"Then let's get ready to transfer the money. Let's not waste time. This young man seems like a straightforward guy. Two hundred and fifty million. Our shared account number is..." Of course, he wanted to finish this matter immediately. It was hard to say whether this naive young man really had the final say. It would be best if he transferred the money to them on the spot. He could even deny it immediately after the transfer and squeeze out another sum of money.
"Wait, you seem to have misunderstood! I meant that I'll get 50% of any money you rob in the future!" Zhang Lei interrupted him.
Episode 4: An Eye for an Eye, a Knife for a Teeth - Chapter 92: The Fish That Came Ashore (Part 2)
"Fish! Once they're on land, no matter how much they jump around, they're still just vegetables on a chopping board!" Zhang Lei laughed as he closed the hall door.
"Do you really think you're amphibious toads? You actually think you can threaten others from the shore? You're overestimating yourselves!" Zhang Lei's laughter sounded particularly harsh.
The pirates' negotiators were in a state of confusion. They argued that while every country had laws against killing envoys during wartime, pirates were not obligated to abide by them, and similarly, probably no one would abide by such laws for pirates.
However, after a moment of panic, the pirates didn't notice anyone suddenly rushing in. "Kid, you think you can handle this alone?"
In a world where everyone has superpowers, who's afraid of whom? Besides, just because these pirates are used to fighting on deck doesn't mean they can't do anything once they're on land.
"Go! Take him hostage first!" Although they didn't really expect this kid to be any important person, it was better than nothing.
"Bang!" That was Zhang Lei's answer.
Zhang Lei swept away three pirates who were trying to grab him with one kick. "You know what? I took pity on you today. You should all be dead by now!"
He paused, then said, "Although you've all been very careful, not eating anything, your brains are really not working properly. Don't you know there's something called poison gas in this world? Let me introduce you to someone! Wu Chen, come out!"
Hearing Zhang Lei's call, Wu Chen jumped down from the ceiling; it turned out he had been hiding there all along.
"This person's special ability is to resist poison, and even poison gas that gas masks can't block. In other words, if I hadn't held back just now, you'd all be corpses by now!" Seeing their questioning looks, he continued, "You don't need to look at me. My special ability is also to release poison, and it's much more poisonous than his, so I'm not afraid of poison. You can test it if you don't believe me!"
The three pirates who just came out were relatively strong in close combat among the pirates who came, but even so, they were easily swept away by Zhang Lei with a single kick and have not yet had the strength to get up. It seems that they are not even in the same league, which is equivalent to depriving them of the courage to resist.
A coin whizzed past a pirate's nose; if it had remained flat, there would have been no problem.
However, the other shape of a coin is round, and when tossed in the usual way, the coin will spin.
Zhang Lei is not a god; he has never practiced flipping a coin and does not have the ability to prevent it from spinning.
So, when the coin spun, it unfortunately knocked down a section of the pirate's nose, making him look quite like Erlang Shen. The only difference is that Erlang Shen's third eye is above his other two, while his third eye is below them.
"Don't move! It looks like you're trying to step on my shadow. I've heard of other people having that kind of ability. Maybe we can test it out sometime!"
Zhang Lei clapped his hands, drawing the pirates' attention to himself. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, now each of you has one minute to demonstrate your skills to me. If I find anyone's skills useful, I will keep them as my guards, or rather, my servants!"
"If anyone's abilities are not enough to entice me, then, see the mine tunnels outside? He will become a glorious but ordinary miner, unless his pirate gang or family can mail me a sum of money that can tempt me!"
Without Zhang Lei making any move, the huge table moved towards him, its heavy legs scraping against the ground with a screeching sound.
“There are only a limited number of guards. There are only three of you in this group. Who’s first? You’re the one. Stop whining!” Zhang Lei pointed at the pirate with a missing piece on his nose.
Zhang Lei felt much more pleasing to the eye this way. These Europeans all had noses so high they were unsightly, even more prominent than if their mothers had gotten implants! From now on, everyone should have surgery first, no matter what, just smash their noses flat! Starting with these pirates, regardless of whether they can be promoted to guards, no one can escape this test.
Actually, they should be thankful that Zhang Lei was quite tall; otherwise, he might have had their legs amputated.
Seeing the pirates getting restless, it seemed that Zhang Lei's words couldn't be completely trusted. Although the strength he had just displayed was already quite powerful, it wasn't particularly terrifying, which gave these pirates the will to fight.
Moreover, they pinned their hopes on their reinforcements, perhaps thinking that with so many pirate crews rushing in, even if everyone here had three heads and six arms, they couldn't resist.
"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to try again!"
With that, Zhang Lei flicked his wrist, and the plate in front of him flew across the table, grazing it. Everything on the table was knocked aside by the plate, creating a straight, clean path without a single piece of debris. The flying plate landed perfectly upright in the wall.
It looks simple, but without extremely high skill and strength, you can't even dream of doing this.
Not all pirates were oblivious to their superiors. This one move stunned several of the leading pirates. The other pirates, who had been observing their actions to decide their own course, naturally became obedient when the pirates stopped moving.
“Hey kid, I asked you to perform, but you couldn’t hear me?” Zhang Lei glanced at the three-eyed pirate.
When Zhang Lei swept his eyes over him, the three-eyed man suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Moreover, he was the one who had truly felt the deepest hurt from Zhang Lei, so he no longer dared to disobey.
"But my shadow-stepping technique can only be performed on a living person!" The pirate looked at Zhang Lei timidly. He probably also had some internal strength or fighting spirit. The wound on his nose had basically stopped bleeding.
“Then just pick anyone. There are so many people you can choose from. Of course, if you’re interested in me, you can also try your luck with me!” Zhang Lei looked at him with a smile, but no matter how amiable Zhang Lei’s smile was, the pirate didn’t dare to ask him to test his skills.
Episode 4: An Eye for an Eye, a Teeth for a Teeth - Chapter 93: Strategic Mistake (Part 1)
Zhang Lei still exceeded the limit in the end. He kept five people among the pirates because he found their abilities useful, especially the guy who could create a cold barrier. How could Zhang Lei bear to throw him into the mine? That would be a waste of talent.
The pirates sent to negotiate, though important figures in the group and capable of handling minor tasks, could not be the true leaders. True leaders always avoid dangerous situations.
"Captain Luke, at this time, if no one has returned and there's no news, the negotiations have probably broken down and they've been detained! Your ship is on duty this month, so you'd better give the order quickly!" A pirate wearing a strange-looking hat walked up to another pirate wearing a strange-looking hat and said. If you look closely, almost all the pirates in the center of the group are wearing such strange-looking hats.
"Hmm, let me think about it some more. I can't easily give important orders!" Captain Luke plucked the hairs from his chin.
"Damn it, it's just a question of what to eat, do you have to think about it for so long? After dinner, brothers, it's time to get to work! Stop dawdling!" another pirate shouted.
The rotating presidency ship sounds impressive, but like the rotating presidency country, it's just a decorative object. Apart from having the extra power to strike the gavel, it doesn't have much else to offer.
Of course, sometimes, important decisions like what to have for dinner are also up to them.
"What do you know? We're used to eating fish, and the taste is familiar to us, but eating fish on land doesn't seem very worthwhile. Eating meat, although it's a new flavor, I'm worried that many brothers won't be used to it, and their digestive systems won't be used to it either. In this tense moment before the battle, how can we let diarrhea from eating meat affect our fighting ability? Fish or meat, that is the question!"
Just as they were gathered together, racking their brains over what to eat, a small missile fell from the sky.
In the current environment, firearms are increasingly likely to be phased out, but missiles, even if they have a small yield, are still powerful. Especially since Zhang Lei has three people with expertise in poisoning, including himself, and the balloons attached to the missiles contain Wu Chen's poison gas.
The direct explosive power of this small missile, under the current conditions, would probably only kill a person within a meter or two of the direct impact range. However, the missile's pre-formed fragments are coated with highly toxic substances, and the balloon is filled with poison gas, so the power is a different story.
Zhang Lei bought these low-powered firearms for the price of scrap metal. Low-powered firearms are basically unsaleable right now. The most fundamental use of weapons is to kill people. What price can a weapon that can't kill people fetch? Recently, several multinational arms dealers have been losing money so much they're practically crying.
Among modern weapon systems, nuclear weapons may possess some of the greatest destructive power. However, even nuclear weapons, based on past nuclear tests, have had their original power reduced by about a hundredfold under current atmospheric concentrations, as the dense atmosphere severely inhibits energy propagation. Although nuclear weapons, even after a hundredfold reduction, remain among the most terrifying weapons, their actual destructive power has been significantly reduced compared to their original form.
Unbeknownst to them, the giant stick hanging over humanity's heads disappeared.