Free Web NovelChapter 287: Chapter 287 But I Refuse_1
"Steal?" Aiden raised an eyebrow when he heard this suggestion.
For matters that couldn’t be dealt with openly, they indeed had to rely on underhanded methods.
The troublesome aspect of the Red Shark Pirates was solely the Wordless Code; if this item were stolen... they would be just an ordinary band of pirates, and it would be impossible for them to break someone out from the forefront prison of the continent.
"Ah, I was just saying it off the top of my head," Veronica quickly waved her hand.
Though the base of Navi Drake’s pirates was located on Red Shark Island, now that Annie had been transferred to the autonomous state, they might have already started their action, and it was difficult to pinpoint where Navi Drake, who now held the Divine Artifact, was.
Moreover, with such a Divine Artifact in hand, he would certainly be on guard daily, and as long as the rules "no stealing" were propagated with the use of the Artifact, it was almost impossible to take it from him.
But at that moment, Aiden had a sudden burst of inspiration due to Veronica’s casual mention. Previously, the idea of stealing the Wordless Code had flashed through his mind, but he hadn’t thought deeply about it; however, the timing of Veronica’s mention now made him realize a certain plan.
"It’s a good idea," Aiden nodded at Veronica after a moment of silence.
Although the details needed further refinement, this method... had a fairly high feasibility.
"Sorry, I didn’t come up with any particularly good ideas," Veronica said, thinking her boss was just being polite.
"I will arrange a solution for this matter soon, so don’t worry too much about it," Aiden replied.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Veronica asked, with no doubt in her commander’s abilities.
"Just like usual, doing your job well is enough," Aiden thought for a moment, "Help me pay a bit more attention to the movements within the prisoners, and report any situations to me in a timely manner, just like today."
"Understood," Veronica saluted crisply.
After Veronica left, Aiden continued with the work at hand. He reached for the stack of letters at the corner of the desk and began to open and read them one by one.
Ever since Annie Drake had been sent to Rose Iron Prison, he had been paying close attention to the external correspondence.
According to the case from the capital’s prison four years ago, the Red Shark Pirates would send a threatening letter to the prison before making their jailbreak.
It was this brazen style, akin to a phantom thief announcing their heist of a rare treasure beforehand, that had raised the Red Shark Pirates’ notoriety in the Silent Sea. If they had taken the prisoners quietly without declaration, the impact would have been much less, and there would even have been doubts about whether the jailbreak was really their work.
Aiden guessed that they wouldn’t miss this opportunity to increase their notoriety this time either. The more notorious the pirate band, the more criminals would want to follow them. From their behavior pattern, Navi Drake also seemed to have extreme confidence in the Wordless Code he possessed.
On some level, such behavior was to their advantage, as an arrogant opponent was much easier to handle than a cautious one. Getting the threatening letter would allow them to know the rough timeline of the pirates’ actions.
The transfer of Annie Drake from the Empire to the autonomous state had been carried out in secrecy, and it was unlikely that the pirates’ information network could quickly get wind of it.
But Aiden believed that they must have already become aware of this matter—the entire incident of attracting their attention to Rose Iron Prison was orchestrated single-handedly by Melissa. Having captured the Pirate Princess through the Primogenitor Faction, she would definitely find a way to leak Annie’s current whereabouts to the Red Shark Pirates in time.
If the pirates moved fast enough, they should receive the threatening letter in the next couple of days...
"Got it!" Just as he thought of this, Aiden pulled out an unusual letter. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
He immediately noticed a large, blood-colored shark crest printed on the bottom right corner of the letter paper. Apart from this letter paper, the envelope also contained an arrest warrant issued by the Empire against Pirate King Navi Drake, with an amount of money that could be described as a fortune.
The sender really had no intention of concealment at all.
Aiden read the letter once. In reality, it contained only one sentence.
"Within a week, unconditionally release Annie Drake and safely deliver her to the northern Silvertown Crow’s Ferry.
Should there be a reply, please write it directly on the wanted poster and send it to the ferry, affixed to the notice board.
Let this be a warning."
The signature was Navi Drake.
"A warning?" Aiden raised an eyebrow.
It had been some time since someone outside the prison had been so provocative, though this time it was just a letter.
Judging from the deliberately nerve-racking tone, Navi Drake seemed to plan on making quite the spectacle of a prison break after issuing his warning.
The opposition even expected a response from Rose Iron Prison, with the reply written on a wanted poster and posted for all to see...
The ferry point north of Silvertown, while situated on the outskirts of town, attracted considerable foot traffic due to the number of people taking the boats. There was a bulletin board there specifically intended for wanted posters.
It seemed likely that members of the Red Shark Pirates were already lurking in that area. If the prison’s reply were posted there in such a fashion, it wouldn’t just be the pirates who’d see it.
Did they really wish to execute a public spat on this kind of public forum before staging a jailbreak?
They indeed appeared to want to make a big fuss out of the prison break to enhance their own notoriety... Aiden began to form a vague concept of his opponent’s mentality.
From the standpoint of the prison, it was absolutely impossible to release a prisoner on their own. A breakout or a prisoner being sprung was at most a disciplinary matter for the prison wardens, but releasing someone on their own... that wasn’t resolved merely by dismissal.
This type of threatening letter, aside from making a spectacle of the impending prison break, had no other purpose.
He placed the letter on the desk and fell into thought.
Normally, from his position, there was actually no need to reply to such a letter—he could handle it the same way the capital prison would.
But after closing his eyes and pondering in his office chair for a good while, he reached out for the wanted poster.
...
The next morning, at dawn, a strange wanted poster appeared on the bulletin board at the northern Silvertown ferry point.
On a wanted poster issued by the Empire, targeting the Pirate King of the Coral Sea Domain, Navi Drake, a few lines were written in striking red ink—
"To Mr. Pirate Drake, thank you for your letter, but I refuse your request because my favorite thing to do is to say ’no’ to those who are full of themselves.
Besides, your bounty is quite good. I’m looking forward to it."
Below it was signed "Warden of Rose Iron Prison, Aiden Galahad."
Other than those few lines, the portrait of Navi Drake at the center of the wanted poster had been vandalized with a monocle and a Fu Manchu mustache drawn on, and a fish was added hanging from his mouth.
