The Law of the Silent Gentleman

The duel took place in the evening hours as scheduled. The location is the top deck. The pirates cleared away the utensils and goods on the deck to make a field for a duel, and it happened to be in front of Giuliano and Enzo. Many people climbed the mast and found a good place to watch the show. More people surrounded the duel field. Some people even started a private bet (because gambling is not allowed on board, they can only sneak in), of course, Antoine's odds are far ahead, and no one thinks he can beat his own captain.

The setting sun is about to sink below the sea level, the sun is shining on the sails, and the western sky seems to be on fire. Barsano and Antoine walked into the arena facing each other, their profiles flushed red by the setting sun. Balsano took off his shirt, revealing his bronze-colored muscles and numerous scars criss-crossing his body, each of which spoke of the glory he had achieved in battles. He still has fresh scratch marks on his back, telling the audience ambiguously that he has achieved as much success in the field of love as in the battlefield. He untied the long sword at his waist and threw it to Antoine, and someone immediately held a black-handled scimitar for him.

Antoine caught "Girissa", stroked his saber affectionately, removed the scabbard, and threw it at his feet. He was wearing a prisoner's ragged shirt with his own vomit still on the hem. He is to the high-spirited Barsano what a street beggar is to an emperor at sea.

An elderly pirate held a red silk cloth in his hand, walked between the two, looked at both sides of the duel, then raised the silk high up, and said in a strange Imperial language: "In the witness of the eyes of gods and mortals, Your Majesty, here is a sacred duel, in which both sides fight each other with the weapons of their choice until one of them dies, is incapacitated, or voluntarily surrenders. If Barsano wins, he will have the right to do with the loser and his companions at will ;If Antoine wins, he and his companions will have their personal belongings and liberty back. Are there any objections to the terms of the duel?"

"No." Antoine said solemnly.

"Neither have I. But the ugliness is the first thing to say. After I win, the way I 'arbitrarily dispose' of you is to let you live or die. If you surrender now, I can still show mercy and reward you with a quick death."

"Without further ado!"

The two posed. The old pirate shouted: "The duel begins!" He swung the red silk in his hand vigorously.

Shocked by the killing intent of both sides in the duel, the onlookers unanimously took a step back. Antoine frowned, and changed the posture of holding a sword with one hand to holding a sword with two hands. Barsano stayed put, intending to use defense as offense. So Antoine took the initiative to attack, and with a shout, "Girissa" drew a dazzling silver light and knocked Barsano's scimitar into the air.

The scimitar flew high into the sky, then fell quickly, and plunged into the wooden deck with a "boom", just in front of a one-eyed pirate.

There was no sound on board. Balsano was stunned, not understanding why his weapon disappeared just after the duel started. Antoine was also stunned. He looked at Barsano at a loss, then at Barsano's knife at a loss, and finally looked at his hands at a loss, completely confused What just happened.

After a while, the one-eyed pirate screamed, sat on the deck and backed up again and again. If he hadn't been lucky, his head would have been gone when the scimitar fell from the sky.

Antoine ran over, drew out the scimitar, ran back to the pirate leader, and thrust the weapon into his hand.

"What...what are you doing?" Barsano asked in a daze.

"Go on! You didn't fight me seriously just now, did you?"

Balsano woke up like a dream: "Uh... oh! I must have lost my mind! Let's compare again!"

The two posed. This time the pirate leader attacked first, and the scimitar leaped towards the opponent like a spirit snake. Antoine took a step to avoid the attack, but just right in front of Barsano, preventing him from going any further. The pirate leader didn't have time to turn the blade back, only to see a sharp blade light, and his scimitar flew out of his hand again. In the next instant, Antoine's sword was against his throat.

The two froze again at the same time.

A drop of cold sweat rolled down Barsano's forehead. If Antoine wanted to, he would splatter the spot with blood. But the young swordsman didn't intend to kill him, on the contrary, he looked very angry.

"You you you! What the **** are you doing! Don't you want to fight me at all!"

Barsano was speechless.

There were rustling whispers among the watching crew members, and weird eyes spread like a disease among the crowd. "Captain, did you lose?" "Impossible, how could it be so easy..." "Could it be that the boy is really some kind of Juggernaut's apprentice?" "Actually, the captain is not as powerful as the rumors say..."

"Get out of the way!" A pirate rudely pushed his companion away and walked into the duel field. He was tall and tall, like a walking iron tower, with a hideous scar on the left side of his face. He carried a huge ax on his shoulder, honed to such a sharp point that the handle was scratched. This huge ax was difficult to control even if Antoine used both hands, but the pirate easily held the ax with only one hand and pointed at Antoine.

"Boy! Do you dare to compete with me?"

"Why?! We originally agreed on a duel between me and Barsano..."

"You brat, you actually want to challenge the captain! Bah! Pass me first!"

As soon as the strong man finished speaking, the ax in his hand threw at Antoine. Balsano took the opportunity to step back, baring his teeth and cursing, "Damn it! Do you want to kill me too!"

Antoine cried and said, "This is different from what we said!"

The strong man smashed his ax into the deck, and sawdust flew everywhere. He pulled out his giant axe and slashed at Antoine again. Seeing that the young swordsman was about to be divided into two, Antoine leaped deftly at an unimaginable speed and angle. Hit him on the back of the head. The strong man let out a "wow", rolled his eyes, and passed out.

He had just fallen, and another pirate came out. This time it was a small man, wearing a blue turban and holding a spiked dagger in each hand.

"The young man is good at swordsmanship, how about letting me be your opponent?"

"Are you engaging in wheel battles? This is cheating! Don't bring such things!"

"Hey! The duel between you and the captain is your business, and you didn't say that others are not allowed to duel with you!"

Before he finished speaking, he leaped towards Antoine, stabbing out the two swords swiftly, because the speed was too fast, leaving afterimages in the air, it looked as if several swords were stabbing from different angles at the same time.

The young swordsman was startled. This little pirate was as agile as a ghost, and he was extremely difficult to deal with. He recalled the teacher's teaching that generally this kind of fighter who is good at speed is slightly inferior to others in terms of strength and endurance. When encountering such an opponent, he must either be faster than him, or fight a war of attrition with him, or fight against him because he cannot Overpowering power defeats the enemy with one blow. Antoine's speed is definitely not as fast as the little pirate, and he doesn't have so much time to spend with him slowly, so he can only attack head-on.

When the little man attacked again, Antoine held the sword in both hands, concentrated all his strength on his arms, and swung it from bottom to top. His strength is so overbearing, the moment "Ji Lisa" collided with the dagger, it actually broke a gap in the dagger! The little man was so shaken that his arms were numb, Antoine followed up with another blow, the little man quickly took the move, but his hands could no longer hold the weapon, and he heard two crisp sounds one after another. His two swords were like Barsano's. The same was blown away.

Antoine was furious: "Why are you doing this! We agreed to a one-on-one duel! You don't keep promises!"

The little pirate retrieved his weapon and screamed, "What nonsense are you talking to him! Go on! Don't believe you can't beat him!"

"Wow! You don't keep your promises, and I won't show mercy! You guys are going to do it! Why don't you dare? Come and kill one by one! I'll chop up all of you and feed them to the fish!" Antoine was furious.

However, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay and retreated unanimously, and no one dared to fight Antoine.

In an awkward silence, Barsano stepped forward again with a scimitar in his hand. Antoine thought that he was about to fight a third duel, and immediately assumed a posture to meet the enemy. Unexpectedly, Barsano threw the scimitar into the deck, spread his hands and said, "You won."

"…what?"

"The three of us are recognized as the best three on this ship. We three can't even take one of your moves, so don't the others just have to die in vain?"

The pirates whispered to each other, and there was a soft sound of approval.

"Unexpectedly, there are such superb swordsmen in the world. I am convinced of the defeat. You win, and you and your companions are free. I will let my men prepare a small boat, and you can leave tomorrow morning."

"This is what you said, don't count your words!"

"I always keep what I say, and I am definitely not a person who does not keep my word,"

"Then get someone to prepare the boat immediately, we'll leave now, we don't have to wait until tomorrow."

"It's for your own good that I let you leave early tomorrow morning. The sea is full of dangers, and the night is even more treacherous. You lack sailing experience and are easy to be in danger. In the daytime, you have a wide field of vision and it is easy to discern the direction, which is safer for you."

Antoine put the sword back into its sheath in doubt: "Okay, I will do as you said."

Barsano turned around and summoned some of his men, and ordered them to prepare the boat. Antoine runs back to Giuliano and Enzo and unties them. As soon as Giuliano was freed from the shackles, he hugged Antoine excitedly: "You are amazing! I thought there must be a fierce battle, but I didn't expect you to win so easily! I underestimated you before!"

Antoine blushed shyly: "No, it's nothing, I, I didn't expect myself to be so powerful."

Enzo brushed off the crumbs of the rope on his body, and patted the young swordsman on the shoulder: "Let me just say, I have confidence in you. The swordsmanship you have learned is very special. If you need multiple people to cooperate with the enemy, or in complex terrain In local battles, you may not have an advantage, but in a one-on-one duel, basically few people are your opponents."

Antoine breathed a sigh of relief: "So I was lucky. Fortunately, Barsano and I fought alone. If he called the two pirates to fight with the three of us, we might lose. "

Enzo looked at him strangely: "What nonsense are you talking about? Three against three, how could we lose."

"Ah? How do you say that?"

"I can beat all three of them with one."

Calm was restored on board, and although the defeated pirates had resentment in their hearts, it was gradually replaced by admiration. A few people even sneaked forward and asked Antoine for advice on swordsmanship. The sun sank below the sea level, and night replaced day, decorating the sky with diamond-like stars. According to ancient legends, those stars are the palaces of the gods, and the meteors flashing in the night sky from time to time are the gods visiting each other in white treasure ships.

Under this ancient starry sky, there was a person who was unhappy. He declined the invitation of others to have dinner, and hid alone in the lower cabin. Fear and worry gnawed at his heart, making it difficult for him to sleep or eat.

This man was Fernando Infançon.