Chapter 178 Provocation

Few of these greedy and ferocious pirates could understand Armand's thoughts. But this absolutely did not include Fang Senyan and Kerry, the two contractors. Kerry even had a faint, ominous feeling in his heart: if Fang Senyan wanted to show Armand that he had no ambition, he could have done so in a better and more subtle way. Why did he have to stick his neck out for him? But at this time, he couldn't think too deeply. Fang Senyan had already pulled him over and said faintly in the flickering torchlight:

"What were you playing with them?"

Kerry was stared at by this group of fierce pirates, and at least half of them had either angry or ill-intentioned eyes. Naturally, he was panicked and uneasy. He could only stammer:

"It's, it's blackjack."

There's no need to explain the rules of blackjack. You can ask for cards as you like, with 21 points being the maximum. Going over 21 is a bust, and only the excess number is counted. Shrewd Shant was extremely slick. He had his own unique and powerful skills when shuffling the cards. At first, he easily let Kerry draw a 20, and then he finished him off with a 21. Fang Senyan, having spent a lot of time on the ship, knew these tricks very well, especially since he had watched Hong Kong gambling movies to death. Before the gambling started, he brought it up and demanded that he shuffle the cards himself.

Naturally, Shrewd Shant and the others wouldn't agree to such an outrageous condition. However, Fang Senyan didn't insist after arguing for a few words. Instead, he took a step back and said that Scarface Henry should shuffle the cards! Now, no one could say anything was wrong. Only then did Shrewd Shant and the others realize that they had fallen for Fang Senyan's trick of retreating in order to advance. After Scarface Henry dealt the cards, both sides could only rely on experience to gamble. However, Fang Senyan's perception occupied an overwhelming advantage and directly won back the two ancient gold pounds without any suspense. Shrewd Shant and the three others looked at each other, knowing that today's matter would probably end here. If they had any more crooked ideas, then it wouldn't be as simple as One-Eyed Dragon losing just one finger.

At this time, it was already dark, and faint cannon fire could be heard in the distance. On the horizon in the distance, there were flickering lights, obviously the Hope Island, where the pirates would gather to divide the spoils, was about to arrive. Armand sternly said a few more words to make the pirates behave themselves, then returned to his cabin. Tonight was the first time he was able to sit on an equal footing with the captains of the three legendary pirate ships. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't nervous, but he had to make some adjustments. Fang Senyan took Kerry to the deck and watched the turbulent sea for a while before coldly saying:

"Aren't you curious as to why I stuck my neck out for you?"

This was precisely one of the questions in Kerry's mind, but at this time, when his personal safety completely depended on Fang Senyan, he would never take the initiative to ask. Fang Senyan didn't expect him to answer. Instead, he said faintly:

"Because they don't dare to deal with me directly. They can only take the approach of dealing with you to test the waters."

Kerry's heart stirred, and he was just about to speak when Fang Senyan continued:

"Have you ever seen the scene of wolf kings being replaced in a wolf pack? When a young male wolf thinks that the wolf king is old, it will try every means to provoke the old wolf king. They won't challenge head-on at first. Instead, they will adopt indirect methods such as snatching food and mating with the wolf king's female wolves. Once the old wolf king's response becomes weak, the pack of wolves will swarm up!"

"So," Fang Senyan concluded, "Don't overestimate your own charm. I'm just helping myself. If you rely on my reputation and mess around on the pirate ship, I'll be the first to take you down."

Kerry hurriedly nodded and bowed, laughing:

"How could that be? By the way… my ancient gold pounds…?"

Fang Senyan was stunned:

"Didn't your ancient gold pounds lose to Shrewd Shant and the others?"

Kerry's expression immediately froze, and his smile seemed even uglier than crying.

"But…"

But at this time, Fang Senyan had already turned around and walked below the deck… The muscles on Kerry's face trembled non-stop. After a while, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, self-comforting:

"At least it didn't benefit you bastards!"

Although losing two ancient gold pounds made Kerry extremely distressed, he finally found the root cause of Fang Senyan's forceful defense of him -- without a doubt, it was the temptation of those two ancient gold pounds! This undoubtedly dispelled the original doubts in Kerry's mind. But Kerry overlooked one thing, and that was that if Fang Senyan was really sticking up for him for the sake of two ancient gold pounds, then why would he have explained so much to him just now? Anyway, the current Kerry was a completely insignificant contractor to him!

If the Caribbean Sea showed its turbulent majesty during the day, then at night it became calm instead. Only slight waves rocked the ship, making the entire sea seem like a comfortable bed for a nap. Around Hope Island, many pirate ships had already docked. Bright torches illuminated the roads, and in the central area of the island, seven or eight large bonfires were lit. Shimmering figures could be seen dancing the samba around them and drinking rum.

This was the life of a pirate, drifting with the waves, living and dying on the sea. They abandoned fear and sadness in their hearts, leaving only hysterical revelry and a carefree attitude of "drink today for tomorrow we die!" The Bell and Mug glided lightly through the waves and approached Hope Island like a skating rink. A crowd of people had already gathered on the shore to greet them. Armand, completely refreshed and full of pride, took the lead and stood in front of the gangplank leading to the shore. Behind him stood Scarface Henry, Navigator Shar, and others. Fang Senyan was very low-key and mingled in the pirate crowd at the back, seemingly not wanting to show off at all. The pirates now held this "Sailor Rock from the East" in both respect and fear. Armand was very satisfied with Fang Senyan's low profile, nodded slightly, and strode with the welcoming people towards the shore, obviously going directly to attend the high-level meeting of the pirate group.

As soon as Armand left, these pirates immediately scattered like ants in a boiling pot. It was absolutely impossible to expect them to follow orders and prohibitions like regular troops. They all rushed towards the seven or eight large bonfires in the island. There were free spirits, barbecue, dice, cards, and tobacco, which the pirate captains paid out of their own pockets as a reward for these subordinates for their victory, and they were also an irreplaceable and important thing in the pirates' lives.

Fang Senyan looked at the empty deck, turned his head and said to Kerry:

"Do you want to go to the island for a walk?"

Kerry seemed tempted, but finally shook his head painfully, because he still had vivid memories of his experiences on the Bell and Mug. For him, who lacked the ability to protect himself, it was hard to say that he wouldn't be slashed in the neck and thrown into the sea on this dark island.

Fang Senyan waved his hand casually and said, "It's up to you." Then he stepped onto the gangplank and landed on the beach.

The scenery of Hope Island can be said to be excellent, not inferior to those top beach tourist areas in later generations. The fine and white sand alone is fascinating. However, Fang Senyan had no intention of stopping to admire the beautiful scenery. He walked straight towards the bonfires. Fang Senyan's purpose for coming to the island this time was also very simple, and that was that he still had a mission item in his hand, the "Still Beating Heart" dropped by the Corrupted Soul Corpse: Chewing Ears.

Although this mission item pointed to two mission branches, Fang Senyan chose Old Barry, the second mate on the Flying Dutchman, instead of Blackbeard after much deliberation. For Fang Senyan, if he missed this period of pirates gathering today, then it would be difficult to encounter this Old Barry.

When he was still one or two hundred meters away from the bonfire in the central square, the huge noise and clamor of a large number of pirates came clearly to his ears. These bloodthirsty and ferocious pirates were no different from a group of drunkards at this time. Fang Senyan saw a few familiar faces, who were pirates from the Bell and Mug. He walked over directly and sat down, cut off a large piece of oily meat from the grill and took a big bite, then picked up the wine bag in the hand of the somewhat dazed pirate next to him and drank it dry. He smacked his lips and sighed comfortably, still feeling unsatisfied.

The pirate sitting next to Fang Senyan had stayed behind on the Bell and Mug and had personally witnessed Fang Senyan's decisive command during the sea battle and his later feat of fighting the Corrupted Soul Corpse alone. Naturally, he admired him immensely. Seeing that Fang Senyan didn't seem to have had enough to drink, he immediately ran off and filled a large bag of wine again.

At this time, the wine bags were generally made of animal skin, and then dried after being soaked in a liquid called "Jidi grass" to avoid soaking through. A full bag of wine weighed at least two or three kilograms. The way to drink from a wine bag was also quite unique. After pulling out the wooden stopper from the mouth of the bag, you would hold the wine bag in front of you with both hands, stretch your arms out completely, and gently squeeze with your hands. The wine in the bag would shoot into your mouth like a water gun. When you had enough to drink, you would gently lift your hands outward, and the wine would stop. Beginners dared not straighten their arms, and the wine wouldn't aim at their mouths, often wetting their entire faces and the front of their clothes without getting a single sip. Fang Senyan had previously drunk half a bag of wine, but now he drank this newly filled bag of wine completely clean. This kind of capacity couldn't help but make the pirates next to him look at him in amazement, whispering and asking who this unfamiliar face was.