Chapter 199: 199

Chapter 199: Confrontation

Zhang Heng and Anne finally figured out the reason behind the storm that battered them . As for the tragic incident that happened on the Jackdaw, only Betty, the ancient goddess, had the answer to that .

After Zhang Heng acquired the seashell from Seth, Betty did not attempt to contact him . He figured that it probably had something to do with him being on land . However, he did not underestimate her . The first thing that he did was to return to the Jackdaw and scrape away her name that was engraved on top of the mast with his dagger . After that, he looked for Carina, instructing her to get someone to look for a Tule tree among other colonies .

According to the bartender, a box made from the wood of a Tule tree could be used to ward off all kinds of supernatural forces . Tule trees were typically found in the Mexican state of Oaxaca . If memory served him right, Zhang Heng remembered that Oaxaca was a colony of Spain .

If everything went smoothly on his next voyage, he would be ever closer to acquiring a box made out of Tulewood . Unfortunately, this thing wasn’t a game item . Otherwise, Zhang Heng would have loved to bring a box like that to the real world, where he wouldn’t have to worry about where to store his game items .

To prevent others from being tempted by Betty, Zhang Heng decided that he would keep the shell close to him before he got his hands on the box . At the same time, Carina’s investigation of pinpointing the mole had come to an end as well . The person she assigned to watch Malcolm told her that he had just quietly left his mansion with the intention of visiting Captain Baal .

Now, Captain Baal was part of a disinformation campagin coined up by Carina . That said, Malcolm remained cautious, leaving Baal’s house ten minutes later . Instead of looking for the next person on his list, he went to visit an irrelevant person, an attempt to misdirect and confuse whoever that was targeting him .

However, Carina had locked on her target . Surprisingly, Malone wasn’t lazing at the brothel when Carina found him, and this time, he was all prepared . He took out a military sword and a gun that he kept inside a box for a long time . Carina took a deep breath as she took the gun from Malone .

“Are you sure the two of us are enough? Should we get a couple of sailors to come with us?” asked Carina as she loaded the pistol with gunpowder and bullets .

“If you are right about him doing all these for his sister, I don’t want others on the ship to know . We will let him walk free after I’ve asked him whatever I want to ask . Jim is simply a records keeper, and he doesn’t know how to fight . The two of us are more than enough to handle him . ”

“That would be the best-case scenario . Don’t you worry, I’m not that old yet . I’m confident that I wouldn’t lose a one-to-one fight . ”

“You would sound more convincing if you could make that belly smaller . ”

Once Carine was done loading the weapon, she tucked it in a concealed holster on her back . No one could see that she was carrying a gun from the front .

“How do I look now, eh?” asked Carina .

“You look like you are going for a walk in the park . ”

“Let’s go . Malcolm might send someone to warn him if we are slow . ”

Carina took the lead and proceeded down the stairs, not wasting a single second once they received the news . Jim was tasked with checking their new storage location . Ever since Carina’s business bloomed, her old warehouse had run out of space . It was filled to the brim with all the items she bought . As a result, she had been scouting around for potential new storage spaces to keep her business going . When she asked for Jim’s assistance, he did not suspect a single thing .

The storage space that she found wasn’t too far away from the port . It consisted of two buildings with a vast and empty land between them . It was perfect as her new storeroom . Be that as it may, Malone’s and Carina’s faces changed the moment they arrived at the place .

They saw a pool of fresh blood on the ground between the two buildings . A series of bloody footprints led to the building at the back .

“Shit! Did Malcolm and his men arrive here before us?” asked Malone .

Immediately, he drew his sword and ran to the building . Using his body to ram the door, he managed to open it but found no one inside the building . The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and there were no visible footprints . Suddenly, Malone’s eye twitched . He could sense that something terrible was about to happen to him .

When he turned around, Carina was pointing her gun at him!

“What are you trying to do?” asked Malone with a smile on his face .

“You tell me, Uncle Malone . You’ve known my father for 20 years . You’ve been around since I was a kid . You are like family to me . I never thought you would betray me just like that . ”

“What are you talking about?! Wasn’t Jim the one who spread the news to Malcolm?”

As he spoke, Malone attempted to inch forward slowly . When Carina noticed that he was approaching, she placed her finger on the trigger . That made Malone stop in his steps .

“You know, I actually told him a different name . In fact, I told different names to all the people that I suspected . Little did I think that you were the one who betrayed me . ”

“How dare you… how dare you set me up?!”

“I just… I had to consider every possibility . This is what you taught me, Uncle Malone . ”

“Should I be relieved? You’ve grown at an incredible rate during your tenure in Nassau . No wonder Malcolm saw you as a threat . I’m afraid your own father won’t be able to recognize you if he were to be here . ”

The moment Malone was done talking, a few men came down the stairs . That included a very confused Jim, four pirates from the Jackdaw, and a man with both hands tied . This man was an assassin sent by Malcolm to kill Jim . If Jim had indeed been murdered here, Carina would have thought that Jim was the mole . No one would ever suspect Malone anymore . Fortunately, the assassin was promptly apprehended by the pirates .

“I have lots of questions to ask you, but there’s only one thing I care about . Did you have anything to do with my father being jailed, Uncle Malone?”

“I will never betray Fegan matter what, as long as he’s still around . Once we came to Nassau, Malcolm’s men approached me . At that time, I got cheated and lost a huge amount of money in the casino . They told me that they were willing to help pay off my debts . In return, I would have to deliver useful information to them from time to time . It was already was too late when I realized how wrong that was . Betraying you was never my intention . I thought that you’d leave this island after a short while, just like the others . That’s why I couldn’t find a valid reason to say no to him . ”