Heroes Return

“No, I’d better finish asking my questions before the admiral’s men arrive,” Thirteen said.

"Alright," Lin Jie said. "Speaking of which, you've always been so mysterious." As he spoke, Lin Jie caught the man in black who had been thrown down by Thirteen, and then ran towards the nearest large reef.

Thirteen and Fourteen also swam over.

Of course, this was the first time in Lin Jie's life that he had ever seen a plant swim.

"Thirteen, are you sure Fourteen is a plant?" Lin Jie looked at Fourteen, who had just swum onto the reef, with a puzzled expression. Fourteen was shaking off the water. "Is he some kind of strange creature in disguise?"

"Never mind that for now." Thirteen rolled his eyes at Lin Jie, then walked towards the man in black: "What exactly do you Salvation Army people plan to do with this Reverse Scale?"

As he spoke, Thirteen found the jade-like reverse scale on his body.

"You're the Salvation Army!" the man in black retorted angrily. "You're supposed to be professional heroes! Don't you understand? That admiral who keeps talking about avoiding the Salvation Army's threats is the Salvation Army! My name is Gray! I'm a senior agent of the World Government's special agency!"

"You're saying you're not the Salvation Army, but an agent of the World Government?" Thirteen frowned.

“Yes, we’ve been investigating this matter,” Gray said. “My companion and I infiltrated the ship because we suspected something was wrong with it. However, by the time we confirmed that the Reverse Scale was on board, we had already entered the Fantasy Sea and had no chance to contact headquarters for support! So we’ve been secretly investigating the Reverse Scale’s location until today when that guy surnamed Du planned to put the bead and the Reverse Scale in a box, which gave us the opportunity to make our move.”

"Wait, what evidence do you have to prove you're a special agent, or that you're not a member of the Salvation Army trying to fool us?" Lin Jie asked.

“Are you stupid?! If our government agents had gotten hold of the Reverse Scale first, we would have sent a large force to transport it, and we could have asked the local professional heroes to help escort it.” Gray said to Lin Jie, “There’s absolutely no need to sneak around.”

"That makes some sense," Lin Jie said after thinking for a moment.

“But that doesn’t prove your identity,” Thirteen said to Gray. “And are you referring to the Admiral, the one with the surname Du? Come to think of it, we still don’t know the Admiral’s real name.”

“His name is Durex! He used to be a naval admiral, but he retired after the Future was decommissioned. After that, he worked on high-end cruise ships and came into contact with many people in high society,” Gray said. “We’ve been watching this guy for a long time, but we haven’t had any evidence. We sent two of us to the ship to investigate this Reverse Scale incident because he was a suspect, but we didn’t expect him to end up in the Fantasy Sea.”

“That sounds quite plausible.” Lin Jie nodded affirmatively. “No wonder the Admiral has never mentioned his own name.”

"You're willing to believe me now?" Gray said. "This scale absolutely cannot fall into their hands. The Salvation Army plans to use this reverse scale to cultivate artificial dragon gods! Once they succeed in their research, they will have an army made up of dragons! That will be truly dangerous."

"You mean artificially creating dragons?" Thirteen was quite moved upon hearing this. "If it were Western dragons, that would be one thing, but they actually plan to artificially create dragons from Zone C? How is that possible!"

"In fact, they have already made a technological breakthrough; all they lack now is a real dragon sample for research!" Gray said. "So we absolutely must not return this scale to the admiral."

“I know what you’re saying, but I still find it hard to believe you,” Thirteen said to Gray.

Chapter 15

“If you can provide any evidence to prove your identity, we will believe you,” Thirteen said.

“Anyway, I’ve already been captured by you,” Gray said. “We have an embassy in the new capital of the Sea Clan. Once we get there, we can make contact with the outside world. You’ll know my identity once we get there.”

"So we're going to take the Reverse Scale to the Sea Clan's consulate?" Lin Jie frowned. "That sounds like a lot of trouble. After all, the Sea Clan is also looking for this thing, and I don't want to fight them. Why don't we just take care of that admiral as well, then sail away from the Fantasy Sea first, and then find the World Government to identify which of the two is the Salvation Army member? It seems easier to eliminate both suspects."

"If you can defeat the Admiral and take over the Future, I am willing to go with you to meet the World Government as a prisoner, and then our identities will be clear."

"No, we're going to the capital." Thirteen said to Lin Jie, "I already know you don't want to fight the sea creatures in the Fantasy Sea, so I won't ask you to do anything, but I have to go to the capital no matter what. Besides, it's not a wise decision to attack the admiral without knowing our identities, and the key is that we don't know how to sail."

"If you're in such a hurry to see your old flame, just say so. You don't need to make up so many excuses."

“Alright, I want to see Haina immediately!” Thirteen said to Lin Jie, “Haina is very likely in danger right now. She is now the only royal of the sea tribe, and judging from the tone of that sea tribesman, that sea tribesman named Karu may threaten Haina’s safety.”

"Alright then, let's head to the capital now."

"Lin Jie, didn't you say you weren't planning to fight the sea creatures? Is it alright for you to come along like this?"

"Don't worry, although I said I wouldn't harm the sea creatures anymore, those sea creatures can't hurt me," Lin Jie said confidently. "Now there's a question: where is the sea creatures' capital?"

"Didn't the general say it was at the snake's head?" Thirteen said.

"Which side is the snake's head?" Lin Jie asked, looking at the giant snake's body, whose head seemed to disappear on both sides.

"have no idea..."

"Forget it, let's find an island inhabited by sea creatures first and then ask." With that, Lin Jie picked up Thirteen with one hand and Gray with the other, while Fourteen climbed onto Lin Jie's back: "Let's go."

After saying that, Lin Jie made a starting motion, and the rocks under his feet were instantly cracked by his footsteps. Lin Jie was once again in a state of running in the sea.

……

Not long after Lin Jie left, several speedboats appeared here.

"Report, we found the wreckage of the speedboat, but we didn't see the man, nor the two pro heroes who chased after him," a sailor shouted into the communicator.

"Will we be able to find their location in the future?" the admiral asked Future.

"According to the detection, there are three humanoid objects moving at high speed, which should be them. They are about 120 nautical miles away from us and are currently moving away from us at high speed," Future said to the Admiral.

"We've locked onto them. Can we catch up with them?" the admiral asked.

“Based on the speed calculations, the opponent’s speed has already exceeded our top speed,” Future said.

"You mean that hero named Lin Jie could still maintain a speed exceeding ours while carrying two people?"

"Yes."

"Damn it, those two pro heroes are clearly mixed up with that thief." The admiral said, turning to look at Sho, who was standing beside him: "Even if I gave you Sky Gear, could you handle them?"

“It’s difficult,” Xiang said. “At least that hero named Lin Jie, if the restrictions aren’t lifted, it would be very difficult to defeat him.”

"Is that right?"

"In that case, let's adjust our course and head directly to the capital of the Sea Clan."

"Sir, are you sure you want to go to the capital?" Xiang asked.

“Yes,” the admiral replied. “Since that thief is with them, they will definitely try to get to the capital. That’s their only way to contact the outside world. Since we can’t catch up with them, let’s just go to the destination and look for them.”

"But there..."

"Then we'll see just how valuable my passengers really are," the admiral said coldly.

……

Meanwhile, on a small island in the sea, Thirteen and Gray were kneeling on the ground, vomiting violently. Lin Jie, on the other hand, was washing his coat.

"I'm saying, next time you two throw up, could you throw up into the sea?" Lin Jie grabbed his washed coat and shook it a few times until it was dry.

"How dare you say that!" Thirteen cursed as he vomited, "I've never been on a roller coaster this thrilling before! You were running and squeezing my stomach at the same time. Do you think everyone's body is as strong as yours?!"

"Hurry up and throw up, then we can ask the villagers which way is the capital." Lin Jie said to Thirteen, "Haven't you always wanted to see your old flame?"

Upon hearing the words "old flame," Thirteen struggled to his feet: "I've made up my mind! I'm going to buy a boat from the villagers here! Otherwise, I'll probably die before I even reach the capital."

“I agree!” Gray stood up as well: “I don’t want to die in this guy’s arms before I’ve even proven my identity.”

“But where are we going to find something to exchange for ships with the locals? They don’t use Federal currency here. You two should hold on a little longer and let me carry you to the capital. Trust me, if we just hold on a little longer, we’ll get there soon,” Lin Jie said to Thirteen and Gray. Then, a gigantic, hippopotamus-like wild sea monster, tens of meters tall, appeared in his field of vision. This sea monster was probably planning to hunt on the island. After seeing Lin Jie and the other two, along with a pot of moving flowers, the hippopotamus sea monster confidently opened its blood-red maw.

"Ah! We've got something to trade." Lin Jie exclaimed, looking at the enormous sea beast.

Thus, the topic of conversation in this peaceful sea village has become that a human warrior who came here defeated the sea monster that had attacked the village several times, and traded its corpse for a fast boat with an old man in the village.

Then, while at sea, they defeated the legendary giant sea serpent and killed terrifying man-eating sea clams... Ultimately, they fought their way through an attack by hordes of sea monsters.

Then the villagers on the island prepared to move.

In fact, ever since Thirteen and Lin Jie arrived on the island, large numbers of sea monsters had been constantly passing by the island. The sea creatures in the village were shocked and decided to immediately move away from this dangerous sea area.

"Rise up! Ruyi Jingu Bang!!" Lin Jie shouted as the iron rod in his hand rapidly grew larger. Then, with a single sweep, he sent a giant sea beast flying, turning it into a star in the sky. "As expected of Thirteen! Wherever he goes, trouble follows! Speaking of which, why were you all alright on the Future before?"

"Speaking of which, the master gave me a piece of cloth with scriptures on it, saying it could temporarily suppress this kind of luck." Thirteen, who was piloting the sea creature speedboat, said as he took out a yellow cloth: "But it seems that the suppressing effect has weakened."

As he spoke, Thirteen opened the yellow cloth, but the original scriptures on it had disappeared, replaced by the following sentence: "Your trial period has expired. Please recharge in time."

"..." Then Thirteen was speechless.

“Yes, that’s very much in line with the master’s style.” Lin Jie was no longer surprised at this point: “It would be a problem if it weren’t for this situation.”

"Instead of wasting time studying this, you should hurry towards the capital," Gray said. "It would be troublesome if the Admiral caught up with us! Don't underestimate the Admiral's strength."

"Don't worry, the Admiral can't catch up," Thirteen said. "We have to admit that the sea creatures' ship technology is decades ahead of human civilization. Just these fast boats that every household uses are capable of sailing on the seabed, and their speed is definitely faster than the Future. As long as we maintain our current speed, we will definitely reach our destination before the Admiral and the others."

“I told you it would be faster for me to run there with you, but you didn’t believe me.”

"The problem is, by the time you lead us to the capital, we'll probably be dead beyond any doubt," Gray said. "Watch out, another sea monster is ahead!"

Just as everyone was discussing, a huge sea monster, as big as a small island, emerged from the sea and opened its enormous mouth toward the small boat where the three of them were.

A large amount of seawater flowed into the sea monster's mouth, and the three people's small boat was sucked into the sea monster's mouth without any reaction. Then the sea monster slowly closed its mouth.

The next moment, its mouth opened again, because an iron rod was now pressed against the sea monster's mouth!

"Big big big!!! Did you think we'd be trying to find a way out of the sea monster's body? Don't even think about it, we're in a hurry!" Lin Jie said arrogantly as their small boat safely sailed out of the sea monster's mouth.

Thirteen and Gray looked at Lin Jie with some horror. They thought that Lin Jie's iron rod was made of that kind of deformable and stretchable alloy, but that kind of alloy could not possibly grow to that size. The iron rod in Lin Jie's hand had reached the terrifying height of a skyscraper just now.

"What are you looking at?" Lin Jie put away the stick in his hand and carried it on his shoulder. The small boat was still speeding across the sea, and the sea breeze was blowing Lin Jie's hair in disarray.

"I always thought you were the kind of clown hired by the Monkey King!" Thirteen stared straight at Lin Jie and said, "But I never expected that you were actually the Monkey King! Brother Monkey, I've always admired you!"

Gray, standing to the side, looked at Lin Jie with a look of agreement.

"Get lost! You're the monkeys! Your whole family are monkeys!"

Chapter 16

"You mean you found this stick next to the monkey's carcass before?" Thirteen asked Lin Jie in surprise as he steered the small boat. "Where is the monkey's carcass? I must go and see it when I have the chance."

“I want to go too!” Gray said. “Although I’m not from Sector C, I’ve known the story of the Monkey King since I was very young. To be honest, I think the Monkey King is really cool.”

"Don't even think about it. Dongsheng Shenzhou isn't even on the land we know now," Lin Jie said.

"What do you mean by that?" Thirteen asked thoughtfully.

"The legendary Eastern Continent is actually like the continent ruled by the gods in Norse mythology. It's not on any known land on Earth, but rather in some kind of spatial rift. In fact, many myths are like this," Lin Jie said. "Otherwise, why would the end of the world in Norse mythology be a waterfall? Ancient myths in Region C also have the concept of a flat earth and a round heaven. Now that the existence of many myths has been confirmed, their corresponding legends may not be false. By the way, what is the perimeter of the Norse kingdom's territory? You can find out by looking at the World Serpent."

As he spoke, Lin Jie's gaze fell on the World Serpent, which was some distance away from them. They had been speeding along the Fantasy Sea for a whole day, but still hadn't seen a trace of its head.

"Wait, are you saying that the places in myths and legends really exist?" Thirteen looked at Lin Jie in confusion.

"Since the Fantasy Sea, which often appears in fairy tales, exists, then why doesn't the world in the Classic of Mountains and Seas exist?" Lin Jie asked rhetorically. "By the way, when I last came to the Fantasy Sea, the sea tribe's capital was still on the bottom of the deep sea. I don't know why it has moved to the surface now."

"According to you, is this the sea from a fairy tale?" Thirteen asked.

Lin Jie nodded.

“Wait! This kind of thing should be highly confidential!” Gray then looked at Lin Jie: “If you’ve been here before, you should know that the World Government requires secrecy.”

"I completely don't understand why it needs to be kept secret," Lin Jie said.

“There’s a reason for keeping it secret!” Gray said. “They certainly won’t tell us this.”