Hogan couldn't even begin to fathom the meaning of Blackbeard's long rant. He wondered how he came to such a conclusion. The information that Hogan had given the pirate leader had been verified to the last degree. Each bit of it was true and Hogan had even warned him that the dark mage was quite capable and could offer some threat to Blackbeard and his men.
So, how come Blackbeard was blaming him for intentionally hiding information?
Dumbfounded, Hogan was unable to speak for a moment. Blackbeard's anger didn't seem to be feigned. He figured that it would be better for him to ask him about the situation first instead of resorting to blame game with Blackbeard.
"I don't know what you are talking about. All the information I gave you was a hundred percent the truth. If you don't tell me what went wrong, I can't possibly give you an explanation, right?"
Hogan had to humble himself in front of the fuming giant in order to calm the storm raging inside the latter.
"Of course, the information was correct. But do you dare to claim that you gave me all the information you had? You deliberately left out the important bits, didn't you?"
"Why would I possibly do that? That doesn't give me any benefit. I want that dark mage dead the most. Why would I give you false or lacking information when it would become a hindrance to my goal? Think about it for a minute." Hogan tried to plead his innocence as he really had no ulterior motive. He had told Blackbeard everything he knew about Zach.
"Then throw your damn dogs responsible for gathering information for you into the sea or they will end up harming you more than they would benefit you. Due to those fuckers...because of those fucking bastards..."
Blackbeard's breathing grew heavier the more incensed he became. He took a heavy breath while trying to dwindle down the anger scorching his insides as he continued telling Hogan the nightmare that befell him and his crew in Greenland.
"That man...the dark mage you sent me to kill...he wasn't as fucking weak as you made him out to be. He was strong...so strong that all my crew got murdered right before my eyes in under a few measly minutes. The terrifying thing is that we didn't even know who was attacking us till the last fucking moment."
Hogan's mind was in disarray by this point. He had never expected that Zach was so strong. Although he knew that him and his Hunter family were probably no match for Zach's magical prowess, he didn't think that despite all of Blackbeard's ferocious means, he was still unable to kill Zach. On the contrary, Blackbeard ended up losing his entire crew to that man.
This made him feel instantaneous regret. Making an enemy out of such a man would not let him feel safe with an army at his disposal. Unfortunately, he had already gone too far to provoke the man.
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm Hogan could only hope that Zach would never find out that it was him who sent Blackbeard to Greenland to wipe out the Smith family. Or the vengeance of such a powerful man wouldn't be something he would be able to hold out against on his own.
Stuttering like a frightened rat, Hogan asked, "He single handedly defeated all your men? How powerful is he exactly?"
The questioning tone in his words was as if he couldn't bring himself to believe such a story.
"Your shitty intelligence is so far behind that it can't even compare to the real thing. That man has a force that is capable of taking on government army head on without suffering a loss. Even I have only recently dared to do so and only in the ocean, but that man already has that capability so soon after establishing himself on the island. It can only mean that he has always had that strength and you were foolishly goaded into attacking him like the idiot you are."
Hogan had never expected such an outcome when he first asked for Blackbeard's help. He had never tried to find out any information about Zach's forces because Zach had never employed the help of his force when dealing with the Hunter family. It wasn't that Zach didn't want to use his people. It was just that his people were busy rebuilding their home in Greenland. And most importantly, he didn't need to call for their help when dealing with a threat on the level of the Hunter family.
Therefore, Hogan or Nelson had never encountered Zach's forces before. They had foolishly assumed that his personal strength was all that they needed to be cautious about. They had at most considered Clara to be a possible hindrance in their plan, but the result far surpassed their wildest imaginations.
As cunning as Hogan was, he didn't have the guts to refute Blackbeard's claims even though they were very hard to believe.
"I have lost a great deal from this mission. I not only lost my entire crew, which would set me back a few years, but also earned myself a lifelong enemy, a terrifying one. Moreover, the compensation we agreed on isn't even enough to pay off the debt I have taken on to survive this pitfall you threw me into..."
Although Blackbeard hadn't finished his words, Hogan had already guessed what he was about to say. His business cunning was now running in full gear as he tried to come up with some way to refute Blackbeard's absurd claims.
Hogan believed in reciprocation of efforts and would have been willing to pay more if the pirate had finished the job. But Blackbeard had not only failed but was also about to demand more compensation other than the amount finalized as the mission reward.
Hogan didn't want to pay up since Blackbeard had been unable to complete the task, he had given him. But the presence of the sea dragon completely obliterated that thought from his mind. It was a natural coercion that didn't employ any words, but Hogan understood what Blackbeard was trying to do by bringing the sea dragon for the trade. It was a method to show deterrence in case Hogan refused to pay compensation for his dead crew members.
This kind of smiling threat was quite common in the upper class society and Hogan was already used to it. As Hogan faced Blackbeard's demands, the situation took an unexpected turn when the formidable sea dragon intervened.
The creature's presence undermined his confidence, leaving him unsettled and uncertain.
With a mixture of fear and awe, Hogan witnessed the sea dragon spewing forth Diana, along with a menacing stream of oral liquid. Hogan knew who Diana was at the very least. From his sources he had already found all the people Zach was associated with. It turned out that other than being the promised husband of the Windsor family's girl, Zach also had another wife. This woman was precisely Zach's woman.
"How did you get your hands on her? Is she...is she really who I think she is?" asked Hogan as if to confirm the thoughts he had in his mind.
"Yes, this woman gave me so much trouble. She was probably a low-level commander at the very least. Judging from the expressions of that dark mage, this woman might be even more important to him than I thought. So, you wouldn't be losing out from this deal in any case." replied Blackbeard with a cackle as he knew that Diana held some value as a hostage against Zach.
Diana's eyes were closed, and she appeared to be unconscious.
"It appears to be so." Hogan wasn't as averse to fulfilling the deal as before.
Nelson, who had tried to stay out of the conversation after being kicked aside by the fearsome pirate, finally showed a hint of uncontrollable emotions on his face. It was unhinged lust...lust that could not be contained within his filthy mind and had made its appearance on his evil visage.
Other than the slightest bit of disappointment that he hadn't been able to dominate Christina, who had disrespected him in the past, there was no hint of sadness on his lustful face.
Diana was more than enough of a compensation compared to Christina. Not only could he enjoy himself with a beautiful woman, he could also deal unimaginable damage to Zach.
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