"Heh!"
After noticing the flicker of infatuation in his eyes, Merlin sneered. They only knew Yol's apparent beauty and gentleness.
They didn't know that Yol could crack their skulls with a single punch.
While hunting in the mountains, Yol had achieved the glorious record of killing a wild boar three meters long with a single punch!
The gentle Nun Yol of the past had undergone a transformation. The current Yol was a nun capable of combat.
In terms of sheer physical strength, Merlin still couldn't compare to her.
And in the past two days, there was more than one fly trying to approach Yol by getting close to Merlin through this roundabout way.
"Hey, hey, hey! You guy, why are you mocking me? Am I wrong?"
Gerard's face became increasingly dissatisfied, and based on Merlin's indifferent attitude towards everyone these past few days, his mood became even more irritable at this moment.
At this time, a cold smile appeared in Merlin's eyes as he looked at him and said:
"Do you know?
"Your goddess has to wake me up every day, bring me food, wash my dirty clothes, eat and live with me, and breathe the air in the same cabin. Mmh, we even sleep in the same bed.
"Envious?"
Gerard's face was gloomy at this moment, the corners of his mouth twitching violently uncontrollably. pointing at Merlin, he stammered "You, you, you" non-stop. Merlin casually pushed his finger away and mocked:
"Do you think Yol, who opens her eyes every day to see a high-quality handsome guy like me... would be blind enough to fancy you?"
Gerard's dark face turned purple and green. In an instant, with fierce eyes, he clenched his fists and left without looking back.
If Merlin weren't a guest on the ship, and the rules on this passenger ship didn't forbid using violence against guests without reason.
He would definitely have punched him in the face and made him kneel to apologize properly.
Just then, under a mast not far away, a group of sitting sailors burst into uproar, slapping the floor and laughing wildly.
"Wah-haha! I told you that kid Gerard would definitely eat dirt! That young Merlin has a poisonous mouth!"
"Gapupu, looks like I won the bet again. And our irritable Gerard didn't choose to use violence under young Merlin's poisonous tongue offensive!
"Pay up, pay up, everyone pay up, one hundred Berries each. No reneging!"
"Eh? I think I haven't washed my socks from last night. I'm going to wash them now."
"Ah-haha! The captain seems to be looking for me? I'll go ahead!"
"Eh? I have something to do too?"
"..."
Merlin didn't care about the gambling game not far away. He felt relieved at the moment.
Chased away another toad.
"You seem very happy?"
Yol came over from the wooden ladder not far away at this time, holding the railing on Merlin's left, looking at Merlin with a smile and saying:
"Which one is this?"
Merlin was speechless. "You're counting? Since you're so free. Then maybe next time I'll ignore them."
Yol immediately put her palms together in front of her mouth, blinking her eyes playfully at Merlin:
"I was wrong, okay? Stingy flower protector."
Merlin rolled his eyes at her and said helplessly:
"I'm physically and mentally exhausted from the annoyance! I really want to stuff grenades into their mouths to shut them up permanently."
Hearing this, Yol said somewhat helplessly: "Don't just casually say such terrifying things! Their crimes don't deserve death!
"But you can beat them up to vent your anger?"
Merlin looked at her in surprise:
"Really?"
Yol rolled her eyes at Merlin: "Compared to irrelevant strangers, your feelings are more important.
"I just don't want you to be tainted by the desire to kill and lose your mind, not asking you to endure everything. Do I look like that kind of fool?"
Merlin's gaze was subtle. "Yol, you've changed. You used to have a gentle and mild attitude towards everyone before!"
"..." A trace of melancholy appeared in Yol's eyes upon hearing this, but her gaze soon became firm again:
"I haven't changed. I just suffered a loss I'll never forget in my life and learned a lesson.
"I'm not God; I have my own preferences too.
"Nuns aren't just gentle and mild; there are also martial nuns responsible for fighting and expelling evil!
"Since God doesn't love the world, then from now on, I will only do what I think is right."
A smile appeared in Merlin's eyes:
"That's good. This way, I won't have to worry about you suffering losses in the future."
Yol rolled her eyes at Merlin reproachfully:
"I'm not Lami. You make it sound like I'm a little girl who knows nothing. Also..."
Yol looked a little suspicious:
"Why do I feel like you're going to leave me?"
Merlin raised an eyebrow but didn't speak. He just turned his head to look at the "fireball" gradually sinking into the sea in the distance.
An uneasiness unconsciously appeared in Yol's eyes. After a few seconds of silence, she asked softly:
"Are you thinking of leaving us to go somewhere else? And not taking us with you?"
Unexpectedly, her intuition was so sharp. After a few seconds of silence, Merlin spoke calmly:
"The world we live in is very mysterious and possesses many powerful existences.
"Just working behind closed doors alone probably won't lead to fast growth.
"I want to find a place that can make me stronger quickly.
"The Navy probably won't do; they are a force under the World Government, and coming from Flevance, I... don't like them much.
"As for the Revolutionary Army that has started to show significant signs in recent years? First, they are hard to find. Second, I don't like living like a rat in the gutter with them.
"As for pirates, as I said before, once you go out to sea alone, you have to face the Navy's capture. Unless you reach a certain level, like those famous pirate forces in the second half of the Grand Line, you have to flee everywhere like a rat, wasting a lot of time and effort."
"Isn't Rock Heart Sword Dojo okay?" Yol asked softly: "Do you already have a target in mind?"
"Although Rock Heart Sword Dojo is famous, it's just an ordinary sword dojo that can't make it out of the North Blue. It should only be a place to build a foundation.
"And these two days, chatting with the sailors on the passenger ship, I heard from them that the owner of Rock Heart Sword Dojo isn't a Sword Master or anything.
"I heard that the dojo owner was just a merchant's son when he was young, and later accidentally learned swordsmanship from a marine.
"He doesn't have any long-standing kendo heritage or anything.
"So, what they can teach is probably just simple basic swordsmanship content."
Speaking up to here, Merlin stopped saying more.
And seeing that Merlin didn't intend to continue chatting, a look of helplessness flashed in Yol's eyes.
Just then, looking into the distance, Merlin's pupils slowly dilated. He saw a two-masted sailing ship appearing on the distant coastline.
A black skull flag fluttered at the top of the mast.
At the same time, the sharp alarm on the passenger ship sounded. For a moment, the sailors on the entire ship became alert one after another.
Merlin turned to look at Yol, "Go back to the cabin and look after Lami. Don't come out."
Yol nodded with a grave expression and said to Merlin:
"You stay safe too."
With that, she turned and ran towards the stairs on the side.
Went up to the third floor and returned to the room from the aisle.
But she came out again soon, holding the katana in her hand. Yol said: "Use this for self-defense. And this."
Saying this, she handed the remaining four grenades to Merlin together.
However, Merlin only took one and put it in his trouser pocket, then said: "Keep the rest for self-defense."
His tone was firm, leaving no room for her rebuttal.
At this time, the passenger ship only maintained vigilance, staying away from the pirate ship that had already caught up.
Over time, the pirate ship in the distance was obviously much faster than the passenger ship, getting closer and closer. When it reached a distance of four hundred meters.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Accompanied by the rumbling of cannon fire in the distance.
Cannonballs flew over one by one.
Exploding on the sea surface around the passenger ship.
Disordered waves hit the hull one after another. Even if they couldn't shake the huge ship, they caused the ship's speed to start slowing down.
However, at this time, the hull of the passenger ship also fired cannonballs one after another.
With good luck, or perhaps the gunner had some skill, a cannonball actually hit the side of the pirate ship, and fire instantly rose from the pirate ship.
Merlin could see the chaos on the pirate ship, and the ship's speed noticeably decreased.
Cheers and shouts immediately rang out on the passenger ship, but just then, a Boom! explosion sounded from the passenger ship.
Merlin suddenly protected his head with his left hand and squatted down. He saw the middle mast of the passenger ship hit by the opponent's cannonball, breaking directly into two pieces and smashing heavily onto the front of the upper deck of the passenger ship.
Fire ignited from the sails.
The turtle speed of the passenger ship compared to the pirate fast ship instantly became even slower.
And from the pirate ship not far away, the excited roars of pirates came at the same time.
And panicked shouts of alarm and firefighting sounds immediately rang out on the passenger ship.
At this time, an older sailor about fifty years old, holding a cutlass, hurried towards Merlin, hissing and scolding angrily:
"Stinking brat, get back to the cabin! Didn't you see pirates coming? Don't stand stupidly on the deck hindering us."
There was no dissatisfaction in Merlin's eyes after being scolded. Instead, looking at the approaching pirate ship, his gaze was very calm:
"It's the Blood Wolf Pirates. The captain has a bounty of 10.5 million Berries. Only the first mate, second mate, and a few squad leaders on the ship have bounties.
"A total of less than fifty people.
"There are about a hundred combat-capable personnel on the passenger ship. The advantage is ours."
Old Via's eyes twitched, and he cursed grumpily: "You know shit!
"Most of the people on the passenger ship are raw recruits who haven't seen blood. Where do they have the courage to fight desperately with pirates who live on the edge of a knife?
"Get back to your cabin and hide."
Old Via's gaze was very unkind. If this kid hadn't chatted with him occasionally over the past two days, he wouldn't have bothered to come over.
At this time, the pirate ship had approached less than fifty meters. Excited screams came from the deck of the opposite ship. Soon, it turned the bow and came to the other side of the passenger ship. Immediately after, iron hooks connected to ropes flew over from the opposite ship.
Thud, thud, thud! A series of clasping sounds rang out. Hooks connected to fist-thick ropes firmly clasped the railing on the other side of the ship.
Old Via sighed, glanced coldly at Merlin, gripped the handle of his knife tightly, and said:
"Stupid brat who doesn't listen. Then pray for yourself!"