Sh**!

The Baymardians were here!

Everyone drew their swords while thinking of what to do next.

First off, one would find stairways at both ends of this floor that led upwards or downwards.

So even if they wanted to rush towards the 3rd floor below deck where the slaves are, they might accidentally run into these Baymardian scum on the stairway.

They were now trapped on the 2nd floor.

Dammit!

The men trembled a bit and looked around the room a little more.

So this was where they were going to die.

The men took a big whiff of air and tried to stabilize their bodies amidst the rocking ship.

Of course, they were currently within one of the rooms on the 2nd lower floor and were fortunate to have realized that the Baymardians were here.

But their comrades in other rooms didn't seem to realize it at all!

Nonetheless, these men around Pirus didn't feel like reminding them.

Because in times like these, it was everyone for himself.

And so, all the men in Pirus' room slowly licked the door and waited for the enemy anxiously.

But unbeknownst to them, their commander who was supposed to lead them in battle... was thinking of his own escape plans instead.

As they said, it was every man for himself.

.

The marines calmly separated into 4 groups after dealing with those on the 1st lower floor.

2 groups stayed along the stairway in case any enemy from the third lower floor tried to ascend... while the last 2 groups began searching the 2nd lower floor from both ends.

Of course, those in the hallways had been silently snipped down before they could even make a sound.

'Budum!'

Warrant officer Micheal quickly signalled for some of his men to take down those within the first 2 rooms.

The rooms were parallel to each other, so it was inevitable that they would have to take care of them at the same time since their doors were open.

2 marines took out different smoke bombs and hastily rolled them into the room, while the rest took a deep breath and held their guns against their chests patiently.

"Eh?

Is that smoke?"

"F***!

Don't tell me that they've decided to burn us all to the ground."

"But if it's true, then why is the mole green?"

"Who knows... maybe it's because of the ship's rotting wood?"

"Are you guys stupid?

Who cares about the colour of the smoke?

It's definitely fire, so let's get out of here!"

"Fire!... Fire...F."

'Phiew! Phiew! Phiew!'

Some of the men ran outside the room but were quickly shot by the marines, while others dropped to the ground instead.

That's right!

They had sent more than 6 canisters of sleeping gas into each room.

The marines silently sniped those who came out of the rooms, until there were no more escapees.

And from there, they quickly stepped into both rooms and saw that the enemy had either lost consciousness or was dizzy and about to lose consciousness.

Good!

With that, Micheal and his team continued forward.

They weren't bothered about the unconscious men there, because those in the stairway would send for one of the marines on deck to tie these unconscious men up.

But of course until they came, Micheal left 2 marines in each room to overlook the unconscious men.

With that, Micheal and his team continued forward.

They took down several others until they had finally arrived within the room that Pirus and his men were in.

But this time, the door was shut, and there was no sound coming from within the room.

Micheal frowned and signalled for his men to surround the door.

He then raised his hand in the air and began a countdown.

[3... 2... 1]

'Bam!'

Immediately, the door was kicked down by his men.

And the moment they did so, they backed away in hiding again.

'Swish! Swish! Swish!'

As soon as the door broke, several daggers and arrows were shot their way... followed by the battle cry of several men from within the room.

'Yahhhhh!'

They charged towards the door in full force with their weapons at hand.

But some Baymardians slid across the door and shot the knees of those at the front.

'Phiew! Phiew! Phiew!'

'Ahhhhhhhhh!'

The injured men fell to the ground holding their knees in agony.

And while they fell, 3 other marines quickly threw smoke bombs into the rooms too.

Of course since they were late to throw it in, it was inevitable that some of the men would have to come out and fight them within the hallway.

And because of the noise, those men within the other unchecked rooms came out as well to join the fight within the hallway.

.

"Yhaaaaahhhh!

Get them!"

Immediately, the whole place had turned into a battlefield.

Micheal hurriedly pointed his guns towards the incoming men and shot them calmly.

'Phiew! Phiew!' 'Phiew!'

They dropped like flies until he had to reload his gun.

But how could the enemy give him time for that?

"Die!!!"

A tall burly man lifted his right hand and aimed his dagger towards Michael's throat.

But Micheal quickly moved to the side and used his elbow to hit his enemy's wrist.

One would say that he even used the famous 'IP Man elbow punch' from earth.

He quickly attacked his enemy's wrist, before fiercely punching his enemy's lower belly with his fists.

'Arhhhhh!'

The enemy gritted his teeth and fiercely sent his dagger towards Michael's belly.

But once again, Micheal used both hands to grab his opponent's hand and gently directed his opponent's force towards the walls of the hallway.

'Pang!'

The dagger was now stuck in the wooden wall.

And the moment it got stuck, Micheal placed one hand on his enemy's back and quickly forced his enemy downwards while using his knees to hit the enemy's belly again.

'Urh! Urh! Urh!

The enemy groaned in pain, and before he knew it, Micheal had given him a fierce Karate-chop at the back of his neck.

And just like that, he fell towards Micheal's body unconsciously.

But since Micheal still needed to recharge his guns, he used the big guy as a shield while loading up again.

'Catchak-chak!'

Now he was all loaded up and ready to go.

He dropped the big guy down and continued tackling the rest relentlessly.

And so just like that, the hallway battle soon came to an end.

With that, the men searched the room tgat had been unchecked and captured some men who were hiding behind several barrels.

Likewise, within the room where Pirus was in, they found a hole under a barrel that was directly connected to the last floor below.

The men peeked and saw several slaves in rags sitting in rows.

Their legs were all chained and all men on a single row all held a gigantic paddleboard.

"Warrant Officer Micheal.

Those who surrendered to us have confessed that their Commander isn't amongst them."

Micheal listened to the report and looked at the hole thoughtfully.

'How clever'