Starting as dockworkers, they swept through Chongqing.

Chapter 119 Captain Sislow, Wounds Xilun with a Single Slash

"You should have thought this day would come when you were looting and killing," Siren coldly roared. "Die!"

The five fingers, stained with dark red blood, suddenly shot out and gripped Scarface's thick throat like a pair of pincers.

Xilun didn't even give the other party a chance to beg for mercy or struggle before twisting his wrist forcefully.

"Snap!"

The once arrogant pirate first mate, his head slumped to one side, his single eye staring fixedly at the night sky, had become a cold corpse.

After doing all this, Xilun slowly released his grip.

He stood up and looked around.

The pirate crew, who were already reduced to only three or four men due to the previous massacre and were watching fearfully from the sidelines, completely broke down psychologically after witnessing their first mate being so easily tortured to death with his bare hands.

This isn't human! This is a demon in human skin!

"Monster! He's a monster! Run!"

The remaining pirates let out shrill screams, threw down their weapons, and without even turning their heads, jumped into the nearby lifeboats or simply plunged into the icy sea. They were all gone now.

On the entire deck of the massive warship, only the whistling of the wind through the masts and the crackling of the flames could be heard.

Xilun stood still and exhaled a long breath of pent-up stale air.

Looking at the horrific scene of blood flowing freely on the ground, with severed limbs and corpses strewn everywhere, he felt no pity in his eyes, only a complete sense of relief.

Once the nerves relax, physical pain begins to appear.

As he walked toward the ship's railing, he rubbed the spot on his ribs where Scarface had delivered the final, deadly kick.

Although the black scales protected the body and prevented internal organ damage, the skin surface was still somewhat red and swollen.

He gently rubbed it, using his qi and blood to dissolve the blood stasis and relieve the burning pain.

He slowly walked to the stern and carefully inspected the entire deck and those dark, hidden corners.

He was relieved only after confirming that there were no survivors.

Xilun reached for his waist and pulled out a red signal flare that had been tightly wrapped in a waterproof tarpaulin.

As soon as this signal flare is launched, Lord Wall's armed fleet, which is waiting in the open sea, will immediately drive straight in and completely raze this undefended Siren's Anvil to the ground.

His fingers were already on the fuse, ready to release it.

However, at this very moment...

On the deck, which was originally empty except for corpses, a faint, ethereal male voice, seemingly devoid of any human warmth, suddenly came from behind Xilun.

"No wonder Scar died so quickly—it turns out you were an elite member sent by the Brotherhood."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a cold steel needle that instantly pierced Xilun's eardrums, causing his scalp to explode in an instant!

The air seemed to freeze into solid ice in that instant.

Xilun's hand holding the signal flare suddenly froze, his pupils shrinking to dangerous pinpoints in extreme shock.

In his perception, he had just thoroughly searched the entire stern using the extremely keen hearing and intuition of a baptized person.

He could detect even the heartbeat of a mouse, yet before this sound was uttered, he hadn't sensed any human presence behind him!

The other party was like a ghost that emerged from the shadows out of nowhere.

Forcibly suppressing the surging horror in his heart, Xilun immediately touched the ground with his toes, his body turning around abruptly like a compressed spring, instantly creating a safe defensive distance, while focusing his attention on the scene.

In the shadow of the gun barrel, less than five steps away, stood a person standing quietly.

He was a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty or fifty years old.

He didn't have the rough and dirty attire of a pirate; instead, he wore a slightly sophisticated but faded gray trench coat.

His temples were gray, and time had etched deep, hard lines on his face, but his eyes were unusually bright, like two bottomless ancient wells, exuding a chilling indifference.

At the man's waist was a long, narrow black sword with a scabbard wrapped in coarse black cloth.

He stood there casually, his hands hanging down, amidst the corpses and pools of blood, showing no sign of anger or murderous intent.

He looked at Xilun with the same curious gaze one would give to prey, and slowly asked, "I'm more curious. The anti-submarine nets here are made of deep-sea iron, and the water pressure is extremely high. How did you manage to sneak in so quietly?"

Could there really be monsters in this world that can dive into the Siren's Anvil with their bare bodies from the bottom of the water?

Siren's heart pounded heavily in his chest. He felt a sense of oppression from this man that was ten times more terrifying than that from Scarface.

Judging from the other person's restrained aura, which was almost as if he were one with the environment, this person was definitely a baptismalist who had been cultivating for many years, and his strength was far superior to that of the scarred man from before.

On this pirate island, there is only one possible identity for someone who possesses such strength and remains so calm after witnessing the tragic death of the first mate.

"You are the true owner of this ship, Captain Sislow of the Grey Hemp Pirates."

Xilun spoke with certainty, and although his voice was hoarse, there was no sign of panic.

He did not answer the other party's question, but calmly raised the signal flare in his hand.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, clear sound of impact.

Without hesitation, Xilun pressed the fuse.

A bright red signal flare, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, instantly pierced through the thick fog and exploded with a deafening roar in the dark sky above the Siren's Anvil!

The scarlet light, like the eyes of death, illuminated most of the bay as bright as day.

Having done all this, Xiren casually tossed away the empty canister and coldly looked at the other party, saying, "If you don't leave now, you'll be completely surrounded by our Brotherhood's fleet. Your gunboat, though sturdy, won't hold out for long under Lord Vol's wrath."

The man quietly raised his head and glanced at the slowly dissipating red smoke in the sky. He clearly understood its meaning.

Sislow nodded slightly, his expression even somewhat nonchalant: "I see. It seems that once this signal flare is launched, the Brotherhood's large ship, which has been circling like a dog in the open sea, will recklessly enter the Siren's Anvil, is that right?"

He withdrew his gaze and turned it back to Siren, a cruel sneer curling at the corner of his mouth: "But, you impatient young man—from what I know, the undercurrents in this sea are extremely complex. Even the most skilled ocean-going sailors in your brotherhood would need at least half an hour of careful helmsmanship to safely navigate that deadly S-shaped course with its floating reefs and dock in front of this ship."

As he spoke, Sislow's right hand, which had been hanging naturally at his sides, slowly rose and gently gripped the hilt of the black knife at his waist.

"Half an hour—" Sislow's eyes suddenly turned as sharp as a blade, and a tangible killing intent exploded out. "That's enough to kill a self-righteous insect like you."

Before he finished speaking, Sislow's body didn't even make any squatting or exerting force movements; he vanished from the spot like a ghost!

"So fast!"

Xilun felt a blur before his eyes, and a strong shadow of death instantly enveloped the top of his head.

He didn't have time to think; relying entirely on his animalistic instincts, he rolled and dodged to the left in an extremely awkward posture.

"Boom!"

Right where he had just stood, the massive, sturdy wooden gunwale beside him suddenly exploded, sending wood chips flying in all directions like bullets.

Before anyone knew it, Sislow's long, narrow, jet-black sword had been drawn and slashed down fiercely.

This strike had no fancy lighting effects, yet it carried terrifying kinetic energy that could destroy everything in its path, carving a horrifying crack a meter long and several inches deep into the thick iron-clad wooden hull!

Xilun broke out in a cold sweat. If he had been even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been cleaved in two by that sudden, unexpected strike.

Having missed his first strike, the man's eyes turned cold, and with a flick of his wrist, he attempted to pull the black knife, which was embedded in the wooden board, out.

"We can't let him pull the knife out!"

Xilun's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He knew that with the absolute disadvantage in weapon length and speed, if his opponent were to create distance and swing his blade again, he would surely die.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when the black knife was stuck in the hull, Xilun suddenly lunged forward.

He extended his left hand, fingers forming a claw, and with the precision of a snake, swiftly grabbed Sislow's right wrist, which was holding the knife. He pushed the power of the "Great Sea Whale Guiding Technique" to its limit, leaving Sislow no room to draw his knife.

At the same time, Xiren's right hand moved!

This time, instead of using the corrupting assassination claw technique, he directly ruptured the knuckles of his five fingers.

With the infusion of powerful blood and energy, his palm seemed to transform into a huge, heavy bear claw, slashing down fiercely towards Sislow's face with a sharp whistling sound!

That's the most powerful move in the "Dorok Dark Claw Technique"—Bone Crack!

Faced with this powerful and heavy strike, Sislow not only did not retreat, but a cold smile appeared on his lips.

His left hand, which was being held down by Xilun's wrist, actually gave up on taking the knife.

He quickly clenched his left hand into a fist, his five fingers coming together, carrying a faint blue aura of blood and qi. He showed no intention of dodging, and instead met Xilun's bear claws with a powerful punch, defying the odds!

"bump!!!"

The moment their fists and claws clashed, a tremendous sound, like a hammer striking a muffled drum, erupted.

A violent recoil exploded between the two.

Xilun felt an overwhelming force surge up his arm.

He groaned, and his entire body was uncontrollably pushed back two large steps. His left hand, which had been firmly holding down the other man's right hand holding the knife, was also numb from the terrifying force and had to let go.

Xilun stopped in his tracks, staring in shock at his slightly reddened right hand.

In that attack just now, he used his long-planned, fierce claw strike to meet the opponent's hastily changed fist. In this collision where he had a natural advantage, he, an expert-level baptist who had been specially trained to hone his physical strength, was actually slightly inferior in a pure battle of strength!

Just how abnormally high are Sislow's physical stats?

On the other side, Sislow, though standing still, was also stunned.

He didn't immediately give chase. Instead, he frowned slightly, looked at the faint white scratches on the surface of his fist, and then raised his head, his gaze fixed on Xilun's exposed skin beneath his torn clothes like a searchlight.

"What kind of special armor are you wearing on your skin?!" Sislow's tone was filled with undisguised doubt and shock.

As a master of the knife, he has an extremely keen sense of his own strength.

It was probably at the moment of the collision that he sensed the shockwave coming from under Xilun's skin. It was not something that human skin could have, whether it was soft or toughened. It felt more like touching the black scales of some incredibly hard, cold-blooded creature. It was completely different from the defense mechanism of normal humans!

Xilun remained silent, panting heavily as he frantically mobilized the slightly scattered qi and blood within his body caused by the shock, preparing to face the next deadly attack at any moment.

"You won't talk, huh? No problem, I'll split you open and I'll be able to see your structure clearly!"

The next moment, Sislow's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he pulled out his right hand, which had been loosened, with a sudden jerk. The black knife rang out of the wood with a joyful tremor.

The blade flashed like a bolt of lightning, the black blade drawing an extremely eerie black arc in the air, once again accompanied by a shrill whistling sound as it cleaved down towards Xilun's head!

Xilun's pupils contracted, and he was about to use his agility to dodge to the side as he had done before.

However, this seemingly powerful downward strike unexpectedly defied inertia halfway through.

Sislow twisted his wrist at an extremely strange angle, and the black blade that was about to strike down instantly turned into a wide and sweeping horizontal slash!

"Too fast!"

Silen roared inwardly. This change of move was fluid and lightning fast; in Sislow's hands, the black blade gave no one a chance to breathe or dodge.

With no way to avoid it, Xilun could only widen his eyes, reach out with both hands, his palms surging with blood and qi, attempting to use the extreme technique of "catching a blade with bare hands" to forcibly clamp the black knife that could cut through iron like mud.

"Trying to grab my knife? Dream on!"

The next moment, a very slight cutting sound rang out.

Although Xilun's hands gripped the blade, the terrifying rotating and strangling force made it impossible for him to hold onto the slippery blade.

The blade of the black knife mercilessly swept across his palms.

Crimson blood splattered instantly. Xilun groaned and staggered back, his palms bearing deep, bone-revealing cuts, blood dripping incessantly onto the deck.

Sislow forced Siren back with a single strike, but did not press his advantage.

He deftly twirled the blade, holding the black knife diagonally in his hand, his eyes filled with a condescending admiration and fervent curiosity.

He stared at Xilun's muscle fibers, which had been cut open but not completely severed, and pondered carefully before saying, "The weak techniques that extraordinary individuals normally practice are merely using potions or special breathing methods to temper their skin and flesh to make them a little tougher. At their peak, they are only as tough as rattan armor or iron armor."

But the strength of your physical body—it's truly incredible!

Sislow's tone was tinged with excitement: "It's just like the scales that grow on those high-level alien species in the deep sea!"

It withstood my full-force, mutated strike without having its palms severed. Its defensive capabilities are quite impressive.

How could a fraternity produce a freak like you?

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