Chapter 83: Long Cheng

There were many people on the deck, including the strongest old captain, Lucky Joe Arjang, who had Earth Rank High Stage strength. Not a single person saw clearly how this Eastern man got on the ship.

The deck was two or three stories high above the sea, and that little boat was over ten meters away. Everyone only saw more than a dozen afterimages flash by, and then the man stood in front of Lin Qi.

A purple hazy glow spread slowly from the man’s brow to all around his body. His messy clothes suddenly became neat and straight. The ice bits stuck to his Blue Fox Fur Coat fell off, and the slightly messy coat quickly became as good as new.

Just moments ago, he was in such a sorry and ragged state, but now the man was as clean and tidy as a prince who had just bathed and put on fresh clothes. However, the arrogance, proudness, and wild, bold air on his face were beyond anything even a real prince could match.

What shocked Lin Qi especially was the bloody smell that seemed to come from deep in the man’s bones. He looked as if he’d been soaked in blood for decades. Even his breath carried the scent of human blood. Standing before him, it felt like one could hear the anguished cries of countless wraiths near their ears.

Enzo silently stepped sideways to block in front of Lin Qi.

Lin Qi’s face changed slightly. He stepped forward and used his shoulder to push Enzo aside two steps. What a joke! Lin Qi couldn’t let Enzo take a hit for him. Blackbeard had taught Lin Qi from childhood: Brothers should face the danger together, not have one shield the other.

The Eastern man raised his long eyebrows that looked like two swords pointing toward his temples. In a rough voice, he said, “I mean no harm!”

His eyes swept across the deck and suddenly brightened. He reached his right hand toward a just-hooked blue-striped sea bream over a dozen steps away. Five streaks of Purple Qi sprayed from his fingertips. The sea bream, weighing almost a hundred pounds, flew to him with a whooshing sound.

Everyone on the deck turned pale at the same time. What strange skill was this? Grabbing something from over ten meters away—Ironhammer and Butcher Knife could do it too, but they needed tools outside their bodies. This Eastern man, though, pulled the sea bream over without using anything extra.

Lin Qi sucked in a breath as if from a toothache. What kind of power was this? If he could grab a sea bream weighing over a hundred pounds from more than ten paces away, could he also twist a man’s neck from that distance?

Something even more shocking happened next. The man lightly flicked his five fingers, and the whole sea bream split apart silently. Skin, bones, flesh, guts—everything separated under a strange force. The Eastern man gave a happy grin. He grabbed a piece of jade-white fish meat and stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing messily a few times, he swallowed it.

Lin Qi wondered if the fish meat started digesting the moment it entered his mouth, because right after swallowing it, the man’s face regained its color. A healthy blush spread across his cheeks, and even faint steam rose from his head.

“Marvelous!” the Eastern man laughed loudly a few times. Then, under the dazed stares of everyone like they saw a ghost, he wolfed down almost fifty pounds of fish meat. Only then did he let out a burp and stop eating, looking very pleased. Lin Qi stared at his belly in shock but saw no bulge. Where did all that meat go?

In the Black Tiger Family, even Ironhammer, who ate the most, could finish two roasted lamb legs in one meal. But if he had to eat fifty pounds of cold raw fish meat at once, he wouldn’t manage it. This man, though, consumed it with pure joy, like it was the best food in the world, even though the raw fish was no different from ice.

Lin Qi let out a dry chuckle and asked in perfectly fluent Eastern speech, “Sir, may I ask who you are?”

The Eastern man clapped his hands and pulled out a white silk cloth to wipe the fish juice from his hands. Then, under Lin Qi’s angry gaze, he tossed the silk cloth into the cold wind. It was worth at least fifty Gold Coins at the Hunchback’s Shop. He let the wind blow it fluttering away.

“Long Cheng. Long, as in the dragon flying high in the heavens, Cheng, as in the unbreakable city walls!” With his hands behind his back, this insanely handsome, wildly arrogant, and completely free-spirited man raised his head and declared, “Is this your ship? Huh, it’s like rubbish compared to our dragon whale war craft, but since you Barbarians made it with your limited skills, it’s passable!”

He snickered coldly, then said calmly, “Get me a roomy cabin. I’ll ride your ship to the nearest Port. Once you drop me off at the shore, I’ll repay you properly.”

Raising the corner of his eye, Long Cheng sneered, “Do you have lovely ladies on board? Bring me four: one to wash clothes, one to make my bed, two to fix my drinks and meals. Oh, and you stinking laborers stay away from my cabin. Half a month ago, I fought a huge battle with a three-headed sea dragon from the magical beasts of the North Sea. I got a small wound, so I need to rest well and recover my Primordial Qi!”

Before Lin Qi could speak, Long Cheng rattled off a bunch more words himself. His talk was biting and rude to the extreme, making the sailors who understood Eastern on the deck long to stab him a thousand times! But they remembered how Long Cheng had shot Purple Qi from his fingers and purple light from his brow. These well-traveled sailors thought of some legend from tales. They held their harpoons tight, yet no one dared say a word.

Especially, what did Long Cheng claim? That he battled the ruler of the magical beasts in the North Sea, that three-headed sea dragon? By the gods, was he for real?

Lin Qi watched the bossy and domineering Long Cheng and spread his hands helplessly. “Well, we have a tidy cabin. But four lovely ladies… I’m sorry, on this ship, there are plenty of mother fish if you want them, but women? Not one!”

Long Cheng stared at Lin Qi in surprise. “No women on your ship? How do your stinking laborers pass the long nights then? Could it be between you fellows… heh, heh!”

He let out some strange laughs. Seeing Lin Qi’s face turn all awkward, Long Cheng twisted his mouth and shook his head. “Fine, it’s a Barbarian land—what can you expect? Anyhow, since I owe you this favor, I’ll remember it!”

Slapping Lin Qi’s shoulder firmly, Long Cheng said coolly, “Take me to the cabin! Seeing you’re a descendant of mine from the East, I won’t kill you and take your ship. Hah!”

With a weird chuckle, Long Cheng flicked his hand toward the railing. A trail of Purple Qi whistled out and struck a big fish that had just jumped from the water a hundred meters away. With a booming sound, it burst into a spray of blood.

A nearly fawning smile spread over Lin Qi’s face. “Honorable Long Cheng, please, I’ll clear the captain’s quarters for you, all right?”

Nearby, Lucky Joe Arjang was so mad his nose went crooked.