Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2356: Chapter 2357: Encirclement

”Can you cure the poison?” Birch asked hurriedly. Although he didn’t particularly like Renko’s ways, through Captain Baro’s teachings, he understood Renko’s significance and irreplaceability. Moreover, their strength was weak; if they were found, only Renko could handle the pursuers.

”Yes, little flea, can you cure the poison?” Baro also rushed over anxiously.

The little flea was silent for a moment and shook his head, ”Without being able to identify the type of poison, I can’t detoxify it. And even if I knew the type of poison, without the necessary antidote herbs and experimental tools, it’s impossible.”

”So, Mr. Renko... is beyond help?”

The little flea looked at Renko’s pale face and fell silent.

Renko: ”You... you’re Little Flea, right? Can I also call you Little Flea? Just tell me the answer, if... if I’m going to die, at least I have time to leave some last words.”

The little flea didn’t speak but pondered for a moment, then took out a stethoscope he carried with him, leaned on Renko’s chest, and carefully listened to his heartbeat.

After a long while, the little flea said, ”The sound flowing through the veins is as loud as a torrent. Perhaps there is still hope.”

Birch’s eyes lit up: ”Really?”

The little flea nodded, ”Mr. Renko’s physique is quite strong, even with poison, it takes some time to completely invade. During this time, if the corresponding poison can be identified, I have ways to concoct an antidote. However...”

At this point, the little flea paused, lowered his head, and suddenly stopped speaking.

Birch anxiously asked, ”But what?”

Baro patted Birch’s shoulder, ”What Little Flea means is that to save Renko, we must find a way to find the person who poisoned him and then have the appropriate medical equipment. That is to say—”

”We need to fight our way back to Dock 1.”

Fight back... Birch was stunned. They had just escaped from Dock 1, and now they had to fight back? With just a few of them, and Baro was injured, Renko was poisoned, how would they fight back?

Baro clearly understood Birch, and seeing his confused expression, knew what he was thinking.

”It’s definitely impossible to fight back now. The only way is to wait... wait for them to leave here, and then quickly return to the Moon Glow Ship. There are some medical facilities onboard that might hold Renko’s injuries at bay. Then we lead others to fight back to Dock 1!”

Birch: ”Is that the only way?”

Baro nodded, ”There’s no other way. With just the few of us, we can’t storm Dock 1.”

Birch: ”But can we really defeat Master Man?”

Baro: ”Even if we can’t defeat him, we have to fight. It’s the only way. More importantly, the primary concern now isn’t whether we can defeat Master Man, but whether Mr. Renko can last that long.”

Everyone looked at Renko.

Renko: ”I don’t want to die. I’ll try to hold on...”

Baro looked deeply at Renko for a long time before sighing, ”You, why did you decide to follow us today? If you hadn’t come...”

Birch interjected: ”If Mr. Renko hadn’t come, we’d be the ones dead.”

”Thanks to Mr. Renko this time. Just never thought the people on the Broken Blood were so treacherous to use poison.” Birch showed a look of indignation.

Just before, when they went to see that woman, they were accidentally discovered. Five or six of the people from the Broken Blood came out, and it was just Birch and Baro, surrounded by the people from the Broken Blood. Birch was almost scared to the point of wetting himself, thinking they’d definitely be leaving in body bags today. At this critical moment of life and death, Renko descended like a hero, directly fighting against a hundred people, saving them.

Originally, they thought they could escape without worry, but unexpectedly, such an accident happened.

Renko turned to Birch: ”If you’re grateful to me, remember what I’m about to say...”

Birch dumbfounded: ”Huh?”

Renko’s pale lips slightly curved: ”Last words.”

”If I die, I hope you remember my words and do something for me. If I don’t die, then forget it.”

Without waiting for Birch to agree, Renko began to speak his final words in a trembling and faint voice.

Renko’s last words didn’t contain any intense content, just a simple recount of his life and the dreams he might never fulfill. Finally, he made a simple request to Birch: if Birch ever had the chance to leave Ghost Ship Dock Island, to deliver news of his death to his distant family.

Everyone heard Renko’s last words, but no one spoke.

The air was heavy, uncertain whether it was due to the stagnant airflow inside the stone or the group’s pent-up emotions.

Renko then smiled and turned to Baro, ”Captain Baro, I haven’t asked you, why did you come to Dock 1 this time?”

In truth, Renko didn’t care about the answer; he asked just to lighten the atmosphere.

”To see a woman.” Birch lowered his head, blaming himself, ”It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have egged the captain on.”

Renko: ”Was it the woman the captain was carrying earlier? Oh, I was just curious, who exactly is that woman? The captain seems to have something unusual for her?”

Both Birch and the little flea looked over; just moments ago, when they urged Captain Baro to abandon the woman, he refused without hesitation, showing he definitely had abnormal feelings for her.

Baro’s throat moved: ”Still, you should keep quiet, don’t talk, lest the poison spreads faster.”

Renko, with his pale face, bore nearly the same smile as ever, ”Even if I die, let me die knowing a bit more, please?”

Baro was silent for a moment, then sighed softly, nodding gently, ”Alright, I’ll tell you who she is.”

Baro turned to look at the unconscious woman behind him, his eyes inadvertently flashing a hint of fanaticism and admiration, ”You all know, before I joined the Moon Glow Ship, I was a Pirate. But you may not know why I became a Pirate.”

Birch played along: ”Why?”

Baro: ”It was to follow her. Not just becoming a Pirate, but I left the Pirates because of her as well.”

The little flea also became curious about the woman’s identity: ”Who on earth is she?”

Baro: ”You may have heard her name; she is the Crownless King of the Blackberry Sea Area, Asberu.”

”Asberu?” Renko chewed on the name, ”It feels like I’ve heard it somewhere before.”

The little flea thought for a moment, ”I feel like I’ve heard it too, but I can’t quite place it.”

Asberu, Asberu.

Baro: ”She is the Pirate King I admire most, my spiritual belief, so no matter what, I won’t leave her...”

Just as Baro’s words reached halfway, the ground suddenly began to heave and sway.

Everyone’s thoughts immediately snapped back, and the little flea gestured ”shh,” whispering, ”Stop talking, it seems they’ve caught up.”

”As long as we keep quiet, they shouldn’t find anything.”

Everyone nodded, holding their silence.

The air instantly turned silent; the only sound they could hear was the pounding of their own hearts.

The footsteps outside kept pacing back and forth, and for those hiding inside the stone cave, a few seconds felt stretched infinitely long.

No way they’ll find us, definitely not. Birch clasped his hands together in prayer.

Not just Birch, everyone else was praying silently too.

They had cleaned up all traces outside, even the bloodstains washed away, surely there would be no problem. They thought so.

The course of events indeed went as they imagined; some footsteps approached the stones but ultimately found nothing unusual and gradually moved away.

”They’re not here. They must be farther inside. Let’s keep searching!” someone shouted.

With a round of responses, they could clearly hear that the ground’s tremors began to recede, and the footsteps grew fainter.

It seems like they managed to evade them this time.

Everyone exchanged glances, wearing expressions of survival joy.

However, they were happy too soon, just as the footsteps were about to fade, a voice suddenly spoke up: ”Is it the vice-captain? What are you doing here? I just heard some noise and saw flames from Dock No. 1. What happened?”

”Is that so? So you were looking for them. Haha, I know where they are.”

As this voice spoke, confusion flickered in the eyes of those in the stone cave. Who was this person speaking?

Baro seemed to recall something and whispered, ”It sounds like Half-ear.”

Earlier, he had tricked Half-ear into the woods and then sneakily entered the dock. Unexpectedly, Half-ear was now appearing nearby.

Why would he say he knows where everyone is? Did he see something?

As everyone’s hearts were filled with doubt, footsteps sounded again, growing closer: ”While wandering in the woods earlier, I happened to see them slip into the stones. Oh, leading them was Little Flea, our ship doctor.”

As soon as the words were spoken, a cacophony of doubts arose outside. But those inside the stones were pale-faced.

Half-ear was right!

He really had discovered their trail!

Baro’s face was particularly pale because he was the one who had tricked Half-ear into the woods in the first place. Karma had reversed, and now Half-ear had become the straw that broke their back.

”What to do?” At that moment, Birch was so scared he almost cried, especially when he heard the footsteps getting closer, like Death carrying his scythe, extending an invitation to him.

Little Flea’s face also looked grim. Although he had long wanted to betray Man Da, he hadn’t expected to face the people of Broken Blood as a traitor at this moment.

He knew all too well how Man Da dealt with traitors.

For a moment, Baro was engulfed in self-blame, while Birch and Little Flea were frightened out of their wits. Conversely, Renko’s expression remained unchanged as he had already considered himself a man doomed to die.

Looking at the others, Renko sighed softly, braced himself to sit up: ”When I was at the Knight Academy, I learned a kind of Secret Technique. It can block out all pain, burn personal will, and instantly reach the pinnacle of individual strength.”

”So, leave what comes next to me. All you need to do is escape.”

Baro looked at Renko in confusion, ”Secret Technique?”

Renko nodded, took out his rapier, pried open the hilt, and retrieved a red pill from inside.

”Here it is, this is the drug to activate the Secret Technique. As long as I take it, I should be able to hold them off for a few minutes and buy you time to escape.”

Baro: ”Since it’s a Secret Technique, are there any side effects?”

Renko evaded the topic lightly: ”To me, the side effects don’t matter anymore.”

At this time, Little Flea on the other side, sniffing the pungent smell coming from the red pill, furrowed his brows slightly: ”I seem to have heard about this drug.”

”This is a poison aconite product... I’ve heard it contains a highly toxic compound, but once taken, one becomes extremely excited, almost like going berserk. Yet, after its effects wear off, death is certain.” Little Flea: ”In our industry, it’s considered an absolute forbidden drug.”

Baro: ”Is that true?”

Renko didn’t expect Little Flea to recognize the pill’s origin. Since he was identified, he didn’t hide it, nodding and saying:

”Little Flea is right, it’s both a miraculous drug that burns will and a poisonous one that wears down consciousness. With it, I have almost no chance of survival.”

”However, even without using it, my chances of survival are slim. Using it at least gives you all a chance to survive.”

Renko looked at everyone: ”I’ve entrusted my last words to you, and I still expect you to deliver the news of my death back, so you can’t die.”

Just as everyone wanted to say something, a tumult occurred, and the stones above their heads were lifted.

The light from a torch shone in.

”Hahaha, found you, you little pests!”

Accompanied by rounds of mockery and all sorts of malicious remarks, everyone was fully exposed.

Facing the layers of pursuing troops around them, everyone except Renko was scared stupid. Birch even felt a wetness between his legs.

What to do, what to do? Birch looked around helplessly, ultimately having no choice but to turn to Renko.

”Renko, suffering from poison isn’t pleasant, is it? Hehe, if you weren’t poisoned, we wouldn’t have dared to chase you, but who told you to be careless?”

”Man Da has ordered that they all be killed!”

”Oh, and that woman should be left untouched and brought back. As for Little Flea, don’t kill him either, let Man Da personally teach him what a fate worse than death is like.”

Amidst the malevolent cacophony, the main force moved step by step closer.

Crouched within the stones, despair flashed in the eyes of the group.

Seeing this, the jeering around them grew louder.

To instill more fear, the main group even slowed their steps to create a more immense psychological pressure.

At this moment, Renko sighed softly.

He used his sword to support himself and stood up.

”Your opponent is me.”

Looking at Renko, trembling and struggling to stand straight, the surroundings erupted with laughter.

Renko, however, paid no attention to the voices, turning his head and softly addressing Birch and the others: ”You must live. Live and escape this ghost island.”

As his words ended, Renko picked up the pill and swallowed it.

Two seconds later, Renko’s eyes turned blood-red, and his skin started to flush and sweat.

An unparalleled, wild aura emanated from Renko.

At this moment, everyone was stunned, as if they no longer faced a feeble man but a fierce beast from ancient times!

Renko took a deep breath, controlling the power surging through him, dragging the knight’s rapier, and walked step by step toward them.

The momentum built up; when it reached its peak, Renko, like a proud lone wolf, raised his head and charged into the mass of nearly a hundred people from Broken Blood...