Chapter 1 An Opportunity

Despite possessing the ability of "Insight," it took Fang Senyan two or three hours to gather this series of information. He had about two pounds left, so he naturally thought about going to the pub for a couple of drinks. This wasn't just to gather information, but also because the Drunkard's Milestone was at 11/100. Now that Fang Senyan had found a job, he didn't mind spending all his remaining money on rum.

An hour later, Fang Senyan's Drunkard's Milestone had reached 22/100, and his money had predictably dwindled down to single-digit pennies. Just then, Fang Senyan heard a commotion outside. Through the pub's mottled outer walls, he could see some minor chaos in the street, and the guards who had been patrolling around the port were hurrying in one direction.

As mentioned before, Tortuga was a neutral port. This meant that the guards here didn't belong to any major power, but were maintained by the private forces that ruled the island. Perhaps when the pirate Bernard Fokke washed his hands of piracy and established this neutral port, the guard strength was still quite strong. But now, the port's defense was undoubtedly withering rapidly, like a young girl's firm breasts after the trials of breastfeeding.

As soon as Fang Senyan walked out of the pub door, he didn't even need to look up to see thick black smoke billowing from the highest point of Tortuga, the castle! The entire port was becoming chaotic, like an anthill with a bone thrown into it. Keep in mind, this place had been prosperous for seventy years, and besides the residents, ninety-nine percent were pirates!

They weren't law-abiding tourists. Once Tortuga showed even the slightest sign of weakness, these pirates would very politely leave, then juan tu on some dark and windy night, looting every last penny into their own pockets like ferocious wolves!

"Hmm..." At that moment, who knows how many people, like Fang Senyan, were stroking their chins, gazing at the smoke from the castle, their minds racing with many thoughts that might not necessarily pan out, but were certainly violent.

Suddenly, another loud explosion came from the direction of the castle. A cloud of yellow dust rose twenty or thirty meters high, even forming a mushroom cloud. Those with good eyesight could see the wreckage of several carriages being thrown into the air, disintegrating and separating mid-air. The flesh and blood of the horses mixed with the dust and sand, falling like sleet, creating a particularly tragic and shocking scene. Several pirates standing next to Fang Senyan gaped. A bald, burly man in a grayish-white linen shirt exclaimed:

"Good heavens, those sons of bitches buried at least a hundred barrels of gunpowder!"

Although the man used the phrase "sons of bitches," his gleeful expression was no different from that of a regimental commander in a war drama, vigorously patting a company commander on the shoulder and cursing, "You son of a gun, you did a good job!" Fang Senyan knew at once that this guy must be a gunner, a professional artilleryman among the pirates. But his thoughts immediately turned to the black smoke from the castle and the earth-shattering explosion just now.

Perhaps the smoke from the castle could have been ignited by a plot character, but it was unrealistic to create such a large explosion given the level of technology in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean. Like the gunner just said, it would take at least a hundred barrels of gunpowder! And the barrels of this era were usually made of oak, weighing over a hundred kilograms with the gunpowder inside. So, for people without bulldozers or excavators, burying a hundred barrels of gunpowder could only be described as a large-scale project comparable to building the Great Wall, unless Tortuga's guards were all blind to such a project.

Therefore, this could only have been done by a Contractor. Only a Contractor could acquire such high-powered, small-sized explosives, and only a Contractor would dare to ignore Tortuga's seventy years of peace and blatantly carry out such a violent incident to satisfy their own desires. At this moment, a flash of inspiration went through Fang Senyan's mind, as if a certain problem that had been plaguing him had found the key to unlock it, but he momentarily forgot what that problem was.

Just then, a flurry of activity and noise came from the end of the harbor. Several figures could be seen rushing over, as panicked as mice before a cat's claws or goats before a wolf's bite. These must be the Contractors who had committed the crime. Behind them, the guards of Tortuga were raising their weapons and chasing them.

These guards must have received strict orders, clinging to these Contractors and refusing to give up. Just as these figures ran to within a hundred meters of Fang Senyan's location, a long "whinny" suddenly came from the nearby alley. At first, the sound resembled a horse's neigh, but somehow, everyone who heard it couldn't help but shudder, as if they had been doused with a bucket of cold water, their blood vessels permeated by the chill.

Then, with a loud crash, the wooden house next to them exploded, sending tiles and splintered wood flying everywhere. A giant horse flew out into the air. This giant horse was at least two people tall, its muscles bulging and straining as if they would burst through its skin. Its eyes were covered by a black blindfold. As its mane and tail swished, they revealed wisps of blue frost, rising like smoke. On the giant horse's back was a scarlet saddle, as vibrant as a matador's cape.

The rider on the horse was about forty years old, sitting steadily in the saddle without needing to hold the reins. He had a Spanish nobleman's mustache, but his chin was clean-shaven. He wore a black top hat, and his sharp, cold eyes were already looking over, then he drew a short-barreled firelock!

The firearms of this time were rather primitive matchlock guns, requiring a long time to reload after each shot. But as soon as the rider drew his gun, the match cord ignited automatically, the dark muzzle pointing straight ahead, and with a deafening "boom," the gun fired. As the smoke from the muzzle swirled, Fang Senyan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. His eyes widened, and he saw that the Contractor running in the lead had been desperately trying to dodge, but after the gunshot, his entire upper body exploded into a bloody mess!

The scene was like a watermelon being crushed by an irresistible force in an instant, the flesh and bones tragically blasted into small pieces. Pedestrians, streets, and shops within a seven- or eight-meter radius were smeared with a layer of dark red and chilling blood!

Even more bizarrely, the Contractor's lower body was unscathed. After his upper body exploded, his legs even ran several steps before losing balance, collapsing onto the street with a thud. Blood had only just enough time to flow from the cross-section, slowly forming a small, dark red pool.

Having witnessed such a terrifying scene, the feelings in the hearts of the remaining Contractors could be imagined. They exchanged a look, screamed, and fled in different directions. Two of them ran to a place near the sea, then pushed out a small boat, paddling frantically into the sea like stray dogs who had lost their homes, obviously seeing the weakness that the guards and the knight could not enter the water. Although the giant horse's speed was fast, the boat was already fifty or sixty meters away from the shore by the time it arrived.

Just as almost everyone thought that the knight was about to be helpless, he pulled on the reins! The giant horse reared up, neighing mournfully, and spewing ice-blue frost from its mouth, nose, and ears. In the afternoon sun, the frost glistened and shimmered, giving people an illusion of icy coldness.

Then, the giant horse leaped with all its might, diving straight towards the sea! Its hooves were at least the size of basins. When they touched the surface of the water, a layer of pale blue ice immediately formed. Although the surging seawater below could be seen clearly, the giant horse had already begun to gallop. A layer of hazy white mist surrounded its hooves, freezing the sea surface two or three meters ahead of it. As the giant horse galloped, the ice behind it quickly dissolved, making it look as if a white ice road had appeared in the sea, leading straight to the fleeing boat not far away.

In just over ten seconds, the two dumbfounded Contractors on the boat were overtaken. They looked as if they were planning to resist, but the knight on the horse drew his rapier with a "clang," raised it high with lightning speed, then slashed out in an arc! The two Contractors' movements froze in an instant, then a flash of blood appeared. The two men were lifted up like two stalks of straw, impaled alive on the rapier!

"Aaaaah!!!" The knight on the horse let out a cathartic roar, the sound echoing throughout the entire harbor. "Accept the wrath of the Fokke family! Scum and maggots!"

"Is that Little Fokke?" Fang Senyan heard a pirate next to him ask his companion. His companion was clearly knowledgeable, and lowered his voice, "That's right, he's the third-generation heir of the Fokke family. That horse is called Momal, and it's said that it's possessed by the soul of a demon. It used to be Bernard Fokke's mount, and only the heirs of the Fokke family can ride it."