Baro saw through Half Ear’s thoughts and had previously imitated the code sound from Birch’s meeting with Little Flea, tricking Half Ear.
This time, naturally, he exploited the other’s mindset.
"So, my meetings with Little Flea probably have been noticed by Half Ear?" Birch said, surprised and doubtful.
"He merely has suspicions, but Half Ear hasn’t discovered Little Flea’s identity. Plus, I’ll help you divert him, so there’s no need to worry for now. If you are really worried, next time when you meet Little Flea, just change the code again."
Of course, Birch trusted the captain’s words, but...
"Does the captain mean, when I meet with Little Flea, you’ve also come along?"
Baro’s eyes wandered, "Only occasionally, occasionally."
"Occasionally?"
"Oh, I’m merely assessing the strength on Master Man’s side, besides, I’ve helped you distract Half Ear. Why bother with these details? Moreover, I didn’t know about Little Flea talking about women with you this time, doesn’t it indicate I don’t always eavesdrop."
Birch glared at Baro angrily; he always thought Captain Baro acted aboveboard, but didn’t expect him to be like this in secret!
Baro smacked Birch on the head, "Hey, it’s for the greater plan, not just for taking over Dock 1 in the future; I’m also secretly assessing Little Flea."
Although Little Flea was indeed from the Broken Blood, he hadn’t seen Birch for several years. Human minds change; Baro trusted Birch, but didn’t necessarily trust Little Flea. Thus, Baro followed Birch, partly to observe Little Flea.
Previously, he felt embarrassed to say it in front of Birch, but now under Birch’s pressing, Baro unveiled the truth.
Birch wasn’t stupid, he understood Baro’s meaning; yet his heart was still somewhat uneasy.
"Don’t let your mind wander now, we are in enemy territory, if anything goes wrong even slightly, when we return, I’ll hang you from the ship’s bow for three to five days; you won’t come down."
Baro’s words jolted Birch back to reality, considering they were in the enemy’s lair, any mistake could be fatal.
Filled with a heavy sense of crisis, Birch became much more alert than before.
The pigsty was not far from the rear hatch, merely a hundred meters or so.
Led by Baro, who was utterly familiar with the operations, they walked on solid ground not likely to make noise, occasionally slipping into the shadows to avoid potential glances cast in their direction.
After approximately two minutes, they reached the pigsty.
The pigsty was a square area surrounded by gates; inside were several barn-like partitions. From outside the gates, they could clearly see, in the hay-and-large-leaves piled bedding of the partitions, several women were housed.
These women were dressed in extremely revealing clothing, their hands shackled with chains, their entire bodies filthy, with a rancid odor of sheep and mold permeating the air.
Their eyes were dim and lifeless, and they resembled wax figures, even when insects crawled over them, they didn’t have the motivation to brush them off.
Like "pigs" that have lost the ability to think.
And indeed, they were treated as pigs by Renko’s men.
That’s why this place is called a pigsty.
It was clearly Birch’s first time seeing such a scene, and his eyes were filled with shock. Although he had heard some general idea of the pigsty from Little Flea, he always thought the pigsty was similar to the streetwalking women on Sidero Island, whose status was only slightly above that of slaves.
For this reason, Birch had always thought that taking women was a normal thing. After all, they were just women selling their bodies, living the same life in a different place on this godforsaken island.
But he didn’t expect that the women in the pigsty were so... unlike people. Even more debased than the slaves on Sidero Island. Because, at least on Sidero Island, there was still a Slave Law, stating that slaves still had the right to choose their burial method, affirming that they were, indeed, humans.
"They... they..." Birch’s throat blocked the many words, but he couldn’t speak them.
Baro, with his rich life experience, understood Birch’s current thoughts, and gently patted Birch’s shoulder: "Now you understand Renko’s importance, don’t you?"
"I..." Birch didn’t know what to say and followed silently behind Baro.
Baro was used to the ways of pirates, since pirates like the Queen were rare on this sea. The vast majority of pirates behaved like Renko.
Once, he retired and went straight because he couldn’t stand the way of the pirates.
Of course, a bigger reason was that the Queen, his spiritual pillar... disappeared.
Baro shook his head, throwing away these irrelevant thoughts: "Do you know where that woman who drifted in, the one Little Flea mentioned, is?"
Birch shook his head: "I don’t know either, but she must be here in the pig... in here."
"Alright then, let’s look for her, be careful."
Baro and Birch walked along the fence, peering inside.
The women inside all appeared very numb, even if they saw someone outside, they still made no sound. So, Baro and Birch didn’t have to worry about being discovered.
But they couldn’t be completely at ease, because clearly there were people inside some of the closed-curtain compartments, with certain discordant sounds coming through, probably from the scar-faced man from earlier. For these compartments, they were relatively careful to avoid being discovered, but generally, the people on top had much lower vigilance, so the threat wasn’t that great.
Walking past each compartment, Birch asked in confusion: "Renko has so many women, but our Moonlight Mapbird only has a few, and most are older..."
"Taken by force," Baro said casually.
"Taken by force?" Birch muttered: "They are truly pirates."
Soon, they finished a round, but saw none of the rumored "beautiful women."
"Could she not be here?" Birch wondered: "But that’s not right, Little Flea said Renko brought her to the pig... here?"
Although the pigsty was quite large, one could see it all at a glance, as they went around and saw no sign of the new woman.
Confused, Baro’s gaze went to a certain compartment: "That closed-curtain compartment over there, seems like there hasn’t been a sound?"
Generally, a closed-curtain compartment meant some harmonious activity was going on inside.
To avoid being discovered, they didn’t check these closed-curtain compartments. But since they had searched all around and found no one, it was very likely the person was in one of the compartments.