Along the northwestern coast.
Ivankov looked at John before him with a vigilant expression, spreading his arms to shield Kuma and Ginny behind him.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?"
"Who cares who I am, Little Brat? As long as I can take you away, that's enough. If you don't want to die, come with me quickly. This island is getting more and more dangerous. If we don't leave now, even I might end up stuck here."
John was a bit impatient. He grabbed the wine bottle tucked into his waistband, pulled out the cork, and gulped down two mouthfuls of strong liquor.
He really didn't understand what Carlo was thinking.
When Carlo had described Ivankov and the other two earlier, he thought Carlo wanted to recruit some capable subordinates.
As it turned out, they were actually just a few Little Brats.
And the type with terrible personalities at that.
Especially this guy whose face was bigger than his body; he was simply nonsensical. Even after hearing that John was kindly offering to take them away, he was still interrogating him, which annoyed John to no end.
"No! If you don't tell us your true identity, I won't go with you! As the big brother, I have to be responsible for my younger siblings!" Ivankov's gaze was firm.
Clearly, if John didn't reveal his identity, this troublesome Little Brat might actually choose to stay.
In that case, it would be as if he had failed the task Carlo assigned him.
At this thought, John almost wanted to take action directly, tie up these ungrateful Little Brats, and throw them onto the ship.
However, considering these three Little Brats might be some relatives of Carlo's or something like that...
John suppressed the violent thought in his mind and forced a kind smile onto his face.
"Fine, fine, you stubborn fellow. I am the first division captain of the Sky Pirates, John..."
"You're a subordinate of Heavenly King Sorus Karlo?" Ivankov's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said happily, "Then there's no problem. We'll go with you!"
"Uh... alright then." John scratched his head, feeling a bit depressed.
If he had known Carlo's name was so effective, he wouldn't have wasted so much effort tossing and turning here for so long.
Behind him, Ivankov happily said to Ginny and Kuma:
"Let's go quickly! Leave this place with this guy. Don't worry, he's a subordinate of Heavenly King Carlo. Um... Carlo is the Golden Angel who was flying in the sky just now and announced his intention to hunt the Celestial Dragons."
"It's him? He sent someone to save us? That's great!" Ginny was very happy, joyfully grabbing Kuma's hand. "Kuma, let's go!"
However, Kuma kept his head down and remained standing in place.
He muttered, "Little Ivan, Ginny, if... if we leave, what about everyone else?"
As he spoke, he pursed his lips and looked around at the many refugees who had fled to the shore with their families but could not find a ship to leave on.
Hearing this, the smile on Ginny's face instantly vanished.
She said dejectedly, "Yeah, if we leave, what will happen to everyone?"
She looked at Ivankov as if for help.
Ivankov originally wanted to say that they were just children and that being able to leave this hell alive was already a rare feat.
But seeing the look of hope in Ginny and Kuma's eyes, his heart softened.
Ivankov gritted his teeth and chased after John.
"I'll go ask that guy! He's a subordinate of Heavenly King Carlo; he must have a way to take everyone with us!"
John stopped and frowned, looking at Ivankov who was blocking his path. "You want to take these people with you too?"
Ivankov nodded. "Yes! You must have a way, right? You're a subordinate of Heavenly King Carlo..."
"Even if I were a subordinate of God Carlo, it wouldn't work! Do you know how many refugees are here?" John pointed to the endless figures of refugees around them. "Thousands upon thousands!"
"Take as many as you can! I don't ask you to take everyone, even if it's just a part of them. Everyone is so pitiful. Please, save them!" Ivankov knelt down before John with a thud.
Just as John was about to scold them in anger, he saw Kuma and Ginny also walk over silently and kneel before him, both looking at him with eyes full of hope.
John's eyes twitched at the sight.
He looked at Ivankov, the oldest and most mature-looking of the three, and barked in a low voice:
"I know you're Little Brats, but you should at least understand basic logic and human nature, right?"
"Even if I could take a group of people—and Carlo did indeed tell me to take some—the simplest aspect of human nature, 'not fearing scarcity but fearing inequality,' is most easily exposed in a situation where everyone is desperate to survive!"
"Tell me, with so many people here, who should I take? Everyone knows that leaving is the hope for survival! Everyone wants to live! So who would want to stay behind and wait for death?"
"Brat! You tell me! Who should live? Who should die? Huh? Answer me!"
He grabbed Ivankov's collar, almost lifting him off the ground.
John indeed had no intention of fully following Carlo's orders.
When he came over, he thought he would only take the three people Carlo had specifically told him to find.
As for the others on the island?
Sorry!
He was a pirate, not a saint.
He couldn't save these refugees, nor was it possible.
Just as he had said.
Everyone wants to live; no one wants to die.
If he offered the hope of survival...
He would probably be forced to take action and kill some of those who would come to fight for the ship.
John had seen far too much of the ugliness of human nature.
But instead, a look of surprise and joy appeared on Ivankov's face upon hearing the interrogation.
"Heavenly King Carlo also said to take some people? That's great! I really didn't misjudge him! Kuma! Ginny! Did you hear that? We can save more people!"
Behind him, Kuma and Ginny were also somewhat delighted.
Veins bulged on John's forehead, and he could no longer restrain his temper. He grabbed Ivankov and roared, "You damn brat! Did you even understand what I just said?"
However, Ivankov wasn't angry at all, and there was no fear in his eyes. He just asked calmly, "How many ships do you have? How many people can you take at most?"
Seeing the calm Ivankov, the anger rising in John's heart dissipated for no apparent reason.
He was somewhat surprised by the courage of this big-faced brat.
This made him answer involuntarily, "I only have one ship! At most, I can take... five hundred people! No more than that, or the ship will sink."
"Where's the ship? Where is it? I don't see any ship." Ivankov looked around. On the surrounding sea, there were only the wrecks of a few destroyed pirate ships; there were no intact vessels.
"In the sea. It was brought over with a Coating." John looked toward a certain direction on the sea.
Ivankov said decisively, "Good! Since there really is a ship and you truly intend to take some people, then I'll handle the other problems! Just go and bring the ship out; I'll decide who gets to leave and who stays!"
John was actually stunned by Ivankov's current momentum. Feeling a bit displeased and defiant, he said, "Arrogant brat! On what grounds? Who do you think you are? Do you think those desperate people will listen to you? You've never seen the ugliness of human nature..."
"No!" Ivankov looked John squarely in the eye and said word by word, "I have seen it! I've already seen it! Believe me! What I've seen and what I've experienced is more than you ever have!"
John opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but meeting Ivankov's eyes, he couldn't say anything.
He could only mutter, "Whatever! I'm going to get the ship!"
Then he turned and walked toward the shore.