Chapter 334 - 153: You Scared Me~
"Permission? I’m the First Officer of this ship, and you’re the Second. When the Captain’s away, we’re the ones in charge. Besides, we’re just going over there to catch a fish. We can have it for dinner, can’t we?"
"But... that’s off course..."
Clelia crossed her arms, shot him a glance, and said coolly, "Then you can just watch them hang there..."
Wei’en clenched his fists. ’Clelia...’
He had already noticed the pirates hanging upside down by their feet below the crow’s nest.
"First Officer Clelia, if the Captain finds out and blames us for this..." Ronan said with a mournful look.
"I’ll take responsibility!"
"You’ll take responsibility? And how will you do that?"
"By..."
Hearing the voice, Clelia turned to look. Her first instinct was to run, but after a few steps, she stopped and retreated. Puffing out her chest and lifting her chin, she declared, "By going to the Captain and offering a sincere apology, of course~"
"Is that so?"
Wei’en, wearing Marco’s handsome face, stared into her eyes. He raised a finger and pointed up. "Then what’s this all about?"
"Them..." Clelia’s chest, which she had just puffed out, seemed to deflate. She bit her lip and shot him a look. "They were coveting my beauty and said some vulgar things~"
"Waaah! No, we didn’t, Captain!"
"We really didn’t..."
"Hmm?"
Seeing the look Clelia shot them, the pirates hanging under the crow’s nest faltered. They forced smiles that looked worse than crying. "The First Officer is right. We... we were the ones who offended her..."
"That’s right! We deserved to be punished. It has nothing to do with the First Officer..."
Clelia turned back to Wei’en, giving him a pitiful look.
"Is that so?" Wei’en pulled out his Revolver. CLICK. He cocked it and asked calmly, "I think that on this ship, for someone to dare offend the First Officer... just hanging them isn’t enough. Wouldn’t you all agree?"
HISS—
Seeing him draw his gun, all the pirates fell silent in an instant. While they had been deceived into acknowledging Wei’en as their captain, it didn’t mean they had forgotten what they’d seen that day.
The memory of bullets tracing bizarre arcs through the air was still vivid in their minds.
"N-no, that’s not it, Captain! We didn’t offend the First Officer..."
"I was wrong!"
Before the pirates could say another word, Clelia obediently admitted her mistake. She walked right up to Wei’en, grabbed his hand, and aimed the gun’s muzzle at her own chest...
"Go on, shoot me..."
Wei’en stared into her eyes, his gaze never once straying downwards. "Are you sure?"
"I’m sur... not sure!" She had barely gotten two words out when she saw Wei’en’s gaze turn cold. She quickly raised her hands. "I know I was wrong! I promise it won’t happen again!"
BANG, BANG BANG...
Several gunshots suddenly rang out.
The surrounding pirates, including Ronan, all ducked their heads instinctively.
’The Red-haired Captain... is he really that ruthless?’
’He’d kill his own First Officer?!’
THUD, THUD... A series of thumps echoed as heavy objects hit the deck.
"Th-thank you, Captain."
The pirates who had been hanging looked at Wei’en, their eyes filled with gratitude. If it weren’t for the lingering pain, they would have thought they were goners.
"You scared me~ Captain Marco~" Clelia’s voice rang out immediately after.
She had seen it clearly. When Wei’en fired, the gun had been aimed directly at her chest the entire time. Yet not a single bullet had struck her. Instead, they had severed the ropes holding the pirates...
’An Extraordinary Ability that doesn’t use any Extraordinary Power?’
’Or is it just pure skill with a gun?’
’Absolutely terrifying!’
"Don’t let there be a next time." Wei’en holstered his Revolver and turned toward the wheelhouse.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Clelia gave a formal pirate salute, then glanced over at Ronan. "Second Officer Triangle-Eyes, aren’t you going to hurry and follow?"
"Yes, right away." Ronan wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve. ’Thank goodness the First Officer is alright,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, I doubt anyone on this ship would have survived the night...’
At that thought, he quickly trotted into the wheelhouse. ’Yep, sticking close to the Captain is the right call.’
The other pirates shot Clelia a fearful glance before dispersing to make their preparations for nightfall.
’Tsk, he really is...’
As Clelia recalled the look in Wei’en’s eyes, a coquettish glint appeared in her own. ’To think he was just an ordinary Wizard Apprentice two weeks ago...’
’What terrifying talent. Or is it because of that Little White Fur?’
’But whatever the reason, it looks like I’ll have to behave myself on this ship from now on. Waaah...’
’Meanie~’
Meanwhile, in the wheelhouse, Wei’en knew Clelia wasn’t truly angry. With her temper, she would have blown up on the spot if she really was.
He had learned over this period that to deal with this scatterbrained woman, one had to be forceful.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a single pirate with free will left on the ship; she would have turned them all into puppets.
"We’ve only sailed this far?"
Ronan pointed to a new mark on the sea chart. "The Storm this morning slowed us down considerably. Fortunately, we didn’t sustain any major damage."
Wei’en nodded. "Night is falling. Can we sail after dark?"
"Well..." Ronan hesitated. "We can, but the noise and light will attract nearby aberrations."
"Oh? So what did you usually do at night?"
"Hoist the sails and... drift, trying our best not to stray from the course."
Wei’en understood. "Then let’s do that."
’He had no desire to face another fish attack like the one last night...’
"Understood. I’ll go make the preparations."
"Wait!"
Wei’en ignored Ronan’s puzzled expression, instead pointing off the port bow. He frowned. "Is that ship heading for us?"
Ronan followed his gaze, and his expression changed. "That’s one of the Black Pearl’s ships!"
"The Black Pearl..."