Chapter 53: The Robbery

No matter how large a ship’s capacity, its available space can never compare to the land; so after wandering about, Ain inevitably ended up staying by Qiubai’s side.

Though she was accustomed to concealing her emotions, Qiubai could clearly sense her instinctive aversion to this pirate crew—the more she learned about Don Quixote, the deeper her dislike grew.

Delusions, cunning, rigid hierarchy, everyone treated as tools, yet ironically calling the pirate crew a “family”—and so on, and so forth. This atmosphere they created was precisely the kind she despised most.

To feel a sense of belonging in such a place? That was truly difficult. The only reason Ain remained here was, in essence, singular—simply because Qiubai was here.

Qiubai naturally understood her mood, but… it didn’t matter, really didn’t matter.

“What are you thinking about?”

Qiubai leaned against the ship’s rail, gazing into the depths of the sea, and Ain, standing behind him, was curious… Qiubai rarely appeared so absent-minded; usually, he was either energetically scheming some mischief, or, if not that, concocting something even grander.

But now he was simply lost in thought; it was markedly different from the restlessness he’d shown when setting out. In truth… Qiubai was merely worried that the bear cub left behind at his home might seize the opportunity to escape, but he couldn’t say that aloud—it would diminish his personal charisma.

“I’m contemplating the future,” Qiubai replied as he turned, resting his back against the rail.

The future… such a serious topic coming from Qiubai seemed almost unreliable. There was no doubt he had definite plans for the days ahead, but those plans would never be spoken—they didn’t suit his character.

And, in reality, he simply wasn’t that reliable.

As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently swept over Ain’s torso, from her neck to her abdomen and across her shoulders.

Then, barely noticing, he did it again, his look as appreciative as if admiring a national scenic spot.

Well, nothing remarkable.

Qiubai smirked, making a judgment. Still… there was always a chance for a second round of development. He didn’t lose heart.

His thoughts were so straightforward that Ain’s response was a glare, torn between anger and embarrassment. Qiubai, however, felt not the slightest awkwardness and began to speak in earnest nonsense:

“I’m pondering the grand question of human propagation. In fact, I’m willing to dedicate my insignificant efforts to this cause; after all, it’s everyone’s responsibility. Who knows, perhaps someday it’s only through the diligence of my descendants that this intelligent, soulful race will escape extinction… From an agnostic perspective, annihilation always occurs unexpectedly, so we must stay vigilant.”

“So, after some consideration, I decided that my future offspring should include a boy and a girl. The boy should possess a broad, boundless heart, steadfast as a mountain, yet able to burst forth when needed; the girl should be gentle and delicate, compassionate and agreeable—but she must also be resilient and independent…”

“Oh, and I’ve just thought of names. For the boy: Qiuming Mountain. For the girl: Qiu Mountain Ling… What do you think? But to accomplish such a great endeavor, I’ll need the cooperation of a new-era, modern woman. What do you…”

He was speaking with great enthusiasm, but upon raising his head, discovered Ain had already walked off. Thus, his passionate performance had no audience at all… All for nothing, another failed attempt at teasing.

Well, at least Qiubai’s ability to recover was strong; for example, now he maintained a level of embarrassment that was “slightly awkward but not enough to make him jump overboard.”

He was long used to such feelings… Fortunately, at that moment, something happened to shift his attention.

“Thirty degrees portside, a ship sighted!”

“Repeat, thirty degrees portside, a ship sighted—looks like a large cruise vessel!”

An urgent voice sounded directly above Qiubai’s head. So soon after setting sail, a target ship had appeared? This voyage seemed to be quite lucky.

Immediately, another report followed: “Confirmed, it’s a large cruise ship!”

Qiubai happened to be on the port side. Following the direction indicated, he peered over the rail, but saw nothing… Not because his eyesight was poor, but because the lookout above had professional equipment for scanning the sea, so their view was farther and more accurate.

“Approach!” Doflamingo commanded from the second deck. “It seems our luck is quite good, fufufu.”

Such ships were the pirates’ favorite targets, even more so than merchant vessels. Robbing merchant ships usually only yielded piles of cargo, but ships filled with idle, wealthy pleasure-seekers—there were unlikely to be any paupers aboard. When pirates encountered such vessels, they could extort a hefty sum.

Of course, there was something called a “gold transport ship,” even more coveted, but those were rarely easy to plunder.

“Turn towards the target!”

The pirate ship swung toward its prey, and the two ships drew nearer. The cruise vessel likely lacked Don Quixote’s advanced detection capabilities, so by the time they spotted a distant ship flying the pirate flag, it was too late to escape.

Qiubai quickly found his place, rushing to the main cannon at the bow and claiming the gunner’s spot.

“Shells, shells! Let me fire one to loosen up!” In truth, Qiubai only needed to invigorate his spirits a bit.

There were shells aplenty. As soon as he finished speaking, Buffalo rolled out a hefty lead ball and loaded it into the main cannon’s chamber.

The purpose of firing wasn’t to sink the cruise ship—that didn’t fit the philosophy of robbery—but the threat of cannon fire was essential. Chasing prey wasted too much time; pirates needed to force their victims to stop.

After preparing to fire, Qiubai glanced at Doflamingo, who gave a slight nod… Permission to fire was granted.

Then Qiubai began aiming in earnest… but really, what was there to aim at? The cannon’s muzzle was pointed straight at the cruise ship, well within direct range!

The ship, terrified by the pirate flag, tried to turn away but couldn’t manage it in time. Was there any easier target?

But Qiubai had his own rhythm. After much aiming, he finally finished, then placed a foot on the cannon’s rear, took a torch in one hand, and ignited the fuse.

Burning that spot—who could stand it? So the main cannon roared to life.

A thunderous explosion echoed within the cramped chamber; amid the violent muzzle blast, the dark projectile was hurled forth by immense force, the powerful recoil shoving the heavy mount back several inches, and at the moment of firing, the entire ship shuddered.

The shrill whistling sent the cruise ship into chaos. The shell, weighing over thirty-six pounds, crossed hundreds of meters at subsonic speed, and—by sheer misfortune—smashed into the ship’s sail.

No sail, no matter how sturdy, could withstand such tremendous kinetic energy and momentum; with wood splinters flying, the mast snapped cleanly in two.

Now, their escape was virtually impossible.

“Uh…”

Undoubtedly, this was the optimal result—the instigator hadn’t expected it at all. Qiubai had thought a near miss would suffice, perhaps stirring up a splash, but he hadn’t anticipated that he’d instantly knock out the ship’s propulsion.

It was a surprising shot, but that didn’t stop Qiubai, after a moment’s daze, from putting on an expression of “I meant to do that.”

So, firing a cannon was easier than dry-shooting?

“Actually, I know calculus and understand ballistics,” Qiubai said, though it was unclear to whom, yet he sounded quite proud.

Clearly, he was pleased with his shot.

But in truth, he only knew the word ‘calculus,’ and his grasp of ballistics was nonexistent.

He simply had good intuition—a lucky guess, nothing more.