Chapter 2271 - 2274: Facing Countless Difficulties, Relying Only on Myself

While the multitude of sea demons outside were lost in fear, Shen Qiang, accompanying the Mermaid Princess Qian Ning, followed behind the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang and the old steward, traversing the corridors and pavilions of the Cave Mansion. Walking along, he discovered something peculiar: this Cave Mansion was extremely large.

The decoration was indeed imposing, but the strange thing was, whenever one looked up, all they saw was endless darkness.

This inexplicably added a strong sense of oppression.

Coupled with Shen Qiang's doubts about Yu Jiang's ability to command the sea demons, his mood inevitably grew heavy.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you don't have absolute control here?" Shen Qiang asked, frustrated, as they turned a corner where no one else was around: "If you had told me earlier, I might have had time to come up with a plan. Now, suddenly, you tell me you need a lot of people to help, and I don't know what to do."

Upon hearing Shen Qiang's words, the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang stopped and turned to look at him, saying in a deep voice: "I didn't expect you to have everything ready so quickly, nor did I expect Qian Ning to decide to be with you so soon."

"It's not about speed." Shen Qiang raised an eyebrow.

The Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang exhaled and then said in a deep voice: "Since the conversation has reached this point, I'll just say it directly — I was originally a General under the Dragon Emperor." After glancing at Uncle Gui, Yu Jiang continued: "My brother was the Prime Minister, but later on, something unexpected happened, and the Dragon Emperor was lost."

Looking at the bewildered Shen Qiang, the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang said in a deep voice: "Thus, wars broke out across the Sea Border, and other demons from the oceans also came to cause trouble. They had no choice but to push me out to be the Great Sea Demon King. On the surface, they all seemed to obey me, and they wouldn't openly defy my orders."

"But whether they exert any effort isn't something I can control."

With a serious look at Shen Qiang, the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang said: "Regarding helping you seize the Divine Corpse, as long as I say, they'll definitely send people, but exactly who goes, how many will go, and what their abilities are, can't be determined now."

"Because they all know that once someone goes to the Atlantic, they are bound to engage in war with the Sea Emperor Clan, and those who go might never come back. If that happens, it would mean that if they lose, they will lose everything, because here, there are still many powerful Great Sea Demons who aren't obeying us, instead watching from the sidelines, eyes full of ambition, ready to devour anyone who shows weakness."

"Do you understand what I mean?"

Upon hearing Yu Jiang's inquiry,

Shen Qiang smiled and said: "What's there not to understand? It's nothing but a group without a leader, each vying for dominance. Whoever is powerful owns the territory, whoever is strong gets the resources, and whoever becomes weak perishes, right? These are the leftover games from human beings."

After a brief pause, the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang said: "So according to the original plan, it was to assemble them for a meeting, discuss the matter, appeal to their reason and emotions, patiently persuade them to give their all to resolve the issue for you, thereby achieving a fifty percent chance of success."

Shen Qiang smiled, contemplating: "The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean, covering thirty-five percent of Earth's surface, half of the ocean area. Are you afraid of the Atlantic's Sea Emperor?"

The Great Sea Demon King's expression turned sour, saying: "This place is a scattered mess! Since you know that the area here is larger than a third of Earth's surface, then you're aware that there are five sea demon kings like me in this ocean! Meanwhile, the Atlantic only has one Sea Emperor, understand?"

Shen Qiang fell silent for a moment, then said: "You're lying to me. If that's truly the case, even if all those people were willing to fight desperately, we wouldn't have even a fifty percent chance of winning, as the possibility of winning is infinitely close to zero."

Upon hearing this, the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang smiled, and then glanced mysteriously at Qian Ning in Shen Qiang's arms, saying: "Have you not told him your abilities yet?"

Qian Ning stood there, bewildered, full of questions.

"She can control sea monsters, whether ours or the Sea Emperor's." Yu Jiang raised an eyebrow and said: "That's the main reason I had you bring her along. The other reason is that with a strong ally, I, as her father, will no longer need to worry about her."

Shen Qiang frowned and said: "You're being reckless opportunists; this isn't walking a tightrope, it's hanging oneself! No one would selflessly risk everything for others! So even if they do go, they won't give their all. They'll be thinking about an escape route, once the fight starts, they'll think about running, preserving their strength, continuing their small reign of dominance."

"That's your problem to solve!" the Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang said in a deep voice: "I've called all the big players I could bring here, and now you have only two choices: one, find a way to solve it, get genuine effort from them; two, abandon your naive idea."

"If you can't manage them, insisting on proceeding, I won't accompany you to perish, because if I survive, I can still reign in this sea area, and if I die, I lose everything, even my woman will become someone else's."

Looking at the bald Great Sea Demon and his serious gaze, Shen Qiang smiled, though his heart was filled with helplessness and unavoidable resignation. After all, if Shen Qiang were Yu Jiang, without absolute certainty of winning, he definitely wouldn't stake Heshenghe, joining him in a reckless gamble for survival.

If one doesn't look out for oneself, Heavenly Punishment befalls.

This saying might sound lowly in character, but it's never wrong.

"I know nothing about them. What should I do to gain their trust in the shortest possible time?" Shen Qiang raised an eyebrow and asked, clearly not deterred by the difficulty.

The Great Sea Demon King Yu Jiang frowned and, after hesitating, said: "That's your problem—gold, silver, jewels, Elixir Pills, money, women, you're a smart person, you should know how to tempt them."

Shen Qiang was stunned, frowning: "Are you joking? If it's small matters, those would do, but for matters of desperation, do you think they'll ignore everything for those things?"

The Great Sea Demon King sighed and then said: "In any case, you solve it yourself; it's you who wants to seize the Divine Corpse, not me. I've built the single wood bridge for you—as to whether you can cross it, that's up to you; this is all I can do."

Shen Qiang remained silent, wanting to be angry but upon careful consideration, Yu Jiang has not made any demands for personal gain from Shen Qiang and has been helping Shen Qiang with everything, leaving Shen Qiang no fire to vent.

Right at this moment, Uncle Gui, the old steward at the side, smiled faintly and said: "Boss, things may not be as good as you imagine, nor as bad; hence, there might be a turnaround. However, it's best you don't entertain thoughts of poisoning those Great Sea Demons or coercing them with force, because the consequence of enraging them here is a dead-end!"