Chapter 112

Zhang Heng followed the young lady for about 15 minutes .

Then, without warning, she abruptly turned around and rushed into an alley . Without hesitation, he increased his pace and went after her . But just as he was about to reach the alley, a shadowy figure appeared from it . He was a redhead, as if a raging fire burned atop his head . Zhang Heng noticed a rapier in his hands, with clear stains of blood on it .

Suddenly, Zhang Heng remembered Frazer saying that he had hired another person to help him . Instantly, he felt that something must have gone horribly wrong . Immediately, he broke cover and ran to the alley . The first thing he saw was Randall’s wife lying there unconscious, looking as if she had been knocked out by someone .

Looking to be unscathed, she should turn out fine . Right beside her, a man was lying in a pool of his own blood, leaving him to suspect that this must be Jacob . His chest had been penetrated by something sharp . His eyes were wide open, frozen in time as he took his last breath .

Not wasting any time, Zhang Heng went after the man holding the rapier . It seemed like the man noticed that Zhang Heng was after him . His first instinct was to sprint as fast as possible, attempting to lose himself among the crowd . He was a man of small stature . This meant he was extremly agile, choosing always to run head-on in the direction of people .

Unfortunately, his crimson hair shone like a beacon amongst the crowd, and there was no way he was about to go unnoticed just like that . Besides, he had chosen the wrong strategy of shaking off Zhang Heng, assuming that his excellent stamina was sufficient and Zhang Heng would tire out eventually .

15 minutes later, the man was already gasping for breath . Zhang Heng, on the other hand, hadn’t even broken a sweat . His persistent training for all those long runs had finally paid off . Seeing that the man was willing to use up his energy, Zhang Heng had no intention to stop him . Although he knew there was an opportunity to catch up, he chose to tail him with at least ten steps between them .

The man with crimson hair soon realized that running towards crowded places wasn’t the best idea and hence, turned toward more sparse areas . In the end, he stopped at a beach . It appeared to be a good place for confrontation, seeing that was no one else around .

“What is your relationship with that thief? Are you his accomplice?” asked the man when he turned around and looked at Zhang Heng .

To his greatest surprise, Zhang Heng saw that the ‘man’ he went after was actually a girl . Judging by her appearance, she should be around 16 to 17 years old . She was, however, dressed similarly to teenage boys on the street and even carried a personality to match . In fact, she was actually more decisive than some men . Though it was a simple confrontation, her rapier was tight in her grip – ready to strike . Left with no other option, Zhang Heng had to draw his gun to protect himself .

“I’m really sorry . It’s Frazer . He asked me to retrieve a bag of pearls . ”

“So, that old bastard looked for someone else to help him right after he hired me, huh! What are you going to do now? Snatch them from me?”

The crimson-haired girl suddenly went on high alert .

“Actually, I’ve figured out how we can both benefit from this . ”

…… . .

Frazer was having dinner at the tavern . His lavish meal consisted of a rack of lamb paired with lemon juice . All of a sudden, a blue bag was tossed on the table as he was enjoying his meal . Black pearls scattered all around the table .

“I must be dreaming? Since when the two of you work together?” asked a startled Frazer .

“We have retrieved whatever you’ve asked us to find . Is there a problem?” furiously asked the girl .

Frazer had entrusted her with completing this task . It came as a shock to her that he would look for Zhang Heng to help him as well . Clearly, this indicated that he did not trust she could retrieve the black pearls successfully . This had her feeling betrayed and extremely angry, where one of her hands was already placed on the rapier . She would not hesitate to attack Frazer if things went south .

“Anger might not be a bad thing, after all . Using anger wisely to fuel yourself will make you stronger and more powerful . If you really want me to help you to become a proper pirate, it’s better if you learn how to control your anger first lest you might just get yourself killed someday . ”

“I would rather die a warrior than to cower under a girl’s skirt like a coward . ”

“That’s a great speech! I might not fully agree with you, but I believe that what you’ve just said deserves a toast!”

“What about our reward?” asked Zhang Heng with a straight face, unwilling to raise the glass in front of him .

Frazer then waved at him and whispered something .

“Did you not tell him about it?”

“It’s for his own good . Look . He’s doing really well now . ”

“No . I bet you refused to tell him because you don’t want to lose your boatswain, right?”

“Hmm… well, that was part of the reason, but right now, I don’t have to worry about it anymore . ”

Frazer then took out a wooden horse and placed it on the table .

“Show him this wooden horse . He will believe whatever you have to say . However, you have to make sure that you learn everything from him first before telling him the final destination . Sticking to his promise is never his forte . You will never be able to look for someone better than him to teach you how to control mainsail if he manages to run away from you . ”

…… . .

After that, Zhang Heng left the tavern with the crimson-haired girl . She looked to be in an excellent mood, having just received a recommendation from Frazer to become a pirate on the Golden Swallow . Most pirate ships forbode women on their vessels . It was a rare moment that a girl was given the opportunity to join the ranks as an ordinary pirate on the vessel .

As for a band of sultry, female-only pirates, those existed only in movies or manga . Undeniably, although there were women strong enough to do what most men could do, it was also true that most lacked behind men in terms of strength and stamina . The difference was clear if a fight broke out between two ships . Worse, things could get really awkward if their aunties visited them at the wrong time .

Now that everything was settled, Zhang Heng wanted to bid the girl farewell . To his surprise, she spoke to him first .

“Hey! Man from the east . Do you have a place to stay?”

“Huh?”

“As you can see, I just moved here not too long ago . This morning, an argument broke out between a friend and me, and now the friendship is over . I don’t have anywhere to go right now . Initially, I wanted to borrow some money from that old bastard but, everyone told me that he is a blood-sucking vampire . If you are willing to let me stay at your place, I’m willing to give you half my loot when I return from sea . What do you say about this deal? Oh right! I haven’t officially introduced myself to you . Me’ name is Anne . I’m from Cork, Ireland . ”