Chapter 81: 18. Earlobe
The yard behind Martha’s house is her private space, as it is close to the isolation wall of the house and distant from the yards of other houses. She has planted some cabbage there that she loves to eat, and she often comes here to guard it, fearing that neighboring dogs or other animals come to nibble on her vegetables.
Captain Alagina behind her surveyed the quiet surroundings. It wasn’t until she got closer that Fisher caught a whiff of a faint scent on her, fresh like sea salt, matching the color of her hair. Her form-fitting men’s suit accentuated her soft curves, proving she was not a dashing young gentleman but a young lady.
“A pirate worth 7.5 million would dare to appear so brazenly on the streets of Nali. If it were me, I would definitely consider trading your head for a lifetime of riches in Sardinia.”
Having stepped into the yard, Fisher turned to observe Alagina, who was examining her surroundings, and teased her.
She turned to look at Fisher, her gaze lingering on his Adam’s apple as she explained earnestly, “Pirates also take on some private contracts. The employer conveys requests to us through information brokers. This employer is a bit special, but the information broker was killed, and I just happened to run into that old man outside.”
“Information broker?”
Alagina nodded.
A murder case occurred on Karen Street. Alagina originally planned to find the information broker who placed their orders there, but before she found him, she discovered that he had been killed, with the scene cordoned off by the Nali Police.
From this, it could be inferred that the Iceberg Queen making an unprecedented appearance in the South Seas was to fulfill an order from a client in Nali.
“I understand. You helped Lady Martha, and in return, I should give you a token of gratitude.”
“Token of gratitude?”
“Even for the sake of completing a previous private order, as a pirate with a high bounty, you shouldn’t make an appearance on land unless there is something crucial for you to negotiate in person, such as, regarding future support from Nali.”
Alagina’s eyes flickered a few times. This time, her gaze moved completely to Fisher’s face, scrutinizing him for a long while before she calmly stated, “You are not an ordinary person.”
“I am a scholar with some insider information.”
“.”
After a moment of silence, Alagina took off the black gloves from her hands, revealing her fair-skinned palm.
“I have already talked to them. Nali’s intention is that for a long time in the future, they will not provide us with any conveniences, the ports will no longer be open to us, and the navy will symbolically expel us.”
“. That sounds quite miserable.”
As mentioned before, the three neighboring countries of the North Ocean are Shivali, Sardinia, and Nali. If the last country’s port strictly restricts the Iceberg Queen, they will have a tough time surviving in the North Ocean, as there are basically no islands for docking.
To the Nali authorities, the so-called Iceberg Queen is just a pawn that can be discarded at will, fed when needed, and kicked aside when not. If it were Fisher, he would surely be enraged and start seizing Nali’s ships.
After coming ashore and gaining more information about the Four Great Pirates, Fisher learned that the Iceberg Queen only plunders Shivali’s property and rarely endangers lives. The ships that were robbed generally return full of crew members, which is why Shivali receives so much information.
“They offered me a choice. I could abandon the ship and my companions, and they would provide me with political asylum.”
Fisher shook his head inwardly. For the New Party, political asylum is just nonsense. They simply wanted to temporarily hold the Iceberg Queen in their hands as a card they could play. If relations were good, they would hand over the Iceberg Queen, and then they could move to an even better relationship; if things went bad, they would release the Iceberg Queen and continue to plunder at sea.
“You refused them.”
Alagina’s expression rarely changed, but at this moment, her sapphire-like eyes revealed obvious determination. Upon seeing her clear eyes reminiscent of the sky, Fisher suddenly remembered that he had a necklace that Rena had stolen from her, which he should return to her as well.
“I killed a vassal king from Sardinia, and thus I escaped to the sea with my sister who rebelled with me that night.”
Sardinia practices a feudal system, and aside from the central queen, there are many vassal states surrounding the center. Vassal kings are mostly descendants of meritorious officials or royal relatives, responsible for protecting the queen and paying tribute to the center.
“That woman is my mother. She insulted my father, causing him to die in resentment. That rebellion was my personal grudge. My sisters and friends were forced to escape to the sea due to my personal feud, unable to land, and now it is my turn to make a choice; I cannot abandon them either.”
Her aristocratic, beautiful face showed no change in expression, but Fisher could still hear the turbulent emotions beneath her flat statements.
So she was a descendant of a vassal king from Sardinia, no wonder her demeanor looked so different from that of a pirate.
The sun in the sky began to set slightly, and a breeze carried from who knows where, lifting the lady’s white hair a bit. Fisher caught a glimpse of her delicate earlobes hidden beneath, contrasting sharply with her fair and calm face. At that moment, the small, shiny earlobes had taken on a layer of visible pink, resembling the most delicious cherries.
Fisher froze momentarily; in the next moment, her white hair fell back, covering the revealing earlobes, leaving only the calm and cold Alagina.
“I see, I understand,” Fisher sighed and reached into his chest, grasping the cool necklace, “As I’ve said before, I am a scholar, currently researching subhuman races. A month ago, after you left our ship, I captured a subhuman from the ocean.”
“Subhuman?”
Alagina tilted her head slightly, pondering the term in Fisher’s words.
“Ah, she said she stole a lady’s belongings from a nearby ship and returned the item to me. I didn’t know if it was the valuable item you were looking for.”
He took out the blue necklace; at first sight, Alagina recognized it as the one she had lost.
Her deep blue eyes trembled like the gems embedded in the necklace, yet she looked beyond the necklace held by Fisher and stared straight at him.
In the next moment, she suddenly reached out, her fair hand gently pressing against Fisher’s chest, pushing him against the wall of the neighboring yard. Just as Fisher furrowed his brow and was about to speak, she lowered her head excessively and said to him,
“Earlier, the lady I returned to you was very talkative. She shared a lot about her excellent child with me.”
Just as she said that, Fisher’s body stiffened slightly at the thought of the excuse he used last time to shake off this woman, claiming that he was already married to Renee. However, Martha knew his true situation; she loved to promote her handsome single friend, Fisher, who was 28 years old, to anyone she met.
Could it be that she awkwardly shared this with Alagina?
Alagina slightly lowered her head, obscuring Fisher’s view of her handsome face. All he could feel was her cool breath on his neck and her soft, calm voice,
“She said you are not married yet and you would really like to have a child?”
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(End of chapter)
