Chapter 131

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Chapter 131: Dark Night Baron

After the ship shook violently just now, it is now much more stable than before, although there are still some slight movements, but at least the corridor can be passed normally.

The two people held onto the walls of the staircase passage and came down to the bottom of the ship. This is the cargo hold, where each box is secured with various ropes, hooks, planks, and so on. But it can be seen that some of them have loosened.

There are already some wood chips and glass on the ground, perhaps some boxes have been broken.

Several passengers also came to the bottom of the ship, apparently attracted by the sudden commotion just now.

"Where is Jazik?" Greed asked.

"Who is Jazik?" asked the person opposite.

"He is the first mate on the ship," another passenger replied, and asked, "Why are you asking about him, was he here just now?"

Jesse said, "We saw him run here, wasn’t that him shouting just now?"

"If he’s the one who shouted." said a passenger, "Then who’s dead?"

Greed looked around inside the cabin and asked, "The question is, where is the dead person?"

The five or six people here looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Soon, everyone unconsciously looked towards the deeper part of the cabin on the other side, exchanging glances. The tall man holding the lantern took a deep breath and step by step moved towards the deeper area.

The crowd followed his footsteps, swaying rhythmically on the rocking deck. Before long, a few passengers ran down below, looking over towards this side.

As they walked, Greed suddenly stopped in his tracks. The people behind were so focused on examining the goods that someone bumped into Jesse, almost pushing Greed in front of him out again.

Greed waved his hand, sniffed, and said, "I smell blood."

Upon hearing about the blood smell, a couple behind unconsciously took a step back. Some daring individuals around Dwarf also seemed a bit nervous.

The leader in front turned around and lowered the lantern, shining it on the flooded floor. He suddenly noticed a hard-to-spot black spot.

As the lantern got closer, a hint of crimson stood out among these black spots.

"Is this… red wine?"

The dwarf turned around and stared at him, while rubbing his nose and licking his fingers.

"Unfortunately, human, you guessed wrong."

When Greed spoke, a group of people all stepped back, one person cursed in a distinctive Lordaeron accent, and the others dared not move forward anymore.

Greed took the lantern from the man’s hand and continued forward, with Jesse following him. It wasn’t that they were afraid of blood or corpses, but because it was clear that the killer had not been identified yet.

The oceans of Azeroth were never calm, with countless strange creatures lurking within. The most dangerous undoubtedly were the Naga underwater, and if a group of Naga assassins had boarded the ship, then the ship was definitely in great danger.

Jesse carefully sniffed the air around him, not detecting any scent of Naga scales, but rather a strange foul odor filling the cabin that wasn’t typical of the sea.

Hearing Jesse sniffing around, Greed whispered, "You also noticed it, right? That foul odor."

"Yes," Jesse replied. "What do you think it is?"

"I have a guess in my heart, but I’m afraid it will sound silly when I say it out loud," Dwarf squinted.

"Go ahead and say it," Jesse said. "I have an answer in my heart too."

"Then let’s say them together."

"Okay."

"Tiger."

Both of them said at the same time, Dwarf looked surprised at Jesse and asked, "Where have you smelled a tiger before?"

Jesse of course couldn’t say it was at the zoo, so he just said, "Never mind that, how come there’s a tiger here?"

Greed frowned and continued to shine the lantern ahead.

They walked for a while longer, the amount of blood on the ground increased, getting closer to the body also meant getting closer to the killer.

As the lantern got closer to the bottom of the ship, it finally lit up the owners of that blood, a goblin was lying there, its body so torn up that it was unrecognizable.

"Is this Jazik?" Jesse asked.

"I’m afraid not," Greed said. "The clothes are different, this is the one who looks after the goods."

"Who killed him?"

Greed moved the lantern around and spotted a strange iron cage nearby, clearly overturned, with the iron lock on the open door looking like it had been violently broken. The strange smell was coming from this cage.

He pointed towards the cage with his lips.

"How come there’s still such a thing on this ship?" Jesse, seeing the shape of the cage, suddenly remembered the large item wrapped in cloth that he had seen when boarding the ship.

"Wasn’t it carried on board by several people in the beginning?"

"It seems so." A few Goblin Sailors had also arrived by now. They looked uncomfortable when they saw the broken cage, with expressions of disgust on their faces.

"Where is Jazik? Where’s your first mate?" Jesse asked.

"What are you calling for? We’re looking for him too!" shouted a Goblin Sailor.

At that moment, a goblin wearing a black cloak and a shoulder cape approached. He glanced at a body not far away, then at the blood on the ground, sighed and said, "Quick, everyone go to the deck!"

"Yes, Captain Niralzu!"

Is this the legendary captain?

The sailors obeyed and left the corridor. The captain looked at the remaining people and said, "Including all of you, leave the cabin immediately and gather on the deck!"

A hesitant passenger asked, "But what about the storm?"

"The storm is nothing compared to the trouble here. Damn it, get up now if you want to survive!"

The captain shouted while keeping his eyes scanning both sides of the cabin. His hand remained firmly on the hilt of his sword by his waist, as if ready to fight for his life at any moment.

"What happened?" Jesse asked.

"Go up first," the captain pointed to the entrance of the corridor. Arriving on deck, a few Goblin Sailors were counting the number of people below. Jesse estimated roughly that there were about a hundred people sticking their heads out, each trying to grab onto the mast or railing tightly. With so many people packed together, it looked like a bunch of wet sausages tied together.

Although the rain was heavy and the wind was strong, the captain was right. For this large ship, the storm was not considered severe. The occasional swaying of the ship was not enough to toss people into the sea.

The real problem was in the ship’s bottom, the issue that caused goblin deaths. But as the captain stood Listening to the goblins reporting numbers from a high place, Jesse noticed that a few sailors had already picked up guns.

Could it really be a tiger?

Is there a circus on the boat? Darkmoon Circus?

Jesse looked around at the passengers and saw that most of them were humans. There were only a few dwarfs and Gnomish. They didn’t look as eccentric as members of the Darkmoon Circus.

"Listen up, everyone," the captain suddenly shouted, "You all paid to board this ship, so no matter what, the Heat Sand Group will ensure your safety. We have a little problem in our cargo hold right now, but rest assured, we will handle it properly before returning you to your cabins. Endure the rain a bit and enjoy the beauty of the sea storm. Not every ship can calmly enjoy such a sight. You are getting a rare experience."

"We just want to know, what exactly is the problem?!" a male passenger angrily demanded.

"Please calm down, sir!" shouted a Goblin Sailor. "No matter what the problem is, it’s all under control."

The scope of control for goblins is too large, Jesse thought. If a goblin airship were to crash and not everyone died, as long as there was someone still breathing, the goblins would probably consider it within the range of control.

"Is it so difficult to give us an answer?"

"We lost a man too, darn it!" another Goblin Sailor shouted. "Keep calm now!"

"Shut up," the captain roared, then turned to the crowd and said, "I’m sorry, but to avoid further issues, we can only…"

"Tell us what’s in that cage!" Greed asked loudly.

Before Goblin Captain could respond to Greed, a man suddenly yelled frantically, "The cage?! It’s Dark Night Baron escaped! It’s Dark Night Baron! It must be it! Darn it! I saw it long ago, right in that cage!"

"Dark Night Baron? What is Dark Night Baron?"

"Please, everyone, let’s not speculate! Don’t believe rumors! Everything is under control!" Goblin Captain shouted, but couldn’t stop the discussions at all.

The air was tense around them, Jesse quietly asked Greed, "So, what is this Dark Night Baron?"

"I don’t know," Greed replied.

"It’s a black panther," a noble nearby answered.

He wore a brimmed hat to shield himself from the rain, even though his clothes were soaked, they still looked expensive.

"I thought it was something else," Greed chuckled, "Just a panther, I’ll go down later and skin it myself."

The noble glanced at Greed and asked, "Wildhammer clan?"

"That’s right, you can tell," Greed’s tone became a bit sharper.

The rain hit the brim of the noble’s hat as he blinked and said, "Do you know the Dark Night Baron’s record in Stranglethorn Seahorn? Your fellow Wildhammer gladiator, he has killed three."

Stranglethorn Seahorn’s gladiator, the noble was referring to only one place – Gurubashi Arena.

Gurubashi Arena is the only place in Stranglethorn where outsiders are allowed. It used to be a big arena for the nobles in the Gurubashi Empire. After the empire fell, some trolls sold part of the operation rights to goblins. Since then, entertainment and audience at the arena are no longer limited to trolls.

More and more businesses are developing around Gurubashi Arena, leading to various related industries popping up everywhere, including small arenas.

Most importantly, gladiators are emerging to compete in the arena, with their ultimate goal being to stand on the winner’s podium in Gurubashi Arena at Stranglethorn Seahorn, gaining fame and wealth.

"If that’s really the Dark Night Baron," the noble said, "inside the closed cabin, with goods, boxes, walls, rooms… that black panther is like a killing machine in an open field. Just think about how powerful he can be on this ship. Don’t forget his famous stealth skills in Stranglethorn!"