"Delicious!

It's only been 4 hours since I ate, but why do I still feel so hungry?

Hey! When did you manage to sneak out booze?"

"Heh. What do you know, I didn't sneak this out? I only borrowed the wine from Magona Estate. So how is it stealing?

Ahh... This one is good.

They call it champagne!" Said another pirate who was drinking from something from his sac made from some animal's belly.

"Hahaha! These Baymardians no doubt stole this from Morgany. Just taste how good it is? Damn. I should've taken more."

Thomas sat on a stone beside his comrades, leaned against a tree and drank a bit of the 'Champagne,' opening his eyes in shock.

Good stuff!

"Yup! You should've taken more."

"Hey! Leave some for me, you bastard!"

The gang ate their stolen chicken drums and fought over the Champagne, chilling and relaxing until everything was ready.

Of course, they also stood close to the forest because they didn't want to get caught eating or drinking now.

They, as pirates, always tried to find ways of sneaking things about.

It was in their pirate nature to take advantage of any and all situations, making it beneficial for them.

Provided they didn't get caught, then all was good. No?

It was just that on this very night, they seemed to have made the biggest mistakes of their lives.

Unbeknownst to them, they were all in grave danger!

Eh?

.

Thomas, who was leaning on a tree still chewing on another cold chicken drum, suddenly felt a sharp pain at the right side of his throat.

~Ptchu!

Something had burst into his neck.

His entire body first responded by trying to cough out the piece of chicken in his mouth.

But then, a dark shadowy hand plastered itself over his mouth.

~Bhhmm~~

His throat was stabbed and his mouth sealed.

So of course his cheeks swelled up with food and his body trembled with uneasiness as he struggled to find an opening to send the food through.

Thomas' eyes darted in all directions as his hands flared up, trying to remove the hand from his mouth.

Seeing his other pirate comrades facing the same situation as he was, it was at this moment that his brain seemed to come to terms with what was going on.

Thomas' heart sank.

An enemy was here!!!

All this happened in no less than 2 seconds.

And before Thomas could fight back, he found that whatever had stabbed him in the neck was quickly drawn out again.

~Ptch! Ptch!~~

He had been stabbed 2 more times.

A cold light flashed through Kilian's eyes when he removed the metal stick from his opponent's skull.

That's right.

He was a Shaolin soldier in Landon's team.

He had stabbed his opponent swiftly, giving him no chance to retaliate.

Seeing that his opponent was losing strength, he hastily dragged him to the forest and covered him up with snow before anyone else could see them.

The snow should keep the body out of sight and somewhat reduce the smell of the decaying body and blood.

Killian whipped the blood off his weapon and quickly followed Landon.

.

Finally coming out of the forest, the gang all decided to storm the first pirate ship, which was the one closest to them.

Unlike the organizational methods used in Baymard had arranged its docks, the dock here was too disorganized and haphazard.

Ships belonging to one person or group were typically docked too close to one another in such a way that a person could jump onto each ship from the decks.

With how close the ships were, it would be easy for them to move through each one.

So after getting out of the forest, the gang ran, jumped, rolled on the snow when needed and successfully scooted themselves close to the ship nearby the forest.

They placed their ears on the wood, gently listening to things, before taking out their pointed weapons.

Inside the ship was rowdy, with people shouting and commanding the slaves on where to stay and what to do.

There could also hear a lot of gains clanging against each other too.

And coupled with the loud yells and banter from the pirates, no one would be able to hear them climb up the sides.

They just had to be careful enough not to send their sticks too deep into the wood.

Swirling the pair of metal sticks in his hands, Killian swiftly stabbed into the wood and propelled himself upwards while carefully listening to what was going on around him or within the ship every step of the way.

He went up a bit before moving to the left carefully, following Landon's every step.

And when they were close to the nearby ship, he followed Landon's move and leaped onto the other vessel, stabbing into its wood.

~Pah Pam!

He froze patiently again and leaned onto the wood before signing again.

No one within the ship seemed to have noticed him.

So far, so good.

.

Just like that, the Shaolins separated into mode teams that got on all pirate vessels docked too close to each other.

Of course, there were other ships around too, which might actually still belong to the spies in the towns, so they had to be extremely careful.

Anyway, most ships were docked in a slanted position, with their sides facing the dock instead.

That way, they would be able to load whatever it was they wanted to with ease.

They made sure that they moved very low in the dark angles below while observing those on the decks.

Because the pirates were very busy loading things up and ensuring that all slaves were chained and good to go, not many were standing idly on deck.

This was their biggest advantage.

~Pmm. Pmm. Pmm~

Killian made his way stealthily until he reached the 6th pirate Ship, while Landon continued to the 7th with a few others.

Now that he had reached his targeted ship, it was time to ascend.