Chương 153

The wooden docks creaked under the heavy weight of the pirate crew. There were at least thirty of them. They carried rusty cutlasses, heavy wooden clubs, and loaded crossbows. They smelled like cheap rum and unwashed sweat. They marched forward, kicking over empty buckets and shouting loud, messy threats. But their leader, Mayor Gunt, suddenly stopped walking. The fat man in the silk coat stared at Rudra. The game didn't give the Mayor a flashing red warning sign.

It was just a heavy, suffocating feeling in his chest. Rudra's insanely high Charm and Dignity stats were doing the heavy lifting in the background. To the stupid pirate grunts, Rudra was just a guy in a black coat. To the Mayor, Rudra felt like a walking natural disaster. Gunt started to sweat. He pulled out a silk handkerchief and wiped his forehead. His knees actually wobbled.

"Boss? Why are we stopping?" a pirate with a missing front tooth asked. He pointed his cutlass at Rudra.

"That's the guy! He threw Barnaby into the water!" Rudra rested the black lightning staff, Extortion, on his shoulder. He took a casual step forward. The sea breeze blew the flaps of his trench coat back.

"You're the Mayor, right?" Rudra asked. His voice wasn't loud. He didn't yell. He just spoke like he was asking for directions to a local tavern. Mayor Gunt swallowed hard.

"I... I am the appointed leader of this island. Yes."

"I hear you charge these people ten gold just for dirty drinking water," Rudra said. He glanced back at the starving villagers sitting by the cauldron, happily eating the stew.

"And you hoard all the fresh food up on that hill. Is that true?" Gunt took a step back. His survival instincts were screaming at him to run back to his mansion and lock the heavy iron doors.

"It is a harsh island," Gunt lied, his voice shaking.

"We have to manage our resources carefully. The taxes are... necessary for their protection."

"Protection from what?" Rudra laughed.

"You're the only ones hurting them." The pirate with the missing tooth stepped forward. He clearly didn't feel the same crushing pressure his boss did. He just saw a single traveler insulting their racket.

"Watch your mouth, outsider," the pirate snarled. He raised his cutlass, trying to look intimidating.

"You're outnumbered thirty to one. Hand over that fancy staff and all your gold, and maybe we'll just break your legs instead of killing you." Rudra looked at the pirate. Then he looked at the other twenty-nine thugs standing behind him. He let out a long, tired sigh. He didn't activate any of his legendary skills. He didn't trigger Atlas's Rebound or Typhoon. Using high-tier skills on these guys would be a total waste of Staff Energy. It would be like using a cannon to swat a mosquito.

Actually, using his staff at all felt like overkill.

"Kratos," Rudra said, stepping back for a second. He slammed the blunt end of Extortion straight down into the wooden dock. The heavy staff bit deep into the planks, standing straight up on its own.

"Watch the staff. And don't let them spill the soup."

"Got it," the half-gold, half-black lion barked. He sat firmly in front of the iron cauldron, licking his chops. Rudra rolled his shoulders. He didn't take a formal martial arts stance. He just walked right into the middle of the pirate crew with his bare hands.

"Get him!" the toothless pirate yelled, swinging his sword. Rudra ducked. He didn't even look at the blade. He just stepped inside the pirate's guard, pulled his right hand back, and delivered a crisp, open-handed slap directly across the pirate's cheek. Smack. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. It wasn't a magic spell. But the raw, unbuffed physical weight of Rudra's high Strength stat was completely absurd. The pirate's eyes rolled back in his head. His feet left the ground.

He spun like a top, dropped his sword, and collapsed onto the wooden planks, completely knocked out cold.

"One," Rudra counted out loud. The other pirates yelled in anger. They rushed him all at once.

"Why isn't he using his weapon?!" one of them yelled, thrusting a spear. Rudra just sighed. He moved through the crowd like he was doing a mundane chore. He didn't jump into the air. He didn't do any flashy flips. He just stepped side to side, treating the whole fight like a game of whack-a-mole. Smack. He slapped a pirate in the jaw. The guy folded like a wet towel. Smack. Another pirate tried to shoot a crossbow.

Rudra casually swatted the bolt out of the air, stepped forward, and slapped the shooter right across the forehead. The pirate slumped against a barrel, snoring instantly.

"Four. Five. Six," Rudra mumbled, keeping tally. It was a total breeze. The pirates were tripping over each other trying to reach him. Rudra just kept his hands moving. A left-handed slap. A backhand. A quick tap to the temple. He knocked them out cold one by one. He slapped a pirate into a stack of empty crates. He slapped another one so hard the guy spun right over the edge of the dock and splashed into the ocean. The villagers watched in absolute silence.

They were holding their wooden bowls of stew, completely stunned. They expected a massive, bloody battle. Instead, they were watching a guy in a black coat casually dismantle an entire gang with nothing but bare-handed slaps. Within three minutes, twenty-nine pirates were groaning on the floor, out cold. Many of them had bright red handprints blooming on their cheeks. Mayor Gunt was the only one left standing. The fat man looked at his defeated crew. He looked at Rudra, who wasn't even breathing hard.

Gunt dropped his fancy walking stick. He turned around and sprinted toward the dirt road leading up the hill. He ran surprisingly fast for a guy his size.

"Hey, we aren't done talking," Rudra called out. Rudra didn't chase him. He just jogged a few steps, stuck his foot out, and kicked a loose piece of driftwood straight at the Mayor's legs. The wood spun through the air and caught Gunt right in the ankles.

"Waaaaah!" Gunt yelled. The Mayor tripped hard. He face-planted directly into the dirt, sliding a few feet before coming to a stop. He groaned, spitting a mouthful of sand. Rudra walked over slowly. Gunt tried to scramble to his feet, but Rudra just raised his hand and smacked the back of the Mayor's head. It wasn't a hard hit, but it was enough. Gunt's eyes crossed, and he slumped back into the dirt, totally unconscious. Rudra looked around.

He spotted a thick coil of heavy mooring rope sitting near a fishing boat. He grabbed the rope and walked back to the Mayor.

"Kratos, come here and hold this," Rudra called out. The lion trotted over. He grabbed one end of the rope in his teeth. Rudra grabbed the other end and started wrapping the Mayor up. He tied the fat man's arms and legs together tightly. He rolled him over a few times, wrapping the heavy rope around him until Gunt looked like a giant, silk-coated burrito.

"There," Rudra said, dusting off his hands.

"That should hold him." Rudra walked back to the docks. He pulled his staff out of the wooden planks and rested it on his shoulder. The villagers were staring at him. They didn't look scared of him anymore, but they looked incredibly worried. The skinny old man who had spoken to him earlier stepped forward. He held his empty soup bowl tightly against his chest.

"You beat them," the old man whispered, looking at the bodies.

"You actually beat them all."

"I told you I'd handle it," Rudra smiled. He walked over to his cauldron and grabbed a towel to wipe his hands.

"But... but what happens when you leave?" the old man asked. His voice shook.

"They will just wake up. The Mayor has more men at his mansion. They will come down here and burn our boats for letting this happen. We have nowhere to run." The other villagers murmured in agreement. They were grateful for the meal, but they knew the reality of their situation. This was an isolated island. There was no kingdom patrol coming to save them. Rudra looked at the crowd. There were about three hundred people living in the miserable port town. They were skinny, wearing rags, and completely exhausted.

He didn't want to just leave them here. That wasn't his style.

"You don't have to stay here," Rudra said simply. The old man blinked.

"What do you mean? We have no money for passage on a ship. And no other town will take starving refugees."

"I will," Rudra said. He leaned against his staff and looked at the crowd.

"My name is Rudra," he announced. His voice was calm, but his high Dignity stat made his words carry across the docks perfectly.

"I am the Duke of the Stormbreak Territory. It's a massive city on the mainland coast." The villagers gasped. A Duke? They thought he was just a wandering mercenary.

"My city has high stone walls," Rudra continued.

"We have clean drinking water. We have a massive public dining hall where you can get three hot meals a day for free. We have a farm, a magic tower, and a fully armed militia." The old man stared at him.

"A... a safe place? Truly?"

"Yes," Rudra nodded.

"But I won't lie to you. It's a working city. I need farmers to help Piaro in the fields. I need builders to help fix the roads. I need normal, hardworking people to keep the town running. If you are willing to work, you will never starve again. And nobody will ever charge you a single copper coin for water." The docks went completely silent.