Chapter Eighteen: The Traitor's Request for Collection

  Every night at sea is almost the same, especially on rainy days. Looking out of the porthole of the cabin, it's all a vast expanse of darkness, and you can't tell which is the sea and which is the sky.

  Only when the moon is bright and the stars are sparse can the sailors on the sea distinguish what is the vast ocean and what is the boundless sky.

  As dusk fell, Tang Jie grasped the technique of releasing his inner energy and after sending Nia to her own room, surprisingly did not go in and entwine with her but instead came alone to the deck, striking while the iron was hot, repeatedly stirring up the inner energy within him, searching for this feeling of force.

  Someone as good at martial arts as Tang Jie has mastered a brand new combat skill, and it's even the aura he usually sees, how can he not be obsessed with it?

  His infatuated state was even more deeply immersed in it than his own learning of Captain Ball's navigation techniques.

  Nor did he know how long it took, until Tang Jie urged the internal Qi, and saw that his hands had a faint golden light, only then did he stop with excitement and satisfaction.

  "Unexpectedly, I actually managed to learn this mysterious thing called Dou Qi...” Tang Jie smiled slightly, looking at his hands as they emitted a faint yellow glow in the night sky. “And unexpectedly, the principle of Dou Qi is quite similar to human inner strength, except that inner strength comes from the flow of blood and qi in the body, while Dou Qi is refined from this flow, a more pure and explosive burst of energy.”

  Tang Jie stirred up the Dou Qi in his body, until he felt a bit tired and stopped, the pale yellow light in his hand disappearing.

  "It seems that this kind of aura still consumes a lot of physical strength." Tang Jie thought to himself.

  No matter what, the things I've learned in these few days are things that I haven't learned in twenty years. Tang Jie has been studying for over a decade, but there hasn't been a single day where he's felt as excited and eager to learn as he has in these past few days.

  As the moon was already hanging low in the sky, it was the last dark moment before dawn. T'ang Chieh stretched his waist and finally prepared to return to his own quarters, where he would sleep soundly.

  His position on the ship was transcendent, not needing to do ordinary sailor's work, although he would sometimes rush to work with them together, so as not to alienate each other's relationships, and also to learn more about deckhand work.

  Even if he sleeps alone in his room until sunset, no one will bother him.

  Tang Jie bowed his head, climbed down from the deck, and walked into the narrow corridor of the cabin. When he reached the door of his own seaman's room, he heard a faint voice coming from the end of the corridor.

  Tang Jie was somewhat curious and walked over quietly, but was shocked to discover that the voice actually came from the room where Jones was being held.

  After the battle on "Ravager", Barnia and others, with Tong's help, successfully captured Ravager's captain Jones. They brought him aboard and kept him locked in a small black room at the end of the cabin. Except for someone bringing him water and food every day, no one else bothered him, even though his subordinates had killed many of their brothers.

  Thanks to Captain Ball's explanation, this is an excellent talisman and hostage, and must not be neglected. Otherwise, with the personalities of William and others, Jones might have become a pile of rotten flesh by now.

  Treat kindness with kindness, Big Beard Bal's severe words and stern expression repeatedly instructed that no one was allowed to have private contact with Jones, otherwise they would be thrown into the sea to feed the fish!

  Barr's authority, no one on this ship dares to offend him, but who is it that dares to see Jones privately at this time?

  Is he out of his mind?

  Tang Jieqiang pressed down the doubts in his heart, walked to the door, and quietly took a peek inside. He saw that it was dark inside, with only two vague figures visible. One was sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind their back, who was Qiong Si. The other one was standing, wearing a long robe, but he couldn't see clearly who it was.

  But Tanger couldn't see clearly who this person was, but from the hem of his clothes hanging down at his ankles, Tanger had already guessed the name of this person!

  Horn!

  Why is he here at this time?

  Is he patching up Jones?

  Tang Jie's heart was shaken, and as soon as this thought arose, he heard a low voice coming from inside, which was Qiong Si's resentful voice: "Don't pretend to be innocent, I'll tell you why things have turned out like this, you're clearer than me! The plan we agreed on at the beginning, why didn't we carry it out?"

  With a loud crash, Tang Jie only felt his head explode, and an astonishing thought flashed through his mind like lightning!

  Horne and Jones know each other?

  Do they have an illicit relationship?

  Horne, you're a traitor!?

  The idea was buzzing in Tangie's mind so much that when Horn lowered his voice to say something, he didn't hear it clearly.

  After that sea battle, some suspicious things, although Tang Jie didn't think much of them at the time, still left an impression on his mind. After he boarded the ship and saw various details, they were all linked together by this one sentence, and suddenly his mind became clear.

  That night, on the deck of the ship, I saw Horn. He had a noticeable smudge on his clothes. Nia also said that in this late autumn season, the wind direction in the Atak Sea was impossible to change, and it was even more impossible for a sudden storm to occur. But there is one kind of person who can change this.

  That's the magician!

  And Horn is just a magician!

  During the storm, I climbed up the mast to loosen the halyard knot, but found that it was a man-made dead knot. Moreover, there were obvious rubbing marks on Horn's clothes, which clearly showed that he had climbed up the mainmast and tied the halyard knot into a dead knot!

  As soon as the Hell's Bane capsized, he and Jones could easily catch up with Ball and his crew, then all they had to do was calm the waves and pick up these drowning dogs.

  Tang Jie, although straightforward and forthright in character, is absolutely not a fool or an idiot. Although he doesn't bother with clever schemes and intrigues, it doesn't mean that when all the clues are laid out before him, he still can't see through the whole situation.

  But what Tang Jie did not expect was that such a traitor who was in cahoots with the enemy would turn out to be Horn, who had once saved his life.

  When he first came to this world, Tang Jie had conflicts with Nia, William and others on the ship, and experienced a thrilling storm and sea battle. However, in it, what he felt was the pirates' fearless fighting spirit that made his blood boil and their unity of advancing and retreating together with Bar.

  What touched Tang Jie deeply was that these pirates were simple and generous, with a personality and temperament of drinking and getting drunk whenever they had wine.

  This is a group of lovely partners, it's a team that can quickly give people a sense of belonging.

  Tang Jie likes these guys, and he also likes this team.

  But today, at this moment, Tang Jie finally discovered that under the bright sunshine, there were still dark corners where the sun couldn't shine!

  Where there are people, there is conflict!

  Why did Horn betray us?

  Is it because of that fake treasure map?

  Tang Jie felt a chill in his heart, the more he thought about it, the more unbearable it became. He had already considered himself a part of this ship and this team, so Horn's betrayal was equivalent to betraying him!

  What's more, how could this wine-loving, lazy and dirty pastor normally do such a thing?

  It's really "knowing people by their faces but not knowing their hearts"!

  Tang Jie's mind was in turmoil when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the room where Jones was being held, indicating that Horn was about to come out.

  Tang Jie was shocked and immediately pushed the door of a storage room next to him, but it was locked! Tang Jie didn't think twice, his hands emitted a burst of energy, tearing open the iron chain on the door latch, and quickly flashed inside.

  Just as Tong Jie had quietly closed the door, a person walked out of Qiong's room.

  Tang Jie took a peek through the door crack and saw the dim light shining on a bearded face, who else could it be if not Horn?

  Tang Jie felt like there was a huge stone weighing on his heart, and only after Horn looked around and walked into his own room did he come out, letting out a soft sigh.

  Back in his own quarters, Tang Jie lay on the cold bed board, listening to the thunder-like snores of other sailors in the room, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

  It wasn't until the sky was just beginning to lighten that Tang Jie couldn't withstand the invasion of sleepiness and fell into a dreamland.

  But he hadn't slept long before he faintly heard someone shouting loudly in the cabin: "Jones has escaped! Jones has escaped!"

  Tang Jie was startled, his butt burning like fire, and he quickly sat up, hastily putting on his clothes and shoes. He rushed out of the door, only to see Bill running around with a shrill voice.

  The cabin inside was already bustling like a boiling pot of water, the pirates were one by one noisy and clamoring, both angry and excited.

  Tang Jie grabbed him and asked: "What's going on? Why did Jones run away?"

  "Bill shouted: 'When Kya went to deliver breakfast to that bastard this morning, she found his cabin door open and empty! And one of the lifeboats on the ship is also missing, he must have escaped already!'"

  At this time, William also walked over with a furious face, his fists clenched and crackling: "If I catch that bastard again, I'll beat him to a pulp! Don't think killing so many of our brothers is just going to be forgiven!"

  Tang Jie's mind flashed with a thought: it must be Horn who let him escape!

  Damn it, since I found out last night, why didn't you keep an eye on Jones!

  It's all my fault!!

  Bill looked at Tangie's face changing colors, his face sinking like water, and asked in surprise: "What's wrong, what are you thinking?"

  Tang Jie shook his head and patted Bill on the shoulder: "Does the captain know?"

  His words had barely fallen when Bill had not yet replied, and then he heard the low, thick voice of Big Beard Ba Er coming from his captain's room: "Tang Jie, come here!"

  The captain's quarters were smaller than the ordinary seaman's, but since only the captain lived there, it seemed much more spacious. As soon as Tang Jie entered, he saw a desk next to a neatly stacked and spotless bed, on the copper-colored wooden wall hung a helmet and a shield, with a short-handled wrist sword stuck in the center of the shield.

  The room is simply decorated, but everywhere reveals a sense of elegance and refinement.

  Old Ba stood in the middle of the room, not wearing his captain's hat, revealing a messy head of hair, looking somewhat unwell. He saw Tang Jie come in and gestured with his eyes to close the door behind him.

  After Tang Jie closed the door, the two people, one old and one young, looked at each other without saying a word. The silence in the room became even more oppressive amidst the noise from the corridor outside.

  After a while, Old Bar spoke up: "You've already heard about what's going on outside?"

  Tang Jie nodded slightly, his lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but hesitated.

  Ba Er's eyes flashed with a hint of a smile: "What do you want to say? Or is it that you've figured something out?"

  Tang Jie's heart skipped a beat, his eyes met with Bal's, but saw that this usually gentle and kind elder, at this moment had sharp eyes like a knife, as if wanting to see through Tang Jie's innermost thoughts.

  Tang Jie, under the piercing gaze of Baru, secretly let out a sigh in his heart and recounted what he had seen last night, one by one, but didn't reveal all the conjectures in his mind.

  Bar heard with rapt attention, his ancient bronze face without surprise or joy, not a ripple to be seen, clearly he had already been through countless storms.

  He listened to Tang Jie finish, raised his head, let out a long sigh, patted Tang Jie's shoulder, and smiled slightly: "Good kid, I really didn't misjudge you!"

  "Huh?" Tang Jie was somewhat perplexed.

  Baral smiled: "You saw Horn and Jones meet in private last night, didn't you?"

  Tang Jie nodded, and Ba Er smiled coldly, saying: "I'm right behind you!"

  Tang Jie was shocked and his hairs on the back of his neck stood up!

  It turned out that Old Ba Er had been testing him all along!

  Tang Jie munched on his food and said: "So you also know about Horn..."

  The old man smiled slightly and asked in return: "Child, how long have you been on the boat?"

  Tang Jie thought for a moment and said: "It's already been sixteen days!"

  "Hah, you've been on the ship for only sixteen days and you can already figure out who the traitor is...?" Old Bal laughed coldly "Am I, an old thing that's lived on this ship for over thirty years, not as good as you?"

  Tang Jie's body shook, his eyes staring at Bal in shock!

  He had known it all along!

  "Horne's stirring up a storm at sea, climbing the mainmast to tie sailors into dead knots, I figured it out as soon as the battle ended." Old Barl's eyes shot out a sharp light "It's just that, at the time, you were seriously injured, and most others were also wounded, we needed Horne's healing techniques to heal our wounds! And besides, I didn't have any evidence on hand!"

  "So, you've been enduring, and waiting all along!" Tang Jie suddenly realized, recalling Old Ba's usual calm demeanor and unchanged smile, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh!

  What is called city moat? What is called heart trick!

  "We're almost at Dam, and once we are, I'll kill Jones and cut off York's trail for good. And Horn can't take it anymore, thinking he can hide anything from me on this ship?" Old Barl's voice was laced with cold sarcasm.

  "So Horn was afraid that Jones would give him away with his last breath, and that's why he let Jones go?" Tong Jie's mind was quick-witted and understood at once.

  Lao Ba Er nodded in approval: "He didn't take the initiative to jump out, and I wouldn't have found an opportunity to make a move!"

  Not good at it?

  Tang Jie's heart was filled with a hundred emotions, and when he looked at Old Bar's gaze again, it already carried a hint of unfamiliarity and reverence.

  The old sailor knew what kind of gaze Tang Jie had, and he didn't want to create a rift with him. He smiled and his expression turned warm again. He let out a long sigh: "Kid, I've been sailing for over 30 years, experienced countless storms, and seen the hearts of countless people. How could I not have a mind to guard against others? The past few days, I've been teaching you navigation techniques, but those are just skills that you can learn from any experienced sailor. But today, I'm going to teach you something that no one else can!"

  Old Bar approached Tang Jie, and in a low voice said: "The Sea Goddess Tira once said that she would be kind and merciful to every believer, but would never tolerate any traitor. We pirates are the same!"

  "We will open our arms to welcome every friend and companion we recognize, but if someone dares to betray us, we will definitely tear him apart, even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, we will not let him off!"

  "Today, the first lesson I want to teach you is that not everyone will become your partner, and not every partner will be willing to go through thick and thin with you!" Old Bal said with a heavy heart. "When I was young, I suffered many losses, but fortunately, I didn't lose my life because of it!"

  After finishing speaking, Old Bar raised his iron hook prosthesis, his tone was calm, but Tang Jie clearly heard the smell of blood and rain, heard the gratitude and resentment.

  "The Pirate King Atos died on the spot due to the betrayal of his subordinates, leaving behind only a legendary story. And I lost an arm because of the betrayal of my most trusted partner!" Bar smiled slightly, with a tone full of wisdom and vicissitudes, slowly sighing "Sailing on the high seas, without cunning and strategy, how can one keep their life safe and live for so long?"

  Old Ba Er turned his head, staring at Tang Jie with piercing eyes that were full of admiration, appreciation, and love: "You are the man with the richest navigation talent and combat prowess I've met in over 50 years! Your eyes are filled with disgust for the mundane world, longing for unknown life, yearning for wealth and passion, and ambition! Your pursuit of fine wine, beautiful women, wealth, and personal power is endless. You're a born pirate, I won't miss this opportunity!"

  "So, I don't want you to make the mistakes I've made!" said Barl with a heavy heart. "I called you in today not to test you, but to give your sea-faring life its first real lesson!"

  Ba Er smiled slightly, suddenly changing his serious tone to a slightly teasing one: "You still have a long way to go, if you don't learn to grow up quickly, how can I entrust my ship and my daughter to you?"

  Tang Jie was stunned, feeling touched and bewildered at the same time, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

  If there is a person who looks at you with different eyes, entrusts his family property to you, and entrusts his daughter to you, how would you be?

  Tang Jie sighed inwardly: Isn't that just Lü Shang looking at Liu Bang?

  Whether he is Liu Bang or Tang Jie himself does not know, but he knows that his heartfelt gratitude to Bar cannot be described in words.

  He was floating on the sea when he came through, if it wasn't for Bar, he would have drowned in the sea long ago!

  If it weren't for Bar, how would he have identified with this world so quickly, and had a group that gave him such a strong sense of belonging, and had so many lovely and innocent companions?

  If I had come to this world alone, without Bal, how would I have become the future heir of this ship in just a few short days? And how would I have won Nia's heart and favor?

  Thinking of this, Tang Jie let out a long sigh. He had originally wanted to plead for mercy on behalf of Horn, his lifesaver, and even if he didn't spare his life, give him a boat to drift out to sea and let the Sea Goddess Tira decide whether he lived or died, that would have been fine too.

  But at this time, after hearing Bar's words, Tang Jie knew in his heart that Horn's life was absolutely impossible to save!