Chapter 107: General Thief’s Last Voice

Chapter 107 – General Thief’s Last Voice

On the deck of the Blackthorn, five or six sailors held up their cutlasses and surrounded Arthur, however, they looked at me and I looked at you, and none of them ever dared to move forward.

Arthur took out his handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiped the blood on it along the sword.

He threw down the handkerchief and asked, “Where is Fred?”

The sailors looked at each other in disbelief; none of them spoke, but they looked behind them in unison at the wooden door that led to the bottom of the cabin.

Arthur nodded slightly, “Very well.”

Almost the same moment he spoke, muskets went off behind him, fire support from the caracal marines.

In the thick white smoke, Arthur’s feet leapt over body after body, while on either side of the deck was a crouching, head-in-the-sand, disarmed enemy of the Blackthorn.

Arthur went to the cabin door, and instead of pushing it with his hand, drew the two flintlock pistols at his belt and fired rapidly at the wooden door.

Only two thuds were heard, and two small holes were instantly added to the wooden door.

Immediately followed by another thud inside the door, it was the sound of a head hitting the ground.

Arthur leaned down and aimed his eyes at the two holes, and he saw the body of a pirate bleeding from the corners of his mouth and still holding a gun in his hand.

He gently pushed the door open and a foul odor hit him, the acrid smell of sweat and urine mixed together.

With one hand gently caressing the handrail, he took a step down the hanging ladder of the Blackthorn.

Illuminated by the light put out by dim oil lamps and a breach blasted open by a cannonball, he gradually saw his surroundings clearly.

This was a mezzanine built with wooden planks, and from here on down would be the place where the slaves were kept.

Although the smell of the place was not very pleasant, it was not very crowded, and Arthur had a desk and a few chairs directly across from him, and on the desk was a wooden billboard that read – Blackpool Detective Agency.

Arthur exhaled softly, “Looks like this is the furniture Fred took with him?”

He scanned his surroundings and after making sure that no one was here, he was about to continue his pursuit to the next floor.

Unexpectedly, before he could move, he heard a ‘uh-uh-uh-uh’ sound coming from the corner of the room.

He frowned and put his sword behind his back as he slowly approached, only halfway there did he realize that the source of the sound was a curly-haired fat man who had his hands tied behind his back, his mouth gagged with a rag, and was stuffed under the table.

The fat man also discovered Arthur, who first froze and glanced at him, and then nodded at him sharply, signaling Arthur to quickly remove the rag that was gagging his mouth.

Arthur looked at his appearance, and while removing the rag from his mouth, he couldn’t help but ask, ”So, what should I call you? Mr. from France, are you called Friday or Robinson?”

As soon as the white rag was removed from the fat man’s mouth, he couldn’t help but gasp even more, and then emotionally opened his mouth and spewed out, “Merde! Con!”

Arthur raised the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his face and asked, “Excuse me, sir. I don’t understand French very well, can you translate for me?”

The fat man didn’t refuse Arthur’s request, and he opened his mouth with a fluent English, “Fuck me!”

“Whew ……”

Arthur raised his eyebrows and exhaled, “The moment you open your mouth you’re civilized, no wonder the French government wants you dead so badly. Perhaps they are jealous that you are too civilized for France to allow the existence of a civilization like yours. However, sir, even if you don’t want to tell me your name, could you first tell me if you know where Fred has gone?”

When the fat man heard this, it was as if he remembered something, and he exclaimed, “Watch your head!”

Arthur sniffed and hurriedly looked up, he then realized that there was a narrow area above this mezzanine.

And Fred stood there hunched over his burly body, with two flintlock pistols in his hands aimed at Arthur, cracking his mouth.

“Fuck! You boys are chasing me pretty fast, I just came down to get my guns and ran into you!”

Only two thuds could be heard as Fred opened fire decisively, while Arthur, in his haste, only managed to stomp his foot on a desk drawer.

Only to see the desk a side flip, pressed on Arthur and Fatty’s body, but at the same time also help them block the bullets.

Fred saw this and threw his gun away, he simply leapt straight up, intending to give Arthur and Fatty a Tarzan press.

However, at that moment Arthur had already tumbled to the other side.

Only a rumbling sound could be heard as Fred slammed down, dust flew in the cabin and desks shattered all over the place.

But although Arthur dodged through, but suffered that French fat man, he ate the desk and Fred this British Hercules up to more than 200 pounds of meatball impact.

The fat man’s face suddenly turned white, he stared wide-eyed and seemed to be on the verge of gagging.

Fred was also shocked by his appearance, he patted the fat man’s face and comforted: “My big baby, you have to give me some spirit, this little weight you can not stand it, right? Where did all your fat go? Damn it! At least you can’t die here, I’m still waiting for the bounty on you!”

When the fat man heard this, he didn’t know whether he was angry or had finally slowed down, he cursed, “If you don’t get off of me, I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself!”

Fred was finally relieved to hear that he was actually still able to curse with such mettle, and he hurriedly nodded his head and said, “Fine, fine! As long as you live well, I’ll listen to you in everything.” Fred got up from the desk, drew the saber at his waist, and licked his parched lips.

“Kid, I know you’re quite a fighter, but so what? Staying in the Royal Navy and hanging around, you’re still a hero? The Ministry of the Navy only gives you a few pennies a month, what the hell are you playing with your life for? Listen to my advice, if you join me, I’ll take you into big business.”

Arthur took a close look at Fred’s looks, always felt that it looked a bit familiar, suddenly, the corner of his mouth pulled and asked with a smile.

“Mr. Fred, have you forgotten me? I’m not working for the Royal Navy. And contrary to that, I’ve wanted your life for a long time.”

Fred sniffed and narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared into Arthur’s face also slowly remembering.

“Ah! Inspector Arthur Hastings. Yes, yes, yes, it’s me who is unaware of you. How could I have forgotten you? We did meet, at the Greenwich police station, the time I took a shit in the store. Shit! Clemens is a hard man to track down. I’m the one who reported his dirty laundry to Scotland Yard. It’s not so bad that it should alarm a great man like you to make a special trip here!”

Arthur smiled and said, “Mr. Fred, it seems that you don’t know much about the power relations of Scotland Yard. Superintendent Clemens and I do not belong to the same faction, he is eager to get rid of me, and I am eager to get rid of him, we two can’t piss in the same pot.”

Fred grinned as he arched his back and held the knife while circling around the desk with Arthur, savoring Arthur’s words.

“So, we still have a chance to work together? What do you want, money, or proof of Clemens’ wrongdoing? I know a lot of things, Inspector Hastings, you understand, a man like me needs to be more informed to stay alive.”

Arthur nodded slightly, “Indeed, it is precisely because you have more information. Therefore, I can neither ask for money nor evidence, I can only ask for …… your life!”

Fred and Arthur stepped forward at almost the same time, the two of them forcefully fought with a sword, yet no one took advantage of it.

The two had just separated, Fred took advantage of Arthur’s moment to change steps to swing his saber to slash at his armpit.

Arthur took advantage of the situation to turn his wrist, instantly changing the path of the sword, the tip of his sword stabbed at Fred’s outstretched wrist.

Although Fred’s reaction was not slow, the moment he retracted his blade he was still opened up by Arthur’s sword on the back of his hand.

Fred glanced at the back of his bleeding hand, his curled ears twitching slightly as he asked with a sardonic smile, “Not bad! Who did you learn this swordplay from? I’ve fought quite a few Scotland Yard cops, but none as tough as you!”

“Whoa?” Arthur’s slowly moving feet, his eyes fixed on Fred without moving an inch, “Which ones have you fought?”

“Quite a few, like that Jones under your hand, but he can’t. Inside the Scotland Yard police, apart from you, only Willox is a bit strong.”

Arthur smiled and asked, “How was your match with Willox? To tell you the truth, I actually fought him too.”

Fred grinned with his big gold teeth showing and smiled, “It was no big deal, Willox was a bully and a lousy fighter, but he was kinda lucky. I almost had him killed that time if he hadn’t gotten down on his knees and begged for mercy.”

“Yeah?” Arthur asked, “I have a different point of view than you, I don’t think Willox was lucky.”

“Why?”

Arthur inhaled slightly, “Because before he can beg for mercy, I’m going to take his life!”

Fred was shocked at his words, and in almost an instant, the tip of Arthur’s sword was almost in front of his eyes.

But fortunately his pace was not disorganized, a deft change of steps avoided the attack.

And after changing steps and sidestepping, what was exposed in front of him was Arthur’s side.

He smiled broadly and chopped his sword down towards Arthur’s right arm flush with his shoulder, “Looks like you’re not too lucky today, just like Willox!”

However, when the Red Devil saw this, he couldn’t help but flap his tongue and laugh maniacally, “Arthur, the idiot fell for it, use that move, defensive counterattack!”

Arthur was lighter than Fred, which also meant more speed and more agility.

His leg, which was adorned behind him, instantly lifted up a half-step, and his left shoulder was pressed against Fred’s armpit, followed by his uplifted left hand, which also clasped the bruise on Fred’s right wrist.

Fred felt a tingling in his right hand, and his arm holding the saber could not help but fall downward, but it was this fall that allowed Arthur’s left foot, which was lifting his step, to step on the tip of the saber.

Immediately following, there was a plopping sound of the tip of the sword breaking through the flesh, and Fred’s left palm that was missing two fingers trembled slightly.

He frowned, and his big gold teeth chattered continuously, “Fuck, I …… I’m not just breaking the law and selling some slaves? It s not like what I did is a big business. You …… you little son of a bitch …… you say you …… why the fuck is this necessary?”

Only a rumble was heard as Fred’s body fell heavily to the ground.

Amidst a cloud of dust, Arthur sheathed his sword, and he looked at the twitching, half-dead Fred who had fallen to the ground and was about to turn away.

However, in the midst of a cloud of dust, he suddenly realized that Fred slowly stretched out the palm that only had three fingers.

The only remaining thumbs and little fingers on the palm shrunk violently, leaving only a middle finger.

Fred, London’s famous General Thief, had left his last voice on earth.

“You …… you pretend your mother than!”

(End of chapter)