Chapter Twelve: Reflections on Collecting

  For Tang Jie, there probably wasn't anything more bizarre than what was in front of him in this world.

  Suddenly appeared in another world, then suddenly encountered a group of pirates, and also inexplicably experienced a fierce sea battle.

  Recalling the first real battle in his life, Tang Zhen couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

  He killed a man, and did it in a way that was almost shocking in its ruthlessness, taking down a powerful and feared opponent.

  Tang Jie thought back to the scene at that time, and in his mind's eye he saw that young man with a face full of bloodstains, ferocious and emitting a murderous aura. Tang Jie felt as if he was looking at another person he didn't recognize, yet that person was precisely himself.

  Niya thought that Tang Jie had killed the third-level sword fighter for her sake, but in fact, Tang Jie was clear in his own mind that he had done it for himself.

  In this world, among these people, Tang Jie could clearly feel the iron-blooded law of the strong being king.

  If he doesn't kill him, he will die there himself.

  The choice between life and death triggered the beastly nature within Tang Jie, or rather, his most genuine and primitive side, bared its sharp fangs in this strange world.

  "At that time, we all thought you wouldn't come down... " Niya's gaze met Tang Jie's, and she quickly looked away, as if electrified. "Fortunately, Pastor Horen used healing magic to save you in time."

  Tang Jie thought of the good wine and Pastor Horn, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Is that so? Then I should really thank him for saving my life!"

  Nia shook her head: "No, it was you who saved yourself."

  "Me?" Tang Jie pointed at his own nose with fingers that were clenched like a sausage, feeling somewhat incredulous.

  Niya turned around, took out a towel soaked in warm water from a basin behind her, and gently wiped away the fine sweat on Tang Jie's forehead: "Horn said that his half-baked healing technique can only keep you from dying immediately. To survive, you must rely on your will to live."

  Niya looked at Tangie, who was wrapped in bandages all over his body, and a hint of sympathy flowed from her eyes: "Anyone, injured like you, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to survive..."

  An ordinary person, if they don't exercise for a long time and suddenly engage in intense physical activity, will inevitably feel extremely weak and sore all over. Someone like Tang Jie, after being attacked by the storm and then suddenly engaging in a sea battle, after such an intense fight, his major blood vessels didn't rupture and kill him, which is already a stroke of luck. At that time, when Tang Jie was unconscious, the small blood vessels on his body burst one by one, his whole body covered in blood, looking extremely terrifying.

  Furthermore, he was hit by a fireball released by a 5th-level magician and his entire body was scorched like it had been roasted in flames. He almost became a piece of charcoal, with barely any intact skin left. The miserable state he was in made everyone on the Hell's Number think that Tang Jie was definitely going to die.

  After Horn's treatment, they found that this young black-haired man with a strong life force had crawled out of the palm of the god of death little by little.

  Compared to him killing a third-class sword fighter, this kind of miracle shocked and awed these people who lived on the edge of their knives.

  His blood vessels burst, his muscles were severely damaged, and he suffered severe burns all over his body. How much willpower and desire to survive did it take for him to have survived such injuries?

  "When Hornsby was treating the wounded, Ball threatened Jones to order the crew of the Marauder not to pursue them again, and that's how we escaped their pursuit." Nia smiled, her eyes filled with gratitude. "Thanks to you kicking in their mainmast, otherwise they would have still been able to catch up with us."

  "What happened afterwards? And what about that magician who ambushed me?" Tang Jie couldn't help but feel a surge of hatred towards the magician who had attacked him from behind.

  Niya sighed: "Don't think about him anymore. Even if we catch this fifth-level magician, we wouldn't dare do anything to him."

  Tang Jie never thought that Niya would say something like this: "Ah?!"

  "He angrily said: 'This guy almost killed me, am I just going to let it go?'"

  Niya let out another sigh, a bitter smile spreading across her face: "He's a magician, protected by the Magician's Guild. If you kill him, it may attract even more magicians to hunt us down. And we're pirates, no one will come to protect us..."

  A flash of anger darted through Tang Jie's eyes, his teeth clenched with a cracking sound. He grunted and said no more, burying the matter deep within his heart.

  He is neither a petty person who must retaliate for every grievance nor a gentleman who will not take revenge.

  In his dictionary, there is no such thing as "swallowing one's blood" and "knocking out one's teeth".

  This matter will eventually come back!

  Just as they were talking, the door creaked open and Bal and Horn walked in, causing Tang Jie and Nia to turn their heads simultaneously.

  The bearded captain was in good spirits, but after such a battle, the casualties of the Netherworld were a bit too severe, and his eyes were somewhat gloomy.

  But when Bar saw Tong Jie, the gloom in his eyes was hidden, and he burst out laughing, his voice shaking the tables and chairs in the room.

  "Alright, alright, alright! I knew you wouldn't die!" Bar said three "goods" in a row, his whiskers twitching like steel wires along with the muscles on both sides of his face.

  Horne still had a bottle in his hand, disheveled hair and a smile at the corner of his mouth as he walked over.

  He looked up and down at Tang Jie, chuckled: "Praise the sea god Tira, recovered quite quickly!"

  Horne handed the bottle of wine in his hand to Tong Jie and smiled: "Have a taste?"

  Tang Jie hadn't even had time to speak when Nia swiftly snatched the wine bottle away, scolding harshly: "Are you crazy? He's not even recovered yet and you're letting him drink?"

  Horne let out a belch, instantly filling the room with pungent fumes: "A drink will help you recover faster."

  Nina glared at him fiercely and stuffed the bottle into his arms: "Keep it for yourself to drink, drunkard! One day you'll drown in the sea!"

  Horn glanced at Ball beside him and burst out laughing together with him.

  Ba Er shook his head: "This woman, just like the sea, changes her face as soon as she says so! Can't afford to offend her, let's go!" After finishing speaking, he glanced at Tang Jie with a piercing gaze, smiled slightly, and walked out with Horn.

  Niya's face flushed slightly under Bal's gaze, and she glared at them irritably: "If you have nothing to do, hurry up and get out, don't disturb the patient's rest!"

  Ba Er smiled and walked out with Huo, when they went out the door, Da Hu Zi turned his head and seriously said to Tang Jie: "Kid, your injury isn't healed yet, don't let her take advantage of you, your body is important."

  "What?" Tang Jie was both amused and annoyed.

  "Get out!!" Nia was furious and frantically searched her body for a dagger.

  Balha laughed loudly and closed the door. The door creaked as a dagger was nailed to it, buzzing with sound.

  At sea, there are extremely few female pirates, and it can be said that they are as rare as a phoenix.

  Like Nia, her father was a pirate, making her a rare example of a female pirate who followed in her father's footsteps.

  She had been drifting on the high seas with these fierce men since she was a child, and her character had been tempered to be strong and competitive. As the captain's daughter, naturally no pirate dared to find trouble with her, but she hadn't been spared from being teased by these pirates.

  As she grew older and her strength increased, her prestige on the ship rose, and slowly even the pirates who had opened her to play jokes gradually disappeared.

  At this time, she was suddenly teased by an adult again, naturally furious, and what's more, this person was her father?

  Tang Jie looked at Nia's neck, which was flushed with a patch of red, her cheeks as pink as the dawn, like a blooming rose, proud and unbridled yet exceptionally beautiful, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

  Niya turned her head and stared at Tang Jie with a strange expression, glaring at him: "What are you looking at? Look again and I'll dig out your eyeballs!"

  Tang Jie was taken aback and couldn't help but laugh, remembering the scene when he saw Nia for the first time, her chest wrapped tightly, his eyes involuntarily drifting towards her chest.

  Niya saw the look in his eyes, and her anger and shyness intensified. She raised her fist, wanting to punch him, but when she saw Tang Chuan's "living wooden puppet" appearance, she was afraid that if she hit him with one punch, he would collapse completely. So she put down her hand again, her chest heaving violently for a few times, and then stomped her foot and rushed towards the door. Behind her, Tang Jie burst out laughing loudly.

  Tang Jie's smile made him feel like he was being stabbed by a thousand knives, the pain was unbearable. Just as he was about to cry out, Nia rushed to the door and flung it open, and several men tumbled in like a bunch of gourds.

  William, Bill and others fell to the ground, ouch shouting loudly, especially thin Bill was pressed under a group of five big three thick men at the very bottom, his skeleton almost broken, he shouted loudly, like an old mouse whose tail was pinched by mice.

  "You bastards, get up, I'm being crushed by you!"

  William and the others had planned to wait for Captain Ball to come out before going to visit Tong Jie, but they didn't expect that the thick-skinned Big Whiskers would actually make fun of his own daughter, causing them to have all sorts of wild thoughts.

  The pirates who had been at sea for years and couldn't enjoy the benefits looked at each other, with ambiguous smiles on their faces, and gathered at the door to eavesdrop.

  But just as they were about to put their ears up, Nia suddenly rushed out of the room in a fit of shyness and anger, flung open the door, and slammed them both to the ground.

  William and the others raised their heads, with a forced smile on their faces, but their eyes kept scanning Tang Jie's body, as if trying to observe some unseemly clues.

  Nina stared at them, dumbfounded, but quickly came to her senses and punched them with a flurry of fists, both embarrassed and annoyed.

  "Get out of here, all of you! Go back to your own places!" Nia shouted, punching and kicking. William and the others covered their heads and fled in disarray.

  Bill, who was pressed under and cried miserably, suddenly got up, shouting and patting the dust on his body, and stood up with a hum.

  But just as he stood up, he raised his head and saw Nia looking at him with a smile that was not quite a smile, and a fist that was getting bigger and bigger came flying towards his eye socket.

  Tang Jie listened to the sound of Bill's miserable cries and Niya's shouting and chasing coming from the corridor outside the cabin, and couldn't help but burst out laughing again. This laugh made his whole body hurt even more.

  It really hurts and laughs at the same time.

  Tang Jie smiled for a while, and the fear and unease in his heart due to being in a strange new world and the aftermath of the intense battle all dissipated. Although he felt happy in his heart, his body was in so much pain that he almost wanted to cry, but as soon as he thought back to what had just happened, he couldn't help but laugh.

  These pirates, having just gone through the most brutal battle, with more than half of their crew lost, yet when they survived the fight, they were again as cheerful and optimistic as if they had never experienced these battles, enjoying every second of joy and pleasure.

  Won't they be afraid of that one battle in the past?

  Won't they mourn for their fallen comrades?

  But Tang Jie couldn't find a hint of sadness or pain on their faces, as if they had already seen through life and death, and were indifferent to separation. On these rough yet simple men, he saw only a kind of openness and magnanimity that was unique to the vast ocean.

  Tang Jie's smile on his face gradually subsided, leaving only a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

  What a simple and lovely bunch of guys!

  Thinking of this, Tang Jie felt that he seemed to have added a few more points of identification with these pirates, after all, there was no emotion more sincere than the camaraderie forged in the life-and-death struggles on the battlefield.

  In the following days, Tang Jie was able to clearly see from the eyes of sailors like William that they were grateful and respectful towards him.

  The law of the ocean is very simple, that is, the strong are respected!

  The strong accept the admiration and worship of the weak, this is the unalterable law of the world!

  He came to another world in a daze and was drawn into a battle in a daze. The first real fight of Tang Jie's life shocked everyone on the Hell's Gate, and he became the strongest man on this ship.

  Just as Balzac firmly believed: In this world, there are some people who are born to be different from others. Some people are destined to prop up Mount Tai when it is about to collapse and to turn the tide when the situation is at its most desperate!

  Especially when Tong Jie was unconscious, William and others on the deck would chat idly, often talking about Tong Jie's roar of "Kill!" in the midst of a stormy night, with a bloody head in hand, his face twisted in a terrifying grimace that shook their souls.

  A thunderbolt flashes, a murderous aura soars, as if it were right before one's eyes!

  "Tsk, tsk, I've been sailing for so many years, but I've never seen anyone born with such a heavy killing aura!" The sailors all sighed in amazement.

  But only Tanger himself knew that the reason he was able to win that battle in one go was due to a combination of coincidences, which were difficult to replicate.

  His opponent saw that he didn't understand magic and wasn't proficient in internal energy, so he underestimated him. That's why he fell for Tang Jie's killing move and was beheaded in public.

  Secondly, the "avalanche" state that suddenly enters at this critical moment of life and death is not always found. Although it is a powerful state in Tangie's Neijiaquan, to put it more plainly, it is also the greatest potential that Tangie can excavate from his own body.

  In other words, although a person may have a burst of potential that makes them incredibly powerful and skilled in combat, their potential is limited to that extent. After all, human strength has its limits, and even if they can take down a third-class sword fighter with the foundation of martial arts they've built up, that's already the limit of their abilities.

  And if this third-rate swordsman were still alive, and they were made to fight again, Tang Jie would definitely be the one to die.

  Just based on the fact that this third-level sword fighter was able to withstand his two heavy blows without suffering serious injury, Tang Jie knew that these sword fighters who could wield internal energy, their ability to withstand a beating was absolutely not something he could handle with his bare fists.

  Now he and these pirates have killed so many coast guard soldiers. If those people chase after them, what will they do if they encounter another swordsman like this?

  The battle is over and the danger has passed, it's time to think about how to live a better life in this world.

  Tang Jie closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

  By the way, when you guys have time, also help Tangtang vote and water her plants.

  By the way, I've bookmarked it, thanks a million!