A chorus of pirates shouted, trying to calm their crewmates down, but for some strange reason, people kept falling over—again and again. And each time someone fell, they somehow managed to knock down another poor soul nearby.
The harder they tried to stop the chaos, the worse it became. In a matter of moments, the deck was a complete mess of flailing limbs and rising tempers.
Zhang Ba Hai was about to swing his iron mace straight at Lan Hao Tian when he suddenly froze mid-motion.
Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared:
"Everyone, stop this damn nonsense! If any idiot keeps acting up, I'll personally bash his skull in first!"
He was exhausted. This band of fools he called crewmates gave him endless headaches. If they weren't at least somewhat useful during normal times, he would've thrown the lot of them overboard long ago and hired a brand-new crew.
He remembered clearly—they were supposed to be capturing someone. Yet right now, that person was lying motionless on the deck, while his men were busy beating the crap out of each other.
Even while fighting, Lan Hao Tian had been watching the ship's situation with mild amusement. He clutched his stomach and laughed:
"Ha ha ha! Your crew is... really something else!"
To Zhang Ba Hai, however, those words sounded more like:
"Ha ha ha, you actually teamed up with a bunch of morons. What kind of joke of a captain are you?"
That was the final straw.
Veins popped once more on his forehead as he gripped his mace tight and bellowed:
"You arrogant brat—I'm gonna smash you into pieces!"
Like a cannonball, he launched himself straight at Lan Hao Tian, raising his weapon high before bringing it down with deadly force.
BOOM!
Lan Hao Tian sidestepped to the right just in time, and the heavy mace smashed straight through the deck, leaving a splintered hole.
With his left foot firmly planted, he twisted and kicked out with his right—landing a solid blow right into Zhang Ba Hai's stomach.
The impact sent Zhang Ba Hai flying, crashing hard into the side rail of the ship. The solid wooden planks groaned and cracked from the force of his body.
But to him, that was just a scratch.
He stood up slowly, wiped the blood from his lip, and growled:
"Cough... cough... You've done it now, brat. I'm truly pissed."
Lan Hao Tian, still standing exactly where he had been, chuckled like he hadn't heard a word.
"Hahaha! You're seriously tough. I kicked you that hard and all you did was spit up a little."
Zhang Ba Hai clenched his fists again. Once more, he felt like this guy wasn't taking him seriously at all. No matter what he said, it was like his words held no weight.
"Hmph. Since you won't listen to a single word I say." Zhang Ba Hai growled.
"I'll just let my actions do the talking."
With that, he charged at Lan Hao Tian once more. As he closed the distance, he suddenly leaped into the air, his body spinning midair like a rolling wheel of iron.
He twisted and turned rapidly, a whirling force of destruction barreling toward Lan Hao Tian. Just as he closed in, he swung his mace with staggering speed.
Sweat trickled down Lan Hao Tian's forehead. He flung himself to the side at full speed, narrowly avoiding the strike.
BOOM!
The impact of the mace against the ship's deck thundered like a bolt of lightning, sending a tremor across the entire vessel. The pirates watching nearby were startled—then immediately thrilled.
"Hahaha! That's our captain for you!"
"Captain, smash that punk into paste!"
"You didn't see that? The kid's clearly been crushed under that dust cloud!"
The crew began loudly debating whether Lan Hao Tian was still alive. But one person knew the truth—Wu Xian, who lay motionless on the deck, his body still, yet his awareness sharp.
Looks like the captain's just set sail and already ran into a tough opponent, he thought. He's injured.
Though he lay unmoving, the ocean itself was his eyes. So long as he willed it, he could see everything.
The dust and debris from the shattered deck slowly began to clear, revealing the figure of a young man staggering near the impact zone.
His left arm was clearly injured—blood dripped steadily onto the wooden boards, drop by crimson drop.
No one could say for sure if it was a critical wound, but it was obvious the damage wasn't light.
Zhang Ba Hai stood tall, pride and battle lust gleaming in his eyes. He gazed at Lan Hao Tian with an almost admiring look.
"Not bad, kid. Didn't expect you to dodge that one."
Lan Hao Tian took a few deep breaths, then stood upright, his eyes locked onto his opponent.
"Alright then." he said calmly.
"I guess it's time I used water."
"Water?" Zhang Ba Hai raised an eyebrow, confused.
He had never heard of any so-called "Water Master". In this fragmented world, knowledge didn't spread far. Most people only knew what happened in their own regions.
Well—aside from which empire ruled over them, of course. That was something no one could forget, especially with how much tribute they were forced to send each year.
It was no surprise that Zhang Ba Hai had never heard of a Water Master.
Lan Hao Tian didn't bother explaining for now—he had more important things to focus on.
He glanced briefly at the wound on his left arm. Oddly enough, the bleeding had completely stopped.
What made it strange was that the injury showed no signs of healing. The blood had simply... ceased to flow.
Zhang Ba Hai's eyes went wide with disbelief. He hadn't been sailing for long, and this was his first time seeing something that defied all logic.
For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.
Lan Hao Tian, seeing the blood had stopped, turned to his opponent with a grin.
"You're pretty strong, huh? That last hit almost killed me."
He didn't launch an immediate counterattack. Seeing Zhang Ba Hai frozen in confusion, he figured attacking now would feel too... cheap. There was no fun in striking a dazed opponent.
Zhang Ba Hai finally snapped out of his stupor, his mind catching up to reality.
"You… you can really control water? Did you stop your blood from leaving your body just now?"
Lan Hao Tian nodded casually.
"That's right. I'm a second-rank Water Master. Controlling a bit of blood is nothing unusual."
At that moment, Zhang Ba Hai no longer looked like a simple brute. His eyes lit up—not with anger, but curiosity. He quickly memorized everything Lan Hao Tian had said and followed up with another question.
"What's a Water Master?"
Lan Hao Tian was genuinely surprised. Where he came from, the term was fairly common. While Water Masters themselves were rare, everyone in his region at least knew of their existence.
Nearly all the caretakers from his childhood had spoken of them with reverence.
"A Water Master is someone born with the ability to control water. It's rare, yeah, and it's an innate gift—so no, I can't exactly teach you. But if I beat you, I might be willing to explain a bit more." he explained.
Zhang Ba Hai frowned, clearly disappointed. But after thinking it through, his expression darkened. He scoffed and said coldly:
"Hmph. Who needs you to teach me anything? And what makes you think you can beat me?"
He raised his mace and pointed it at Lan Hao Tian.
"Come on then. Let's see what your little water tricks can really do."