Chapter 84: Standing Tall
Several days later.
White seabirds flew over Snake Rat Island’s port.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ flag fluttered above twelve ships.
Sailors and porters were buzzing with activity.
Water was filled, rum was barreled, vegetables were bundled, fresh meat, bread, cheese, and other supplies were packed and transported onto these ships.
The hulls of these ships were filled with innumerable and distinct scars from blades and cannon fire.
Speaking of which, all of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ six ships were sunk during the battle.
Upon discussing after the victory, Tan Qi and the dragonman youngster decided to not salvage those ships.
Because those ships had all been destroyed by Rou Zang, even if they were salvaged, they’d need to be overhauled too.
After calculating the salvage and repair cost, it was determined to not be cost effective and that it was better to just buy new ships.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had done exceptional, and had an outstanding battle record, thus Tan Qiu gave them 12 captured ships that were in relatively good condition.
Of course, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ gains from this conflict were far more than just these 12 ships.
In the flagship’s captain room, Guang Ke and the dragonman youngster were discussing the Justice God’s doctrine.
The dragonman youngster said, “Defending and carrying out justice should be the pursuit of every living being.”
“Isn’t that right?”
Guang Ke nodded, “That’s right.”
The dragonman youngster then said, “Then, how can we pursue justice? We need to have a usable body. Or in other words, we need to preserve life.”
“Is that not also right?”
Guang Ke hesitated, and didn’t reply.
The dragonman youngster smiled, “Is it also impossible for the undead to pursue justice?”
As he said this, the young man was gazing out a window and saw the ghost girl, Zi Di, on the ship, carefully checking the goods being transported on board.
When undead were mentioned, Guang Ge solemnly replied, “The undead are all wicked, and the opposite of righteous.”
The dragonman youngster nodded, “Therefore, the prerequisite is survival. Without life, there is nothing, then how will one be able to uphold justice?”
Guang Ke slowly shook his head, “Those words are a little biased. In fact, to defend and carry out justice, we have to have a sacrificial mindset.”
“Many times, justice is carried out even at the cost of one’s life!”
Guang Ke’s eyes looked both divine and very sincere.
This was the philosophy he wholeheartedly approved of.
The dragonman youngster smiled, “Right.”
“Lord Guang Ke speaks true.”
“It is because we weren’t afraid to sacrifice our lives that we were able to defeat Rou Zang and Gu Qiao together.”
“Therefore, the prerequisite of sacrifice is that we still need to be alive. Only by retaining our life can we be able to sacrifice ourselves, no?”
Guang Ke was dumbstruck.
The dragonman youngster had circled back to his own point.
“That is also correct.” Guang Ke wrinkled his brows and carefully pondered, but didn’t find any point he could refute.
Then at that moment, there was a voice at the door.
It was a sailor bringing a report, he said that Feudal Lord tan Qiu was coming to the port to send off the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
“Good, let Zong Ge hold a reception, I will join them in a little bit.” The dragonman youngster ordered.
Guang Ke’s brows creased deeply, “Your philosophy puts life ahead of justice, and makes it a prerequisite for justice.”
“If that is the case, then survival is more important that pursuing justice.”
“Does that mean that for the sake of survival, one can abandon all morality and principles, and commit crimes?”
“Won’t your philosophy cause evil to flourish?”
The dragonman youngster shook his head respectfully, “Lord Guang Ke.”
“There are people who have done wrong.”
“We are all sinful!”
“It is because we bear sins that we repent and pursue righteousness.”
“Is it not precisely our church’s duty to lead all living beings onto this path?”
“Everyone should pursue righteousness and have the power to pursue it! This includes both ordinary people and criminals.”
“Righteousness and sin are like light and dark; it is because light is beautiful that darkness can express its repulsiveness. Conversely, it is because of the darkness that light can show its value.”
“Allow believers to cleanse themselves of their sins, and become emissaries of justice, is that not what we pursue?”
Guang Ke was dumbstruck.
He sensed that the dragonman youngster’s philosophy had already formed a closed loop.
It could be explained circularly.
It had an impeccable feeling.
Guang Ke sighed, “With regards to my God’s doctrine, I am not an expert.”
“I am very sorry that I have other urgent affairs.”
“Otherwise, I would travel and sail with you so we could discuss our doctrine.”
The dragonman youngster also expressed his disappointment.
In actuality, his heart had greatly relaxed.
Much of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ affairs could not be exposed to the light. After leaving Snake Rat Island, they needed to go to Two Eyes Island and use Wisteria Merchant Alliance channels to contact the Bai Zhen clan elder.
This matter was very important, and if Guang Ke was by their side, it would be very inconvenient for the survivors.
“It is getting late; it is time to see you off.” Guang Ke stood up to leave, “If there is an opportunity, I hope you can travel to my God’s cathedral, the archbishop there is well versed in the field of theology.”
“If I get the chance, I will go there.” The dragonman youngster nodded his agreement.
The speech he gave on the battlefield not only changed others, but it also changed him too.
Before, he too felt the weight of his sins.
Now, through his own enlightenment, he had swept away the haze in his heart and had now had an entirely different spirit and mindset.
Guang Ke and the dragonman youngster left the captain’s room and went to the port to meet with Tan Qiu.
Tan Qiu was beaming.
He had finally eliminated his greatest heart demon, and after defeating Rou Zang, the greatest shadow over his life had crumbled.
Rou Zang and Gu Qiao were captured alive, layered heavily with seals, and stringently watched.
Rou Zang’s mouth was very stiff, even after cruel torture, he wouldn’t reveal where he had hidden his treasure.
Rou Zang’s pirate group had rampaged in these seas for many years, there was no way the wealth he stashed was small.
Tan Qiu looked forward to what happened next greatly.
He hung Rou Zang on the punishment scaffold for all to see.
This would strengthen his prestige and renown to the maximum.
Originally, the church priest who had funded it was the leader.
But the priest died in battle.
Tan Qiu replaced him as the biggest winner.
As for Gu Qiao, Tan Qiu imprisoned him and didn’t treat him like Rou Zang.
After all, Gu Qiao was not a pirate and was from the Great Pain Temple.
The latter power was very robust. Tan Qiu was in the middle of finding someone to connect him with them, and he planned to exchange Gu Qiao for sufficient construction supplies for the island.
Gu Qiao was a gold level fighter, a valuable person the Great Pain Temple wouldn’t abandon.
“The ocean is vast; I do not know when we will see each other again.” At the time before parting, Tan Qiu expressed his desire for them to meet again.
“The memory of when we fought side by side and defeated Rou Zang’s pirate group proves the glory of our fellowship.”
“Snake Rat Island will forever welcome your corps!”
The dragonman youngster expressed that if given the chance, he would continue their collaboration together.
A short while later, the twelve ships sailed off and left the port.
After he saw the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps gradually disappear over the horizon, Tan Qiu let out a breath.
During the naval battle against Rou Zang, everyone had seen the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ substantial strength.
To be honest, when the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps berthed at Snake Rat Island, they had been a weight on Tan Qiu’s heart.
The captain’s room.
Zi Di reported the outcome of the conflict to the dragonman youngster.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had lost six ships and had gained twelve ships of better quality postwar.
80 people were killed, 137 were crippled, and to compensated them, 49 gold, 82 silver, and 63 copper was spent.
But after the war, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps recruited a thousand people!
Without enough people, they wouldn’t be able to operate 12 ships.
It didn’t cost a penny to recruit this many people.
Many of them were pirates that had surrendered.
Tan Qiu wasn’t comfortable with releasing these war criminals into his territory, but the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was leaving that, their situation was different.
On the seas, there wasn’t many differences between mercenary groups and pirate groups.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps hadn’t lost any members of its backbone or core.
This is because during the naval battle, the dragonman youngster, Zong Ge, and the others issued proper commands and didn’t carry out cannon fodder tactics. Especially when facing Rou Zang, they had given the order to abandon ship and withdrew willingly.
The distinguished gold level cannon remained intact and wasn’t damaged.
We have spent 9 fireball scrolls, 27 healing scrolls, 344 alchemy arrows, 241 artillery shells, and damaged 25 alchemy crossbows.
“We used 10 boxes of shakers.”
“One pearl bubble.”
Both had been used to make the trap; by using an illusion of Zong Ge and the gold level cannon, they had successfully lured Rou Zang into it.
“Before the fight, we obtained a set of standard templar knight equipment.”
“We also obtained a gold level material – the blood brain pebble.”
“We also obtained the Bath Tub’s gold level alchemy device – the Magic Medicine Bathtub.”
“Apart from this, there is also a batch of magic medicine recipes.”
“We obtained the organization method for the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army from Tan Qiu.”
After the naval battle ended, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps returned for the dead tired Xu Ma.
They also arrested the Stone Forest Islanders along the way.
The blood brain pebble was given over by Tan Qiu.
In order to obtain the right to deal with Rou Zang and Gu Qiao with his own hands, Tan Qiu had given up many riches.
The blood brain pebble was the first, the magic medicine bathtub was the second, and the Drunken Shrimp Mud Spear Army organization method was the third.
When the medicine bath was brought up, Zi Di inevitably elaborated on it more, “This gold level item is very useful, it can refine large batches of magic medicine and will be of great help to the entire group!”
As Zi Di was giving her report to the young captain, Zong Ge was busy writing in his training manual.
He was no longer limited to one ship, now he had expanded to three.
“Kuai Tui’s battle squad is the key.”
“There are too many new mercenaries, they need much more training.”
“As we sail, they can practice steering the ships, controlling the sails, and other such activities.”
“Military discipline is important! It must be reshaped and emphasized.”
“When we reach Two Eyes Island, I should be able to cure my arm injury.”
In the latter stages of the naval battle, Zong Ge’s arm injury was a burden that forced him to rely mainly on shooting from afar, which made him feel terrible.
Bai Ya’s head was bandaged.
In his free time, he sat above deck and admired the vast seascape.
He reminisced to himself the letter he wrote to his sweetheart.
Dear Miss Xi Qiu:
Although the naval battle is done, I still see it replaying before me.
My ears still ring with the echoes of gunfire.
I still have nightmares.
I dreamed that I died in battle, and still dream about Priest Jia Sha.
But I no longer panic like before.
Whenever I recall the captain’s words, I can sense a warm feeling rising from my heart.
I am very glad that I could meet our captain!
I think that in some ways, he is greater than even Lord Guang Ke.
It was he who lifted me up, allowed me to confront my sins, then go and seek and more radiant and beautiful tomorrow.
It was he who let me know that I am walking on the correct path!
Therefore, I stand tall.
Not after we redeem ourselves, but as we redeem ourselves.