Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”Then let’s dock.”

Loren steered the ghost ship toward the shore, crashing directly through the wreckage of those vessels. The pirates who had fallen into the water didn’t dare block Loren, nor did they have the courage for revenge. They swam to both sides, clearing a path for him.

Loren and his group had displayed their strength the moment they arrived, cowing this bunch of pirates.

All that talk about a Pirate Emperor was just a bunch of rabble, when it came down to it.

”We’ll head straight to the lake. With the Sea God’s blessing, we can go right in and search.”

After landing, the group walked directly toward the lake at the center of the island.

There were plenty of dead fish on the island, already rotting and stinking. These fish had been brought in during the previous high tide, and there were quite a few big ones among them.

The island had been submerged deeply, or else those big fish couldn’t have swum up here.

Loren and the others made their way to the lakeside. The area had already been sealed off. The other pirates could only watch from a distance, unable to approach.

But they hadn’t left either, scheming about other things in their minds.”Which pirate crew is blockading this place?”

After getting close, Loren casually grabbed a pirate and asked.

This pirate was the type who loved drama and didn’t mind stirring things up, so he told Loren everything he knew:

”The ones surrounding this place are the Drowned Bone Pirate Crew. They want to capture the Merfolk inside, and they won’t even leave a drop of soup for anyone else.”

”The Drowned Bone Pirate Crew? You mean the Drowned Bone Pirate Crew, one of the four Pirate Emperors?”

Loren followed along with the pirate’s words, which got the pirate talking even more:

”That’s right, otherwise why would they be so brazen?

”They’ve even found a buyer already. People from the Falling Star Merchant Guild have arrived too. Once the Drowned Bone Pirate Crew captures the Merfolk, the Falling Star Merchant Guild will buy them on the spot.”

”The Falling Star Merchant Guild has a hand in this too?”

This was something Loren hadn’t expected. He’d assumed it was just ordinary merchants who had come.

But the Falling Star Merchant Guild’s presence here was understandable. It had been a long time since any Merfolk had been captured, and the market was severely undersupplied. Only they could maximize the profits to be gained from Merfolk.

So they were willing to offer a high price for this.

Hiring the Drowned Bone Pirate Crew was a last resort. The Falling Star Merchant Guild’s combat strength was actually greater than all four Pirate Emperors combined, but the Divine War had already begun, and the Guild had been forced to participate in the war.

Although they always claimed to be neutral, they were still followers of the God of Vows and Wind. Everything revolved around their faith in the God of Vows and Wind, so they had no choice but to pick a side.

To the point that the Falling Star Merchant Guild had even seized the assets of other believers. After this was over, the Guild’s reputation would be completely ruined, only slightly better than Loren’s current reputation. That was why they had undertaken this operation.

One Merfolk couldn’t help them reverse the situation, but it could help them recover some strength, letting them linger on a while longer.

As long as they could hold out until the Divine War ended, they could keep going.

Every god was out to kill all the other gods, so they wouldn’t hold back, and they certainly wouldn’t care about the Falling Star Merchant Guild.

”Yeah, I don’t even know why the Falling Star Merchant Guild is in such a hurry for Merfolk. The situation is so chaotic right now, is there really someone who’d spend that much money to buy Merfolk meat? Wouldn’t it be better to use that money to make more magic scrolls?”

The pirate didn’t understand the Falling Star Merchant Guild’s way of thinking either, and complained.

Some of the witches also didn’t quite understand the Falling Star Merchant Guild’s actions, so Loren simply spoke up to explain:

”You’re wrong about that... It’s not that no one would buy, but rather that the competition might be even fiercer...”

”Why? I don’t understand...”

”War is a matter for the lower classes and the Church. What does it have to do with nobles?”

As the saying goes, ”the front lines tighten while the rear lines feast,” which perfectly summarized the current situation.

”Moreover, many nobles with business interests will take this opportunity to make money, earning even more than usual.”

Not to mention anyone else, William was a perfect example. Once the Divine War started, the rings and airplanes he sold all went up in price.

But the margin of his price increases was far smaller than other nobles. After all, William still had the label of ”Loren’s former underling” hanging over his head. He didn’t dare be too brazen, since being too brazen would invite the Church’s reckoning.

The behavior of these nobles was also within the Church’s tacit approval. The Church’s internal structure wasn’t a solid monolith either.

The Church doesn’t allow it, but the Bishop does. That was the logic of it.

”So the Divine War doesn’t actually affect those nobles’ spending. They can even take this opportunity to rake in more money, then quickly defect once the Divine War has a result.”

If the Orthodox Gods didn’t have methods to control their believers, the nobles would have all defected the moment the Divine War began.

The God of Bountiful Harvest was an example. Their methods of controlling believers weren’t firm enough, so many of their followers had defected.

Noah’s influence was part of this too. Originally, only by worshipping the God of Bountiful Harvest could one eat their fill. Now anyone could eat their fill no matter who they believed in, so defecting was even less of a concern.

”So that’s how it is... These nobles really are beasts!”

The pirate Loren was speaking to was filled with righteous fury, and he thought of his own past experiences:

”I was forced into piracy by them, and to think even now they won’t stay quiet...”

After saying this, the pirate punched a coconut tree beside him with full force. A coconut fell directly onto his head, and he wasn’t hurt at all.

The pirates who could make it here weren’t weaklings by any measure. In front of Loren they were speed bumps, but in front of ordinary people they were already bona fide strong people.

”I’m going home to overthrow those damned nobles! I quit being a pirate!”

After saying this, the pirate turned to leave. Loren hadn’t expected him to be so righteous, so he called out to stop him:

”Wait, I’ll give you something.”

Since the man was so righteous, Loren decided to help him out. He immediately stuffed a note bearing the true name of the God of Hatred into a brocade pouch and tossed it to him.

”What is this?”

The pirate wanted to open it on the spot, but Loren refused:

”This is a brocade pouch I’m giving you. Only open it in a moment of crisis.”

Loren wanted him to go cause trouble, but if he got crippled by Ligoss before he could stir things up, that would be awkward.

”Alright, thank you. I won’t forget your kindness.

”If I really do overthrow those nobles, I’ll let you become the new noble. My home is in the Duchy of Airel.”

”Good.”

Loren didn’t take him seriously. He just wanted to make the situation a bit more chaotic.

Just then, Loren saw the pirates who had dived into the water earlier surface. They had caught nothing, and so the man wearing the captain’s hat slapped one of them across the face.

That man dressed as a captain was covered in rotting flesh soaked through by seawater, with bone even exposed in many places.

He was the captain of the Drowned Bone Pirate Crew, ”Drowned Bone” Yona.

”Goodbye, I’m heading out too.”

Loren waved his hand and walked toward the blockade line. Loren ignored the pirates’ warnings and intended to pass through.

At that moment, the pirate suddenly ran back and grabbed Loren:

”Are you insane? Yona is right there! How dare you go over? There’s a limit to greed!”

Loren unhurriedly straightened his clothes and said:

”Let me introduce myself. My name is Loren.”

”Loren, the Master of Witches?”

The pirate couldn’t control his volume and shouted Loren’s name loudly. Everyone looked over, including Yona.