"No need to knock him out, just watch me."

Listening to Barlow’s assured and confident manner, Birch believed him.

Ten minutes later, Barlow began his move, silently shifting in the opposite direction, doing something unknown in the depths of the dense forest.

After a while, Birch heard a familiar sound.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle—"

Birch suddenly looked up; wasn’t this the secret code for his meeting with Little Flea?

"Three long, two short, three rapid... No, it’s not a rapid sound; it should be a short, subtle sound. This isn’t the meeting’s signal."

While Birch was pondering, he saw Half Ear at the distant gate, a gleam of joy flashing across his face, muttering, "It’s that sound again, here it is, it must be the spy’s code. I want to see who the spy is, once I catch the spy and tell Master Man, then I can... hehe..."

Saying this, Half Ear swiftly dashed into the dark forest.

Shortly after Half Ear’s silhouette vanished, Baro emerged from the mist and stood at the gate, waving towards the direction of the large stone.

Although Birch didn’t want to go in, he was already halfway there, and he didn’t want to give up now; he gritted his teeth and rushed out.

"What’s taking you so long? That fool won’t be back anytime soon; we have enough time to make a round trip to the pigsty." Baro said, turning first to enter the hatch.

After Birch caught up, he found that Baro was very familiar with the dock’s interior, almost like it was his own home.

Evidently, Baro must have entered here more than once.

Birch followed Baro, asking suspiciously, "Earlier, I seemed to hear the code sound for my meeting with Little Flea, and then Half Ear just left. Captain, what’s going on?"

Baro straightforwardly replied, "I was imitating that."

"Ah?"

As Baro walked and explained, Birch gradually uncovered the reason.

Actually, Birch and Little Flea met too frequently, periodically causing insect-like code sounds, which, although not attracting wide attention, caught the notice of the highly suspicious Half Ear.

Suspicious people think a lot. He had always vaguely suspected that there were internal spies communicating with the outside, using insect sounds as a code. But this was just speculation without evidence, and he couldn’t stir up any trouble, so he’s longed to catch this "imaginary" spy.

Baro saw through Half Ear’s thoughts and had previously imitated the code sound from Birch’s meeting with Little Flea, tricking Half Ear.

This time, naturally, he exploited the other’s mindset.

"So, my meetings with Little Flea probably have been noticed by Half Ear?" Birch said, surprised and doubtful.

"He merely has suspicions, but Half Ear hasn’t discovered Little Flea’s identity. Plus, I’ll help you divert him, so there’s no need to worry for now. If you are really worried, next time when you meet Little Flea, just change the code again."

Of course, Birch trusted the captain’s words, but...

"Does the captain mean, when I meet with Little Flea, you’ve also come along?"

Baro’s eyes wandered, "Only occasionally, occasionally."

"Occasionally?"

"Oh, I’m merely assessing the strength on Master Man’s side, besides, I’ve helped you distract Half Ear. Why bother with these details? Moreover, I didn’t know about Little Flea talking about women with you this time, doesn’t it indicate I don’t always eavesdrop."

Birch glared at Baro angrily; he always thought Captain Baro acted aboveboard, but didn’t expect him to be like this in secret!

Baro smacked Birch on the head, "Hey, it’s for the greater plan, not just for taking over Dock 1 in the future; I’m also secretly assessing Little Flea."

Although Little Flea was indeed from the Broken Blood, he hadn’t seen Birch for several years. Human minds change; Baro trusted Birch, but didn’t necessarily trust Little Flea. Thus, Baro followed Birch, partly to observe Little Flea.

Previously, he felt embarrassed to say it in front of Birch, but now under Birch’s pressing, Baro unveiled the truth.

Birch wasn’t stupid, he understood Baro’s meaning; yet his heart was still somewhat uneasy.

"Don’t let your mind wander now, we are in enemy territory, if anything goes wrong even slightly, when we return, I’ll hang you from the ship’s bow for three to five days; you won’t come down."

Baro’s words jolted Birch back to reality, considering they were in the enemy’s lair, any mistake could be fatal.

Filled with a heavy sense of crisis, Birch became much more alert than before.

The pigsty was not far from the rear hatch, merely a hundred meters or so.

Led by Baro, who was utterly familiar with the operations, they walked on solid ground not likely to make noise, occasionally slipping into the shadows to avoid potential glances cast in their direction.

After approximately two minutes, they reached the pigsty.

The pigsty was a square area surrounded by gates; inside were several barn-like partitions. From outside the gates, they could clearly see, in the hay-and-large-leaves piled bedding of the partitions, several women were housed.

These women were dressed in extremely revealing clothing, their hands shackled with chains, their entire bodies filthy, with a rancid odor of sheep and mold permeating the air.

Their eyes were dim and lifeless, and they resembled wax figures, even when insects crawled over them, they didn’t have the motivation to brush them off.

Like "pigs" that have lost the ability to think.

And indeed, they were treated as pigs by Renko’s men.

That’s why this place is called a pigsty.

It was clearly Birch’s first time seeing such a scene, and his eyes were filled with shock. Although he had heard some general idea of the pigsty from Little Flea, he always thought the pigsty was similar to the streetwalking women on Sidero Island, whose status was only slightly above that of slaves.

For this reason, Birch had always thought that taking women was a normal thing. After all, they were just women selling their bodies, living the same life in a different place on this godforsaken island.

But he didn’t expect that the women in the pigsty were so... unlike people. Even more debased than the slaves on Sidero Island. Because, at least on Sidero Island, there was still a Slave Law, stating that slaves still had the right to choose their burial method, affirming that they were, indeed, humans.

"They... they..." Birch’s throat blocked the many words, but he couldn’t speak them.

Baro, with his rich life experience, understood Birch’s current thoughts, and gently patted Birch’s shoulder: "Now you understand Renko’s importance, don’t you?"

"I..." Birch didn’t know what to say and followed silently behind Baro.

Baro was used to the ways of pirates, since pirates like the Queen were rare on this sea. The vast majority of pirates behaved like Renko.

Once, he retired and went straight because he couldn’t stand the way of the pirates.

Of course, a bigger reason was that the Queen, his spiritual pillar... disappeared.

Baro shook his head, throwing away these irrelevant thoughts: "Do you know where that woman who drifted in, the one Little Flea mentioned, is?"

Birch shook his head: "I don’t know either, but she must be here in the pig... in here."

"Alright then, let’s look for her, be careful."

Baro and Birch walked along the fence, peering inside.

The women inside all appeared very numb, even if they saw someone outside, they still made no sound. So, Baro and Birch didn’t have to worry about being discovered.

But they couldn’t be completely at ease, because clearly there were people inside some of the closed-curtain compartments, with certain discordant sounds coming through, probably from the scar-faced man from earlier. For these compartments, they were relatively careful to avoid being discovered, but generally, the people on top had much lower vigilance, so the threat wasn’t that great.

Walking past each compartment, Birch asked in confusion: "Renko has so many women, but our Moonlight Mapbird only has a few, and most are older..."

"Taken by force," Baro said casually.

"Taken by force?" Birch muttered: "They are truly pirates."

Soon, they finished a round, but saw none of the rumored "beautiful women."

"Could she not be here?" Birch wondered: "But that’s not right, Little Flea said Renko brought her to the pig... here?"

Although the pigsty was quite large, one could see it all at a glance, as they went around and saw no sign of the new woman.

Confused, Baro’s gaze went to a certain compartment: "That closed-curtain compartment over there, seems like there hasn’t been a sound?"

Generally, a closed-curtain compartment meant some harmonious activity was going on inside.

To avoid being discovered, they didn’t check these closed-curtain compartments. But since they had searched all around and found no one, it was very likely the person was in one of the compartments.

"Let’s go take a look." Baro suggested.

It’s said that the woman who drifted here was injured all over, temporarily no one should have touched her, even if someone did, Renko would be the first.

If Renko had indeed placed her in a compartment, with his possessiveness, the curtain would likely be down, at least until he finished his turn, he definitely wouldn’t let anyone else touch her.

Seconds later, they stood at the railing a dozen meters away from the compartment, vaguely seeing through the curtain gap, indeed, there was only one person inside.

Moreover, even though she was lying down, she was fully armed, wearing soft armor.

This closely matched Little Flea’s description.

But it’s too far away here, and the curtain blocked most of the view, they couldn’t see her face.

"I’ll climb in and take a look," Baro said.

Birch said worriedly: "There are people in the adjacent compartment... be careful."

Baro also glanced at the adjacent compartment, from which came sounds of hmm-hmm, ah-ah.

"I understand."

Baro leapt lightly, landing softly, then tiptoed to the curtain outside.

With a sense of anticipation, he gently pulled the curtain aside.

And then, he froze.

In the distance, Birch looked puzzled at Baro. Why was Baro standing motionless after opening the curtain?

One minute, two minutes—

Birch glanced left and right, worried sick, entirely baffled as to what happened to Baro.

He also feared someone might come by and discover the two of them, outsiders.

Seeing Baro with no intention of moving, Birch steeled himself and climbed over the gate, quickly walking to Baro’s side.

He dared not speak out loud, afraid to alert the neighboring compartment. Leaning his head over to peek inside the curtain.

He saw an extremely beautiful woman lying inside the curtain, her eyes closed, a head of wavy brown hair haphazardly sticking to her cheeks, giving off a slight seductive charm. Her figure was superb, even the soft armor couldn’t hide her proud curves.

The only pity was, there were some scars on her face, and her lips were a pale white.

Most importantly, her right hand seemed missing, replaced by some strange metal wires.

Birch was quite sure this woman was indeed very beautiful, probably the most beautiful he had seen in his life thus far. But it shouldn’t be enough to mesmerize Baro to a state of motionlessness, right?

Birch took a closer look at her face, her eyes closed, making it hard to see her eye color, but the face... the more Birch looked, the more familiar it felt.

Why did it look a bit like the woman in the secretly kept painting from Baro’s captain’s drawer?

"Captain, is she..." Birch, watching Baro staring blankly, couldn’t help but edge over to whisper into Baro’s ear.

Baro seemed not yet recovered, unconsciously replying: "It’s her, that’s her."

Birch: "Who is she?"

Baro: "My Queen... the Crownless King of Blackberry Sea Area..."

A voice akin to a murmur gently floated out: "Lady Asperu."

As Baro uttered her name, the woman’s ears on the grass bed seemed to twitch slightly.

Birch was just about to look closer when suddenly a blast of cold wind hit.

Before Birch could react, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, and then his body spun in the air, finally crashing hard to the ground.

Struggling to lift his head and look.

He saw the neighboring compartment, at some point, the activity had ended, a man walked out from inside. As soon as he saw Birch, he instantly kicked him, which was why Birch ended up airborne and crashing down.

And as it happened, this man was the former guard... the Scar-face.

After kicking Birch away, Scar-face immediately saw Baro. It took him but a split second to recognize Baro’s identity.

Shock flashed in his eyes, without hesitation he shouted loudly: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

His voice echoed within the shipyard, and soon, lights ignited from dark places.

Numerous figures emerged from various places, quickly converging toward the pigsty direction.

Birch and Baro were in grave danger.

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