No—those expressions were even more terrified than if they had seen a demon.
After all, with the strength these pirates possessed, even if they encountered a real demon, they would not be entirely without the ability to resist.
But before Ryan, they didn't even have the right to refuse.
The pirates exchanged bitter looks, then one after another swore oaths in the name of the Overgod to rescue the soldiers. If they deliberately failed to save someone, bringing about that person's death, then calamity would befall their three clans.
Seeing that all of them had sworn, the coldness on Ryan's face eased slightly.
He knew well that these pirates were all desperadoes.
Otherwise, they would not have taken to the seas, living by plunder.
But he also knew that Feldman's company had been scattered all across Azure Peak Island—some even blasted into the Nether Sea.
Before Ryan's arrival, those soldiers had already been on the verge of exhaustion. Then Harald had shattered the formation—if rescue was not carried out immediately, many of them would die.
Thus, no matter how untrustworthy these pirates were, Ryan had no choice but to bind them with an oath sworn on the lives of their three clans, hoping to impose at least some restraint.
Outside Azure Peak Island, the scouts observing Mad Lord Harald's assault understood at once—this battle was already over.
The moment Harald's head was crushed, the scouts immediately fled, eager to report everything they had witnessed to their respective masters.
None of them were fools.
The strength revealed by the army that had suppressed all pirates of the Nether Sea for tens of millions of years had far exceeded their expectations.
A thousand-man company displaying strength comparable to a Seven-Star Fiend—that, at least, was still within their understanding.
After all, over the past millions of years, the Fifth Battalion Commander, Celes, had relied on such formations to rival Seven-Star Fiends, becoming one of the forces restraining the Four Pirate Kings.
Feldman's breakthrough merely meant one more such commander.
This would not affect the Pirate Emperor or the Four Kings.
The ones most impacted would be the Seven Lords and the various pirate factions.
But the appearance of a second Commander-level expert in the army—that carried far greater implications.
It meant that for all these years, what they had been fighting might only be a portion of a far more powerful force.
Now that a second Commander had appeared, did it mean this force intended to completely eradicate the pirates of the Nether Sea?
Or worse—did it have even more Commander-level experts hidden behind the scenes?
Of course, everyone knew that Commanders were not cabbages.
Each one's rise was a legend in itself.
No single faction would have many of them.
Even a Sovereign—if only a Lesser one—would have at most two emissary slots.
One would go to the commander of their army, leaving only one emissary to handle affairs.
Naturally, each Sovereign emissary was extremely powerful. With Sovereign artifacts granted to them, they stood above ordinary Commanders.
Even at the peak of the Four Divine Beasts clan, over a thousand epochs later, there had been no more than ten Commander-level experts.
The direct descendants of the Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns—the four clan leaders and Gaia—were all Commanders.
Gaia's husband, as well as the Azure Dragon clan's Grand Elder, Bru, were also among them.
Excluding Sovereign emissaries, the Four Divine Beasts clan had only seven Commanders across over a thousand epochs.
And that alone had made them the undisputed number one clan across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes.
Under the binding power of the Overgod oath, the pirates of the Mad Lord crew had no choice but to scour land and sea, spreading their divine sense to locate the scattered soldiers and bring them back to Azure Peak Island.
Yet even with Ryan doing everything he could, only a little over eight hundred soldiers were ultimately rescued.
In other words, Harald's final strike had killed more than a hundred members of Feldman's company.
"Damn it!"
"He got off too easily."
Upon hearing the casualty count, everyone felt a heaviness in their hearts.
Over tens of millions of years, Locke's Sovereign army had not been without losses in its battles against the pirates.
But this loss was undoubtedly the greatest.
After all, many squad leaders and company commanders in the army had mastered magic formations.
Even if they couldn't draw upon the Laws of Heaven and Earth to empower their soldiers, they could still coordinate their troops, concentrating divine power into devastating attacks.
In most battles, losing more than ten men would already be considered a major loss.
More often, the army would crush pirate forces without suffering any casualties at all.
Just as Ryan was blaming himself for acting rashly, Feldman stood up beside Harald's corpse.
"No, Lord Ryan… Harald isn't dead yet."
"Hm?"
Ryan looked up, then noticed the interspatial ring in Feldman's hand—and immediately understood.
"You mean…?"
"That's right."
A fierce glint flashed across Feldman's face.
"Lord Ryan, I tried earlier. I couldn't bind this interspatial ring."
"That means Harald still has other divine clones alive."
"Good."
Ryan nodded, then turned his gaze toward the pirates of the Mad Lord crew.
At this moment, their faces were ashen, their eyes filled with both despair and hope.
Before the rescue, Ryan had clearly stated—if even one soldier was missing, ten pirates would die.
Now, with 137 soldiers dead, that meant 1,370 pirates would be executed.
As one of the renowned Seven Lords' pirate crews, the Mad Lord crew had over fifty thousand members.
However, when Harald launched his assault, he had left forces behind to guard their base and maintain order.
Thus, only around fifteen thousand pirates had come to Azure Peak Island.
Before Harald personally intervened, more than three thousand had already died in battle against Feldman's forces.
Now, just under twelve thousand remained trapped on the island.
Their despair came from the fear that they might be among the 1,370 chosen to die.
Their hope lay in the odds—only 1,370 would be killed. Their chances of survival were still relatively high.
Under Ryan's gaze, each of them wished desperately they could turn invisible and escape notice.
"You all heard it, didn't you?"
"Your leader still has another divine clone."
"If any of you can provide its location, then when I start selecting people later, you can trade that information for your life."
Though he wanted to hunt down and kill Harald's remaining clones, Ryan did not forget his earlier declaration—ten pirates would die for every fallen soldier.
The pirates glanced at one another.
Most of them had no idea where Harald's other clone was.
A few, however—his close confidants—did know some of his secrets, including possible locations of his other clones.
But they were uncertain.
Even if they revealed that information, could the army truly capture Harald?
From what they knew, Harald had not only a water-element divine clone, but also a Saint-level original body.
It was even possible that by now, his original body had already refined a Destruction Highgod spark and regained its strength.
If Harald were captured, fine.
But if he escaped…
Then anyone who betrayed him would spend the rest of their lives under the shadow of a Seven-Star Fiend's vengeance.
They would never know when Harald might come for them.
Seeing the hesitation on their faces, Ryan understood immediately.
After all, before being appointed deputy commander of Locke's Sovereign army, Ryan had been the leader of a major force in Hell.
Though he had once been carefree and straightforward, after tens of millions of years, he had gained some understanding of leadership.
Without further delay, Ryan stomped the ground.
"Boom—!"
In an instant, stone arms rose from the earth.
Each arm clenched a pirate in its grasp.
Counting carefully, there were exactly 1,370 arms—matching the number Ryan had declared.
"I regret to inform you…"
"Those seized by the Hands of Earth are the ones who will pay with their lives for this attack on Azure Peak Island."
"I'll give you one final chance."
"Do you have any information about Harald's other clone to exchange for your life?"
"If not…"
"I will proceed."
As he spoke, Ryan slowly raised his right hand, his fingers gradually curling into a fist.
And as he did, the 1,370 stone arms tightened their grip in unison.
(End of Chapter)
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