The Terror of the Pirates

For nearly half a month, Alex had been diligent and honest.

He had done more than enough of what needed to be done and had never even thought about doing anything he shouldn't.

He had perfectly demonstrated the value of a hard worker and had gradually become integrated into the circle of the weapons shop.

Although Thor always said that he was satisfied with him, Alex had not let his guard down. He still acted and spoke cautiously, trying his best not to do anything that might be considered overstepping or going too far.

He knew very well that Thor's casual nature was genuine. When accepting him, Thor hadn't paid any attention to his past identity or background but had only looked at the value he could show at the moment.

However, if he couldn't show any value or if he caused Thor's dissatisfaction, the current situation would change in an instant.

Therefore, when spending time with Thor, Alex always remained on high alert.

As for Sunny, after figuring out her personality, Alex became familiar with her in just ten days.

After Alex had found his second prey, the biggest problem wasn't how to get rid of the prey but Thor's attitude.

"Sunny, if I get rid of the guy next door, do you think Thor will have a problem with me?"

Alex leaned against the side of the half-open shop door, tilting his head through the crack to observe the situation in the alley.

Sunny looked up at Alex's profile and said indifferently, "Which guy?"

"The one named Albert Red. Or the name you gave me—it shouldn't be a fake, right?"

"Are you questioning my intelligence?"

Sunny, the little information expert, raised an eyebrow, and her eyes pierced Alex like needles.

Alex thought to himself, You have to flip through a newspaper for hours...

Although he thought this, he didn't dare to show it. He said sternly, "How could I ever doubt your abilities? Every time I see the information you give me about the neighbors, I can't help but wonder just what kind of professional intelligence agent would be able to dig up such detailed information about their neighbors."

At first, when he received the information about the neighbors from Sunny, the level of detail was so outrageous that he couldn't help but marvel at how many generations of bad luck it would take to run into a neighbor like Sunny.

Sunny wasn't impressed by Alex's flattery. She snorted and said, "A lot of people in town use fake names, so I can't guarantee the accuracy of some of the information in this regard. But I can guarantee it for these people next door."

Alex asked carefully, "Have they annoyed you?"

"No."

"Then why have you investigated them so thoroughly?"

"Because they live next door to us."

Sunny looked at Alex with a "you're weird" expression.

"..."

Alex was suddenly speechless and silently brought the topic back to the question he had just asked: "You haven't answered my earlier question. If I take care of Red, will Thor be upset?"

"How would I know something like that?"

"Okay."

"Red doesn't have any interactions with you, so why do you want to kill him?"

"I don't like the way he talks."

Alex made up a motive at random.

To be honest, the main reason he had noticed his neighbor Red was because Red had passed by the shop a few times while drunk, always shouting drunken nonsense in the alley with his loud voice.

The content of his words was basically about how he had behaved when his pirate gang plundered merchant ships—how many people they had killed during the plunder and how they had tortured and killed those who resisted.

However, what impressed Alex most wasn't these drunken boasts but Red's ugly face when he boasted about them.

Thanks to Red's loud voice, Alex realized that there were many suitable prey around, so there was no need to go far.

Listening to Alex's motive for murder, Sunny suddenly said, "That's right, that guy is really noisy."

"You believe it?"

"?"

Everything was ready, only the east wind was lacking.

After serious consideration, Alex still felt it necessary to first explore Thor's attitude.

If Thor didn't care, he would immediately take his gun and ambush Red.

But if Thor didn't agree, he would have to give up the idea.

If there were such a thing as a silencer, there would be no need to worry so much, and he could take the opportunity to shoot Red in the back.

But the fundamental reason was that he was still too weak.

If he were strong enough, why bother thinking about the consequences when eliminating a target?

That night, after dinner, Alex approached Thor.

After stating his intention, Thor smoked a cigarette while looking askance at him.

"Why kill Red?"

Like Sunny, Thor wanted to know Alex's motive.

This time, of course, Alex couldn't give a flimsy excuse like Red being too noisy.

"Practice," Alex replied.

This was the answer he had thought up in advance—no explanation, just a simple and brutal answer.

Thor was a little surprised and looked closely at Alex's expression.

In the world of pirates, it was very common to use other people's lives as practice.

Just as he had originally wanted Alex to say goodbye to the past by having him personally kill Watt, who had come for him.

But he hadn't expected Alex to volunteer to do it, and he had been planning to give Alex a little more time.

It was only a matter of time anyway, so Thor didn't object. However, he did give Alex a little reminder:

"You take responsibility for the consequences."

It was a concise reminder and a tacit agreement.

As for whether Red lived or died, for Thor, it wasn't even as important as what they were going to eat tonight.

"Understood," Alex said, delighted.

With Thor's statement, he was able to let go and proceed with his plan.

As for the consequences that might arise from killing Red, he had already been mentally prepared when he received the information from Sunny.

It was nothing more than the pirate group Red belonged to possibly seeking revenge.

But as long as it was done cleanly, there was no need to worry about such consequences.

Three days later, the moon was dark, and the wind was high.

Alex hid in the shadows above the building, setting up Usopp while silently peering down the alleyway at the end of it with the help of the faint light.

From the corner at the end to where he was hiding, it was about a hundred meters away.

While the range of a smoothbore musket wasn't as far as a rifled musket, it was just within a hundred meters, as long as accuracy was ensured.

However, considering factors such as aging, Alex planned to wait until Red was within 60 meters before acting.

It had been exactly eight hours since he had watched Red walk out of the alley in the evening.

In the evening, there were passersby in the alley, so he couldn't find a suitable time to shoot.

Now it was dark, and there were basically no passersby, so there were fewer concerns.

As long as Red came back at this time, Alex would decisively pull the trigger.

Time passed slowly, and the moon hid behind dark clouds.

Visibility in the alley was extremely low, and it would have been pitch black if not for the few lights hanging on the walls.

Alex waited patiently.

After tens of minutes, when Red still hadn't appeared, a voice came first.

Alex suddenly perked up, focusing his eyesight on the end of the alley.

After a few breaths, two figures walking side by side entered the alley.

"Two...!"

Alex cursed under his breath.

The smoothbore musket only had one bullet, and after firing a shot, it would take some time to reload the second bullet.

This meant that even if he managed to snipe Red, the other person would have plenty of time to find cover while judging the location of the trajectory based on the sound of the gunfire and the direction of the blood splattered by Red.

So he had to abandon the plan...

However, Sunny had said that the pirate gang Red belonged to would set sail at noon the next day, and Alex couldn't strike during the day because there was no cover provided by darkness.

In other words, if this opportunity was missed, it wasn't known when the next one would come along.

Alex frowned.

As the two men took one step after another, the time left for him became more and more pressing.

At this time, the indecisive Alex never noticed the gaze that was secretly watching him.