Headed by a Snake

Assaulting the Black Crow island base was a daunting proposition.

Besides having a juggernaut-class ship and three other ships anchored off the coast, the island itself had a wooden fort that likely housed several hundred.

Captain Krysaos had the Neptune's Revenge anchored adjacent to the pirates' single juggernaut... a ship amusingly named the F*ck The Ocean II.

Balancing across a long plank, Tycondrius followed Krysaos onto her deck.

"Captain, with all due respect, I have yet to see why you requested my presence."

"Oh, you'll see, Tycon," Krysaos chuckled to himself.

Casually observing the deck, no living enemies remained. There were, however, dozens of corpses strewn about-- the ones with intact faces having died with fear in their eyes and unvoiced agony on their lips.

Tycon had to care for where he stepped, as the top deck was slick with fresh blood in more places than not.

The likelihood pointed to one or more Coral Boys spilling blood about, on purpose.

He made a mental note to hold a class for his fellow crew members, with the topic of instruction being proper hygiene.

...Or at least coerce them into washing their hands with soap after every engagement.

In theory, the massive vessel would have easily been crewed by at least two hundred strong.

...The Coral Boy force just shy of two dozen would have had to dispatch over ten hostels each.

While impressive, admittedly, the numbers fielded and the mission scope was standard for a force of Sea Wolf raiders.

"Is there perhaps... a strong enemy, still undefeated?" Tycon asked... holding onto what little hope he had.

While it was reasonable for him to be summoned to assist with combat, Krysaos had a sense of pride in his self-sufficiency.

As the Captain was speaking with an even tone and not openly crying tears of panic, Tycon felt it probable that he was being summoned for something stupid.

"Nah," Krysaos waved. "The crew took care of 'em. I wanted to show you somethin' else."

The man led Tycon to a gaggle of Coral Boys. There on the deck, thick ropes ran across the ship, dropping off either side. Tied off the end was a gagged human, stripped of any identifying rank and... clothes, and with his arms and legs bound tightly.

"The rope goes along the end o' the ship and goes underneath," Krysaos grinned. "This here Pirate Cap'n's gonna inspect the bottom of the hull-- and all the barnacles growin' on the underside!"

The captive pirate's eyes widened in fear. He struggled uselessly against his bindings, making as much noise as he could despite the rope gag.

"Ah, the keelhauling process," Tycon nodded in approval. "A classic and often lethal punishment."

Krysaos' face fell in disappointment, "Ah... You know about it, already?"

"Indeed," Tycon smiled politely, "and it marks you, Captain, as a well-learned gentleman endowed with both class and creativity."

"...Yeah," Krysaos nodded... "Yeaahh! Right! That's me-- exactly!"

He tittered to himself before clenching his fist, "Mister Pirate, you may begin the inspection!"

"PULL DA ROPE, BOYZ!!!!" Bob shouted.

"You'z got it!!!!" "Aye aye!!" "Blood and f'under!!" The Coral Boys shouted.

At once, they began to pull-- and the Pirate Captain went down and splashed into the waters below.

"Did you recover the artifact, Brother-Captain?" Tycon inquired.

"What?" Krysaos pursed his lips, "The swords are with the fish girl tribe, aren't they?"

"The Aqua Lizard Idol," Tycon reminded him. "The Black Crow Pirates were threatening the Amphitrite Reef Tribe with it. They have it."

"Wait," Krysaos' eyes widened, "HOLD ON!! Coral Boys, bring him back up!! Reverse!! GO BACK!!!"

"Pull DA UVVER WAYYYY!!" Bob shouted.

"Aye aye!!" "You'z got it!" "Which way's da uvver way?!?"

...There were only two ways the rope could be pulled.

The pirate was dragged back onto the deck, his legs and torso covered in bloody cuts and stone-like debris.

Krysaos knelt down in front of him and tore off the gag, "Gonna need you to talk, boyo. Then we can talk about whether you live or--"

"It's in my lockbox!" The pitiful pirate yelled-- "In my cabin... in my lockbox... please, Captain Krysaos... don't do this to me."

Krysaos stood and turned back to Tycon, "I dunno if we can trust him. I didn't even tell him what I was looking for."

Tycon smiled half-heartedly, "Did you not check the Pirate Captain's effects, Brother-Captain?"

"...Not yet."

"I recall at the haunted isle, you checked for loot in each ship we searched."

Krysaos smiled with chagrin, "I uh-- I forgot, alright?"

"Please... let me go..." The pirate sobbed.

One of the Coral Boys prodded at the Pirate Captain, aggravating a particularly large chest laceration with the sheath of a sword. It was... Doc, if Tycon remembered correctly... the self-proclaimed medical practitioner.

"We'z could stitch 'em up, eheHEhe," Doc giggled, "make 'im last longa! We'z got a rusty needle and some twine, ah?"

The Captain had previously confided to Tycon that the crew still needed... proper medical personnel. With the way Doc practiced medicine, he understood why.

As Krysaos was willfully ignoring Doc's offer, Tycon decided to pay it no mind.

"Alright, boyo. I'll bite." Krysaos grinned at the broken pirate, "What else can ya do for me?"

"I... I'll tell my men to leave you alone..." The man pleaded hoarsely.

Krysaos rubbed his unshaven chin as if thinking it over...

"Nah."

Before the pirate could question the decision, the green-coated Captain swiftly kicked the downed fellow in the abdomen.

"Haha!" Krysaos laughed, "Like anyone would listen to a lying, womanizing, sack o' shite like you! Ain't that right, LT?"

"...Indeed," Tycon shook his head.

There was a large amount of hypocrisy in the Captain's words... but there were other priorities that needed to be addressed.

He gestured towards the nearby island with his good hand, "Brother-Captain... I know the fog is quite thick-- but you are quite aware that there is a fort on the island, yes?"

"There's a what?" Krysaos furrowed his brows.

"A fort," Tycon frowned, "which is likely full of pirates. I advise we recover the idol and withdraw... perhaps in haste."

The Coral Boys began to murmur to each other in disagreement.

Tycon turned back to them, "Apologies. I advise that we fight our way out..."

The Coral Boys began to nod, somewhat cowed...

"--causing as much damage to structures and enemy casualties as possible," Tycon finished.

A round of 'oohs' and 'aahs' came from the gaggle of colorful rock-men, with Catshit in particular gesturing with an upwards thumb.

"Nah," Krysaos smirked. "I'm not worried about it. Hades took a coupl'a the boys with him to take care of the stuff on land."

Tycon raised an eyebrow in surprise... but nodded. He hadn't seen Hades arrive, but if that gentleman took on a mission, he'd complete it.

...There were over twenty Coral Boys on board, though. He assumed that the Abyssal Necromancer, Hades, raised a team of undead to slaughter the enemy.

A sudden cloud of dark smoke materialized at the end of the ship... with Hades leading a group of... another ten Coral Boys out.

Some of the orc's team were familiar to him... Doc, Wonderboy, and the Coral Boy wearing the barrel, in particular. Ishmael was in that group, as well.

...But the Coral Boys... were they multiplying?

And if they were... how were they doing so?

"Job's done," Hades grinned toothily. "Everything left on the island's dead as f*ck. Hey, Tycon."

"Well met, Brother-Hades," Tycon narrowed his eyes. "I'm assuming you mean everyone is dead-- or at least is no longer alive."

"Yeap. That explains it pretty good."

"What're YOUUUUUUUUU?!?!" The Pirate Captain screamed in disbelief.

Tycon turned to the panicking fellow. He had forgotten that he was still alive.

...By the look on Krysaos' face, he was just as surprised.

"This is one of my crewmembers," Krysaos stated nonchalantly.

"Sup?" Hades waved.

The large orc then walked over to the keelhauling rope... and with thick-muscled arms, returned the Pirate Captain to his inspection duties.

"Alright," Krysaos dusted off his palms-- though he hadn't actually done any manual labor. "Now all that's left is to snag the idol... then we'll commandeer this ship!"

Tycon nodded in agreement. The FTO would certainly be more difficult to crew, but with its size and the weaponry it had available, it was suitable for a fearsome scourge of the eastern seas as Krysaos claimed of himself.

However... Bob had his hand raised, like a student in a class patiently waiting to ask a question.

Krysaos grimaced... "What is it?"

"...Dere's holes in dis ship and da uvver ones, Cap'n," Bob explained in his deep, rumbling voice.

"What the fff-- since when?!"

"Since WE DID IT DONE!!" Catshit cackled, "GahahAHAH!!"

"Yeh, we'z did good." "Colla'eral damage." "Jus' made holes from da outside~"

"I HELPED!!" Wonderboy raised his voice to be heard over his peers.

"Since Catshit," Bob nodded, rapping his fist to his wooden chestplate with pride.

Tycon glanced over to the other pirate ships. They each looked... deeper in the water than they should have been, with one ship's bow beginning to precariously tip upward.

"Gods... damn it, Catshit," Krysaos sighed.

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