"You must be Zhu Zhi, the Grand Elder of the Ming King's descendants, right? I've heard much about you. A person of your high status, leading people on an expedition, surely wouldn't be traveling with just three chests of gold, would you?" the pirate captain chuckled.
"What do you want?" Zhu Zhi's expression soured.
He indeed had more than three chests of gold, but he couldn't just hand it over to pirates so readily. After all, they had to pass this way not only on their journey to the Far West but also on their return. If he gave it all now, what would happen on the way back?
"Heh, it's been a while since I've encountered such wealthy patrons. I'm not quite sure what I want. Why don't you just hand over this ship to me? I'll go find it myself?" the pirate captain said with a laugh.
This!
Zhu Zhi's face immediately darkened. The pirate captain's greed exceeded his imagination! He had made such an unreasonable demand!
"The ship is impossible to give to you. Besides the three chests of gold, I also have two chests of jewelry on board. I can give them to you together. This is my bottom line!" Zhu Zhi snorted, "The combined value of these items is no less than a billion. That should be enough!"
However, even with this, the pirate captain was still not satisfied, a sinister smile appearing on his face.
"Zhu Zhi, I'm a pirate, not a beggar! You people from Central Island are only planning to appease me with mere trinkets?"
"I'll tell you now, besides this jewelry, hand over all your divine weapons and sharp tools, or you won't be leaving!"
With that said, the pirate captain raised the horn in his hand. The threat was all too clear.
"The sea has been quite rough lately, and ships can easily capsize. You all be careful."
Facing the pirates' threat, Zhu Zhi's expression was extremely grim. Hu Hantian and Hong Tao's faces were ashen, and the people on the ship were also greatly displeased. However, in this vast ocean environment, it was truly disadvantageous for them to fight. It could be said that the whales and sharks the pirates had trained had successfully grasped their weakness!
"Bastards, let's fight them!" Hu Hantian, with his fiery temper, drew his long saber and was about to charge forward!
"No!" Zhu Zhi stopped him.
"Although the strength of these pirates is not great, and it would be no difficulty for us to subdue them, if the ship is destroyed, the chances of survival for so many of us falling into the vast ocean would be too low. There's no signal here at all."
"This... then what should we do?" Hu Hantian asked angrily.
Zhu Zhi had no answer to this question. Handing over all the divine weapons and sharp tools on the ship was almost impossible. But if they didn't hand them over, they couldn't pass through the water route to the Far West, and they couldn't travel by land for fear of being discovered by the current Emperor. This was a dilemma!
Suddenly!
As everyone hesitated in anger, Zhang Yang jumped off the ship and landed on the back of a whale. This scene startled Zhu Zhi and the others.
"Zhang Tang, what are you doing?" Zhu Zhi shouted.
"Nothing much, I've only lived inland and haven't had a close-up look at whales. You know, this whale is quite good-looking," Zhang Yang grinned.
This...
Zhu Zhi was stunned. He was speechless at Zhang Yang's behavior. They were currently in a standoff with pirates! Did he understand what a standoff was! He still had the leisure to observe someone's pet whale! This was simply! Zhu Zhi was furious, and Hu Hantian cursed even more.
"You little brat, fooling around is one thing, but why are you fooling around at a time like this? Hurry up and get back on board!"
The experts brought by Hu Hantian and Hong Tao also reprimanded him angrily.
"Exactly, don't cause trouble for the Grand Elder. Don't think you can be arrogant just because you have good talent and joined the Ming Dragon Army. Hurry back to the ship."
"How can you be so undisciplined? When we get back, we'll definitely have the Grand Elder expel you from Central Island!"
"You uncultured bumpkin, whales are the pirates' property. Observing them like this isn't making us lose face along with you?"
"..."
The members of the Ming Dragon Army were also astonished. However, since Zhang Yang was on the same team as them, they naturally couldn't let others scold Zhang Yang, and immediately retorted.
"Shut your mouths. When has the Ming Dragon Army ever needed you to dictate our actions? If you're not convinced, come out and fight!"
"That's right, if I hear any more negative remarks about Zhang Tang from you, I'll throw you to the sharks right now!"
Immediately.
The ship descended into internal strife. Before the two sides could even fight, they had already developed a serious rift over Zhang Yang. The two groups glared at each other. Although the Ming Dragon Army was small in number, they were confident and not at all flustered.
Seeing this, Zhu Zhi felt a headache coming on. He suddenly regretted bringing Zhang Yang on the voyage. It was a terrible mistake!
"Stop arguing, all of you, and be quiet!" Zhu Zhi roared.
Zhu Zhi was truly angry this time. The Ming Dragon Army and the other Hunyuan Realm experts finally stopped, but they still snorted at each other in defiance.
Seeing this scene, the pirates on the pirate ship burst into laughter.
"Haha, this kid is interesting. I'll ask him later if he wants to join us. I'll give him a big merit this time," the pirate captain laughed heartily. The others also looked at Zhang Yang with smiles as he kept examining the whales, jumping from one to another. He looked like he had never seen the world, which was quite amusing.
"Grand Elder, as you can see, my business is large, and I have to feed not only people but also a large number of pets. The conditions I offered earlier were already very generous."
"I won't waste any more time with you. I'll count to three. If you still don't agree, don't blame me for being ruthless!" The pirate captain issued an ultimatum, no longer willing to waste words with Zhu Zhi and the others.
Zhu Zhi's face was ashen. In this vast, empty ocean, with no islands nearby, if these two whales capsized their ship, they would truly have nowhere to go!
"Three... Two..."
Immediately.
The time for Zhu Zhi to think had run out. The pirate captain raised his horn, ready to count down to one! Time was pressing! Zhu Zhi's expression was extremely grim, and just as he was about to agree!
Suddenly, a figure flew towards the pirate ship! It was Zhang Yang, who had been observing the whales. As the pirate captain began to count down, he suddenly launched himself forward. He stepped on the heads of the sharks consecutively, leaping onto the pirate ship!
"Count your grandma! Die!"
This!
"Zhang Tang!"
Everyone's faces changed drastically as they looked at Zhang Yang, filled with regret! This was purely adding to the chaos. If they could have fought directly, why would Zhu Zhi have waited until now!
The people on the pirate ship, seeing Zhang Yang's surprise attack, rushed towards him!
Boom!
Immediately, Zhang Yang's True Dragon Qi erupted, pushing back those who approached him. However, a surprise attack on the pirate captain was no longer possible. The pirate captain himself had good awareness and had already moved away from Zhang Yang.
"You kid, how dare you attack me, hmph! People from Central Island, don't blame me!"