CHAPTER 997: HIDDEN DRAGON IN THE ABYSS

Chapter 997: Hidden Dragon in the Abyss

Helsthest alone was beating the entire Tianlong Pirate Crew into a miserable state.

Even the Dragon King had no good way to directly confront Helshest.

He was a ruthless man, but reckless courage held no value against an absolute gap in power.

The Dragon King's eyes were terrifyingly cold.

If he risked being corroded by the deadly poison, he definitely had a chance to close in on Helshest and attempt to kill him!

But now he was already exposed within the Colombian Navy's line of sight.

Even if he killed Helshest, he would still be unable to escape the fate of death.

After careful consideration, the Dragon King made a decision.

He used his Mirage Dragon doppelganger to block Helshest's attacks, then abruptly turned in mid-air and rushed toward his crew members.

At this moment, every member of the Tianlong Pirate Crew was suffering terribly.

Some had already been corroded by the deadly poison on half their bodies, becoming half-human, half-monster creatures that were horrifying to behold.

Without saying a word, the Dragon King directly wrapped his tail around Vice Captain Bailian, then soared away into the distance.

"Dragon King, we haven't gotten on board yet!"

The other crew members shouted anxiously and painfully.

But the Dragon King turned a deaf ear to their cries.

In such an environment, superhumans with low power levels could no longer influence the battlefield.

They had already helped the Dragon King approach Mist Valley, and each of them was poisoned with deadly toxins - carrying them would only be dead weight.

The Dragon King was, after all, the leader of pirates - ruthless and merciless, so useless subordinates would naturally be abandoned without hesitation.

"Thank you for your contributions to the pirate crew over these years."

The Dragon King left only these words before soaring away.

This enraged the remaining pirates so much that they cursed loudly.

"Li Fengxian, you despicable, shameless bastard!"

"We'll go down first and wait for you - you'll definitely die too, you'll definitely die!"

"You'll absolutely never obtain the Divine Source!"

But after the Dragon King and Bailian left, they became even less capable of resisting the erosion from Helshest's Plague Soldiers.

Soon, accompanied by a chorus of miserable screams, these people were all corroded by the deadly poison into puddles of pus and blood.

Helshest watched the departing Dragon King and Bailian without any intention of pursuing them.

He calmly reported to the command center.

"Two people escaped - the pirate crew's leader Li Fengxian and vice captain Bailian."

Attempting to chase a flying dragon through the air would be absolutely irrational behavior.

Helshest wasn't that stupid, and he certainly wouldn't leave the ground environment that was most advantageous to him.

General Huo En frowned upon hearing the report.

"That guy isn't so easy to kill!"

Lieutenant Colonel Keludi beside him commented, "Even though he wasn't a superhuman trained by the military, after all he has a paper strength of 9800 points on the superhuman ability index. If he's determined to escape, he's really not that easy to kill." Ꞧα₦Ộ฿Ёʂ

Helshest excelled at positional warfare, not pursuit operations.

General Huo En took a lit cigar from his secretary beside him and took a hard drag.

Then he said with some annoyance, "I'm just worried this guy might become a hidden danger for us on the battlefield later."

He wasn't particularly concerned about the Dragon King cooperating with Huaxu Kingdom's two major districts.

Because the conflict between the Tianlong Pirate Crew and Huaxu Kingdom was much greater than their conflict with Columbus Ocean.

The Dragon King carried Bailian away from this area, and only after a long time did he land in a quiet zone.

After Bailian jumped from the Dragon King's tail to the ground, his body involuntarily half-kneeled.

His face was frighteningly pale as he covered his mouth with his hand, coughing violently, and soon black blood spilled from his mouth.

The Dragon King transformed back into human form, took a bottle of medicine from his person, and tossed it to Bailian.

"Are you alright?"

Bailian opened the antidote's cap and drank the medicine.

Some color returned to his face, but his body still appeared very weak.

Bailian struggled to stand up and said apologetically to the Dragon King, "I'm sorry, Dragon King, for making you worry."

The Dragon King snorted coldly, clenched his fist, and said with a cold gleam in his eyes:

"Damn Colombian Navy! After all the work I did for them in the past, they stab me in the back in the end!"

"It was all fake! In the end, you can only rely on yourself!"

In this battle, the Tianlong Pirate Crew's elite forces were almost completely wiped out.

However, the Dragon King didn't feel too much grief or regret.

Thinking back, he had grown from an insignificant fisherman into a hegemon dominating the southeastern seas.

As long as he had sufficiently powerful strength, it wouldn't take long for him to raise a team no weaker than before.

After the apocalypse, refugees were everywhere - a single meal could secure a useful subordinate.

As long as Bailian survived, that was enough.

After Nirot died in battle, he was the only captain-level combat power left under the Dragon King's command.

Such talent wasn't easily obtained.

After Bailian swallowed the antidote, his body was temporarily out of danger.

He coughed lightly and said to the Dragon King, "Dragon King, from now on, we can't afford to be reckless anymore!"

"The fact that Columbus Ocean's superhumans have appeared at the edge of Mist Valley means people from the other major forces have also reached this vicinity."

"If we continue forward, we'll definitely encounter enemies again."

The Dragon King looked at Bailian.

Within the Tianlong Pirate Crew, although Bailian possessed powerful combat abilities, his most crucial role was serving as the strategist.

When it came to planning and strategizing, he was exceptionally skilled.

Back when the Dragon King first became a pirate and competed with the various powers of the Southern Sea, relying only on brute strength hadn't gained him much advantage.

By chance, he encountered Bailian who was nearly starving to death at sea.

Bailian was from the southern region of Huaxu Kingdom, sharing the same ancestral origins as the Dragon King.

Out of this sentimental connection, he saved Bailian.

Unexpectedly, Bailian used his intelligence and wisdom to help the Dragon King continuously expand his power.

He mastered "The Art of War" with consummate skill - relative to those pirates anyway.

Combined with scientific management knowledge learned online and paired with the Dragon King's powerful combat abilities, they quickly made the Tianlong Pirate Crew rise to prominence, annexing dozens of surrounding pirate crews.

Eventually creating the situation where the Tianlong dominated the southeastern seas.

Therefore, the Dragon King particularly respected Bailian's opinions.

"Bailian, what are your thoughts?"

Bailian lowered his voice and said, "If we confront them head-on, we have no chance of winning. Whether in intelligence systems, weaponry and equipment, or numbers, we're at an absolute disadvantage."

"But we can wait!"

His eyes gleamed with cunning ruthlessness.

The Dragon King's curiosity was piqued: "Wait for what?"

"Wait for them to fight each other!"

Bailian said with firm conviction, "They see each other as their biggest competitors, so they don't really care much about us."

"We might as well hide and wait for them to start fighting first."

"When they've fought enough, then we'll make our move. This strategy is called 'when the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman profits'!"

Author's Note