There was a saying that the more you argue with your friend, the closer you two will get.

However, I had to disagree in this situation because how could I befriend him when he assigned a group of men armed with sea stone weapons on my tail as they looked like they want to kill me rather than capture me?

Obviously, I couldn't.

I trailed my tongue across my cracked, bloody lips as I amputated another soldier, cleanly cutting him into half. Similar to many, the man screamed, unable to grasp the fact that he's dismembered so easily. It was funny to watch him writhing on the ground like a dying worm, and I would take the time to torture him even more if not for the circumstance. Dismembered pieces of others soldiers laid scattered around me, and if I had a third eye looking, I was confident I'd appear like some sort of "cool" warrior who had managed to overturn the table, fighting several opponents at once with only myself, yet internally I somehow felt more like a wounded beast. The sky began to crack, lightning bolts flashed in the distance before raindrops would flutter down, stinging my wounds, or maybe, hopefully, washing me into a new self. A painful gasp escaped my lips. Grabbing my injured elbow tightly to lessen the burning sensation, I took off into a run right away, not hesitating to check if how many more soldiers are on my tails - it didn't matter, I was in a hurry.

A handful of cold wind slapped my face. Tiny bitter, freezing raindrops dripped down all over my cheeks. There was only one thought on my mind. Where? Where should I hide?

Nowhere was safe. With so many soldiers I had faced being hired from him, the rest was probably surrounding the submarine right now, waiting for my return. At the thought, I knitted my eyebrows together, the frown on my face deepened as a sudden worry for my crew members rushed over me, urging me to turn my legs and run back. However, going back would mean falling for their trap. The only face that I immediately thought that I could trust without words at the moment was Penguin. He had his moments but when serious situation came, I knew I could have faith in him to properly guide the others. Hopefully, they wouldn't do something so foolish as to fight their ground and wait for my return or look for me, or blankly hope that I was still on the island.

Slap, slap!

My footsteps echoed on puddles in panic. I turned back to my current problem.

Where?

Whirling about, I spotted a ship with a lot of people wearing funny clothes. To be honest, they reminded me of clowns and the ship itself was the circus. There was only one assumption, that it was their dress code and they were pirates.

Looking upward, I noticed their Jolly Roger fluttering violently against the wind. Their flag resembled a grinning skull of a man with tulip-like hairstyle and wearing the latter's square-shaped goggles on its forehead. In the background, there was the traditional crossbones pattern plus what seems to represent two knives forming a cross as well. Moreover, on each side of the skull, there were flame-like patterns.

Ah. The Kid Pirates.

Perfect.

A smug smirk danced across my face as I licked my lips again. Without a second thought, I dashed toward the ship.