Aiden calmly slid his sword back into its sheath. There wasn't a single drop of blood on the blade.
He looked at the five consecutive [Judgment Successful] notifications that had appeared in his mind. Then he glanced at his massive [Crime Index] and nodded in satisfaction.
With a thought, he used all the rewards from the system on [Physical Improvement].
Hum!
Five warm currents, some strong and some weak, immediately flowed through his entire body. It felt as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring.
Aiden could clearly feel his muscles, bones, and even his organs becoming tougher and more explosive under the nourishment of that warmth.
"It's still not enough..." Aiden felt the surging power inside him. "I'm only one step away from reaching the top. If I get one more chance like this... no, maybe if I just kill one more A-level opponent, I can break through."
A faint smile appeared on his face. "As expected, shortcuts are always better than hard training."
In the alleyway, he was the only one still standing. Rain washed over the chunks of flesh and blood on the ground. The air was filled with a disgusting smell.
Aiden walked over to the pirates' bodies. He crouched down, dipped his fingers into some still-warm blood, and casually smeared it over his combat uniform. He made sure to put a thick layer on his left arm.
After finishing that, he walked over to the corner of the alleyway.
Rosinante was still slumped on the ground. His face was pale, and his eyes were blank.
The corner had not completely blocked his view.
He had heard Aiden tell him to run, and then he saw Aiden charge forward.
First came two unbelievably fast slashes. Then the giant man with the hammer was split apart along with his weapon. After that, it was one efficient kill after another...
This was not the Aiden he knew! This was not the kind of strength a recruit should have!
It wasn't until Aiden walked over and that cold killing intent receded like a tide that Rosinante finally snapped out of it. His whole body began to shake violently.
"Ai... Aiden..." He looked at Aiden's bloodstained uniform, his voice trembling. "Are... are you okay? These... these pirates are all...?"
Aiden "wiped" the nonexistent sweat from his forehead. He pointed at the bodies and chunks of flesh on the ground and casually gave a lazy excuse full of holes. "Good luck. These guys... they seemed to have an internal conflict. They killed each other."
He moved his "bloody" left arm a little. "Hiss... I was careless. I got caught in the middle of it and took a small hit."
Rosinante looked at Aiden's "terrible" state. Then he looked at the pirate corpses on the ground, which had clearly been cut down by some kind of sharp weapon, especially the blood axe that had been split in two. His mind went blank.
Internal conflict? Killed each other? Got caught in the middle and injured?
Who would believe that nonsense?!
But...
Rosinante looked at Aiden's calm eyes. In the end, he swallowed the questions he wanted to ask. He knew Aiden didn't want to talk about it.
And... even if I knew the truth, what could I do? Go tell Vice Admiral Sakazuki? Aiden is my good friend. How could I betray him...?
Aiden saw that Rosinante wanted to speak but chose to stay silent. He understood.
He didn't care whether Rosinante believed him or not. This "big blond's" kindness, or rather, his innocence, meant he wouldn't be the one to tell anyone. That was enough.
"Let's go." Aiden didn't give him a choice. He grabbed the weakened Rosinante and pulled him to his feet. "We need to meet up with Commander Dal and the others right away."
Like a puppet on strings, Rosinante let Aiden half-drag him away from the bloody alleyway.
...
Half an hour later, in the central square of the fortress.
The battle was almost over. Under the assault of the Marine elites, the main force of the Blood Axe Pirates was quickly defeated.
Commander Dal was directing the soldiers as they cleared out the remaining enemies. His face looked a little gloomy. Captain Barton and several core cadres seemed to have escaped in the chaos.
Just then, two blood-covered figures leaning on each other stumbled out from a side alleyway.
It was Aiden and Rosinante.
"Commander!" Aiden called out weakly.
"Aiden? Rosinante?" Dal was surprised. He quickly walked over to them. "Are you two alright?! Back in that alleyway..."
"Reporting, sir..." Aiden said between breaths. "We were separated by the explosion... then we ran into 'Blood Axe' Barton and his men..."
"What?!" Dal was shocked. "Where is he?!"
"They... they seemed to have an internal conflict..." Aiden pointed toward the alleyway behind him, then pointed at his own "bloody" arm. "Barton and his men seemed to have started fighting among themselves and ended up killing each other. We... we hid. When we came out, only one was left. We finished off the injured one, but I took a small wound."
Dal sent men to check the alleyway, though he wasn't entirely sure he believed it. Soon, a soldier came back to report. They had indeed found the bodies of Barton and several cadres in the alleyway. Their deaths were... extremely gruesome.
Dal looked at Aiden's "ugly" wound, then at Rosinante, who looked like he was about to faint from fear. In the end, he nodded.
"Good work, Aiden." Even though the story was strange, the result was good. "Go get that wound bandaged."
...
Inside the warship's bridge,
Sakazuki sat in the main seat, expressionless, as he looked at a combat report that had just been handed in by the landing party.
The report was very detailed. The landing squad had been accidentally exposed and then launched an assault on the fortress. They had successfully wiped out all the pirates. The Blood Axe Pirates were confirmed to be completely destroyed.
The landing squad had suffered very few casualties. As for the missing Captain Barton and his core cadres, the report stated that they had an internal conflict in a side alleyway and killed each other. They were then luckily found and finished off by the two separated recruits, Aiden and Rosinante. The report even included images of the gruesome scene in the alleyway.
Sakazuki let out a cloud of cigar smoke. Hidden within the smoke, no emotion could be seen on his harsh face.
"Internal conflict? Killed each other?" he repeated quietly. There was a faint trace of mockery in his tone.
He casually tossed the report onto the table. This excuse was so full of holes that not even a three-year-old would be fooled. But... the gruesome state of the scene seemed to support the story.
Sakazuki looked out the window at the sea, where the wind and rain were still raging.
He couldn't help but think of Aiden's eyes, far too calm for a recruit. He also thought of that absurd story that sounded like nonsense, yet left no evidence to disprove it.
"...Hmph."
There was no change in his rock-hard expression, but his eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a dangerous glint.
"How interesting."