Chapter 889
At dawn the next day, the election for the First Chieftain of the Skull Gang Fleet officially began. Both candidates would give a public speech, after which the entire pirate crew would vote. The election was held atop the Empress Dam, which served as the entrance to the harbor.
Looking at the dam, Shen Lang once again witnessed an architectural marvel that could only be described as spectacular. It was a colossal dam, fifteen thousand meters long, one hundred meters high, and thirty meters thick. Truly like the arm of a giant, it was more magnificent and immense than any city wall Shen Lang had ever seen. Over thirty thousand pirates stood on the dam, yet it still seemed vast.
Behind the dam lay the vast, endless, cursed sea, home to countless sea monsters.
* * *
The strong and noble Douglas Seirun was the first to deliver his election speech. Shen Lang had no desire to listen, and neither would you, so I will omit the several thousand words of that part.
But strangely, as he spoke, countless pirates cheered wildly for everything he said, as if they had lost their minds. Douglas's speech was interrupted more than ten times by applause, and tens of thousands of pirates roared with immense enthusiasm, treating him like an idol. Before the election even began, the pirates already considered Douglas the First Chieftain of the Skull Gang. Shen Lang wasn't even worthy of being his foil. Finally, Douglas Seirun's speech concluded. Tens of thousands of pirates frantically beat their cutlasses and shouted desperately.
"Douglas! Douglas!"
"Long live Chieftain Douglas! Long live Chieftain Douglas!"
"Long live Douglas! Long live the Skull Gang!"
They hadn't even voted yet, but everyone was already shouting "Chieftain Douglas." This was perhaps the most predictable, one-sided election in history. Their clamor was so loud it attracted countless sea monsters. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of innumerable sea monsters swarmed the waters outside the harbor, a chilling sight to behold. They gathered as if to completely submerge the harbor. But they dared not approach. The Empress Dam of this harbor was like a natural, sacred barrier; the sea monsters did not dare cross it. So, the pirates were not the least bit surprised to see hundreds of thousands of sea monsters in the waters beyond the dam. Although the sight of the endless sea monsters rising from the surface was enough to drive one mad, it was not the first time they had seen it. If not for the Empress Dam blocking the entire harbor, the Skull Gang Fleet would have been wiped out without a trace.
"Long live Douglas! Long live!"
As the pirates' cheers continued, the number of gathered sea monsters grew to over three hundred thousand and was still increasing. Eventually, the sea monsters gathered endlessly, as if the apocalypse had come, covering the entire sea.
"Quiet! Quiet! It's time to hear His Highness Shen Lang's speech!"
At Jack Tang's shout, the pirates' cheers instantly ceased, replaced by a deathly silence. A moment later, the pirates began to boo.
"Get lost! Get lost, pretty boy! You're not worthy of the Skull Gang! You're not worthy to compete with His Highness Douglas!"
"Get lost! You're not even worthy of being His Highness Loki's son!"
The pirates had no intention of listening to Shen Lang's speech; they just booed, trying to drive him from the election. Because they considered Shen Lang's mere presence competing against Douglas an insult. Soon, countless Skull Gang pirates were booing wildly, all covering their ears to show they would not listen to a single word of Shen Lang's speech. Beside him, Hela was on the verge of exploding with anger, so furious she regretted not being able to draw her sword and kill them all.
"Quiet! Quiet! Do not insult the bloodline of His Highness Loki."
Jack Tang roared. At last, all the pirates stopped booing and covering their ears, but they all made a single gesture. Thumbs down.
"I have no speech to give! But I will teach you all a new gesture here!"
Shen Lang raised both middle fingers to the tens of thousands of pirates and shouted loudly.
"This is called 'Fuck'! It means I'm going to fuck every last one of you!"
Hearing this, all the pirates stared at Shen Lang, dumbfounded. They couldn't believe someone would so openly insult them all. Shen Lang roared.
"You all act brave, but in truth, you're nothing but a bunch of weaklings! When Chieftain Angela sacrificed herself, performing the Sea Burial to save you, did a single one of you try to stop her? No, you didn't! Not one! You knew it was Salonbus's nonsense, yet you let Her Highness Angela sacrifice herself, let her become food for that evil giant octopus. You claim to be brave and strong, but you're all just pieces of shit. Pieces of shit who talk of suicide every day, pieces of shit who need others to save them!"
Then, Shen Lang turned to Douglas and said.
"Your Highness Douglas Seirun, the former Skull Gang Chieftain Angela chose to sacrifice herself to save the Skull Gang and performed the Sea Burial ritual. So I ask you, do you have that kind of spirit, that kind of mettle? Do you have the mettle to sacrifice yourself for the Skull Gang?"
Shen Lang pointed to the countless sea monsters gathered outside the Empress Dam and shouted.
"How many sea monsters are out there? Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand? Douglas, do you dare to jump and perform the Sea Burial? Do you dare perform the Sea Burial for the Skull Gang legion? Can you prove that you are the Sea God? Can you prove that you are the one chosen by the heavens? Douglas, do you have the courage to jump and perform the Sea Burial?"
Outside the massive dam, hundreds of thousands of sea monsters stood packed together, too numerous to count. The gathering of ferocious and savage-looking monsters was no different from hell. Shen Lang shouted loudly.
"Douglas, do you dare perform the Sea Burial? You don't have the courage, do you?"
Douglas Seirun's expression turned ugly, even filled with killing intent. But just then, Haiyuan, one of the Third Chieftains of the Skull Gang, spoke.
"Your Lordship Shen Lang, you speak with such passion. Do you have the courage? Do you dare to jump and perform the Sea Burial?"
Shen Lang shouted loudly.
"Of course, I have the courage. Hahahaha!"
Shen Lang immediately threw himself backward, leaping into the sea behind him, toward the great army of countless sea monsters.
"I will prove it to you! That I am the true Sea God, that I am the Skull Gang's chieftain chosen by the heavens!"
Shen Lang shouted loudly as he fell toward the sea. At the same time, countless sea monsters bared their vicious fangs, revealed their sharp claws, and rushed forward madly. They intended to swallow him like a wave.
* * *
Everything happened too quickly. Before anyone on the dam could react, Shen Lang had already jumped. A deathly silence fell over the place. Shen Lang's action was a sharp slap in the face to everyone there, tearing their pride to shreds.
His words just now were not wrong. At that time, the Second Chieftain had spread a rumor that they were trapped here because they were cursed by the Sea God Poseidon, and that these ruins of the Lost Kingdom were the legendary tomb of the Sea God. That Angela had brought the Skull Gang Fleet here to avenge Jiang Li, disturbing the Sea God's rest, and thus incurred the curse. Did the pirates really believe such a ridiculous rumor? Of course not. But the reason this rumor began to spread was that many harbored resentment toward Angela in their hearts, believing her stubbornness had brought them all here and led them into this calamity.
Angela had defeated the Second Chieftain Salonbus with her immense power and exiled him. But she was an extremely proud person, so if everyone in the Skull Gang thought she deserved to die and perform the Sea Burial, she believed she truly had to die. Was there anyone who tried to stop her at that time? Perhaps there were. But how many tried to stop her? Didn't they all just stand by and watch Angela go to her death? All the while hoping her death would break the curse and save them all.
How could pinning one's hopes on the sacrifice of another be called honorable? If Shen Lang had merely spoken those words, he would have had no right to rebuke the Skull Gang. But the moment he jumped, he stood on the moral high ground, earning the right to deliver a harsh slap to the face of every pirate in the Skull Gang. That was why, the moment he jumped, the pirates were so shocked their hair stood on end, and they were frozen as if struck by lightning.
"No! No!"
But the most shocked person of all was, of course, Hela. The moment Shen Lang jumped, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't move her body, couldn't even make a sound, as endless pain surged through her. The scene reminded her of her mother, Angela. She, too, had jumped into the sea before countless pirates, performing the Sea Burial, offering herself as a sacrifice. So suddenly, without any warning, her mother had left her forever. And now, she had to suffer the same pain again? The heavens had taken her mother from her; were they now trying to take her brother as well?
As overwhelming pain surged, Hela clenched her teeth so hard her mouth bled. She turned to all the Skull Gang pirates standing on the dam and shouted in a hoarse voice.
"I will never forgive you! You despicable cowards! Even if I die and become a vengeful spirit, I will curse you all!"
Then, she too leaped, jumping from the hundred-meter-high dam. If her mother's death had caused her to completely break down, her brother's departure now caused her entire world to collapse.
*'I don't want to live, so it's better to die together.'*
Just as Hela had fallen about ten meters, someone caught her, stopping her descent. Jack had jumped after her, grabbing her arm. He had hooked his iron hook—which served as his prosthetic hand—onto the dam and slid down, holding onto it.
"Let me go! Let me die!"
Hela shouted in a furious voice, struggling desperately. Jack did not let go of Hela's arm and said in a hoarse voice.
"Child, even if you don't want to live, at least confirm that Shen Lang is dead before you go."
Hela roared.
"How could he live? How?! He was swallowed by countless sea monsters, how could he possibly live?! If you hadn't mocked him like that, if you hadn't praised that piece of trash, would he have jumped? Douglas, you trash! You piece of dog shit! If you have the guts, why don't you jump too? Do you have the courage to sacrifice yourself for the Skull Gang? You're trash! You're all trash!"