Chapter 108 - Tavern Brawl

Crab Island, this was the name of the island closest to the deserted island where Captain Fu's ship had landed. It took about two days of sailing to reach it. Fortunately, the repairs to the ship had been enough to get to the island without problems. So, they landed at the port of Blue Crab City to complete the repairs so that they could resume the navigation.

"Thank you very much for all you have done, Captain Fu," Hei said politely to the captain.

The experienced seaman scratched his head and replied, "Are you sure I can't change your mind? There is no problem for me to look for another ship that can carry you."

Hei shook his head to emphasize his answer. "Thanks, but there is no need. To tell the truth, we are a little tired of the sea. Apparently, we aren’t suitable for being seafarers. So we will rest a little here and leave later. In any case, I have enough funds to buy the ride for Lian and me."

"Okay, if you say so. Then I won’t insist. I wish you luck, and thank you again for your help."

"Yes, don’t worry. After all, you brought us this far. It was the least we could do."

With that swift exchange, Hei and Lian said goodbye to Captain Fu and his men. They had no more reason to stay with them. Indeed, it would have been more difficult to implement their plans if they had remained with Captain Fu. After all, they couldn't know if the old captain would blurt something out in the long run. At the moment, they couldn’t face Jin-Sang head-on and his crew as they were still in the seventh stage spirit apprentice. Instead, they had to pass themselves off as new pirates and make a name for themselves in those turbulent waters.

"So, let's go?" Hei asked, turning to Lian. Ye and Xing were hidden in his clothes and occasionally peeked to look at the surrounding landscape.

"Yup. Let's go.” Lian smiled and let Hei take her hand and lead her out of the busy port.

Blu Crab City was similar to a typical city near the ocean. Its peculiarity was the strong presence of blue crabs that were also the origin of the name of the city. Not only the city but the whole island as well. Crab Island was called by that name because of the abundant presence of crabs, and the various cities’ names differed in the color of the crabs that could be found nearby.

Since they were new to the city, Hei and Lian immediately headed to the place that had the highest chance of helping them on their mission: the tavern near the port. Unlike the tavern in the Chestnut City, the Blue Crab City’s tavern was huge. It had four floors and was about twice the length of an ordinary tavern. In a way, it could be said that it was more like a large villa than a public building.

When Hei and Lian entered, they could see a large number of people inside. Unlike inland taverns, port town taverns were visited both day and night. After all, with the port a step away from them, it was reasonable that they would choose to visit the tavern to eat and relax a little. There were also those who decided to stay for several days and book a room on the floors above.

Hei pushed through the crowd and came to the counter. Behind the counter, a grumpy middle-aged person turned to the two young visitors who had just arrived.

"What do you want? To drink or eat? "

Since they hadn't had breakfast yet and had only been eating fish for a week, Hei decided to take both.

"Both. We would like four hearty soups with meat or chicken and for drinking, bring us two bottles of water, a bottle of your finest wine, and a couple of mugs of beer."

Listening to Hei's unusual request, the old innkeeper raised his eyebrows. But in any case, he asked no questions. It wasn't his concern what his customers ordered as long as they paid for everything.

Hei and Lian then sat on chairs and waited for their order to arrive. It didn't take long for four bowls of hot soup to be brought to them alongside their requested beverages.

Hei gently placed Ye and Xing on the counter and let them eat the soup while he took the spoon to enjoy his. But before he could taste his soup, he heard a voice beside him exclaiming.

"Hey, hey! What the fuck is this? I thought we were in a tavern, not a pigsty. What the fuck are filthy animals here? And they are even eating where we people eat. Puh!"

A man in his thirties, spat on the ground as he approached where Hei and Lian were. His flushed face indicated that he was already drunk in the early morning, but no one made a fuss about it because they weren't the target of that drunk. They also shared the same thought of what the man said.

"Hey, kid! Did you hear me, or are you deaf? What the fuck are you going to do with those disgusting creatures- "

Without warning, the drunken man's body flew several meters into the air before badly falling to the ground with a thump. Then, he began to pant on the ground, trying to breathe as he writhed on the ground.

From where the drunk man was before, Hei was standing there with his fist raised high.

"If we weren't in a public place, I would have killed you instantly for your words. Disappear now, or I'll kill you here now, regardless of how many people are present. The same goes for others. If you have a problem that my spirit beasts eat here, then get ahead, and I will be more than happy to answer your complaints."

Hei unleashed the spirit power of his body, and soon, each person inside the tavern could notice the strength of a seventh stage spirit apprentice. But it wasn’t a beginning seventh stage, but an early seventh stage spirit apprentice. It was incredible that such a young boy was able to achieve such a level of cultivation.

And therefore, since strength dominated in this world, the others decided to keep for them their complaints. After all, whoever wanted to offend a seventh stage spirit apprentice for a trivial matter like that.

The drunken man meanwhile got up with difficulty. The violent blow and the embarrassment of being hit had canceled the state of drunkenness in which he was.

“Bratty bastard! I will make you pay! Just watch."

Leaving those words behind, the man disappeared from the tavern, which then returned to being quiet.

At that point, Hei returned to his seat and turned to the innkeeper.

“I'm sorry for the confusion. I am willing to pay you for the inconvenience caused to your business."

"No. There's no need. On the contrary, if you want more to eat or drink for your spirit beasts, you just need to ask."

This time the host's voice was warmer and expressed a touch of excitement. After all, such a young boy with such a high stage of cultivation must surely be someone important. If he was perhaps the son of a big shot, he could make big profits if he served that young man well.

Hei nodded to the innkeeper and went back to eating his soup. Ye and Xing, however, had their heads lowered for the facts of a while ago. Hei, who noticed this, addressed them via spirit message.

'What's up? Why don't you eat?'

'If we want to eat with big brother in public, these accidents will always happen. We don't want to cause you much trouble.’ The two little divine beasts said promptly. Their tone was slightly sad.

'So? If anyone has problems, then I have no problem punching them to silence him. You are my little sisters, and you have the right to eat with me anywhere. And if they continue to harass us, then I will take their punishment to the next level.’

Hei's tone was calm but firm. He knew that most humans wouldn’t like to eat at the same table where spirit beasts ate. For some reason, they were convinced that they were superior beings and that all the others had to eat on the ground because they were inferior creatures.

For this reason, Hei would forgive the looks of contempt of others, and if someone scolded him directly, he would send him away, be it with words or force. But if they continued to annoy him and insult his little sisters, he would give up every human etiquette and would settle that annoying human once and for all.

Thanks to the words of their big brother, Ye and Xing returned to be lively and started eating and drinking without worries. The other customers occasionally cast looks of contempt or curiosity but dared not do anything more.

In that atmosphere, Hei and his family finished the breakfast they ordered. Their stomachs were full and gave a pleasant warm sensation.

Since they had met their needs, Hei moved on to what he had planned from the beginning. He called the innkeeper and asked him a question.

"Do you know of any pirate crew who are looking for new members?"

Listening to Hei's words, the innkeeper in the tavern widened his eyes. He never imagined that the young man would ask him such a question. However, he composed himself immediately afterward. He had heard of some stories of children of important families who became bored and wanted to go on an adventure. Of course, many of them ended up making a bad end, but with the strength that had released the boy, the innkeeper believed that there would be no problems as long as he didn’t offend the big shots of piracy.

"Yes, I know them. But it isn’t a piece of information that I can reveal for free to the first person who passes by. I hope you can understand me." The innkeeper rubbed his hands to emphasize the difficult position he was in.

Hei quickly understood and pulled out of one of his space rings, the spirit core of the manta ray he had preserved.

“How about a first-level spirit core? The strength of the spirit beast was comparable to a sixth stage spirit apprentice. Consider it as payment for food and drink and the disturbance created as well."

Hearing the words spirit core and sixth stage, the innkeeper's mouth went dry. It was the first time that he had been offered such a sum. If the boy could come up with such a thing without batting an eye, then it meant that his background was exceptional.

The spirit core attracted the attention of all the others present who carefully observed the exchange between Hei and the innkeeper. As an implicit law among seafarers, touching tavern owners was prohibited, and offenders were severely punished with death. However, it wasn’t forbidden to attack other people inside the tavern.

Although that gesture ended up attracting the attention of the entire tavern, Hei wasn’t worried. In truth, it was what he wanted. If he wanted to make a name for himself as a pirate quickly, then he had to put himself in the spotlight. Only in that way could he captured the interest of one of the other three Pirate Generals. Besides, it was also a kind of training. Being in a dangerous situation continually would push him, Lian, Ye, and Xing to fully exploit their potential and let them advance faster.

Just as the innkeeper was about to receive the spirit core and preparing to reveal the information, the tavern's doors opened. A group of eight entered. In front of the group, there was the drunk man from before.

“Here he is, brothers. It was that brat that struck me!" The man pointed vehemently towards where Hei was. There was a mocking grin on his face as he imagined how badly the brat would be reduced.

"Trash. You got beat up by a brat. If you weren't our brother, we would have kicked you in the ass.” What looked like the head of the group spoke reproachful words to his partner before turning to Hei. He quickly noticed the spirit core he was holding, and his instincts told him that it wasn’t a spirit core of a weak spirit beast.

"Hey, brat. I heard you dared to teach my little brother a lesson. Normally I would have left you half-dead, but today I feel magnanimous. Give me the spirit core you are holding, and I will consider it solved."

The voice of the group leader sounded overbearing and authoritarian, dictating absurd conditions. Hei ignored him and sent a spirit message to the innkeeper.

‘I will pass for my information tonight. For now, keep the core; it should be enough to cover the damage.’

"Damage?" The innkeeper looked confused as he took the spirit core. But then he immediately discovered what Hei meant.

In the next instant, Hei and Lian moved quickly against the group of eight. Ye and Xing were instead hidden in their big brother's clothes by Hei's orders. He didn't want to show their strength in front of so many witnesses.

Bang!

Two bodies from the group of eight flew and fell with a thump. The rest of the group looked shocked at the two youths in front of them and angrily activated their spirit power. Afterward, they rushed against those two brats who had dared to attack their companions.

But it wasn't just the drunken man's companions who moved. The other people in the tavern also turned against Hei and Lian. They had seen that the young boy was wealthy enough to pull out a spirit core without batting an eyelid. Since they had the numerical advantage, they slashed against the two youths despite them having a higher cultivation.

Hei and Lian weren’t intimidated, and they responded blow for blow. None of their enemies were using attacks based on elemental laws. Only a few were in the sixth stage and probably hadn’t yet finished their elemental conversion and formed their spirit seed. So, even though they were surrounded, they weren't in any kind of imminent danger.

Crush! Peng! Crack!

The sound of breaking chairs and tables was ringing across the tavern. The floor had already been littered with bodies. They weren’t dead but only unconscious.

Hei was using Snake Hair and had grabbed the ankles of two martial artists and was swinging them in the air to crash them into other people. Lian was also adopting a similar attack method, using her two silk ribbons. The coalition of people couldn’t do anything against the fury of the two young martial artists. It wasn’t only the difference in cultivation, but it was, above all, the gap in techniques, weapons quality, and battle awareness. Hei and Lian would certainly not lose against petty criminals like these.

But although none of them were using elemental techniques, the fight ended up attracting the attention of city guards. Sensing the arrival of a large number of people, Ye and Xing immediately reported the situation to their big brother.

Hei then turned to the innkeeper again, hidden behind his counter.

'Remember, I will come tonight. Do your job, and you will be rewarded properly.’

Then, making his way through the crowd of people, Hei led Lian and his sisters out of the tavern. After that, they started running out of the city, relying on the two little divine beasts to avoid the guards.

Even if they would stay here for a short time, it was better to avoid a conflict with the local authorities. Besides, Hei had given enough proof of his strength. Now it depended on the innkeeper's greed for wanting a better profit than what he had already received.