A quiet-looking ship wobbled unsteadily in the water, approaching the Pirate Kingdom''s docks with a suspicious air about it.@@novelbin@@


    Aftering to a slow stop, the anchor dropped into the water, and the sails unfurled, but all of it was done by one man.


    The ship didn''t have any crew and was manually operated by a single man!


    Ghad swung his backpack over his shoulder and hopped off the ship,nding with a thud on the nked harbor.


    The nearby pirates turned to him in surprise, and few squinted their eyes. They could almost swear that they had seen this person somewhere.


    ''I should hurry,'' Ghad started walking and put a cap over his head.


    It was blue and white cap, something a navy officer would wear, but the insignia of navy had been scrubbed off.


    This was Rear Admiral Callum''s cap, which he took as a trophy for his victory.


    "You, there, stop!" A voice shouted in his direction.


    ''Shit.'' Ghad stopped and turned around to face a brown-coated man who was ring at him menacingly.


    The brown-coated man was holding some kind of bag in his hand. It was filled to the brim with some papers.


    ''The Harbor Master…'' Ghad clicked his tongue.


    He''d hoped to bypass the inspection, but it was unlikely as the Harbor Master had a reputation for thoroughness. He wasn''t the type of person to miss a ship arrival.


    Whoever came to the Pirate Kingdom had to undergo his inspections. It was to prevent any navy spies from infiltrating their city.


    "Take off your hat," the Harbor Master said with a frown.


    He was quite a bit suspicious of Ghad. He was a solo pirate, by the looks of it, which was extremely rare in these waters.


    "Sigh…" Ghad removed his cap and tossed it to the water.


    The cap floated away with the gentle current, as if it was gliding away to another adventure.


    "Huh?" The Harbor Master recognized the man and wrote down his name. "Ghad Mariner, a face I hadn''t seen for a long time. What brings you back here?"


    "Business," Ghad said.


    "I hope the business is with the Emperor Happy," the Harbor Master grabbed his whistle and blew into it.


    "Why did you blow the whistle?" Ghad asked with narrowed eyes.


    A couple of men appeared next to the Harbor Master like shadows. They just happened to appear when the whistle was blown.


    "These gentlemen will bring you to the Happy Castle," the Harbor Master said. "Emperor Happy will be thrilled to have you back."


    "That''s not needed…" Ghad said with a cold, steely tone. "I''ll meet him when I am ready." Experience more tales on empire


    "You''re ready now." The Harbor Master''s tone also turned cold. "You''re going to go meet him now, Mister Retired Pirate."


    "…" Ghad clenched his hands into fists, but then nodded and followed after the two strange men without another word.


    …


    With hesitant, slow steps, Ghad walked down the castle hallways with a cool look on his face.


    Giggle~~


    At that moment, strange giggling noises seemed toe from inside the walls. It made the castle very eerie and strange.


    It was like the castle itself was happy or something for giggling so much, but the real source of the giggling was a mystery to this day.


    They reached the end of the hallway.


    The throne room''s doors stood in their way, guarded by two guards with smiling masks that did not reach their eyes.


    "We''ve brought Ghad Mariner," the men said in unison, and then they turned around and left without another word.


    ''That ent…'' Ghad turned to look at the men that vanished. ''They''re Shadowborn? When they spoke, their voice had a slight echo, which is a trademark of Shadowborns.''


    "Ghad Mariner, Emperor Happy is expecting you!" The guards opened the throne room''s doors. "Enter!"


    Ghad straightened his sleeves, then walked through the entrance and walked down the red carpet while staring up at the throne, where a lonely man was sitting.


    The man wore a smiling mask and was creepily tall with long,nky limbs that looked like spaghetti. He wore a skin-tight, short yellow shirt with a red smiling face on it, and his eyes seemed to follow his every move.


    "Emperor Happy."


    When Ghad arrived at the bottom of the throne, he kneeled and dropped his head.


    "Ghad~" Emperor Happy shouted with excitement. "How was your retirement? Good, I hope?"


    "…" Ghad''s eyebrow twitched, and he nodded. "It was alright."


    "I must say, I am surprised!" Emperor Happy shouted. "I never expected to see you back. You left so suddenly, without a word of exnation!"


    "…" Ghad didn''t answer it.


    "Who do you think you are?!"


    Emperor Happy''s shout shook the throne hall and made Ghad''s head smash into the ground.


    "…" Still, Ghad stayed silent, just gritting his teeth.


    "You know that if a pirate who has been branded with the burn mark wants to retire, they must go to their Emperor and request permission to leave the pirate life behind.


    "I am your Emperor, and you didn''t do so.


    "Were you afraid of death or what?"


    "…" Ghad stayed silent. ''Of course I didn''te to you, you twisted fuck. Why would I gamble my life away?''


    With a sidelong nce, he looked towards a spinning lottery wheel. It had about twenty different fates written down.


    Those who wanted to retire would have to spin that wheel.


    Wherever the wheelnded, that would be their fate.


    To abandon the pirate life, they might have to lose an arm, a leg, or even an eye. It all depended on their luck. However, there was also fate that simply said "death," and some unfortunate souls had already spun that fate.


    Thus, Ghad decided to just run away without spinning that wheel. There was only one option in the wheel that allowed him to leave without losing anything.


    The option was called "life," and so far, no one had been able to get that.


    "Why have youe back, Ghad?" Emperor Happy asked with a scoff.


    "I…" Ghad put his hand on his chest and looked up at his emperor. "Came back to you. I wish to be a pirate once again. The world ofws wasn''t for me. I want to sail the seas with freedom and adventure once again."