At the helm of the ship, Kiernan braced himself for impact as the ship sliced through the stormy waves.
To come to Letzer Island, they had to go through this same storm. It was storm was everlasting and always in the same spot in the World Sea.
However, it came to their aid as their chasing navy ships couldn't catch them yet because of the storm.
They were hoping to lose them in the storm.
Julian walked down the deck, using Sea Steps nonstop, and reached the back of the ship.
He wanted to see how far the navy ships were.
However, after a few tall waves passed by, he managed to see them with the spyglass and noticed that the navy ships were actually turning around and heading back!
"Kiernan, they're heading back!" Julian shouted in shock. "Why the hell are they going back?"
"Is it because of the storm?" Kiernan asked from the wheel. "No, that can't be. These ships can handle these storms. These ships were made to handle storms !"
"What the hell is going on then?!"
Kiernan shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't care, and nor should you. Enjoy the winds of the freedom, my good old friend, for soon we will be home free!"
Julian left the rain and entered the wheel cabin, where Kiernan was handling the wheel with a struggle on his face.
It was very difficult for someone with no experience in the wheel, but he was doing fairly well so far.
"I think I can already smell the freedom," Julian leaned against the wall and let out a deep breath. "Well, that and the salty sea air that comes with it."
Kiernan looked through the front windows, and he cracked a smile as he saw the rain wall come to an end.
The ship crashed through the final tall wave and exited into the calm waters on the other side. They had just survived the deadly storm!
Kiernan sat down on the chair that was bolted to the ground and let out a sigh of relief.
"I don't know why they stopped chasing, but oh boy, I am grateful. I thought we would have to fight our way through, but I guess the luck is on our side finally!"
Julian said with words of relief.
It had been very difficult and tough weeks for them. But now, their bodies seemed lighter, and the air much fresher.
They were finally free men, free to make their own choices.
"I swear, Kiernan, I will come back to the Pirate Kingdom one day and burn it to the fucking ground. It will cease to exist once I am done with it."
Kiernan turned to look at him, saw his look of hate, and knew how he was feeling.
While they were free men, they couldn't say the same about the rest of the passengers that were taken as slaves.
They were still in the Pirate Kingdom as slaves, which soured their mood quite a bit..
"I will buy you the matches."
Kiernan said, took out the money bag from his inventory, and tossed it over to Julian
Julian caught it by surprise and looked at it. It was quite heavy, much heavier than previously.
Kiernan said. "That's 25,000 gold coins for you there."
Julian hugged the money bag and finally managed to crack a smile. He was glad that it wasn't all for nothing.
Kiernan stood up, rummaged through the captain's drawer, and found a parchment paper of the nearby sea regions.
It was faded yellow in color and looked like it could easily rip if he tried to fold it.
He carefully went through the sea regions and then saw what he was looking for.
"Nightingale. It is probably two days away."
"You're going to meet your mother now?" Julian asked.
"Yeah, that's the plan," Kiernan said. "What will you do? If you want, I can drop you off somewhere, or when I've reached Nightingale, this ship can be yours."
"Hmm…" Julian closed his eyes, contemplated deeply, and then opened them again. "I think for now I will follow you around. I've nowhere else to go, really."
"Oh, really?" Kiernan looked surprised momentarily. "That's fine for me, I guess."
"I think we've bonded, you see. We've suffered together and earned our freedom together. Since my revenge has to wait till I am strong enough, I want to come with you, as long as you don't mind me tagging along."
Julian said with an earnest look on his face.
"I don't mind," Kiernan replied. "What do you know about Nightingale? I still need to find my mother there somehow."
"Not much, really," Julian said. "All I know is that Nightingale is one of the rare Night Islands."
"Yeah, Night Islands. There are only a few of them in the world, and each of them is always shrouded in darkness, even during the day.
"It's eternal night there!"
"What the hell?" Kiernan said with a frown. "So they never get sunlight? I can't imagine anyone wanting to live there."
"It has its own exotic charm, I guess!" Julian shrugged his shoulders. "Your mother is part of the Abracadabra family, right?"
"That's what my father believes, at least. He still remembers her red eyes."
"Yeah, the Abracadabra family is famous for their red eyes," Julian said. "It seems like the eternal night does that to that person, and I hear that the Abracadabra family has vampire blood in them.
"Something about their ancestor having vampire transformation power. I guess that ancestor was using that transformation power while sleeping with her wife, which resulted in the vampire bloodline or something."
"Hmm, interesting, but all that is just a legend, right?" Kiernan asked.
"The Abracadabra family is quite famous, so of course that family has its fair share of ancient mysteries and rumors surrounding it."
"If that's true, doesn't that mean you also have the vampire blood?" Julian asked with a grin. "That would be pretty awesome."
"Yeah, I don't think so. I am not allergic to sunlight or have a thirst for blood."
"Shame~" Julian laughed. "Nightingale, huh. I have a feeling that place will be a blast!"