"Why is the Sea God so urgently demanding sacrifices?"
Asking this kind of question, the pirates had a rough guess about Loren's identity. He wasn't a pirate, nor was he even a follower of the Sea God.
"I... I don't know..."
Before he could finish, his forehead was pierced by the Blood Moon Condensed Light shot from Loren's fingernail. In that instant, he didn't even realize what had happened. He just touched his forehead, looked at the blood on his hand, then collapsed.
"Close the door."
"Yes."
Scarlett eagerly helped Loren close the door, also shutting her eyes. She didn't dare to watch what was about to happen next.
"If anyone can answer my question, I'll let you go."
Loren had just demonstrated his strength by instantly killing the bartender, making the last shred of hope among the others disappear. They had thought Loren's combat power relied entirely on Anna.
And from the look in these pirates' eyes, Loren could tell that this bartender's identity wasn't so simple.
"I'll ask again. Who knows why the Sea God needs sacrifices so urgently?"
"The Sea God wants to become an Orthodox God!"
A pirate suddenly shouted, but immediately after, Loren pierced his forehead with Blood Moon Condensed Light.
"Becoming an Orthodox God requires authority. Even if you sacrificed every pirate in the world, the Sea God would at most become a slightly stronger Evil God. The gap between an Evil God and an Orthodox God is bigger than the gap between humans and dogs."
"So don't try to fool me with such crude lies."
Silence fell over the room again. They were all terrified by Loren's methods. They had never seen such horrifying magic.
Blood Moon Condensed Light was just a first-tier spell. It was purely because Loren used it so skillfully.
Loren hadn't expected them to answer this kind of question anyway. Such matters weren't something a few ordinary people like them would know about.
In fact, they didn't even have the opportunity to receive orders from the Sea God.
"Fine, I'll change the question. Who knows where the residents captured by the pirates are being held?"
"I do! I know! I can take you there..."
"Just tell me the location. I don't need you to take me there."
Before the man could finish, he was pierced through the forehead by Blood Moon Condensed Light.
Loren saw through his little scheme. He was just trying to use this opportunity to escape.
"Alright, now who can tell me where they are?"
"If I tell you, will you let us go..."
"I don't like nonsense."
In the blink of an eye, another person died at Loren's hands.
When he spoke, he already had a look of someone prepared to die. Loren guessed he wanted to make the other pirates understand that Loren would never let them go, so they would fight back together.
Unfortunately, he didn't finish his sentence. And even if he had, the other pirates most likely wouldn't have actually fought back alongside him anyway.
Loren understood the psychology of this rabble too well. Back in high school, when the dorm supervisor used a broken window as an excuse to collect money from all the students, those troublemakers who usually bullied others the most were actually the most obedient.
In the end, Loren had resisted the dorm supervisor, got everyone's money back, and the supervisor was fired. Loren did it all by himself. But unfortunately, no one thanked him, no one followed him, and many even mocked him.
What Loren did was simple. He just argued directly with the dorm supervisor and made the Dean aware of the situation.
He knew that such things couldn't possibly be legitimate. If the higher-ups hadn't gotten their cut yet, how could it be her turn?
It was this simple experience that made Loren decide never to save this kind of rabble again.
This was also the reason why, back in the village controlled by the Evil Dragon, Loren didn't choose to lead them in rebellion.
Until the day he transmigrated, Loren would occasionally regret it. If he had chosen to talk privately with the dorm supervisor back then, he could have gotten a decent payout.
"They're locked up in the village's largest livestock shed..."
"An entire village of people, crammed into a livestock shed?"
"That's right..."
He could hear the anger in Loren's voice, but he still answered through gritted teeth. Otherwise, Loren would most likely kill him directly.
"Where will the ceremony be held?"
"In the wasteland behind the village, very close to the livestock shed holding the villagers..."
"Who's presiding over the ceremony?"
"It's 'Shadow of the Abyss' Morse. He's a major pirate with three hundred crew members and a ghost ship. Most of the sacrificial rewards go to his crew. The other pirates just get scraps.
"The bartender you just killed was one of his men, his intelligence officer..."
After saying Morse's name, the pirate answering Loren's questions began to tremble. He knew that even if he survived Loren's hands, Morse wouldn't let him go.
"These pirates all have increasingly grandiose nicknames..."
Loren chuckled, and the atmosphere seemed to lighten considerably. Seeing this, the pirate seized the opportunity to provide more information:
"Morse's ghost ship can submerge. He'll suddenly emerge from underwater to attack others. Many ships of the Church of the God of Vows and Wind have fallen victim to him."
He no longer cared whether Morse would retaliate against him later.
"You've done well."
Loren nodded with satisfaction, then walked toward the door.
When he opened it, the pirates all breathed a sigh of relief. Until Loren casually said a single sentence:
"Leave no one alive."
"Yes!"
Anna grew excited. With one slash of her blade, she cleaved a nearby pirate along with his table in half.
Naclis also drew the long sword at her waist. Her movements were far more elegant than Anna's, like the difference between a slaughter and a butchery.
The more she witnessed, the more ruthless Naclis became in her actions.
Meanwhile, Laila drew the revolver at her waist and fired six shots in succession, killing six pirates who had drawn their guns to fight back.
By the time Loren finished straightening his clothes, the others had already walked out.
"Let's go."
Loren picked up Scarlett and headed toward the place where the pirates were holding the villagers.
...
"Who the hell is Morse?"
Next to where the villagers were held was a large building. After killing several pirates to get the information, Loren learned that this was Morse's hideout.
So Loren directly kicked open the building's front door. Before freeing the villagers, Loren planned to deal with the pirates first. Otherwise, it would be troublesome. They might use the villagers to threaten him.
Loren wasn't afraid of threats. He could kill both the villagers and the pirates together if he had to. But he hated being threatened.
Inside the building, the pirates were eating. On the dining table, Loren saw a half-eaten human leg.
"Who's looking for me?"
A burly man over two meters tall stood up. The other pirates around him also grabbed their weapons, including several wielding staves.
Morse walked up to Loren. Loren had to look up to see his face. The other pirates also looked at Loren with mocking expressions. They seemed to have already seen how this would end for him.
"Too tall."
"What?"
Morse didn't understand what Loren meant. But he soon understood. Anna chopped off his lower leg and half his thigh. Now it was his turn to look up at Loren.
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