Chapter 4419 — Anchored Pirates
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Brother Ling, you may not know this, but so-called anchored pirates are those who habitually camp in one spot. So long as any vessel passes within their line of sight, they give chase and plunder it. Normally, most pirates are wanderers who strike and move on, but in these waters of the Southern Continent, because there is sea fog and the like for cover, such anchored pirates are in fact rather common—after all, it is far more comfortable and easy," Qi Wenmo explained from the side.
"Then these anchored pirates in the competition—are they real pirates?" Wei Zhao could not help asking out of curiosity.
"That is impossible. Escort agencies can compromise with pirates on an escort run, but this is the grand gathering of the Southern Continent's escort agencies. Whatever pirates show up, we kill every last one that comes—and besides, how would real pirates ever cooperate with our competition?" Qi Wenmo laughed and guessed, "Unless I am mistaken, these anchored pirates are probably played by people from the five great agencies. There have been similar events before, and that is how it was done."
"Since we know full well they are our own people, aren't these anchored pirates just going through the motions? Our own people could never truly strike to kill, surely?" Wei Zhao said, somewhat dismissively.
"Heh, that is where you are mistaken, Brother Ling. Look at how the first round went—killing is a rare thing in competitions elsewhere, but here it is truly routine. Even if these anchored pirates are played by people from the five great agencies, once you run into them they will certainly strike to kill. And then it will be at least five against one—meeting them means certain death," Qi Wenmo said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"All the competing escorts from every agency will race along a newly determined sea route. No one has ever sailed this route before. Every hidden reef, every whirlpool, and the anchored pirates included, all follow no pattern whatsoever," Hai Wuliang continued explaining the rules.
The crowd below fell silent, one and all. Such a competition looked simple—one need only sail a boat out to sea, with no need to fight to the death as in the first round—but those truly in the know could already see the dangers piled high within it.
A completely unfamiliar new sea route was a tremendous challenge for any navigator. However seasoned one might be, there was always the risk of capsizing in a ditch. Beneath sea fog that blotted out the sky and sun, any hidden reef, any whirlpool, could very well be the death of a man—and if one met the anchored pirates, there would not be even a sliver of a chance at life.
"One more thing. The anchored pirates are supplied by the five great agencies. Each of us five judges selects a set of coordinates, and after the numbers are randomly shuffled and recombined, an entirely new random set of coordinates is produced. That is to say, no one—including us five judges—can predict the pirates' location in advance, which guarantees absolute fairness. If anyone still has doubts, raise them now before the crowd," Hai Wuliang said in a ringing voice.
The crowd below looked at one another, and no one spoke. Though it was still hard to say how things would actually play out, judging at least by the rules as set down, there was indeed nothing to find fault with—even the five great agencies themselves would find it hard to pull any tricks.
Of course, since the anchored pirates were made up of people from the five great agencies, if one did run into them, the competitors from those five agencies would inevitably enjoy a bit of an edge over the others—after all, the pirates had "their own people" among them.
However, once a competitor encountered the anchored pirates in this competition, their elimination was already as good as proclaimed! (To be continued...)