Chapter 1005: Chapter 500: Behind the Bars
As the group of five descended the stairs, just as Xia Nan had suspected, what came into view was a rather crude underground prison.
Lack of air circulation for a long time sent a stench of rot and brine into their nostrils with each breath.
The dungeon wasn’t large in size, and by the flickering firelight on the walls, one could see the far end in a glance; the ceiling was only about one and a half times a person’s height from the ground, forcing the half orc, Howl, in the team to duck his head occasionally.
The ground was soft soil, slightly compacted underfoot, with a deliberately cleared path stretching from the entrance to the far wall, flanked by locked metal bars.
Evidently long neglected, the surface of these metal bars was rusted; many joints were slightly twisted, showing obvious signs of deformation, with some even unable to close their iron gates properly, only haphazardly secured with chains.
Nineteen people were crammed into the iron bars.
Their bedding was a dirty pile of straw in the corners, and food and water were stored in iron bowls akin to livestock in the former world, currently emitting a foul odor.
Men, women, the young, the elderly, they were packed into this small space beneath the ground like goods, their clothing ragged, and their exposed skin showing numerous wounds, some already scabbed and healed, others still bleeding red, with bruises and ulcers too numerous to mention.
An old man, his body completely rigid, sat alone in a shadowed corner untouched by firelight, his head drooped unnaturally, his purple-blue left leg twisted beyond recognition, empty sleeves hanging limp, never to open eyes forever buried in the shadows cast by his brow;
A mother clutching her child tightly, her gaze hollow, though even without the strength to speak, instinctively and calmly patting the back of the infant in her arms, silently comforting her offspring, also nearing their limits.
No roars, no cries.
Their prolonged imprisonment dulled their minds, leaving them lying quietly in place under the will to survive, motionless, minimizing any unnecessary expenditure of energy.
Despair, fatigue.
Even when they initially saw Xia Nan and the others, whose demeanor and attire were entirely different from the previous pirates descending the stairs, these captives showed not the slightest reaction.
The dead silence in the scene persisted for a full five seconds before these people locked in the dungeon gradually began to realize that the situation seemed to have changed and started to stir with faint ripples.
Looking at these haggard, scarred ordinary humans behind the bars, Xia Nan couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
Silently, his Perception Ability was already at its peak.
From their similar clothes, demeanor, and the common honey-colored skin, it was possible to deduce that they were most likely locals of the Southern Islands.
But...
Why were they imprisoned here so cruelly, in such a dire and miserable state, as if they were criminals?
Xia Nan thought, piecing together the series of experiences he had accumulated in this time, already forming some ideas in his mind.
"Bang!"
Perhaps their attire, so different from the outside pirates, inspired hope, and realizing that Xia Nan and his companions were not part of the Ebbtide Gang’s pirates, these tortured civilians mustered the last bit of courage that was about to fade away.
Near the wall by the exit, among those imprisoned, a young man with the lightest injuries, caked in mud but with intact limbs, almost threw himself against the bars, startling the half orc Howl.
Paying no heed to the intense pain from forehead to chest, the crash echoed loudly in the dungeon.
"My lord!" His voice was hoarse to the extreme, face pressed between the bars, ten fingers clutching them tightly, "Save us, my lord!"
The reaction of the Iron Rock Shield Team to this was particularly indifferent.
Captain Habi, clutching his one handed hammer, scanned cautiously over the figures behind the bars;
As a human, Seli appeared not to hear, her eyes coldly watching the young man pleading for help, her thoughts unknown;
The Dwarf Wanderer A Gu hid in the shadows, as if unaffected by what was happening;
Howl reacted the most fiercely, feeling anger.
But he wasn’t angry at these abused humans, rather annoyed because the young man’s sudden action had startled him, his round eyes glaring at him fiercely.
Under normal circumstances, faced with the steely gaze of such an unfamiliar, powerful adventurer, an ordinary civilian like the young man behind the bars would have dropped to his knees and begged for mercy at the mere sweep of that gaze.
Yet now it was as if he was numb to death, only gripping the bars weakly, calling for help.
As a human of right moral standing, Xia Nan certainly couldn’t remain aloof like the Iron Rock Shield Team members.
His keen Perception Ability allowed him to confirm that those imprisoned inside were ordinary people without Extraordinary Power, posing no danger.
He immediately stepped forward, approaching the bars.
"Slash!"
With the sharp whistle of air being split, a fleeting pink light flashed.
Possessing the "Strong Tenacity" effect, the short dagger named [Miju] instantly unsheathed, and returned to his waist in the blink of an eye.
Clink clank—
The broken rusted chain, along with the metal bars it tightly bound, were swiftly and neatly split apart, tumbling to the ground.
Holding the now-unbound bars, his arm exerted only slight force to pull the once tightly locked gate open from the outside.
Supporting the young man, who nearly fell from the intense vibrations, Xia Nan steadied him.
Xia Nan’s deep black eyes gazed into the mud-soaked face of the young man.
"Where did you come from?"
"Ta... Taluo Island." The pried-open bars seemed to fill him with unprecedented hope, his once weakening voice unconsciously uplifted, his downcast emotions turning gradually excited.
"Elfa Island, and Silver Reef Fishing Village...we, we were all captured, my lord!"
Xia Nan had heard of these place names from him, all similar to Cliff Island, remote small human settlements.
"You mean you were all snatched from your original villages by these pirates?"
"Yes, my lord..."
The burst of excitement in just that moment seemed to deplete the last of the young man’s strength, his condition visibly withering, yet he continued answering Xia Nan’s questions.
Then suddenly, he lifted his head, shouting sharply:
"Fishmen! Sir, beware of those Fishmen!"
