Volume 7 - Chapter 561: Hitting the hare while gathering straw

Chapter 561: Hitting the hare while gathering straw

Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation

Towards Sheyan’s explanation, Reef pondered before earnestly sharing.

"Putting it that way, it sounds rather proper. Still, those guys are rather crafty and we still don’t know where they are hiding. Furthermore, the island Port Royal is residing in is like an entire continent, there is simply innumerable amount of places they can hide. How are we supposed to rescue the Lady Elizabeth and deliver her back to the governor’s mansion?"

Sheyan pointed out his finger and replied.

"The greatest weapon of Elizabeth Swan is her bewitching beauty. Sadly, that wouldn’t work on us contestants. Therefore logically speaking, the threat she poses to contestants is akin to sharpened fingernails or non harmful cursing. Nevertheless, she remains as an incredibly important storyline character. Yes, she is even the female lead. Hence, haven’t you considered, attempting to kidnap her would absolutely not be an easy feat! Accurately phrasing, the difficulty of that would at least not be lower than kidnapping Will Turner!"

"In view of her physically frail prowess, the difficulty of kidnapping Elizabeth Swann resides in other areas! If one could simply flee to a deserted district after kidnapping the Lady Elizabeth, then this entire affair is simply like leisure sightseeing. Yet factoring in the value of Lady Elizabeth as the female lead, the realm definitely wouldn’t allow that to happen. Therefore, there is a huge possibility of them being unable to transport her out of Port Royal within this limited timeframe! Otherwise, the realm would definitely execute a triggering consequence! That will be how it complements the difficulty of capturing the female lead."

"So Elizabeth Swann is actually within Port Royal itself?" Reef questioned doubtfully. "But under such stringent patrolling, where can they hide?"

Sheyan stretched out another finger and continued.

"If I assume my hypothesis is accurate, there aren’t much places in Port Royal that those brats can hide. The most suspicious place should be the protective umbrella of my lovely Chris behind the scenes – the residence of lord Ben Fleming. As the most influential candidate to substitute the governor, he would have the prerogative to be exempt from inspections. Also, he is definitely unwilling to see the newly promoted Norrington and Governor Swann being joined with marriage. Because with such a powerful cooperation would imply he would never have the chance to ascend to the position of governor! Hence, there is reasonable motive for him. Of course, excluding him, there are still several other suspicious residences. Nonetheless, I have the greatest misgivings about Lord Ben Fleming!"

"But how did that manage to sneak themselves into the residence of the respectful nobility, Lord Ben Fleming? Norrington was previously tight on their heels."

"For them to successfully shrug off Norrington’s pursuit and escape, they surely didn’t rely on their own capabilities but employed some other method."

"Those brats probably have no restraints in their dealings. Therefore, though there isn’t much they can employ to threaten Norrington, there are still certain flaws to exploit. Of course, the most effective would be to directly threaten the life of their hostage, the beautiful Lady Elizabeth. For example, carving out a cross on her face. If Norrington is a typical english nobility, the only thing left for him to do is submit in distress."

Sheyan’s deduction was merely based on considering the most possible verdict that could happen. After pondering a little, he added.

"Devising to kidnap Elizabeth Swann, that Nick is truly a deliberate schemer and his methods are ruthless. His capabilities shouldn’t be inferior to us as well. Such an individual wouldn’t place his hopes of survival solely on a single path. Since he dares to plot against me, then naturally I will have to return his compliments. Either refrain from provoking such an individual, or utterly beat him to death with a club. Otherwise, it would become exceedingly troublesome to constantly be concerned about him. Therefore, we must wipe his Triple-K party out from this world. Anyway, I still seem to be lacking some blood keys for the party mission!"

*********************************

The hurricane continued billowing throughout Port Royal.

Walking through this raging storm would issue a sense of weightlessness in one’s body, occasionally feeling as though one was on the verge of being blown away. The rain continued pouring down vehemently, as the whistling of wind and rain screamed into one’s ears.

Only hand gestures and signals could be used for communication, as a widened mouth would only receive a thriving irrigation of rain water!

Under the harsh weather, one could vividly observe the distant sea practically appearing like an inexhaustible colossal beast rummaging turbulently. Towering waves that surpassed 5-6 metres would crash down as layers from the sky, slapping and splashing against the reefs of the shore. The splashes soared to heights of ten metres.

Despite all these, there was still multitudes of people pacing through Port Royal, where most of which were marines. Though their bodies were drenched, their postures remained upright like a cocky rooster, surveying around with widened eyes for any suspicious characters attempting to flee. Individuals who tried in vain to avoid the punishment of the law.

All these was happening because of three sealed reports.

The contents of those three anonymous letters weren’t lengthy. However, it provided an exceptionally rational and detailed analysis of the reason for Lady Elizabeth Swann’s kidnap.

Contained within them, were obscure hints of certain individuals who were reluctant for Commodore Norrington, one who displayed boundless prospects, to marry such a gorgeous wife and subsequently changing his address of Governor Swann to father-in-law. Conveniently, several suspicious names were also cited out.

Those three sealed letters had been delivered to Norrington, Governor Swann and the most crucial person – Mister Will Turner.

Perhaps the former two would hold reservations due to their noble demeanor of having to uphold the law of the Queen of Britain. Instead, the latter was a love sick fool who would kill and burn for Elizabeth Swann. Most importantly, that love sick fool was tremendously powerful.

Therefore, like ants on a hot plate or an oestrus bull that sighted a naked cow, Will Turner fiercely rushed out even before he finished reading the contents. The most fearful thing was the ordeal of waiting desperately when in love, but not being capable of doing a single thing. After Will Turner finally saw a glimmer of hope, the pent up vigor within his heart was fully unleashed.

Evidently, those three sealed letters were the handiwork of Sheyan. His objective was obviously to beat around the grass to alert the snakes. Will Turner was perfectly delighted to be used by Sheyan, as he successfully played the persona of being the rash poop stirrer.

Ultimately, the facts verified that Sheyan was no immortal. Lord Ben Fleming, whom he identified as the greatest suspect, was actually clean and no incriminating evidence could be found against him.

Nevertheless, Sheyan’s conjecture was still spot on. Lady Elizabeth Swann was indeed kept in one of the residences on Sheyan’s name list. Will Turner had managed to obtain the truth after seizing the neck of a servant with lower mental fortitude. Then, he and Norrington mounted an explosive attempt and successfully rescued their beloved maiden.

Of course, Lady Swann wasn’t raped or killed, as those two conducts would undoubtedly incur the wrath of two nemesis while having no benefits at all.

The family harbouring those offenders were executed. Instead, the mastermind and kidnappers had successfully escaped.

Unbeknownst when, they had dug out a huge tunnel from the courtyard of that family all the way to the outskirts of Port Royal. Of course, when the winds of justice came blowing, those contestants had already made their getaway.

********************

At present, the trio was seated on a hill west of Port Royal as thei strained their eyes to scan around. The raging storm seemingly couldn’t hamper them, and the trio appeared like three stone statues. Sheyan gazed towards the distant shady dark clouds and muttered.

"I reckon this rain will continue until the next morning."

Mogensha suddenly asked.

"Boss. Say, do you think Nick and his gang would resort to directly returning to the realm?"

Sheyan replied.

"That is a possibility. Still, a direct return to the realm would frequently cost one a devastating penalty, and they would probably have to relinquish everything they gained in this world. If I were Nick, I would definitely not resort to such means unless necessary."

Actually, the trio had been waiting here for nearly two hours.

Through observation, the manhunt back in Port Royal should be intensifying greatly like the howling wind and torrential rain. The search should be at its high tide now. Yet from this bird’s-eye-view, nothing strange was happening.

A proverb speaks wonderfully of hitting the hare while gathering the straw. However, now that the straw was nearly gathered full, why hasn’t the hare surfaced?

At this point, the topographical shape of the island Port Royal was on, had to be mentioned.

This island appeared like a gourd, while Port Royal was situated on the mouth tip of the gourd. For any who desired to escape from Port Royal and deeper into the island, it was imperative to pass through the long and narrow land which was the ‘neck’ of the gourd.

At present, the trio had situated themselves on a hill near that ‘neck’ of this gourd shaped island, where the long and narrow path was plainly visible.

"Here!" Mogensha abruptly alerted.

One could vividly observe a brilliance flashing at a certain area amidst the heavy downpour. In that plain area, the mud started rolling away while the speckles of brilliance didn’t disperse even in the downpour. Then, the speckles repeatedly congealed and flashed, gradually forming into an extremely clear and tiny teleportation array.

Following that, a human could be seen trudging out from the teleportation array. If one were to examine close up, the features of some of those humans could be tallied with those aggressors back at the ceremonial plaza.

"So it is actually a short distance teleportation. The tricks of this Nick aren’t small at all." Mogensha announced with amazement.

"That short distance teleportation arrangement is a specialty of the Star Wars world and can only be employed once. In non combat state, it can directly transport a fixed amount of individuals to a fixed destination five kilometres away. Although it is a one time use product, it is exceptionally useful for both defending or attacking, and is extraordinarily valuable."

(TL: Title of this chapter is a Chinese idiom, means conveniently settling something while executing another task, or reaping an accidental harvest)