Last night's heavy snow blanketed the entire island in white.
The sound of boots clattering through the snow echoed through the air.
A group of people emerged from the direction of the town.
They wore dirty, dark cotton coats and scarves that looked like rags.
They all looked rather slovenly, not a single one of them appearing clean and tidy.
And they didn't seem to mind.
They walked with an unsteady, carefree gait.
What was striking was that almost all of them were armed, and the vast majority were human.
The leader, a slightly dark-skinned man, gazed into the distance. A hideous scar slid from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth.
It added a touch of menace to his already ferocious features.
His slightly dim eyes, tinged with a hint of fierceness, moved back and forth in his crooked sockets, observing the surroundings.
He seemed constantly alert.
"Tui, it's damn cold." A burly man following behind him rubbed his arm, then pulled his hand back, struck by the coldness of his palm.
Then he looked at the leader in front and asked, "Captain, what are you doing out in such cold weather? It's so cold, isn't it..."
Hearing this, the leader turned and glared at the questioning man. The scarred profile made the man shut up.
"If I remember correctly, I should have told you last night. Do you take my words for granted? Huh, Giraud?"
A smaller man beside the burly man jumped up and slapped him on the back of the head, causing him to drop his head and stumble a few steps.
After hitting him, the smaller man cursed, "You idiot! I told you not to drink last night. We're going to go after those guys, understand?"
The burly man nodded repeatedly.
"I understand, I understand."
The leading captain said nothing more, turned around, and continued to march forward with his men.
"Captain, what are we going to do today? Should we conduct a tracking reconnaissance, or just...?" A man who clearly looked like his deputy approached and asked.
The captain didn't stop, but his voice carried quietly.
"Sal, tell me what you know."
"Oh, of course, my dear Captain." A scruffy-bearded old man, with a slight limp and a cane, staggered out of the group.
His movements were awkward and swift.
After emerging, he pulled out a shiny wine flask from his pocket and took a sip.
"Ah~ This damn weather is so cold."
He licked the wine from his lips, afraid to waste a single drop.
After stuffing the flask back into his arms, he spoke again, "We all know that Baraz's ship only heads to this damn place during this time. But the last time he shipped something, it contained quite a bit of treasure, not just materials."
"Everyone knows this damn place is dangerous and devoid of valuables, save for those damn ruins."
"I've been wandering around this island for a while now, and the villagers say there's a ship constantly patrolling the island. They go there every day to dig up those ruins... and there's a lot of valuables.
And our friends in the caravan also said their captain trades with the people on this ship, and they don't seem very strong."
After saying this, he couldn't help but take another sip of his wine, but this time he didn't continue.
At this point, even the pirates' almond-sized brains understood his meaning.
It was indeed true.
And the eyes of the pirates following him were already starting to light up.
In their eyes, Alka and the others were like lambs to the slaughter, their bellies brimming with golden treasure.
"Treasures! I love treasures the most."
"I love all kinds of treasures, hehe."
"So, are they strong? They've stayed here this long, so they must be quite powerful, right?"
A pirate with a bit more common sense whispered, clearly taking the advice lightly.
Although they were pirates, they knew there were many people they couldn't afford to offend, otherwise they would have perished long ago.
The deputy following behind the captain said, "I asked our old friends, and when they saw the people on this ship before, they didn't think they were particularly dangerous."
The captain remained silent throughout the entire process, simply gazing ahead silently.
However, the deputy, following behind him, whispered, "Is it worth it, Captain?"
He felt that fighting another ship for something whose exact value was unknown wasn't a wise choice. "Those people are not right. They must be hiding something, and I'm very interested in it.
They must know which ruins are dangerous and which contain treasures. These ruins are scattered all over the island."
The captain smiled a slightly sinister smile as he spoke.
The ship kept circling, rarely stopping at the port town. This wasn't normal, very abnormal.
If it were just a fleet passing through, or simply wanting to come to the island to purchase some materials, they wouldn't care.
People familiar with the island and its surroundings wouldn't come here for no reason. Those unfamiliar with the island would be even more cautious and wary, not deliberately causing trouble.
But pirates are different.
Especially those of the Infinite Sea. Robbing isn't easy.
So they have to be smart.
No one who sails in these waters is a pushover.
A shadow seemed to flicker faintly in the shadows of the nearby bushes and trees.
But no one noticed.
And no one would notice.
…
Alka and the others, having already reached their destination, were clearing the snow.
The snow had accumulated too thickly last night.
As the snow was cleared, the deep pits they had dug were exposed, but some areas within them had already frozen over.
Pororo had no choice but to pick up a shovel and icebreaker and begin clearing the ice.
"Every time I do this, it's so frustrating," Juanlu complained, tapping the icebreaker.
Digging in the winter is already a hassle. If it snowed at night, the pits dug yesterday would be buried, and ice would cover them.
The workload would inexplicably increase.
Fortunately, the pit had been dug deep enough yesterday, revealing the general outline of the ruins.
Once the broken ice and snow were cleared away, things would be much easier.
Several four-legged, spider-like structures had already begun working with their excavation tools.
Mirrors floated overhead, focusing the surrounding sunlight and shining it onto the ruins.
Raising the ambient temperature, they could work more effectively.
San, sitting on Julia's shoulders, swung his fishtail and suddenly noticed something, froze for a moment.
Then he spoke, "Those pirates are here after all."
Hearing this, the busy workers stopped where they were and looked at each other.
"How ungrateful!" Juanlu said, scratching his hair with a hint of frustration.
They had known for a while that a pirate group had arrived on the island, and upon arriving, they had been intentionally or unintentionally gathering information about them.
They inquired from the islanders.
For Jason, who had been in the town for so long, the information they gathered naturally reached him easily.
Alka and his companions also followed suit, confirming during their actions that this pirate group seemed to be coming just for them.
They had a negative impression of them.
Especially after hearing about Alka and his companions' previous demonstration of strength, these groups seemed to have gained confidence and became even more aggressive.
Compared to normal pirates, they clearly had more brains.
I wonder if it's because of the harsh working environment of the Infinite Sea.
But while they had brains, they were clearly not very smart.
These pirates probably didn't realize until now that their every word and action had long been clearly known to Alka and his companions.
Even their knowledge of Alka was specifically relayed by the islanders.
After all, they were just pirates.
Alka's men had truly contributed to the town and had helped them.
The islanders who could communicate with them were all hunters. They were more rational and had a stronger sense of belonging to the town.
They also hated the pirates even more.
"How many of them came?" Alka asked after a brief pause.
"36."
"That many? Almost all of them," Julia said, squinting her eyes.
They already knew the exact number of pirates; this was almost all they had.
"Does that mean there aren't many left on their ship?"
"Jason has word that only six people remain on their pirate ship," San said truthfully.
Hearing this, Alka smiled faintly. "Then pass the message to Sofia and the others. Let these presumptuous individuals sink into the deep sea."
San nodded and relayed Alka's message to Lucilia on the ship.
The puppet army, thanks to the treasure and Alka's specially designed features, can communicate with each other.
Their range isn't guaranteed, but at least it's not a problem on this island.
Looking at the three prepared Pororo, Alka pondered for a moment the number of enemies and the disparity in strength.
After a moment's thought, he said, "Have Lucilia and Sofia bring some of the puppet army to rendezvous, and have Jason and Simon lead the remaining puppet army to sink their ship."
The order was still quickly delivered.
"Though these people may be foolish, they're not weak."
The pirate group consisted of over 40 people, and their leader, while not particularly strong, was at the third stage. The remaining cadres were all around the peak of Stage 2, but there weren't many, only three.
The rest were all mid-stage, and not everyone was a Toucher.
Only about a third were Touchers, while the rest had similar strength gains to those of the island's Totem Hunters, though perhaps using different methods.
Alka and his team had already figured out these clearly hostile strangers.
They even had several plans in place to counter them.
"But this island is our home turf, after all. I'll be the main bait. We'll lure them out until night and try to prevent them from inflicting too much damage."
Alka spoke, then flashed by. Everyone knew it was Alka's dream double.
They soon received word from Sofia and his team that they were already prepared at a specific location.
The enemy had already appeared not far from them.
Upon their arrival, they spotted Alka and the others digging.
Alka was holding something covered in mud.
Seeing the pirates approach, he dropped the object without hesitation.
"Run!"
Xadaiti, Julia, and Juanlu took off without hesitation.
Watching the four of them flee, the pirates' instinctive response was to chase them; it was almost instinct.
"Don't let them get away! They must have dug up something valuable!"
Some pirates rushed out eagerly.
They were eager to seize the treasure.
The leader, however, fell in the middle. He quickly reached the pit, and the lame old man who followed him knocked the mud lumps Alka had dropped with his cane.
With the hammering, the dirt peeled away from the mud.
Exposing items inside, clearly made of gems and precious metals, they were clearly valuable.
Looking at these things, the old man's cloudy eyes brightened.
And the captain's face lit up with a ferocious grin, ripping at the hideous scars on his face.
"Hahahaha, chase them! Don't let them get away!"
He laughed, kicked the ground hard, and shot out like an arrow, quickly surpassing all the pirates.
The old man leaned on his crutch, hooking the side of it like a hook around a young pirate who was trying to catch up, and dragged him back.
"You, hold on here! These are treasures! If you lose one, I'll break your legs."
The young pirate, whose eyes he had held, flushed slightly, his emotions aroused. He raised his weapon, ready to strike the old man.
Then, seeing the old man's expression, he calmed down.
He snorted reluctantly at the men already swiftly chasing ahead.
But he had no choice but to stand still.
The old man looked weak and easy to bully, but no one dared to do so, so he could only wait obediently.
Seeing this, the old man smiled and patted him with his cane, then quickly ran out, leaning on it.
His running speed didn't give the impression of a lame old man.
"Bah, a bunch of money-hungry bastards! You better all die outside, damn it!"
The young pirate said disdainfully. After venting his anger, he sat down, somewhat annoyed.
Looking at the things in the backpack buried in the mud, his eyes lit up as he began to clean up the dirt outside.
While I couldn't keep it all to myself, it wouldn't hurt to feast my eyes and touch it, to experience the feeling of wealth in my hands.
A long moment passed after the pirates had all vanished from sight.
A shadow flashed through the nearby bushes, a human figure seemingly emerging.
The young pirate remained preoccupied with the treasure, meticulously cleaning it of dirt.
Occasionally, he would mutter to himself in admiration.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed, his demeanor shifting. He turned, hurled the treasure with force, and slashed downward with his sword.
The puppet girl in the shadows behind him was forced to reveal herself, blocking the blade with her two slender swords.
This puppet girl seemed a bit larger.
"Little thing, you're still trying to sneak up on me!" The young pirate's eyes lit up at the puppet girl's expression.
"It must be worth a lot of money."
He raised his sword with all his might, intending to continue slashing at the doll girl.
However, before the sword even came down, he widened his eyes and covered his neck.
Two bloody wounds had already appeared on his neck, and blood spurted out continuously.
He covered his neck with his hands, but blood continued to flow from between his fingers.
It was exposed, unstoppable.
Two puppet girls emerged from the shadows behind him, silently watching his struggle.
The puppet girl in front of him raised her longsword and plunged it into the pirate's chest.
Even though the blade was slender and short, it was strong enough to penetrate the heart.
After doing this, the three puppet girls quickly retreated into the shadows and ran away.
And the body lying in a pool of blood.
The pungent smell of blood continued to spread.
The hunger brought by winter stirred everything around.
Naturally, something would help them clean up these existing corpses.
A figure was running wildly across the snow.
It was Alka, covered in wounds. As he ran, blood dripped onto the snow.
He kept changing direction, running back and forth between the trees and grass.
Trying to shake off the pursuers.
The pirate captain, beaming, pursued with bloody abandon.
Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, a smile crept in.
"The smell of fear, panic, oh~ I love it so much."
He loved the feeling of the chase.
Looking at Alka, still fleeing in the distance, he swung his right hand.
He threw nothing.
But Alka stumbled, regained his balance, and continued running.
Another inexplicable cut to his back, a wound appeared in the flesh, and blood began to drip.
"Haha, run! Run! Speed up!"
As the chase progressed, Alka's magical powers were forced to reveal themselves.
The pirate captain clearly saw the Nine Spiral's power.
Although weaker than expected, it didn't matter.
For him, who had already advanced to the third stage, the Nine Spiral's enemies were nothing more than playthings.
He thoroughly enjoyed this process.
Opportunities like these weren't easy to come by at sea.
So, this opportunity was precious.
He had to play it right.
Alka did his best to play along with his game.
He had been thinking about how to keep the captain's attention, and had already prepared several methods and tactics.
It turned out that the pirate captain had his own methods, and Alka didn't need to prepare them for him.
Alka's face was filled with panic, and he was still cleaning his wounds as he ran.
In his hand, he held a round ball.
He was recording the time, predicting the arrival of night.