Zhen Jin protected the giant and didn’t harm his credibility with the people.
Perhaps they did not understand him somewhat, but they still adored and respected Zhen Jin.
Zhen Jin was a divine scion knight, a templar knight, the heir to the Bai Zhen Clan, the future Lord of White Sands City, and had the strongest battle strength. He also had close followers around him and his strongest competitor, Zong Ge, deferred to his judgement.
As Zhen Jin expressed his sympathies to the wounded, he received many thankful words.
The people loathed and were wary of the giant, not Zhen Jin. In fact, without Zhen Jin knocking out the giant, they would have been in more danger.
It was Zhen Jin who had saved them.
If the giant was an unpardonable murderer, perhaps some of them would demand an explanation from Zhen Jin——was this the fairness of a templar knight?
However, the giant had an illness. This illness had been around for a long time and was not concealed by the boat craftsman.
Despite everyone’s mentality being this way, after expressing his sympathies, Zhen Jin still privately ordered Xi Suo to plan some interactions between the sailors and the wounded and provide an introduction to sailing.
“Speaking of which, it is reasonable to treat madness as a warning.” Zhen Jin indicated to Xi Suo, “But I will not lie to you, this will instead lead to weak points and mistakes. Make the sailors, who have interacted with the giant for a long time, tell the truth.”
“I understand my Lord, I guarantee I can accomplish this task!”
Xi Suo was very inspired. Speaking of which, he had been recruited by Zhen Jin a while back, but never had a chance to perform.
He did not have Zong Ge’s battle strength, the loyalty of Lan Zao or Bai Ya, nor did he have Cang Xu’s knowledge or Zi Di’s medicinal skill.
Xi Suo’s heart was under immense pressure. He wanted to stand out, however the people around him covered him up.
For the first time, Zhen Jin arranged an assignment for Xi Suo.
“This work is personal!” Xi Suo was excited, he faintly felt he had found an opportunity for advancement.
“Right, I may have to do some personal and dirty work for his Lordship. Why didn’t I expect that beforehand?”
“Even though his Lordship is a templar knight, who scrupulously abides by his knightly path and has light in his heart, there will always be some inconveniences he needs to deal with, such as this matter.”
To most people, the giant’s symptoms were a vile event that ruined things. But as far as Xi Suo was concerned, this was an opportunity.
“This is a good thing; it can deepen my impression on Lord Zhen Jin. I must manage this matter well!” Xi Suo’s ego was impassioned, and he moved vigorously.
In the meantime, after the giant interrupted the two, Zhen Jin found it increasingly hard to tell Zi Di his secret.
The days seemed to go back to how they were, every night he would train hard, he would sleep a few hours in the morning, then he would purge beast groups in the afternoon.
Each successful hunt and return with quarry continued to strengthen his authority and status.
He constantly reminded everyone that he was a formidable leader, putting an end to any dissenting thoughts.
At the same time, he also quietly raised his vigilance, after all according to some, the giant’s symptoms were a warning sign.
But after some time, nothing disastrous happened.
After every dinner, Zhen Jin would visit the wounded and occasionally bring medicine.
The medicine Zi Di made was personally provided by Zhen Jin.
The act of providing medicine seemed minute, however it actually had a deep meaning.
The wounded all urgently needed medicine, and in the entire camp, it seemed Zhen Jin was the only one who could provide some. According to the Eastern Empire, this was called sending charcoal in snowy weather, or providing necessities for people.
The small potions provided by Zhen Jin displayed more than their innate value.
However, without the giant, shipbuilding slowed down a lot.
It was just as Cang Xu said, the giant played a critical role in the work.
After almost a week, Zhen Jin returned to the grass shack and consulted with the boat craftsman about having the giant return to work.
The boat craftsman did not hesitate, he agreed on the spot.
Because over the past few days, he clearly saw Zhen Jin continual expressions of sympathy had eliminated the grief and indignation of the wounded. The actions of Xi Suo and a string of sailors behind the scenes also contained Zhen Jin’s influence.
“My Lord, you are a wise leader.” At this moment, the boat craftsman served Zhen Jin with his heart.
Previously, when he woke up in the forest camp and heard Zhen Jin had accepted Zong Ge, Tripleblade, and their people, he was worried, I believed Zhen Jin was too young.
During their journey, the boat craftsman revised his point of view on Zhen Jin.
Now, the boat craftsman thoroughly realized: the knight before him, even if he was a youngster, was not a simple believer. He upheld his knightly principles, but at the same time, he was not unashamed of his noble identity and bloodline——he had profound tactics and strategies.
“Tomorrow you will continue, work well. When the others scold you, what will you do?” The boat craftsman asked the giant in front of Zhen Jin.
“Act like I can’t hear them.” The giant replied.
“If they hit you?” The boat craftsman asked.
“If it does not hurt me, such as a rock throw at me, I will not shout. If it does hurt, I will shout. If someone harms and makes me bleed, I will shout for father.” The giant replied fluently.
The boat craftsman gave a satisfied nod, he turned his head and guaranteed Zhen Jin: “My Lord, the giant is ready. He really isn’t stupid; he understands how to respond. This is all the same old stuff I have previously taken care of; you can be at ease!”
Zhen Jin gazed at the giant in the grass shack.
The latter obviously had a huge physique, however at this moment, he was curled up in a ball on his grass bed.
These past few days, the boat craftsman had been hammering in his teachings.
At the same time, Zhen Jin also speculated, as the giant lived on the Hog’s Kiss, he had to endure rejection and hate. He frequently received insults and even beatings. Most sailors had violent temperaments, and the giant was definitely a target to throw stuff at.
If the giant was not in pain, he would not speak.
He only had two weapons to resist.
One was shouting.
One was calling out for his father……
The curled up giant looked the same, yellow teeth and an ugly appearance. If one looked carefully, they would see he had a big body, a small head, and other deformities. It seemed living on the boat gave him a habit of lowering his head. It seemed he feared Zhen Jin as he looked away and appeared constrained.
On the basis of this external appearance, the giant was unliked and even attracted disgust.
This was human nature.
But now, as Zhen Jin heard and saw these things, his heart was momentarily in a complex mood.
He was very uncomfortable.
Besides pity and other things, there was something blocking his words and thoughts. He wanted to express it but couldn’t.
It made him flustered.
For the next several days, Zhen Jin paid close attention to the giant.
No accidents occurred.
The giant restrained himself and actively made way for others, whenever someone approached him, he would quickly withdraw to a corner.
Some people found his giant curled up body funny. Many could not help but laugh and gradually relax their minds.
But Zhen Jin did not smile when watching these things.
His heart instead grew heavier.
The boat craftsman’s repeated warnings seemed to make the giant work harder.
With the giant’s participation, ship building progressed by leaps and bounds.
One day, the weather was sunny and cloudless.
Almost everyone gathered in the ravine clearing, they had important work to do.
“Right, do that, slow down a bit, put it in that hole, the mast must be inserted here.” The boat craftsman managed.
“You must slow down a bit.” The boat craftsman warned, he did not feel reassured.
Under his father’s warnings, the giant looked extremely serious. He prudently placed the mast into a small hole in the keel.
“Very good!” The boat craftsman praised happily.
All of the masts were fastened into the keel, doing this made the masts as stable as possible. If the masts were simply placed on the deck, after the sails opened, the wind would break them and endanger the entire ship.
The first mast was inserted properly, according to the boat craftsman, this was the fore mast.
“Good, next is the mizzen mast. Eh?” The boat craftsman looked up, he discovered the giant was weirdly silent, this was very abnormal.
The giant had lowered his head and put his hand on the mast, his entire body was motionless.
Zhen Jin immediately narrowed his eyes; a faint warning rose in his heart.
The boat craftsman yelled many times, but the giant did not respond.
His face was also panic-stricken.
The giant began to gasp roughly like a collapsing old bull, he grimaced in pain and his eyes grew increasingly red.
“Damm it!” Upon seeing this, the boat craftsman immediately sank, but he didn’t give up and still roared: “Calm down, calm down now you repulsive boy!”
“Run for it, he has gone mad again!!” The experienced sailors shouted as they ran away.
For a split second, the ravine clearing was a disorderly mess.
Roar!
The giant roared.
He suddenly pulled out the mast and threw it.
The fore mast snapped in half, with one half stuck inside a cave.
The giant began to punch the keel.
But at that moment, Zhen Jin, with a body light lightning, went against the flow and got behind the giant, striking his nape again and knocking him unconscious.
Everything started and ended in an instant.
The entire situation was under Zhen Jin’s control.
“The keel is fine, nothing happened to it!” The boat craftsman loudly shouted; he was extremely glad.
The others returned, all of them were doubtful and had lingering fears.
“The giant went mad again.”
“Hasn’t it been only a few days?”
“No, I cannot work in the same place as him again, I don’t want such a dubious death.”
“His every day performance is a pretense! He cannot not deceive us again. His body has a giant bloodline, I heard giants eat people!”
“This illness cannot be treated; didn’t you hear from those sailors? This idiot cannot remain near us, who knows when he’ll go mad again?”
Zhen Jin stood behind the giant and strictly swept his eyes around him, immediately cutting off most conversations.
The “Good” youngster leader then shouted, “Today’s work ends here, go eat dinner!”
He then told a few mercenaries and Lan Zao to drag the giant back to his grass shack.
“Lord Zhen Jin, I can put manacles and leg-irons on the giant.” The boat craftsman ran to Zhen Jin, and with a worried face, he spontaneously said, “Frequently on the boat, the giant often put them on, he is accustomed to them.”
Zhen Jin pursed his brows and patted the boat craftsman’s shoulder: “Be at ease, I do not blame you nor do I blame the giant. It’s an insignificant fore mast, we can easily build another.”
When the boat craftsman heard Zhen Jin’s words, he relaxed a bit, however he still wanted to put the giant in shackles.
From the bottom of his heart, Zhen Jin did not want the giant to be shackled, it disgusted him. But what could he do beside that?
Zhen Jin privately called Xi Suo: “Do you know what I want you to do?”
“I understand your Lordship, this time will be simpler. We don’t have any casualties thanks to your Lordship’s brilliant martial skill! Seeing those scared and extremely cowardly people, some frigid irony and scorching satire will stimulate their bravery.”
Seeing Xi Suo understand his idea, Zhen Jin gave a satisfied nod: “Go do it.”
Zhen Jin needed the giant to work, not only because of the large amount of work, but to appease the talented boat craftsman. The young knight wanted to deepen his force——he wanted to help and protect the giant, he wanted to find a way for the giant and other people to coexist together.
The same evening the giant’s symptoms appeared; an unexpected event occurred.
Bang, rumble.
The earth trembled, broken rocks rolled, and immense trees toppled over.
Most of the sleeping people were roused and terrified, fleeing from their caves to the ravine clearing.
Notes
One could consider the giant’s madness a flight and fight response getting mixed up and jumbled. Unnatural stillness followed by immediate and undiscriminating aggression, perhaps it has something to do with his mixed blood screwing something up in his body. After all, without a bloodcore to sustain heavy biological contradictions, things tend to go wrong.