"No! Absolutely not!"

Charles slapped the table and stood up, and was immediately pressed back to his original position by William.

The girl sitting between the two of them was crossing her arms and staring at the two arguing royal navy angrily. The guy she was carrying was raided and now she was spread flat on the table in front of her.

"We'd better report to the ship officer while the basket hasn't been stabbed yet." Charles looked at the girl and William, "You can't hide such a big living person!"

"What's your name?" William ignored his friend who was eager to be an ant on the hot pan and turned to stare at the prisoner with an angry look on his face. He picked up a metal pendant from the middle of the spoils seized on the table, and the bloodstone roses were inlaid in the center of the cross.

"Xiaochun."

The girl spat out a brief answer without hesitation. She raised her eyes and glanced at the pendant in William's hand, and soon turned her eyes away.

William keenly captured her subtle move, "Where did you get this?" He looked at the girl of unknown origin closely, as if he wanted to read more hidden information from her face.

This girl is a mixed-race girl with dark hair, a typical small round nose of an Oriental, as well as deep eyebrows and gray-blue iris. Judging from her appearance, she should be the same age as him, but Orientals are actually much older than they look.

While William looked at her, she was also looking at him. "'Free Country,'" she said, "Captain Messon's territory."

William raised his eyebrows. Before leaving the voyage, the Navy Department had known that the pirates active in the Indian Ocean established a stronghold in Madagascar called the "Free Country" and made special notes on this section to remind the three escort ships to be particularly vigilant.

"Pirate's Nest," William pondered and rubbed the pendant in his palm, "How did you go there, what do you do?"

"I was sold to Batavia, but later I slipped to the Dutch merchant ship to escape, but the merchant ship was robbed by pirates halfway, so I went to Madagascar with them." Xiaochun said nothing, "I don't want to stay in the pirate's nest all my life, so I slept on the pirate ship again. I ran to another Dutch boat while they were robbing. I didn't expect the Dutch to fight you."

"Depending on your gun drawing, you're quite sophisticated." William quietly exposes it, "Who can sell you?" He didn't delve into it, and added lightly: "You took a pendant in the pirate's nest... Why don't you pick some valuable things?"

"What are you talking nonsense?" Xiaochun glared at him, "It's my friend's thing!"

"She's a thief!" Charles shouted, "Don't believe her!"

"You are the thieves!" The girl was not willing to be outdone and argued fiercely, "You have stole cotton, spices, labor and wealth that should belong to us from the East!"

William raised his hand to stop the two of them from quarreling. He did not want to make any noise to attract the inspector, even though most of them were probably busy cleaning up the mess after the melee.

"The friend you mentioned - who is he?" Could it be Arthur? William was not sure. But he was sure that this pendant indeed belonged to Arthur, and the abbreviation of A.T behind the cross further confirmed his views.

Xiaochun was still immersed in the anger of arguing with Charles, and turned her head and refused to answer.

The sound of leather boots treading on the ground suddenly rang outside the door, and someone knocked heavily, and the entire door frame was shocked.

"Open the door!" It was Lao Qiao. At this time, William and Charles looked at each other and read out the expressions in each other's eyes. Charles was afraid and a little joyful, while William was completely anxious and desperate.

The door was still clanging. "Boys, come out to work! Don't think about huddling in the house and lingering over!"

Xiaochun saw the opportunity of the two people's attention being diverted and rushed to the table, and reached out to grab the two pistols that were spread out horizontally. Charles was close to her and immediately took action after seeing her moves, sweeping one of the pistols out, but she still succeeded one.

William turned around and grabbed the girl's wrist holding the gun, and controlled her firmly to prevent the gun from being aimed at him or Charles. The hand that Xiaochun had freed immediately reached out to scratch his face. Fortunately, Charles rushed forward and grabbed it, so William was spared from being disfigured.

The two royal navy inside the house are fighting with female bandits of unknown origin, and Lao Qiao's patience outside the house is also overdrawn to the limit.

"Open the door right away! I'll count to three!" he shouted irritably, "When I take it myself, you will have good fruits to eat!"

Unexpectedly, this thin-looking girl had a brute force, and William and Charles almost couldn't stand it. They had been in a stalemate for several rounds, and the three of them had a blushing face.

Lao Qiao had already counted three times and began to hit the door. The poor thin wooden door loosened and shook at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was only a matter of time before Lao Qiao broke into the door.

"If you don't want to be hanged as a pirate, just calm down!" William gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice, "You can survive by hiding it, you're done when you're found out!"

Xiaochun ignored his words at all, turned his head and opened his mouth and bit his arm. William had no time to shrink his hand, so he nipped her on his forearm and screamed in pain.

With his terrible cry, the girl finally broke free from one hand and slapped the gun on William's head. William raised his arms to resist, and waited for an opportunity to grab the barrel with both hands to try to seize the gun.
Chapter completed!