I quickly thought of a countermeasure. Through the gap in the door, I noticed a sailor named Henry was not too far from my cabin. I knocked lightly on my door to try to attract Henry’s attention. That way, I could secretly tell him about the horrific revelation, and he could alert the military personnel on board. But I had to be discreet. The outcome would be unimaginable if the pirates found out. “Henry, Henry, could you come here for a bit?” I beckoned him softly. As I did that, I was simultaneously observing the movements of the pirates in hopes that they didn’t notice anything unusual. “Miss Linda?” Henry heard my voice and walked closer with a puzzled expression. Right then, I saw the elderly man with a bent back suddenly straighten his spine and throw something he was holding onto the floor. In an instant, white smoke rose from the floor, and the people on deck were no longer visible. A pungent scent flooded my nostrils, and Dicken flung me onto the bed in a swift

I took a deep breath and gathered my courage before opening the cabin door. The moment I opened the door, a thought surfaced in my mind—Dicken will come to my aid. Although I was abhorrent to everything Dicken had done to me and how he had almost destroyed my career as a researcher, I believed that he wouldn’t leave me behind for some unknown reason. “What a hot woman! Now raise both your arms and behave!” A rough and muscular man was standing in front of me. He was wearing a worn-out hat. He looked at me with a deceitful and disgusting smirk.He then aimed the opening of the gun barrel at my head. Nobody would be calm at a time like this. So, unsurprisingly, the shirt on my back was already drenched in sweat. I obediently raised my arms to show that I had no intention of rebelling against them. I carefully walked out of the cabin and composed myself as I said, “Calm down, I’m just a defenseless woman.” The pirates on deck who pretended to be survivors had now done away

I held onto one of the sailor’s legs and dragged him under the eaves. That way, he would be further away from the gunfire. Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone wailing, “Miss Linda! Please help me! I’m having a heart attack! I feel like I’m about to die…”I recognized that voice to be Henry’s. I hurriedly looked for his figure among the group of sailors. I found him curled up with a painful expression on his face. “Wait for me!” I got to him immediately and dragged him under the eaves the same way I dragged the other sailor. I intended to do CPR on him, but the moment I pressed my hands onto his chest, a cold and metallic gun barrel was placed below my chin. Henry’s face, which was originally twisted in pain and agony, was now malicious as if his behavior of being in pain earlier was all an act. I was dumbfounded. Henry’s hands were not tied. He had been disguising himself all along because he was a spy for the pirates. ‘What is going on?’ ‘Henry was the sailor who had

Gary and Laura needed Dicken and me to remain alive. The group of pirates didn’t seem like they were just trying to rob us, else they wouldn’t have got Henry to spy on Gary and me for so long. At the very least, Dicken and I were left alive. As long as we were alive, there would be a chance to escape. The pain and blood loss drained me unconscious. All I could feel was Henry still clutching to my body near the edge of the deck.As for the pirate ship, it had inched closer until it was just mere meters away from us. The pirates on the ship placed a small bridge made of steel between the decks of both vessels. Our boat trembled, and seawater splashed from the area of impact. I heard the sound of chains approaching closer from behind me, followed by the metallic scent of blood flooding my nostrils. I turned my head as much as I could to take a look. Unfortunately, as my eyesight was blurred from the pain I was enduring, I could only faintly see several pirates tugging the chains

Very quickly, the healing properties of Dicken’s saliva started to take effect. The extreme pain began to dissipate, and a tingling and ticklish feeling replaced it as the wound healed. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Rather, it was quite enjoyable. Just like that, my body eventually relaxed, and my eyelids started to feel heavy as sleepiness took over my mind. Dicken rocked my body rhythmically as if I was a baby being rocked to sleep. Before long, I fell asleep peacefully with my arms around Dicken’s neck. When I finally woke up from my slumber, I felt like I had been sleeping for a long time. For a moment, I thought I was in a dream because I had regained my strength and vigor. The several hours of sleep felt like I had rested for days, all thanks to Dicken’s mysterious healing powers. Dicken’s head was buried into my abdomen as he was still healing me. I looked down and saw his long eyelashes partially concealing his breathtaking eyes not forgetting his high nose bridge and his ch