Chapter 901
“So a miracle didn’t happen in the end? Is the Gollum Pirate fleet going to be annihilated? Perhaps this outcome isn’t so bad. Even if we die, we die on the battlefield. It’s better than a pathetic suicide. Now, I can face His Highness Loki and Gang Leader Angela in death. Even if our entire fleet is wiped out, the Gollum Pirates have become the strongest pirates in the world.”
But just then.
*BOOM!*
A massive fireball erupted from the distant sea, accompanied by a sound that seemed to tear the heavens apart. The colossal fireball, over a thousand meters in diameter, shot up from the ocean’s surface, piercing the very sky. At the same time, everyone saw it clearly: a gigantic shadow was hurled into the air before shattering into pieces and falling back into the sea. It looked like the corpse of the Demon Mother of the Lost.
In that instant, every sea monster froze. They turned to stare at the enormous fireball, completely still. Then, like a receding tide, they swarmed away, madly rushing toward the site of the explosion. Their supreme leader, the Demon Mother of the Lost, was dead!
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
The sea monsters moved with the speed of arrows, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. The Gollum Pirates stared blankly at the scene, their faces etched with disbelief.
‘The battle is over? We survived? Did a miracle happen at the last moment?’
But faster than any of the sea monsters was Helene. She didn’t even swim; she used her aura to run across the surface of the water, sprinting with incredible speed. Her velocity was so great that she left a long trail of spray in her wake.
Moving swiftly, Helene soon found Shen Lang. He was floating alone on the sea, far from the explosion’s epicenter, and thus unaffected by the blast. Helene reached his side, pulled him up, and gently took his hand, helping him stand on the water.
“Hela’s mother didn’t die back then. Her body was merely taken over by the Cursed Empress. I awakened her consciousness, which was dormant within the Cursed Empress, and at the final moment, she saved us. She controlled the giant octopus and guided it to the pyramid I had set to self-destruct. That’s why my plan succeeded. So, it wasn’t I who saved the Gollum Pirates; it was Angela.”
Shen Lang showed no sign of joy. He merely seemed to be trembling endlessly. Princess Helene said nothing, simply pulling Shen Lang along toward the center of the explosion to search for Angela’s body, but their efforts were fruitless. The sea was littered with the fragmented remains of the Demon Mother of the Lost, some pieces still burning. A massive army of sea monsters surged toward them like a tidal wave, but they did nothing. They just stared blankly at the sea and the monster’s corpse, not attacking Shen Lang or Princess Helene.
After circling the area several times, Helene and Shen Lang found no trace of Angela. There was no person, no body to be found. Soon, Hela caught up and looked at Shen Lang.
“What happened?” she asked.
“It’s… nothing.”
Shen Lang didn’t tell Hela the truth. They had to leave now. The sea monsters would mourn for a while, but once their ritual was over, they would revert to their crazed, bloodthirsty state. The Gollum Pirates wouldn’t be able to hold them off then and would surely be annihilated. Shen Lang couldn’t see it clearly from his vantage point, but from the sky, one would see hundreds of thousands of sea monsters forming a circle around the Demon Mother’s corpse, endlessly swimming in a spiral.
“Let’s go… Hela, when we have time later, let’s come back here.”
***
Returning to the waters where the Gollum fleet had fought, the scene was horrifying. Countless bodies and pieces of wreckage floated on the sea. The battle had been so fierce that the surface of the water was stained red. There were many corpses of Gollum Pirates, but even more belonged to the sea monsters. A third of the warships had been shattered and sunk, and another third were heavily damaged. It was the most devastating battle in the history of the Gollum Pirates.
Seeing Shen Lang appear, Jack Tang stared blankly for a moment, his expression one of disbelief. Everyone had thought Shen Lang had already sacrificed himself, that his sacrifice had saved the Gollum Pirates, but now, he had returned alive. Shen Lang had originally intended to collect a piece of the Demon Mother’s remains to prove his achievement, but he ultimately decided against it. He appeared before everyone in his tattered state. Shen Lang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.
Jack Tang also said nothing. He simply drove his scimitar into the deck and knelt on one knee. The next was Haimon. She glanced at Douglas on the shore, then at her brother Haiyuan’s body, and finally at Princess Helene. She too plunged her scimitar into the deck and knelt on one knee. Like a line of falling dominoes, the thousands of Gollum Pirates knelt, one after another. Thousands, tens of thousands, knelt silently before Shen Lang. After a long moment, Shen Lang spoke, his voice hoarse.
“If you follow me, you will have no freedom. In the future, I must invade the Eastern world, and my enemies are everyone in that world—beings far more powerful than the Seirun Empire.”
The tens of thousands of Gollum Pirates remained kneeling on the ground, making no sound. Shen Lang continued.
“Many died in today’s incomparably heroic battle. But I cannot promise you that this will be your most heroic battle. I cannot even promise how many of you will die. And yet, you are certain you want to follow me?”
The tens of thousands of Gollum Pirates still kept their heads bowed, kneeling in silence. Though they had suffered immense casualties, their hearts felt incredibly light. All the darkness and gloom had been swept away, replaced by an unprecedented sense of pride. They could finally straighten their broken backs and stand tall again. Their lost souls had returned. They had proven Shen Lang’s words: only when a man tries to save himself can heaven save him.
Shen Lang said, “If that is the case, then pledge your loyalty to me. I will continue to lead you into battle, and I will make you stronger. Being the best pirates in the Western world is not enough. I will make you the strongest navy in the world, the strongest navy in the universe. From this day forward, no matter what enemy we face, we will kill them all.”
“Long live the Gollum Pirates! The Gollum Pirates are eternal.”
Though no one shouted the slogan aloud, every Gollum Pirate roared it in their hearts. The strong Gollum Pirates had returned. They would once again shake the world, sweeping across all the seas. With this, Shen Lang’s plan to conquer the Gollum fleet had been a resounding success. He had finally obtained the world’s strongest pirates.
“Then, let us return!”
At Shen Lang’s command, the Gollum fleet raised the sails of their remaining warships.
*Bwoooooo.*
An ancient horn began to sound, and the surviving Gollum fleet, majestic and imposing, prepared to head north, leaving the Ruins of the Lost Kingdom. They were finally, truly, leaving this place.
***
Aboard the massive flagship of the Gollum Pirates.
Shen Lang was now the new master of the Gollum Pirates. He stood at the stern, gazing at the pyramid atop the snowy mountain in the ever-more-distant Ruins of the Lost Kingdom. The mysterious faction had never appeared from beginning to end, but they had clearly played a crucial role. In retrospect, when they had given the battle horn to Angela, it wasn’t out of kindness to save the Gollum Pirates, but rather to give the Cursed Empress a new body. Not many people had explored the Ruins of the Lost Kingdom over the countless years, yet the Cursed Empress had to change bodies every few decades. How did she manage it? Perhaps she had some unspoken agreement with the mysterious power within the pyramid atop the snowy mountain.
“I really want to run over there and see who’s inside. Who in the world is in that pyramid?”
Hela suddenly said. Her words were also what Princess Helene was thinking. In the past, Helene would have charged into the snowy mountains without hesitation. But now, she couldn’t. She had someone to protect and a responsibility to fulfill.
“Helene, how is it that even after such a crazed, heroic battle, there’s not a single drop of blood on you? You still look as pure as a saint.”
Hela couldn’t help but ask. Princess Helene replied.
“My dear sister, if you too had been taught all sorts of noble etiquette since the age of three, you could do it as well.”
“It’s so pretentious. I can’t stand it.”
“I don’t like it either, but I have no choice but to accept and abide by it.”
“Just like how you’re following that bullcrap noble contract to take Douglas back to the Seirun Empire and hand him over to the royal family for trial? If it were me, I would have flayed that bastard alive long ago.”
Princess Helene said in surprise, “Dear sister, if my guess is correct, that man is your older brother.”
Hela was taken aback for a moment.
“Ha, I almost forgot about that. But I can’t smell any family scent on him. I can only smell the charming scent of kinship on you two.”
Hela then hugged Helene again. Princess Helene frowned but did not resist, because her godmother had taught her from a young age that a royal princess must possess both pride and humility, and must never rashly spoil someone’s goodwill.
“Hugging you is so comfortable. You smell so good.”
Hela said, completely engrossed.
“Shen Lang, you are a wise man. Can you answer a question for me?”
Princess Helene asked. Shen Lang replied.
“Of course.”
“What is your ideal? What is your mission?”
“Oh, gods! This kind of solemn topic doesn’t suit me. I’m going to go find some wine.”
Hela slapped her forehead and left, leaving only Helene and Shen Lang in the space.
“My ideal is to have no enemies in this world. To kill every last one of them.”
“Really? I heard your family members who came to the Devil’s Grand Triangle say that, but I’ve always been skeptical. Can someone with such a lack of grand ambition become a king? Now that I think about it, perhaps that is one of the greatest ambitions and grandest ideals of all. It’s like that Eastern saying about how even children from the same womb can be completely different.”
Shen Lang smiled and replied, “I understand now. Before I met you, sister, I thought you would be like Hela—domineering, full of rebellious and adventurous spirit. But after meeting you for real, I’ve realized what a contradiction you are.”
“Oh?”
“You are indeed full of rebellious and adventurous spirit, you don’t fear death, and at times you even actively seek it out. Yet, you are also a model of royalty. Your words and actions are all elegant and noble, composed, tolerant, and filled with a sense of responsibility. It’s almost old-fashioned.”
“You mean I’m very rigid?”
“Yes. You are someone who abides by the rules of the royalty, never saying a word that crosses the line, never showing an imperfect side. But in your heart, you love being wild and adventurous. These two traits are perfectly combined in you.”