Somehow he had a feeling this had to do with him as he stared at the ship ahead of them. If Ji Wen was to come over and start a fight with him he had no idea how to react. If he truly beat up Ji Wen, Ji Yao might hate him. So what was he supposed to do? Lie down and take the beating? His uncle would never let that happen.
Ji Wen covered the painting with a look of anger on his face. He wanted to burn it but if he burnt it then he would most likely have a fall out with his son. He might have controlled his urge to destroy the painting but he couldn't quench the flames blazing in his chest.
If he couldn't beat up Rui Fei then he would go on and beat up someone else. He strode over to his cabin and quietly grabbed his sabre and a bottle of serpent's kiss before walking out to the main deck where the crew was bustling about to put out the fire.
With a deadly aura that could have one's legs softening at the knees, he walked over to the prisoners caught by his crew during the scuffle and slashed down his sabre. But instead of chopping them down like livestock he cut off their restraints and bit off the cork off the bottle of liquor.
"Give them their weapons back," he bellowed before guzzling down the entire bottle. The hard liquor burnt his throat as it flowed down but he didn't care. With his head tilted backwards and some of the liquor streaming from his lips down his neck before vanishing under his robe he drank it all.
Old Du's brow twitched recalling the last time Ji Wen was like this. It was the time when his wife had left him and that night blood was spilt. It seemed that history was about to repeat itself and if one didn't want to be caught in the crossfire they could only listen to him.
Big Hei and Xunshi Zhe immediately scrambled to give back the captives their weapons before hastily walking away to stand afar. The loud sound from earlier had already attracted a lot of crew members to the deck of the ship so the main deck currently had all the crew members. Those who knew what was about to happen moved away for safety reasons and those who had no idea what was happening were pulled back by their fellow crew members.
The captured half Nocru were the only ones left in the dark as they dazedly stared at the crew and the weapons back in their hands. They didn't know what was happening.
Ji Wen threw the empty bottle away and with a loud shattering sound it broke into pieces before he looked at the captives in front of him. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he said, "You defeat me and you earn your freedom... There are no rules."
He raised his sabre and blue sparks spread to the tip of the blade as he glared at the terrified half Nocru trembling as they held their weapons. Ji Wen sneered before he spun around and thrust forward driving his sabre into the closest man's chest killing him instantly.
The group of half Nocru stumbled backwards in shock as Ji Wen pulled the sabre out blood spattering all over the deck. It seemed they needed their fighting spirit aroused so he cut one of them down to make them realise what sort of situation they were in.
With eyes resembling that of a resentful ghost out for vengeance, he wiped away the blood from his cheek as the eerie smile on his face grew wider. The horrified men shivered unconsciously as they backed up a step.
They knew Ji Wen was especially ruthless when he suppressed their unethical trade but they hadn't had the honour to face him in person. That's when they realised that he was being lenient back then and giving them an opportunity to repent otherwise he would have vaporized them a long time ago.
Ji Wen swung his sabre breaking them from their trance. The sharp sabre slashed across one of the men's chest and he fell backwards with a loud cry. One of the men in the group wearing an olive green robe furrowed his brows and he vanished on the spot before reappearing at the outer circle where the crew members were. He was attempting to run but the crew would not let that happen.
They tossed him back into the circle. With a loud thud he fell to the ground but he wouldn't give up easily. As he heard the cries of anguish coming from behind him he turned his head only to see Ji Wen personally cut a person's aether. In his hand, he held a ball of yellow light with the aetherial veins attached to it.
As he pulled out the rest of the veins from the man his face drained of all colour and his screams died down as he collapsed to the ground. The aetherial veins tried to fight Ji Wen but he crushed the aether with his hand surrounded with vicious lightning itching for more blood.
The bloodthirst look in his eyes was enough to give adults nightmares. In less than five minutes the group of twelve men was reduced drastically to four. The fact that they were fighting against one man and still managed to get their butts kicked was astonishing.
One man who still had some fighting spirit left in him engaged his core and ten versions of himself appeared and attacked Ji Wen which gave the others courage. Unfortunately for them, their courage was short-lived. Ji Wen didn't earn the title Pirate King for nothing. He wasn't a vegetarian in the slightest. Each attack was cold-blooded and heartless as he took them down with ease breaking their spirit while he was at it.
The man who had split into several versions of himself was quickly suppressed when a vicious wave of lightning bolts struck his replicas as well as himself sending him flying right into the crew. He was shoved back into the circle and fell to the ground with a loud thud as he clutched his chest coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Ji Wen who was strangling a man who tried to attack him from behind slowly strode over with an aura so horrid that the man saw his life flash before his very eyes. Ji Wen snapped the neck of the man he was strangling and let go of the corpse as the tip of his sabre scratched the wooden boards of the deck.
"You should have been content with what I gave you but no... you just had to be greedy," he spoke in a hoarse voice before striking him with a powerful stream of lightning burning him to death.
Ji Wen goofy personality when he was around his son, wife and crew was a complete disparity from his current behaviour.. It was easy for one to forget he was the cold blooded Pirate king with no heart.