Chapter 4996 — The Oda Brothers

So this approach was utterly unworkable. Wei Zhao was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "At the Middle Island docks I have an elder brother. His warship has just come over from the Eastern Continent, and it ought to still be moored there. Ask the Island Lord and you will know at once."

"Since he is your elder brother, how much weight can his word carry? Who knows whether he is in league with you, helping you deceive us all?" Wu Miao was quick to challenge.

But Oda Zhou paid him no heed. Hearing Wei Zhao's words, he was instead slightly taken aback. "Oh? What warship?"

"My elder brother is named Oda Ba. Oddly enough, his name is not far from Island Lord Oda's. I am the honorary vice-captain of that warship, and he knows everything I did in the Eastern Continent," Wei Zhao answered.

"Hmph. Since you are the vice-captain of his ship, of course he will speak in your favor. Round and round it comes to the same thing: no substantive evidence, only this sort of sham witness to muddle us. Would Island Lord Oda be so easily taken in?" Wu Miao snorted with contempt, then turned to Oda Zhou. "Island Lord Oda, he cannot produce a reliable witness, but I have one right here. Zheng Dongsheng, the seventh-rank alchemist the Famous Pill Sect engaged—he is the second alchemist of the Morning Star Academy, and he has never heard of any Wei Zhao. From this it is plain that everything this whelp says is nonsense, unworthy of belief!"

Yet Oda Zhou merely gave him a cold glance. He had shown no inclination either way before, and now he was suddenly visibly displeased with him. "Put the pills down this instant and get back with me. As for whether his words are true or false, I will go and ask, and know at once!"

"Wha—?!" Wu Miao was struck dumb, staring at Oda Zhou in utter bewilderment. What was this? Had this acting island lord not come to stand up for him? Why had he suddenly turned toward Wei Zhao? The whelp had already admitted plainly that the captain was close to him—how could the word of such a witness be trusted?

Wu Miao's face flushed crimson, yet he dared not raise the slightest objection to Oda Zhou's words. True, he was the standing vice island lord and the other merely acting island lord, and in real authority they seemed not far apart—but the man came from a top-tier clan, a personage of consequence, stronger than himself in both power and background by a factor beyond counting. Lend him ten gallbladders and he still would not dare challenge him to his face!

Under Wei Zhao's half-smile, half-sneer just then, Wu Miao wished he could find a crack in the floor and crawl into it. But beneath Oda Zhou's imposing aura, he had to screw up his courage and hand the pills back into Wei Zhao's hands. It was only because his hide was thick; anyone else would likely have covered his face and fled long ago.

Wei Zhao took the pills and passed them straight to Tian Chan at his side, saying deliberately, "Check them. See whether these are our five pills. If some light-fingered soul has swapped in ordinary-quality seventh-rank Great Return Pills, we shall be at a great loss."

Hearing this, Wu Miao nearly spat a mouthful of old blood. If looks could kill, Wei Zhao would have died a hundred times over by now!

Yet Oda Zhou stood right behind him. Unless Wei Zhao nodded and accepted the goods, Wu Miao truly had no choice but to stand there stiffly, thick-skinned—otherwise, if Wei Zhao turned and bit back at him, he could jump into the Yellow River and never wash himself clean.

Of course, had Oda Zhou not spoken, he really had been planning to quietly pocket those five seventh-rank Great Return Pills once this affair was settled. After all, top-quality pills like these could not be bought on the market at any price. So Wei Zhao's words were not altogether unjust—only, he had not yet had the chance to do it.

At last, under the forceful spectacle of the passersby outside pointing and whispering, Tian Chan made a show of inspecting the pills for a long while, and only when Wu Miao was on the verge of collapse did she finally nod and accept them. Wu Miao felt as though a great amnesty had been granted. He did not even wait for Oda Zhou, but hurried off covering his face—today the standing vice island lord had lost every shred of dignity!

This Wei Zhao must die! As he fled, murderous intent surged in Wu Miao's heart. He had not originally meant to take Wei Zhao's life in particular, but this time Wei Zhao had made him lose face so badly that, stung to fury, he now could not rest until Wei Zhao was dead.

By contrast, the acting island lord Oda Zhou, who had come with him, showed no intention of returning alongside him. After casting Wei Zhao a meaningful glance, he turned and left the Tian Dan Pavilion, heading straight for the Middle Island docks.

Arriving at the Middle Island docks, Oda Zhou saw the ancient warship at a glance. A colossus of that size could not fail to draw the eye on Middle Island; even the largest treasure ship nearby was a good several sizes smaller before it—an existence on an entirely different scale.

"It is him, as I thought!" Oda Zhou was delighted the moment he saw the special emblem on the warship's mast. His form flickered, and in the next instant he had suddenly alighted on the warship's deck.

"Who goes there?!" The crew instantly went on high alert. Because they had docked at Middle Island without any prior notice, Oda Ba had ordered all the formations shut down to avoid misunderstandings—otherwise, should some mishap like a misfire occur, the joke would be far too big.

Yet no one had expected that before the ancient warship—this invincible overlord of the seas—someone would dare leap aboard unannounced. Did he think this was a pleasure boat for sightseers?

In but a moment, the crew had Oda Zhou surrounded on all sides. None who could hold their footing on this ancient warship was weak; the vast majority were seasoned hands Oda Ba had recruited from the Eastern Continent, and in a real fight they could hold their own against sect forces. With men like these aboard, the ancient warship was no easy prey even with its formations withdrawn.

But after they had surrounded Oda Zhou, not one dared act rashly. There was no other reason: the man's imposing aura was simply too strong, so strong that it robbed them of breath, let alone any thought of striking first.

"Disperse, all of you. Even if you all came at him together, you would not be his match. Best not throw your lives away." Oda Ba's voice suddenly sounded from behind the crowd.

"Third Brother! It really is you. Have you been well all these years?" A trace of excitement suddenly stirred on Oda Zhou's calm, well-like face.

Third Brother? The crew gaped, their gazes darting oddly back and forth between Oda Zhou and Oda Ba. Now that it was mentioned—looking at them this way, the two did bear a certain resemblance!

"Go on, go on, get back to whatever you were doing—what are you standing around here for, asking for a beating?" Oda Ba cursed the crowd away in annoyance, then turned to Oda Zhou with a wry smile. "Second Brother, how did you know I was here?"

He had told Wei Zhao earlier that he would soon be leaving Middle Island, and this was the reason: he truly did not wish to have contact with Oda Zhou and the rest of the family. In the end, though, Oda Zhou had still come looking for him.

"Haha, what a coincidence—I happened to run into your honorary vice-captain. Otherwise I would never have known you had returned to Middle Island," Oda Zhou said, overjoyed.