Quadruple split.

Chapter 2817, Part Fourteen (I)

Fourteen has been to sea.

Although he was born on land as a half-sea giant and did not have any of the characteristics of a 'giant' in terms of physique, but was only about 160 centimeters tall, even shorter than Mo Tan, he had still been to sea.

Fourteen wasn't sure if he was a 'born bad seed', and he found it hard to empathize with those stories of 'being abused as a child, awakening the dark side of their hearts, and ultimately deciding to take revenge on society or destroy the world.' Although, objectively speaking, this half-blooded sea giant's growth was indeed accompanied by countless hardships, that was ultimately just an objective aspect.

In other words, at least on a subjective level, Fourteen did not feel that his experience was particularly tragic.

Fourteen was indeed an orphan, but he had never experienced the so-called kinship and love between families, and there was no clear enough reference point around him, so he could not empathize with the tragic, lonely children in the book.

Fourteen was indeed mistreated, but it was merely the usual mistreatment of slave owners by slaves. The problem is that if 'mistreatment' and 'torture' cannot produce any 'pain', then there is a problem with its nature. And this kind of problematic mistreatment obviously cannot cause Fourteen any ripples in his heart.

If it's hard to understand, here's a simple example, a very common one—

A certain villain conquered the world and intended to bring all of humanity under his dark rule, declaring, "I will torture you severely. You will only have two days off per week, and you will have to work a full eight hours every day. Any extra work will only earn you three times the pay. You will only be allowed three meals a day plus one midnight snack, and no one will be allowed to sleep longer than their daily working hours!"

And then... no more.

Because if people put themselves in the other person's shoes, they can understand the humor in this joke. The core idea is the difference in perception between the two parties. When one person's "simple meals" are equivalent to another person's "delicacies", many absurd and ridiculous scenarios are bound to occur.

Of course, this situation will most likely not play out in reality. The reason such jokes exist is simply because they are satirical works created by people who eat plain food and drink coarse tea every day to mock society and their own circumstances.

but--

Fourteen has personally experienced this kind of 'joke'.

Simply put, what was considered 'torture' by slave owners and slave traders was nothing more than a scratch on the surface for Fourteen; it didn't even cause him any discomfort.

Hunger did not cause him pain.

The dryness did not cause him any pain.

The whipping did not cause him pain.

Labor did not cause him pain.

The chopping did not cause him pain.

Those various forms of torture used to discipline obedient children were as easy for Fourteen as Jadeka Diesel's morning workout in the past.

Therefore, although it was only 'relaxed' and not quite 'pleasant', Fourteen did not suffer any psychological trauma and thus did not develop a desire to retaliate against society.

Incidentally, the reason he felt 'relaxed' was not because this guy was a masochistic pervert by nature, nor because his values ​​were different from ordinary people, but simply because he was... very strong.

He was born very strong, strong in every aspect, and his strength was quite well concealed.

Take eating as an example. Fourteen can go for half a month without eating or drinking and only feel a little hungry and thirsty. So when faced with the abuse of "only being given one meal a day", it is hard to expect him to be in much pain.

Under this premise, Fourteen was also very clever, so even though he didn't feel hungry, he was able to gather information from his surroundings to deduce that "these people want to make me hungry." Then, by observing those around him who were relatively healthy, he could disguise himself by making himself appear weak and haggard, so that he wouldn't be starved for more than a few days.

After all, he didn't care if he went hungry for a few more days, but Fourteen was still good to him, so this kind of opportunistic behavior lasted for the first twenty-odd years of his life.

He would yell and scream while being tortured, even though he didn't actually feel anything.

He would be whipped until his skin was torn open, even though it was just to 'force' excess blood vessels and fat out of his body.

He would collapse to the ground, panting heavily, after working for a certain period of time, even though he wasn't tired at all; he was simply lying on the ground, simply panting heavily.

And so, very quickly, Viper lost patience with him. After all, from his appearance, Fourteen was just an orc with bluish skin and unusual-looking eyes.

That's right. Back then, Fourteen was actually always treated as an orc. Even he himself thought he was a gifted orc.

In short, after reaching a certain age, Fourteen, who was deemed unable to perform heavy labor, was sold off cheaply. This 'orc', who had grown with age and acquired high-level strength without any training, but carefully concealed this strength, was sold by a mid-level manager of the Viper Merchant Guild to a Griffin nobleman at a wholesale price of 20 gold coins per person, along with a dozen other slaves in similar circumstances.

To be precise, he was a distant cousin of a member of a collateral branch of the Howard family of the Griffin dynasty.

After that, Fourteen's life remained unchanged. Although he wasn't beaten often, his treatment wasn't particularly good either. Unlike the noble families where even servants and attendants had to dress impeccably and have outstanding manners, that distant cousin of the Howard family's collateral branch was merely a viscount, and not even in the hereditary way...

To put it bluntly, the living conditions of these minor nobles without hereditary titles are probably not as good as those of the servants and servants in the Howard family, whether in terms of income or food and clothing.

However, in order to integrate into this circle and be worthy of being helped by others, rather than being simply given a dozen or so slaves to be sent over, the young viscount had to maintain his dignity. So even though the treatment of the fourteenth and others in the viscount's mansion was not good at the time, they were indeed trained in etiquette.

Or perhaps it was a few clever, quick-witted, and fast learners, including Fourteen, who mastered the skill. As for those who didn't... they've all ended up on the black market. After all, they still have many well-preserved organs, such as kidneys that are rarely used, which are high-value items for many cash-strapped buyers.

However, it is worth mentioning that during this process, Fourteen gained the greatest reward of his life.

He can read now.

Clearly, he had no opportunity to learn the common language at the Viper Merchant Guild. As for listening and speaking, he had no problems with those. In short, he learned the common language from the viscount. The reason it was the viscount himself was mainly because the latter was unwilling to spend money to hire specialized scholars (even third-rate ones) to teach these slaves, so since he had nothing else to do, he simply took matters into his own hands.

After learning to read and write, Fourteen began to look for books in the Viscount's mansion. Given his superior physical abilities and the fact that the Viscount preferred having two concubines and several female slaves waiting in his bedroom rather than the study, Fourteen's frequent visits to the study to steal books went unnoticed.

Those years were the most fulfilling years of his life. Although there were no riches or beautiful women in the books, by reading those books that even the viscount himself probably hadn't glanced at many times, Fourteen absorbed a great deal of knowledge. Although this knowledge did not correct his rather indifferent values, it did give him enough depth.

A few years later, the Viscount accidentally offended a hereditary baron connected with the Valyrian family, and his entire family was killed. Realizing something was wrong, Fourteen fled overnight, escaping the Viscount's house before the other party could arrest him, and began to wander aimlessly throughout the Griffin Empire.

In the end, he encountered the Viper Merchant Guild's slave-hunting group again and, for the first time, resisted with his own fists.

The first rebellion was successful. With his talent, Fourteen single-handedly wiped out the entire slave-catching group and tasted the pleasure of killing in the process.

In Fourteen's understanding, life is something to be revered, the most complex, wonderful, and profound existence in the world. To him, taking away the life of others is like carrying the weight of the deceased's life on his own shoulders, making him feel this weight at all times and making him feel truly fulfilled.

Without a doubt, the moment Fourteen discovered this, he realized that he was probably a 'madman' or 'crazy man', but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. On the contrary, he was genuinely happy that his desires were so 'simple'.

Because he was very clear about his own desires, he was also clear that even if someone took his life, this view would prevent him from having any attachment to the world. In other words, he would not be afraid of death, and would even look forward to someone taking up the burden of his interrupted life and continuing on.

Thus, the not-so-young madman Fourteen, having "seen through the illusions of the world," found his own pursuit.

However, he did not want to be killed too soon, so based on this new goal, he honed his strength. His specific method was to escape from the Viper Merchant Guild while looking for people who could put pressure on him in terms of strength but not kill him instantly, or people whose lives were very fulfilling and exciting, with rich stories or about to begin rich stories, and then kill them.

In the year that followed, he killed several hundred people with his own hands. The number was not large, but each person had their own unique characteristics.

There are veterans who have spent their lives in the military without regrets; young people who have just been recognized and are ready to make great strides; scholars who have delivered shocking speeches; and powerful figures who have finally achieved success and are ready to start the next chapter.

In addition, there are dozens of pursuers from the Viper Merchant Guild.

The turning point in the story is the night when a deacon from the Viper Merchant Guild, possessing peak epic-level strength, appears before Fourteen and easily defeats him.

Fourteen said he could kill him, but the other party refused.

The other party offered to work for Viper, but Fourteen refused.

The reason for this is that Fourteen doesn't like the Viper Guild's model. He feels that their killings are too simplistic, their exploitation is meaningless, and they lack any sense of responsibility.

In the end, that powerful figure crippled... or rather, he believed he had crippled more than half of his strength, and sent him to the Blood Barbarian Region's Headless Cliff as a way of repaying the lizard king who had once helped him.

However, no one expected that on the way to the Blood Barbarian Region by the Viper through secret means, Fourteen would actually 'run into trouble'.

To be more specific, his injuries from fighting that epic were too severe and he did not receive proper treatment, which eventually led to a deterioration in his condition, forcing him to undergo a 'transformation'.

To be more specific, one night, Fourteen suddenly 'died,' and the transporter did not discover that he was not completely dead.

Then, the two Viper members in charge of transportation didn't think much of it and simply threw Fourteen's lifeless body into the river nearby before leaving.

In fact, the epic writer never expected that the severely injured Fourteenth Prince would reach the Cliff of Heads alive. The so-called repayment of a favor was just a means for him to renege on the favor by using a corpse. Up until then, things were still on the right track.

Then it went off track.

In a daze, Fourteen passively completed an operation similar to 'molting', emerging from his own 'corpse' as a boy with bluer skin than before. Although he had no consciousness, he could breathe underwater.

Although he still looked somewhat like an orc, when he was pulled out by a member of the Grey Lizard Hunters, he was eventually recognized as a sea creature.

After that, through a series of unexpected events, Fourteen ended up at the Cliff of Heads and became a gladiator. He looked like a child, but he was actually an adult who retained all his memories from before he molted.

Gradually, he distinguished himself in the arena and earned the name 'Fourteen'.

Gradually, he became aware of his origins, his race, and his true power.

Gradually, he began to help some interesting people leave, and they formed the "Slaughter" organization, making him the captain of the "Slaughter" ship, which had never seen the sea before.

Slowly, he waited for the right moment, and in a certain year, with the help of Haru Kutata, the "Poison of the Medicine King," and Mayf, the "Mad Priestess" of the Abundance Cult, he completed an unprecedented large-scale escape.

He returned to his loyal ship, the "Slaughterer".

He was betrayed by his own crew shortly afterward and returned to land.

……

As everyone knows, the [Slaughter Legion] is the most adept at frontal assaults among the six Legions of Pardon. However, few people know that the legion commander named 'Fourteen,' who even the Behemoth willingly obeys his commands, actually has a long-standing connection with the God of War. As the only one who has almost thwarted the God of War's plans in a direct battle, this fearsome legion commander is said to be able to withstand a hundred blows from the [Fist of the King of Sin] without being defeated. Even the [Black Reaper] of the Great Alliance gave this opponent the highest praise.

—From "The Violet Empire Compulsory Education Curriculum Standard Experimental Textbook: History IX, Lesson 7"

Chapter 2808: The End
(End of this chapter)