A Difficult Team to Lead

"A duel it is!"

"This is a battle for our bloodline, a fight for the glory of the Sea Race!"

"I will prove to Lord Dragon Ancestor that we, the Sea Race, are the only subordinates truly worthy of his trust!"

"Come on then! You think I'm afraid of you? This Buddha Lord will take this chance to provide you with a final rites!"

The two glared at each other, then marched off one after another toward a nearby stretch of empty ruins, fuming as they prepared for an honorable battle to decide the direct descendant's status.

Chen Zhou raised his hand helplessly and rubbed his brow.

Troubles truly came in heaps.

Before, he had nobody, and he had to do everything himself.

Now that he had plenty of people, managing the team had become a challenge.

Meanwhile, Cang Che, who had been standing silently by the side, had eyes that were flickering wildly.

His clever mind was spinning at high speed.

"The old baldies from the Bone Temple call him Ancestral Master and practice the path of bones..."

"But the Lord can indeed suppress our bloodline with his supreme dragon might; he is the ancestor of the Sea Race, the Dragon Ancestor..."

"This seems contradictory, but in fact..."

Cang Che's eyes lit up as he felt he had found the blind spot.

"In fact, it's not contradictory at all!"

"So, could it be that the Lord's true form is actually a... Bone Dragon?!"

"Yes, that makes sense. It makes perfect sense!"

"When a true dragon dies, its skeletal remains gain sentience and transform into a Bone Dragon. This would give him dragon might while allowing him to practice the path of bones!"

"This explains everything! It's a perfect logical loop!"

Cang Che slapped his thigh in excitement; he really was the brainy one.

His imperial brother was just a brute who only knew how to fight—how could he understand these complexities?

It had to be him, Cang Che, to discover the truth.

Thinking he had uncovered a brilliant insight, Cang Che immediately adjusted his expression, stepped forward, and put on a look of deep distress.

"Lord Dragon Ancestor!"

"My imperial brother is unruly by nature and only knows how to show off his brute strength. He's mentally immature and unfit for great responsibility. Please forgive his display."

"Please don't lower yourself to his level. He's just missing a few screws in his head."

He spoke with total sincerity, looking every bit like someone who was ashamed of having such an immature older brother.

Chen Zhou glanced at Cang Che. He had a fairly deep impression of this second prince of the Sea Race.

How to put it... the fellow was quite interesting.

While listening to Cang Che's nonsensical chatter, Chen Zhou noticed his empty left sleeve and asked casually.

"What happened to your arm?"

Hearing this, Cang Che's entire body trembled.

He was moved!

Lord Dragon Ancestor was concerned about him!

What kind of honor was this? What kind of favor?

Cang Che's eyes immediately reddened, but he forced himself to hold back the tears, maintaining a facade of strength.

Nearly incoherent with excitement, he quickly straightened his back and used his remaining right hand to thump his chest forcefully.

"Reporting to the Lord! This arm... for the sake of defending the Eastern Region and protecting the people, I cut it off myself!"

His speech was rapid and his expression solemn, as if he were reporting a glorious achievement.

"Three days ago, when the Blackwater Trench defense line collapsed, I was leading the whale guard to cover the retreat and was accidentally bitten on the left arm by a black-spot monster."

"At that time, the corrosion of the black spots was extremely fast, and ordinary means could no longer stop it."

"I knew that if I let the black spots follow my arm into my brain, I would lose my mind and turn into a sea beast that only knew slaughter. Then, instead of killing the enemy, I would have ended up harming my comrades."

"Therefore!" Cang Che took a deep breath, his voice suddenly rising with pride.

"I made a decisive choice and drew my blade to sever my own left arm! I did it to keep my mind clear, to maintain the chance to continue fighting for Lord Dragon Ancestor and the Eastern Region!"

"What is a mere arm compared to that? Nothing!"

"As long as I could hold the Dragon Palace for the Lord, as long as I could wait for the Lord's return."

"Even if I had to sacrifice my life and bury my bones in the maritime territory, I, Cang Che, would have no complaints!"

He placed heavy emphasis on how decisive and heroic he had been at the time, painting himself as a tragic hero who severed his arm to save his life while defending a lonely city.

Then he looked at Chen Zhou with sparkling eyes, waiting for praise.

"The situation was critical then, with thousands of monsters besieging the Dragon Palace."

"But I had only one thought in my mind: I must not let the Lord down!"

"I stood alone before all the Sea Race and fought the monsters for three days and three nights..."

Chen Zhou felt his teeth ache a little from listening to this.

Enough, enough. I get that you were very brave.

He casually pulled a Flesh-Reconstitution Pill from the system space.

"Here." Chen Zhou handed him a few. "Eat them."

"Limb regeneration is no big deal."

Cang Che held the pills as if they were the most precious treasures in the world.

This was a reward from Lord Dragon Ancestor!

This was divine medicine!

He swallowed it without a second thought and immediately felt an itching sensation at the stump of his arm as flesh buds began to crawl frantically.

Before long, a brand new arm actually grew out!

"Thank you, Lord Dragon Ancestor, for the grace of rebirth!" Cang Che was so excited he was about to kneel again.

Chen Zhou waved his hand to stop him and asked, "Where is the Sea Emperor?"

At the mention of the Sea Emperor, Cang Che's face fell into a look of distress again, mixed with a bit of frustration toward someone who failed to live up to expectations.

"Sigh, let the Lord be the judge. My good-for-nothing father..."

"He can't be relied upon at the critical moment."

"He's still lying in the sea eye," Cang Che sighed. "Without someone to wait on him, I'm afraid he can't even move a step."

"In this battle, the Eastern Region's ability to stabilize the situation and clear the sea areas was entirely due to Lord Dragon Ancestor's protection!"

"And... ahem, and also due to me, your humble general, exhausting my mind and soul to coordinate the overall situation, leading from the front and turning the tide!"

"Father is old. Aside from causing trouble, he didn't really help much..."

Just as Cang Che was non-stop belittling his own father to elevate himself, Plague Rat, who had been enduring it from the side, finally couldn't listen anymore.

This kid could really blow his own horn.

Smack!

Plague Rat swung a palm against the back of Cang Che's head.

"Ow!"

Caught off guard, Cang Che's head tilted as he let out a cry of pain.

He clutched his head with both hands, looking at Plague Rat with a grievance: "Lord... Lord Rat?"

Plague Rat cursed, "Entirely due to you? Entirely due to your big head!"

"If Lord Rat hadn't fought with my life on the line, your crappy Dragon Palace would have been flattened long ago!"

"When the Dragon Palace was surrounded by black spots, who the hell was crying and shouting for me to save their life?"

"Lord Rat hasn't even spoken yet, and you're already acting high and mighty?"

As Plague Rat spoke, he slapped him on the head again. "Your father gave me instructions: if you little brat doesn't know what's good for you, I should give you a good thrashing to wake you up!"

"Well? Are you awake now?"

Having been exposed, Cang Che immediately became submissive, not daring to make another sound. He bowed and scraped, signaling his agreement.

"What Lord Rat says is right. Lord Rat's lesson is well-received."

Plague Rat glanced at him and let out a huff of annoyance before turning around and putting on a respectful face to tell Chen Zhou about the Sea Emperor's actual situation.

"Lord, that old man Sea Emperor isn't in a good state."

"He previously extracted his heart-dragon blood to force his way out of seclusion, which severely damaged his foundation."

"Later, he fused himself with the earth-core cold spring to suppress the sea eye. Little Ten and I took turns keeping him alive; for now, he won't die."

"But he can't wake up either. He's just standing there like a humanoid ice sculpture."