Chapter 387: From Blood Harbor Ghost to Pier Bodhisattva
When Pike, as a member of the Windleader fleet, witnessed the spectacular sight of thousands of sails racing and tens of thousands of cannons roaring in Ionia thousands of miles away, he couldn't help but recall his life.
Many, many years ago, Pike was not the Blood Harbor Ghost he is today, nor was he the famous "Dock Bodhisattva" among the leaders later on.
He was just a mortal at first.
When he was young, like most people in Bilgewater, he started out at the Slaughterhouse Docks.
Every day, the monsters caught from the deep sea are piled on the shore, waiting to be sent to the slaughterhouse for dismantling and processing, all day long.
The place where he worked was called Blood Harbor, because not even the waves could wash away the endless flow of greasy blood between the wooden planks.
Pike still remembers the evening that changed his destiny.
"Here, your wages for this month." The fat foreman rummaged through his purse and counted out a few Silver Kraken coins, then handed them to Pike with a look of disdain.
"Thank you..." Pike stretched out his hands a little stiffly.
Seeing his hands covered with sticky blood, he instinctively wanted to pull back and find a piece of clean cloth to wipe them.
But when he looked down, he saw that his body was already covered with sticky and smelly blood, internal organs, sea animal feces, and various disgusting sea animal secretions.
Especially his old rain boots that were covered in rotten meat scraps - there were even maggots crawling on the uppers.
Pike shook his shoes sheepishly, but it was pointless. This was the working environment at the fishery. He shook off a few maggots and they would all come back after a few steps.
Besides, what are maggots? The parasitic worms thicker than human arms that are entwined in the stomachs of those giant sea beasts are what the fishermen really need to worry about.
Pike was used to it.
That is to say, those foremen who have sat in the office for a long time would feel a little uncomfortable.
"Forget it." The fat foreman suppressed his nausea and threw the money into Parker's hand: "Take it."
"Yeah." Pike carefully took the silver Siren coins, his mind already quickly planning his "happy life" for the next month.
He had no wife or children to support, and his parents had died at sea long ago, without even their bodies left behind.
As long as one person is well fed, the whole family will not be hungry, so Parker's life is not stressful.
Moreover, the prices of grain and vegetables had dropped a lot recently. If he saved a little, he could have a bowl of hot fresh vegetable soup with his hard black bread and stinky dried fish for the next month.
If you completely ignore the idea of saving money and spend more lavishly... then it is not impossible to buy a small piece of fresh sea beast meat to satisfy your hunger.
Thinking of this, Pike couldn't help but swallow in anticipation.
He dealt with the carcasses of sea beasts every day, but he had only eaten the spoiled sea beast meat scraps that even the unscrupulous fisheries were unwilling to keep.
He had never tried fresh sea animal meat.
This kind of noble and luxurious export commodity has always been enjoyed by the upper class in the mountaintop area of Beigang and the wealthy people from overseas countries.
If only he could one day...
"What are you still doing standing here?" The fat foreman looked at him with dissatisfaction, interrupting his fantasy.
"I..." Pike snapped back to reality.
He was still standing at the slaughterhouse dock, where maggots were crawling all over the ground and the air was foul.
The shelves beside him were piled high with the fresh pieces of sea beast meat that he had just slaughtered with his own hands, as he had imagined.
There was also a striking warning sign in scarlet handwriting on the side of the shelf, which read:
"He who steals meat shall die."
This sign is for those restless fishermen.
Pike came to his senses. He knew he shouldn't think too much.
Vegetable soup with stinky dried fish was the limit of what he could enjoy in his worthless life.
Why would he fantasize about sea beast meat? Even though his job was to be a sea beast butcher.
“……” There was a moment of silence.
"Foreman." Suddenly, Pike clenched his fists.
He seemed to be still in a dream, and actually said to the foreman: "Can you help me negotiate with the manager and give me a raise..."
"What?" The fat foreman seemed to have heard something out of the blue. "Are you crazy?! How much can a fisherman get paid in a month? That's the amount set by the bosses above! How dare you ask for more?"
"But..." Pike shrank back in frustration.
But he still couldn't suppress his dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction had been accumulating in his heart for a long time.
He saw that even if the captains just delivered a sea beast to the dock, they could earn a bag full of gold Kraken coins from the fishing factory. The fishing factory sold a shipload of sea beast meat to Piltover and could exchange it for boxes of gold and silver treasures from the rich men of Piltover.
But after working all day and putting all his efforts into dealing with a sea beast, he only got a few copper coins.
Why is this so?
"Why?" The fat foreman said sarcastically, "Because you are incompetent!"
"If you have the ability to seize the fishing factory from those bosses, you can also earn boxes of treasure! If you can hunt sea beasts in the sea like those captains, you can also earn a bag of gold coins!"
"But you don't have the ability! Do you understand? You're a piece of trash!"
…
Parker always remembered the fat foreman's insults.
To some extent, it was this guy's scolding that woke him up. In order to prove that he was not a waste and to get rid of the mediocre and poor life, Pike chose an extremely dangerous path that could change his destiny -
He quit his job at the fishing factory, boarded a sea beast hunting ship, and became a sea beast hunter risking his life on the sea.
Few dared to hunt using the traditional method from the Serpent Islands: flying over the prey, stabbing the drag hook into the monster's body with bare hands, and then starting to dissect it alive.
Pike was fearless and skilled, so the value of this harpooner rose rapidly, and without a Golden Kraken, there was no point in getting a job.
Now he no longer had to worry about daily food and drink, and he could save enough money to buy a medium-sized house in a good location in Bilgewater.
But this is far from enough.
Pike knew that even though he was the best harpooner in Bilgewater, he was far from being a wealthy man who could gain a foothold in Bilgewater.
As long as he stopped working, he would quickly say goodbye to his current relatively comfortable life.
But his job is so dangerous that every hunt requires him to fight for his life.
Pike doesn't want to die, he wants to live, to be rich, to own his own ship, and to be his own boss.
Therefore, he has been looking forward to a hunt that can truly change his destiny.
On this day, the opportunity came.
"Zhuoer! Oh my god, mother Hu, what a big Zhuoer fish!"
A few days after sailing, the hunting ship that hired Pike encountered an extremely huge dace at sea.
The dace fish is the most popular sea animal among the merchants in Port of Piraeus.
The green capsules taken from its fanged mouth can be used to purify different magical essences, so they are coveted by everyone in Runeland. A small bottle of glowing djoer green oil is enough to buy ten large ships and their crews.
Now, what appeared in front of Pike and his companions was a giant dauer fish that they had never seen before. It was much larger and older than any fish Pike had ever seen, and rows of green cysts were exposed in its wide open bloody mouth.
"With so many Zhuo'er Qing Nang, even if we take away the 95% that the captain, first mate, ship owner, and dock boss take away, as the chief harpooner, I can still get at least 1,000 gold Siren coins from the remaining profits. By then..."
Then he could buy his own ship, be his own boss, and be the master of his own destiny!
Pike was completely fascinated by this bright future.
So, he jumped into the mouth of the giant beast without hesitation, and fought to the death with all his might for this precious opportunity to change his fate.
However, Pike's luck ran out this time.
Just as he was about to start working, a low tremor came from the end of the monster's deep throat. Then, foam churned on the sea surface, and a large group of dwarves appeared and rushed to crash into the ship.
"Pull it back, quick, pull it back!" The sailors tried frantically to retrieve the lifeline from Pike.
However, the captain's voice soon rang out: "Shit! He's beyond saving!"
"Cut the ropes quickly! Otherwise, if the ship is damaged, all our wages will have to be used to compensate the ship owner!"
“……” On the deck, everyone fell into a terrible silence.
"No! No!" Pike stood in the mouth of the giant beast, watching everything happening in front of him in despair.
He saw, amid the silence of the sailors, the terrified captain draw his sword and cut his lifeline.
The last thing he saw before the monster's jaws closed was the horrified expressions on the crew's faces as they watched him being swallowed alive by the monster.
Pike's dream, and his life as a human being, ended just like that.
…
But Pike's story doesn't end there.
The sea did not take away Pike's body and soul. Instead, it gave him a special power, making him a special being that was half alive and half dead.
A new hunger seized Pike's mind, an impatience for revenge and punishment, and he would fill the deepest trenches with the bodies of those who had betrayed him.
By then, all of Pike's enemies had died.
But his punishment of sinners was far from over.
Over the years, Pyke has returned to Bilgewater countless times to exact his bloodiest revenge on those on his list.
As a result, Pike, whose memory was distorted by the abyss, did what many people could not do - he stabbed fear deep into the hearts of those profiteers, killers and scoundrels.
He is the Blood Harbor Phantom, the immortal punisher.
His list of punishments is far from complete, and his killing and revenge are far from over.
Until a month ago...
Pike ended his long hibernation in the abyss and returned to Bilgewater, to Blood Harbor.
But he did not kill anyone this time. He just sat quietly at the Blood Harbor Pier, looking at the world in front of him in confusion, as if it had suddenly become a strange world.
"Um..." An enthusiastic fisherman noticed this strange stranger, who was dripping with seawater and looked like a resurrected evil spirit from the water: "Friend, do you need help?"
“……” Pike did not answer.
"Okay..." The fisherman felt embarrassed and was about to turn around and leave.
"Wait." Pike suddenly called out to the other person. This might be the first time in all these years since his death that he took the initiative to talk to a living person other than his target: "Can I ask you about a few people?"
"Of course." The fisherman looked over curiously.
"Captain Jack of the Sea Hunting Company, Boss Goby of the Trench Gang, Boss Seth of the shipyard..." Pike called out the names of several big shots in a row in his voice as hoarse as a devil from hell.
These names were all on his past lists, but he had too many people to kill before and didn't have time to get a turn.
"Tsk..." The fisherman's face turned ugly when he heard these names: "Why are you asking me about the names of dead people? They died a long time ago."
"How did he die?" Pike asked.
"How else can he die?" The fisherman curled his lips and said, "He was put on the list of leaders and hung on the street lamp."
“……” Pike was silent.
It was the same again. All the people on his list were cleared out in one go by those guys who claimed to be leaders.
It was only when he returned to Bilgewater that he realized that no matter how many villains he cleared out, there would always be more villains to fill the vacancies on his list. It was actually true...
"Cleared... Cleared?!" Pike's mind was in a mess.
In such a huge city like Bilgewater, the famous lawless badland and pirates' den, there is not even one bad guy.
This was something that even Pike, the "Blood Harbor Ghost", felt like he had seen a ghost.
"Where did they all go?!" Pike muttered to himself like a madman, driven by obsession.
"You..." The fisherman swallowed nervously: "Who are you talking about?"
"Those criminals!" Pike clenched his harpoon, which he never left behind: "Pirates, robbers, gangsters, murderers, brothel madams, gambling den owners, black market profiteers, human traffickers..."
“They’ve all been liquidated!” The fisherman looked puzzled. “Don’t you know? Gangplank has been overthrown for a long time. Bilgewater is now the territory of the Wind Leader Association.”
"..." Pike couldn't understand at all.
He had been active in Bilgewater for many years, though he himself couldn't quite remember how long that time had been.
During this long period of time, no one knows how many similar "changes of dynasties" have occurred in Porto.
Gangplank was not the first pirate overlord. From Pike's perspective, the so-called Pirate King of Higashigang was just a slightly more outstanding one among the past overlords.
To this day, I don’t know how many generations of One Piece have changed. However, Higashigang has never changed.
No matter who sits on the throne, there are still countless pirates, robbers, gangsters, profiteers in Hong Kong...
His killing and punishment never stopped.
The evil people are afraid of the legend of the Blood Harbor ghost. However, they are guilty and afraid, but they do more evil unscrupulously.
A new king can change nothing.
Not even a Blood Harbor ghost can do it.
But why, now that the Leader Association has taken over, these sinners who have been growing stubbornly like tumors in this city can be eliminated to the point of almost non-existence?
"Friend, are you a stranger?" When Pike was confused, the fisherman couldn't help but ask about his origins out of curiosity.
“No…” Pike came back to his senses and answered in a hoarse and confused voice: “I was born in Bilgewater.”
"Then why don't you know anything about the situation here?"
"I..." Pike struggled to sort out those painful and distorted memories: "I haven't been back for a while."
"I see." The fisherman mistook him for a sailor from Port of Beirut who had gone out to sea.
Every year, there are many wandering sailors in Piraeus who are forced to go overseas alone for various reasons. Most of them will disappear forever at sea, and only a few lucky ones can return home alive.
"Where did you live before? Blood Harbor, Grey Harbor, Rat Town, or the slums at the bottom of the mountain?" the fisherman asked casually.
"I..." Pike looked up at the Blood Harbor Dock and muttered to himself, "Right here, Blood Harbor. A long time ago, I worked at this slaughter dock."
"Wow, it turns out to be an old senior!" The young fisherman patted his chest excitedly and said, "I work here too!"
Pike: “…”
He heard happiness and satisfaction in the fishermen's voices.
But he really couldn't imagine what was satisfying about this kind of crappy job.
“Hahaha, things are different now.” The fisherman smiled sincerely and said, “You’ll understand slowly if you spend more time in your hometown.”
As he spoke, he generously took out a few shiny silver Kraken coins from his pocket and handed them to Pike.
The guy even looked at Pike's tattered clothes and said in a familiar voice, "My friend, judging from your appearance, you must have suffered a lot at sea over the years, right?"
"Consider this little money as a gift to you. Find a place to have a good meal, change into clean clothes, and don't dress up like a ghost... To be honest, it looks really scary."
"I..." Pike was stunned.
He finally realized why the fisherman came to talk to him.
He was sitting on the side of the road in rags, looking like a beggar.
And on the streets of Bilgewater today, beggars can really be considered a kind of eye-catching "rare animals".
But even so...
"You don't need to give me so much money, do you?" Pike looked at the few silver Siren coins in his hand with a dazed look.
He did not forget: this was a huge sum of money that he had to work for a month at the slaughterhouse dock when he was alive.
"Hey, just take it!" But the young fisherman said, "I can earn ."
"How is this possible?" Pike thought he was lying. "How can you, a sea beast butcher, make so much money?"
"Why?" The fisherman answered confidently, "Slaughtering sea beasts is also a skilled job. I have created such a high value of labor, so why can't I earn so much money?"
Pike: “…”
He was silent for a long time before finally accepting this fact.
Bilgewater had changed, and it had become something he couldn't understand.
An inferior person can actually live a good life by not selling his life but only selling his labor and skills.
"Then what should I do in the future?" Suddenly, Parker was at a loss.
He survived these long years with his strong obsession for revenge and to punish the world.
Now that Bilgewater has become this puzzling appearance, even the water in Blood Harbor seems to have become much clearer... Is there any need for this "Blood Harbor Ghost" to continue to exist?
"What on earth should I do?" Pike muttered to himself in confusion. "What on earth should I do?"
"Well..." The fisherman heard his sigh: "If I'm not mistaken, you should be an old sailor, right?"
"Yeah." Pike nodded hesitantly.
"That's all!" The fisherman encouraged him enthusiastically, "The Wind Leader is now fighting the Noxians in Ionia, and is in need of a large number of ships and sailors to support the Ionian battlefield."
"If you are brave enough, you can join us in enlisting as a temporary sailor and help the Wind Leader transport weapons and supplies to the Ionian front!"
"You..." Pike was stunned when he heard this, and looked at the young fisherman in confusion: "Are you going to be a sailor?"
"Yes." The fisherman nodded solemnly.
"Are the sailors of the Leader paid very well?" Pike asked doubtfully.
"Well..." The fisherman answered truthfully: "The salary of a Wind Leader sailor is quite high, but it's not as high as the income from my current job."
As a light luxury food that is popular all over the world, marine animal meat products have always had high added value and commodity profit margins.
Therefore, the average salary in this industry has always been surprisingly high.
However, until the arrival of the leader, the fishermen were the ones being averaged out by the company's top executives.
After the arrival of the Leader, along with the demise of the so-called "corporate executives" who were actually pirates who had come ashore, the median income of the entire marine animal aquaculture industry has increased dramatically.
If we don't count the pension and only count the daily salary... then even the income of a naval soldier cannot compare with that of a sea beast butcher.
"Then why did you join the army?" Pike was even more confused.
You earn hundreds of dollars a month, why would you risk your life?
With this income, wouldn't it be nice to stay in Hong Kong, punch in at work, and enjoy life?
"Because..." The fisherman thought seriously, "I'm afraid they will come back."
"Who?" Pike asked puzzled.
"Those people you just mentioned." The fisherman said: "Pirates, robbers, gangsters, profiteers...those vampires - if our struggle fails, they will all come back."
"Comrade." Unconsciously, he changed his address: "Tell me, can I allow them to come back?"
Pike: “…”
He knew the answer to this question very clearly.
Pike fell silent. After a long while, he suddenly said, "I understand!"
"Huh?" The fisherman looked at him puzzledly.
"I understand, my list is not complete yet! My mission is not accomplished yet! My existence still has meaning!" Pike showed a ferocious smile.
He looked at the blue sea in front of him and said murderously: "There are still many damn people in the outside world who want to make Bilgewater, and the world, return to its previous state... right?"
"Uh..." The fisherman didn't quite understand. But he still nodded: "Yes."
"Well then—" Pike picked up the harpoon and stood up with red eyes: "Take me to apply, to find those people! I want to..."
"Drag them all into the water!"
