Debuff Master

Chapter 796

“Kyuuu! Hey, owner punk! You’re just trying to make some—!”

“Hey, be quiet!”

Siegfried hastily clamped his hand on Hamchi’s mouth before the latter could utter another word.

“Can’t you keep it down?”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

“Stay up, okay? Got it?”

“But you’re only robbing the pirates to earn some pocket mon—”

“No more pirate games for you if you keep running your mouth.”

Hamchi’s eyes widened in disbelief. “N-No more pirate games?! Kyuuu?!”

“Kyuuu! No way! Pirate games are the best! Arr! Pirates rock! Pirates forever!”

“Then zip it, will you?”

Siegfried let Hamchi go and raised his spyglass, peering toward the distant pirate ship.

‘Now, show me what you’re carrying! Hehehe!’

He concluded that it was far better to rob pirates than to target civilians, and his thought process before reaching this conclusion was quite simple.

Pirates raided tirelessly across the seas, plundering people and amassing loot. What if Siegfried plundered those pirates? He could scoop up all their hard-earned treasure in one go.

‘Now that’s a win-win situation,’ Siegfried thought with a grin. It was the perfect setup.

He'd profit from the spoils, and the seas would become safer with fewer pirates.

Everyone would win except for the pirates!

A Nordic Marine shouted, “Enemy ship is approaching!”

The marine’s shout dragged Siegfried back to reality.

“Well, well.”

Siegfried grinned as the enemy pirate ship sailed toward them. It had to have assumed that the Temeraire, which was flying an unfamiliar generic pirate flag, was easy prey.

Boom!

Fwoosh!

Splash!

“Heh!”

Siegfried’s grin slowly turned sinister, and he motioned for the Nordic Marines to launch their attack.

“Men! Deploy for battle!”

“Aye! Captain!”

The Nordic Marines immediately leaped into their Aqua Runners and rapidly advanced toward the enemy ship.

Seung-Gu summoned some of his Iron Golems on the deck and was ready to bombard the pirates.

“Boss, should we fire too? I’ll blast them to—” Seung-Gu asked.

Siegfried hurriedly shot him down, “Oi! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Huh? I’m going to turn them into Swiss cheese!”

“You stupid moron!”

“...?!”

“How are we supposed to sell their ship if you destroy it?!”

“Wait, what…?”

“Would you buy a wrecked ship? Would you buy a totaled car?”

“Well, no, of course not—”

“We need to think like our customers to sell to our customers.”

“...?”

“Even if someone buys it, the repair costs will leave us with no profit.”

“So it’s all about the money, boss?” Seung-Gu asked. He understood what Siegfried meant, but he still asked just to make sure.

“That’s right,” Siegfried whispered in response.

Seung-Gu hurriedly adjusted the Iron Golems and ordered them to fire around the enemy ship rather than directly at it. Their role had instantly changed from shooting down the enemy ship to providing cover fire for the advancing Aqua Runners.

Well, this was redundant, as the chances of an Aqua Runner getting sunk were less than 0.01%. As expected, the battle ended in a flash. The Nordic Marines swarmed the enemy ship and seized the deck before the pirates could even react.

Meanwhile, Siegfried lounged aboard the Temeraire, savoring the sweet victory while the captured pirate captain and crew were brought to him.

“So, the Steel Turtle Pirates? Are you the captain?” Siegfried asked, eyeing the bound pirate captain.

“That’s right! I’m the captain!” the pirate captain shouted defiantly in response.

Siegfried inspected him for a moment before slowly turning to the Nordic Marines and casually making a throat-slashing gesture.

Execution.

There was no value in keeping an enemy ship’s captain alive, so it was better to feed him to the fish and rid the seas of another criminal. Siegfried believed it was a practical solution. After all, pirates only brought trouble and nothing more.

Feeding them to the ocean seemed like a good idea, as that would provide them with the opportunity to do some good for the first time in their lives—by contributing to marine ecology.

“Boss! You can’t!”

“Kyuuu! What the hell are you doing?!”

Seung-Gu and Hamchi both rushed to stop him.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion.

He was genuinely confused.

Why were they stopping him from executing a pirate?

***

“Can’t we just kill them? I mean, they’re pirates, after all. Feeding them to the fish seems like a good idea to me—” Siegfried asked Hamchi with a hint of impatience.

“Kyuuu! You’re such a moron, owner punk! Stupid! Stupid!”

“Huh?”

“Why would you kill these pirates?! Do you know how much you’re throwing away? Kyuuu!”

“...What?”

“We bring them in alive, not dead! Bounties pay more! Kyuuu!”

“Oh! Right! The bounties!”

At that moment, Siegfried finally understood why Hamchi and Seung-Gu had been so adamant about stopping the executions.

Bounties.

Pirates usually had hefty bounties on their heads. Just as Hamchi had pointed out, it was far more profitable to capture them alive and hand them over to the navy rather than tossing them into the sea.

“You’re right… bounties. If we throw them overboard, we won’t get a single coin.”

“Kyuuu! Exactly! You were about to throw all that money into the ocean!”

“Phew!” Siegfried let out a sigh of relief. Then, he brushed his chest as though he just dodged a bullet and said, “That was close. Real close…”

Now that he realized what was at stake, Siegfried began carefully evaluating the bounties on the pirates from the Steel Turtle Pirates.

And so began a peculiar courtroom drama-like spectacle…

“Captain? Hmm… Good bounty. Lock him up.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Navigator? Pfft! Not even on the bounty list. Sell him as a slave.”

“As you command!”

“Huh? What’s with this guy? Why is his bounty so high? Oh well, lock him up.”

“Yes, sir!”

“This one? Slave.”

“Get over here!”

“And this one… high bounty. Lock him up, too.”

One by one, Siegfried sorted the pirates based on whether they ought to be handed over to the navy for bounties or sold off into slavery.

Once that was settled, he ordered a thorough search of the Steel Turtle Pirates’ ship, seizing all the gold coins and valuables on board.

“Wow, looks like they’ve been quite busy. I mean, look at all these treasures.”

Siegfried could not help but be amazed by the sheer amount of loot on the ship. He could only imagine just how many innocent people had suffered at the hands of these pirates.

An hour later, Siegfried commandeered the ship and set out to hunt more pirates. It was far too inefficient to return after dealing with just one crew, so he decided to drag the captured pirate ship along and continue on his spree.

Thus, Siegfried roamed the seas to hunt pirates down, and with each victory, his excitement only grew.

“Ah… sweet, sweet gold.”

Pirate hunting had turned out to be far more lucrative than he initially expected it to be, and he was starting to get far more immersed in "playing pirate" than Hamchi.

***

Two weeks later, a disturbing rumor began circulating among the pirates.

It was said that Francis de Drake, the last descendant of the fallen Drake noble family, had turned into a pirate and was now hunting down fellow pirates exclusively.

Of course, pirates fighting each other was not unusual, as competition was fierce and betrayal was commonplace. However, the problem was the sheer ruthlessness of the Golden Rat Pirates led by Captain Francis de Drake.

They captured pirates with bounties and sold them to the navy, while those without bounties were sold into slavery.

They were merciless and would not hesitate to do whatever was necessary to amass wealth.

Captain Drake even repaired captured ships and resold them in the second-hand ship market, raking in gold. Thus, the smaller pirate crews, feeling threatened by the upstart, did something unheard of—they placed a bounty on Captain Drake’s head.

Yes, pirates had just decided to offer a bounty on another pirate.

To make matters worse, even the major pirate crews that controlled the Green Isles increased the bounty on Captain Drake. Some even set sail, vowing to hunt him down themselves.

The Golden Rat Pirates’ rapid rise was seen as a threat to the established pecking order.

Of course, Siegfried was blissfully unaware of the bounty placed on his own head. He still set out to sea and hunted the pirates as usual while being completely oblivious to the bounty the pirate community had placed on him.

After two weeks of relentless pirate hunting, finding prey had become increasingly difficult.

“Tsk… Why can’t I see a single ship today?” Siegfried grumbled, clicking his tongue in frustration.

He peered through a telescope and scanned the horizon, but it was to no avail. This was not surprising at all, as he had hunted down over twenty pirate crews in just the past two weeks.

Surprisingly, the fortune he amassed from the hunt was already enough to cover a third of the gold he had spent upgrading the Vanquisher’s Grasp to +15. The pirate hunting proved to be so lucrative that he even entertained the thought of turning piracy into a full-time gig.

“Damn it… Where are they? Did they all decide to take a vacation or something?” Siegfried frowned and grumbled under his breath.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Hamchi, Seung-Gu, and Lionbreath exchanged bewildered glances with each other.

“Kyuu… Does owner punk really not realize he’s the reason they’re all gone?”

“It’s because you wiped them all out, hyung-nim.”

“Hahaha…”

Just then, one of the Nordic Marines reported urgently, “Multiple pirate ships spotted ahead! The flags have a claw mark emblem! It’s the Red Claw Pirates!”

“Yippee! Yee-Haw!” Siegfried exclaimed in pure joy. He was so delighted that his voice echoed throughout the deck. For the past two weeks, he desperately searched for a major pirate crew, and finally, one had appeared.

“At last! Time to show these amateurs the might of the Nordic Tribe! Bwahaha!” Liobreath exclaimed, laughing heartily.

The Nordic Tribe were notorious for their ferocity in battle, both in the past and present. Thus, Lionbreath’s excitement was natural, as piracy was practically in the Nordic blood.

Siegfried grinned wickedly and his eyes gleamed with greed while watching the Red Claw Pirates draw closer.

“Hohoho! This is going to be sweeeeet!” he exclaimed with a greedy grin.

The minor crews had already brought him quite the fortune, so what would a major pirate crew like this one bring to him?

The payoff was going to be enormous.

***

“So that’s them.”

The captain of the Red Claw Pirates, Tourbillon, peered through his spyglass and closely watched the Golden Rat Pirates’ ship. Then, a twisted grin curled on his lips, evidently showing that he was mocking them.

Tourbillon was infamous among the major pirate factions, and he was known not only for his brutality but also for his exceptional combat prowess. This reputation was not only for show, as he truly lived up to his infamy.

He once served as an admiral in the navy after graduating from a naval academy with distinction. However, ten years ago, he was exposed for exploiting his position in countless acts of corruption and was sentenced to execution.

He narrowly escaped death and went into hiding before transforming into a pirate to carve a new path for himself—a path filled with destruction.

Perhaps because of his history, Tourbillon’s sharp mind assessed the situation as he studied the Golden Rat Pirates’ vessel.

“Hmm… Judging by how they’ve managed to hunt down so many pirate crews with that decrepit old warship, they must be an elite force. Small in number but highly skilled elites. I have a feeling they likely used agile boats to board the enemy decks and seize control,” he muttered while rubbing his chin.

With this conclusion, he issued a command to his crew.

“Prepare the cannons! Aim at that upstart greenhorn’s ship!”

“Aye, aye! Captain!”

The five warships of the Red Claw Pirates swiftly turned and aimed all of their cannons at the Golden Rat Pirates’ ship.

“Fools. There’s no way they can survive in these seas with such outdated tactics—”

It was then.

“Captain! Enemy boats are closing in fast! They are unbelievably fast!”

“What?!”

Tourbillon snatched up his spyglass again and urgently scanned the waters. Then, his eyes shot wide open in shock after seeing the agile boats zipping through the waters.

Swish! Swish! Swiiish!

The sound of water slicing apart filled the air. The enemy boats were surging toward them at incredible speed, and it was so fast that there was not even time to launch a preemptive bombardment at the enemy ship.

Tourbillon’s face turned ghastly pale

“I-Impossibruuu!” he screamed in horror.