The tank cannons roared for several more rounds, tearing up the entire lawn. Then, the sea of fire generated by the explosions gradually spread toward the villa.

From within the villa came Herman’s voice: “Yang Ying! I am the proxy for the Caribbean Pirates. If you kill me, you make an enemy of the Caribbean Pirates, and the great Pirate King will surely avenge me! If you retreat now, I can pretend this never happened, and we can chalk up our past grievances as settled. What do you say?!” He amplified his voice through a loudspeaker, loud enough to carry for kilometers, easily drowning out the explosions.

Yang Ying thought to himself: Hmph, by shouting the name of the Caribbean Pirates so loudly, he’s made sure everyone nearby knows. If I take him out now, it’ll look like I’m disregarding the Pirates’ prestige, inviting resentment from the number one pirate gang in the Asteroid Belt. However, if you think merely invoking the Caribbean name will stop me, you are sorely mistaken. They are currently preoccupied and cannot intervene in Grey Harbor’s affairs. This war, engulfing the entire Asteroid Belt, is bound to be protracted. By the time they can spare the manpower, I’ll probably have a battlecruiser, so what is there to fear?

Yang Ying remained utterly unconcerned by Herman’s thinly veiled threat, seated firmly in control. Without receiving new orders, the tank corps continued according to the established plan, using their heavy fire to clear all fortifications and traps from the lawn.

“Yang Ying, didn’t you hear me clearly? You dare disrespect His Majesty Nab’s authority? If you don’t stop the attack immediately, you are declaring war on the Caribbean Pirates! In the name of His Majesty Nab, I command every fool in the Trant Mercenary Corps to cease fire immediately. Disobey Yang Ying’s orders, or the path to ruin lies before you!”

Seeing he could not sway Yang Ying’s resolve, Herman turned to intimidate the soldiers of the Trant Mercenary Corps. In his mind, the Pirate King’s fearsome reputation must surely strike fear into many of the Trant soldiers, making them fear reprisal from the Pirate King.

Yang Ying shook his head and remarked to Bob, the commander of the tank unit beside him, with a joking tone, “He really thinks Nab’s name is a golden ticket that works everywhere, doesn’t he?”

“That idiot, to think we’re as cowardly as him, sir. Let me just blast him to pieces.” Bob, being rather stout, spoke with a gruff voice.

A tank requires at least three crew members to operate: the commander, the gunner, and the driver. Bob was competent both as a tank commander and as an overall leader.

“Calm down, Bob. He will die, but before that, there’s something we can do for a bit of amusement—a way to vent some frustration.” Yang Ying turned and called to those behind him, “Get me a loudspeaker.”

“Sir, are you going to yell at him?” Bob looked quite intrigued.

“Indeed,” Yang Ying nodded. “The intelligence department’s work has been highly effective; they even managed to procure Herman’s medical records. Herman suffers from hypertension and heart disease. If he gets agitated, the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke multiplies exponentially. I want to test if I can verbally batter Herman to death!”

A phantom agent handed Yang Ying a loudspeaker.

Herman’s strained voice echoed again in Yang Ying’s ears: “Yang Ying, aren’t you leaving yet? Wait until His Majesty deals with Somalia; you’re next.”

Yang Ying cleared his throat and shouted towards the villa, “Herman! Who do you think you are? Just a dog under the Pirate King, and Nab probably doesn’t even remember your name! You dare issue orders wildly in his name? You’re simply asking for death! Dying yourself is one thing, but dragging your subordinates down with you—you’d better see if they agree!”

Hearing this, Herman’s face flushed crimson with rage. He slammed the table and stood up, roaring, “A mere brash youth dares to insult me like this!”

His eyes darted left and right. He saw his bodyguards in the room standing with their gazes fixed forward, looking utterly unperturbed by Yang Ying’s words. But the more they seemed that way, the more anxious Herman became. He feared these subordinates were merely putting on a show, maintaining one front outwardly while thinking differently inwardly. If he were in such an absolutely disadvantaged position, with his door blockaded and his position being shelled relentlessly, he would surely harbor traitorous thoughts.

However, Yang Ying wasn’t finished: “If the Pirate King knew you, this good-for-nothing, had become his agent and disgraced him, he wouldn’t wait for me to act; he’d tear you limb from limb! Since ancient times, winners take the throne and losers are vanquished. You’ve lost everything but the rags covering your shame, yet you still have the audacity to yap at me. Why don’t you go drown yourself in a puddle of urine!”

“You go too far!” Herman’s eyes turned blood red, and then, with a sudden shout, he clutched his chest and collapsed.

“Medicine! Medicine! Number One, get me the medicine, it’s on the table!” Herman lay on his side, looking agonizingly pained, spitting the words out through clenched teeth toward his lead bodyguard.

But Number One remained motionless.

“You!” Herman’s face contorted menacingly. “Are you betraying me? All of you, seize Number One!”

Bodyguards Two, Three, and Four exchanged glances, hesitating to move against Number One. After the sluggish Bodyguard Two was forced to commit suicide in front of Yang Ying, Herman had quickly appointed replacements to fill the vacancy left by Number Three.

Number One stared coldly at Herman. “Save your energy. This broken ship of yours is about to sink. These men are smart; they won’t go down with you.”

Herman’s chest pain intensified. He gritted his teeth. “Quickly! Who brings me the medicine, I’ll give a million bounty! Whoever kills Number One, I’ll pay ten million!”

Instantly, the eyes of Two, Three, and Four lit up, and a killing intent radiated from them. All three had earned their positions through bloody survival. They instantly dispersed, their hands darting to their waists. They drew their weapons and aimed directly at Number One.

But in the very next instant, the heads of the three men exploded almost simultaneously. Three headless corpses fell to the ground.

Number One leisurely retracted his uranium-pulse pistol, blew on the muzzle to disperse the non-existent smoke, and tucked the weapon back into his belt.

“Greedy for money over life, you deserve it! Anyone else object?” Number One swept his gaze across the room.

Those in the room who had not moved promptly shook their heads. They felt intense relief in their hearts, genuinely terrified by Number One’s overwhelming power.

Just then, the door opened, and a tall figure entered, leading several men.

“Ralph! Save me!” Herman stretched his hand out toward the figure.

Ralph glanced at him with disgust. “A creature devoid of integrity. Yang Ying outside was right. You should have died long ago.” He turned and commanded his subordinates, “Go! Raise the white flag. We surrender.”

Number One nodded slightly at Ralph, acknowledging him with a brief greeting, then stepped aside to watch silently.

“You!” Herman, seeing this, instantly realized that Ralph and Number One were already connected. But he no longer had the strength to speak. He weakly reached out to grab Ralph, but his hand fell midway, his eyes wide open, unable to close in death.

Ralph stepped forward himself and pressed against Herman’s carotid artery. Sensing no pulse, he confirmed: Herman was indeed dead!

Ralph burst into laughter. When he finished, he said to Number One, “Well done. You follow me from now on, and you’ll eat well and live richly! The Trant Mercenary Corps only had a feud with Herman. Now that he’s dead, if we hand him over, we can sort things out. Grey Harbor is a neutral city; the Pirate Districts still need men like us. From now on, I, Ralph, will be the proxy for the three great pirate gangs! Hahahaha!”

Although the Blood Skull Pirate Gang had been crippled, the disabled Blood Skulls were still slightly stronger than the tenth-ranked Shark Pirates. At this moment, the Blood Skulls had not yet fallen out of the top ten pirate organizations!

A pirate climbed onto the rooftop and waved a white flag back and forth, but Yang Ying remained unmoved: “Ignore the white flag, continue the assault!”

The tank cannon fire still carried its destructive momentum, grinding forward inch by inch toward the villa. Everything in its path—cover, flesh, traps, robots—was pulverized. The forefront of the shelling was already perilously close to the villa structure.

Inside the villa, Ralph had been laughing, but when he saw the shelling hadn’t stopped, cold sweat broke out on his body. “Are the Trant Mercenaries planning to wipe us all out? Not even granting us a chance to surrender?”

“They don’t know Herman is dead yet! Quick, use the loudspeaker to explain!” Number One quickly reminded Ralph, seeing he had forgotten the most crucial detail in his excitement.

“I was too caught up in the celebration and forgot this,” Ralph said, jolting back to reality. He quickly activated the loudspeaker and yelled into the microphone, “Commander Yang, Herman has just died of a heart attack, scolded to death by you! Please show mercy!”

“He really died because I yelled at him?” Yang Ying felt an indescribable sense of surprise. After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand. “Stop!”

The immensely powerful tank barrage finally ceased.

At this point, all perimeter fortifications and traps outside the villa had been cleared by the artillery. If the shelling had continued, the next wave would have hit the villa center of the estate.

Yang Ying shouted into the loudspeaker, “Who is speaking on the other side?”

“My name is Ralph. I used to work for Herman, but now I am abandoning the darkness and embracing the light, formally announcing my surrender to the Trant Mercenary Corps!” Ralph said humbly.

Yang Ying asked, “You claim Herman is dead. What proof do you have?”

Ralph immediately replied, “Commander Yang, please wait a moment. We will immediately deliver Herman’s body to you for inspection.”

Under the threat of the artillery, the pirates inside the villa exhibited twelve-tenths efficiency. In just five minutes, a magnetic vehicle delivered Herman’s body to Yang Ying’s location.

Yang Ying didn’t need to approach to check the pulse; he knew by instinct that the Herman before him had lost all vital signs.

He picked up the loudspeaker and called out, “Herman’s body has been received. Now, I demand you exit the villa, lay down your weapons, and accept my arrangements.”

“How do I know you aren’t tricking us into dropping our defenses just to eliminate us afterward?” Ralph, like all the pirates, though outlaws, valued their own lives most highly.