Chapter 442: Section 229: Self-improvement is the Path of Justice!
Darkness.
A deep, profound darkness.
The state of the Dragon-man youth hovered between confusion and clarity.
“Who am I?”
“Where is this?”
His memory quickly surfaced.
“I am an Imperial Knight, disguised as Zhenjin… Now I am the squad leader of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps, under the alias Long Fu!”
“How have I ended up in this situation again?”
The Dragon-man youth recalled.
Previously, on the Mysterious Monster Island, he had fallen into such darkness more than once.
Unexpectedly, after leaving the island, the dark nightmares still haunted him.
An endless expanse of darkness enveloped him, silent as the grave.
The youth tried walking in the darkness.
He felt himself moving, but no matter how far he walked, the surrounding deep darkness remained unchanging.
The now fully awake youth gradually grew impatient; the silent darkness seemed like an immense cage trapping him.
“I want to leave!”
“But how can I escape?”
The youth knelt down half-way, attempting to pray to the God of Justice.
“My Lord, the great God of Justice.”
“You are my beacon, my morning star.”
“Please have mercy on me, help me break free from this dark nightmare, and show me the path of justice, so that I may follow Your way…”
God did not respond.
No matter how much he prayed, what greeted the youth was still a silence as silent as death.
The youth became increasingly anxious and helpless, but at this moment, a loud disturbance came from the outside world.
In the next instant, the Dragon-man youth opened his eyes in reality.
He found himself having fallen off the single bed; in fact, the entire White Bandage was shaking violently.
“Enemy attack, enemy attack!” the mercenaries were running on deck, and their shouting voices reached the youth’s ears.
“What’s happening?” The Dragon-man youth quickly rushed out of the captain’s quarters and saw several enormous tentacles entwining the White Bandage.
“It’s a silver-level sea beast—the Noctilucent Octopus,” the Dragon-man youth’s mind flickered as he recognized it.
During the voyage, aside from fulfilling his duties as squad leader, he also read, including about sea beasts.
The Dragon-man youth saw spots of glowing yellow light on the tentacles, large patches that brightened and dimmed as if breathing.
This was a distinctive feature of the Noctilucent Octopus.
“Was it its attack that woke me up and freed me from the nightmare?” A thoughtful flicker passed through the Dragon-man youth’s eyes.
He then felt puzzled: “Why didn’t Zi Di give a prior warning?”
The surveillance ability of the Deep Sea Monster Fish was strong; logically, Zi Di should have detected it sooner and contacted the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ fleet to avoid it ahead of time.
In fact, during the voyage these past two days, whenever the survivors encountered sea beasts, they safely avoided them due to prior warnings from the Deep Sea Monster Fish.
At this moment, the medium-sized ship where Zong Ge was located approached.
He stood at the ship’s rail, commanding the battle while quietly explaining to the Dragon-man youth through the communication device: “We had already discovered this sea beast in advance. I arranged for it to attack at night as a training exercise.”
“We knew you were asleep, so we didn’t wake you.”
“Everything is under our control.”
“So that’s it,” the Dragon-man youth nodded in acknowledgment.
Normally, being kept in the dark by subordinates about such matters would greatly infuriate a leader, making them feel their authority was threatened.
But the Dragon-man youth didn’t mind; he found it quite normal.
Because his team was very special.
The key period for nurturing understanding and forming an organizational structure was on the Mysterious Monster Island.
That was a domain of Magic Ban.
Even Transcendents could only rely on their physical abilities, unable to use Fighting energy, Magic, or other Extraordinary Powers.
The survivors walked on thin ice, numerous perilous situations pushing them to the brink of life and death.
In cases where life and death were uncertain, people had to act decisively to grasp any opportunity at survival; if they needed prior reporting and leader’s approval to act, they would have long since perished.
The survivors were also forced, at many critical moments, to develop a habit of trusting their partners.
Many times, after fighting to the point of exhaustion, they would fall asleep immediately, only relying on their companions’ protection, taking turns to rest.
Such understanding and habits naturally continued within the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
Although the Noctilucent Octopus appeared fierce and terrifying, its intelligence was low, lacking explosive Magic-like abilities.
It had thick skin and flesh, making it an excellent meat target.
Zong Ge first sent out the Fast Blade squad.
The leader of the Fast Blade squad was still Fast Leg.
He had his flank exposed during the melee on Twin Eyes Island, but he had now fully recovered.
Whether it was the healing potions prepared by Zi Di or the bandages on the White Bandage, all enabled him to bounce about energetically.
The Shiba Inu now had new equipment—a Boomerang Scimitar.
These were all Bronze-level equipment, obtained by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps at the auction on Twin Eyes Island.
Some Shiba Inu wielded their scimitars, chopping at the tentacles before them, others fiercely threw theirs out and then smoothly caught them.
They were not worried about accuracy, the octopus’s tentacles were sufficiently large and at such close proximity that they could hit them with their eyes closed.
With the Boomerang Scimitars, the Fast Blade squad’s offensive power had clearly increased significantly.
Yet, the octopus’s tentacles remained strong and powerful; despite sustaining many cuts and indeed creating many wounds, for the Noctilucent Octopus, the wounds were minor.
Having reached Silver level, due to species differences, its life force, physical ability, recovery power, and defensive power far surpassed those of a Silver Level Human Race fighter.
The Noctilucent Octopus ignored the Fast Blade squad and continued to entangle the White Bandage.
Although the White Bandage was just a Bronze Level Alchemy Ship, it had no problem holding its ground against the Nightglow Octopus for a short time.
Seizing this opportunity, Zong Ge kept ordering the mercenaries to take turns attacking.
Sanda, Bai Ya, Lan Zao, and the others each had a round of real combat, deeply experiencing what it was like to fight with a sea beast.
The Nightglow Octopus, tormented in such a way, became ferocious.
But at that moment, Chi Lai and Menshi took action together.
With the Nightglow Octopus facing opponents of the same rank, several of its tentacles were broken, and it bled profusely.
Severely wounded, it tried to escape, but numerous bandages shot out from the White Bandage, entangling the octopus’s tentacles and preventing it from getting away.
The Nightglow Octopus let out a pitiful howl, as if saying, “Let me go, please let me go, I beg you…”
But the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was unmoved, even quite excited.
“It’s done for, it’s going to die!”
“Quick, put more effort, kill it!”
“I want to eat octopus meatballs!!”
“No, octopus sashimi is the most delicious.”
Sanda flipped between the octopus tentacles and the mast, each time his Dagger “Language of Nausea” plunged into a tentacle, it caused numbness and loss of sensation.
Bai Ya seized the opportunity, suddenly jumping forward, his scimitar deeply penetrating into a bleeding wound, causing a surge of blood that splashed all over him.
The Big Guy, not daring to engage directly, only entered a terrifying state of fury if deeply agitated. But having been through the baptism of war, he had also made significant progress. Now, mustering his courage, he grabbed one barrel after another and threw them forcefully. Each time he threw, he yelled loudly, making a great show of force.
Two alchemy puppets, disguised as Cang Xu and Zi Di, extended their fingers, activated the Fire Magic Rings on their fingertips, and cast spells publicly.
The puppets had used the Anti-Intelligence Prophecy Skill and Deception and Disguise Skill, leaving no flaws in the eyes of other mercenaries.
Even Mu Ban joined in the fun, sneakily shooting massive octopus tentacles with his crossbow arrow.
“Whose arrow!”
“Hey, stop shooting wildly, you almost hit my arm.”
Mu Ban had terrible aim, but eager to participate, he quickly changed spots and shot another arrow.
The crossbow arrow flew low and ultimately stuck in the deck.
Gang Lie, fiercely battling with a tentacle, vented his frustrations from the day.
The tentacle shook, knocking him out.
Gang Lie landed on his buttocks on the deck, then suddenly widened his eyes and shuddered violently!
A Water Pigman companion, kindly grabbing his arm.
“Don’t…” Gang Lie had a bad feeling.
But the Water Pigman companion’s attention was more on the octopus tentacle, and he pulled hard!
“Ah ah ah ah!” Gang Lie stood up straight on the deck, his fists clenched tightly, his face twisted as he roared.
For a moment, everyone nearby was drawn to Gang Lie’s sudden outburst of formidable aura.
Some sorrows, only known to oneself!
Under everyone’s gaze, Gang Lie bit his teeth hard and continued the attack.
Fortunately, the night concealed the blood and injuries on his buttocks.
The mercenaries’ morale grew stronger, and eventually the Nightglow Octopus lay dead on the sea surface, prompting a fierce cheer from the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ fleet.
Some of the mercenaries clapped hands, while others embraced each other.
Including the last to join the fight, the Water Pigman also let go of the day’s grievances and briefly blended into the collective. They were soaked in blood, chuckling dumbly, relishing their triumph.
Zong Ge watched this scene and nodded to himself.
His painstaking efforts had borne results.
Like on Mysterious Monster Island, the survivors had developed unity and trust. The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps could also come together under external pressure.
But this was by no means the ultimate way to train troops.
But in this case, it was just right.
The day’s individual training had aroused the Water Pigman’s fighting spirit and competitive nature, but it had deepened the gap between the Human Race and the Water Pigman.
Zong Ge was very clear about this.
Just by chance, that evening, a foolish Nightglow Octopus thought to come hunting, and Zong Ge firmly seized this opportunity.
From beginning to end, he never took action himself.
Just like he had reported to the Dragon-man youth earlier—everything was under control.
The Dragon-man youth was also immersed in the joy of victory.
“Unknowingly, our strength has grown to this extent.”
“I didn’t even need to take action personally, they were able to handle such an opponent.”
“Perhaps… this is the revelation of our Lord?”
The Dragon-man youth’s gaze flickered.
He remembered the previous dark nightmares and then remembered the Divine Revelation Chi Lai had told him about: Justice is in the sword’s edge, under the cannon’s mouth, and in people’s hearts.
“Sword edge, cannons, are both symbols of strength.”
“How can we ensure and carry out justice without strength?”
“In any case, diligently building our own strength is definitely the right thing to do!”
“Yes, self-strengthening is the path of justice!”
In an instant, the youth felt he had understood part of the meaning of the Divine Revelation.
Deep Sea Monster Fish.
Zi Di watched the people in the Magic Image, her gaze finally focusing on the one she loved.
Seeing the Dragon-man youth making realizations and letting go of burdens, she also felt joy for him.
The Ghost Girl could feel that the youth had again found motivation and direction.
Her own worries dissipated significantly, and she turned off the Magic Image and returned to the Alchemy Cabin.
The Array in the Alchemy Cabin had changed its appearance.
In the Array, the platinum-colored mist was ethereal and dazzling.
Within the mist, the survivors’ blood each gathered into a mass, floating at a distance from each other, gazing across.
“The initial processing is now finished, let’s see what everyone’s Bloodline really is,” Zi Di said with anticipation, starting to operate the Array.