Chapter 891
“Your Highness Douglas, can you lead us all away from this place and back to our homeland?”
After asking, Haiyuan immediately turned to the pirates and said.
“Many of your children on Goru Island must be all grown up by now.”
Douglas Seirun said.
“I can. Of course, I can. I can lead you out of this place, fully intact, and return you to the waters of the Seirun Continent, back to Goru Island. I will not ask anything of you. I have no intention of forcing you to join the Seirun Empire’s navy. You can continue to be pirates, roaming the seas as you please. My only goal in coming here is to save you. After completing that mission, I will immediately leave you and return to the empire to assume my duties. Because I want to fulfill my mother's will, and even though you are pirates, you are still subjects of our Seirun dynasty. I must save you!”
Haiyuan continued.
“Did you all hear that? His Highness Douglas has no demands for you. After saving you, he desires no reward, nor does he ask for your loyalty. He will set you free.”
Then, Haiyuan looked at Shen Lang and said.
“Your Highness Shen Lang, can you save the Goru Gang? Can you lead us away from these cursed waters?”
“Of course, I can!”
“Then we shall temporarily believe that you can. So, Your Highness Shen Lang, after you save us, will you have any demands for us?”
“Of course. Everything in this world has a price. If someone makes no demands, it’s not because they are noble, but because what they want is so great they cannot easily voice it.”
Huh? Didn't that sound familiar? It seemed someone had said it not long ago. That's right. It was what the High Priestess of the Amazon Nation had said to Shen Lang. Shen Lang continued.
“If I save you, you must pledge your loyalty to me. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”
Haiyuan asked.
“Then if we pledge our loyalty to you, what will you have us do?”
“You must invade the Eastern world and help me seek revenge and redeem my honor.”
Shen Lang was someone who changed his approach depending on the person. In the Amazon Queendom, Shen Lang had acted incredibly noble. He said he would only save the Amazons, with no conditions, wanting nothing in return. In the end, Queen Eda gave him even more. Not only did she give him eight thousand warriors, but she was also willing to give herself to Shen Lang. That was because the Amazonians were noble, and they did not want to owe any debts. The nobler the person, the more generously they repay.
But these pirates of the Goru Gang were different. Just because they were a pirate legion created by Kang Li, the world's greatest pirates, one shouldn't have high expectations of their character. Have you ever seen a noble pirate? If such a thing existed, Kang Li would not have used the name Loki here. Loki is the god of cunning. If you were to save the Goru Gang pirates and tell them you needed no reward, they would truly just flatter you a few times and leave without giving you anything.
Haiyuan shouted loudly.
“The situation is now very clear. His Highness Douglas will save the Goru Gang unconditionally and grant you absolute freedom afterward. His Highness Shen Lang, after saving you, demands that you pledge your loyalty and become his hounds of war, fighting for him. Warriors of the Goru Gang, free people of the Goru Gang, you must have already made your choice.”
Haiyuan’s words were immeasurably sinister, but Shen Lang did not stop him. It was better to get all the necessary words out first. As they say, get the ugly talk out of the way first. Jack Tang shouted.
“The vote officially begins! Place a stone in front of the person you choose!”
Hela was the first to choose. She placed a stone in front of Shen Lang, then stood behind him, glaring at the many members of the Goru Gang with fiery eyes, as if pressuring them with her gaze to choose Shen Lang. Haiyuan also made his choice quickly. He placed a stone in front of Douglas and stood behind him. Haimon, Angela's adopted daughter and Hela's older sister, hesitated for a moment between the two, but in the end, she walked over to Douglas, gave him the stone, and stood behind him. After Angela's death and Salonbus's expulsion, the Goru Gang was left with only four leaders. Now, two of them stood behind Douglas.
All eyes turned to Jack Tang, waiting for him to make his choice. He was the oldest member of the Goru Gang, having first followed Loki, and then Angela. No matter who became the leader, he was always the second-in-command of the Goru Gang's fleet. Thus, his choice was incredibly important and would influence many people.
Jack Tang closed his eyes, caught in a life-or-death decision of whether to choose Shen Lang or Douglas. The surroundings fell silent; everyone waited for Jack Tang's choice before casting their own votes. After a long few minutes, Jack Tang opened his eyes and walked toward Douglas with a stone. Douglas was about to greet Jack Tang, and a triumphant smile appeared on Haiyuan's face. Hela glared at Jack Tang with eyes full of anger. He had disappointed her so much. Wasn't Uncle Jack Tang her father's most loyal subordinate? He was an Easterner; it was only right for him to be loyal to his young lord. Was this world so vile? But then, after giving the stone to Douglas, Jack Tang stood behind Shen Lang.
“Reason tells me to choose His Highness Douglas. I believe he can surely save the Goru Gang legion. As the second leader of the Goru Gang, I must always put the interests of the Goru Gang first. However, I personally wish to follow His Highness Shen Lang, to brave mountains of blades and seas of fire.”
Jack Tang knelt on one knee and shouted before Shen Lang.
“My lord, please accept this old servant’s loyalty.”
He shouted this in the Eastern language. Everyone was stunned by Jack Tang's choice. To vote for Douglas, but to follow Shen Lang himself.
“You all may continue to vote!”
Tens of thousands of pirates came forward in a line to vote. As Shen Lang expected, more people chose Douglas. The stones in front of him piled higher and higher, and the number of Goru Gang pirates standing behind him grew and grew. Of course, there were people who chose Shen Lang, but they were only about a tenth of those who chose Douglas.
The situation was very clear. Those who chose Douglas had lost hope in their hearts; they wanted stability and certainty, to quietly return home. They no longer harbored any fantasies, ideals, or romance. On the other hand, those who chose Shen Lang were people whose blood had not yet cooled, who still hoped for a miracle, who still wanted to take a crazy adventure. Though they were few, they were incredibly precious.
***
A few hours later, the voting ended. Douglas was ahead by a large margin; there was no need to even count the votes. By Shen Lang's rough estimate, out of the sixty thousand pirates of the Goru Gang, fifty-three thousand had chosen Douglas, while only seven thousand had chosen Shen Lang.
Haiyuan said.
“Uncle Jack Tang, the result is now clear. His Highness Douglas has won, and he has become the new first leader of the Goru Gang.”
Jack Tang said.
“Yes, so it seems. I hereby formally declare that His Highness Douglas Seirun has become the third supreme leader of the Goru Gang.”
In the past, countless people would have applauded and cheered, but now, it was silent.
“Long live His Highness Douglas, long live the Goru Gang!”
Haiyuan shouted, and the other pirates followed suit.
“Long live His Highness Douglas, long live the leader, long live the Goru Gang.”
Douglas Seirun bowed and said.
“It is my honor. Now is the moment for me to fulfill my promise. To save the Goru Gang, to lead you away from these cursed seas and take you home.”
“Hooray, hooray, hooray!”
Countless pirates shouted with great effort. Just then, that strange sight appeared on the sea once again. A massive sea mirage, a thousand miles wide, stretched across the eastern waters, connecting the sky and the sea. The scene was truly like a divine miracle. No wonder so many people believed in Douglas. This bizarre phenomenon of a sea mirage screen had indeed appeared after he came here. Moreover, when Douglas first appeared, he seemed like a god, raising his hands high as if single-handedly holding up the sea mirage screen. The countless sea monsters in the ocean, upon seeing that screen, receded like the tide and all flocked towards the mirage screen.
Today, just like yesterday, millions of sea monsters gathered before the sea mirage screen, raising their heads, completely engrossed, oblivious to everything around them. Even when sailing ships bumped into them, they showed no reaction, some even shedding tears as they watched. In the blink of an eye, that area of the sea was completely empty. This situation would continue until sunset, giving them a full ten hours.
“We must leave this place quickly. Brothers of the Goru Gang, I will take you home! I will save you right now. Let’s go home, let’s go home!”
At Douglas’s words of returning home, the pirates’ eyes welled up with hot tears.
‘Are we finally going home? Finally going home.’
They believed their new leader, His Highness Douglas, would surely accomplish it. He had shown them one miracle after another, so he was trustworthy. So, was Douglas confident? Of course, he was truly confident of success. Two and a half months ago, the eruption of Nightmare Mountain had triggered a chain reaction of underwater earthquakes. At that time, Shen Lang had saved the Amazon Nation, but he didn't know that the core energy of the ancient ruins in other places, connected from ten thousand miles away, had also exploded in succession. This caused earthquakes and tsunamis in these cursed seas as well. This was because, within a thousand miles of this sea, three major explosions of an energy level equivalent to the great pyramid of the Amazons had occurred.
At that time, the energy field of these cursed waters changed, and the phenomenon that made ships go around in circles disappeared. Hela managed to escape, becoming the only person to leave the cursed seas. Therefore, both Adolf and Douglas believed that saving the Goru Gang's fleet and leading them out of these cursed waters was a very simple matter. They judged that they just needed to detonate an ancient core energy source again to cause an earthquake.
Of course, they couldn't detonate the core energy right away; it had to be at a set time. They would detonate the ancient core energy when the Goru Gang fleet had sailed a thousand miles out, reaching the critical point of the cursed waters. So, where was the ancient core energy? There were quite a few. There were several in the ruins of this Lost Nation, so they just needed to detonate one of them. Others might not know how to detonate it, but Douglas did. The ancient civilization was a top secret to others, but to him and Adolf, it was simple knowledge. Emperor Solon had the support of the White Whale and the Incarnation Sect, and those two transcendent powers had a deep understanding of the ancient civilization.
In fact, Shen Lang shared the same view. He believed that detonating one of the ancient core energy sources to cause an earthquake could break the strange energy encirclement of the cursed seas, allowing them to escape the waters that made them go in circles. Therefore, Douglas was one hundred percent confident that he could leave these waters. Because it had already been proven by facts.