The first appearance of this light was utterly silent, but as it accelerated, it emitted a piercing shriek in the air, then curved through the sky in an elliptical trajectory. The target was clearly the pirate Sigma; wherever it passed, it scoured a vacuum in the airborne dust. Sigma struck out with his cutlass to no avail; the result was that the light pierced a gaping hole directly through his throat!

The instant the light burst forth from his throat, Fang Senyan could see the scenery behind, even through the hole the projectile tore, before the blood could surge forth!

Despite having just claimed a life, the momentum of this throat-piercing strike had not waned—it was still at its apex. As Sigma’s eyes bulged in incredulous rage and blood gushed from his wound, it ripped through the chest of the pirate standing directly behind him with a sharp whap, sending him half-flying backward. With a smack, he slammed against the stone wall of the distant castle, his bloodied corpse sliding down slowly, as if splashing a streak of gruesome ink onto the ancient masonry.

Perhaps due to the escalating agony in his head, Scar Henry’s reactions remained remarkably sluggish. His massive frame, however, meant he was statistically more likely to be struck by the incoming arrows. But for the other pirates, these arrows were lethal strikes; for the monster Henry, whose health points were at least 1300 and whose defense was no less than 5, the arrows merely inflicted severe injury upon lodging in his flesh, proving non-fatal. Five or six arrows were embedded in him, the shafts sunk more than a foot deep, the exposed nocks trembling weakly!

At this moment, Scar Henry seemed to awaken from a deep stupor. He gasped for breath and lifted his head, just as the scarlet blood erupting from Sigma’s throat sprayed directly across the Viking giant's face.

In that instant, Scar Henry’s eyes flared a violent, bloodshot red. The linen tunic across his chest instantly ripped apart, shredded by the bulging muscles beneath, scattering like pieces of butterfly wings. Even the long arrows lodged in his body were violently pushed out by an inch or two.

Far away, concealed in a safe zone, Fang Senyan felt the hairs on his arms stand erect. In that very moment, he perceived a massive black hole forming, centered on Scar Henry, sucking all the surrounding air toward the core!

Fang Senyan’s pupils constricted instantaneously. He realized something: he had missed a great show half an hour ago, but now the lead actor, Mr. Henry, seemed ready for an encore, even if it appeared he would pay a considerable price for it!

Scar Henry drew a deep breath. This action caused the veins on his neck and head to swell like greenish serpents, and his bloodshot eyes bulged nearly two centimeters out of their sockets! As he inhaled, his mouth first, then his throat, expanded terrifyingly, as if a basketball had been forcibly crammed inside. This sensation involuntarily made Fang Senyan think of a toad. The swelling then rapidly moved downwards, traversing Henry’s entire body before settling in his right hand… This caused Henry’s right fist to swell into a grotesque shape utterly disproportionate to the rest of his body.

Then, Scar Henry brought his heavy right fist down, slamming it onto the floor in front of him!

Simultaneously, all the arrows embedded in his body flew back out in reverse, falling to the ground amidst bloody shreds of tissue.

Only the faint silver sheen on his skin remained.

The instant his fist struck the solid floor, one could clearly see his massive right arm instantly return to normal, while the ground before him swelled up unnaturally, a huge mound rising rapidly and extending toward the distant darkness! It looked as if the breath Scar Henry had forcefully inhaled was circulating inside him before being injected into the earth with overwhelming power!

Muscle explosion!

The entire castle shook violently once more. One could distinctly feel its very foundation trembling in an indescribable manner. At the same time, several streams of blood jetted out from the arrow holes in the right stone wall, spraying out as if forcefully squeezed, hissing as they struck the ground, where scraps of muscle tissue could still be vaguely discerned. Clearly, the enemies operating the mechanisms in the shadows had been crushed to death by the sheer force of the punch.

But concurrently, a strange sound emanated from Scar Henry’s body, reminiscent of a soaking wet bedsheet being violently wrung out, then tearing apart under unbearable strain. Then, he collapsed forward with a massive thud, like a mountain giving way entirely. On the ground, Scar Henry’s body spasmed irregularly. Large patches of deep bruising appeared all over him. If Fang Senyan possessed rudimentary medical knowledge, he could have made the following accurate diagnosis:

Condition: Severe systemic muscle laceration. Cause: Reduced muscle elasticity due to fatigue.

Although Scar Henry had once again unleashed his formidable power to kill the hidden enemies controlling the mechanisms, the pirates were already decimated beforehand. They had numbered just over twenty remaining, and the previous horrifying volley had immediately wiped out nearly half of them; the survivors were all wounded. It was worth noting that Pirate Charlie, who had charged forward with Scar Henry, was lucky enough to sustain only a single arrow in the arm—perhaps because his skill level was too low for anyone to specifically target him.

Under these circumstances, Fang Senyan, the only one relatively unharmed, did not step forward to mock them with words like, "You deserved it for not listening to my advice." Instead, he silently walked out from his safe position to bandage the wounds of everyone remaining, staunch the bleeding, and tidy the appearance of the dead.

Undoubtedly, after performing these duties, Fang Senyan earned the unanimous support of the remaining seven or eight pirates without saying a word... of course, this might also have been related to Scar Henry’s continued silence. Although they were now only a mere few dozen meters from the castle gate, everyone looked toward it filled with dread. It wasn't until Fang Senyan took the lead, hoisting a heavy chest, and walked toward the exit that they moved.

"It should be safe now," Fang Senyan said with certainty. "The ones who started dying were the last defensive forces of this castle. If they had a few more people operating the mechanisms, not a single one of you would have survived."

Led by Fang Senyan, the remaining pirates finally escaped with five heavy chests of treasure. Scar Henry, still supported by two men, staggered out of Tortuga Castle. His gaze toward Fang Senyan was complex, but he finally sighed and followed behind him. Less than ten minutes after they left, another group of pirates frantically rushed into the castle to begin looting. Had Fang Senyan and his group left even a moment later, a devastating conflict would have undoubtedly erupted between the two parties.

By this time, the sea surface had turned into a chaotic mess, the raging battle flames dyeing the entire night sky red. Clearly, using the riches of Tortuga Port as a trigger, a massive melee had broken out among the pirates during the robbery—perhaps a piece of plunder was stolen, or perhaps an utterly common disagreement escalated into a large brawl and riot. By the time this group of pirates, exhausted and panting, finally reached the prearranged rendezvous point, they found that the strategically located cove was already ablaze; the ferry barge sent to meet them had been used by the out-of-control pirates as a tool for venting their fury. Furthermore, the three pirates who had carried the signal flares for communication in the group had none survived.

Fortunately, Heaven did not completely seal off their escape. Relying on their familiarity with the local geography, the group searched nearby harbors capable of docking ships and were surprised to find a small sloop anchored there. The men left on board were clearly pirates too, only about a dozen of them, and they appeared to be the weak, elderly, and infirm left behind to meet their shore-based comrades. The elite, vicious fighters from the (Bell Lock) and (Wine Cup) were all seasoned veterans. Despite their injuries, they had recovered some strength, and under the leadership of the pivotal figure Fang Senyan, they swarmed forward, hacking down the remaining pirates on the boat and successfully seizing the single-masted sailboat, nearly fifteen meters long.

Although Fang Senyan and his group were temporarily safe, the impending problems were immediate. The surviving pirates could barely manage to sail the sloop, but they certainly couldn't fight or defend themselves. In other words, if they encountered an enemy ship at sea, they were essentially doomed.

Looking at the chaotic scene on the water, even though everyone knew the (Bell Edge) and (Wine Cup) were about ten nautical miles to the west, no one dared suggest sailing directly toward them.

Someone proposed sending a scout out to notify Armand to meet them, but when it came to choosing the messenger, everyone became tight-lipped. They all knew the fate awaiting anyone attempting to cross the chaotic Tortuga Port in their wounded and exhausted state.

After some discussion, Fang Senyan proposed a route that skirted around the island to the north. The consequence of this was extending the return journey by more than half an hour, but it increased their safety by at least eighty percent. Given the horrific precedent set by the brutal encounter at the castle exit, opposition to Fang Senyan’s proposal was sparse and quickly quelled.