Chapter 303: Encirclement
“Brother Burufaruto will be okay, right?”
On the Minotaur, wrapped in a huge bubble in the dim deep sea, the pirates under Burufaruto watched the increasingly distant Fish-Man Island with some worry in their hearts.
There were many Navy on the island, plus those weird guys wearing suits… Even though Burufaruto had extraordinary strength, two fists were still hard to match four hands.
Once held back and trapped in an encirclement, it would probably be more ill fortune than good.
But fortunately, Fish-Man Island was Burufaruto’s home turf, and the place where they had docked before was not far from the edge of the island. If anything happened, Burufaruto could calmly retreat into the sea.
“Don’t worry, Brother Burufaruto is a Fish-Man. Even if he can’t beat them, he can directly escape into the sea.”
“At such a deep seabed, as long as that group of Navy aren’t idiots, they won’t chase out of Fish-Man Island’s range.”
“And I observed that the white-suited one is an Ability User, so it’s even more impossible for him to chase into the sea.”
“Mm~”
Hearing the words of the squad leader temporarily taking command, everyone felt a bit relieved, then each returned to their familiar positions and began quietly waiting for sunlight to reappear overhead.
……
“Hey! Come here quick, this big guy seems like he’s about to wake up!”
About ten minutes later, the ship doctor who had been guarding the blond Fish-Man and the little infant suddenly noticed that the other’s breathing frequency had changed.
It looked like the previous medicine’s effect had worn off, and he was now starting to come around.
Pa~
A beam of light was suddenly turned on casually by the ship doctor, and the crew on the ship, caught off guard, were instantly dazzled into squinting their eyes.
Meanwhile, the ship doctor used this modified lighting system added to the ship to begin observing, per medical procedure, whether the other had any abnormal reactions.
But before he could see anything clearly, the squad leader who rushed over turned off and extinguished the light with one hand.
“Idiot! Who told you to turn on the light!”
“Is this your first time? Don’t you know this will attract sea beasts!”
In the dark deep sea, turning on a light was a very dangerous and stupid behavior, because the light would attract certain things that the crew members never wanted to see.
And ships generally traveling to and from Fish-Man Island would try to extinguish any light sources on the ship during this stretch to avoid stimulating those monsters hidden in the darkness.
After all, you might be very strong, but your ship and coating might not be~
Under the terrifying pressure of the ten-thousand-meter deep sea, if there was even the slightest problem with the ship’s coating, the consequences were often ship destroyed and people dead!
“I, I…”
Hearing the other’s deliberately lowered but anger-filled rebuke, the ship doctor didn’t dare say much.
He indeed wasn’t traveling to and from Fish-Man Island for the first time, but previously he had always stayed in the enclosed cabin, where he could turn on lights because the light couldn’t get out.
But this time, the blond Fish-Man he needed to watch was too big to fit into his medical cabin, so he could only place him on the deck.
And this time, he had habitually turned on the light casually again.
“…”
After waiting heart-poundingly for a while and finding no strangely shaped monsters attracted by that instant of light just now, everyone finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Phew~”
“You scared me to death.”
“Fortunately, false alarm.”
“Don’t do it again next time, it’s bad for the heart.”
“Shh~ Keep it down. Don’t forget sound can also attract those things.”
“Oh oh! Right.”
Just as everyone shut their mouths, preparing to do nothing and quietly wait to float to the sea surface, a voice broke the silence again.
“Child…”
『Hm?』
『Who? Who’s speaking?』
『Uh… Is it that Fish-Man Brother Burufaruto brought back?』
“My child!”
“Damn it! Don’t shout!”
“Quick, quick, cover his mouth!”
……
After another bout of fluster and chaos, everyone finally pacified the blond Fish-Man who was coming around.
“You say that guy Burufaruto saved me?”
Holding his own child, the Fish-Man named Lahel, after hearing the others recount what happened, felt both surprised and moved, while also sighing at the wonder of fate.
He hadn’t expected that when he was at the end of his rope, an old friend he hadn’t seen in over a dozen years would timely reach out to save him, even staying behind alone now to cover his escape so he could get away smoothly.
To him, it felt as unreal as a dream.
“Boss Burufaruto came specifically this time after hearing Your Excellency was at Fish-Man Island. Before this, he had been constantly inquiring about Your Excellency’s whereabouts, but all to no avail.”
The squad leader’s explanation slightly dispelled some of Lahel’s doubts.
『So you’ve been looking for me all these years…』
Lahel was momentarily dazed, his thoughts drifting back to the time when he and Burufaruto, two novice Fish-Men just setting out to sea, aspired to make their name on the sea.
Back then, Burufaruto already had this loyal and righteous personality, often risking his life without hesitation for people he’d just met days ago.
He had even teased him back then, saying he didn’t seem like a Fish-Man from Fish-Man District at all.
And Burufaruto’s response had been—”That’s exactly why I wanted to leave that Fish-Man District place… In that place, to survive, everyone had to wear a mask of unrighteousness every moment; only the most cold and selfish people could live on.”
Lahel knew that what Burufaruto really wanted were those purer emotional connections, untainted by calculations of self-interest.
What he pursued were people he could entrust his back to, who would also entrust their backs to him, and the sense of security that came from being with such people.
『So that’s why you’d risk your life for a nobody like me.』
『Unfortunately, I can no longer live up to your expectations now…』
Lahel looked downward— the sunlight transmitted by Fish-Man Island’s sun tree Eve was no longer visible, as if swallowed by that pitch-black deep sea… along with Burufaruto who stayed behind on the island.
And above him, the warm daylight cast by the real sun had penetrated layers of seawater, descending from overhead and illuminating the way ahead in bright light.
They were about to reach the sea surface.
“Wah~ Wah~”
The infant in his arms suddenly let out cries, seemingly woken by this light.
Since he had already been fed milk once, the infant’s voice now was no longer as weak and feeble as before, but full of vigor.
Lahel looked at this child who had just been born not long ago in the crook of his arm, a warm sense of blood connection flooding his heart; his eyes were now full of doting affection and reluctance.
Back then, it was precisely this child’s birth that made him break free from the chains at all costs, escaping that human hell which had once made him give up hope of living and become numb like a dead man.
Now, likewise for this child to live on, he was willing to offer everything he had, exchanging it for a sliver of hope for the child’s future.
『Sorry, Burufaruto.』
Bang!
Splash~
The huge warship broke through the water surface, and the bubble coating covering its surface also burst due to the instant pressure change upon contact with the atmosphere.
Pa~
“Phew~ Finally reached the sea surface.”
“Nearly suffocated me!”
“Haha~ Another safe ascent day.”
“Now we just wait for Brother Burufaruto to come up, then we all head back to Fenrir together.”
That squad leader stepped forward, patted Lahel on the back, and said:
“Your Excellency, rest assured. Whether Navy or Celestial Dragons, once we’re in our territory, there’s nothing to worry about.”
His words were filled with ease and pride; their confidence in the Beasts Pirates’ current strength was why they were so unconcerned about snatching someone from the Celestial Dragons’ mouths.
Bang—Splash~
Another sound of water surface breaking came.
“Is that Brother Burufaruto coming up?”
Someone hurriedly asked.
“No, it’s not.”
The squad leader looked in the direction the sound came from, eyes widening, pupils contracting!
“How… How could this…”
Splash!
Splash!
Two more breaking-water sounds came from different directions.
Everyone on the Minotaur turned toward the sounds—only to see three huge blue warships suddenly appear on what was originally an empty sea surface!
These warships were now arrayed in a triangular formation, tightly surrounding the Minotaur in the middle.
“You think you can escape?”
Standing at the ship’s bow of one of the warships, a Navy Vice Admiral carrying two long swords of different styles said coldly.
