Chapter 10: Pirate Alliance? Section 10

If at first Black Hair had thought of this pirate duel as a game, that idea vanished the moment he approached the city.
Almost every street, every room, everything within sight—everywhere was packed with people. The city, which appeared dark on the surface, now seemed to be celebrating a grand festival. Fine wine, women, fierce pirates, and an endless stream of people—all seemed to be celebrating something. The atmosphere was incredibly lively, almost as festive as New Year’s Eve in Huaguo.
The duel was the pirates’ festival. Black Hair finally understood what that meant.
The city was enormous, covering at least over a hundred square kilometers. Its streets crisscrossed densely, and without being a local, one would hardly be able to find their way. All the buildings were dome-shaped, just like those Black Hair had seen from outside; there weren’t any tall buildings at all.
Of course, these weren’t the city’s unique features. What was truly special was an arena.
A giant arena almost identical to those in medieval Europe, built entirely from massive rocks. It stood firmly in the heart of the city, like an ancient beast that exuded a fierce intimidating presence from afar. The purpose of this city was precisely this arena.
Black Hair heard this from a drunk pirate. That huge arena had already existed before they arrived on this planet—it wasn’t a product of human civilization. At that time, there were no humans or any intelligent beings on this planet. The massive arena stood quietly in that rocky wasteland, seemingly waiting for something. When the pirates first discovered it, they regarded it as a sacred place bestowed by heaven. Over time, small pirate villages developed around the arena and grew stronger.
Eventually, it evolved into the large-scale city it is today.
“Damn, it’s amazing. Such a structure appearing on a planet without intelligent beings—if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Did it just appear out of thin air?” In the bar, Blood-Eyed man chewed on grilled meat while muttering. In his other hand, he held a beer keg.

“Maybe. Even with today’s advanced magic technology, we can’t deny the existence of gods. Bloodpupil, you must know about the Gateclan, right? Those creatures with extremely weak individual abilities rely on their so-called gods of faith to gain combat strength. And yet, they’ve still managed to establish a foothold in this universe, haven’t they? I remember when humans first tried to colonize them, fifteen full fleets weren’t enough to take them down—both sides suffered heavy losses.” Lily, who was by Blackhair’s side, suddenly spoke up. Upon arriving at their destination, she put on her space-specific combat suit, which accentuated her sexy figure, instantly making Bloodpupil swallow hard.

It was a quite ordinary bar in Hell City. After the burly old man announced that free movement was allowed, Blackhair came here. According to rumors among the Treasure Hunters pirates, the bar’s grilled meat was the most authentic in the universe. It was one of the must-visit places for all pirates in Hell City. Moreover, the owner was said to be extremely mysterious, having never appeared in public.

Before a major battle, it was necessary to replenish nutrients adequately. So Blackhair brought everyone along—not only Bloodpupil and Lily but also Barton, who hadn’t fully regained his senses, and the genius idiot mechanic Jack. For the latter two, however, the discussion between Blackhair and Bloodpupil was less interesting than the grilled meat right in front of them.

Of course, Blackhair chose this bar for another, more important reason.

That was…

“Hey, boss, have you heard? That shop north of the city has reopened. Probably because of these Death Fights—their owner said it’ll be open for three days.” In a corner of the bar, a group of pirates’ conversation immediately caught Blackhair’s attention. It was three ordinary pirates, with the one sitting furthest in speaking. Across from him was a burly guy engrossed in eating—probably their so-called boss.

“Mm, I heard. That old fool only opens his shop a few times a year—less than a month in total. I really doubt he even sells anything. How does he make a living?”

“He has capital, boss. You’re an experienced veteran who’s been roaming the universe for so long—have you ever seen a better mech modifier than him? Although his shop isn’t big, every item inside is top-quality. The prices are exorbitant; selling just one item would be enough to support him for a year. Why bother opening the shop every day and exhausting himself?” The first voice continued, sighing at the end.

“Just the few of us? Forget it for life. If we have the money to buy that mecha, we won’t be pirates anymore. It’s better to buy a house by the sea in Star Ocean than anything else.”
“You, stop daydreaming.” The pirate who had remained silent until then suddenly raised his head and let out a mocking sneer. “Even if you wanted to buy it, whether they’d sell it is another question. That old man has a strange temper; he won’t sell anything to those he disapproves of, no matter how much money you offer. How many leaders and nobles come here every year asking him to modify mechs, and how many of them get what they want?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’d better stick to being honest pirates—a promising career. Stop fantasizing about such things…” The leader waved his hand to stop their argument, then raised his large beer mug.
“Come on, let’s drink!”
“Okay, let’s drink!”
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, the black-haired man smiled satisfactorily. He knew his main goal for coming to this bar had been achieved.
He remembered spending a long time in the mental network after arriving in this world, quickly learning a lot of common knowledge. One thing he learned was that bars were the places with the fastest information flow in this world—essentially free information stations. As long as you had patience and luck, you could get whatever you wanted to know. It truly lived up to the reputation.
“Young man, if you want to know what they’re talking about, just ask me directly. Eavesdropping is an unethical act.” A deep voice suddenly appeared, not noticeable at all in the noisy bar, but it reached the black-haired man’s ears directly. Without even looking, he knew it must be Nuke’s voice.
Sure enough, at some point, the strange face in his right hand appeared, secretly turning its mouth into a long straw and dipping it into the beer mug beside it. With its eyes half-closed, it was clearly in a state of intoxication.
Damn, this guy is also an alcoholic.
Frowning, the black-haired man lowered his voice.
“Didn’t I tell you not to show up in crowded places? If someone sees me, I won’t know how to explain it.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let them see us. It’s crowded here, and no one will pay attention to us. I just wanted to get some fresh air. Hmm, the beer’s good. The owner here really knows his stuff. If I’m not wrong, this is dark iron dwarf barley beer—truly excellent. Black Hair, take a few barrels with you later. Consider it my reward for doing this for you.”
“What reward?” The black-haired man was surprised.

“Of course, it’s to do something to that kid named Barton’s body. I’m already ready. All the enhanced cells have been cultivated. It’s just a matter of implanting them. I’ll do it whenever you need me to, and I promise to give you a lively guy back.”
“Oh.” Black Hair finally understood the purpose of Core. When he looked up, he saw Lily and Jack’s horrified expressions. The two of them were staring at their own palms, completely stunned.
“Wow, Master. You’re truly great. What is this? How did it grow on your palm? Good heavens, it can even talk. It’s so cute.” Stars appeared in Lily’s eyes.
Core, cute?
Black Hair felt dizzy and almost collapsed on the table.
What kind of aesthetic did this Lily have? A wrinkled, ugly face growing on a palm was called cute by her, and she didn’t show any surprise at all. Was this just carelessness or mental illness?
Had she been scared silly?
Blood Pupil was also greatly shocked by Lily’s words. The beer keg in his hand fell to the ground with a loud noise. In an instant, the bar fell silent, and everyone’s gaze turned toward them.
“Ah, it’s okay, it’s okay. I slipped. Go on with what you were doing.” The once-cold-blooded assassin blushed as he explained to the pirates around him.
The noisy sounds resumed, and when Black Hair looked at his palm, Core had disappeared without a trace.
“Master, you still haven’t told me what that was. Are you really human? What abilities does that thing have? Why can it talk?” Lily threw a barrage of questions at once, leaving Black Hair frowning, not knowing how to explain.
“Lily, you’ve had too much to drink. That was just an illusion.” If he couldn’t explain it, he wouldn’t. Black Hair certainly didn’t want to reveal his secrets to a warrior who had just become his slave.
“Oh, is that so?” Lily looked disappointed but obediently stopped asking further. She noticed that Black Hair’s complexion had turned pale.
“Alright, have you all finished eating? Lily, take Jack and Barton back to our residence. Blood Pupil and I will go out for a moment.” Black Hair stood up, said nothing more, and walked out of the bar. Behind him, Blood Pupil hurriedly stuffed the grilled meat in his mouth and quickly followed.

The environment of Hell City was very primitive, so naturally it lacked the air purification systems found in ordinary cities. Walking along the narrow streets, waves of sulfur smell filled one’s nostrils, creating a feeling of extreme dullness and disgust. People with poor health probably wouldn’t even qualify to survive here. Black Hair and Blood Eyes determined their direction and headed straight for the northern part of the city.

The scale of the Death Gladiators battles wasn’t large, a fact Black Hair already knew. But that didn’t mean they were simple. On the contrary, the fewer participants there were and the more grand the event seemed, the bloodier and crueler it became. Black Hair didn’t think the weapons and mechs provided by the Pirate Alliance would be sufficient for such battles. He and Blood Eyes were complete outsiders on this planet, and the Pickpockets weren’t particularly strong either. Their safety couldn’t be guaranteed at all. The need for weapons became extremely urgent.

If this store was truly as amazing as those pirates claimed, Black Hair was willing to spend the 150,000 crystals from his card here.

The two of them remained silent along the way, though their expressions seemed like they were just strolling around. After parting ways with the crowds celebrating and brushing off the advances of three beautiful girls, they finally arrived at what was said to be the best weapons store in Hell City.

It was a small shop with a very dilapidated exterior. From the outside, it was hard to associate this place with high-tech weapons. There was a small sign hanging on the door that read…

Gao Fei Blacksmith Shop.

A blacksmith shop? Black Hair couldn’t help but laugh. The owner of this shop was quite interesting—he even came up with such an archaic name. It was just unclear what exactly was sold in this blacksmith shop. Were it the advanced mechs rumored by pirates? Or just ordinary kitchen knives?

But when he approached the small blacksmith shop, all his contempt vanished in an instant.

There were no large mechs inside, no weapons as he had imagined, and certainly no kitchen knives. All that appeared before Black Hair was a small glass counter, with five tiny toys in the center.

Yes, toys. And they were the modern-style model toys that children loved the most.

Five mech models.

Almost as soon as he saw those five models, Black Hair’s attention was completely captivated. He couldn’t even hear when the shopkeeper appeared or what he said. Because in his mind, those tiny models before him were simply too fascinating.

All of them are asymmetric mechs. In order from left to right, they are categorized into five types: combat, sniper, missile, close-range shooting, and utility support. The combination of weapons on each mech is perfectly balanced. Although they seem to have few weapons and their appearance is dull and lackluster, Kurokami can immediately tell that these mech combinations are optimized, fully highlighting the inherent strengths of each mech. Even if he tried to assemble them himself, he couldn’t do any better than this.

Amateurs watch the excitement; experts see the details. Kurokami knew he might have stumbled upon a treasure.

“Do you like them?”

Suddenly, a voice rang out in the room. Kurokami looked up in surprise and saw an old man with white hair just coming out of the inner room.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the owner here. I noticed you’ve been paying close attention to these little gadgets for quite some time, so I came out to talk to you. Young man, you’re special. I’ve lived in Hell City for thirty years and have never seen a pirate like you. I must say, you’ve piqued my interest,” the old man replied with a smile, waving his hand, and his subordinates immediately bowed and stepped back.

“Go ahead, is there anything I can help you with?”

The old man with white hair was talkative and cheerful. Though time had left deep marks on his body, his eyes sparkled with intelligence—neither sharp nor gentle, but rather unique.

Under his gaze, even Kurokami felt a bit uneasy.

“First of all, I’m not a pirate yet,” Kurokami finally stopped studying the models, crossed his arms, stepped aside, and sat down on a chair on the other side of the room.

“That doesn’t matter, young man. What’s important is what you’ve realized.” The old man’s expression became serious, but his eyes still held a hint of amusement.

“Extremes,” Kurokami said, raising an eyebrow as he uttered those two words.

“All five of these mechs go to extremes—completely discarding anything unimportant to fully emphasize their strengths. For example, this one…” Kurokami pointed at the model on the far left.

“This is a combat mech. It’s clear you’ve put a lot of effort into it. That right arm isn’t just an ordinary combat arm—it’s actually a pile driver equipped with a gravity amplification device. The hand has also been replaced with a giant drill head designed to maximize impact force, giving it immense power and weight. It’s an excellent combat mech that’s hard to find. Unfortunately, its magic engine clearly can’t handle such heavy weight, which greatly reduces its mobility. Even if you replace its feet with tracks and remove all armor, you still can’t solve this problem; in fact, reduced armor would significantly lower its defense. It will definitely have issues in actual combat.”

“Hmm…” The old man listened carefully to Black Hair’s explanation, his eyes gradually lighting up. Seeing that Black Hair seemed about to stop, he quickly pointed at a model nearby. “What about this one?”

“This is a sniper mech. It uses a high-caliber energy rifle. Its penetration power is undoubtedly outstanding. However, its range is somewhat disappointing. After all, energy rifles generally have limited range due to energy dissipation. As a regular close-range weapon, it’s acceptable, but as a long-range sniper weapon, it’s not very intimidating. But given the engine’s power limitations, there’s little that can be done about it. Otherwise, the design of this mech fully conforms to combat theory—it has excellent mobility and is suitable for guerrilla warfare. Hmm, it’s very similar to a mech I once saw.”

Black Hair suddenly frowned, remembering the mech that Lily had piloted. Wasn’t it exactly the same as the model in front of him?

“You… you’ve seen the Basket Bird!!!?” The white-haired old man suddenly exclaimed in shock.