New Calendar Year 10, January 7 – Western Seas of Borneo.
One of the Three Great Villains that made the world tremble— Black Sam— had long ruled over these waters.
Floating planks and ships, chained together with iron, formed a vast maritime fortress.
Within it were trees, gardens, even courtyards and palaces— a fully functional floating empire.
Atop the empire’s throne, a young Black Sam cradled a naked woman in his arms.
He used a dagger to scoop a pinch of dark-colored powder, sprinkling it across her chest.
Then he bent down and snorted it all up with one powerful inhale.
His eyes bulged blood-red with alchemical ecstasy, and the beard across his face writhed like shipworms, as if alive.
The subordinate kneeling before him trembled in terror, convinced he was facing a demon.
“Lord Sam, Drake just sent a ship with a warning. He says you’d better rein it in and not touch the Thunderbringer or the Ballad-Bearer’s vessels.”
“Tch—”
Sam Bellamy leaned back in his chair with disdain, the ceiling spinning wildly in his dazed vision.
“Those two? They’re old. And old fools always grow timid, trembling at shadows.”
“Drake’s people said: if she finds out what you’ve done, she’ll chop off your arm and feed you to the sharks. Make you walk the plank.”
“Those two idiots… when are they going to stop dreaming?” Sam snarled, slamming his blade into the table’s edge. “That woman’s not coming back! Probably dead— eaten by some sea monster… What’s there to be afraid of?”
“But if she’s not dead…”
“So what if she isn’t? The sea doesn’t belong to her anymore.”
With that, Sam drew his blade and killed the woman in his arms in one stroke.
—She had been colluding with Drake’s men, plotting to overthrow him. Ridiculous. Did she really think he didn’t know about her betrayal?
Sam stood, letting the dead woman’s body slump to the floor, her eyes still wide with disbelief. He casually hitched up his pants.
“I heard a group of Ballad-Bearer girls are heading out from the Eastern Empire, bound for the Plains State to compete in the Ballad-Bearer tournament.” He glanced at a blood-stained report on the table.
“That’s… a passenger ship, right?” the subordinate asked, groveling in fear. “Aren’t we only supposed to hit merchant vessels?”
“It’s time those two old fools understood— the world has changed.” Sam’s expression was cold. “We are no longer who we used to be. There’s no reason for us to keep living in that woman’s shadow. The rules she laid down? They’re worthless now.”
“…”
“Tell the crew to get ready. Watch every ship leaving from Bluewave Port. When we take this batch, we’ll squeeze a fat ransom out of Sen Shabea!”
Sen Shabea, the president of the Ballad-Bearer Medical Association, was famous for cherishing her subordinates.
She’d surely pay for the safe return of the captured girls.
Once he got the ransom, he’d toss their corpses back to her.
Let’s see if her medical skills could raise the dead.
Ha. Just imagining it was amusing.
……
Since last night, Wu Ma had been unusually quiet.
As if his worldview had suffered a catastrophic blow and he was now pondering the meaning of life.
“What’s up with you?” Wu Yi asked, a bit unsettled by this brooding, serious version of him.
“Where’s Wu Ye?” Wu Ma suddenly shot her a sharp glare.
“Who knows?” Wu Yi shrugged a bare shoulder, indifferent.
Though Wu Ma was technically a married man, he couldn’t help blushing in the presence of this dangerously seductive woman.
This mysterious woman— this so-called “little troublemaker”… just how many secrets was she hiding?
And knowing it was all somehow connected to Wu Ye only made the itch in his heart grow stronger.
So he kept everything he’d seen yesterday buried deep in his chest, merely saying calmly, “I’ll go with you all to Plains State.”
“Hm? Sure.”
She figured Wu Ma probably hadn’t seen Sen Shabea in a long time.
A visit to an old friend, grab some street food, sounded good.
“There’s a passenger ship departing at noon. Are you ready?” Wu Ma asked.
“Oh, I’m ready. Just not sure if that poor little octopus girl has the guts to ride the same ship as me.”
The courtyard was thick with gunpowder tension.
Kefulu leaned against Wu Yi from behind, smiling faintly. “Let’s see if you’re still so bold… when you’re collapsed at my feet.”
“What a rebellious little minx~” Wu Yi smiled lazily at the sky.
Their hair brushed together— on the surface, no movement, but both had already entered a silent, electric standoff.
Wu Ma, as oblivious as ever, noticed nothing.
He just said cheerfully, “I’ve already spoken with the city lord. Here’s the enrollment recommendation letter promised to our little troublemaker… It’ll work for the Plains State branch too.”
Wu Yi accepted the letter.
But in just that split-second lapse in focus, Kefulu struck—grazing Wu Yi’s calf with a dab of venom.
Her leg buckled instantly.
“…You actually ambushed me?!”
Wu Yi staggered back two steps like she’d been shocked, gritting her teeth and dropping to one knee.
“I’m a dark goddess. What’s wrong with a little ambush?” Kefulu replied, striding over in full victor’s swagger.
But Wu Yi suddenly sprang to her feet—no trace of paralysis in sight. She raised her hand and seized two of Kefulu’s tendrils, tying them together in a tight, merciless knot.
“You—?!”
“Since you attacked first, don’t blame me for fighting fire with fire.”
Wu Yi smiled sweetly as she raised her smoking pipe and blew a puff of fragrant smoke directly into Kefulu’s face.
Wu Ma, standing nearby, didn’t quite follow what just happened… but he had the vague sense he might be the third wheel here.
“Uh… anyway, it’s about time we head out. They should be boarding now.”
“Heh!” ×2
Xiao Qi had no clue what had just occurred— she simply blinked her wide eyes at Wu Yi, then turned to Kefulu.
Then she ran over to Wu Yi’s feet and raised her arms: “Mama~ hug!”
This little rascal… She called everyone Mama.
Wu Yi scooped her up and stuck her tongue out at Kefulu: “Nyeh nyeh~”
Kefulu’s lovely face turned frosty as she tamped down her fury.
No matter. She wasn’t in a rush to win this little duel.
There would be plenty of chances— once they were on the ship.
The Jewel of the Sea was a medium-sized passenger ship that made regular trips between the Plains State and the Eastern Empire.
Passengers each had private cabins, with two beds per room.
Naturally, Wu Ma wouldn’t share a room with the girls— out of propriety.
So he bunked with Huluteng, while Wu Yi stayed in a room with Xiao Qi and Kefulu.
It was still early—far from bedtime.
Wu Yi stood on the deck, gazing at the receding shoreline behind them.
Not far from the railings, a group of Ballad-Bearer girls were practicing their vocal warmups by the sea breeze. The sight stirred something nostalgic in her.
“Sen Shabea, huh…”
She remembered the first time she met Sen Shabea—singing in the woods, radiating that pure and sacred aura only elves possessed.
Her mother, Sen Shaebel, whose name differed by just one character, was a two-thousand-year-old Elf Queen. Every day, she drilled her daughter on poise and grace, urging her to act like a little fairy princess.
And yet, just half a year after joining the adventurer’s guild, this “little fairy” was already learning to chug drinks like a pro from Lord Long. High heels on the table, head thrown back, she could down five green bottles of Xuanjiu without breaking a sweat.
It was as if some deep, primal instinct in the elven bloodline had finally been unleashed.
That’s the thing about people—the more tightly they’re restrained, the wilder they get once released.
The harder she’d tried to play the perfect lady, the more thoroughly she embraced the chaos now.
Wu Yi could still remember Sen Shaebel’s meltdown—storming into the guild hall, beating the crap out of Wu Ye and the others behind it all… That was when everyone finally realized:
Sen Shabea was one of those runaway princesses from a fairytale!
But so what~ A title’s a title.
Whether you’re a princess or some blue-blooded noble, once you join the guild, you’re our milkmaid. You flash into a wall like an idiot—we will laugh at you. Loudly.
……
“Ladies of the Ballad-Bearers, please return to your cabins at once.”
The captain interrupted the girls’ singing practice.
“Oh sorry… Were we disturbing the passengers? Or… were we just off-key?” a few of the girls asked timidly.
Their shy demeanor was nothing like their fierce leader’s.
“No, no! You all sing beautifully— truly angelic… Which is exactly why you should head below deck,” the captain said, trying to sound gentle yet firm.
“Why?” one of them blinked.
“Because… we’re nearing Black Sam’s territory.”
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