Episode 163

Giving with One Hand, Taking with the Other(3)

The pirate expertly steered the boat alone, maintaining balance against the fierce waves.

The waves were choppy, but he balanced them with ease and pushed forward. But his hands were shaking.

Not because of the terrifying waves, but because of the demon at his back. The boat rocked wildly with the waves, but he stood unfazed, arms crossed, rooted to the deck as if he were part of the boat itself.

After boarding, he had not uttered a single word, merely gazing forward silently. This silence was more terrifying to the pirate than any threat could have been.

Silently cursing his luck, the pirate considered jumping into the sea to escape. The waves were too high for such an attempt, making escape by water impossible.

‘Still, if I get to the Haewang Archipelago, I’ll be able to survive. No matter how strong he is, he won’t be able to handle everyone on the Island’ The pirate thought to himself.

He decided to run for his life as soon as he reached the Haewang Archipelago, as it was the only way he could survive.

As he sailed, he made these complex calculations in his head.

As Haewang Archipelago came into view, cloaked in mist, a cluster of islands appeared.

The pirate steered his boat toward the island in the center of the archipelago. As they neared the bay, he squinted at Lee Gwak.

Lee Gwak still looked straight ahead. The pirate decided that this was his only chance to live. From this distance, he could easily swim to the island and escape.

It was nearly impossible for Lee Gwak to follow him, as long as he didn’t know how to steer the boat.

“Now!

The pirate hurled himself into the sea.

Splash!

The water exploded as the pirate dived in. But his body would never resurface again. Instead, the spot where he jumped turned red as blood spread like paint, soon disappearing without a trace.

Swish!

Just before the pirate jumped into the sea, Lee Gwak’s sword had cut off his breath. However, he did not even feel it, such was the sharpness of Lee Gwak’s blade.

Lee Gwak took over the steering of the boat in place of the Pirate.

The pirate had guessed that Lee Gwak would not know how to steer, but Lee Gwak did know how. He had learned a bit from the sailors in the Azure Maritime Company.

Heading towards the outer cliffs of the Haewang Archipelago, Lee Gwak chose a risky route lined with reefs that acted as natural breakwaters. It was his deliberate choice, aimed at areas where the boat would be destroyed on approach.

Crack!

The boat struck a reef, damaging the rudder and hull. Water rushed in through the breaches, destabilizing the vessel. The boat lost its rudder and pitched violently. At that moment, Lee Gwak leaped towards the cliff. He stepped on the jutting reefs a few times before clinging to the cliff like a bat.

Abandoned, the boat drifted, colliding with reefs until it finally sank. Lee Gwak looked on for a moment before using his Qigong to climb the cliff and disappear from sight.

Upon crossing the cliff, he saw a port and a village nestled within the bay. It was the main base of the Nine Shadows Fleet.

As darkness fell, the bustling people at the port were seen lighting fires. They were unloading cargo from a large ship.

Lee Gwak sensed that these were goods plundered by the Azure Maritime Company.

The pirates laughed and chattered as they carried the cargo.

“Sigh!”

A heavy sigh escaped Lee Gwak’s lips as he watched.

Quietly, he descended the cliff and headed toward the village where the pirates lived, acting as if he had always lived there.

Because of this, some of the pirates who saw him did not find anything unusual about his appearance.

As expected of a place where pirates lived, the village was dirty. Trash and liquor bottles were strewn everywhere, and the foul stench of sewage filled the air.

Then, suddenly:

“Ha ha ha!”

“Aaah!”

A loud laughter and a scream sounded simultaneously from a square on the left side of the village.

Lee Gwak moved towards the source of the scream.

Arriving at the square, a chill ran through him at the sight before his eyes.

People who appeared to have been captured from the Azure Maritime Company were bound and kneeling in a row.

Around them, pirates were drinking with women in their arms. The nearly naked women did not dare to resist and were being toyed with by the pirates.

In the center stood a muscular man without a shirt.

The man, whose abdomen was tightly wrapped in white cloth, was Mad Shark Yu San-ok, the vice leader of the Nine Shadows Fleet.

Yu San-ok held a liquor bottle with beautiful women by his sides.

“Ha! Never thought we’d meet again like this, huh? Ha! Spit!”

Yu San-ok spat phlegm at Ahn Yu-san, who was kneeling.

The phlegm-covered face of Ahn Yu-san was already badly damaged. His face was swollen, blackened, and bruised to the point of being unrecognizable from the many blows he had received during his capture.

Beside him lay Mok So-pung, equally ravaged and unconscious on the ground.

Ahn Yu-san struggled to lift his head and glared at Yu San-ok.

“You bastards will surely receive divine punishment.”

“Divine punishment? Ha ha ha!”

Yu San-ok burst into laughter.

His grip tightened, causing the women by his side to grimace in pain. However, they gritted their teeth and endured the pain.

Crossing Yu San-ok could mean instant death.

The women being toyed with by the pirates, including those in Yu San-ok’s arms, were all captured while passing through the nearby sea.

Some had been held captive for more than a year, and the most recent captures were brought here ten days ago. The women in Yu San-ok’s arms were among those captured then.

The captured women experienced hell.

They were repeatedly raped and trampled upon. Any slight disobedience could lead to death. Naturally, they had no choice but to obey.

The women were thoroughly tamed as playthings.

The king of this place was the fleet leader, Dam Il-cheon. In Dam Il-cheon’s absence, Yu San-ok was the king.

At this moment, Yu San-ok was the king.

One by one, Yu San-ok was killing the martial artists of the Azure Maritime Company that they had captured from Haenam Island.

The reasons were trivial.

It could be because he didn’t like their faces, or perhaps their tone of voice was irksome.

In truth, the reasons were not important to him. He had intended to kill all those who had been brought here anyway.

The only reason they were not killed immediately upon capture from Haenam Island was because there were a few things to find out from the likes of Ahn Yu-san.

Now that everything had been learned, there was no reason to keep Ahn Yu-san alive.

Yu San-ok grinned, revealing his yellow teeth.

“You will never see me receive divine punishment. Because I am about to cut off your head right now.”

At Yu San-ok’s gesture, one of his men approached Ahn Yu-san with a large executioner’s sword, already smeared with fresh blood.

“Huh!”

The pirate swung the executioner’s sword in front of Ahn Yu-san, threatening him with the sharp wind from the blade. Ahn Yu-san closed his eyes tightly.

‘So this is where my life ends.’

It is said that when faced with death, one’s life flashes before one’s eyes, and that’s exactly what happened to Ahn Yu-san. Everything that had happened since he took over the Azure Maritime Company flashed through his mind in an instant.

The last thought that came to his mind was of his family waiting for him back home.

‘I’m sorry.’

Ahn Yu-san bid his farewell in his heart and looked at Mok So-pung and others. He felt uneasy about leaving his family-like companions behind.

“I’ll go ahead and wait for you. Take your time. It’s been tough dealing with a poor leader like me.”

“Leader!”

“Sob!”

People from the Azure Maritime Company cried bloody tears as they looked at Ahn Yu-san.

“Ha! I can’t watch this any longer.”

The pirate raised the executioner’s sword high. And then he forcefully swung it down towards Ahn Yu-san.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

At that moment, a clear sound of metal clashing and someone’s stifled groan echoed.
Surprised, Ahn Yu-san opened his eyes to see the pirate, who was about to strike him with the executioner’s sword, stagger back.

The pirate’s face was twisted in pain, and the hand that held the sword was torn open, bleeding profusely.

On the ground lay the broken executioner’s sword and a stone the size of a child’s fist. The stone, which had flown just before the pirate could strike Ahn Yu-san’s neck, not only broke the sword, but also tore through the pirate’s protective gear.

The pirate stepped back five steps before finally collapsing weakly to the ground.

Not only the hand that held the sword but even his insides were shaken to the point he couldn’t stand. The power contained in that small rock was beyond imagination.

“Who is it?”

Yu San-ok sprang to his feet, causing the women beside him to roll on the ground, but he paid them no mind.

His gaze turned to a man standing there. Because of the backlight, a deep shadow was cast, making it impossible to recognize the face. However, even just by the figure, Yu San-ok realized who it was.

“It’s him.”

The martial artist who had once overpowered him, known as the tyrant of the sea, leaving him unconscious for almost a day with a single strike.

It was natural for Yu San-ok to remember the face of Lee Gwak, who had inflicted such a humiliating experience on him.

The pirates who had been toying with the women all stood up, weapons in hand.

“You’ve got guts, daring to come here.”

Yu San-ok glared at Lee Gwak with a sinister look, but there was no fear on his face.

When he had attacked the Azure Maritime Company, he had done so recklessly without knowing better, but this was their stronghold. Unlike on the narrow confines of a ship, here hundreds of pirates could attack Lee Gwak all at once. Among them were many martial artists worthy of being called the elite of the Nine Shadows Fleet.

Although the pirates’ gaze was fixed on him, Lee Gwak was not looking at them.

The person Lee Gwak was looking at was Ahn Yu-san and Mok So-pung.

“Are you alright?”

“Yo… how did you?”

Ahn Yu-san forced his swollen eyes open to look at Lee Gwak. A myriad of emotions flickered through his eyes.

“I will save you soon. Please wait a bit.”

At the sound of Lee Gwak’s voice, tears welled up in Ahn Yu-san’s eyes, feeling an inexplicable sense of relief.

“Impudent brat!”

Yu San-ok gritted his teeth looking at Lee Gwak.

Holding a sword, Yu San-ok shouted to his men.

“Kill him!”

“Waaaah!”

The pirates surged towards Lee Gwak like a tidal wave.

The sight of these fierce-looking men charging together, emitting killing intent, was terrifying enough to haunt one’s dreams. However, Lee Gwak, who faced their killing intent alone, did not show a hint of trembling on his expression.

Lee Gwak walked towards them, gripping his blade with strength.

The leading pirate swung his sword with all his might.

“Die!”

Whoosh!

The sword cut through the air fiercely.

Shiit!

At that moment, Lee Gwak’s blade was drawn, slicing through the void.

The pirate attacking Lee Gwak blinked in disbelief as his arm holding the sword flew through the air. Lee Gwak’s blade had sliced off his forearm.

“Aaagh!”

Realizing the situation too late, the pirate screamed in agony. Lee Gwak’s knee then crashed into the pirate’s abdomen.

The pirate’s body crumbled like a sandcastle.

This was just the beginning.

Lee Gwak quickened his pace.

Sssh! Shiit!

Silver blade qi flickered around his body. Every time it did, pirates charging at Lee Gwak fell screaming in agony.

Some were slashed by the blade, others were struck by fists or elbows.

Those cut by the sword fell spraying blood, while those hit by fists crumbled with broken bones.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

A man whose lower abdomen was pierced by Lee Gwak’s blade widened his eyes. He felt his dantian shattering.

The loss of the dantian, the source of internal energy, meant that the internal energy painstakingly accumulated over the years dispersed into nothingness.

“Oh no!”

His face turned deathly pale.

He had lived a life of tyranny, relying solely on his internal energy and martial skills. Without his internal energy, all that remained was his mere physical body.

The destruction of the dantian meant not just the loss of internal energy. The strength often referred to as the core energy also originated from the dantian.

With the dantian destroyed, the harmony of the muscles connecting the upper and lower body was also disrupted, rendering one incapable of exerting strength. One becomes even less capable than a common person.

For a martial artist, it was akin to a death sentence.

Sssh! Ssshh!

Lee Gwak’s blade continuously emitted sharp, cutting sounds.

Some lost their lives, others their arms, and some had their dantians hollowed out.
Lee Gwak set the criteria.

Death for those with strong martial skills or intense killing intent, and for those emitting malicious auras, he punctured their dantians.

For those weaker, he broke their bones.

In an instant, the square turned into a sea of blood.

The pirates who had attacked Lee Gwak were either dead, unable to speak, or divided among those groaning in pain.

“Ugh!”

“Save me!”

Those who had their lives spared cried out in agony.

It was a veritable Asura hell.

A hell created by Lee Gwak.

He walked through this hell.

‘No matter how fierce the storm may be, it will not shake me; steel is my heart, and this blade is my will.’

Lee Gwak had a will of steel.