Chapter 4792 — Turning on a Dime
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
This was a blatant provocation, a deliberate slap in the face.
"Speak your mind, Young Hero Lin!" Oda Ba said hurriedly.
He could not afford to offend the Ren family over such a trifle.
"That thing is an eyesore. Best send him back to his cabin to stay. I do not want to see him—it vexes me." Wei Zhao pointed offhandedly, straight in the direction where Ren Zhongyuan stood.
The gesture was casual, almost lazy.
"Someone! Escort Ren Zhongyuan to his cabin. He is not to set foot outside that door until we reach East Isle!" Oda Ba issued the order without a flicker of hesitation. Such a condition cost him nothing at all. Even if he confined Ren Zhongyuan to quarters, the boy's father would not dare fall out with him over so petty a matter. Things would go on exactly as before—not a thing would change.
Everyone was stunned.
"Uncle Oda! No! You and my father are sworn friends—how can you take this outsider's side!" Ren Zhongyuan howled, frantic with rage and humiliation. Even in his wildest dreams he could never have foreseen such a turn. Not only did Oda Ba refuse to help him deal with Wei Zhao, he was actually siding with Wei Zhao to deal with him. What in the hell was this maddening farce?
Oda Ba did not so much as glance at him.
"Enough of your noise. Are you all deaf? Move!" Oda Ba frowned, and at once crew guards strode over and hauled Ren Zhongyuan away. Unable to circulate his true qi, he was now utterly useless—he could not even struggle, and was dragged off like a dog.
The onlookers watched in disbelief.
The crowd stared at the scene, jaws hanging open, too shocked to speak for a long while. This time they had learned two old sayings to the bone: one was that fortune's wheel turns, and the other that a man can turn on a dime.
It was a lesson in human nature.
"Young Hero Lin, will this do?" Oda Ba turned a smile on Wei Zhao, deaf to Ren Zhongyuan's heartrending cries.
The smile was warm, genial.
"It will do." Wei Zhao nodded. In his heart he had gained one more measure of understanding about this creature. Capable? Beyond doubt. Black-hearted and thick-skinned? Equally true. One had to keep one's guard up dealing with the likes of him—never mind that honest, bluff, big-man look; he could laugh and chat with you and sell you out the very next breath!
A useful lesson, that.
Oda Ba smiled in satisfaction. Though he had failed to bring Wei Zhao fully aboard, the present arrangement was not unacceptable. A mere honorary vice-captain was an empty title—he need not even pay a regular stipend, and he had roped in a first-rate navigator for nothing. However one looked at it, this was a bargain with no loss.
The deal was sealed.
In the blink of an eye Wei Zhao had become honorary vice-captain, and his standing aboard the warship soared overnight to a place beneath one man and above all others. Even the original vice-captain and the first mate had to speak to him with courtesy. His treatment was so lofty that Liu Ziqi could not help eyeing him with envy, sighing again and again that people truly could not be compared with people!
It was quite the ascent.
After an uneventful day free of incident—when no attack came—the warship set sail once more amid the cheers of the crew. Wei Zhao, for his part, took to wandering through the various vital cabins whenever he had a moment; these were precisely the things he was most eager to learn about.
His curiosity was insatiable.
He was the honorary vice-captain, after all. Oda Ba never stopped him, eager as he was to win him over. In the captain's eyes, a man who could manipulate the Starfall Array with such consummate mastery had no secrets left to hide anywhere else. If one spoke of secrets, the Starfall Array was the very core of them all—and this fellow understood it far better than any of them did!
So the reasoning went.