In the alliance, the more they attack me, the stronger I become!

"It's been a long time since we last met... You still enjoy playing cards so much."

“…” Trist was stunned on the spot.

Of course he knew who the other party was...

His former friend.

Graves.

Chapter 110: Artillery, Destiny, and the Empress

Drizzt is already in his thirties, but the name "Drizzt" has only a history of ten years.

Because ten years ago, Drizzt was not called Drizzt, but Tobias.

The reason he changed his name was simple—all thanks to the man who now had a gun pressed against his waist.

A disaster ten years ago completely destroyed the entire team. Some died, some were sent to prison, and only Trist managed to escape. However, he was forced to change his name to avoid being hunted down by his enemies again.

Of course, he hadn't been living it up all alone with the team's money during these ten years. He had tried... he had tried hard, even finding a bunch of new bastards to form a team, but he had always failed.

He couldn't sneak into the most secure, terrifying prison in all of Bilgewater—

"Ten years... Do you know how I got through these ten years?"

Graves's resentful voice interrupted Trist's memories.

The anger contained in that tone was even more powerful than the gunpowder in the barrel of a gun.

"Ah... It's not easy. I finally found you." Graves had originally prepared more, better and cooler opening remarks, but the moment he saw his enemy, all those words were thrown out of his mind.

All kinds of emotions in my heart mixed together, and in the end only one feeling remained - anger.

His hand holding the gun was shaking. He was trying hard not to pull the trigger immediately, lest the beast in front of him die too easily.

Drizzt turned around, his expression normal. No fear, no apology, not even a hint of surprise. Even with a gun pressed against him, he remained unmoved.

Just like any time before.

"Malcolm, how long have you been standing here?" The smile in Trist's words was almost natural, but it sounded extremely harsh to Graves at this moment, as if he was mocking his stupidity.

He should never have trusted this poker-faced beast. A betrayal ten years ago made him pay a terrible price that he would never be able to erase in his lifetime.

Yes, he admitted it. He admitted that he was stupid enough to trust a liar who could do nothing but cheat people.

"Why hold the gun? It's not necessary to do this when old friends meet." Trist's voice sounded disgusting to Graves.

Drizzt looked up and down at the old shopkeeper he hadn't seen for ten years and said in a frivolous tone, "You look as dashing as ever."

Hearing this, Graves subconsciously glanced at his clothes. He wasn't very smart, but he could tell the other party was mocking him.

His clothes were full of holes bitten by manta rays - he had swum out of the sea to avoid the guards. And Drizzt, even if he only had a few coppers, would dress like a man.

"Don't be so slick with me!" Graves, unable to suppress his inner urge, thrust the barrel of his gun hard against the man's spine. Now, if he only pulled the trigger lightly, the life of this sly fellow would be his.

"Tell me why you ran away at that time, otherwise your handsome face will be shattered all over the ground."

Graves tried his best to suppress his anger and make his voice sound calmer - he knew that the big guys who were in charge of a gang liked to speak in this tone, and perhaps this would make Trist feel pressured.

He thought so.

But he obviously overestimated his emotional intelligence - Tristram just laughed contemptuously, and he became hysterical:

"Don't laugh, you beast! Ten whole years! In prison! Do you know how that feels?!"

Finally, Drizzt stopped laughing, and the playful expression on his face turned serious. In all their years of knowing each other, this was the first time Graves had seen this man with such an expression.

He probably knew he was wrong.

But he would never say any words of apology: "Graves, whether you want to believe me or not, I must tell you - I did not betray you."

"Bullshit!" This was not what Graves wanted to hear. He was too lazy to even listen to the other party's excuses.

Bang!

The bullet still fired.

But at the last moment before pulling the trigger, Graves moved the barrel of the gun and the bullet hit Trist's feet.

"How much did they give you to betray me!?"

Hysterical questioning and gunshots mixed together, and Trist's face changed instantly.

"Idiot! Do you know whose territory this is...?"

As he spoke, a card suddenly appeared between his fingers and was flying up and down.

Without a second thought, Graves pulled the trigger again.

Bang!

The cards turned to crumbs, and almost Tristana's dishonest hand.

"I escaped from prison and chased you all the way here. Do you think I still care about this?"

The rage for revenge clouded Graves' simple mind, and now he was desperate. Even though he knew that the sound of his gunshots would attract the Hook Gang, or even the terrifying Pirate King... he didn't mind.

He feared nothing, except that the beast Drizzt would slip away from him again.

Is this stupidity or courage? Perhaps even he himself can't tell the difference.

Outside the warehouse, there was a rush of footsteps and the curses of the Hook Gang members. Drizzt no longer held back, and a full deck of cards appeared in his hand.

"Are you serious?" Trist's voice also lowered, as if he was angry.

And his inappropriate behavior made Graves feel much more relieved.

"Do you think I'm bluffing?" Graves pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang bang!

The simple-minded big man fired indiscriminately without caring about the life or death of his "friend".

For a moment, the whole room was filled with shouting, footsteps, smoke, and flying wood chips. In the chaos, Graves finally found Drizzt, and the door of the warehouse was kicked open.

A dozen members of the Iron Hook Gang rushed in and joined the chaotic battle.

"That's the guy! Trist!" A member of the Hook Gang who had lost money in an underground casino immediately recognized the gentleman in the hat.

"Who is the other guy?" someone else asked.

"I don't know... He looks like a brainless idiot."

"I think so too."

Hearing this, Trist couldn't help laughing, and Graves became even angrier.

"You have no right to laugh at me, you damned bastard!"

Graves rushed towards Trist without paying any attention to the other Hook Gang members.

But the Hooks are not to be trifled with—at least not on their turf.

"Hey, big guy!" A gang member swung out the chain used to secure the sea monster's body, hitting Graves' ankle directly.

This guy, blinded by rage, had no intention of dodging, and his bones were not as hard as steel.

Just at the moment of contact, his left ankle was broken, and the heart-wrenching pain forced him to stop.

The situation on Drizzt's side is not optimistic either - the number of people who know him is several times more than that of Graves, and there is no pirate who does not want the head of this legendary gambler.

"That's not good..."

Trist drew a red card from the deck, and then a strange magical light appeared between his fingers.

Whoosh! A card as heavy as a pebble flew toward the crowd, but no one took it seriously.

Until the breath of magic spread in the center of the crowd.

Then, explode.

Boom——!

The violent force knocked all the pirates over, and even Graves, who was as strong as a bear, felt dizzy.

Drizzt looked at his old friend and hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to escape from the warehouse alone - he knew Graves too well, this idiot had no brains at all, and he would not listen to any explanation.

Once he has made up his mind about something, no one can explain the truth to him.

Just like ten years ago.

"Cough cough cough... Don't run...!" Graves endured the strong feeling of dizziness and jumped out of the smoke-filled warehouse.

Trist didn't want to bother with him anymore, and quickly took out another card in his hand - the next poker magic would be very cool.

Just like when he came, he only needed to move his fingers and he would appear on the dock hundreds of meters away.

Then he slipped away to distant Ionia before the Hook Gang could find him.

As Trist thought this, the cards in his hand lit up with magical light.

But he still underestimated Graves.

"Go to hell!" The big fool threw a strange cylindrical object forward.

Trist only heard a "bang" sound, and suddenly a lot of thick smoke came out of his footsteps.

The smoke not only blurred his vision, but also choked him and made him cough and cry, causing the magic trick he was planning to fail immediately.

And Graves will definitely not give him a second chance to charge up.

"You can't get away this time!"

A majestic figure rushed into the smoke, and Trist immediately felt his head being hit by something as hard as iron.

He fell to the ground on the spot, a strong feeling of dizziness rushed to his head, and the cards in his hand became dull.

"That's how you ran away ten years ago. Do you think I'll let you run away a second time?"

Graves stuffed the barrel of the gun into Trist's mouth with a look of great revenge on his face.

Drizzt was completely desperate. This idiot was going to kill him.

Again…

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"Look, that's my Bilgewater!"

Planck stood on the deck, one foot on the railing, his fierce eyes fixed on the approaching dock.

He's back. The Pirate King of Bilgewater has returned.

Those damned Noxians couldn't catch him, let alone drive him away. This city is his treasure, and no one can take it from him!

But it was clear that during his absence, many had forgotten how terrifying he was. The threat of those Noxian bastards was perhaps more refined than his bone carvings, and the executioner's bloody blade forced many Bilgewater residents to bow their noble heads.

Now there are rumors everywhere that the legendary Pirate King was afraid of the Noxians and fled the very night when he heard that the Noxian fleet was approaching - he fled at night, without even having time to move the goods from the docks.

The title of Pirate King seemed to become a little ridiculous, and some despicable sewer rats took advantage of this opportunity to come out, trying to use their dirty and cowardly claws to get their hands on the throne of Pirate King.

Gangplank came back this time to tell everyone that he was not afraid of the Noxian fleet.

He wasn't running away during the time he was away.

But hunting.

"Raise all the tattered flags on those Noxian warships! Raise them as high as you can!"

Gangplank waved his hand, and several Hook Gang members immediately got to work. They rummaged through the warehouse and pulled out several flags with the Noxian emblem on them - all riddled with holes from muskets and cannons.

Those ships had been sunk by the Pirate King a few days earlier, and their flags had become trophies.

Originally, Gangplank wanted to directly occupy those ships, but the Noxians in charge of the ships were so foul-mouthed that they dared to claim that a third-rate bandit like Gangplank was not worthy of touching their ships.

So Planck directly ordered all the warships to be sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Just like more than ten years ago, he directly smashed the world's best pair of guns carefully crafted by firearms master Abigail Fortune.

Just because the other party claimed that he was not worthy of those two broken guns.