Super God Grandmaster
Chapter 1057 - 1057 1043 Cooperation

Chapter 1057: Chapter 1043: Cooperation Chapter 1057: Chapter 1043: Cooperation Shao Hengjiang chuckled and said, “Right, I am a pirate. Who would choose to be a pirate, a bad man, if not for sheer survival? If I had a choice, why would I be a pirate? I really long to be a good person.”

“Heh, just because you say so, I don’t believe you truly want to be a good person.” Ye Chen stood up, scanning the room. Inside, there were numerous antiques and treasures, indicative of someone who knew how to enjoy life, not your typical pirate. But he was quickly drawn to a painting. Indeed, it was that woman again, not drinking tea this time but quietly looking out of the window, where two orioles were perched.

“I was originally from the Sacred Spirit Sect, but I had a feud with my senior fellow disciple, Ke Yizhu. We have been fighting all these years, but it’s not that I don’t want to be a good person; circumstances have forced me. I promise that as long as the Sacred Spirit Stone is in my possession, I will never use it to harm the Central Plains or the Wastelands, or else I shall have a wretched end.”

“It seems you really want to get your hands on the Sacred Spirit Stone.”

“Yes, the Sacred Spirit Stone is my only chance to clear the name of the Iron Ten Thousand Bandits and become a good person. I must have it. I believe you wouldn’t want Qiandu Xiang to get it either. Qiandu Xiang has three dreams: to become the Sect Leader of the Sacred Spirit Sect, to own the thirty-six islands of the South Sea, and finally, to conquer the Central Plains. I fear that if the Sacred Spirit Stone falls into his hands, even the Wastelands will not fare well.”

Looking at the painting, Ye Chen asked, “Nangong Yan is your daughter, isn’t she?”

Shao Hengjiang still seemed surprised as he asked, “How do you know?”

“It really is so!” Ye Chen had been pondering this the past few days and continued, “It’s the jade in your hand. She also carries a piece very similar to yours, but instead of the character ‘Jiang’, it has ‘Lan’, which is the last character in Nangong Yan’s mother’s name. They must be a pair. Her mother left her such a piece of jade, what more is there to explain? This is her mother’s portrait! She stole one, you immediately hung up a new one, showing just how much you must have loved her mother.”

Shao Hengjiang was still quite impressed, and he smiled faintly, taking a sip of his tea.

Ye Chen went on, “I say, that girl, she poisoned you again, released the Water Dragon, attracted Qiandu Xiang and his men’s attack, exposed your whereabouts, damaged the Breeze Ship, and nearly spelled the end for your Parrot Ship, yet you didn’t kill her.”

Shao Hengjiang remained silent, tacitly confirming what Ye Chen had said.

“But I’m curious, why would you be willing to marry your daughter off to me without fearing that I might harm her?”

“It was her choice.”

Ye Chen smiled and said, “She’s just worried that you would force the marriage upon her, and that’s her last resort, not because she fears you would coerce her into marrying you.”

“You’re quite all right, your martial arts are very good, and you are the Sect Leader of the New City Sect; I suppose you couldn’t be that bad.”

“Still, I don’t even know if I can make it through this trouble myself.”

“Then work with me; surely the odds are better than if you go it alone.” Shao Hengjiang had tested Ye Chen’s martial arts, which were not inferior to his own, especially with the help of the Red Demonic Spirit and Black Demonic Spirit. Truly, if they joined forces, he wouldn’t have to worry about not being Qiandu Xiang’s match.

“You’re so sure I will cooperate with you?”

“Right now, only I can help you. Nangong Yao and the others are no match for Qiandu Xiang. If the Sacred Spirit Stone really ends up in Qiandu Xiang’s hands, you’ll truly have no chance.”

“I’m afraid your daughter would rather die than agree to that.”

Since Shao Hengjiang surmised that Nangong Yan was his daughter, he had become preoccupied with the thought. Nangong Yan was already seventeen; certainly, she couldn’t accept him at once. Besides, she was a pirate too.

Ye Chen said softly, “She still holds a grudge over you destroying the Breeze Ship.”

“I had to destroy the Breeze Ship; if I hadn’t agreed, Qiandu Xiang wouldn’t have offered me any benefits, which meant no chance to unify the Iron Ten Thousand Island region, which would remain in perpetual turmoil. Although I destroyed the Breeze Ship, the Parrot Ship arrived just in time before it sank and managed to save most of the people who had fallen into the sea.”

Ye Chen had heard about this incident but still said, “Yet you released the Water Dragon, causing the deaths of many.”

“Right, and you’ve become the Wolf King, responsible for the deaths of many as well. Are you a good person or a bad one?”

Ye Chen looked at Shao Hengjiang, smirked slightly, and said, “Of course I’m no good person.”

“We are much the same; often I have no choice, such is the way of the martial world.”

“Right, you speak the truth. We are both compelled by circumstance, but unlike you, I never wished to harm others.”

Shao Hengjiang continued to drink his tea and said, “I don’t want to argue about this with you because you are not me.”

“Right, we’re both involuntarily involved.” Ye Chen pondered for a moment and realized that Shao Hengjiang wasn’t as bad as he had imagined.

“Just tell me if you’re willing or not.”

“Do I have a choice?”

Shao Hengjiang smiled slightly and said, “You could choose to trust me this time.”

“I’ll think about it.” After all, the matter had come too suddenly.

“Don’t tell her about Nangong Yan being my daughter just yet,” Shao Hengjiang said, clearly unprepared. It might not be good for her to find out about it at this time.

“Don’t worry, but you’d better be careful. The girl thinks you’re a bad guy; who knows when she might stab you.” Ye Chen joked and quickly turned to leave.

This time Shao Hengjiang had the two men following Ye Chen withdrawn, and as Ye Chen was about to leave, he turned around and said, “Could you give me some clothes that are less conspicuous?”

The two subordinates glanced at Shao Hengjiang, who made a hand gesture.

One of the subordinates said to Ye Chen, “I’ll bring them to you later.”

Ye Chen continued forward, not believing that Nangong Yao and the others were a match for Qiandu Xiang. He had spotted the problem when he saved Ouyang Yue last time; had he not acted promptly back then, it would have been uncertain whether Nangong Yao and the others could have escaped.

Ye Chen returned to his room.

Anxiously waiting, Nangong Yan asked him the moment he came in, “How did it go? Did that demon Shao Hengjiang summon you? After being in the dark all night, I really want to know what Shao Hengjiang is up to because it doesn’t make sense.”

Ye Chen, sitting in the chair, replied, “I’m considering cooperating with Shao Hengjiang.”

“What do you mean?” Nangong Yan asked, utterly puzzled.

Ye Chen replied, “That is, working together to obtain the Sacred Spirit Stone.”

Nangong Yan’s eyes widened as she exclaimed, “You want to cooperate with Shao Hengjiang? How can you work with that great demon? Do you know the trouble it will cause if the Sacred Spirit Stone falls into his hands?”

“He assured me that if the Sacred Spirit Stone fell into his hands, he would not use it against the Immortal and Demon Realms or the Wastelands. He just wants to be a good person; it’s just that he hasn’t had the chance over the years.” Ye Chen grabbed an orange to peel, filling the room with the scent of orange.

“How can you believe what he says? You must’ve been kicked by a donkey, or else you wouldn’t possibly believe him. Have you forgotten about the Water Dragon and the Three-Headed Monster?” Nangong Yan became anxious.

Ye Chen replied, “I haven’t forgotten, but Shao Hengjiang explained that he acted out of helplessness and did not intend to harm anyone. It was Qiandu Xiang who forced him. He wanted to unify the areas near Iron Ten Thousand Island, and if he agreed to help Qiandu Xiang, he would get such an opportunity, so he did it. However, he had calculated that while he would destroy the Breeze Ship, he knew the Parrot Ship was nearby. Therefore, before the Breeze Ship sank, the Parrot Ship arrived in time.

Although you and I met with an accident and drifted to a deserted island, it’s undeniable that most of the people who fell overboard from the Breeze Ship were saved.” Besides what he had heard from Shao Hengjiang, there were things he had learned on his own recently.

“How can you just take Shao Hengjiang’s word for it? He is Iron Chains, you know why they call him Iron Chains? It’s because he kills without blinking an eye, committing all kinds of evil, that’s how he got that nickname. Such a person is extremely dangerous, a liar through and through; you can’t cooperate with someone like that.” She couldn’t believe that Ye Chen would speak in favor of Shao Hengjiang.

“Hey, that’s just a scary nickname, he’s not that bad.” Ye Chen contemplated a bit; Shao Hengjiang was so good to his own daughter, a father that caring couldn’t be too bad. Of course, other than that, he had learned a bit more about Shao Hengjiang from other aspects, especially from some fishermen. The emergence of the Iron Ten Thousand Bandits indeed alleviated the killings and brought safety to the nearby fishermen.

“Hey, how can you be so easily brainwashed? You can’t be like this.” Nangong Yan continued, “Do you have any idea how many bad things Shao Hengjiang has done over the years? I can tell you about them one by one, and you’ll realize how bad he is.”

Although Shao Hengjiang had done many bad things to help Qiandu Xiang, most of them involved stealing, targeting only some overbearing merchants. He always chose those who oppressed others and the real pirates.

Ye Chen laughed, seeing that the girl had a deep misunderstanding about her own father. He said, “He’s also been forced, you’re just looking in from outside. You don’t know what it’s like for him, so it’s hard to judge.”

Her mind wasn’t so easily swayed, and she spoke with some disbelief, “How can you use ‘forced into it’ as an excuse for harming others?”