Heroes Return

Besides, tell me, how many famous female special forces units are there in the world? So if there are any, there are definitely more male characters, right? Furthermore, a girl with little combat experience would have a serious problem surviving a battle against a well-trained special forces unit with similar equipment, wouldn't she?

So why not use that kind of high-tech, anthropomorphized warships to develop more powerful deterrent weapons? Or even develop some kind of combat robot? Why bother using those outdated warship weapons? I just don't understand... To put it bluntly, ship girls are just a setting you otaku forced onto warships for the sake of cuteness. Real warfare wouldn't use these weapons; the cost and reward are disproportionate... blah blah blah..."

"That's how it is. My dream of becoming an admiral was ruthlessly shattered by my sister," Lin Jie said. "The most crucial point is that I simply couldn't refute her..."

"These boring people simply can't understand our justice." Thirteen patted Lin Jie on the shoulder and said, "Believe me, ship girls and all that will come sooner or later; it's an inevitable trend!"

"Thirteen... damn it! There's a little girl standing next to your man-eating flower! Don't let that flower eat her!" Lin Jie was about to say something to Thirteen, but the next second he was surprised to see a little girl in a green dress walking towards Thirteen's man-eating flower. So he immediately reminded Thirteen that if Thirteen's man-eating flower ate such a cute little girl at this banquet, things would be very serious.

Upon hearing Lin Jie's words, Thirteen realized what was happening and immediately turned around to look at the carnivorous plant behind him.

Upon seeing this, Thirteen was completely stunned.

The carnivorous plant was now nestled against the little girl, rubbing its head against her comfortably. The little girl's hands were stroking the plant, and she was saying, "Good girl, good girl..."

"Little girl, be careful! This is a man-eating flower!" Lin Jie didn't care about anything else at the moment. He picked up the little girl and put her aside. "Let me tell you, this man-eating flower is very dangerous, so don't get too close! What if it loses its temper and eats you?"

“It’s alright…” the little girl said, opening the carnivorous plant. “He’s a good boy.”

"But it's not without danger, you know?" Lin Jie said.

"Kuhuhu, it seems my little sister has caused you unnecessary trouble." Just as Lin Jie was about to teach the little girl a lesson, a girl in a purple dress appeared in front of Lin Jie and his companions.

"Is she your sister?" Lin Jie asked.

"Kuhuhu, this is my little sister." The girl said, taking the little girl's hand and saying, "I'm sorry to bother you three." With that, the girl lifted her skirt and bowed to Lin Jie and the other two.

"It's nothing. We're just worried about your sister's safety. After all, I don't know my new pet very well yet," Thirteen said gently to the girl.

“My lady, I see your hands are covered in blood. This humble monk advises you to lay down your butcher's knife as soon as possible, otherwise your evil deeds will eventually bring retribution.” Master Wuneng said to the girl, “This humble monk has a few scriptures here, which are my personal belongings. Since they are destined to be with you, my lady, I will part with them and sell them to you today…”

"Kuhuhu, Master, you're so funny. I'm just a delicate little girl, how could I possibly..." The girl then put on a wronged expression.

"Ignore him! This charlatan is like that to everyone! I just heard the Admiral say the same thing!" Lin Jie pinned the Incompetent Master to the ground and stomped on him twice. "You damn charlatan! It's one thing for you to say this to guys like me and the Admiral who are capable of fighting, but you even try to fool a little girl when you meet her!"

"Speaking of which, Master, how many scriptures do you actually have?" Thirteen asked, looking at the Master.

“Amitabha Buddha, monks do not lie…”

"That's a lie you're telling me!"

chapter Five

Just as Lin Jie and his two companions were arguing, a girl's scream rang out from the crowd.

"Lord Xiang! Lord Xiang is so handsome!!" Such voices rang out from the female guests present from time to time. Several people followed the source of the voices and looked over, and a handsome waiter wearing glasses appeared in Lin Jie's eyes.

Upon seeing this man, Lin Jie couldn't help but think of the bespectacled guy in their team. However, this young man named Xiang was distinctly different from the bespectacled guy. Although he also wore glasses, Xiang exuded a dashing charm that could make any girl swoon.

"Damn! Another different type of Young Master Long!" Looking at the waiter who was attracting everyone's attention, Lin Jie couldn't help but think of Young Master Long. After all, both of them possessed looks far beyond ordinary people and a charm that could make countless girls swoon.

"This guy seems more like a member of high society than the VIPs here," Thirteen remarked, looking at the waiter. Just then, the waiter, named Xiang, was pouring a glass of red wine for a female customer with an air of nonchalance.

"Beautiful lady, here's your red wine." The waiter said this while gracefully handing the wine to the young woman. The woman blushed instantly upon seeing the waiter's hasty hand to her.

"Ugh, I want some red wine too!" A young girl approached them at that moment.

"Me too." "Me too."

"I really envy this guy," Lin Jie couldn't help but say.

"Kuhuhu, people just love those boring, all-encompassing people." The girl's voice rang out beside Lin Jie.

"There's nothing we can do about it; it's a society that judges people by their looks," Lin Jie sighed.

“Kuhuhu, at least I don’t judge by looks. The person I’m looking for is someone who has never shown their face.” The girl said, looking at Lin Jie: “Kuhuhu. If I had to choose between that handsome guy and you, I would choose you, Kuhuhu.”

Lin Jie felt a little embarrassed after the girl said that: "Thank you for saying that, but you are a lot like my sister in this respect. There is a handsome guy pursuing her. But she just likes a guy she has never even seen."

"Kuhuhu, young lady, you don't just judge men by their eyes." The girl said, "At least in my opinion, you are better than that man named Xiang, Kuhuhu. After all, you are stronger than him, and I like strong men the most."

"Huh? How do you know I'm stronger than him?" Lin Jie looked at the girl in confusion.

"Kuhuhu, as the strongest club-wielding hero in H City, you're the strongest on this ship, you know," the girl said to Lin Jie. "Kuhuhu, although you can't compare to the person I'm looking for."

"How do you know me? You didn't board the ship in H City, did you? And please don't call me 'Club Man'." As he spoke, Lin Jie recalled the passengers who boarded the ship with him, and it seemed that there wasn't such a cute girl among them. Otherwise, Lin Jie believed that he would definitely remember her very clearly.

"Kuhuhu, I already told you they're still looking for people, so after boarding, I checked the identities of all the crew members." The girl said this while putting on a pitiful look, "Um, Mr. Lin won't blame me, will he?"

The moment the girl made that expression, Lin Jie was utterly defeated.

“This female benefactor, in fact, this humble monk is also quite powerful,” Master Wuneng said, stepping closer.

"But people hate bald heads."

“That’s easy,” Master Wuneng said, taking out a wig. Upon closer inspection, the wig turned out to be a Taoist’s hairstyle. He then turned his clothes inside out, put them back on, and transformed into a Taoist priest.

"Is this alright?" the now-successfully-professional incompetent master said to the girl.

"..." Even though the girl had nearly destroyed the world several times in the past, and had seen all sorts of criminals and heroes, she had never encountered anything quite like the Incompetent Master before.

"Master, how can you do this to Buddha?" Lin Jie asked, looking at the incompetent master.

"Who has time to care about Buddha when they're chasing girls!" Master Wuneng said, glancing at Lin Jie.

"Kuhuhu, Master, you're really interesting. I should call you Taoist Master now." The girl smiled as she looked at the incompetent Master.

Just as the incompetent master was about to say something, the sound of a cup breaking rang in everyone's ears, followed by a harsh, mocking voice from a man: "Can't even do this little thing right, what kind of waiter are you? You really are just a useless pretty boy who can only make a living off your looks."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young man in an elegant suit looking at the previously popular waiter, Xiang, with disdain. It was obvious that the young man disliked this handsome guy named Xiang and was deliberately picking a fight.

The latter was kneeling on one knee on the ground, picking up the broken cups.

After seeing that Xiang had finished cleaning up the glasses, the man in the elegant suit said to Xiang, "Now that you're done cleaning up, why don't you quickly pour me another glass of red wine?"

"As you wish." Xiang said, pouring himself another glass of wine.

When the man took the glass, he intended to repeat his trick and deliberately let go again, which he did. But in the next second, the waiter named Xiang caught the glass in front of him, and the wine that was about to spill was caught back into the glass and placed in front of the young man: "Sir, please take your wine."

It was very fast, and in an instant, it caught the wine that the young man had deliberately spilled back into the glass in mid-air.

Xiang's series of actions made many of the ladies around him drool, while many young girls looked at the young man with disdain.

The young man, feeling embarrassed by the stares, snatched the wine glass from the glass and said, "Tch, what are you pretending for? You're just a gigolo who lives off women."

After saying that, the young man walked towards Lin Jie's direction.

"I thought this kind of troublemaking wouldn't happen in real life," Lin Jie said, stroking his chin. "But what he did just now was really something else. Are you sure I'm better than him?"

As he spoke, Lin Jie looked at the girl who had been talking to him.

“Kuhuhu, I can’t be wrong,” the girl said.

"Oh, right, I haven't asked your name yet," Lin Jie asked the girl.

“Kuhuhu, my name is Alice. Elaine, this is my sister, Delis. Elaine,” the girl said to Lin Jie.

"Oh? Is this young lady the legendary heir of the Elaine family?" A young man in an elegant suit approached Alice and said. He was the same young man who had been picking a fight with the waiter earlier.

"Kuhuhu, I didn't expect anyone to still remember the Elaine family?" Alice smiled as she looked at the young man.

"Beautiful Miss Alice, hello. Let me introduce myself. My name is Swain Harut, the second in line to the Harut family. It's a pleasure to meet you. Many of the Elaine family's businesses are still operating because there's a legendary heir who hasn't been killed. I never imagined I'd have the honor of meeting the heir of the Elaine family, who hasn't appeared in six or seven years. And I never expected the heir to be such a beautiful young lady. May I invite you to dance?" Swain said, extending his hand to Alice in what he considered a very gentlemanly gesture.

"The Harut family?" Alice tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "Kuhu, I should definitely go back to Sector O when I have time. It's an honor to receive your invitation, but I already have a dance partner."

The girl looked at Lin Jie as she spoke.

"Huh?" Only then did Swain notice Lin Jie standing to the side: "Are you sure you want to be with this country bumpkin who obviously got in by luck?"

"That's really annoying!"

"As a noble from District O, I still have a piece of advice for you. It's best to keep a certain distance from these bumpkins of low status, otherwise you'll become a laughing stock in the noble circle, Miss."

"Kuhuhu, I don't care at all." Alice smiled faintly, though the banquet was incredibly boring for her. But Swain's appearance gave her a way to pass the time.

“Kuhuhu, my dance partner is a really strong man.” Alice said, hugging Lin Jie’s arm. “I like strong men the most. It makes me feel very safe.”

Lin Jie finally understood. Miss Alice was using him as a shield. However, this dreamlike banquet scenario was a great opportunity for Lin Jie. In his memory, many men had sparked romances with the female lead while using her as a shield.

But Alice's next words made Lin Jie realize that this girl was simply a troublemaker.

“Kuhuhu, I really like strong men. If Mr. Swain can give me a greater sense of security than Mr. Lin Jie, then I’ll be your companion the whole time,” Alice said, looking at Swain.

"Hahaha! You've really come to the right person. I'm a member of the Royal Knights with a knight's badge," Swain said to Alice. "How could such a country bumpkin compare to a noble Royal Knight?"

"Wow, that's amazing! But you can't prove it just by saying it." Alice said, feigning admiration.

"Hey, you just want to see us fight, don't you?" Lin Jie said, looking at Alice who was provoking Swain to come and fight him.

"Kuhuhu, she just likes strong men." Alice pretended not to understand what Lin Jie was talking about.

“Miss Alice is right. Let’s have a match, you country bumpkin. The winner among us will become Miss Alice’s dance partner.” Swain said, and an aurora sword appeared in his hand.

“Kuhuhu, it’s decided then.” Alice stepped aside and said, “Kuhuhu, if you can defeat Mr. Lin Jie, I’ll be your dance partner for the rest of the journey.”

"Hey, hey, that's not something a girl like you should say," Lin Jie whispered to Alice.

“Kuhuhu, isn’t this the perfect opportunity for you to show off your skills in front of the heroine? Maybe I’ll fall in love with you like in a romance novel, Kuhuhu.” Alice whispered back, “Besides, this kind of banquet is so boring, adding some entertainment is definitely necessary, Kuhuhu.”

"What's the point if the female lead herself tells the plot?" Lin Jie was truly speechless at this point.

In most novels, the female lead uses the protagonist as a shield when she's being harassed, and then the protagonist gets provoked into a duel, which Lin Jie can accept. But this female lead, bored at the banquet, actively chooses to be a shield and duels with others just to have some fun...

Chapter Six

“A man shouldn’t hesitate in the face of a challenge.” Swain watched Lin Jie whispering with Alice and assumed Lin Jie was backing down. So he twirled his sword twice and said to Lin Jie with a smug look, “If you’re scared, get away from Miss Alice right now.”

"This is really troublesome." Lin Jie said, taking out his own iron rod: "Let me make this clear first, you'll bear the consequences."

"Of course." Swain said as he attacked Lin Jie, and the next moment Lin Jie swung his iron rod at Swain.

Just as the two were about to collide, a bar of soap flew over.

Then Swain unconsciously went to pick up the soap.

Of course, Lin Jie's iron rod didn't fall either, because someone appeared beside him at that moment—it was Xiang. What surprised Lin Jie most was that Xiang actually used his arms to block Lin Jie's iron rod. Keep in mind that Lin Jie's rod weighed 18,000 jin (approximately 9,500 kg).

"Sir, please don't make a move here. It will cause trouble for the other guests," Xiang said to Lin Jie.

"Are you really sure this guy isn't as good as me?" Lin Jie asked Alice, who was standing to the side.

"Kuhuhu, at least on the surface, you're better than him," Alice said with a smile. "It's a real shame you missed an opportunity to impress a beautiful girl."

"Why did I unconsciously pick up this bar of soap?" Swain stood up, completely bewildered.