The junior captain of Ten Thousand Armies had a serious expression on his face as he said, “What are you talking about? You came here to rob the merchant ship that we were escorting. Not only did we not kill you, but we even gave you a lifeboat. Now, you’re saying that I’m trying to kill you? Why don’t you think about it for yourselves? Even if I were to sell all six of you scums, it would not be worth this lifeboat!”The pirate cried out in anger, “If you wanted to be a good man, you should do good until the end! You should leave us with an engine at the very least so that we can drive back to our base!”The junior captain laughed and said, “It’s okay. I see that your base is only about a hundred nautical miles away. You can just paddle and paddle all the way back.”“Paddle back...” The pirate broke down as he cried out in protest, “Even if we were to really paddle all the way back, it would take us at least a few days! How are we going to go back alive if we have no food or water?
Each of them grabbed a life jacket and immediately put it on their bodies before they began to blow through the blowing port on their shoulder.However, no matter how much they blew, the life jackets on their bodies remained unchanged. It was just like a thin layer of plastic vest that was sticking to their bodies.Just as everyone was exchanging glances with one another, one person cursed out in despair, “F*ck! The life jackets have all been punctured! There‘s air leaking everywhere!”The leader of the group was immediately desperate. “It seems as though those beasts had already planned all of this in advance!”As he said that, he looked at the bottled water and the compressed biscuits before he said emotionally, “Luckily those people have a little bit of conscience. At the very least, they left us with some food and water. We might still be able to go back alive...”As he spoke, he picked up a bottle of water, intending to take a sip of water. After twisting it gently, he realiz
Very soon, with the popularity of the video, Ten Thousand Armies also became the object of passionate pursuit by netizens all over the world.Many people who previously did not have any feelings for the mercenary organization or even felt antipathy were also ignited by Ten Thousand Armies’ actions, and they were filled with praise for it.This caused Ten Thousand Armies to instantly gain a huge wave of passerby fans, and this also caused their reputation to rise rapidly. A collective joint name of many netizens also appeared on the internet. They requested for Ten Thousand Armies to wipe out these domineering pirates completely so that the pirates, which was a group that should have disappeared in civilized society long ago, would retire from the stage of history completely. Over the past few decades, the pirates in the Gulf of Aden had failed to be prohibited. The Gulf of Aden was also the choke point of sea transportation with no other alternatives and so, the world did not h
They even publicly declared that all of Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group’s armed escort business had already been entrusted over to Ten Thousand Armies exclusively. Moreover, every Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group’s cargo ship passing through the Gulf of Aden in the future would be provided with Ten Thousand Armies’ armed escort services.As soon as this announcement was made, the whole world applauded Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group’s tough attitude. Badr was furious, and he immediately called out that he would make Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group pay a painful price, and that Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group would never be able to set foot in the Gulf of Aden again. Just as Badr’s announcement was released, Porter called Charlie and said, “Mr. Wade, I just saw the announcement issued by the pirate organization. These people are used to roaming around in the Gulf of Aden, and they really do not know any better. Do you think that we should behead him as soon as possible?”Charlie di
In order to maintain his image in the minds of his subordinates and protect his position in the Gulf of Aden, Badr convened his subordinates immediately and held a mobilization meeting.This group of weak soldiers under Badr was originally a little apprehensive after hearing that their boss had declared war with Ten Thousand Armies. They also knew their own weight and capabilities, and they knew that people like them did not have even the slightest chance of winning if they were to truly fight against Ten Thousand Armies.The other party was a long-standing top-level mercenary, whereas they were nothing more than just some pathetic pirates who had not even practiced their marksmanship very well. They could only hold and aim an AK47 blindly at a target. They really did not know how badly they would die if they were to indeed become Ten Thousand Armies’ enemy.However, Badr also had his own skills and abilities since he could hold onto the position as the leader of the pirate organi
Since their base camp had never been attached before, this group of people had no sense of crisis at all. The soldiers were smoking cigarettes and chatting in groups of twos and threes as they just waited for their shift to change so that they could go back and rest after dawn.However, they did not know that in the darkness of the sea, many heavily armed frogmen who were armed with silent electric thrusters were silently approaching the coastline.These frogmen were soldiers from Ten Thousand Armies. The leader of this team was Zayne, the second-in-command in Ten Thousand Armies. For Zayne, asking him to lead the assassination for an inconspicuous pirate leader really felt like he was killing a chicken with a slaughter knife.However, Zayne did not dare to express or feel any dissatisfaction when he thought of how this was extremely important to Ten Thousand Armies’ armed escort business.Therefore, he personally led his soldiers to infiltrate Badr’s base from the sea just so
Badr, who was all-powerful in the Gulf of Aden, would never have dreamt that he would be killed so easily. In Zayne’s opinion, this kind of guy was nothing at all, and Badr was actually considered lucky to be able to die in his hands.After that, Zayne gently placed his body back on the bed. Badr’s body was still in a position where he was facing upward, but his entire face had been sunk into the pillow, revealing only the back of his head.This kind of image contained a little strangeness and violence.At this time, Zayne took out a waterproof plastic cylinder from his chest, and he then took out a set of handwritten words by Porter on which only a few words were written on it: “Anyone who stands in my way will be killed.”This sentence was a reminder that Ten Thousand Armies was leaving behind for the rest of the pirate organization.At this time, Zayne retreated from the room quietly. After that, he greeted his men who were standing guard outside the door, and they all went
He did not expect that they were originally planning to siege Ito-Schulz Ocean Shipping Group’s cargo ship as well as the armed escorts from Ten Thousand Armies early in the morning, but unexpectedly, Ten Thousand Armies’ action was obviously faster. Moreover, they did not even have to wait, and they actually came all the way to their base to attack them!Moreover, he also did not expect that Ten Thousand Armies’ strength would be so strong and powerful that no one would notice at all even when his boss had been killed in this base with thousands of people in it!It had taken Badr twenty years to conquer this country, but in the end, his own neck had been snapped and broken in his very own base camp!Furthermore, the dozens of speedboats that Badr had accumulated over the past twenty years were all also blown up by Ten Thousand Armies in the blink of an eye!His twenty years of hard work and his own life had been destroyed in one night!The second-in-command immediately realized t
Elaine may have led a life as if she was above the rules, but beneath that tough exterior lay crippling insecurities and a horrific inferiority complex.She was always afraid of being belittled—but more than that, of being ostracized and betrayed.Over the years, the greatest source of her complexes could all be traced back to Matilda.After all, Matilda had been a star back in their school days. Because Elaine was a close friend of hers, many boys would get chummy with Elaine, but only because they were interested in Matilda.Being from a poor farmer's family, Elaine had been scorned plenty and therefore felt exceedingly inferior around Matilda.It was from that sense of inferiority that Elaine had inadvertently developed a one-sided rivalry against Matilda, and she believed her greatest triumph over Matilda in this life was the moment she had stolen Jacob from her.However, while Elaine presumed that she could hold that victory over Matilda's head, Lady Wilson had soured that v
Moreover, given Elaine's ridiculous temper, Jacob knew she would definitely go overboard and destroy him.He wouldn't even have a place to live at that point, and it would really be game over if she held a grudge and stormed the Calligraphy and Painting Association!Under such circumstances, he couldn't ask for a divorce—hell, he might even refuse a divorce if Elaine asked for one!However, that was when Elaine laughed coldly. "Oh, my… You're really not going to divorce me?""Come on—how long were we married?" Jacob quickly reasoned. "Getting divorced at our age? People would laugh at us."Elaine scoffed. "Now I'm curious… Matilda's quite old too, and she's a divorcee marrying again. Won't people laugh at her?""Technically, she's a widow—"Jacob blurted out, but soon turned pale, tensing up again not a second after he had just calmed down, asking gingerly, "W-Why would you suddenly mention her?'Elaine stopped pretending right then and snapped, "It's actually impressive that y
Horrified, Jacob promptly grasped the steering wheel and brought the Cullinan back under control while not hesitating to snap, "Are you crazy?! We're on the highway—that could have killed the both of us!"However, Elaine ignored him and seized the moment to open the armrest box, pulling out the large white envelope.As she opened it, she muttered, "So, it really was a wedding invitation… You really are a terrible friend, Jacob Wilson, hiding a wedding invitation like this! What's the point? Just look at that nervous face of yours—would I suspect you of having an affair with the bride-to-be?"She flipped open the card and was experienced enough to check the names first while disregarding the usual preamble. She wouldn't care about the venue or the time either, focusing solely on the professor who had somehow made Jacob very nervous.That was how Elaine found the names in less than a second: Yolden Hart and Matilda Hall.Matilda?!The name could well be knives stabbing Elaine in th
Jacob's brain blanked out, leaving only a dull hum as soon as Walker mentioned 'Professor Hall'.Already feeling nervous in the first place, he quickly said, "Okay, okay—I got it. Anyway, I'm hanging up if there's nothing else!"With that, he promptly pressed the button to hang up.Nonetheless, Elaine was soon asking in curiosity, "Who's Professor Hall?"If Jacob had any semblance of composure, he would have said 'a colleague at Senior University' as if it was perfectly natural, and the matter would have been forgotten.But the reality was that he didn't—in fact, he was the champion when it came to dropping the ball as a casual question from Elaine left him sweating all over his brow.Even as he slid nervous glances at her face, he stammered uncontrollably, "N-Nobody…"Elaine promptly noticed his strange reaction and frowned. "I'm talking about Professor Hall. What do you mean, nobody? Who are they? And what's this about an invitation? Inviting you for what?"Seeing that he was
Jacob had really had too much to drink and couldn't remember the later parts of what had happened last night—even how he had gotten home was a blur.Naturally, he also forgot that Walker had brought Matilda's wedding invitation, and therefore didn't hesitate to answer the in-car answer button.Over the phone, Walker was positively fawning as he asked, "Mr. Wilson? It's Walker. Why didn't you come in today? Had too much to drink last night?""Uh-huh," Jacob grunted, lethargic. "I did—my head still hurts now… Anyway, what's up? Trouble at the association?""No, of course not," Walker quickly said. "I was just worried you're still hungover, so I called to ask. If you need a driver or anything, you just need to ask!"Then, before Jacob could answer, he continued, "By the way, my wife is somewhat knowledgable in Oskian medicine, and she has recipes for brews that cure hangovers and nourish the liver. I'm sure you'll need the latter since you're always drinking at social events, so I as
Fortunately, Elaine and Jacob's bickering never escalated.Even though Elaine was winning, Jacob found it tolerable.After Jacob finished his lunch and cleaned up, he never looked up as he said, "Charlie sent a text, saying Claire's flight would touch down earlier at three. We will leave at two."Elaine grumbled. "Why leave so early? She's coming back from abroad, and there'd be checkpoints she has to clear—she'd be lucky if she could leave by half past three. I'm sleeping a few winks now, and we'll leave at half past two."As she left the dining room, she didn't even look back as she said, "Clean up for me too."Jacob had a million complaints but said nothing as he kept his head down, throwing Elaine's lunchbox in the trash can as well.With Elaine gone, he sat on the couch as her hangover slowly cleared while his mood soured with the lack of alcohol.In the end, the pleasure of being fawned over at the Diamond Room was but temporary—the pain of his beloved leaving with someone
Vera kept her plan to investigate the identity of the abbess deep in her mind and told Charlie nothing.Instead, she smiled as she said, "It seems that it's both yours and Ms. Ito's good fortune that she has attained enlightenment. You've never had anyone who could attain enlightenment and master Reiki at the same time, so Ms. Ito will definitely be a great help to you in the future."Charlie chuckled and said calmly, "I'm not hoping for her to help. I'm simply happy for her with her enlightenment and excited to have another comrade in my solo ventures into the dark forests."Vera nodded in understanding, and she murmured emotionally, "I've lived for so long, and it's only when I opened my heart to you that I felt that sensation you described."There was a flicker of wistfulness in her eyes.She really did not expect to attain enlightenment before meeting Charlie.Years ago, she thought that she would eventually avenge her father.Now, she no longer hoped to murder Fleur Griffi
Vera was inwardly disappointed to hear that Claire was returning.That meant there were fewer chances of Charlie visiting the Scarlet Pinnacle Manor, as were her chances of seeing him again.Still, she didn't let it show, instead asking casually, "How are things at Champs Elys? Are the warriors improving at a rate to your satisfaction?""Well, most of everyone's improvement is within expectations…" Charlie explained, just as he remembered a certain someone. "By the way, there's something I haven't told you yet. Are you perhaps acquainted with the name Ito Nanako?""Yes," Vera smiled. "The Japanese lady who was with you. What about her?""She attained enlightenment days ago.""Enlightenment?" Vera did a double take and soon pressed, "Enlightenment in what sense? Essential Qi or Reiki?"After all, the former was the path to enlightenment in martial arts, while the latter meant enlightenment in cultivation.But despite the distinction between both domains, enlightenment was a comm
While Charlie had long since gotten used to Elaine and Jacob's bizarre marriage, being near the heart of the storm still took a toll on his senses—to the point that he felt physically sick.Leaving right away was therefore his best solution.Once he left, however, he realized he didn't have anywhere to go. Champs Elys was quite far, and it would take a lot of time.As he started to feel bored stiff, he remembered Vera for some reason and called her.Once Vera answered, she quickly asked in curiosity, "To what do I owe the pleasure? Lunch, perhaps?"Charlie chuckled. "Since you've put it that way… I haven't eaten either, so lunch it is!"Vera giggled. "Come over to my place, then. It's cold outside, and I was just lighting up a hot pot. I'll have Madam Marilyn prepare an additional portion.""Okay!" Charlie agreed to it without hesitation. "I can return her car too. Just wait, I'll be right there!"Once he hung up, he got on the Rolls Roycs he had borrowed from Scarlet Pinnacl