Chapter 1804 (Raw 1816): Too Immersed in Acting
Xiao Chen finally grasped the saying, “The situation is greater than one’s strength.” He now understood how the Iron Hand Yama and the others felt when the Scarlet Blood War Banner was “borrowed.”
There was simply no way to reject Yan Zhe.
“Big Brother Yan, are you really willing to accompany me to the Myriad Star Mountain?”
Xiao Chen’s heart was in a spectacular mess, but none of that showed on his face. He even had a small trace of joy in his tone.
When Yan Zhe saw Xiao Chen’s expression, he simply found it unfathomable. He did not know if Xiao Chen was truly frightened or fully bowled over by him as planned.
However, that did not matter. The Heavenly Dao was not benevolent. The strong reigned supreme.
Yan Zhe was much stronger than Xiao Chen. There was no need to worry about anything. It would be for the best if Xiao Chen was fully bowled over.
That way would save Yan Zhe a lot of trouble. It would suit his style of doing things too.
However, it would also be fine if Xiao Chen had not fully submitted. That earlier scene should have planted a shadow in his heart that would be hard to eliminate.
Xiao Chen would have difficulty mustering the courage to oppose Yan Zhe.
Yan Zhe nodded and said, “Let’s go, then. I never fight a battle that I am not confident of. Since I have decided to go, I need to plan this properly with you all.”
“Great.”
Xiao Chen led Yan Zhe, as well as Elder Tang, the Iron Hand Yama, and Xiao Suo, into the Black Cutlass’s reception room.
“Little Brother Xiao Chen, how did you plan to go to Myriad Star Mountain previously?” Yan Zhe asked when he took a seat.
Xiao Chen answered honestly, “There are no plans. There is still about half a year before the mysterious phenomenon will happen over the Myriad Star Mountain. We plan to wait until then and play it by ear, to see if we can mingle then and take advantage of the chaos to find the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s treasure.”
Yan Zhe continued asking, “After that?”
“Naturally, we will leave,” Elder Tang said directly without thinking.
Yan Zhe smiled and countered, “How can that be possible? The Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s treasure will definitely cause a huge commotion. How could it be so easy to leave? The leaders of the three Demonic Dao sects are all Holy Light Stage experts. Just one of them would be enough to take all your lives.”
“This…” Elder Tang was immediately rendered speechless, at a loss as to how to answer.
“Don’t worry. Since I am here, I definitely will deal with the Holy Light Stage experts. However, I have a request: at that time, you will have to listen to me, no matter what it is. Even if there is a sea of fire, if I say jump, you jump.”
The moment these offensive words came out, Elder Tang’s and the Iron Hand Yama’s expressions changed somewhat.
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “It’s fine. Big Brother Yan was just making an example. That is not a problem. I trust Big Brother Yan. At that time, we will definitely listen to Big Brother Yan.”
“Haha! Little Brother Xiao Chen understands me. Come, have a drink.”
Yan Zhe raised his wine cup and gently clinked it with Xiao Chen’s, then drained it in one go.
After putting down the wine cup, Yan Zhe looked at Xiao Chen and said, “Now, there is only the problem of how to split the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s treasure—”
Xiao Chen interrupted, “That is not a problem. We do not expect much. Even if it was just one percent, the harvest would be heaven-defying already.”
“One percent? How can that be possible?!”
Yan Zhe’s expression changed slightly as he interrupted Xiao Chen. This caused everyone’s heart to sink.
He is not willing to give us even one percent?
Yan Zhe did not stop speaking. He continued, “I do not care about the natural treasures in the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s treasure trove. Just share some with the brothers under me. However, if we find the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s inheritance, you have to let me have it.
“I have always been an open and straightforward person, upright and frank. I will just speak my mind. If you all agree to it, I will definitely accomplish what I said. If you do not agree, I can only go far away, leaving this Starlight Sea Region.”
An open and straightforward person, upright and frank?
Up to this point, this description seemed to be true. However, if anyone believed that, then they would be the greatest fool in the world.
Xiao Chen looked at Yan Zhe and asked indifferently, “Can we discuss this among ourselves first before making a decision?”
Yan Zhe smiled and replied, “Not a problem.”
When the sky turned bright, the Iron Horn Pirate Group’s ship appeared amid strong wind and huge waves. Yan Zhe stood up and took his leave, returning to his own pirate ship.
The Iron Horn Pirate Group’s pirate ship seemed to be larger and even stronger than Wei Shaofeng’s.
This planted a shadow in the hearts of the Iron Hand Yama and the others.
Yan Zhe was already terrifyingly strong. With the addition of this pirate ship, it felt like they had no chance of survival.
“Big Brother, why did you not directly agree to his demand? We can just play it by ear when the time comes.” Xiao Suo looked at Xiao Chen, feeling somewhat confused.
Xiao Chen’s expression turned serious as he replied, “Even if it is just an act, I cannot break a promise that I made.”
Right after Xiao Chen said that, he turned around and left silently.
As the Iron Hand Yama and Elder Tang looked at Xiao Chen’s back, they both had a feeling of loneliness and helplessness at the same time.
—
Inside the captain’s quarters, Xiao Chen took out a bottle of Thousand Year Flame and drank alone.
He showed a smile but could not get rid of the worry on his face. Such an expression would appear only when there was no one around.
Yan Zhe was stronger than expected.
According to Xiao Chen’s original plan, even though Yan Zhe was a peak late-stage Star Venerate, Xiao Chen would have sufficient trump cards to oppose him.
Adding the Demon Blood Vulture and the Yazi Beast Demon Soul to Xiao Chen’s strength, he could fight Yan Zhe.
However, the other party suddenly broke through to the Holy Light Stage. Things were different now.
Xiao Chen needed to obtain the Scarlet Blood Pirate King’s inheritance. Otherwise, how could he be qualified to go to the Divine Dragon Empire and meet Liu Ruyue?
As Xiao Chen looked at the Thousand Year Flame, it was hard to avoid thinking about the Kunlun Realm.
Only now did Xiao Chen realize that having a Big Brother Ying in the Kunlun Realm to protect him had truly been a fortunate thing.
Many of those old monsters had not dared to suddenly appear and bully the weak.
Now that Xiao Chen was in the Great Thousand Realms, a random Yan Zhe already made him feel very helpless.
It was not that Xiao Chen did not work hard or did not improve fast enough.
It was that Xiao Chen had spent too little time in the Great Thousand Realms. There was no way to compete with these people.
Mo Chen’s face appeared in Xiao Chen’s mind, and he could not help laughing. If you were here, you would be able to think of something.
It was not time to give up yet. Xiao Chen thought about when Mo Chen was alone in the Cloud Sea Domain. Her situation then was much worse than what he faced now.
The heavy burden of the vast Mo Clan had rested on her shoulders.
Now, it was just the weight of one ship on Xiao Chen’s shoulders. How could this defeat him?
No one in the world is invincible. There must be a way.
Xiao Chen closed his eyes and thought about countermeasures. After a long time, he opened his eyes, and they flashed with light.
Something had occurred to him.
If Yan Zhe was truly that horrifyingly strong, back when Wei Shaofeng told him to scram, Yan Zhe would not have needed to play any tricks.
However, Yan Zhe pretended to leave first, then suddenly attacked.
It actually was not surprising that he managed to kill everyone on the entire ship.
That’s right. That must be the case.
Yan Zhe had just advanced to the Holy Light Stage and had not had enough time to stabilize his strength, so he chose to end the fight right away.
The reason Yan Zhe had quickly killed off the entire crew was mainly his fear of the fight dragging out.
Yan Zhe was afraid that the weakness of his unstable foundations would be exposed, so he had used his full power from the start, not holding back in every move.
The earlier massacre was far from being as easy as it looked.
Back in the Grave Sea, Ye Zifeng, Xiao Chen’s Big Brother Ye, was also a Holy Venerate.
However, this Yan Zhe felt significantly weaker than Ye Zifeng.
The truly terrifying part was still Yan Zhe’s schemes and decisiveness in killing.
That line of his—I do not bully others; I will only kill you—made Xiao Chen afraid even now.
After a while, Xiao Chen suddenly started laughing. “What a fellow! To think that you put on another act before me! You nearly managed to deceive me.”
—
Yan Zhe landed on the Iron Horn Pirate Group’s ship and immediately paled significantly. Sweat poured down his forehead in a continuous stream.
However, Yan Zhe could not hide the joy on his face.
“Big Brother, what’s wrong with you?”
Seeing Yan Zhe’s weakened appearance, the upper echelon of the Iron Horn Pirate Group was greatly startled.
Smiling, Yan Zhe waved his hand. “I’m fine. I just drained my Veritable Essence Energy and Soul Energy, so I’m slightly weakened. I should be able to recover completely after resting for a few days.”
“How could that have happened? Don’t tell me that Xiao Chen’s crew made Big Brother go all-out.”
Yan Zhe shook his head and said indifferently, “Naturally not. I just killed everyone on Wei Shaofeng’s ship.”
“Ah!” This greatly startled the others. The Silver Fox Pirate Group was very well known for its fighting prowess.
To think that their big brother killed the Silver Fox’s son and even destroyed an entire ship.
“In light of the big picture, one needs to compromise.”
Surging confidence flashed in Yan Zhe’s eyes. He said coldly, “You all underestimate the strength of Xiao Chen and his ship. If I were to face their ship alone, my victory would be even more miserable than now. I used the smallest price to convince that ship. It is all worth it.”
Life was like a show. However, getting too immersed in acting really was not a good thing.
