I Don't Agree to the Terms

"Whether it's useful or not, I have to take a gamble!" Cai Jian gritted his teeth, steering the ship into the range of the vortex.

Immediately, the ship lost control, starting to spin in the direction of the whirlpool, and also heading towards the central vortex.

All he felt was the world spinning around him, his heart filled with both shock and fear, "This isn't right, sea vortices aren't supposed to be like this, could this be a normal whirlpool?"

At this instant, he felt he had terrible luck, encountering such a coincidence.

"That's impossible, a normal vortex couldn't possibly have such great force; this ship, though it hadn't been modified, cannot be torn apart this quickly."

In light of this situation, he also harbored some doubts in his mind.

Fortunately, he soon didn't have to worry about his doubts, as the whole ship had been pulled into the vortex, spinning him around disorientingly, his whole mind in a daze.

"With this kind of power, it must definitely be a deep sea vortex."

He struggled to his feet, forcibly reviving his spirits.

"Damn it, the ship is shattered like this and completely unusable, what is this situation."

His attention shifted from his own ship, and at this moment, he seemed to find himself in a mysterious cavern, not at the bottom of the sea, which was indeed quite rare.

The vast majority of deep sea vortices are actually on the ocean floor, filled with a large amount of seawater. A situation like this, where it's merely damp but without seawater, was very uncommon.

"I need to quickly complete the search... scramble…" Cai Jian said these words when he looked up and saw a massive dark shadow.

He could make out that it was a gigantic ship, with a chilling and sharp glint all around it.

"This... this ship?!" In that moment, Cai Jian was immensely shocked in his heart; he had never seen such a huge ship before.

No, perhaps this wasn't just a ship, but a fortress.

"Heaven hasn't forsaken me." Cai Jian's face flushed with excitement, and he was visibly stirred, "As long as I have this giant ship, what could the Island Alliance amount to."

He hurriedly entered the hull of the giant ship to gather information and soon found a manual. He quickly understood that this vessel was named Heavenly King, and it was not a regular ship drifting on the sea, but a powerful ship that dominated the skies, possessing extremely terrifying power.

From the description, he knew its main cannon had the strength to penetrate the ocean. Reading this, he realized that with it under his control, he could destroy the Island Alliance's base in a single strike.

However, when he flipped to the back, his expression turned a bit grim; the Heavenly King lacked sufficient energy, being able to move at all was already fortunate, let alone using those powerful features.

Fortunately, there was a method of recovery described within.

"Travel to the sky to draw Sky Power and recharge, thereby perfecting the Sky Heart and restoring the true power of the Heavenly King."

"However, drawing Sky Power can be risky, easily bringing divine retribution."

Cai Jian quickly checked the remaining energy and breathed a sigh of relief: based on the remaining reserve energy, they could reach the sky once more and last for ten minutes.

And those ten minutes would be enough for the Heavenly King to replenish sufficient Sky Power to continue on. As long as a positive cycle could be formed, subsequent issues wouldn't be a problem.

Yet immediately another question arose in his mind.

That question was who built the Heavenly King, and why was it stored here? Why such a powerful ship existed unnoticed in a deep sea vortex.

"Forget it, no matter who it was, the Heavenly King is mine now."

"Once the Heavenly King is complete, I will be the Pirate King, the sovereign of the seas!!!"

He couldn't help but burst into laughter, using it to express his joy.

In his eyes, this was a blessing in disguise.

Quickly, he began the full activation of the Heavenly King.

"Space jump, instantaneously covering tens of thousands of meters, even the Great Commander Wang Qi can't manage that," he mused.

"If I were to warp the Heavenly King directly to the Island Alliance's headquarters now, relying on the ship's huge, durable body, I'd surely crush everything into dust."

But Cai Jian was only bluffing with that remark, no fool himself, knew well that doing so would be a one-way ticket to doom.

After the jump, Heavenly King could only continue on for ten minutes in energy-saving mode, utterly incapable of reaching high altitudes to absorb Sky Power for recovery. Such an action would provide momentary satisfaction, followed by certain demise.

He should wait until the Heavenly King had absorbed the Sky Power and condensed the Sky Heart. Then, once the energy was no longer scarce, it wouldn't be too late to proceed with such an action.

After all, the Island Alliance wasn't going anywhere.

"Initiate jump!" After fiddling for a bit, Cai Jian activated the Heavenly King, leaving the region of the deep-sea vortex behind and in an instant appeared above the sky, beginning to absorb the power of the sky.

...

On the other hand, Gu Shanhai also noticed the movements of the Heavenly King and couldn't help but smile.

"The kid is doing well, truly deserving of someone with great fortune." Gu Shanhai was very satisfied with Cai Jian's approach; as for the great fortune, once Gu Shanhai said he had it, then he certainly did.

"As long as the boy can withstand the backlash, there's basically nothing to worry about."

Gu Shanhai referred to withstanding in a rather direct manner: he wasn't sure if the boy could survive, but one thing he was certain of—at least with Cai Jian as a scapegoat he wouldn't need to worry about any impact on himself.

"That said, didn't that boy just mention wanting to become the Pirate King?" Gu Shanhai recalled the other's lofty words and felt that this kid also had potential. Maybe he should just indulge him?

"If he manages the Sky Power properly, letting him be the Pirate King for once would be feasible."

That was, of course, provided that Cai Jian lived. Otherwise, all talk was futile.

"According to the schedule, it will take about three days for the undeveloped Sky Power to be fully gathered."

Gu Shanhai coveted the Sky Heart, the true essence of a Heavenly King, whereas the Heavenly King in essence was just a large collection device; many of its functions were fake, not really existing at all.

But even the remaining features were enough for the Heavenly King to dominate the world—for instance, its size and sturdy build, its capability for space jumps, and its extremely powerful main cannon, among others.

These were all installed to make the Heavenly King appear more authentic.

After all, it was meant to help Cai Jian withstand the backlash—he was a scapegoat, indeed, but the main entity that needed to endure it was the Heavenly King, akin to both the murder weapon and the culprit.

It wasn't just about dealing with the culprit; certainly, the murder weapon couldn't just be left out there either.

Even Gu Shanhai was prepared for the Heavenly King to be damaged in the process.

He didn't care about the fate of the Heavenly King because he hadn't borne the costs; Azure Dragon and Little White had painstakingly put it together. The software was programmed by the Four Sacred Beasts System, and Gu Shanhai's only involvement had been to check the design plans and perform the final inspection.

Since it wasn't his own money or effort, he felt relatively indifferent about it, and since it wasn't the most precious item, its destruction was of no concern.

Of course, there was some regret—it did utilize substantial resources, so preserving it would certainly be best.

"The backlash has begun, and it is indeed very sensitive, but why does it seem weaker?" Gu Shanhai wondered. The first time he faced the world's backlash, his skin nearly broke, but Cai Jian felt almost nothing, the effects were so feeble they could be disregarded.

"Is it because I'm an outsider and also have a divine identity, so striking me doesn't sting, while Cai Jian, being one of our own, is spared the severest blows?"

Gu Shanhai immediately thought of the differences between him and Cai Jian.

One was a son, the other an outsider—it was clear without contemplation that the treatment wouldn't be as harsh as toward Gu Shanhai.

"Damn, favors indeed make things easier," Gu Shanhai remarked emotionally.