The coin pirates came back up to the deck of the ship with bags upon bags of treasure. Regan's eyes glistened as he found golden coins that glowed underneath the light of the moon, gemstones with a magical glint that could bring any man to touch them.
There were jewels, swords made from gold, trinkets, treasure chests, and so much more that Regan wanted so badly to get his hands on.
He would, eventually. But now, he had two more pirate crews to take out.
He ordered the coin pirates to bring the bags to the merchant ship, and chuckled as he watched them struggle to carry out the task, the bags too heavy for a single man.
Regan had turned to watch three men carry a bag across a plank, and found that his own 'crew' were watching him from afar. The three men, Rose, and even Izgrim, were glaring at him with their beady, illustrious eyes. They had watched the whole thing unfold silently.
The men were clutching their weapons, and Regan deduced that they had once planned to use them, until they saw him slaughtering the pirates single handedly.
Regan winked at them before turning his attention to another coin pirate on the ship. He ordered him to bring him a canon ball below deck.
When he came back out, there were two canon balls in both of his hands. Perhaps the thought that if he did more than he was told, Regan might let him live. Regan had the mind to kill him where he stood but the other coin pirates were onboard the merchants ship.
The murder of their friend might spark dangerous, reckless ideas. It was best that they remained obsequious, believing that they'd be able to keep their lives if they simply followed orders.
Regan dropped his cutlass and grabbed one of the cannonballs. It felt light in his hand, as if the ball of iron was nothing but a weightless football. He chucked it into the air and caught it with one hand, over and over again.
He pulled his arm back, and hurled the cannonball at the ship of the organ pirates. The explosion that followed tore through the ship and the unfortunate crew members who were caught in it.
[You Have Gained 20 Gun Points]
[You Have Gained 60 Essence]
I get gun points for that!? Interesting.
When the smoke cleared, Regan found a myriad of mangled corpses, blood pouring from their bodies, as were their organs. They lived up to their name, at least.
Well, the name that I gave them.
Regan grabbed the other cannonball and threw it at the same vessel, killing more of the pirates on board. The captain had fallen with his crew, and the ship began sinking into a watery abyss.
[You Have Gained 15 Gun Points]
[You Have Gained 40 Essence]
"FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" The spine captain bellowed.
They never learn
Regan cut the incoming cannonball into two, shrugging off the explosion as the two halves fell into the sea.
[You Have Gained 5 Sword Points]
"You got another cannonball?" Regan asked the pirate.
"Y-yes. You want me to bring more?"
"Bring everything you've got." Regan nodded.
The pirate was away with his task, much too eager to keep his life in the event that Regan decided to spare him upon his departure.
Regan waited a while, cutting down multiple different cannonballs that came his way. Gaining sword points for every cut he made.
The coin pirate came up, dragging a bag filled with cannonballs. Regan grabbed one of them and hurled it at the remaining pirate ship. The smoke from the explosion licked at the black belly of the sky. Fire curled and danced under the breeze, and some of the spine pirates began jumping overboard to escape Regan's attacks.
Very stupid. You don't wanna die one way, so you choose to die another? Ah, well, what choice do they have?
Regan cleared his throat. "For every cannonball you shoot I'll throw one myself! Surrender now and nobody has to die. You see these pirates here, don't you? You can live. So long as you cough up everything you own."
The captain was too clouded by anger. He ordered another one of his men to fire, but the cowards shivered away from the canon, cautious of Regan's admonishment.
The captain shoved away one of his men, and loaded the canon himself. He was spewing curses and various profanities, spiting and berating the very men that followed them. It was a sorry sight.
Regan braced his sword, ready for another cannonball like he was about to hit a home run. To his shock, however, the spine pirates began pinning down their captain.
The captain was much too strong, gripping and throwing some of his men into the sea. And so the spine pirates, at least they once were, began stabbing him relentlessly. Some of them unloaded their pistols, burying their bullets deep inside of his stomach.
One of his former men put their sword through his throat, another put a dagger through his eye. Slowly and painfully, the captain died at the hands of his own men.
Regan felt disgusted. They had dedicated themselves towards following that man, and now they killed him off so easily.
No matter. It's their treasure that matters.
Regan ordered them to bring their ship forward and hand over every single penny that was on their ship. The men did so with glee, driving their vessel towards him
The coin pirates and the spine pirates, they looked like frightened school boys now. So gleefully did they begin bagging all of their valuables, their lives more important than the wealth they had garnered.
Some of the men did try and sneak in an attack here and there, bringing down their dagger or their blades when they believed Regan was unsuspecting.
Regan had waved off the attacks and slaughtered those that carried them out, and demanded to know who else had concocted an attempt on his life. None did confess, but some pointed out the furtive assailants, prompting Regan to put an end to their lives, too.
When the bags were all loaded up and transported to the merchant ship, Regan was satisfied, and quite bewildered by their exorbitant wealth.
Just how many years have they spent raiding and pillaging?
He walked the plank back to the merchant ship, carrying the bag of cannonballs that the coin pirate had procured for him. There were bags upon bags of treasure now on the deck of his ship, and Regan ordered the pirates who had carried them to return to their respective vessels.
He winked and smiled at Izgrim and Rose, and nodded at the older men who could do nothing but look on as the frail boy they once knew returned from combatting three pirate crews alone. He was even unarmed at one point.
Dantes realised that his injured arm was longer paining him as it once had, but he could still feel it stinging him here and there. The cannonball attacks would have been more devistating otherwise.
"D-Dantes, are you okay?" Rose said, finding no mark or injury on his skin save for the one she had wrapped a bandage over. Still, she thought it best to ask.
Izgrim gave no words but his eyes voiced everything that his tongue had meant to say.
"What the hell are you?"
"Dantes," Randi said, glaring at the boy. "What are we to do with all this treasure?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Said Regan, setting down the bag of cannonballs. "Get rich!"
"But we're merchants, not pirates." Jinkota said, shaking his head.
The two men were disgruntled, but Clam was digging through a bag of treasure, his eyes glinting with greed. He had never seen so much wealth in his entire life.
"A lotta treasure for a bunch of weaklings like them, eh? They must've been some notorious pirates who thrived off fear rather than strength." Regan said directly to Clam.
"Aye." Clam beamed, running his hands through a sea of gold coins. "They won't be needing it anymore."
"Damn right!" Regan laughed.
"Where the hell did you learn how to fight like that, kid?" Said Randi.
Regan shrugged. "The woods, of course. Where else? I've been training there."
"I see." Jinkota said. "Makes sense why you were out there so much. But, still, we can't just take all of this."
"Of course we can. We took it from pirates, everything here is stolen."
"Agreed," Clam supported, biting into two coins. "It's ours now. Let's split it between us."
Regan nodded. "What do you think, Izgrim, Rose?"
Izgrim shook his head and walked off, allowing a string of words to leave his lips. "Do what you want," he said.
Rose was overwhelmed by all the wealth in front of her, but she wasn't as eager to remain with her morales as Jinkota was. She herself took a pearl and a necklace from the stash.
"Wouldn't hurt to bring some of this back home, would it?" Rose smiled awkwardly.
"Yeah, it wouldn't." Regan grinned. "So it's settled then. We're keeping all of this."
As if I'd let them throw it all away.
"Aye, I suppose we are." Randi sighed. "Let us make way to Rakers island, least we know we won't have to worry about any pirates at all." He said.
"Speaking of pirates," Regan said, turning to the single pirate ship that remained, rocking and creaking near the bloodied ship of the coin pirates. "There's still some left."
Regan grabbed a cannonball and threw it at their ship. He took two more, and decimated their vessel with a wide grin on his face. The ship had had enough, moaning and groaning as the water dragged it and the men to their graves.
"Alright. Let's head to Rakers island. We've got booze to sell." Regan said.
And more pirates to fight, hopefully.