Cyberzaun, Machinarium

"Most of the pirate ships on the other side have been bombed by us. Should we advance our fire towards the city?" The second mate saluted and asked the captain's room for their opinions.

"Not for now." Enoch raised his hand and pointed to another direction on the map. "I remember this is the slaughter dock, right? After bombing it, temporarily cease fire and send the helicopter with the Marines to clear a safe zone. Remember to stay alert."

The girl bit her lower lip and gently shook Enoch's arm. Before Jinx could speak, Little Finger refused first, "No, you have to stay with me. After we clean it up, we will land together. You have to protect me, remember?"

Jinx nodded. Even though they had such a close relationship, she was still afraid that one day Enoch would think she had become weak and no longer need her. Jinx must be Littlefinger's most capable subordinate.

"Oh, right." Enoch seemed to remember something, picked up the intercom again, and handed it to the girl, "Be consistent, inform them to put down their weapons and not resist, otherwise we will bomb the suspected dangerous area."

“What is a suspected danger zone?”

"I don't know. It's just a random word. Anyway, wherever the pirates refuse to surrender, then where they are standing is a suspected danger zone."

Chapter 155: The sea has no sympathy for the weak

The sound of shelling gradually disappeared, and the noise on the port dock gradually quieted down. No one would stay in this place full of craters.

The innocent voice of the girl coming from the sky again made the survivors look at each other in bewilderment, but this time no one took it as a boring joke. The pirates and bootleggers hesitated for a while, quietly put their pistols away from their belts, carefully held their scimitars, and watched the direction of the situation vigilantly.

These pirates will never give up their weapons. They can't sleep without a knife. No one will obey unless the barrel of a gun is pointed at their head.

The pirates didn't have to wait long before Behemoth's huge warship emerged from the sea level. The huge hull easily crushed the little bit of luck that remained in their hearts. Such a large warship in Bilgewater only meant one thing: a new overlord of the sea has come, and if everyone doesn't want to die, they'd better pay attention to the wind direction in the next two days.

For these guys, following the winner is a natural thing to do.

The big ship did not dock, nor did it lower the small boat. Instead, several blue shadows rose from the deck, crossed the watchtower on the shore, and headed towards the depths of the city. That was the direction of several pirate bases. Several pirate leaders, as usual, controlled a large number of ships and sailors. No matter who was the pirate king, he had to give them some things appropriately, otherwise no one would be able to continue capturing sea beasts smoothly.

Pirates who have no money to make cannot control their men, and they always have to choose to surrender. After all, it is not easy to build new taverns and casinos in the mountainous Bilgewater.

These arrogant captains soon paid the price. The helicopters in formation quickly locked onto the area where people were gathered. They looked at the pirates shouting below and unceremoniously sprayed ammunition on them. The machine guns easily tore apart the group of people who didn't know how to dodge, without even needing rockets.

After the area was cleared a little, the helicopters descended quickly, dropped the soldiers who had been waiting for a long time on the ground, and assisted the ground troops advancing forward. These low-altitude death gods slowly eliminated all the resistance strongholds.

The sound of gunfire had been going on for a long time. Bilgewater, which had just experienced the Harrowing Night, already had many dilapidated houses that needed to be repaired and tidied up. However, after today, these works could be suspended. No matter whether it was a house that was completely destroyed or a ruin without its owner, Bilgewater was more empty and orderly than ever before.

With the port completely cleared, Enoch took Jinx to the temporary base by helicopter. The relatively intact Port Authority raised the flag representing Losrien, and Behemoth cruising in the distance was on guard at all times. Any dangerous behavior towards the base would be hit by artillery fire.

"Do you have any recommendations?" Enoch lifted up the chair that had fallen to the ground and nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the dazzling collection. As a hub for smuggling, things from anywhere could be found here, whether it was Freljord's spirits or Shurima's craft beer. The local messy moonshine industry was even more abundant.

“I personally like amber light beer…Are you ready to celebrate your success?” Miss Fortune stood aside with her arms folded. Her original residence was destroyed in the recent shelling and she is currently homeless.

"Of course not. I'm not sure how many local tyrants are ready to attack here, so now is your time," Enoch said, taking off the ring on his hand and throwing it to the woman along with the intercom. "You can now lead two planes of mercenaries to find the leaders who are still alive and tell them that I'm going to hold a cocktail party tomorrow night. You can either attend or just kill them. There's no need to provide a third option. Do you understand?"

“Understood. Then where shall the party be held?” Sarah stroked the seal on the ring. She was confident that she could complete such an easy task.

"Right at the port, in these ruins, just remind them who they are talking to." Enoch waved his hand, sending the woman to act quickly. "I don't mind you using these people for some private work, but I hope there won't be any tactless assholes at the party tomorrow night, okay?"

"Yes, Captain." Sarah knelt down and lifted her skirt, then walked slowly to the back. She liked this job.

Seeing that Miss Fortune had already taken action, Enoch turned and called out to Jinx, who was graffitiing on the wall. The girl happily jumped in front of Littlefinger. "What's up?"

"Bring the surveillance camera. If that woman does anything out of line, blow her head off. Pack up and accompany me to see the sea beast sacrifice."

The meeting with the sea beast priest was much faster than expected. Maybe to the people of Bilgewater, Enoch and his companions were outsiders who attempted to challenge the throne of the Pirate Island, but to the priest of Baru, they were just newly emerged pirates. There was nothing new about them. Anyway, this group of people could not do without the protection of the bearded lady.

Enoch and Jinx soon went to the Baju Temple under the guidance of an old priestess. It could be seen that this group of people didn't like pirates very much. The old woman didn't give them a good look during the short journey. She kept muttering about her dissatisfaction with the hunting of sea beasts in Bilgewater.

By the time Enoch was getting a little impatient and wanted the priestess to shut up, the small boat finally arrived at a temple that seemed to have been carved out of the mountain wall.

In the deep and shallow pools, there are statues of sea monsters. The entire temple is covered with tentacle-shaped sculptures, which look like they will be dragged into the deep sea at any time.

A strong woman was carrying a huge stone ball, looking down at the two of them, her face covered with tattoos representing gods.

"Tell me why you are here. Nagakabouros does not need slow and foolish flattery. Are you here to challenge or to test me?"

Looking at the proud 'True One of Nagakabouros' in front of him, Enoch gently patted the girl who had been standing in front of him and said, "Let me do it."

Enoch activated the shields they carried with them, and led Jinx forward slowly. "No offense to your god, I'm here for cooperation, and I will donate a gilded statue to this temple... so..." Enoch stood in front of Illaoi. "Can we talk in private?"

"A foolish man, coming with ambition." Illaoi looked at the port that became lively because of the attack and nodded. "You got those drunkards moving, that's good, Nagakabouros will like your performance."

As he spoke, he easily lifted up the stone ball on the ground and waved to the two people behind him, "Get moving. Don't let the sea get bored."

Chapter 156: Business with Sea Beast Sacrifices

This conference room does not look like the Pope's lounge, but rather like an ascetic's meditation room. There are no decorations around it that indicate status. If it were not for the abundant fruits and large number of wine barrels, it might be possible to say that this is a prayer room.

It seems that this Pope is consistent in his words and deeds and is a true believer. In this case, the direction of the next negotiations is very clear.

Without beating around the bush, Enoch put forward his request in a normal way.

"Our warships have just gained a foothold. We plan to build a trade fair in this port and station some ships there. I hope to reach a tacit understanding with the priest. This is a win-win situation. What do you think?"

Illaoi didn't express any extra emotion. She picked up the huge stone ball and gestured to Enoch. "Nagakabouros doesn't need slow-witted people. No need to waste words. Take the trial. The gods will decide whether you are a friend of Baju."

Honestly speaking, this condition is very simple, but it really doesn't make people happy. It is said that the success rate of this trial is less than 3%, and Enoch just wants an enclave at a traffic choke point. There is no need to take such a big risk. After all, for Bilgewater now, he is the one with the biggest muscle. Apart from the legitimacy brought by his non-local origin, Enoch can completely recruit these sea rats openly.

He decided to change his words. "I was born in Zaun. I have my own beliefs, so I am not suitable for the trial for the time being. How about this? I remember that the missionary work of the Baju priests in Bilgewater was not going well. How about I build a temple for you priests at the port? What I need is your orthodox certification of the position of governor."

"I will help you solve the problems you encounter during your missionary work, and you can use your influence among the believers to help us establish the authority of the Governor's Office. This is a win-win situation. What do you think?"

Illaoi was unmoved. In Bilgewater, belief in Nagakabouros was considered universal. When pirates went out to sea, if they didn't want to get into trouble, they would honestly throw their silver coins into the sea. This was the ancient tithe, which represented the authority of the Bearded Lady and did not require any additional proof.

However, what the Bearded Lady likes is the movement of life and the true knowledge that remains after the soul removes its disguise during trials. Other details are nothing but the confusion of mediocrity.

The True One of Nagakabouros did not express his opinion, but the other priests were a little anxious. The wills of those inferior sailors were fragile to death. They only cared about the golden snake coins. The business at the slaughtering dock had long made these snake callers dissatisfied. The dripping blood of sea beasts made the sea beasts they controlled restless.

But it is not their place to interrupt; the decision of the truth-seekers is the most important.

Patting the huge stone ball next to him, Illaoi reiterated his request, "If you pass the trial, you will be one of us. All the priests will agree with your request. Otherwise, leave."

"Perhaps you misunderstood," Enoch raised his eyebrows slightly, "I don't need the priests to do anything. On the contrary, I need them to not do anything. If you don't instigate those Bilgewater people to cause trouble, I will build a temple at the port and won't stop your preaching. How about that?"

"What about the slaughterhouse dock? The sea beasts don't like it there." Ornn put down the statue in boredom. The man in front of her was different from the others. He was also a person who was content with the status quo. He was really boring. But the little girl had an extremely strong inner turmoil, which was an important reason why she didn't drive the two of them out.

"Lothrian Company doesn't care about the slaughterhouse dock. I'm not interested in this kind of business. If your snake caller has the ability, I don't mind if you tear it down." Enoch chuckled. The output of sea beasts is abundant but very unstable. For Lothrian, it is not a high-quality investment project for the time being. Of course, he is not interested. If he finds something good, he can just pay for it. The people in the slaughterhouse will definitely help Littlefinger get it.

The atmosphere became relaxed, not because they reached any agreement, but because both sides discovered that the other side's actions would not cause any trouble to themselves. On the contrary, Losrian's strong behavior would encourage more pirates to follow suit. In the end, they would all take action, which would not do any harm to the sea beast priest.

For Enoch, it was a good start for both parties to sit down and talk. After all, it was only convenient to offend people who were familiar with each other.

Enoch picked up some fruit from the stone table in front of him and took advantage of the lively atmosphere to wink at Jinx.

The girl accepted Littlefinger's request tacitly, and quickly took the snake callers away on the pretext of showing them around. Without the other people around, Enoch was finally able to deal with some sensitive issues.

Illaoi was well prepared. She realized that what was to be discussed next was the focus of today. She put the empty wine glass on the table and looked at Littlefinger with interest.

"Regarding the so-called soul trial..." Enoch turned the wine glass in front of him and spoke slowly. In an attempt to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, "Do you simply extract the soul... and then put it back into the body of the trial-taker? Or does the soul after the trial return to its original body by itself?"

"Is there any difference?" This question was indeed beyond Ornn's expectations. She originally thought that this man wanted to cheat in the trial, but now it seems that it is not that simple.

"Don't worry about the small issue of active and passive... Then I'm curious, when you preside over the trial, after you extract a person's soul, have you ever tried to put it into another body?"

The man in front of him was crazier than the entire Bilgewater combined. Even someone as cruel as Gangplank would only kill those who opposed him and make them into bone sculptures, because he wanted to rule his subordinates with fear. But the man in front of him regarded such blasphemous things as something interesting and new. From his normal tone, it sounded like he was discussing what to drink today.

"What do you want to do? The trial is a purification to cleanse the confusion of the soul, not some kind of game of yours." Illaoi grabbed the statue, not sure whether to teach this man a lesson now so that he would learn respect.

"Don't mind me, I just want to ask, but it seems that you have never transferred a person's soul... I am very interested in the soul trial, are you allowed to watch during the ceremony?" Enoch changed the subject. Currently, the only person he could get in touch with who could do something with the soul was the sea beast priestess, there was no need to piss her off and cause trouble.

Illaoi was obviously a little dissatisfied. "Nagakabouros's trial is sacred and cannot be disturbed by others."

Littlefinger shrugged, "What if the person undergoing the trial is willing to share the circumstances of the trial, and I will provide the person participating in the trial with an equal weight of silver?"

"As someone who admires the Bearded Lady's Trials, I think this is a negotiable condition."

Chapter 157 The Feast Begins

Enoch and Jinx received a lavish reception at the Baru Temple, and the guests and hosts enjoyed a dinner full of Bilgewater style.

This surprised Jinx greatly. After all, according to tradition, Enoch seemed to be difficult to be welcomed wherever he went. In Demacia, he was able to establish some friendship with the king because of the foundation laid by Benso in advance. Even in Ionia, which had the most gentle attitude, Enoch had only been investing in funding the resistance army and had no return at all.

Could it be possible that the people of Bilgewater could adapt to someone like Littlefinger? Jinx was really curious. After all, according to the stories she had told him to sleep with, Littlefinger didn't look like a devout believer.

"How did you do it?" Jinx couldn't help herself and took a few steps forward, holding Enoch's arm, and asked coquettishly.

"It's actually quite simple. Sea beast priests need trials to implement their teachings, and snake callers need money to preach or improve their lives. I can provide both, so this is a natural thing."

"Ha, I knew that no one likes you except me." Jinx smiled proudly. After all, he was the key person who was bribed. She almost thought that Enoch was popular, which really scared her.

"That's a bit hurtful... Am I that annoying?"

"Oh, there's no need to be sad, you still have me, don't worry, I will always be with you." This is a good thing for Jinx. Everyone else hates Littlefinger, so they can only rely on Miss Jinx, which is perfect.

"Thank you so much for your comfort. I feel much better... Go to bed early. We have to attend a dinner tomorrow night." Enoch didn't know what the girl was thinking, but he was tired of living at sea.

"Well, I have to choose what to wear now. Can I wear fish bones?"

"You can take whatever you like"

........................

"I say, are we just going to let a stranger piss on us? We should teach him a lesson."

"Shut up if you don't want to die."

The council chamber seemed particularly deserted, the few people present were more like the ones with the most surviving thugs than they were captains in charge of their areas.

Planck, who originally had the largest force, was wiped out shortly after the war broke out. Until now, no specific news has been released, and no one knows whether the Disaster of the Ocean is dead or alive.

Regarding the attack on the slaughterhouse dock, even though the warships' main target was the processing plant, the aftermath still swept Captain Lao Chui and a large number of his harpooners into the sea, becoming part of the tribute to the bearded lady. The sailors who killed sea beasts all day long were eventually fed to the fish.

The Hook Gang, the Red Hat Gang, and the Silk Knife Pirates were targeted because their pirate flags were used as eye-catching symbols because they were subordinates of Gangplank, and even the broken fragments could not be found.

Even someone as powerful as Miss Fortune could only find a few people who had some stuff under their control, such as Petyr Hack, Crow, and Broken Hook, in such a short time.

This group of guys arrived early at May's Kiss, a tavern located at the highest point in Bilgewater. It was magnificently built and there was no need to worry about the crisis of high tide. It was a notorious gold-spending den.

The Crow was as frugal with words as ever. He didn't want to pay attention to the frivolous fool in front of him. From the way he addressed him, he knew that this was a pirate den, and there was actually someone pretending to call himself Sir Petyr Harker. They all made a living on the sea, so why would he come here to flatter himself?

"Gentlemen, please make yourselves at ease. The master doesn't want you to feel restrained." Sarah walked around the guard at the door, wearing a long dress, as if she was attending a high-end banquet somewhere.

"He's late," Broken Hook spat and hummed in dissatisfaction. His face was cut open by a long wound from the flying debris in the bombardment, and his originally ferocious face looked even more disgusting.

"He's on the way, please wait patiently." Sarah had no intention of confirming. The facts were now very clear. The ship brought by Enoch was the undisputed strongest guarantee of military force. As the person in charge, she didn't need to care about the feelings of these people. If they wanted to take advantage of her with words, let them do it. Anyway, they couldn't jump around anymore.

"Miss Fortune, right? You're a famous bounty hunter. I'd really like to know what role you play in this. You haven't told us yet." Sir Petyr Harker raised his arms, but his words were malicious. "Did you serve him well? Tell us how your master came to have sex with you."

"Gentlemen, my advice is that if you still want to keep your bar, casino, brothel and other businesses, you'd better be polite." Miss Fortune was not moved by her words. That's it? The drunks in the bar said much more dirty things than them.

"It seems that he really makes you happy. Now you are so obedient. You like being a dog so much. Doesn't your master tie you with a leash?" Broken Hook echoed with a burst of obscene laughter, as if he could gain more initiative in this way.

It was not until there was a commotion at the door that the captains shut up and waited for the most troublesome thing to happen.

Enoch took Jinx's arm and slowly walked up the stairs. The girl seldom wore this kind of dress, and it took a lot of time to make this dress. Enoch had originally prepared a suit for her, but the girl threw it aside on the grounds that she wanted to match it with her little finger. This was a small blow to his aesthetic taste.

It's just a warning, there's no need to prepare so well.

After thinking about it, Enoch swallowed his words. The result would remain the same anyway, so he might as well make the girl happy.

The two were in a good mood until a pirate with a red turban holding his head approached them and said, "Please hand over your weapons. This is the request of the captains."

"Requests? That's an interesting thing to say. They actually dare to make requests..." Enoch rolled his eyes. How come there are such idiots who don't know the current situation everywhere?

Jinx chuckled twice after receiving tacit approval, bent down and pulled out her graffiti-covered electromagnetic pistol from the side of her long skirt, shaking it in her hand. "Look, this is mine."

"Please give it to me, I will keep it for you temporarily." The pirate reached out his hand unconsciously, ready to take the weapon from the girl.

"Don't touch me, take your dirty hands away." Jinx's expression suddenly changed. She smashed the pirate's head at close range and shook her hands in dissatisfaction. "Don't these people have any self-awareness? I feel sick when I think about how this guy almost touched me. Why do they always look so stupid?"

"I don't like them either, so let's get this mess done quickly." Stepping over the corpses on the ground, Enoch nodded slightly to Sarah who opened the door for him, and greeted the pirates in front of him with different expressions.

"Good evening, scum of the sea."

Chapter 158: Dividing the Pirate Port

Looking at the corpse lying on the ground, the faces of the captains present were not very good. Originally, this was their way to dampen the enthusiasm of the newcomers. Even if they admitted defeat, they had to let these local bullies struggle for a while.

According to the principles of previous negotiations, not carrying weapons is a matter of course. Even someone as strong as Gangplank will not carry guns. Of course, as the pirate king, he will still play with his bone-carved knife.

Seeing the two men walking on the mixture of blood and brain matter with normal faces, sitting on the chairs brought by Sarah as if nothing had happened, the captains exchanged glances implicitly. This time, the opponent would not be so easy to get rid of.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Enoch of Lothrian. I'm from the United Kingdom of Pilt and Zaun, which you guys frequently harass. So, why don't you introduce your various appalling names?"

The three of them hesitated for a moment, and finally the taciturn Crow broke the silence first. "People call me Crow, and I'm in charge of the casino in Bilgewater."

"Very good, thank you Captain Crow for setting a good example for us. Who's next?" Enoch nodded, his mood unrecognizable.

"Sir Petyr Harker, I am very pleased to attend your dinner. Your generosity is unforgettable. I am in charge of the taverns and brothels. If you want to relax and have some fun, you are welcome to come anytime. Of course, if you need someone to go to the sea, I can also introduce you to the cheapest one."