Episode 222
It was the same stimulant Boris had tested on mercenaries in Delpoa during his days as the Black Nightshade.
“Raaagh!”
The fishmen, brainwashed by the stimulant, charged at Zeke with wild abandon.
Zeke spun around, planting his feet firmly as he unleashed a powerful shockwave.
Boom!
The force rippled outward, sweeping through the fishmen.
“Ugh!”
The shockwave rattled their insides, causing them to lose balance and collapse.
Zeke immediately activated a wide-area healing buff.
Vwoom!
To his surprise, the range of the buff had expanded, and its potency had increased significantly.
The fallen fishmen began to recover rapidly under the effect of the healing factor.
“Ugh!”
The fishmen, regaining consciousness, retched and struggled to steady themselves.
‘Withdrawal symptoms from the stimulant, perhaps.’
Zeke pondered for a moment before drawing the jewel-encrusted sword, Roland.
‘If I use Recovery, it might just work.’
Princess Arina had inscribed the light magic spell Recovery onto Roland before returning it to Zeke through Cloné.
Though it was his first time using it, Zeke trusted Arina and wielded Roland to cast Recovery.
Vwoom!
A silvery light radiated from the sword.
The brilliant glow seeped into the bodies of the fallen fishmen.
Ssssh—
As the light faded, the fishmen finally regained their senses.
“Ugh—”
“Oh, I feel like I’m dying.”
“My head hurts, and I’m so thirsty…”
Zeke retrieved water from his inventory and distributed it among the fishmen.
Without questioning who offered it, they drank eagerly and managed to stand.
One fishman, his voice trembling, asked Zeke, “W-where are we?”
Zeke looked at the awakened fishmen and asked, “Are you part of the Peter Pan Fishmen Pirate Crew?”
The fishman blinked innocently, a stark contrast to his earlier demeanor, and replied, “Well, calling us a pirate crew is a bit much. We just sail out sometimes to catch fish and deal with bad guys. That’s about it.”
‘What is this guy talking about?’
It felt more like dealing with a simple young man from a rural fishing village than a pirate.
Just then, other fishmen, having regained their senses, approached.
“Brother, are you alright? My head feels like it’s splitting.”
“Don’t even mention it. I feel like I’m dying. Mark, how about you?”
The one called Mark, the largest of the group, still seemed dizzy and collapsed back to the ground.
He was the one who had first thrown the net at Zeke.
“I feel nauseous, my head’s killing me. But where are we, brother?”
“I have no idea. Sir, where exactly are we?”
Zeke, taken aback by the unexpected nature of the fishmen pirate crew, forced himself to remain calm.
He asked, “Who here is the highest-ranking… or rather, the eldest?”
A thin fishman, the first to regain his senses, raised his hand.
Zeke gestured for him to come forward.
“Alright, let’s take this step by step. What’s your name?”
“I’m Bill.”
“Bill. So, you and the others here aren’t really a fishmen pirate crew?”
“Well, yes and no.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“We’re actually… the youth group from our island village.”
“Youth group?”
“Yes. When we come of age, the young men of the island form a group to help with village tasks, rescue villagers taken by bad guys, and such.”
“So, this youth group is what people call the fishmen pirate crew?”
“People keep calling us pirates, but we’re not. Our leader said it makes things easier, so we just went along with it.”
“By leader, you mean Peter Pan?”
Bill clapped his hands and laughed.
“Oh, it’s hilarious. Every time I hear that name, I can’t help but laugh.”
“Why is it funny?”
“Peter Pan is actually the name of a whale we raised on our island.”
“A whale?”
“Yes, when we were deciding on a name for our youth group, Peter Pan surfaced. So we thought, ‘Great! Let’s call ourselves Peter Pan and the Fishmen.’ But then some guy named Hook or something started calling our leader Peter Pan, and it stuck.”
Zeke was utterly bewildered by Bill’s explanation.
‘Are these really the infamous fishmen pirates, said to be the strongest in the southern seas?’
Their movements during the fight had been impressive, coordinated, and skilled with nets and harpoons.
Zeke composed himself and asked Bill, “Have you ever heard of Carly Draker?”
Bill clapped his hands again.
“Oh, the Silver Knight? Even country folks like us know about her. She’s supposed to be incredibly beautiful and strong, right?”
“Incredibly beautiful… Anyway, let’s move on. So, you’re saying you didn’t come here with Peter Pan to eliminate Carly Draker on orders from the Empire or Siemens?”
Bill waved his hands dismissively.
“We don’t know anything about that! Our leader said it was for the good of our island, so we helped.”
Zeke scrutinized Bill’s eyes closely.
With his enhanced energy, he could discern the truth in simple statements.
‘He doesn’t seem to be lying.’
Zeke pondered for a moment before speaking to Bill.
“The dizziness you felt earlier was due to a stimulant made from Soma by the Empire.”
Bill’s eyes widened in shock.
“S-Soma? Isn’t that a bad drug?”
“It’s mostly used as a narcotic. It seems the Empire used it to brainwash you. Do you remember anything?”
Bill clutched his head, deep in thought.
“Now that you mention it, someone did visit our island a few months ago.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know, but they looked intimidating. They had red hair.”
From that description alone, Zeke had a good idea who it was.
‘Abel Draker. He approached the fishmen pirate crew.’
Zeke asked Bill again, “Did Peter Pan ally with him?”
Bill shook his head vigorously.
“Oh no, our leader would never do that. He flatly refused, and the guy just left.”
“Hmm, Abel just left?”
“I don’t know if it was Abel or whoever, but they left. But then… oh?”
Suddenly, Bill clutched his head and collapsed.
Zeke quickly lifted Bill’s head to check his condition.
Bill’s eyes rolled back, and he began to tremble.
“Ugh! Knights! Knights are coming! Our leader! Because of us, he got caught…!”
Bill convulsed and then passed out. The other fishmen rushed over to check on him.
“Sir! Is Bill alright? Oh no, what do we do!”
Zeke decided to move Bill closer to the seawater.
The most comfortable place for a fishman was in the water.
After placing Bill in the water, Zeke used a wide-area buff to fortify their mental defenses.
Vwoom!
As the light enveloped him, Bill’s face relaxed noticeably.
‘What on earth happened?’
Zeke resolved to uncover what had transpired through Bill’s memories.
He held onto Bill and focused his energy.
The dragon’s senses activated, and Bill’s memories flooded into Zeke’s mind.
When Zeke opened his eyes, the scenery had completely changed.
“Where am I?”
He found himself on an unfamiliar island.
A crescent-shaped rocky island was surrounded by several smaller islands.
Suddenly, a horn blared across the entire island.
Bwooooo!
Simultaneously, a massive whirlpool formed at the entrance to the crescent-shaped island.
Rumble!
Ships approaching the island were halted by the whirlpool.
Zeke recognized the ships as belonging to the Empire.
‘Is the Empire attacking the fishmen pirate crew?’
Then, something shot up from the ships.
Screeeech!
To his astonishment, flying beasts emerged from the ships, heading toward the island.
Whoosh!
The beasts flew over Zeke’s head, carrying demons and dark mages on their backs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The dark mages hurled magical bombs at the island’s village from the air.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the bombs exploded, fishmen armed with harpoons and nets rushed out of the village.
Simultaneously, the demons riding the beasts leaped toward the fishmen.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The demons, wielding swords enveloped in dark energy, attacked the fishmen.
The fishmen fought back with nets and harpoons, but it was futile.
Soon, most of the fishmen were either dead or captured.
Eventually, the whirlpool blocking the entrance to the island dissipated, and the Empire’s ships sailed safely into the island’s interior.
Among those entering the fishmen’s island with the Empire’s knights was none other than Abel Draker, the Knight of Slaughter.
His red hair billowed as he surveyed the island.
‘So Abel was involved in this after all.’
At that moment, a knight spotted Zeke and dragged him over to Abel.
Zeke realized he was seeing the scene through Bill’s eyes and sharing his emotions.
Kneeling before Abel, Bill was trembling with fear.
In Bill’s line of sight appeared a familiar face.
“These damned mermen are giving us a hard time. Captain Abel, you have your work cut out for you.”
It was Morgan Buffon, a knight from the royal palace, with a slightly balding head.
Abel looked down at Bill with cold eyes and spoke.
“Do you really think Peter Pan will fall for this, taking these filthy mermen hostage?”
Morgan Buffon nodded in agreement.
“Peter Pan seems to have a strong attachment to the mermen of this village. He’ll surely give in to the captain’s proposal, so don’t worry.”
Abel slowly nodded at Morgan’s words.
Morgan then grabbed Bill’s chin and grinned.
“Once we drug and brainwash these mermen, they’ll behave. With their help, we’ll easily navigate the ruins, just as His Majesty expects.”
Abel watched Morgan’s vile smile, then turned away without a word.
As Abel left, Morgan wiped the smile off his face and gestured to the knights.
“Clean this up. We’re heading to meet Peter Pan right away.”
The once-peaceful village was in flames, and the mermen, shackled and chained, were dragged onto the empire’s ships like slaves.
Bill, witnessing this, cried out and struggled to break free.
The knights beat him with their spears until a suspicious-looking wizard approached and injected him with something.
“Ugh…”
The world began to spin.
Calling out for the captain, Bill lost consciousness.
“Ugh.”
Zeke snapped back to reality after reading Bill’s memories.
He had a rough idea of what had happened.
‘The empire captured the mermen to blackmail Peter Pan.’
Not only were they trying to trap Carly, but they also attacked the island to exploit the mermen’s abilities to explore the ancient ruins hidden there.
Zeke clenched his fists as he looked at the innocent-faced mermen staring at him.
In his past life, such events occurred all over the continent.
It was clear that Peter Pan and the merman pirate crew had been used, and there were far more victims than he had known.
Zeke recalled Abel’s cold gaze and Morgan’s vile smile.
‘Damn them.’
Zeke emerged from the sea with Bill.
He then asked the other mermen, “Does anyone remember what happened to the captain?”
The mermen clutched their heads, looking confused. It seemed the drugs had clouded their memories.
Just then, Bill regained consciousness.
“Ugh.”
Zeke approached Bill.
“Are you coming to your senses?”
Bill looked at Zeke and spoke.
“I… I remember. I remember now.”
Zeke moved closer to Bill.
“Do you remember anything about the captain?”
Bill struggled to sit up and spoke to Zeke.
“The captain… he fought for us against that… that person!”
Zeke’s eyebrows twitched at Bill’s words.
“Who do you mean by ‘that person’?”
Bill gasped out the name.
“Carly Draker… the Knight of the Silver!”