Enjoying Being Scolded

Sword Master: Lv3 (2/2800)

Name: Wuli

Skills: Shigure Soen Ryu (Secret Art), Floating Rain Divine Wind Sword (99%), Wind's Sorrow

Chivalry Points: 48

Pet: Unnamed (Shangyang)

What left Wuli clicking his tongue was the experience required for the system's next upgrade. It had only needed 500 before, but now it suddenly required so much more. It was practically a straight-line increase.

Wuli then noticed his Chivalry Points. Some had dropped when he was at Marine Headquarters, but why had they still decreased after completing the mission? For a moment, he could not make sense of it.

"Sword Master, please let me out. It's empty in here, and not fun at all." A thought entered Wuli's mind, leaving him stunned.

Wuli suddenly looked at the pet space in the pet menu. The chick-like Shangyang had finished eating its eggshell and let out a chirp like a satisfied burp. It was already trying to flap its tiny wings.

"Was that you talking to me?!" Wuli blurted out instinctively. He truly could not believe that this pet could communicate with people after such a short time. It was quite astonishing.

"As expected of a divine beast. It grows quickly."

However, the bird's next words made Wuli's face darken slightly. A childish voice entered his mind. "What a foolish human! Oh~ no, respected Sword Master, you can communicate with me directly through your thoughts."

Wuli looked around and, sure enough, saw everyone on the warship staring at him strangely, wondering why he was talking to himself.

Looking at Shangyang's adorable appearance inside the pet space, Wuli occasionally caught a sly gleam in its eyes. He had a feeling that this little fellow would not be the obedient sort in the future.

Even so, Wuli released the adorable little bird with a thought. Shangyang flapped its tiny wings, fluttering up before falling back down. In the end, it wobbled its way onto Wuli's shoulder.

People aboard the warship soon noticed the little bird on Wuli and could not help exclaiming, "Look, there's a little bird perched on Colonel Wuli's shoulder! What a beautiful little bird. But why does it only have one leg? I don't think I've ever seen a bird like that."

Hearing this, the others all turned to look at Wuli's shoulder. There was a palm-sized little bird with faintly colored feathers. Even more astonishingly, it had only one leg.

"I'm not a bird! I'm a divine beast, the divine beast Shangyang! You foolish, ignorant humans!" Seeing everyone pointing at him, Shangyang on Wuli's shoulder flew into an embarrassed rage and cursed.

However, only Wuli could understand what he meant. To everyone else, it was merely a pleasant sound. Its stream of curses sounded melodious and delightful, like a wonderful, rhythmic piece of music, so everyone aboard the warship looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying it.

Wuli was dumbfounded and could not help looking at Shangyang a few more times. How long had it even been? Had it already become sentient? Were ancient divine beasts all this absurdly overpowered? It had even learned to curse people without being taught.

Shangyang looked at the foolish humans on the Marine warship who were still enjoying themselves, feeling unsatisfied. It had been a long time since it had cursed people so freely, especially when the other side looked like they were enjoying it.

It raised its proud little head, then suddenly noticed Wuli staring at it and felt a little guilty. Having only just come out, it needed to keep a low profile, so it meekly lowered its little head.

Seeing Shangyang's behavior, Wuli was somewhat speechless. Just as he was about to teach it not to curse people randomly, Shangyang seemed to sense something. It immediately raised its little head and began hopping about on Wuli's shoulder as if dancing. "Sword Master, there's a strong wind ahead. Rain is coming."

Wuli was puzzled after hearing that. This was the Calm Belt—how could there possibly be strong winds?

A voice answered, clearing up Wuli's confusion. "Colonel Wuli, after many days of sailing, we are about to leave the Calm Belt and enter the waters formerly ruled by one of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard."

Only then did Wuli realize that they had been sailing through the Calm Belt for quite some time, and the Sea Kings they encountered had also become fewer and fewer.

The Marines aboard the warship were somewhat excited. Sailing through the Calm Belt had been exhausting, and there were many Sea Kings. Only after leaving the Calm Belt would they begin their true voyage.

The rescued civilians, however, had complicated feelings and were even somewhat afraid. They had braved the Calm Belt to escape the war, yet now they had returned here once more. Though they dearly loved their homeland, they did not want to experience the disasters brought by pirates again.

Neither Wuli nor Shu felt at ease, because they were about to enter the territory of a Four Emperor. That meant it was the place where the Marines had the least prestige, and pirates ran rampant. These pirates all carried high bounties and were unruly by nature. It would not be strange for them to take the initiative and attack the Marines.

If Whitebeard had not died, the Marines would never have dared set foot in this region, because it was tied to the balance of the world's power structure.

Now, the area was a chaotic mix of all sorts. Blackbeard was using the pirates who had become restless after Whitebeard's death as chess pieces, intending to force out the remnants of Whitebeard's crew.

In other words, they would very likely encounter the remnants of Whitebeard's crew next, as well as the crew of one of the Four Emperors, Blackbeard!