Chapter 78: JACOBS POV.

My head raised upwards, my eyes widening momentarily when I saw a figure.

Someone was sliding down the massive chain that attached our ship to the huge pirate vessel. They moved with incredible speed, balancing on the links as if it were a flat road.

THUD.

With effortless grace, that same figure slid off the large binding and leaped into the air.

They soared through the sky for a moment before landing perfectly on the deck right in front of me. The wood groaned under the weight of the landing, but the person didn’t even stumble.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. I had seen a lot of strange things since I arrived in this world, but this was new.

Standing before me was a woman, but she wasn’t entirely human. She resembled a humanoid tigress. She was tall and muscular, covered in luscious white fur with dark stripes that curved around her arms and face.

She had sharp, golden eyes that seemed to glow with intelligence and mischief. Her ears were pointed and sat on top of her head, twitching as she looked at me.

She was dressed in sublime attire fitting of a legendary pirate.

She wore a long, open coat with gold trim, a high-collared shirt that showed off her strength, and leather boots that went up to her knees.

A large sword was strapped to her hip, the handle decorated with jewels. She looked powerful, beautiful, and completely dangerous.

The freed captives all backed away, giving her plenty of space. Even Dinklehimer looked a bit nervous, stepping slightly behind me.

This was my first time seeing a beast folk in person. Back in the world I came from, you only saw things like this in movies or comic books.

But here, she was standing right in front of me, Unlike demi-humans, who mostly looked like regular people but with extra bits like animal ears or a tail, beast folk were different.

They resembled humanoid versions of beasts. They were covered in fur, had the faces of animals, and possessed a wild strength that you could feel just by being near them.

Her size was much greater than mine. She stood about a head taller than me, which meant she didn’t have to do much to make me feel small. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It allowed her cold, distant eyes to look down on me with ease, as if she were deciding whether I was worth talking to or if she should just toss me into the ocean.

"You’re supposed to be the one who took down Darlington’s little tug boat?" she said.

Her voice was like a low growl that vibrated in her chest, making the wooden deck beneath my feet feel like it was shaking.

By Darlington, I believed she must’ve been referring to the former captain of the ship I was currently on, the guy I had punched off the balcony and into the sea.

To her, this ship was just a "tug boat," which made sense considering the massive fortress of a ship she had parked right in front of us.

"What’s it to you..." I said in a low tone. I didn’t back away. I kept my feet planted and my shoulders square. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by someone just because they had fur and sharp teeth.

The woman smelled of nothing but trouble.

It wasn’t just her size or her weapons; it was the way she carried herself.

She had a natural air of superiority that came from years of being the biggest predator in the room.

Especially those cold eyes of hers.

Just what I needed, I thought to myself.

Another bossy woman to get in my way. First Persephone, then Artria, and now this tigress pirate.

It seemed like the universe was determined to keep me under the thumb of powerful women.

I was getting pretty tired of it.

The pirate captain’s eyes widened momentarily.

She was clearly taken aback by my fearless reply.

Most people probably shook in their boots when she looked at them, but I had faced a sea witch who could control the weather. A big cat in a pirate hat wasn’t enough to make me crawl.

Dinklehimer, on the other hand, looked pale with fright. I could hear his teeth chattering from where I stood.

Even the other men on my boat were alarmed by my reaction. They were probably thinking that I was going to get them all killed by being disrespectful to a legendary pirate.

They huddled together, whispering and looking at the floor, trying to make themselves look as non-threatening as possible.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t going to play along. If you didn’t make it clear to people like this from the very beginning where you stood, they’d just end up walking all over you.

That was something I had learned the hard way, and it was something I wouldn’t let happen to me ever again. I was done being a servant, a slave, or a pet.

If she wanted to talk to me, she was going to have to do it like an equal, or not at all.

"Quite the bravado you’ve got for a young lad," she said, her voice dropping an octave. "Didn’t your mother ever teach you to be kind to your elders?"

She began leaning in closer, her large, striped face moving into my personal space.

At the same time, I felt a faint pressure suddenly bearing down on me. It wasn’t physical, but it felt like the air was getting heavier, pushing against my chest and making it harder to breathe.

AN: Sorry for the late update everyone, I had one of my exams postponed continuously until today, honestly I’m really tired since they kept making my department wait over and over again because of it, being the last batch really sucks more than you know. But like always, I won’t let that stop me, which is why even now, you guys still get a bonus Chapter.