Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 158 - 157: The Disguise of a Poor Student

Chapter 158: Chapter 157: The Disguise of a Poor Student

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Compared to the overall chaos on the deck, Richard and Gro found themselves in a rare moment of quiet in a corner. Following Nancy’s orders, they were responsible for defending a small section on the side, preventing any pirate sneak attacks.

However, most of the pirates were climbing up from other parts of the deck, and there were no enemies in the area they were defending.

But this didn’t mean they were completely out of the fray. Just as Richard was thinking about whether to do something, he heard a whooshing sound behind him. Quickly turning around, he saw a pirate who had boarded the ship, wielding two iron axes and hurling one of them his way.

Richard raised an eyebrow, and as the iron axe was about to cleave into his body, he swiftly stretched out his hand and, with a “snap”, precisely caught the handle of the iron axe.

The Iron Axe pirate was startled, then his eyes bulged, “Kid, give me back my axe!” Shouting, he charged forward, swinging the only axe he had left.

Only then did Gro turn around, realizing what was happening, and hurriedly said, “Lord Richard, you… be careful.”

...

“Mm,” Richard replied, taking a step forward, holding the iron axe and, without any expression, faced the charging pirate.

With a “bang,” the two iron axes collided harshly in mid-air.

The pirate glared, surprised at Richard’s strength as the axes clashed together. The next moment, though, he gritted his teeth, trying to overpower Richard.

However, just as he exerted force, a piercing pain exploded in his chest. Lowering his head, he found Richard’s other hand holding a scalpel, which had precisely passed between the third and fourth ribs, piercing his heart.

“Guh… guh…” Blood rapidly flowed from the pirate’s mouth and wound, his eyes reflecting terror.

Richard felt no sympathy and withdrew the scalpel. It was as if he was pulling out all the pirate’s life force at once, and the pirate fell to the deck with a “thud,” his iron axe dropping as well—ultimately failing to recover the axe he’d lost and dropping another.

Bending over, Richard picked up the axe from the deck and tossed it to Gro behind him, saying, “Stay behind me, and be careful.”

“Sure,” Gro nodded hastily, following quickly.

Richard then led Gro, an axe in one hand and a scalpel in the other, towards the remaining combat on the deck, thoughts flickering through his mind.

Though he had decided to hide his true abilities and act the part of the underperformer, he had also said that this didn’t mean he’d intentionally perform terribly. In fact, while ensuring he kept up the underperformer persona, demonstrating a reasonable degree of skill was a form of protection.

After all, a student lacking talent didn’t mean they lacked abilities elsewhere, such as combat skills or tactics. If one were born into nobility and wanted to learn these skills, they were always attainable. Showing some capability made it easier to explain situations that might arise later.

Otherwise, if one were a student completely without merit, even the slightest action defying common sense later on would arouse suspicion.

It was a strategy of using one aspect of ability to cover another.

With that in mind, Richard had already joined a small-scale skirmish, striking swiftly, then quickly resolving the fight.

After dealing with one place, Richard moved swiftly to another, continuously helping to resolve the battles. In these moments, Richard often acted not as the killer but as a supporter, assisting the original combatants to victory.

Moreover, the fights Richard chose to join were always in seemingly inconspicuous places that would affect the overall battle on the deck. Like some narrow corridors or the high ground near som GUILayoutting towers…

If Nancy played the role of a brave leader, charging at the front to inspire everyone’s combat ability to defeat the pirates, who were much fewer in number,

then Richard was more like a shadowy figure controlling the situation without a sound, seemingly without much effect, and indeed, he did not kill many people, but he always waited until the critical moment of a battle to step in and change the outcome. Like an ant on a balance scale, a small weight was all it took to tilt victory towards one side. That repeated tilting eventually evolved into an advantage for the students.

The situation on the deck was slowly but surely brought under control.

Nancy, who was directing a fire-fighting team to provide support all around, furrowed her brows, puzzled, as she noticed that the situation on the deck was turning around much faster than she had anticipated.

Was she underestimating her own command abilities, or everyone else’s courage?

She thought it over but remained uncertain. Finally, she led her team to charge towards one area to engage in direct combat with the pirates.

At the same time, Richard was stopped by a member of the Red-Eyed Pirates.

Facing the Red-Eyed Pirate blocking his path, Richard’s expression was unfazed, whereas Gro was extremely nervous. Although he had followed Richard and delivered the finishing blows to several pirates, he still could not shake off his fear and couldn’t help but say, “Lord Richard, be… be careful.”

“I will,” Richard replied, his gaze falling on the Red-Eyed Pirate, clearly seeing the various wounds covering the pirate’s body, from which blood continuously seeped out, but the pirate seemed not to care at all.

“Is it fearlessness?” Richard wondered, “Or perhaps… loss of pain sensation?”

“Die!” the Red-Eyed Pirate roared as he charged forward, swinging his curved blade.

“If it’s a loss of pain sensation, then it might be a bit easier to handle,” thought Richard. Watching the Red-Eyed Pirate strike at him with a heavy chop, he remained completely calm, deftly sidestepping the attack, and then, holding a scalpel in his hand, he made a swift cut to the back of the pirate’s left arm, causing blood to rapidly gush out.

The Red-Eyed Pirate’s eyebrows knitted slightly—he did not feel much pain—and turned to swing his blade at Richard again.

Richard did not engage directly and dodged again, this time making a cut on the inside of the pirate’s right arm, from which blood joyously sprang forth.

The Red-Eyed Pirate’s body wavered, his face showing no change in expression, as he charged at Richard a third time. Richard dodged a third time and made a cut on the inside of the pirate’s thigh, from which blood madly poured out.

The pirate stopped, continued to roar, and prepared to attack Richard for a fourth time.

But… there was no fourth time.

“Bang,” the Red-Eyed Pirate suddenly fell, his body by then soaked in blood that had stained all of his clothes red.

During the dodging, Richard had cut three of the pirate’s major arteries—the deep brachial artery on the back of the left arm, the brachial artery on the inside of the right arm, and the femoral artery on the inside of the thigh—draining more than half of the blood in his body. No matter how formidable, the pirate could not withstand it because it wasn’t possible to fight using bones alone; that would not be a man, but a Skeleton Soldier.

Of course, Richard could have chosen to cut the carotid artery in the pirate’s neck to end the fight even quicker. But the neck was, after all, the most guarded part of a human body, which might have triggered the pirate’s vigilance. It was better to bleed the pirate to death quietly like this, which was the best method to deal with someone insensitive to pain.

The loss of pain sensation made the pirates more fearless but also more vulnerable.

Richard watched as the Red-Eyed Pirate fell to the ground, went into shock, and convulsed, shook his head, and then turned his attention to other parts of the deck.