Chapter 239: Section 27: Let’s Chop Them Down
Justice, fighting training room.
Bang bang bang…
The Dragon-man youth raised his fists and kept punching the sandbag in front of him.
At this moment, his upper body was bare, his broad and strong chest covered with red dragon scales. His hands had also turned into dragon claws, which he now clenched into fists, causing the sandbag to shake violently.
Puff.
Suddenly, he punched a hole in the sandbag, and the sandy filling poured out, as fine as rice flour.
The Dragon-man youth sighed and stopped his movements.
He looked at the sand powder flowing to the floor, mobilized the Blood Core in his heart with his spirit. A red light surged and then transformed into a flow of light, flowing back into the Blood Core.
And he transformed back into a human form.
The fighting training room here was equipped with an Array, and the walls were made of Black Iron Level materials. No matter how loud the room got, the sound couldn’t escape. Moreover, there was natural light that mimicked sunlight and the air was continuously refreshed, quietly drawing in fresh air from outside to replenish what was consumed by fighters training here.
“After setting sail, this is the third day. The sandbags are almost used up,” the Dragon-man youth shook his head.
The sandbags he specifically purchased were not ordinary – they were of Black Iron quality. The sand inside, originally Black Iron Level, had been processed through alchemy techniques, absorbing external impact force and dissipating the energy quickly across each grain of sand.
If a Black Iron Level fighter were to train with it, it would be durable.
However, under the Dragon-man youth’s onslaught, three had already been rendered useless in three days, leaving only the last sandbag. The sand in each worn-out sandbag had been turned into fine powder by the youth’s punching power.
“Now my Bai He Fighting Energy has surpassed half and has transformed into Blast Fighting Energy,” the Dragon-man youth checked himself, quite pleased with the cultivation results over the past three days.
Although Bai He Fighting Energy was at Silver Level, its power wasn’t outstanding. Its greatest advantage was its wide applicability. Also, its creator didn’t profit from it, which was why it had become the most widely spread Fighting Energy in the world.
Blast Fighting Energy was more suitable for the youth in his Dragon-man state.
The method of training Fighting Energy differed from those of a Mage’s meditation or a Priest’s prayers. For instance, the method to cultivate Bai He Fighting Energy involved swimming in a river, while to train Blast Fighting Energy, it was boxing.
During boxing, the youth triggered his internal Fighting Energy in a certain manner with his spirit, tapping into his physical potential.
Zong Ge cultivated Fighting Energy mainly by sword swinging.
Generally, training Fighting Energy involved physical activity. However, the youth had heard that some Fighting Energy from the Eastern Empire resembled a Mage’s meditation, known as sitting meditation.
Wiping his body with a dry towel, the youth put on his captain’s uniform.
Before opening the door, he used the Blood Core again and mutated into his Dragon-man form.
This was to hide his true identity.
There were many newly recruited sailors on Justice, but importantly, the youth was deceiving the Empire.
To cover up his identity, he had also chosen an expensive Bloodline Stabilizer among the first batch of supplies purchased.
Of course, he had not used it, but to pretend that he had, he needed to maintain his Dragon-man form in public at all times.
Cang Xu and Zong Ge knew his secret.
But this was actually the knight youth’s second layer of disguise.
They only knew that the youth was a Beastification Person and were unaware of the Blood Core’s function.
The person most likely to understand the secret of the Blood Core was Zi Di. How much Zi Di knew, the youth also did not know. After being awakened by Cang Xu’s methods, Zi Di communicated with the Tower Spirit, helping everyone to escape.
The entire process had been very urgent.
By the time they reached the Deep Sea Monster Fish, Zi Di had fallen into a deep sleep, preventing any communication with the youth.
The Dragon-man youth entered the dining hall.
It was now lunchtime.
His arrival immediately captured the attention of everyone in the restaurant.
However, no one took the initiative to salute—the authority of a pirate captain was not demonstrated in this manner.
Amid the mix of awe and curiosity in the onlookers’ eyes, the Dragon-man youth sat opposite Zong Ge.
The chef, Fat Tongue, personally brought the roasted Magic Beast Meat to the Dragon-man youth.
There was a lot of meat, served in a basin brimming with it.
The Dragon-man youth began eating heartily.
This was Fire Raven Magic Beast Meat. The youth found it satisfactory as he chewed, the meat being tough and chewy. Seasoned with pepper among other spices, it was fragrant.
After swallowing the Magic Beast Meat, the youth felt as though streams of heat were gradually radiating from his stomach, replenishing his hollow belly, filling his weary chest, and soothing his sore arms.
Cultivating Fighting Energy was about unleashing the body’s power. Without eating, it was tough to enhance Fighting Energy—a severe case could even lead to injuries, draining and deadly.
The Fire Raven Magic Beast Meat the Dragon-man youth was eating contained rich Fire Element, nurturing his body, and corresponding well with Blast Fighting Energy.
Unfortunately, this Fire Raven Magic Beast Meat was only Black Iron Level. It was not truly suitable for a youth at Silver Level.
The youth chose to buy these because, firstly, it was relatively cheap and purchasing from the Empire wouldn’t attract suspicion. Secondly, he could still make use of it for now. During this phase, his goal was to transform his Bai He Fighting Energy into Blast Fighting Energy. As he already had a foundation, it wasn’t purely about converting physical power into Fighting Energy, so the burden on his body was smaller.
The Magic Beast Meat that Zong Ge was eating, Steel Rhinoceros Meat, was Silver Level.
However, the meat was incredibly tough, its color resembling that of iron bars. Zong Ge had to use Fighting Energy to assist both his teeth in chewing and his stomach in digesting.
“You have quite the teeth, Captain Long Fu,” Zong Ge watched the youth’s sharp dragon teeth and teased with a tone of envy.
The dragon-man youth smiled and swallowed the mouthful of meat, “You can use the training room this afternoon.”
The Justice had only one combat training room, and training inside the room was of course more efficient than outside.
After discussing with the half-beast, they had decided to alternate days for each person’s use.
But today, the dragon-man youth had used only the morning.
“What’s wrong?” Zong Ge was puzzled.
The youth sighed, “I’ve ruined another sandbag, I need to take it easy. From now on, half a day will be enough for me.”
Zong Ge nodded, “You should buy a Silver Level sandbag. The red bean sandbags on the list look just right.”
These sandbags were filled with crimson flame beans of the Silver Level. The beans, slightly larger than gravel, could absorb a certain amount of fire element fighting energy, making them most suitable for the dragon-man youth practicing Blast Fighting Spirit.
The dragon-man youth nodded, about to speak, when suddenly the dining hall door was violently pushed open.
A sailor shouted at the door, “Captain Long Fu, a ship has been spotted ahead!”
The dining hall instantly became noisy.
After so many days of sailing, they had finally seen a ship.
“What ship?” The dragon-man youth stood up. He wasn’t surprised, as the Justice had already been navigating the Amber Route since yesterday.
This was a well-known trade route, and merchant ships on this route often carried large amounts of amber.
“The distance is too far, it’s not very clear yet,” the sailor said.
The dragon-man youth sat back down and continued his lunch, ordering, “Try to get closer to it first. Let me know when you see it clearly.”
“Yes, Captain!” The sailor ran out.
Soon after, he returned, “Lord Long Fu, it’s a pirate ship. Their water lines are very shallow.”
Everyone was immediately disappointed.
Pirates rarely attacked other pirates, as it was not worth the risk. Attacking weaker merchant ships was more likely successful, with less loss of life.
But this situation was not absolute.
If pirates found that an opponent had just been through a bloody battle and the loot filled the ship’s hold, they would certainly attack.
However, according to the sailor’s information, the pirate ship had very shallow water lines, indicating it didn’t have much plundered treasure.
But everyone heard the dragon-man youth bursting out laughing.
“Hahaha, did you hear that, my lads, our prey has appeared!”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Get moving!”
“Grab your weapons, overturn them, and take their ship!!”
The sailors erupted, flooding out of the dining hall like a tidal wave, heading to their designated stations. Over these three days of sailing, each sailor had been assigned specific tasks.
Zong Ge put down the plate of magic beast meat, wiped his mouth, and stood up.
The dragon-man youth picked up his plate, eating as he headed towards the deck.
At the lookout tower on the main mast, Xu Ma breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing the sailors emerging en masse and hearing the passing commands of the captain, he knew a battle was imminent.
“There’s nothing worth robbing here.”
“Captain Long Fu seems like a battle maniac!”
The dragon-man youth didn’t steer the wheel; a professional sailor was in charge. He held his plate, walking all the way to the bow spar, stepping one foot on the gunwale, looking far ahead.
The pirate ship he targeted was actually quite far from the Justice.
But under the dragon’s gaze, the youth clearly saw every detail on the ship.
It was primarily manned by humans, the crew busily scurrying around. From their attire, and the missing limbs, it was clearly a pirate ship.
What disappointed the youth was the ship’s ordinariness.
The ship had two masts, much smaller than the Justice, with only twelve cannon positions, five on each side. The remaining two positioned at the bow and stern.
The cannons were also ordinary.
The ship indeed had very shallow water lines.
“But this kind of opponent is also good.”
“I need a battle to test the power of the Justice, let the newly recruited sailors experience a fight to see their mettle, strengthen internal unity, and also let them get a taste of victory.”
The dragon-man youth didn’t care whether the pirate ship carried treasure.
He had plenty of capital, obtained from the secret undersea chambers. If he could sell them in one go to the Empire, he would have done so long ago.
By capturing this ship, he could claim he had obtained many casting materials from it, giving him a reason to dispose of these materials without arousing suspicion from the Empire.
“My lads!”
“Full sail, we’re going after them, to overturn them!!”
Following the dragon-man youth’s command, the speed of the Justice surged, rushing toward the pirate ship ahead.