In the alliance, the more they attack me, the stronger I become!

After a moment of silence, Cheng Xiao asked directly, "By the way, Sarah, do you know Soul-Eating Night?"

"Call me Sister Sarah! Or just call me Sister, silly little brother." Sarah pinched his face again and continued, "As for the Harrowing... there should be no one in Bilgewater who doesn't know about it, right? What's going on?"

"Hmm... I want to know what happened during the last Haunting Night."

"Last time? Let me think about it." Sarah thought for a long time, and the expression on her face gradually became serious.

But it also feels a bit unpleasant.

"As much as I hate to admit it... the objective fact is that it was Gangplank who led the people of Bilgewater through the first two Harrowings. Those undead souls from across the ocean corroded the harbor during the Harrowing, and many people died."

"How did you get through it in the end?" Cheng Xiao asked again.

"Wait until dawn," Sarah replied. "When the first rays of sunlight hit the sea, the ghosts will retreat on their own."

"Then do you know when the next Haunting Night will be?"

"Next time...hmm..."

"About a month later."

"Ok?"

"Twenty-nine days from now, the Harrowing Night will arrive," Cheng Xiao said. "We will then be the ones to lead the people of Bilgewater in resisting the undead, while also being constantly on guard against the conspiracies of the Noxians."

Upon hearing this, although Sarah was not quite sure how the other party knew this information, she still nodded firmly.

Since she was the one who killed Planck, she must take responsibility for it.

"But you don't have to worry too much," Cheng Xiao continued, "I know someone who can help us resist the invasion of the dead souls."

"Who?"

"The most devoted follower of the gods, Illaoi."

---------------------------------------------

-------------------------

"Maybe I really misunderstood you, brother..."

As night fell, in a dark and dilapidated corner of the dock, a sturdy man, soaking wet, was apologizing to a piece of equally wet playing card.

"But unfortunately, I understood it too late... You know I'm not the type of person who likes to regret. Now that it has happened, I'll just find a way to make amends."

"And the only way to remedy your death..."

"Only revenge."

Graves crumpled up the soaked cards and threw them back into the sea. A swarm of greedy piranhas immediately surrounded them, but quickly left after being disappointed.

This card... He had stolen it from Drizzt. It was Drizzt's last card.

If he hadn't done that, Drizzt might have gotten away.

He stole the card, leaving Trist with no way out, and then waited for that monster-like young man, and finally...

Blown to pieces by artillery fire.

"I never thought you would sacrifice yourself to save me... This is really not like you, Nurarihyon."

Graves was packing up his double-barreled shotgun that was soaked by the sea water, and the last scene of Trist standing on the dock emerged in his mind again... Countless artillery fire came, and half of the dock was reduced to ruins.

Drizzt... definitely can't escape.

"Alas... I will avenge you. Rest in peace." Graves murmured to himself, "If the Harrowing Night comes, don't seek my life."

Then, he walked through the darkness, ready to seek revenge on the man who killed Drizzt - the guy who used conspiracy to trick Drizzt into stealing Gangplank's dagger.

But to be honest... he actually didn't know who that person was, so he had to look for clues.

Before setting out to do his real work, he still had one preparation to do - he had to heal his wounds first, and then get some bullets.

But he is a fugitive, and there are many bounty hunters out there who want to capture him and bring him back to prison to collect the reward, or just kill him... He can't leave openly.

He might have done that before, but Drizzt had taught him caution.

At least... be cautious within the scope of what his melon-seed-sized head can think of.

So he couldn't just go to a famous doctor—or even any doctor who offered medical services to the public. He had to sneak around and see some obscure doctor.

Then use enough gold coins to make them shut up after the treatment.

Well...if you don't have gold coins, bullets will do.

Graves took advantage of the night to sneak into a dark alley on the other side of the bay.

In his memory—ten years ago, before he went to prison—he remembered a young surgeon here. His skills were not good, and he usually didn't get any work, so he shouldn't be noticed if he was asked to do so.

Anyway, no matter how bad your skills are, it should be okay to cure some damn injuries, right?

Graves thought so.

But he didn't expect that the young doctor from ten years ago is now an experienced old doctor.

Although he was still not well-known and could only treat minor illnesses of nearby sailors, it was precisely because of this that some people who did not want others to know that they were injured would come to him.

Sometimes, you may meet “acquaintances” here.

Graves didn't realize this until he pushed open the wooden door that was still lit by candlelight.

squeak--

The shabby wooden door made a sound, attracting two eyes to look at the door.

Graves recognized the two men immediately—the one in white was of course the quack, and the other...

The man in tattered clothes, covered in blood, and even with a broken arm...

Graves' eyes widened in horror, and he called out the man's name in a voice that was almost a howl:

"Planck!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the seriously injured pirate king took action first - although he was also very surprised, his reaction speed was several times faster than that of the stupid Graves.

He kicked over the platform in front of him and rushed forward before Graves could raise his gun and aim.

One of his hands had been blasted to the point of bones popping out by a cannon, but he could still use the other hand—and with great strength.

Graves has a body as strong as a brown bear, but he seems so weak in front of Gangplank.

boom!

The bullet shot out of the barrel, but failed to hit Planck, who was holding down the butt of the gun, and only made several small holes in the simple ceiling.

"You damn idiot, you're haunting me...!"

Gangplank's force caused the wounds on his body to bleed profusely, but he still managed to pin Graves to the ground and lock his neck tightly.

He really didn't expect that after escaping death with great difficulty, he would actually encounter this annoying idiot...

And Graves didn't expect that Gangplank, who should have been blown to pieces along with Trist, was still alive.

The two men fought desperately, and their physical strength had been almost exhausted in today's "war". At this moment, the fight was like two half-grown children strangling each other, which was very funny.

Planck knew that he was more seriously injured and could not hold on for much longer, so during the stalemate he turned his gaze to the doctor who was already trembling with fear.

"Grab your scalpel... and kill this idiot... or... once I kill him... I'll definitely kill you...!"

Hearing this, the fear in the doctor's eyes became even stronger.

He could see that both of them were at the end of their strength, and it was hard to say who would win or lose... But compared to Graves, whom he didn't know at all, the long-established pirate king was obviously more frightening to him.

He couldn't put his life on the shoulders of someone he didn't know.

So he must help Gangplank kill the other party...

"I'm, I'm sorry..." The doctor walked slowly towards Graves with a scalpel in his hand, and was about to attack him.

But just when he was about to stab the knife...

squeak--

The door was pushed open again.

The person who came this time was a man wearing a hat and with a pale face.

Their eyes met, and everyone's face was filled with confusion, surprise and shock.

"Planck...you're not dead?" the man said.

"You despicable thief actually..." Planck was in great pain.

"You've turned into a ghost and returned before the Haunting?" Graves was obviously the dumbest one.

"I just wanted to buy some medicine, but I didn't expect to get such an unexpected reward..."

The man in the hat flipped his palm and held several glowing cards between his fingers - there couldn't be anyone else except Drizzt who could play in such a fancy way.

"Graves, do it!"

"Uh... do it!" Although Graves could not understand everything in front of him, it did not stop him from being extremely excited.

He grasped Planck's arm, which was mostly broken, and inserted his fingers directly into the wound so deep that the bone was visible. The latter was immediately unable to move due to the pain.

The scalpel in the doctor's hand was also knocked away by a card played by Trist.

And then... it was the ending without any suspense.

"Lucky lady never favors the same person twice... Good night, Captain."

call out--!

Cards with magical power flew out as fast as arrows.

The sharp edge hit Planck's forehead.

It went straight through his skull and into his brain.

In just a moment, all the strength in Planck's body disappeared and his body fell to the ground.

The curtain has finally fallen on Gangplank, the once-dominant pirate king. He never imagined that he would die at the hands of a despicable gambler.

In this small alley where no one noticed.

Boom... Planck's body knocked over the shelf next to him, and countless blades and needles pierced his body.

The old era officially ends from this moment on.

The remaining two old friends looked at each other without saying a word for a long time.

They seemed to have understood everything from each other's eyes.

Years of friendship... years of tacit understanding... everything is self-evident.

Graves pulled a cigar from Gangplank's body and lit it.

"I was going to avenge you, and now it seems I've finally gotten my revenge—that bastard Gangplank nearly killed us both."

"Indeed." Trist took Gangplank's hat.

After a moment of silence, the two said in unison: "Let's do something big?"

The two old friends were stunned at first, and then burst into laughter.

"We've helped that monster boy... so we can repay him for saving our lives?"

"Maybe. Then we owe each other nothing—of course, the woman next to him still owes us her life."

"The woman next to him? Who?"

"Hehe...it's okay."

"Where can we go to get a bigger ticket later?"

"or……"

"Tell me?"

"Just follow that guy for a while, maybe you can get a lot of money from him."

Drizzt put all the cards back into his pocket, then turned to look at the moon outside.

Bilgewater...you'll learn the names Drizzt and Graves later.

"I think that boy must be in need of a shrewd gambler and a strong fool."