Chapter 120 - Planning Future Moves

With the Bowhead Whale dead and Pang Ja-Kyung escaped the danger that had assailed Hei was over. Most of the killer whales left alive had already fled to the darkness of the ocean, and the crew of Sok Yeong-Gi's crew was cleaning up the stubborn ones. Sok Yeong-Gi had gotten back on his ship, his breathing seemed breathless, and he had lost most of his strength, but overall he was fine.

Hei meanwhile had risen to the surface. Waiting for him was Lian, who promptly pulled him up onto the deck of the artifact ship. Ye and Xing then descended from Hei's shoulders and slumped to the ground, followed shortly after by their big brother, who leaned his back on the ship’s deck while looking up at the sky.

"We made it. Haha, nice job. Without you, I couldn’t have made it." Hei complimented Ye, Xing, and Lian with difficulty due to his exhaustion. No, Ho Yeon-Hong was also included. Although minimal, the help of the gray-haired young woman had been crucial.

'Oh, yes. But now I need to sleep for at least an entire day.’ (Ye)

'Yeah, a day of good sleep, and then we'll eat the whale, right?' (Xing)

"First, you have to take a bath to remove the saltwater from the ocean, or it will stick on you. The same goes for you. Hei, but I suppose we can wait a little longer for that." Lian admonished them sternly before bursting out laughing.

Hei also let himself go to a contagious laugh with his little sisters who were writhing with joy despite the tiredness. Beside them, Ho Yeon-Hong was watching the scene in amazement.

"Is it really over? Is it all over?” She asked as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

“Yes, it's over. I think you will no longer have to fear for your life on the way. I strongly doubt that they imagined that their spirit soldier and his spirit beast would fail. Excellent work, Ho Yeon-Hong. Excellent work, Old Tohyon. Without you, we wouldn’t have made it. "

"There is no need to thank Master Hei. Just surviving to tell about such a battle is an honor. Ah, but I guess I'll have to settle for keeping it in my memories.” Old Tohyon smiled wryly. His spirit pact was still active, so it was impossible for him to talk to others about what he was experiencing onboard the artifact ship.

“Who knows, Old Tohyon. Those are still editable. Am I not right, Lian?" Hei asked Lian as he winked toward her.

The blue-haired young woman smiled and turned to Old Tohyon, “Yes, that is possible. Of course, it depends on how things are going, right, Hei?"

"What are you talking about by behaving so mysterious?" Ho Yeon-Hong couldn’t understand the flow of the conversation. What were they talking about?

Hei and Lian burst out laughing again, followed by Old Tohyon. As an experienced seaman, he had already sensed the meaning of their words. Besides, during this period of service as a member of Hei's crew, Old Tohyon had learned to know the young man and his companions. Honestly, he would have liked to have been able to tell their deeds at the end of their journey.

Ho Yeon-Hong still couldn’t understand, but before she could press for answers, Sok Yeong-Gi arrived on their ship. He had a faintly twisted expression when his feet touched the ship's deck.

He had a golden opportunity to kill Pang Ja-Kyung and bring a considerable advantage to his Captain Ho Ri-Na in the clash against Pirate General Hong Shin. However, not only he had let the enemy escape, like he was a fool, the final act of this clash was decided thanks to that pair of young martial artists and their spirit beasts.

"Congratulations, Hei. You and your crew have accomplished an incredible feat. Of course, I also congratulate you, Yeon. You have demonstrated great skill in not losing your courage against a second level spirit beast. You were crucial in killing that creature." Sok Yeong-Gi tried to move some of the success onto Ho Yeon-Hong.

However, the gray-haired young woman shook her head, “If it weren't for Hei's guidance, I would have panicked. I have done nothing but just following his directives. I bet that the big sister Ri-Na will be happy to know about this result. Two seventh stage spirit apprentices who stop a second level spirit beast. I think it's unheard of throughout the Forgotten Ocean, right, big brother Yeong?"

Sok Yeong-Gi twitched his forehead even more but strove to maintain a friendly appearance, “Not that I'm aware of. I think it's the first time that something like this has happened. As you said, the Captain will be pleasantly surprised. Speaking of which, where is the whale's corpse? Were you able to take its spirit core?"

Sok Yeong-Gi looked into Hei's eyes as if he wanted to peer into his soul. Hei then got up from where he was. He stood in front of Sok Yeong-Gi and looked him in the eye as well.

Stolen story; please report.

"No. The whale's body fell deep into the ocean. Furthermore, I was unable to reach the point where the spirit core was. I was more worried about not dying.” Hei jokingly said. It wasn’t a lie. He actually had no enough time to reach the whale's spirit core.

"I understand. Well, it would be a pity to give up something so valuable. Don't you mind if I go looking for it underwater, do you? It would be an excellent gift to bring to the Captain."

"Big Brother Yeong?" Ho Yeong-Hong tried to understand why he was asking such questions, but she was interrupted by Hei.

"Go ahead, except that the whale had already dived quite deep. With the darkness of the night, it will be difficult to find it even if it has a huge body. Considering that it is likely that its corpse has gone even deeper now." Hei commented as if he wasn’t worried at all.

Sok Yeong-Gi didn’t reply but dived directly into the water. He would believe it only if he were to see with his eyes and not by trusting Hei's words.

Hei let him do. He wasn’t worried at all. It was impossible for Sok Yeong-Gi to find the whale's carcass. Not to mention that he didn't even have a piece of evidence that could connect Hei with taking possession of the body of that spirit beast.

And after about ten minutes, Sok Yeong-Gi returned to the surface again. He was thoroughly drenched but didn't seem to care much about it. He was pretty pissed at the moment. From his reaction, it was clear that he hadn’t been successful in finding the whale carcass.

With a fleeting glimpse, he looked briefly at Hei before looking away. He had his hands tied. He couldn’t act, at least not with Ho Yeon-Hong present. One solution was to do something once they got to the main base, but that too was suicide. Pirate General Ho Ri-Na would never have forgiven him if he were to create a mess at the base during a delicate moment like this.

However, the problem that worried him most was whether he was able to take out this couple of kids and their spirit beasts. The power shown by them was superior even to his. If he were to face them head-on, he could have risked losing.

As a result, the only truly plausible alternative was to take them out during the conflict with Hong Shin. At that moment, Captain Ho Ri-Na and the other spirit soldiers under her service would be too worried to look after him.

'I know what you're thinking. If you think you can take advantage of the conflict between the Pirate Generals to take action, then you're wrong. On that occasion, it won’t be us who will be eliminated, but it will be you instead. If you dare to show fangs against my family, be prepared to suffer my punishment.’ Hei thought to himself as he watched Sok Yeong-Gi return to his ship.

For now, they had escaped the danger thanks to the presence of Ho Yeon-Hong. However, it was clear that spirit soldier Sok Yeong-Gi felt threatened by him and Lian. Hei wasn't sure why the pirate was feeling in that way, but it didn't change the fact that Sok Yeong-Gi had bad intentions against them. So, Hei, too, at the first opportunity, would get rid of the enemy who was waiting in hiding.

"Ye, Xing. Lian is right, let's have a quick wash and then let's go to sleep. Ho Yeon-Hong, you can go to the cabin in the meantime. In any case, soon, we will go to rest, and we don't want to be disturbed.” Hei turned politely but firmly towards the young gray-haired woman.

Ho Yeon-Hong sensed that as the vanguard of this operation, Hei must have consumed his forces almost completely. He was also likely to have suffered internal wounds not visible at first glance from outside. So, she made no fuss and headed for the cabin. She could only hope that Hei wasn't hurt too badly.

As soon as Ho Yeon-Hong left, Hei fell to the ground with a thud. In truth, he had used the last remnants of his strength to stand up against Sok Yeong-Gi. Now he couldn't even get up.

Lian went up to him and put a hand on his forehead. Soon a warm stream of spirit power was released by Lian's soft and delicate hand. Hei made no resistance and let her examine his body.

Alchemy and Formations had several common traits. One of these was the basic ability to understand the internal structure of an object through one's spirit power. Right now, Lian was examining the internal state of Hei's body. Although she wasn't a doctor, she could still do a rough analysis of Hei's condition.

“Your internal flow of spirit power is in turmoil. The Combined Technique puts too much pressure on your body. Even your muscles and internal organs have wounds, although I don't know in which entities. But since you don't look dying, they shouldn't be fatal or serious.” Lian gave a brief account of what she had sensed.

"Yeah. My arms, in particular, hurt like mad. I think there will be no fights for a while, but maybe it's better this way. We will use the excuse of my injuries to stay in the main base all the time. We have finished the three missions pre-imposed by Ho Ri-Na, so we aren’t required to do more, also considering that we have saved his younger sister."

"If we don't go on a mission and you want to be treated as injured, then will we have another reclusion period?" Lian quickly analyzed the implications of Hei's words.

"Yes, I guess you noticed it too. Sok Yeong-Gi. I don't know why, but he won't let us go. We have to get rid of him. But we can't use the Battle Formation and Combined Technique all the time. Before the clash against the Hong Shin’s crew, we must reach the rank of spirit soldier."

"I see, you want to close the accounts there." Lian's face became severe. Like Hei, she no longer had problems killing people or planning their deaths.

“It's not just Sok Yeong-Gi. Depending on the situation, it is likely that we should act ahead of schedule. If there are map fragments, then we should also aim our weapons at Ho Ri-Na. Besides, I doubt she would leave us unpunished after killing one of her men. And the best time to act is while fighting Hong Shin."

After that quick conference on their next moves, Hei got Lian to help him take off the top of his tunic. The young blue-haired woman began to clean his back and chest with buckets of water, pulled out of her space rings. Once she was done with Hei, she also went to wash Ye and Xing.

When she had finished washing the three siblings, Lian noticed that they had fallen asleep from exhaustion on the ship's deck. With a slight smile, she took the two little divine beasts and placed them on her chest. Then she leaned on Hei’s body, who was peacefully sleeping because he knew that Lian was nearby.

"You could have waited to get back into the cabin, you idiot." Lian scolded him tenderly. Her two silk ribbons wrapped them like petals, sheltering them from the morning cold.