The male supporting character was actually myself.

Meanwhile, the pirate ships in the distance were thrown into even greater chaos by the roar. One of the most important reasons why Alva led the pirates to victory in every battle was the speed of the Conqueror, which even the official fleet of the Black Sea Kingdom could not catch up with. As a result, this pirate flag existed in legend but had never been attacked.

However, speed is clearly the advantage for the dragon. It was just a few words away when it was right in front of us!

Secondly, Alva was proud of the ship's powerful firepower. He had the money to install the most advanced cannons, and his men were equipped with the most fashionable muskets from the far south. The firepower was so fierce that no ship that was targeted could resist.

But now they were facing a giant dragon...

Alva had a bad feeling. He couldn't just sit and wait to die; he had to find a way to escape!

Having looted mountains of gold and silver and found a pirate treasure passed down for generations, he could return to land, find a wealthy country, and live a life of luxury; he also had a dream of establishing a pirate kingdom, which he couldn't let be destroyed by the claws of a suddenly appearing dragon!

At the same time, he was also filled with doubt. He had never heard of any giant dragons appearing in the Black Sea. He had roamed this sea for many years without encountering any legends related to dragons. How could such a huge creature suddenly appear?!

Jiang Chen didn't give him time to think or make further preparations. He flew over the pirate ship on the wind, and with one breath, he spewed flames that knocked down the gunners. Then, with one flap of his wing, he collapsed the mast and sails.

As the ship rocked violently, Alva and his men struggled to maintain their balance, firing a shot at the dragon with their muskets before taking cover to reload.

"Holy crap! This dragon is practically a spirit!"

"Where are the gunners? Reload the guns!"

"What a beast! How could he know to attack the gunner first?"

"Damn it, quickly raise the sails..."

…………

The fluffy little dumpling now exuded the heroic spirit of a dragon knight. Standing straight with its round, fluffy body, it waved its paws and shouted, "Kill them! Remember to leave them alive, Master, we still need to loot the treasure!"

Jiang Chen's massive body landed on the ship, his sharp claws clinging to the remaining mainmast. His huge neck slid down and unleashed a breath of dragon's breath at close range, instantly killing most of the pirates. The remaining few trembled and retreated to their leader's side, whispering among themselves.

"What do we do? Boss, is it too late for us to get on the small boat?"

"If even large ships can't escape, small ships have no hope!"

"Boss, I've heard that dragons are the most greedy and love money. Maybe we should talk to them?"

"Yes, we can give it all the gold we robbed today..."

…………

Alva forced himself to calm down, crossed his arms and waved them loudly, saying, "Respected Dragon Master, it is fate that we met by chance. Can we have a proper talk?"

"Oh? Poor little reptile, what do you want to talk to me about?" Jiang Chen flicked his tail, stirring up huge waves that crashed onto the ship, soaking the survivors like a torrential downpour.

The thunderous sound made Alva and the others' hearts tremble.

The sheer size and the oppressive aura emanating from the behemoth terrified the ruthless pirates. Some of the less timid ones collapsed onto the deck, their faces ashen, unable to utter a sound.

Alva watched as his unerring musket struck the dragon's armor-like scales with a mere spark, essentially tickling it. He couldn't help but marvel at how the warriors who could kill dragons managed to do it. Were they even human?

Moreover... the dragon could actually speak human language!

No wonder it was so shrewd as to know to attack the most threatening gunner first; it seems this big guy is almost like a human.

"Respected Dragon, this is our first meeting. We have no prior grudges or animosity. How about you spare our lives? I can offer you your favorite thing!"

"Ah... gold?!" Jiang Chen exhaled hot breath, his voice becoming greedy. "I love treasures, how much can you give me?"

Alva felt a surge of relief upon hearing this. As long as he was alive, what did it matter if he gave away today's spoils to the dragon? Perhaps…

His mind immediately started racing; this was a real dragon!

If I can reach an agreement with it, I might be able to use a huge fortune as a promise to make this dragon work for me! At that time, I, Alva, will not only be invincible in the Black Sea, but I can also roam freely on land with the help of the dragon's powerful strength!

After all, the legendary warriors who could sail the seas and slay dragons haven't appeared for many years...

"I have a lot of gold!" Alva exclaimed, suddenly bursting with intense excitement. "Now I can pay Mr. Dragon a chest of gold!"

The little white cat's eyes immediately lit up with gold. "Master, pirates are indeed incredibly rich! They sell gold by the chest!"

"A box?" Jiang Chen laughed mockingly. "You actually think you can appease a dragon with a mere box of gold coins?"

He angrily whipped the ship around, causing it to rock violently and even creak under the strain, terrifying the surviving pirates who trembled and begged for their lives.

Chapter Eleven: A Cat's Passage Leaves No Trace

"No, no, no, esteemed dragon, you've misunderstood!" Alva thought to himself that dragons were indeed greedy creatures, but he hurriedly explained, "There's a lot of gold in the hold, dragon, please don't be angry. How about we talk about cooperation?"

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, his long neck snaking forward as he asked with a mocking tone, "Cooperate with what? Why would I cooperate with a pitiful little reptile?"

Seeing its host was stalling for time, the fluffy ball of fur happily slid down its broad forehead and bounced around, "I'll go search first, host, you play with them for a bit!"

Alvaran declared, "I am the most powerful pirate on the Black Sea, and I possess the ability to plunder gold and silver treasures. Mr. Dragon, why don't we join forces? You don't need to do anything; you only need to appear when you need to intimidate."

Our 20/80 split allows you to sit back and reap the rewards, accumulating more and more gold.

"And I will serve you, relying on your prestige to more easily plunder vast amounts of treasure, and you will not need to risk being discovered by warriors..."

"A warrior?" Jiang Chen feigned anger, the serrated scales on his neck standing up menacingly. "You think I'd be afraid of a mere warrior?!"

Alva cursed inwardly, but he still had to appease the irritable and easily angered dragon.

After several rounds, Jiang Chen pretended to be fooled and convinced, then said suspiciously, "Humans are always cunning. First, give me the gold you promised on the ship, then take me to see more gold!"

"Hurry! Go and move the gold out!"

The pirates, having received the pardon, didn't bother to collect the bodies of their fallen comrades. Instead, they stumbled and hurriedly carried gold and silver treasures out of the ship's hold, hoping to save their own lives.

When Alva saw the open windows and the empty cabin, his face turned green.

"The ship was rocking just now, so... it must have fallen out of the window and into the sea." After thinking it over and over again, this was the only explanation he could come up with. He stammered out various assurances to the dragon to stop it from having the urge to kill him in a violent manner.

Jiang Chen pretended to be tempted by the gold, tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying in a simple-minded manner, "I don't think you would dare to deceive me, otherwise I'll make sure you all die without a burial place! Now, take me to get the gold. As long as there is enough gold, I will consider cooperating with you. Why not enjoy the benefits without lifting a finger?"

Alva breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the wrecked masts and sails, and the four men who were only somewhat injured, and reluctantly ordered, "Find a way to hoist the sails up. We have to keep going."

"Poor little reptiles, you can't make a single step on the sea without this pile of wood." Jiang Chen, still fooled and naive but thinking himself very clever and arrogant, flew up and mocked, "Tell me the direction, and I'll take you there."

After pointing out the direction, he used his tail to wrap around the well-made bow of the ship, which had wings several tens of meters long, and flapped them, propelling the pirate ship through the waves as easily as pulling a plastic toy across the sea.

The surviving pirates, who were not mentally prepared, were thrown onto the deck by inertia and rolled until they were stopped by a pile of wooden barrels.

"This is absolute power!" Alva stared intently at the dragon's majestic figure, already eager to devise a plan on how to gain the dragon's trust step by step and use it to roam the Black Sea and conquer the world.

The fluffy dumpling, having amassed a great deal of gold and silver treasures, smacked its lips in satisfaction and went to great lengths to flatter the master, saying, "As expected, my host's acting skills are superb. That stupid pirate really thought that we, being greedy, could be bribed with gold to act as his pawns and bully."

Hey, waiting for more treasures to be found...

The money-grubbing little white cat rubbed its paws together impatiently.

The dragon was naturally very fast, and before long a black, skull-like mountain appeared on the horizon.

The fluffy ball immediately perked up, then hopped and skipped across the sea, its excited meows faintly carried on the wind. "Master, I'm going to harvest the treasures now, meow~"

As the base camp drew ever closer, Alvati finally felt a little relieved.

The reason he dared to bring a dragon to his lair was that he actually had a perfect plan in mind.

This skull fortress is a masterpiece of nature. Its interior is vast, with waterways that allow ships to sail in, as well as flat stone banks for setting up camp. Most importantly, the interior is filled with jagged rocks and winding caves that hide a large amount of gold and silver treasures that it has plundered.

A dragon's body can't fit inside, so I can use some gold to lure this foolish dragon. If it cooperates, all will be well; if not, I can simply hide in my lair and never come out!

Anyway, there's food, drink, and a rescue boat inside. Keep two lightly injured but obedient and hardworking ones to serve you, and kill the rest to save on food and water. At worst, you can outlast the dragon for two months, then take the opportunity to fill up with treasure and become a rich man on land.

"The gold is inside, esteemed dragon, please wait a moment." Alva said with a smile as he saw the dragon anchor the ship at the cave entrance, "I'll take my brothers to help you carry the gold out!"

Jiang Chen glanced at the four pirates who were still alive, flicked his tail, and said with a thunderous roar, "Leave these three as hostages. If you dare to run away without handing over the gold, these three will be dead."

Ha, you foolish big guy!

A mocking thought crossed Alva's mind: "Does this talking beast really think it's human?"

What does keeping hostages have to do with me? As long as I live, it just means that one person will have to endure a little hardship. It won't hurt me or break my bones, so what is there to fear?

Although he thought this in his heart, he couldn't say it out loud. Alva used all sorts of nice words to assure them, and then, together with his most seriously injured and lame subordinate, he disembarked and entered Skull Castle along the stone bank.

"Meow~" The fluffy ball of fur strode around with an air of arrogance, stroking its whiskers and looking like it had eaten and cleaned itself, and jumped onto Jiang Chen's head with a sly grin, "I've completely emptied it out!"

Gold and silver treasures hidden in the cave, fresh water and food placed in the deepest part, oh right, and two escape boats hidden very well.

"They'll leave no trace, not even a single hair on their heads!"

Jiang Chen nodded in satisfaction; toying with the notorious pirates was indeed quite interesting.

Let them experience the utter despair of being threatened with death. If the innocent victims who were robbed, murdered, tied up, and sunk on ships were alive, they would surely be happy to see this.

"No!" Sure enough, Alva's desperate howl soon came from the depths of the cave. He looked at his empty nest, where not even a wooden barrel remained, and felt a chill run down his spine.

This is the old house I've been running for five years, where I've kept all my savings!

I've always protected myself so well, why...?

"Boss, are we being targeted by other pirates?" The lame pirate who was following him swallowed hard and said tremblingly, "It must be... someone came in and took all our stuff while we were at sea!"

"There's definitely a traitor!" Alva frantically ran through the several dark caves he thought no one could find, then collapsed to the ground in despair, muttering to himself, "There's no other possibility. If it weren't for a mole with ulterior motives, no one could have known this place so well and searched it so thoroughly!"

Chapter Twelve: The Pirate Gang Annihilated

"Boss, what should we do now that we've lost everything?" The lame pirate threw the most pressing question at the pirate captain.

Jiang Chen also posed the question of sowing discord to the remaining three strong and fierce pirates: "Is there enough food and water inside to last them a long time? Is there any ship they can leave on? What if they hide and abandon you to your fate?"

The three surviving pirates turned green with rage.

Although they are brothers who have gone through thick and thin together, and the eldest brother is usually fair and just and well-liked, this is a critical moment of life and death. If he goes in and is out of danger, will he come out again?

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

"You think... what if the boss... just went to the port to get supplies that day? I checked them this morning, and they're enough to eat and drink for at least a month without worry. If it's just the two of them..."

"Don't talk nonsense! When have you ever seen the boss abandon us?"

Just because it didn't happen before doesn't mean it won't happen now! The situation is different now. If you were in that situation, would you still be willing to come out and face the terrifying dragon?

"Shh! Keep your voice down, we need to be prepared for both possibilities."

"Yes, yes, we can't just sit here and wait to die. What if they don't come out?"

"I wonder if it would be enough to beg the dragon not to kill us."

"Strange, why hasn't the boss come out yet? He should have been carried out by now, could it be..."

…………