Free Web Novel"We are followers of the Sea God, trying to capture people to sacrifice to him..."
The pirate who had just been cut down by Loren was now too pained to speak; the one who said this was another pirate beside him.
"How were you able to hide in the sea?"
The sea here wasn't just full of treacherous currents—it was also filled with all kinds of bizarre creatures. An ordinary person falling in would die instantly, let alone be capable of hiding underwater to ambush.
"The Sea God gave us a blessing, letting us breathe underwater, ignore the currents, and even lower our presence, all so we could catch more people..."
"That blessing isn't weak... It seems the Sea God is really desperate..."
Even for an evil god, such a powerful blessing wouldn't be given to followers lightly, let alone granted to so many at once.
With this kind of blessing working for them, any ordinary ship that came by would be in trouble. Even a ship from the Church of the God of Vows and Wind would probably be helpless.
The reason was simple—these pirates had too much mobility. If they couldn't win a fight, they'd just hide in the sea and occasionally pop out to ambush someone. It was utterly disgusting.
That was why Loren had become even more interested in the Sea God. He was curious why the Sea God had suddenly become so desperate to demand sacrifices.
Originally, Loren hadn't planned to do anything to the Sea God. Having a powerful Sea God was a good thing; he had no conflict of interest with it. The Sea God's enemy was the Orthodox Gods.
The only problem was their methods were somewhat cruel, and Loren found it hard to ignore.
"Take me to where you perform your sacrifices."
Loren planned to check things out. He couldn't be bothered with pirates harming each other, but if they went after innocent people, that was a different story.
Finding the Angler wasn't urgent either; it was already heading this way.
The only problem was the Bountiful Church. When they learned about Loren's train accident, they'd probably explode. Two things might happen next.
If they determined Loren was still alive, they'd probably join forces with the other churches to strike at the Plague Church and fight tooth and nail.
If they determined Loren was dead, they'd keep pressuring the Plague Church, threatening and extorting them in the name of justice. Unless the Plague Church offered enough compensation, they'd ally with the other churches to besiege them.
Loren understood perfectly—a dead man had no value. If he lived, he was the irreplaceable Master Mentor of the Bountiful Church. If he died, he became a disposable bargaining chip.
But both possibilities were based on normal human reasoning. Knowing the Bountiful Church's style was always to turtle up, they might even pretend nothing had happened and not even dare to demand an apology.
So Loren still planned to return early. Staying out of sight was meant to make the other churches target the Plague Church, but if he stayed away too long, they might actually think he was dead.
He was even worried that by the time he got back, his home might have been repossessed.
"Yes... Our sacrificial site is on a nearby island..."
The pirate quickly pointed out an island, proving his usefulness, afraid Loren might kill him without warning.
"Then let's go."
As soon as Loren finished speaking, the ship changed course, heading in the direction the pirate had indicated.
"A... A ghost ship?"
The pirate glanced at the helm, where nothing stood, and immediately understood.
"You know quite a bit."
"..."
The pirate didn't respond. He regretted being too eager for quick gains and attacking that ship without thinking.
If he had known it was a ghost ship beforehand, he would never have come close.
At the same time, greed began to rise in his heart. On this sea, possessing a ghost ship meant having the potential to become a great pirate. When recruiting crew, simply mentioning he had a ghost ship would bring plenty of people rushing to join him.
If he could take Loren's ghost ship...
Loren naturally saw through his little schemes. He understood better than the pirate what a ghost ship meant. On this sea, mobility was crucial, and a ghost ship's mobility crushed all others.
Loren had plenty of ways to deal with people like him. Without warning, he slashed down at the pirate and his companion, storing the damage in the Justice Card.
The threat of death shattered the pirate's fantasies. When Loren withdrew his blade, the pirate suddenly realized he was drenched in cold sweat.
"Don't have any extra thoughts. Your companion here is your example."
The pirate initially thought Loren was just making a simple threat—until he saw Loren snap his fingers. His companion's head split clean open, the brain neatly bisected.
"Yes..."
A chill ran through the pirate. He now understood what Loren had just done.
"Good. Then guide the way obediently."
Loren nodded in satisfaction, turning his back to the pirate as if completely defenseless. But by now, the pirate had no will to resist left.
Actually, activating the Justice Card didn't require Loren to snap his fingers. He just did it to add a fake cooldown effect, which could confuse his enemies.
"Can you use water magic?"
Loren thought of something and suddenly asked.
"Yes."
The pirate quickly nodded, proving his worth.
"Then clean the blood off the deck."
Loren had no intention of learning magic from this small fry. Once he wiped out the Sea God's base, there would be plenty of chances to acquire water magic.
Not to mention the Merfolk Princess. The merfolk's water magic was far stronger than that of a twisted god like the Sea God.
Unlike the Orthodox Church, the merfolk hadn't restricted learning after receiving the Dawn Princess's legacy. Instead, generation after generation of merfolk had continuously optimized their magic. Now they possessed many powerful spells, perhaps even Super-tier Magic.
The pirate tore a piece of cloth from his companion's clothes to use as a rag, threw away the corpse, and began carefully cleaning the bloodstains from the deck. He was extremely diligent. Soon, the deck was spotless.
"Reporting in, I've finished cleaning... uh... how should I address you?"
The pirate tried hard to pry some information from Loren, but Loren didn't give him the chance:
"Address isn't necessary. You're just in the way here..."
"..."
Hearing this, the pirate swallowed hard. He didn't know if Loren meant to let him go or kill him.
Loren looked ahead and saw the outline of an island in the distance.
"Is that your base ahead?"
"Yes!"
The pirate answered without hesitation. Loren could sense his emotions—he was telling the truth.
"Then jump into the sea. Your job here is done."
These words made the pirate overjoyed. He directly kowtowed to Loren a few times:
"Thank you for your great kindness..."
With that, he leaped into the sea. But what happened next was not what he had imagined. Before, when he jumped into the sea, he felt as if he had merged with the water. Now, he felt the ocean rejecting him.
He struggled desperately. Forget about diving—just keeping his head above the currents took all his strength.
Loren watched calmly and nodded in satisfaction.
