Alger had come to the pirates' trading market chiefly for two reasons.
First, he had already struck a deal with [Moon], agreeing to purchase something on her behalf: the Apothecary Pathway's Sequence 6 characteristic, "Potion Professor," from the hands of a great pirate.
Among the vampires, this figure was known as the "Baron."
Second, after the Blood Reverend's attack had thoroughly wiped out Military Intelligence Nine's operations in Bayam, the Storm Church had assigned him a new task: attend the pirates' gathering and gather intelligence on them.
Alger had not expected to run into a sailor from the Temperance's crew here. To him, it counted as a pleasant surprise.
"Mind your own business."
The pirate who had swindled Filia noticed Alger and, sensing the seasoned, weighty air about him, immediately grew wary. "This has nothing to do with you," he warned.
Alger thought it over briefly.
True enough, this was a gathering of savage pirates, where violence above all else was the basic rule. To help a total stranger without cause would only make him look suspicious.
But Mr. Hanged Man's mind ran deep.
In an instant he had already thought of a fitting excuse. "What happens to this young man is naturally none of my concern."
He pushed through the crowd as he spoke. "But I've come to find you over something else. Last time at the pirates' gathering, wasn't it you running a stall who cheated one of my men?"
The moment the words landed, a powerful gust of wind began to swirl around Alger, instantly announcing his identity as a Beyonder.
The excuse was, of course, invented, meant purely to give him an opening to make trouble for the man.
He was confident this stall owner was a repeat offender, and had surely pulled something similar last time too.
"Whoosh!"
The pirates who had gathered to watch the spectacle scattered at once, none of them wanting to get caught up with such a powerful Beyonder.
"My lord, I had no idea that was your man..."
At the sight of this, fear and flattery instantly flooded the pirate's face.
"Whoosh!"
Alger paid no attention to his excuses.
A sharp blade of wind slashed through the air, and the canvas laid out on the ground, along with the pile of fake talismans on top of it, split cleanly in two, leaving even a deep gash in the ground beneath.
The crowd scattered even further back.
Under Alger's threat, the pirate obediently handed over every coin he had, as compensation for the losses of that nonexistent crewman.
Seeing that things had ended without a real fight, the onlooking pirates lost interest and gradually drifted away.
Alger pocketed the money and turned to leave, deliberately slowing his pace.
"Sir!"
Sure enough, the young sailor from the Temperance came chasing after him, eyes shining.
"Don't bother me." Alger put on a cold, indifferent air. "The money I took is mine. If you want money, go ask that fellow yourself."
"That's not it, sir. I only wanted to thank you for settling that score on my behalf."
Filia said this with excitement.
Recalling the blade of wind the man had just unleashed, his heart still stirred, and his eyes were full of envy.
He wondered when he himself might become a Beyonder like that. Alger walked ahead, and Filia followed behind him.
"Heh, good, you know how things stand." Alger said, "Seeing as you're still new to this, let me give you a piece of advice. Prepare more in advance, and you'll spare yourself a lot of grief."
"You're right, I really hadn't prepared much. If only I'd thought to ask some of the old pirates beforehand," Filia said with regret. "But there was no help for it. Our captain decided to come on a whim, all of a sudden..."
Hearing this, Alger narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression giving nothing away.
On a whim?
It seemed the one aboard the Temperance had never originally intended to attend the pirates' gathering.
So why had he ended up coming after all? Was there something behind this that he didn't know about?
"Ha ha ha!"
"Ha ha ha!"
Just as these thoughts churned endlessly in his mind, a shrill, piercing burst of malicious laughter suddenly rang out, blanketing the entire market.
That laughter was hoarse and twisted, at times almost like singing, at times like screaming, grating against everyone's nerves.
The pirates throughout the trading market clapped their hands over their ears, faces contorted in pain. Some doubled over, others simply collapsed to the ground, thrashing without end.
"Could this be..."
Alger fared a little better than the rest, but he too felt countless thoughts surging up in his mind all at once, swelling stronger and stronger in time with that mad laughter, as though his skull might burst from the pressure.
He quickly connected it to certain intelligence he had heard, and to confirm it, he lifted his head and looked toward the source of the sound.
There, in the waters off Black Lake Island, he saw a massive sailing ship cutting through the sea.
Both ends of that ship curved upward sharply, and its single sail bore a black tombstone marking death upon it.
Its overall length approached two hundred meters, far beyond the scope of any normal sailing vessel. Its height reached that of a five-story building, and cannons lined it from top to bottom.
A tall figure sat aboard the ship, a grim-faced middle-aged man, his skin pale to a terrifying degree, as though he might begin to rot at any moment.
So it really was Death Announcer... and the King of Immortality, Agalito!
Alger's eyes narrowed sharply.
The pirates' gathering was hosted by Nast, and the other sea kings would show him the courtesy of attending as well. But the King of Immortality was a bit different.
This "Oathbreaker" never once left his own flagship; in the past he had always sent men to represent him. This was the very first time he had come to the gathering himself!
"Why has he come?"
Alger couldn't help but wonder.
As far as he knew, the biggest difference between this gathering and past ones was the addition of the Blood Reverend. Could it be that the King of Immortality had come for Alexander Gascoigne?
He watched, wide-eyed, as Death Announcer drew near the harbor, throwing the docks into chaos. But it did not moor. Instead it began circling Black Lake Island, for reasons unknown.
One of the ships under the King of Five Seas' banner quickly set sail, following behind Death Announcer.
"Lord King of Immortality, please, I beg you, make your flagship stop that noise!"
Aboard the ship trailing Death Announcer, a man stood at the prow, wearing an Intis-style shirt with elaborate patterns at the cuffs and collar, a captain's coat of dark red draped over his shoulders.
He called out at the top of his voice.
This was one of Nast's men, first mate aboard the Black Emperor, a great pirate with a bounty of over ten thousand pounds on his head: the "Viscount of Fear," Bird Mustang.
"We consider it a great honor that you've come in person this time, but I must ask you to hold back a little, or every pirate on this island is going to lose their mind!"
Amid the shrill, overpowering laughter, Bird Mustang shouted this out at the top of his lungs.
Yet the King of Immortality, seated calmly where he was, did not so much as look at him, as though he hadn't noticed him at all.
At that moment, a dark shadow swiftly appeared at the ship's rail, looking down at him with a smile.
"I'm afraid our captain still has no intention of coming ashore this time. Once again, it falls to me to attend in his place."