klisemfg Chapter 501 Behind the Fence
Chapter 501 Behind the Fence
Chapter 501 Behind the Fence
As the group of five descended the stairs, just as Xia Nan had guessed, they came into view a very simple-looking underground prison.
The lack of air circulation over a long period of time results in a rotten and foul odor entering the nasal cavity with each breath.
The dungeon was not large in size; the flickering firelight on the walls allowed one to see to the other end at a glance. The ceiling was only about one and a half meters above the ground, forcing the orc Howl in the squad to constantly duck his head as he moved.
The ground was soft, slightly compacted soil, and a deliberately left passage extended from the entrance to the wall at the end of the dungeon, with locked metal bars on both sides.
Clearly, these metal fences have not been maintained for a long time. The surface of the fences is rusty, and many of the joints are even slightly twisted, showing obvious signs of deformation. Some of them cannot even have their iron gates closed, and are simply forcibly fastened with iron chains.
Nineteen people were locked in iron bars.
Their beds were dirty piles of straw in the corner, and their food and water were stored in iron basins in a manner similar to that of livestock in their previous lives, emitting a foul stench at the moment.
Men and women, young and old, were crammed into this cramped space underground like cargo, their clothes tattered, their exposed skin revealing numerous wounds, some healed and scabbed over, others still bloody and scarlet, not to mention bruises and ulcers.
An elderly man, whose body was completely stiff, sat alone in a shadowy corner where the fireworks could not reach. His head was tilted and drooping in an unnatural way, his purplish-blue left leg was twisted out of shape, and his drooping sleeve was empty. His eyes, which could no longer be opened, were permanently buried in the shadows cast by his brow bone.
A mother held her child tightly, her eyes vacant. She clearly didn't even have the strength to speak, yet she still instinctively and rhythmically patted the back of the infant in her arms, silently comforting her child who was also on the verge of collapse.
There was no roaring, no wailing.
Prolonged imprisonment slowed down their brains, forcing them to lie quietly in their positions, motionless, driven by the will to survive, minimizing any unnecessary loss of energy.
Despair, exhaustion.
Even when they saw Xia Nan and his companions descending the stairs, their demeanor and attire completely different from their previous pirate personas, the imprisoned individuals initially showed no reaction.
The deathly silence on the field lasted for a full five seconds before the people locked in the dungeon began to realize that the situation seemed to have changed and was starting to fluctuate.
Looking at the ordinary people behind the fence, their faces pale, thin, and covered in wounds, Xia Nan's brows furrowed involuntarily.
Without anyone noticing, its perception capabilities have been maximized.
Judging from their similar clothing, demeanor, and common honey-colored skin, they are most likely locals from the Southern Islands.
but……
Why are they being so cruelly imprisoned here in such a distressing and tragic manner, as if they were criminals?
As Xia Nan pondered, combining the experiences he had accumulated over this period of time, some ideas began to form in his mind.
"Bang!"
Perhaps it was their attire, so different from that of the pirates outside, that gave them hope. Gradually realizing that Xia Nan and the others did not seem to be part of the Tide Retreat pirate gang, these tormented civilians mustered up their last bit of courage that was about to dissipate.
Near the exit, by the wall, the young man with the least injuries among the prisoners, covered in mud but with all four limbs intact, almost slammed his body against the iron bars, startling the orc Howl.
Ignoring the intense pain emanating from his forehead and chest, the loud clanging of metal echoed underground.
"Sir!" His voice was hoarse to the extreme, his face pressed between the iron bars, his ten fingers gripping the fence tightly, "Save us, sir!"
The Iron Shield team's reaction to this was unusually indifferent.
Captain Habak gripped his one-handed prism, his wary gaze sweeping over the figures behind the fence; Sally, though also human, seemed not to hear him, her cold eyes fixed on the young man who had cried for help, lost in thought.
The dwarf wanderer Agu lurked in the shadows, as if everything happening on the field had nothing to do with him;
Howl was the one who reacted most violently; he was furious.
But the anger wasn't directed at the abused humans; rather, it was at the young man's sudden action that had startled them, and they glared fiercely at him with their round eyes.
Under normal circumstances, faced with the angry gaze of such a strange and powerful adventurer, an ordinary civilian like the young man behind the railing would probably have already knelt down and begged for mercy the moment his eyes swept over them.
At this moment, however, he seemed to have been paralyzed by death, weakly clinging to the railing and calling for help.
As a human being with normal values, Xia Nan certainly couldn't be as aloof as the Iron Rock Shield team.
His keen senses allowed him to confirm that those currently imprisoned in the dungeon were ordinary people without any extraordinary powers, and there was no danger to them.
He immediately took two steps forward and came to the iron railing.
"Hey!"
Accompanied by a sharp whistling sound as the air was torn apart, a fleeting, sharp pink light flashed by.
Possessing the "powerful toughness" effect, the portable dagger named [Mandarin Orange] was instantly drawn and then returned to its waist in the blink of an eye.
blah blah——
The broken, rusty iron chain, along with the metal railing it had been tightly binding, was cleanly split in two and fell to the ground.
With his arm slightly strained, he pulled open the once tightly locked gate from the outside, gripping the now-unrestrained iron bars.
He casually steadied the young man's shoulder, helping him regain his balance as he nearly fell due to the violent shaking while clinging to the fence.
Xia Nan's deep, dark eyes gazed at the other person's mud-covered face.
"Where did you come from?"
“Ta…Talo Island.” The torn iron bars seemed to give the young man an unprecedented sense of hope. His voice, which had been growing weaker, unconsciously became louder, and his depressed emotions gradually became more agitated.
“Alpha Island, and Silver Reef Fishing Village…we, we were all captured, sir!”
Xia Nan had heard of these place names mentioned by the other party; they were all small, remote human settlements like Cliff Island.
"So, you were all captured from your original villages by these pirates?"
"Yes, sir..."
The burst of excitement just now seemed to have exhausted the last bit of energy in the young man's body. His condition deteriorated at a visible speed, but he still answered Xia Nan's question.
But just a second later, he suddenly looked up and shrieked:
"Fishmen! My lord, beware of those fishmen!"
Sorry this chapter is a bit short. I'm not feeling well today, and it's been difficult to move forward. I'll reconsider the plot.
(End of this chapter)