"From now on, please restrain yourself. If anyone dares to act recklessly, I will hang you on the mast!" the leader of the imperial inspection team reminded loudly.
There was a lazy response from the crowd.
George sneered secretly. The other party said this because he was probably hoping that the pirates would cause some trouble so that they could fish in troubled waters. After all, your lordship and the officials above take the lion's share. If you don't take this opportunity to get more, how long will it take? In the end, if one or two blind sailors are hanged, everyone will be happy.
As a captain, he was personally involved in searching for elves, so naturally it was not for some nonsense sense of responsibility.
Jinxia City did indeed close all the city gates except the east gate, and there were no guards on the city walls. The whole city seemed to be open to them.
"The gathering time is before sunset. Each team will count the number of prisoners - only those with pointed ears are counted if they are alive! There is nothing else to say, everyone takes action!"
The pirates suddenly dispersed.
"There are elves here!"
"I saw it over there too!"
"Guys from the Skull, follow me!"
Naturally, George also gathered a group of Black Crow crew members and ran towards the south of the city. He noticed as early as when he was at sea that the houses in the south of the city were obviously more elegant than other places, and they obviously belonged to the area where rich people lived. Of course, generally rich people have their own defenses, and he didn't want to bring bad luck to these people, but just walking around their houses would be much greater than robbing ten poor people.
"Boss, there are people following us!" the first mate reminded.
"Damn it, it's from the Blood Shark."
Apparently he was not the only one to notice the distribution of buildings in Jinxia City, and his colleagues on the two ships also had the same idea as them.
"Forget it, just ignore them." George spat, "Anyway, there are many houses over there, enough for us people to share."
"But... isn't this city a little strange?" the first mate said with a smile.
"What's strange?"
"The government actually didn't send anyone to keep an eye on us, and... not even a soul could be seen on the street." He looked around, "Even if they let the locals go back to their houses, beggars and homeless people can't be together. It’s gone, right?”
"Whatever, we're not going to a slum." George said unconcernedly, "Wouldn't it be better if no one was watching? Then no one else would know what we did in the house."
"You're right. I just think... such a big city seems a bit too quiet."
"Boss, look there! It's an elf!"
Suddenly someone shouted.
Two streets away, a group of pointed ears were seen rushing through the streets and alleys, seemingly trying to escape from the south gate.
This is exactly where they are going.
"Look, it's not quiet anymore." George waved his hand, "Guys, chase me!"
A group of people followed closely with swords, guns and clubs. As soon as they rushed through the corner, they saw a row of sandbags separating the road. A dozen elves used the sandbags as support and pointed their muskets at them.
Wait, why do the fleeing elves have imperial weapons
George bent down and backed away almost subconsciously.
Then he heard a whoosh of wind and a dull puff.
The sailor who rushed ahead fell instantly.
The pain and screams suddenly broke the silence of the city!
Fa-what happened
George squatted in the corner with a shocked look on his face. Those pointed ears fired without any warning - neither smoke nor gunshots could be seen. If his men weren't lying on the ground covered in blood and wailing, he would have thought it was just now. The two sides cooperated to stage a drama.
This little movement alone was not enough to wake up the pirates who were following behind. They even mistook the screamer for the elves.
But the people on the Blood Shark did not receive any extra favor from God. The strange situation just now happened again - the living people rolled and crawled out of the streets, and there were another batch of dead and wounded on the ground.
"Damn, those pointed ears have really powerful weapons! Brothers, let's kill them from the roof!"
The head-on blow aroused the Blood Shark crew members' bloodiness. They held scimitars in their mouths and climbed to the roof one by one. However, there were also people watching above the house. There were only two or three people, but the bullets fired were so dense that they were unable to move forward.
Those experienced pirates are used to choosing to hide or charge based on the sound of gunfire or loading gaps, but their experience has become a fatal noose here. Even though he saw that the opponent had finished the ammunition and was lowering his head to reload, he picked up the gun again before running a few steps.
Some of the pirates also carried muskets and even double-barreled muskets, but the other side was covered by sandbags and the firepower was intensive. The suppression capabilities of both sides were not at the same level at all.
George felt a big bad feeling in his heart.
No matter how it looks, these elves look like they have been prepared!
"Go to the street behind and have a look!" he told the first mate while kicking open the door of the nearest resident. The room was actually empty, not even a soul could be seen.
George broke into several houses on the street one after another, with the same result.
The residents here have evacuated this place long ago!
"Boss, no, it's not good!" the first mate hurriedly reported back, "The other street leading to the south has also been blocked!"
really!
His heart sank suddenly - the walls of Jinxia City seemed undefended, but in fact a long blockade had been set up on the edge of the city. It was impossible for him to do this with his pointed ears alone.
The people in this city are with them!
"Let's... go back the way we came!" George gritted his teeth.
"go back?"
"That's right, let the crew member with the gun stop the rear to prevent the elves from chasing us," he said immediately. Money is important, but life is always the first priority. "By the way, gather the people from the Blood Shark as well. One more shot means one more -"
At this point, George was suddenly stunned.
He saw a huge black bipedal monster emerging from the other side of the street.
…
"Why haven't even a single elf been captured so far?"
Tural used a lookout glass to observe Jinxia's wide-open east city gate, and said in a slightly unhappy tone.
The boat had made three trips back and forth, and the team sent to land at least exceeded a thousand people, but the loot taken to the beach was still missing.
He allowed these people to be greedy for money, but that was only on the basis of completing their mission.
"With the inspection team watching, there shouldn't be any problems," the captain guessed. "Maybe they want to bring more people back at once?"
"Those guys had better not forget that they are serving the empire." Tural couldn't help but unbutton his collar, "The gallows by the harbor has been vacant for a long time."
He suddenly felt a sense of dryness.
At some point, the cold wind blowing from the sea had subsided, and the wind flags standing on both sides of the poop tower all drooped down. When there is no wind, you won't feel too cold even in winter, and this thick layer of clothes seems a bit redundant.