Chapter 225: Justice God Revelation
Seeing Chi Lai wanted to offer aid at his own accord, the dragonman youngster’s heart warmed.
His brows smoothed out as he sighed, “Truth be told, I am very disappointed.”
Chi Lai suddenly exposed a look of understanding, “Is it Hun Tong?”
It actually wasn’t just Hun Tong, the dragonman youngster was disappointed in himself too.
But the dragonman youngster wouldn’t reveal anything about the seafloor treasures, he nodded, “Indeed, part of it is about him.”
Hun Tong is an imperial noble, he was the feudal lord there, he agreed to uphold justice and differentiate the boundaries of evil.”
“However, he decided to trade with pirates, offering them a convenient place to dispose of their stolen goods. The pirates smoothly gained capital they could use the arm themselves to carry out many more plunders.”
“Hun Tong is unquestionably their accomplice!”
Not only that, but during the battle, he kept the Golden Flash hidden until the final moment, because the valuables were leaving the island.”
“When we were departing the island, he deceived us, selling the Bandage Mercenary Corps’ flagship to us. Following that, he is certain to put his hands on those victims.”
“Although the Bandage Mercenary Corps fought mainly to save themselves, they were still our comrades in arms.”
“Hun Tong’s conduct really made me disappointed.”
As a matter of fact, the dragonman youngster also felt guilty.
One thought lingered in his heart – if we didn’t swipe the seafloor treasures, Hun Tong would be wealthy, would he let off the Bandage Mercenary Corps? What if Zi Di only took half the valuables? If half of it was left for Hun Tong, would it indirectly benefit the common poor people?
Accompanying this thought was his conscience’s denouncement, and a voice in the young man’s heart rang out, “Could leaving behind those valuables help the people? Too naïve! Hun Tong is treacherous and deceitful; he wouldn’t make concessions willingly. His battle strategy obviously wanted him to be the sole winner that ate up all the other parties!”
“The survivors urgently needed these seafloor valuables, activating the Anti-investigation and Prophecy formation not only took a lot of money, but the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was in dire financial straits, the blackmail letter didn’t get a reply, and the future is filled with unknowns and hardships, you have to grab hold of every opportunity to expand your chances of survival!”
“It’s like Mystifying Monster Island, like Snake Rat Island, those that survive can carry out righteousness. Each life has the basic right to keep on living, what do you find wrong with fighting for the chance to survive? The first and most righteous thing is wanting to live!”
During the Snake Rat naval battle, the dragonman youngster had come to this understanding, and not only convinced himself of it, but also his other companions, thereby crossing that crisis.
However, at this very moment, he used this theory again, but this time felt uneasy.
Because he unavoidably would think, “If it is righteous for me to abscond with the seafloor treasures for the sake of survival, what about Hun Tong?”
As a human knight looking in: Hun Tong had expelled the fishmen, expanded the empire’s territory, and indirectly serviced the empire’s grand strategy of attacking the beastmen’s continent.
In fact, the Sheng Ming Empire, these last few years, had issued many policies to encourage nobles to expand, especially to the islands between the Sheng Ming Empire and the Wilderness Continent.
Hun Tong had been motivated by such policy and went to seize Two Eyes Island.
However, the policy couldn’t help Hun Tong much more besides giving him a tax exemption.
When Hun Tong was in the opening stages of his conquest, he hadn’t developed Two Eyes Island that much.
Putting oneself into Hun Tong’s shoes, one could realize Hun Tong didn’t have an easy time!
Two Eyes Island was not a normal island, it didn’t have soil, couldn’t grow plants, didn’t have minerals, and half of it was on the seafloor for a period. Apart from this, Hun Tong was also being constantly harassed and attacked by the fishman clan, along with being devastated by pirate gangs large and small all around.
If Hun Tong ran Two Eyes Island like a conventional feudal lord, he would have been destroyed. Not only would the fishmen retake their homeland, but pirates would also ransack everything. Even if it that didn’t happen, under this double besiegement, Two Eyes Island would have been cut off from the rest of the world and gradually sink into oblivion.
“Under this environment, Hun Tong painstakingly built up his enterprise, changed his tactics, created a business atmosphere, and allowed pirates to peacefully dispose of their stolen goods, thereby reaching a tacit understanding and giving space for domestic and foreign traffic.”
“With save shipping routes and pirate booty creating cheap merchant goods, Two Eyes Island successfully attracted merchant alliances large and small to set up there.”
“Hun Tong also withstood the fishman clan, forcibly revitalizing the backwater Two Eyes Island.”
If Hun Tong didn’t execute this survival strategy, he might have ended defeated and dispersed.”
“If calculated like this, would Hun Tong not be righteous too?”
“Then, is Hun Tong a righteous person?”
The dragonman youngster’s heart asked himself.
He shook his head to himself.
“Hun Tong and the pirates wallow in the mire of each other, he bullied our former battle companions (the Bandage Mercenary Corps), and schemed against his people’s property, clear injustices.”
“But isn’t it also possible that after Hun Tong carried out his plan, he would defend justice and become the most esteemed of imperial nobles? As long as circumstances allow, could he become a feudal lord brimming with honor and virtue?”
“Were those past sufferings merely him enduring humiliation and a survival strategy so he could dispense righteousness even further, abandoning the minute justices in the present?”
The dragonman youngster felt he was standing at a fork in the road.
Next, he needed to pick which road to walk on.
One road among them was called “Hun Tong’s possible justice” – for the purpose of greater justice, one could sacrifice the present justices and submit to evil.
In a nutshell, to become a “better” person in the future, I can accept becoming a “small” villain in for now.
“Can I?” The dragonman youngster asked himself.
“Will doing this soothe me more and increase the odds of everyone’s survival?”
The dragonman youngster thought of spies.
Some spies deep undercover, in order to attack an enemy’s leadership, would choose to sell out their side’s benefits and even attack their own comrades.
“However, can righteousness do that?”
“Can righteousness be viewed in a transactional manner, can it be weighed and calculated?”
“Can the undertaking of justice be so simply considered through merits and demerits?”
“Could I have the shadow of Hun Tong on me?”
The dragonman youngster deeply examined himself, the interrogation flogging his thoughts like a whip.
His heart was permeated with bewilderment.
He looked at Chi Lai, and asked his heart’s greatest doubt, “What is righteousness? How should the path of righteousness be walked? Where does it go?”
Upon hearing the young man’s question, Chi Lai couldn’t help but he dazzled.
“Similar, so similar!” He couldn’t help but sigh from the bottom of his heart.
It really resembled the past him!
Chi Lai deliberated for a bit, then instead of directly answering the dragonman youngster, he said, “Lord Commander, I cannot give you a straightforward answer to your question, because I am also a humble believer.”
“Here, I want to share with you the time I obtained God’s gaze and my experience with a divine spell, perhaps it can help you somewhat.”
The dragonman youngster was immediately interested.
During the battle, Chi Lai had used a divine spell to increase the gold cannon’s power.
The scene left a profound impression on everyone who had witnessed it on the battlefield.
Chi Lai slowly said, “I was born into a poor family, and because of my outstanding gifts, I was chosen after consideration to join the imperial navy.”
“A noble young master intended to plunder another’s inheritance, deceive a naïve girl, and planned to use a contemptible method to have that girl lose her virginity to him.”
“When me and my comrades unwittingly overheard this plot, even though I was entirely unacquainted with that girl, I decided to act.”
“Against my comrades’ advice, who warned me that noble young master had a big background.”
“But I didn’t heed their advice, I destroyed the noble young master’s plot and let the girl realize how dangerous and insidious he was.”
“The noble young master became enraged over this perceived humiliation and exploited his clan’s influence to frame me.”
“When I went to prison, no one save me, my former friends all chose to abandon me, they even engaged in perjury, hit me while I was down, and I too was at a loss.”
“Where was justice? Where could I find righteousness? I protected and carried out justice, why did I end up this way?”
“Was I abnormal, or was the world abnormal?”
“Was I wrong, or was justice wrong?”
“More ironic was when I heard the latest news on the girl. She decided to marry that noble young master at her own volition, of course it was due to the noble clan pressuring her, for the sake of completely wiping away any suspicions and taint the young master had.”
“The girl testified that I coveted her beauty and wanted to use a crafty plot to break the close relationship with her and her spouse.”
“I sank into despair, giving up on all hope on life and the world. I didn’t plan to remain in this world, and I decided to commit suicide that same evening, and decided to say one final prayer.”
“I thought it would be my last prayer in my life.”
“I thought it would be my most insincere prayer ever.”
“I asked my God a question, what really is justice? I asked why I had fallen to this state? I asked why justice didn’t exist in this world!”
“However…”
“I heard a great voice, my God’s voice.”
“They said: Chi Lai, my child, I teach you this: justice exists at the point of a sword, at the mouth of a cannon, and in the hearts of people.”
The dragonman youngster shook, and with a mix of envy and admiration, asked, “God gave you a revelation?”
“That’s right, it was a divine revelation.” Chi Lai took in a deep breath, “Despite only being a sentence, I comprehended three divine spells.”
“They are Justice Army Vanguard, Justice Cannon, and Mark Evil!”
“Justice Army Vanguard is a large scale buffing divine spell that can double a friendly side’s battle capabilities.”
“Justice Cannon can amplify a cannon barrel, and with the Justice God, I can cause its might to rise dramatically.”
“The most core divine spell is Mark Evil. Using it can mark a target as “evil enemy” or “righteous ally”. After putting on this mark, our attacks will do more damage to those marked enemies. If our attacks hit friendly troops, it won’t affect them. Our healing magic will be greatly amplified and won’t affect enemies.”
Although they had only been together for a short time, Chi Lai decided to describe his three divine spells in detail to the dragonman youngster in their entirety.
Many times, interactions between people can be wonderful.
Although Chi Lai was not familiar with the dragonman youngster at first sight, in their brief few days, their relationship advanced by leaps and bounds.
“After receiving God’s revelation, I no longer wanted to commit suicide. Because my God almost pitied me, and I had obtained my answer.”
The dragonman youngster’s eyes were despondent, and his mouth murmured, repeating the divine revelation, “Justice…exists at the point of a sword, at the mouth of a cannon, and in the hearts of people.”
Then, the young man looked puzzled, “I cannot completely comprehend the meaning of this phrase.”
Chi Lai smiled, “I didn’t either, I still don’t.”
“It is every normal.”
“Because we are not gods, but people. Understanding the complete meaning of a divine revelation is not something we can achieve.”
“In front of gods, we should keep humble.”
“Therefore, despite the noble clan tormenting me, and selling me as a slave, I serenely accept it as fact.”
“Besides, as a slave, I strived to comprehend the meaning the divine revelation and gradually had many insights and understandings.”
“But I don’t want to impart these experiences to you, fellow believer.”
Because my life experience is not yours.”
“I believe us encountering each other was arranged by God. God has bestowed upon me their revelation to not only me, but also to you.”
“From now on, go comprehend what that phrase means.”
“Use your own life experiences, as long as you scrupulously abide by the path of righteousness, you are sure to solve the doubts in your heart and obtain your answer!”