On the Yangtze River, a big ship was standing at the bank. A man gave his subordinates the order to inspect the vessel carefully.
Then a bald man came up and took an envelope out of his clothes. A sign of sincerity. That was enough. The official told his subordinates to hurry up, and then sent them off to eat their breakfast. All three of them left.
The bald man stayed behind and bade them goodbye politely. He was wondering how many officials there are who can be bought as easily as that. Then he went down into the ship and called out. In the storage cabin the hidden guest told the crew to stay away. The hidden man said that the rest of the payment would be handed over on arrival.
The bald man came back up relieved. They only had to get clear of the Black Whale Fortress, pay the toll, and everything would be fine.
Then he saw that Han and the young patriarch were coming aboard.
A few hours later the sails went up and the vessel set out. Someone warned Han that the pirates were not to be challenged. It could cause huge losses.
Han still planned to fight them.
The young man explained that the trouble would be far bigger than he thought. Once a fight starts, every pirate in the fort attacks, and they have a monster-level fighter who is considered a rival of his own grandfather. The name is the Sea Dragon. The monster known as the Water Dragon King.
He slammed his hand down on the table and warned that if Han lost control and a war started, the losses would be massive. He would have to keep quiet.
Han listened without saying a word. Then he glared at his disciple and punched him on the head. The young man complained that it was a bad business, having to go looking for solutions out among the fish.
The Water Dragon King was rolling around in Han's mind like an approaching apocalypse. For now, it really did seem that he had to stay quiet.
Hours later the ship was out on open water. A man was standing at the bow, looking into the distance. Then he saw something strange, and he screamed.
A black ship. A vessel flying the black flags of the Black Whale Fortress.
The whole crew turned pale. The two ships soon met, and a huge pirate came aboard Han's vessel. The captain greeted him. It had been a while, Vice Leader Jack. He immediately told his subordinate to bring the toll money.
The pirate said approvingly that everything had been explained without him having to do it. Someone watching saw that the exchange looked smooth, and awkward at the same time.
The pirates still did not go. The fat man said that money settles one matter. There was another one. There was an order to find somebody on this ship.
He asked the captain whether anyone else was hidden aboard. He knew that this captain sometimes snitched on criminals. If he gave the man up now, the rest of the passengers would not be disturbed.
The captain loved his life more than his money. He assumed that somebody was hiding in the storage cabin.
The fat pirate shouted that they were searching for a fugitive and told everyone to come and stand in line. The passengers were so terrified that they simply stood there trembling.
A pirate's eye fell on Han, who was peacefully watching the sea. That cool attitude was irritating. He hit the young man on the head and asked whether he had not heard the order to line up.
Sang looked at Han with desperate eyes. He begged him to leave it, to do nothing at all. But Han was already staring at the pirate with burning anger.
Then a scream came out of the cargo hold and everyone's attention turned there. The pirate was confused too.
Footsteps came up, and the hidden man himself walked out in elegant black robes. The fat pirate angrily demanded to know how he dared lay a hand on his men.
The long-haired man said that it had been difficult enough hiding from the Beggar Sect. He had never thought he would have to put his trust in common pirates.
Then he drew his flaring sword on the fat man and said that he would take his head. One lightning-fast strike came in, and it hit a pillar instead.
Han watched and granted that the pirate was not weak. But he could not understand why this fellow jumped about so much.
The people below saw the damaged pillar coming down and panicked. Before it landed, somebody cut it cleanly in half.
Han was irritated that these people had shown their true face. Once everyone was clear, he landed dramatically on the deck and watched the frantic fight between the fat pirate and the well-dressed man. There did not seem to be a clean hit in it.
Then he noticed something through a tear in the well-dressed man's robe. A crimson snake tattoo.
He remembered his master's warning immediately. Somewhere in the origins of the Murim Orthodox Alliance there is a man who carries exactly that mark. His name was Hwang Deok-sang, and he knew where the other mystical creature was.
Seeing all the pieces coming together, Han thought that fate was with him after all.
Before he could jump into the middle of it, the young patriarch shouted and stopped him. He was not going to interfere. That had been the agreement.
But Han cut him off and ordered him to protect everyone aboard. If anyone got hurt, it would be two days of angry training.
Hearing that, the young patriarch drew his sword. He had no intention of going through that torture again.
He watched the clash between the pirate and the well-dressed man. Shock waves were coming off their blows, and those waves could have hurt the passengers. Blocking every one of them was not possible.
Yet he found the answer. He focused on sharpening his sword. As soon as his mind cleared, he tried to stop his tears. He thought that the pain would make the blade sharper. In that storm of force he swung his sword slowly.
A golden aura along the blade collided with the shock waves and turned them aside, one after another. With small, exact movements he shielded the entire crew from the barrage.
An old man thanked his rescuer. Then the boy wondered what his uncle was doing. It was only then that he realised Han was nowhere to be seen.
In the middle of the fight, Captain Fat Jack used all his power in a sweeping strike. The mustached man dodged it easily. He saw an opening in that attack and went for a counter, moving forward with a strike that would have ended the fight.
But before it landed, something dropped between them at incredible speed. Han knocked the pirate's arm and blew his sword away.
Everyone was shocked by that sudden entrance. Then he gathered the aura into his fist and landed a brutal punch on the whale-sized pirate, which folded him completely.
Fat Jack crashed onto the deck, probably finished.
The well-dressed man asked who this was. Ignoring him, Han asked whether he was Hwang Deok-sang. His reaction confirmed it, so Han said that he had questions to ask, and that was why he had come to save him.
Then he turned to the remaining pirates. He told them he was busy with this man. So they could go, or they could die here.
Both pirates just stood there, confused, watching him. Han frowned and asked whether they had not understood.
But when he turned back around, the person he had come to save was missing. He ran to the edge of the ship. The man had been in the sea the whole time, swimming away like a dolphin.
Watching him go, Han could not believe that trying to help somebody was becoming this difficult.
Before he could do anything, Fat Jack sent his men to the stern. One after another they started dropping into the water like men jumping into a pool.
Seeing that fat idiot come running after him after being told not to, Han called his subordinate over and gave him the order to handle Fat Jack.
The pirate lying on the ground was panicking. He did not understand who he was talking to.
Then came the threat. If he made a mistake, a whole week of angry training. Hearing that, the young patriarch shouted at the fat man to run for it, that it was better to die than to be given that. His master was very pleased.
Then Han jumped into the ocean like everybody else.