Although Wu Xian's words weren't entirely unreasonable, the scar-faced man and the other pirates still felt like they were being toyed with.
The scar-faced man's expression darkened as he said coldly:
"Hmph, I've changed my mind. At the very least, I have to cut you once."
With that, he swung his blade toward Wu Xian.
Wu Xian, seeing the attack, panicked and fell to the ground while clutching his head. But in a bizarre twist of fate, his head landed directly on the scar-faced man's supporting leg.
The impact was surprisingly heavy, causing the scar-faced man to lose his balance and crash to the ground. The humiliation was unbearable, he never imagined that a professional pirate like himself would be knocked over by a mere amateur.
Seeing this, one of his crew members rushed forward with a dagger to assist. However, just as he was about to strike, a single droplet of water inexplicably shot from above, hitting his back and making him stumble forward.
To make matters worse, the dagger in his hand, now out of control, accidentally stabbed straight into the unlucky scar-faced man's backside.
"ARGH!"
A sharp, agonized scream echoed across the ship, making even those who weren't involved wince in sympathy.
Enraged, the scar-faced man kicked backward with full force, sending his foolish crewmate flying. As he did, he pulled the dagger out in one swift motion.
The unfortunate pirate who had been kicked crashed into another crew member, causing the latter's elbow to slam into yet another pirate's head.
The unexpected blow left him dazed, and in his disoriented state, the sword in his hand swung wildly, accidentally cutting into yet another comrade.
"ARGH! You bastard, I'll cut you down!"
One pirate roared in fury and lifted his arm, but for some reason, his fist landed squarely on the face of yet another companion, making blood gush from his nose.
"You bastard! I'll fight you to the death!"
The chaos only escalated from there, as one bizarre accident after another turned the entire situation into utter mayhem.
What started as a gang of ruthless pirates bullying the helpless young Wu Xian had somehow devolved into a full-blown brawl among themselves.
And at the center of it all, the supposed victim, Wu Xian was still lying facedown on the deck, clutching his head. From any angle, he looked completely harmless.
The pirates who had yet to be caught up in the chaos saw how cowardly Wu Xian was acting and couldn't even be bothered to pay him any attention. Instead, they focused on breaking up the pointless brawl.
However, for some inexplicable reason, people kept falling over, again and again, and each time, someone else got hurt in the process.
The more they tried to intervene, the worse things became. In just a short while, nearly every pirate aboard had been dragged into the mess, turning the entire deck into complete mayhem.
At that moment, Zhang Ba Hai, who had been swinging his war mace seriously at Lan Hao Tian, suddenly stopped.
The veins on his forehead bulged as he roared:
"All of you, stop this instant! Any idiot who keeps fighting will be the first one I kill!"
He was exhausted. His foolish crewmates were giving him a headache. If they weren't at least somewhat useful, he would have tossed them overboard long ago and found himself a new crew.
He distinctly remembered that they had originally set out to capture one person. Yet now, that person was still lying motionless on the floor while his men had somehow ended up beating each other senselessly.
Lan Hao Tian, though locked in combat, had been keeping an eye on the ship's situation. Holding his stomach, he burst into laughter:
"Hahaha! Your crew is really entertaining!"
However, to Zhang Ba Hai, those words sounded more like:
"Hahaha! You call this bunch of idiots your crew? What a pathetic excuse for a captain."
The thought alone made the veins on his forehead throb even more. Clenching his war mace tightly, he roared:
"You damn brat, I'll crush you!"
Without another word, he shot forward like a cannonball, raising his mace high before bringing it crashing down.
Boom!
Lan Hao Tian swiftly dodged to the right, avoiding the attack, while the ship's deck splintered beneath the sheer force of the strike. Using his left leg as a pivot, he swung his right leg up and delivered a powerful kick straight into Zhang Ba Hai's stomach.
The force sent Zhang Ba Hai flying into the ship's railing, shattering the sturdy wooden beams upon impact.
But such injuries were nothing to him. He quickly got back on his feet, coughing slightly before glaring at Lan Hao Tian.
"Cough... Cough... Brat, you've successfully pissed me off!"
Yet Lan Hao Tian acted as though he hadn't heard him at all. Instead, he simply stood there, laughing:
"Hahaha! You're really strong. I kicked you with full force, and all you did was spit out a little saliva."
Once again, Zhang Ba Hai felt completely disregarded, as if his words held no weight at all in this fight.
Zhang Ba Hai snorted:
"Hmph! Since you refuse to listen, I'll just have to make you!"
With that, he lunged at Lan Hao Tian once more. This time, as he approached, he leaped into the air and spun rapidly like a rolling wheel.
His body twirled non-stop, closing in on Lan Hao Tian at terrifying speed. The moment he was near, he swung his war mace down at an incredible velocity.
Sweat dripped down Lan Hao Tian's forehead. He barely managed to roll to the side at full speed, narrowly avoiding the devastating strike.
Boom!
The impact of the mace against the ship's deck echoed like thunder, shaking the entire vessel.
For a moment, the pirates were startled. But soon, their fear turned into excitement.
"Hahaha! The captain is so powerful!"
"Captain, smash that brat into mincemeat!"
"You didn't see? That kid was obviously crushed in that dust cloud!"
The pirates started arguing over whether Lan Hao Tian had survived. Meanwhile, Wu Xian, though still lying on the deck, was well aware of the situation.
"It seems the captain has run into a tough opponent right after setting sail. He's injured."
Though he remained motionless, the world was his eyes. As long as he willed it, he could see everything happening.
As the dust settled, a disheveled figure was revealed standing not far away.
Lan Hao Tian's left arm was visibly wounded, with fresh blood dripping onto the deck.
It was unclear if the injury was critical, but it was certainly not minor.
Zhang Ba Hai's expression was filled with arrogance as he looked at his opponent with admiration.
"Brat, your speed is impressive. I didn't expect you to dodge that."
Lan Hao Tian took a few deep breaths, then straightened his posture. His sharp eyes locked onto Zhang Ba Hai as he spoke:
"Alright then, now I'll use water."
"Water?" Zhang Ba Hai asked in confusion.
He had never heard of a Water Manipulator before. The world's communication system was still limited, people only knew about things happening in their own regions.
Well, except for which empire ruled over them, since they were required to pay heavy tributes every year.
So, it was only natural that Zhang Ba Hai had no knowledge of the existence of Water Manipulators.