Chapter 14: The Knight Who Sacrificed Himself for Righteousness

"Have you made up your mind?"
After a while, Steelblade couldn't help but ask again.
This time, his tone was much gentler.
Garen quietly glanced at his system interface; his health was just shy of full.
Such abundant vitality would surely be enough for the maneuvers he planned to pull off.
Yet, being a bit obsessive, Garen decided to wait two more seconds to fill his health bar completely, so he remained silent.
In this prolonged standoff, Steelblade's murderous aura had already been worn away entirely.
So when Garen hesitated, Steelblade became timid:
Was it because his demands were too harsh, that the other party didn't even want to speak and was about to attack?
Thus, the once menacing kidnapper suddenly turned affable:
"Brother, I was just joking earlier..."
But before Steelblade could finish speaking, Garen abruptly spoke:
"I've made up my mind."
Steelblade's attempt at weakness was cut off, and all eyes focused on Garen.
Somehow, at this moment of life and death...
Nami, who had already resigned herself to fate, felt a faint, unrealistic hope stir for Garen.
Yet that fragile hope quickly faded—
Garen gently planted his greatsword in the ground, then smiled lightly:
"You've misunderstood. She is not my wife."
Steelblade's expression froze, and his henchmen trembled at the words.
"Like that reporter, she's merely a passerby to me."
Garen's gaze was earnest, his words oddly convincing:
"Moreover, I am not the legendary knight of justice."
Nami's eyes immediately dimmed.
The young reporter had already resigned himself to his fate.
But then the tone shifted—
"I'm not a knight of justice, because I am not worthy of that title yet!"
Garen's voice suddenly rang with nobility, his expression as sincere as a five-stripe captain:
"To protect the weak and helpless, that is the deed of a true knight."
"Huh?"
No one could react.
Garen gripped his sword, dropped to one knee with imposing presence, and said calmly yet powerfully to Steelblade:
"I accept your terms."
"But you must guarantee their release!"
"Of course..."
Steelblade instinctively replied, then realized with disbelief:
"What did you say? You agree?"
"That's right."
Garen picked up the flintlock pistol from the ground with his other hand and pressed the barrel to his chest: "I accept."
"Garen?!"
Nami cried out his name in shock.
Her deadened heart suddenly fluttered.
Not long ago, Nami had thought this name was just an insignificant passerby in her life; now, in this moment, it was etched deep into her soul.

"Sir Knight!"
The reporter's voice was full of astonishment and emotion.
In that instant, Garen's rugged, resolute face became the incarnation of the light of justice in his heart.
Garen laughed with carefree ease:
"No need to worry for me."
"If I die here, it will be a worthy death."
Nami had never cared about the image of men, but she instinctively felt:
Such a knight of justice was foolish, but also handsome.
"Wait!"
Nami couldn't suppress the pain in her heart and shouted out, almost hysterical.
Garen smiled faintly, saying nothing.
At last, the gun fired.
The flintlock pistol, Steelblade's prized possession, was powerful and deadly.
As the flash erupted, everyone saw the merciless bullet pierce Garen's heart and exit through his back.
Garen's armor was already soaked in enemy blood, so it was hard to see the effect of this shot.
But when a bullet pierces a man's heart...
Death is certain.
Garen dutifully showed a look of agony, clutching his chest tightly, and finally...
He collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
"Dead?"
Steelblade stared, bewildered.
Seconds passed...
"Really dead?"
Steelblade still found the situation surreal.
His grip loosened; his massive blade slipped from Nami's neck.
And there was no need to hold it anymore.
The knight of justice had sacrificed his life for the weak, and all Steelblade's fears vanished with Garen's death.
The two pirate henchmen were also stunned by the sudden turn of events, releasing their hold on Nami in shock.
Nami did not seize the chance to escape.
Her cat's-eye-like brilliant eyes were now dull; she collapsed to the ground like a balloon drained of air.
Her world now contained only Garen's blood-soaked, crimson corpse.
"Why?"
Nami murmured to herself:
"Why did you save me like this? Clearly, I am just..."
The scene made Nami recall Bellemere once more—
She had again been saved by someone like this.
The same story, but this knight was even more 'foolish'—so foolish it hurt.
Steelblade slowly walked over, scrutinizing Garen's corpse...
Then, with his blade, he prodded Garen.
The edge sliced into the vulnerable neck, severing the main artery, yet Garen didn't move, nor did any blood flow.
Such a reaction was impossible for the living.
"Ha ha ha..."
Steelblade suddenly laughed wildly, his ugly face contorting uncontrollably:

"He actually killed himself? He really did!"
"How can there be such fools on the seas?!"
His laughter brought tears to his eyes, tears he hadn't shed since he became a pirate:
"How could it be!"
Steelblade roared in madness.
Driven by some inexplicable emotion, he stomped on Garen's corpse again:
"How could such a fool exist!!"
Garen's 'corpse' trembled slightly under the kick.
"Bastard!"
"Stop!"
Two voices shouted in unison.
The trembling reporter and Nami, whose face was now streaked with tears.
"Shut up!"
A henchman shouted hysterically:
"That idiot's already a corpse! Neither of you will leave alive!"
The henchman was arrogant, his ugly, heartless face full of malice.
Yet neither the scholarly reporter nor the frail Nami was intimidated by his bluster.
Their bloodshot eyes stared at him, forcing him back with murderous glare.
The henchman, suddenly timid, blushed and cursed in anger:
"What are you looking at! I'll cut you down—"
"You shut up!"
Steelblade suddenly exploded, roaring at the henchman, frightening him into a shudder.
Steelblade whirled and brought his blade down, smashing the stone tiles into fragments:
"I'm not so low..."
"That I would break a promise made with such a fool!"
None of the henchmen dared speak again.
A hush fell, starkly different from before.
"I never expected..."
A voice sounded quietly at Steelblade's ear:
"You rob, kill, destroy, kidnap, commit every crime, but you're still a man who keeps his word..."
Steelblade's face flushed with embarrassment.
"What did you—"
He started to cover his insecurity with bravado, but his voice suddenly stopped.
A greatsword pierced his back, straight through his chest.
Blood gushed, flesh mangled.
The blade's broad cross-section was enough to send a major pirate like Steelblade instantly to his end.
"Sorry..."
Garen gripped the sword hilt tightly and said quietly:
"I'm also a man who keeps his word."