Chapter 21 The Eve of the Storm

The night deepened.

A cold sea breeze carried a cloud of mist, veiling the blood moon in the sky with a light gauze.

The gradually dimming light seemed to foreshadow something, and an atmosphere of impending storm had quietly enveloped the fragmented Jumo Island.

At this moment, on the southern border of "North Island."

"Now that you're here, why hide?" Blackbeard stood on a smooth rock, facing the sea, and said without turning his head.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for Honghu to hear.

Seconds later, Honghu strolled out of the forest behind them, adjusted his glasses, and said calmly, "It seems… I have to thank you."

"Why?" Blackbeard answered himself, "Because I didn't deal with you like I did with the trash of the Phantom Demon Church, directly 'drag' you out of the forest and crush you to death?"

"Yes," Honghu shrugged in response, "just for that."

"Don't get me wrong," Blackbeard continued, "It's not that I don't want to do that, but that I can't."

"Which means…" Honghu keenly perceived the information hidden in the other party's words, "…that trick doesn't work on everyone."

"Isn't that obvious?" Blackbeard added, "If I could use it on whoever I wanted, I would have 'dragged' Mad Eye over during the sea battle in the daytime and quickly ended the fight."

"Hmm…" Honghu pondered for a second, "The activation condition is related to the individual strength of the 'target', right?"

"That's right," Blackbeard said, raising a hand to "suck" a stone on the ground into his hand, "For inanimate 'dead objects' like this, as long as the volume isn't too large, I can control them with telekinesis at will; as for living things… it depends on the strength of the energy they contain."

"Heh…" Honghu let out a rather subtle laugh when he heard this.

"What are you laughing at?" Blackbeard asked.

"I just suddenly thought…" Honghu replied with a smile, "When I was on the Queen Anne's Revenge, I vaguely heard a conversation between several sailors, one of whom said… 'This ship is alive, it will obey the captain's orders, I once personally saw the ropes on the ship move on their own and hang a guy who was about to sneak attack the captain and strangle him to death.'"

"Oh… that matter," Blackbeard said, "Indeed, I intentionally made some sailors with lower combat power have that kind of 'misunderstanding', which helps them maintain awe of me."

"Then… what about the members with higher combat power?" Honghu said, his gaze sweeping over the several officers around Blackbeard, "They should be able to see that 'the things on the ship move on their own' are all caused by your ability… how do you keep them in awe?"

"It's very simple," Blackbeard said, turning around to look at Honghu, "My officers… naturally know how strong I am better than those low-combat-power crew members. And the clearer they are about my strength, the less likely they are to summon the courage to rebel against me."

"I see," Honghu nodded, adjusting his glasses again.

On the surface, Honghu was still calm and composed, but in his heart, he was actually quite nervous, and was ready to face a sudden attack at any time.

"Alright, let's end the idle chat here," Honghu continued after two seconds, "Since you, Captain, have discovered me and made it clear that you called me out, that should indicate… that there is still room for negotiation between us, right?"

Although the time they had been in contact was not long, Honghu had already determined that Blackbeard was a scheming old fox, so there was no need to beat around the bush with him.

Thinking about it, it was easy to understand… if Blackbeard wanted to get rid of Honghu, this "stalker", then he would not talk to Honghu at all, but would directly kill him with a sudden attack; that would have the highest chance of success.

But now, Blackbeard was taking the initiative to negotiate with Honghu, which naturally meant that there was still room for this matter to turn around.

"Heh… I remember, you're called 'Honghu'?" Blackbeard sneered and asked.

"That's right," Honghu replied neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Alright, Brother Honghu…" Blackbeard suddenly changed his address to Honghu, which, in the latter's view, was definitely not a good thing, "I'll be frank with you… I still believe you and that little brother 'Snow', but Feng Bujue… I don't trust." He paused, extending a hand and making an inviting gesture, "As long as you tell me your 'real mission' and promise to draw a clear line with Feng Bujue… we can still cooperate."

Hearing this, Honghu's expression changed slightly, and he thought to himself, "What a terrifying guy… compared to that unfathomable martial force, this overlord of the chaotic sea's attainments in strategy and scheming are the real tricky part…"

"What?" Blackbeard asked after only a few seconds, "Does this still need consideration?"

He was indeed a terrifying man, and he knew that he needed to continue to apply pressure at this time so that the other party would not have enough time and leeway to think.

"Ha! Hahahahaha…" Fortunately, the person standing here was Honghu, "Good, that's exactly what I want."

The name "Wise General" was by no means an empty one; these few seconds were enough for him to calculate the accounts clearly.

"Oh?" Blackbeard was indeed a little surprised to see Honghu's reaction.

"Captain, to be honest…" Honghu put on a treacherous face, "I never regarded Feng Bujue as a companion from the beginning." He looked around, "There are no outsiders here… I'll tell you, I've wanted to kill him for more than a day or two."

"Is that so…" Blackbeard wasn't stupid; these few words and a little acting were far from enough to convince him.

"Of course, it is," Honghu said, "Look, the fact that I'm here proves that Snow and I have already left Feng Bujue alone in that open space, right?"

"Isn't it that you agreed to split up?" Blackbeard's reaction was extremely quick; he immediately thought of another possibility vigilantly and asked.

But Honghu was also formidable; even though he was seen through and the truth was exposed, he still tried his best to control his expression… his face remained unchanged, and he answered fluently, "Hmph… in that kind of situation? Don't joke around, Captain." He shook his head and said, "If it were you, would you agree to let your only two helpers leave when facing three powerful enemies, and two of them are at the Nine Gods level?"

"Hmm…" Blackbeard pondered, "Indeed, relatively speaking, the assumption that you and Snow took advantage of the fact that 'the enemy's only target is Feng Bujue' to 'abandon Feng Bujue and escape' is the most reasonable."

"That's right," Honghu heard this and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, replying quickly.

Unexpectedly, Blackbeard suddenly changed the subject in the next second.

"Unfortunately… I still don't believe you!" After saying this, Blackbeard suddenly swung his arm and threw the stone he had previously "sucked" into his hand forcefully at Honghu.