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Chapter 23: The Countdown I

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Yovan could only stay on his knees, yet the fire in his eyes still burned brightly to the point it almost overwhelmed the still living pirates with fear... It was the fire of survival and necessity. 

"Le... Han*Cough* Hand him his stuff back!" The Captain did his best to give a few last orders. He could see it clearer than ever. This monster still had fire in his eyes. 

The Captain could see a future where the remaining of his crew would lie dead on the floor if this were to continue.

The pirates didn't hesitate at all as they stumbled their steps to get the stuff they confiscated from him, all out of fear for their lives.

Yovan was acting like a wild dog, almost like he was gonna jump at them at any moment. They were so afraid that they place the bag a bit far from him before backing away.

He did the same, remaining very cautious as he picked the stuff, and only then did he order, "A boat... I want a boat."

Most pirate ships or most ships in general had jolly boats tackled on each end. 

Jolly boats were used for transporting people and goods to and from shore, for carrying out inspections of the ship, or other small tasks and duties that required only a small number of people, and did not need the use of the larger boats.

And Yovan found himself on one, his eyes wide. He never stopped tracking the pirate ship sailing away into the distance.

His eyes were red. He was bleeding profusely from nearly every part of his body. His skin was red, but not only from blood. No, it was burning like hell.

The only thing stopping him from screaming was biting tightly on a piece of cloth to the point he felt his teeth breaking. 

He had to stay awake not only because the pirates could come back for him, but also because the ocean was very dangerous, and he might have to fly up at any moment.

Yovan has absolutely no idea how he wasn't crying his heart out right now. Well, he can assume it's his willpower and the effects of limitless. 

He can only imagine the shitty state he would've been in without Limitless... He would be dead. That's very much expected in a world of piracy. The world of sea is very unkind to its visitors.

It was very dark, and Yovan made sure to remain silent. He more than most knows the dangers of the sea. His left arm was taken by a sea king after all.

Yovan didn't care for time. He just stayed there, almost entirely frozen in his place, focusing on one of his earrings, a fight to stay conscious. The moon earring was his sole focus, giving him the willpower to survive.

The earring was placed on one of the boat's planks because Yovan's arm was very busy puddling away, moving in the exact opposite direction of the pirate ship.

His motion was very robotic, doing the exact same thing for hours with force he isn't supposed to have, only stopping when the boat reached land.

Yovan crept out of the boat with his bag tied to him. He did his best to stand up as his only hand clutched the boat's tip.

It was like he was creating energy out of nothing as he pulled the boat with him into the forest. Once he got deep enough, he turned the boat over and settled right beneath it.

And that would be his home for days to come as he passed out beneath it. The boat did well enough to hide his smell, especially that of blood from the predators moving about.

In the meantime, Francis was living life. Taking over the Mafia family was easy enough, using all of its luxuries was hard though because of how rich he became.

That's a significant reason why the Mafia families never disbanded despite Capone Bege's actions. There will always be someone who takes the lead, all for the riches that position entails.

Moreover, the shadow over his head was nowhere to be seen. Yovan had vanished, and Francis very much hoped he died though he wasn't relying on that.

Yovan, in his mind, was a monster like Capone Bege, so he didn't have many expectations. His fear of the monster was why he obediently complied and went along with his plan.

And he was very happy he did... Except for what Yovan might want next. That's the most worrying thing to him.

So Francis worked hard to make Yovan happy, starting by executing the next phase of the plan, eliminating all of the Mafia members who saw Yovan's face, specifically those that took him to the hole.

No one else got a good look at Yovan, so the job was easily executed. Just sent them to their death and it shall happen one way or another.

Luckily for him, it took Yovan more than a week to come back to the town, the base of the Mafia family. They live there. They work there, so there were plenty of people on its streets.

Yovan walked by those same streets, stumbling his steps in a place he really shouldn't be. The people around also knew he shouldn't be there, but no one stopped him.

Before them was a beast, a beast of numerous cuts, literally. His entire person was painted with blood. His hair was crimson and solid, all because the blood was congealed on it.

His wounds were like deep caverns. No normal human being should be able to move in such a horrifying state. There were horrifying injuries on the left side of his neck, his back, arm, chest, and legs. Somehow, only his face survived any harm, but even it was bloody.

His steps led him right into the core base of the Mafia, the headquarters. He didn't have to knock or say anything, Francis was waiting there for him.

It took him a while to stumble his way there, and the word reached Francis' ears very quickly, thus why he was nervously waiting for him before the front door.

"Shadow?" Francis ignored Yovan's state for now which only deepened his fear. Instead, he followed along with the plan.

All Yovan had to do was to nod, yet that simple gesture irked a chill in the spine of many around, and there were a lot of Mafias surrounding them, some curious, some fearful.

"Your... Did you succeed?" Francis asked with a gulp, looking hopeful.

"No... He escaped." Yovan answered in a cold tone.

"This is a bounty hunter I hired to hunt that monster... He's like him," Francis explained while releasing a sigh, "Unfortunately... He'll act as a bodyguard for now, so prepare a room and anything he might need."

If anyone had any doubts, they didn't voice them. Instead, Yovan was guided to clean himself up by Francis himself.

He got naked without a word and submerged himself in a circular wooden bath, the water within quickly turning red as a result. Yovan was truly a smelly mess as expected to the point Francis could barely keep his face straight.

Francis stayed to talk business or hear if Yovan had anything to say. The latter, however, allowed himself to doze off for a while, just relaxing in the foreign warm embrace of water. 

It was a wonderfully cozy feeling, one he gets every time he goes to the woods for an adventure, but it has never been stronger than now.

Soon Yovan gave himself a piece of cloth and crunched tightly on it before starting to truly clean himself up, getting rid of all of the solidified blood all over his body.

"AGhhhh..... hhhAG... Aghhh..." And that continued for a while longer to the point Francis had to turn around because he couldn't watch the brutal scene anymore.

Only when that was done did he change the bath water, and relax in hot clean water.

"W-what happened?" Francis finally got the courage to ask.

"Just some annoyances," He obviously didn't fight Capone. That was merely the story he planned out along with Francis, all for survival despite his actions expressing otherwise, "Did you prepare everything?"

"Yess!!" It was almost like Francis jumped on the first opportunity to speak the good news, "The Map is ready. The other things will be here in less than a week."

He hoped the news would make Yovan happy, but it didn't change his expression at all. It was still grumpy, quite an understandable emotion considering the pain he's in at the moment.

Yovan didn't sleep that night. It was all spent in contemplation not only because he had a lot to think about, but also because he had yet to trust Francis enough... Only about two months left until the countdown ends.