I Really Am A Villain
Ch. 383 - Conflict On The Ship

The ship sailed across the endless sea, heading toward the distant continent.

After several days of snowfall, the weather had finally cleared.

The sun came out, and temperatures began to rise.

Some of the ice that had formed on the sea surface was beginning to melt.

The ocean stretched endlessly in blue, and the sunset hung on the distant horizon.

The evening glow turned half the sky red, with clouds like flames burning across the heavens.

From afar, it looked as if the entire sky was on fire.

...

For the past few days, Xu Zimo had stayed mostly inside his cabin, rarely going out.

That day, while he was in seclusion, he heard a knock on the door.

When he opened it, he saw one of the ship’s guards standing outside.

The ship was controlled by a Clan called the Ning Clan.

To guard against sea monsters and maintain order, the ship was heavily staffed with Ning Clan guards.

“What is it?” Xu Zimo asked.

“Our Ning Clan’s Second Elder requests everyone on deck for an announcement,” the guard said calmly.

Xu Zimo nodded slightly and followed the guard to the deck.

When he arrived, he saw that almost all the passengers on the ship were already gathered.

At the front stood an old man in a bright red robe.

He had a short brown beard and was balding, but his face looked full and rosy, giving off a wealthy appearance.

Once all the passengers were assembled, the old man turned slowly and spoke loudly with a smile.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the Second Elder of the Ning Clan. Most of you should already know that.”

“Elder Ning, what did you call us here for?” someone nearby asked with confusion.

“Oh, nothing too serious. Just wanted to discuss what happened on that floating island,” the red-robed elder replied with a smile.

“That floating island was discovered by our Ning Clan’s ship. Logically, that means it should belong to us. All of you went onto the island to take things, that doesn’t seem quite right, does it?”

Hearing this, many people frowned.

A large man in black stepped forward and said with displeasure:

“What are you trying to say, Elder Ning? We boarded the island with your permission. You said you’d wait three days for us. And besides, floating islands have always been part of the Endless Sky Sea. Since when did it become your property?”

The elder in red smiled again.

“No need to get agitated. We Ning Clan folk are reasonable. Everyone, just hand over what you found on the island. If we don’t need it, you can take it back for free. If we do want something, we’ll trade for it with something of equal value. How’s that?”

After his words, people below began whispering, some visibly wavering.

“Think of it as building a relationship with the Ning Clan,” the elder continued.

...

“I object,” came a voice as a man in green robes stepped forward.

He carried a broad sword on his back, and his long hair nearly covered his cheeks. A black band tied across his forehead.

His eyes were sharp like an eagle's.

“What others do is their business,” the green-robed man said flatly.

“But what I found is exactly what I need. So I won’t be handing it over.”

“Seems like you don’t quite understand,” the elder in red replied calmly. “I’m not negotiating. I’m offering a better option.”

As he spoke, he clapped his hands.

Nearly a hundred guards emerged from the side of the deck.

They surrounded everyone completely.

These guards weren’t very powerful individually, most were only at the Desolate Meridian Realm.

But what made the crowd wary was that they had trained in a coordinated battle formation.

What is a battle formation?

It’s similar to a normal formation, but fundamentally different.

Regular formations rely on spiritforce to form array marks.

Battle formations treat each person as a node in the array.

They are one unified entity.

Touch one, move all.

At this moment, the guards moved in sync, their steps, posture, and even breathing perfectly aligned.

As they combined their auras, a massive phantom of a white tiger appeared in the air above them.

The white tiger stretched nearly a hundred meters long.

It loomed faintly, roaring in mid-air.

Its killing aura was overwhelming and ferocious.

Though each of the hundred guards was only at the Desolate Meridian Realm,

together in this formation, they could even challenge someone at the Imperial Meridian Realm.

That was the fearsome power of a battle formation, combining strength into one.

Still, battle formations were rarely used.

They were mostly deployed in wars between empires due to their many limitations.

...

Xu Zimo glanced around. Most of the ship’s passengers were between the Desolate Meridian and Paragon Meridian Realms.

Only a few had reached the Imperial Meridian level.

Meanwhile, the Ning Clan’s Second Elder was clearly a genuine Empyrean Meridian cultivator.

Xu Zimo had never heard of the Ning Clan before, but he knew there were countless such factions on the Eastern Continent.

They ruled over their own territories, small-time local lords.

Their overall power might not be much, but in their region, they were still strong.

At this point, tensions on deck were high.

But the biggest issue was that the passengers weren’t united.

Some opposed the Ning Clan’s demand, while others were willing to comply.

Seeing the situation, the elder in red looked confident.

“So, have you all decided?” he asked.

“I agree,” someone said, already handing over the treasures they had gathered from the island.

Others remained silent.

Seeing people start to give in, the elder stayed patient.

At that moment, an elderly man with one arm stepped forward from the crowd.

He leaned on a cane and walked with a limp.

He wasn’t just missing an arm, his legs also seemed disabled.

More notably, he was blind.

“You all go on with your business. This old blind man won’t be participating,” he said cheerfully, walking out with his cane.

As he moved aside, the formation guards were about to act, but the red-robed elder stopped them.

“Senior… are you the Bloodthirsty Madblade?” the elder asked solemnly, with great respect.

“Bloodthirsty Madblade? I’m just a regular old man,” the one-armed elder said with a smile and a shake of his head.

“No need to deny it,” the red-robed elder replied.

“Out here in the Endless Sky Sea, your name is more famous than even Grand Emperors.”

Hearing that, the one-armed man paused slightly.

Then said nothing more, and quietly walked off into the distance.