I'm a Immortal Tavernkeeper, But My S-Rank Daughter Doesn't Know That!

The pirate’s scream echoed through the hold, piercing the ship’s narrow corridors like an angry alarm.

Franky wasted no time. With the speed of a predator on the attack, he lunged at the pirate, and his punch was powerful, hitting the pirate in the stomach with a force that threw him backward, crashing into the wooden wall with a deafening thud.

"Follow me!!" Franky shouted to the prisoners, the urgency in his voice unmistakable.

The crew members, still wide-eyed with surprise, moved, though their legs trembled with fatigue and fear.

Jonathan was the first to react, helping the weakest to their feet, while Franky watched the ladder, waiting for the pirate reinforcements that were sure to come.

Moments earlier, Captain Claw and Assistant Chief Mouse were on deck negotiating with Victor.

"The price has gone up, man. You know that galleons like this are getting scarce. I can sell the carcass of this one for a good price in any port city or island in the world," Captain Claw said confidently.

"But with the amount of gold coins I’m offering, there should be some flexibility..." Victor replied in a diplomatic tone.

Then the scream of the pirate in the hold reached the deck.

".... INTRUDER IN THE HOLD!" The warning cut through the air like a thunderclap, causing the pirates on deck and inside the ship to stop immediately what they were doing.

Captain Claw’s face hardened, and after the initial confusion, he turned to Victor and shouted, "You... distracted me!" Claw pointed his claw accusingly at Victor. "Damn you! Stay right where you are, and when I’m done with your colleagues here, I’ll kill you myself!"

At the same time, inside the ship, Franky prepared for the worst. He knew that the pirate’s scream would have alerted the entire ship.

The prisoners gathered behind him, their faces pale with fear.

Hurried footsteps and angry voices of the pirates began to approach where they were inside.

"They’re coming," Jonathan whispered.

"Stay together and behind me," Franky said in a firm and determined tone.

Franky greeted the first pirate to come down the stairs with a swift blow to the throat, threw him aside, and kicked a second pirate who was right behind him. Other pirates began to descend, but the confined space of the ladder favored Franky’s strategy, which was very clever.

However, the number of pirates was large, and Franky knew he couldn’t hold the advantage for long. He needed help, and that kind of help was something the sailors of the "Traveling Mermaid" couldn’t provide. Still, Franky knew that help would come one way or another.

On deck, Captain Claw was yelling at Victor, who sighed without much choice, seeing that his plan had only partially worked. Then he started to draw his sword.

Claw saw what Victor was doing and let out a loud laugh as his metal claw pointed at the swordsman.

"PHUAHAHAT! Do you really think you can hurt us with that sword? Or, oh, are you preparing to greet us?! PUAHAHAT! You are further from reality than I thought!"

Victor didn’t answer. Instead, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the energy flow through him and connect with the sword in his hand. The air around him began to vibrate with an unseen power.

"Captain, something is wrong..." Mouse muttered, advising his captain, but Claw ignored him, finding what Victor was doing funny.

When Victor opened his eyes, an intense light enveloped him, and he brought his sword forward in one swift motion. A powerful wind formed around the blade, increasing in strength and speed. The attack moved quickly, tearing through the space between the two ships in the water. When the wind blade hit the bay, the water split in a straight line, as if it had been cut by an invisible knife, or as if a spell had been cast that could open the sea.

The impact was so strong that both ships rocked violently, the deck of the pirate ship tilting dangerously as the pirates struggled to keep their balance.

The plank connecting the two ships fell into the water, and some of the pirates, unable to hold on, did the same, screaming as they fell into the choppy waters.

Captain Claw, who had been full of confidence moments before, grabbed the wheel of the oar and nearly spun with it. Eyes wide with shock and disbelief, he stammered:

"But... what?"

Inside the merchant ship, the "Traveling Mermaid", everything was shaking as well, but the crew was together in the corridor and didn’t suffer as much.

Franky felt the ship shake violently and held on to the walls. A few moments later, the horde of pirates who had descended into the hold began to fall down the stairs as the ship rocked. They rolled down the stairs until they fell to Franky’s feet, most of them unconscious.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Franky quickly looked at the crew behind him and said:

"Come on! Now’s our chance!"

The path was partially cleared, and the fallen pirates were trampled by those who came after Franky.

After a few seconds, the water in the bay finally began to calm, and the crack in the sea disappeared.

Claw, still in shock, rose from the ground, pointed at Victor at the edge of the beach, and yelled:

"BASTARD, HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

At that moment, Mouse, the most loyal of the pirate crew to his captain, heard dozens of hurried footsteps on deck and muttered:

"Captain... I think we have bigger problems."

"What is it, Mouse? Can’t you see I’m busy?" Claw turned back to curse Mouse, and finally saw that while most of his pirates were still trying to get up and climb back onto the ships, the deck had been retaken by the crew of the "Traveling Mermaid".

From one moment to the next, Claw and Mouse found themselves completely surrounded and disrupted. An attack that seemed to be going perfectly and would have yielded a good profit was taken from them and this infuriated Captain Claw.