Pirate Kingship

Chapter 448 - 351 Lying on Brushwood and Tasting Gall, the Jackdaw Seeks Help (8000 words in two - s, ask for votes!)_2

Chapter 448: Chapter 351 Lying on Brushwood and Tasting Gall, the Jackdaw Seeks Help (8000 words in two Chapters, ask for votes!)_2

But for Halding, who followed the principle "A head can be severed, blood can flow, but a hairstyle must not be messed up," shaving his head was even more excruciating than beheading.

After all, one only has one head; you can’t chop it off every day. But hair could be shaved and regrow, only to be shaved again. He had to endure the daily torture of head-shaving, a fate worse than death!

At this moment, a light drizzle truly began to fall from the sky.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE...

Even though there were beach chairs and umbrellas right next to him, he didn’t use them. Instead, he lay in the sand in the middle of the prison, body spread out like a large character, and continued to shout:

"Big head, big head, not afraid of the rain; others have umbrellas, I have a big head."

It seemed he had been thoroughly driven mad by all the shaving.

Suddenly, an umbrella was thrust into Blue Hair’s hands. He immediately curled up and took cover beneath it, then squatted there motionlessly, silent.

The newcomer held another umbrella and squatted beside him in a similar fashion, also saying nothing, as if quietly keeping him company as they watched the rain.

It wasn’t until a while later that Blue Hair suddenly whispered mysteriously to the visitor:

"Excuse me, are you... a mushroom too?"

Byron silently watched him, not indulging in the game of "I’m a mushroom, you’re a wood ear," but went straight to the point:

"Your Excellency Blue Hair, how about we have a talk?"

"The past and your hair have both been blown away by the wind. What’s most important in life is to look forward. Come on, cheer up a bit."

Touching his sore spot, a vicious glint flashed in Blue Hair’s seemingly murky eyes, but he continued to ramble:

"Ah—! The world kisses me with pain, yet to the world... I stick out my tongue, SLURP—SLURP—"

All the while shouting and pretending to kiss the air.

HISS!

Seeing him like this, Byron couldn’t help but step back three paces, then silently took out a... Memory Crystal that he had borrowed from Violet.

He pointed it at Blue Hair and faithfully recorded this shocking and absurd scene.

A shiny bald man was sticking out his tongue, kissing the air. The imagery, tsk tsk, was absolutely priceless!

If it were just an ordinary person, at most it would be an eyesore.

But if the person in question turned out to be Blue Hair Halding, whose status among the Barbary Pirates was second only to the Pirate King, many people would probably be willing to pay to see it.

Imagine hanging it in a ’little shop’ on Financial Street, with the title:

"Shocking! A Fifth-tier Pirate King, one of the strongest in the Bantaan Archipelago, [Ocean Throne] Barbarossa Hailidin’s brother, Halding, has actually done this?"

It wouldn’t take a day for his gallant image to spread across the colonies and the east and west coasts of the Continent, thanks to his brother’s popularity.

And by the way, it could make Byron a handsome profit.

Little punk, you’re playing the long-suffering, biding-your-time game with me, huh? Just wait, I’ll make you socially dead.

[Echo of History] read what Blue Hair had been up to lately. Others might not know if he was truly mad or pretending, but wouldn’t Byron know?

Thinking this, he simply blurted out his plan.

Halding’s eyes could be seen twitching violently; his extended tongue was caught in a dilemma—to retract it or keep it out.

Byron struck while the iron was hot and continued, "Your Excellency Blue Hair, as the Vicelord of the Barbary Pirates, you surely don’t want your dark history made public like this, do you?"

"Losing your hairstyle isn’t terrible, and dying isn’t terrible. They’re merely small matters. But ’some people are alive yet already dead’—that is true torture for the rest of one’s life. Believe me, being publicly shamed and subjected to an internet mobbing is absolutely unbearable."

Seeing his tongue, which had stiffened so much he couldn’t retract it, Byron touched his chin and muttered to himself, "Could this fellow actually be insane?"

"Alright then, I have a bottle of Instant Hair Growth Agent right here. I’ll just leave it here."

"Great Pirates don’t lie to Great Pirates. If you drink it, it means you’re not insane. If you don’t, it means you truly are mad, and I’ll let you go. How about that?"

Saying so, he placed a bottle of blood-red Magic Potion on the ground, then retreated more than a dozen steps.

With the [Halo of the Great Benefactor] active, he didn’t need to lie at all for others to subconsciously believe him.

The moment Byron stepped back beyond the safety line.

WHOOSH!

Halding immediately pounced like a ravenous dog, snatched the potion, and guzzled it down.

Instantly, the blue hair on his head began to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The surrounding jailers who witnessed this turned deathly pale, their legs trembling.

Rubbing his now fuzzy scalp, Halding threw his head back and roared with laughter:

"Hahaha, you were careless! No matter how cunning you, The Sea Hunter, are, didn’t you still end up drinking Blue Hair’s foot-wash?"

"Did you really think I was a fool? Once I regain my title’s special effects and return to the Fourth Order, would I even need you to release me? Power! Power is continuously surging out from my hair! I’ll tear you limb from limb to vent the hatred in my heart! No, first I’ll get you drunk and lock you up with a herd of billy goats, record your disgraceful state, HEH HEH... HEH? Wait, what’s happening?!"

Soon, Halding was horrified to discover that not only was his hair growing, but his beard, eyebrows, and even every single body hair were growing rapidly.

He quickly transformed into a blue-furred monstrosity.

And that wasn’t the end. The skin, muscles, and bones beneath the hair all began to change as well.

With a series of CRACKLING and POPPING sounds, his entire being twisted into a werewolf, complete with sharp claws and fangs.

"Sit down," Byron, standing opposite him, said nonchalantly.

THUD!

Halding’s body involuntarily slammed heavily onto the ground, making him grimace in pain.

Byron’s lips curved into a smile. "It seems the effect of [Wolf’s Bane Blood] is quite good."

Among the abilities of the Prince of Night Demons, there was one called Dominate Lesser Servants, which could control a series of Extraordinary Creatures from the same path.

Although his [First Embrace] quotas had indeed all been used up, the series of therianthropic transformation rituals he learned from the Blood Source Pilgrimage had no limit.

What was given to Blue Hair wasn’t just an ’Instant Hair Growth Agent.’ The primary effect of the Magic Potion was not hair growth, but to turn him into a lesser servant of the Night Demon—a werewolf. Especially those he personally transformed, his control over them was even stronger.

Ever since acquiring this ability, Byron had planned to use it to strengthen his control over Blue Hair. Otherwise, bringing him on board a ship to go overseas in search of his brother was no different from carrying a ticking time bomb.

「Time flew by.」

Early the next morning, as expected, that issue of "Lighthouse Weekly" exploded like a super bomb, sending the entire world into an uproar.

Orders from the homelands of the major Kingdoms fell upon the Bantaan Archipelago like flurries of paper.

Byron’s situation was, of course, no exception.

"Lord Tudor, I have invested in your ’New Continent Development, Trade, Sightseeing, and Fishing Crowdfunding Project,’ and I will add an additional investment. The entire thirty percent tithe for the second half of this year can be at your disposal. As long as you can establish an outpost and port, and snatch a piece of the whaling grounds for the Kingdom, you will be the foremost hero of the York Dynasty. I’ll not only grant you the promised Earldom but will also support you in... courting that Countess Grendel, [Mithril Dragon] Catherine! I hope to hear your good news."

Edward IV’s promises were still as grand and enticing as ever.

Byron had little to say; this was his own plan, after all, and he had urgently convened his core team the day before.

However, before The Golden Deer could set sail, Byron unexpectedly received a distress signal from [Hawkeye] James Kent, Captain of the Raven.

After dealing with the Bloody Rage incident, Kent and two other adventurer captains had departed together to continue their unfinished explorations. They had exchanged private means of communication during that time.

At this moment, the [Echo Conch] conveyed two things. First, a set of coordinates very close to Fortress Bridgehead. Second, the other party’s repeated, fearful mutterings: "Don’t eat the fish! Don’t eat the fish! Don’t eat the fish..." This was accompanied by the sound of surging seawater.