Another Promotion and Escape
Staying put and waiting for the two pirate groups to finish butchering each other was pure fantasy.
Right now, Yang Ning could still pass himself off as a member of the Krieg Pirates because chaos blurred everything. No one had time to check faces, let alone question allegiances.
But once the fighting ended?
He'd be exposed instantly—either cut down on the spot or shoved back into the slave hold.
No matter who won this battle, staying aboard the Sonic was suicide.
Captain Sonic Ajax was still fighting like a madman, but his crew was nearly wiped out.
A lone "captain" without a functioning crew was no captain at all.
What use was being strong if all your subordinates were dead?
This wasn't some 1v1 arena match. Out at sea, power meant nothing without manpower.
You couldn't sail a ship alone—unless you were Dracule Mihawk, riding a coffin boat through the seas like a one-man army.
Yang Ning, on the other hand, hadn't even learned how to handle a normal sailboat in his entire life. Expecting him to solo-navigate was a joke.
So—what now?
His eyes scanned the deck, the chaos, the flames, the bodies.
A plan formed.
He slipped across the ship, searching for any remaining members of Ajax's crew and any survivors from the town.
Soon, he pulled together a small, desperate cluster: three surviving Sonic pirates and two terrified villagers.
Not a large group—but enough.
"If we stay here any longer, we're dead for sure. If we want to live, we take a gamble."
The survivors all nodded at the first half.
The second half confused them.
"What gamble?"
Yang Ning pointed toward a small assault boat tied near the stern—a compact raiding craft used by the Krieg Pirates for rapid boarding.
"We seize that ship."
The three pirates didn't even think. Instinct took over.
Pirates loved plundering; they nodded on reflex.
The two villagers recoiled in horror.
"No, no! That means fighting pirates—how could we possibly win?!"
"If you don't dare, then get lost."
Yang Ning wasn't gentle. He couldn't afford to be.
The two villagers whispered to each other, fear in every line of their posture, then slunk back down into the slave hold—straight toward their doom.
"Idiots," Yang Ning muttered.
A mix of pity and anger churned in him.
With the Sonic about to be overrun, the villagers' best-case scenario was being resold as slaves.
Worst case? Being slaughtered on the spot.
Did they really expect mercy from Krieg's men?
Without them, Yang Ning's team shrank to four—including himself.
Still, that was enough.
Green soul-lights continued drifting to him from the dying across the deck. With each one, his armor crept higher.
He had reached 49 armor.
According to League's math, that was 24.5% damage reduction—a respectable milestone.
With that and the Soul Furnace shield, he wasn't paper anymore.
They moved.
Based on observation, Krieg's assault boats were designed for rapid boarding. Aside from a handful of essential crew members, most pirates were currently fighting on the Sonic itself.
That meant the assault boats were nearly unmanned.
He picked the smallest one—it required the fewest sailors to operate.
They crept along the edge of the Sonic, gripping the ropes. Using the ship's chaotic shadows, they swung over onto the target boat.
Perfect.
Only two pirates stood on deck—one old, one crippled. Neither looked capable of fighting.
The three Sonic pirates behind Yang Ning revealed their nature immediately, drawing their blades with greedy grins.
Yang Ning said nothing.
He stepped aside—letting them walk ahead.
And the moment the three exposed their backs—
Yang Ning raised his broadsword and brought it down on the fiercest-looking pirate.
A man too cowardly to fight and too weak to flee wasn't going to survive the blow.
The strike nearly cut him in half.
The three men froze in shock.
What are you doing?!
Yang Ning didn't answer.
He simply swung again.
Blood flew.
The wounded pirate collapsed, dying instantly under the next slash.
The two remaining Sonic pirates stared wide-eyed, terror flooding their faces.
Yang Ning looked at them, voice cold as steel.
"I'm the one in charge now. Understand?"
They fell to their knees so fast the deckboards rattled.
"Yes—yes! Whatever you say!"
"We'll listen! We'll do anything!"
Yang Ning sheathed his blade and jerked his chin toward the rudder.
"Get the two crew members to set sail. We're leaving."
One pirate hesitated.
"What if… they refuse?"
Yang Ning stabbed his sword into the deck with a sharp thunk.
"You've got knives, don't you?"
That solved the issue.
Both pirates rushed toward the helm.
Yang Ning appeared calm, but his focus was on the glowing panel before him.
After the kill, he had leveled up again.
---
Name: Yang Ning
Level: 2
HP: 174 / 184
Attack: 13
Strength: 48
Armor: 51
Magic Resist: 5
Passive: Hellfire Curse (44 stacks)
Skill 1: Soul Drain Strike (0)
Skill 2: Soul Furnace (6)
Skill 3: Starfire Rune Blade
Skill 4: Feast (0)
---
A small boost across all stats.
And one more shimmering skill slot lit up.
This wasn't a difficult choice.
He immediately chose Skill 1 — Soul Drain Strike.
This skill also stacked—but its condition was different.
To grow stronger, he needed to kill enemies with the skill itself.
Fortunately, the stack mechanics didn't conflict.
If Soul Drain secured a kill, Soul Furnace still provided its own +HP stack.
Two kinds of scaling—both working at once.
"Two punches for double the fun," Yang Ning mused.
He did a quick calculation.
Base damage: 30
Current bonus stacks: 0
Added damage to his pathetic 13 attack power: massive.
Armor plus skills…
It wasn't Haki, but it was a crude, low-budget imitation of Iron Body and Armament.
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He finally had a little power.
The ship lurched beneath him—then began to move.
Good.
The crew understood the assignment after all.
The small assault boat turned, caught the wind, and began accelerating.
Shouts erupted behind them as Krieg Pirates noticed their escape.
Yang Ning didn't look back.
The boat surged forward, carving a path through chaos.
The Krieg fleet's large ships couldn't maneuver quickly enough to chase.
The others were tied up attacking the Sonic.
Within minutes, Yang Ning and his new ship slipped out of the encirclement and vanished into the open sea.