Chapter 276. Like a Pirate (1)
This was Oros, the port city of the Neon Kingdom.
The already somber atmosphere, darkened by the collapse of the royal family, grew even more ominous with a new piece of news. Every resident of Oros wore the same grim expression as they stared toward the harbor.
Several ships were docking—each bearing flags of different colors, snapping in the wind. And from those ships emerged men and women who could only be described as terrifying.
"Mom... Who are those people...?" a child asked.
"Shh. Stay quiet. Whatever you do, don't make eye contact with them," the child's mother said.
Pirates were the lawless scourge of the sea. In the Neon Kingdom, where law and order had crumbled after years of war, they were nothing short of nightmares. They pillaged coastal villages, bled fishermen dry, and acted with utter impunity.
Especially for the people of Oros, who lived in a harbor city, the pirates' cruelty was all too familiar. So the citizens could only watch in paralyzed fear as the pirates came ashore.
Even the harbor guards, who were supposed to defend the docks, pointedly ignored the pirates, because these were no ordinary outlaws.
These pirates were the guests of the man who had seized the kingdom—the Mercenary King.
"That flag..." one of the sailors said.
"...That's the Pirate Queen's crew. The Queen herself... She's really here..." another sailor muttered.
Some veteran sailors recognized the banner, adorned with a snake-entwined skull, and immediately knew who had arrived.