Which meant…

That the incident five years ago was maintained successfully.

However, it was not without sacrifices.

Several of the crew onboard already inhaled the gas and infiltrated their bodily systems. Men who used to be strong vomited at the sides on the top deck, and some even fainted.

Thankfully enough, no explosion occurred. The cloud of leaked gas above the vessel was successfully dispelled after some period of time and with such efforts from reinforcements provided by Xue s.h.i.+pping and Zhu s.h.i.+pping Lines, led by Butler Lee.

Even then, that incident was kept on a low mum as the casualties were rushed towards the nearest hospitals and were given aide.

Chen Linyun and Xue Minhe, regrettably, were included in the casualties. On the upside of things, they both survived the gas poisoning.

However, their safety was shortlived and it was only until the perpetrator showed himself on deck.

"We're all going to die today! Ha!" Deranged Han Fengyu revealed himself with a lighter on hand.

All the people surrounded him and gasped. "No! Don't!"

He stepped on the elevated part of the deck near the railings and pointed at Chen Linyun and Xue Minhe. "You! And You! How come you're both going to have prosperous, satisfying life while I get to have nothing? While I rot! How come the disparity of our fates is so humiliatingly excessive? How come all the misfortunes fall under my hood, only mine for the taking, and all the good stuff come to you, people?"

He roared and bellowed. It was a ghastly sight. The vessel, with its engine turned off, shook with the sea's waves and wobbled. On his own, synchronized with one of the wave's attacks, Han Fengyu tumbled and almost fell across the railings and into the sea. The lighter that was initially on his hand fell first and made such a splash into the water.

One of the men who stood near reflexively grabbed Han Fengyu's legs and left him dangling across the railings.

"Fengyu-Ge." Chen Linyun called.

Han Fengyu's nose flared at how Chen Linyun addressed him. "What did you call me?!"

And to the man that grabbed his legs, he demanded, "You! How dare you grab onto me! Release me! Let me die!"

"Han Fengyu! You brought your own fate to your doorstep. You chose it yourself! You don't have any right to whine at how differing our future looks like! You brought it upon yourself!" Xue Minhe exclaimed despite feeling light-headed.

"Ha! Hahaha! Said the young master who was fed with a golden spoon all his life!" Han Fengyu blabbered angrily, while still on an upside-down position. The man that caught his feet never let go.

"If it weren't for you, for the presence that threatened Man Rui and my future together, I wouldn't have agreed with my father's condescending whims! It's all your fault!"

"In the end, I still lost Man Rui and my child!"

"And you too!" He pointed at Chen Linyun. "You! Your existence has always been such a bane to me! Even when you weren't there, I'm still left in your shadow! Life sure has its own injustice even at birth! I was born first, but you took all the credit!"

"You fortunate people will never understand!"

Chen Linyun's face grew stern as he pulled his eyegla.s.ses up through his nose bridge. "Brother. Even when you act like this, and after all that you've done, I still believe that there's a tiny bit of kindness left in you."

"Huh! Don't make me laugh, Chen Linyun! Kindness my foot! Ha! Hahahaha!!" Indeed, he burst into laughter.

"If not, Sola, our adorable sister, will never put her trust on you."

The mention of their sister made Han Fengyu fall into silence.

"And Sola discovered your mother's unsent letters to my mother Jiang Biyu, the lady who adopted me. It's you who revealed my ident.i.ty, right? You have helped me learn about my ident.i.ty. Perhaps, it's part of your plan of rebelling against Master s.h.i.+. Still, it won't change the fact that you've helped me. You have saved Sola, too, from our father's evil plan. You have been protecting her all this time. I would be forever grateful for that."

"There's still kindness in you even if you're adamant to show it. There's still a chance for you to change and for you to have a much more favorable future."

"I don't think you've completely given up yet. I'm correct, am I not?" Chen Linyun continued his soliloquy.

"I will help you."

"Shut up! Shut it!" Han Fengyu thrashed his legs and struggled to break free. "You think I'll get swayed with your words? Don't make me laugh! It's just a bait!"

Chen Linyun offered his arms and hand at Han Fengyu. "Take my arm. If you do, I will help you straighten your life. Of course, you have to pay for the consequences of your past actions, but it won't take a lifetime. It would take, what, just a couple of years, or so. After that, Sola and I will be there to accept you wholeheartedly, Brother. I promise you, it will give you the peace of mind you will appreciate. There's still so much in life than hatred and suffering. We're still young and lots of great things in store for us for the remaining days of our lives. Let's catch up as brothers, how is that? Sola would love that. Just think of her getting pitifully sandwiched between us. Let's reconcile, brother! It's never too late!"

"I can't hold on any longer." The man that grabbed his legs reported. "My arms are getting sweaty. He's going to slip my grip soon."

Other men tried to get a hold onto the dangling man, but the positioning would not permit it.

"Where's the rope? Find the rope!" Another man cried out and ordered.

Han Fengyu must have felt the slipping grip on his legs as he dangled closer to the sea, upside down. He scrutinized Chen Linyun's extended arm for his taking.

"Live well, Brother. If you're even a bit sorry, live a long life, and repent. Live." Chen Linyun still put in all his efforts to convince him.

He finally chose to take it, but as he grabbed onto it, he smirked and tugged onto it forcefully using all of his body's weight. 

It took just a few seconds to turn the tables to his favors. In a blink of an eye, he landed safely on the deck while Chen Linyun was thrown into the open sea.

Several men – the pirates of the South – went after Chen Linyun and dove head-first into the waters, and tried to save him.

The strong currents and waves splashed onto them and pushed them powerfully against the s.h.i.+p's metal flank.

The other men who were left onboard pinned Han Fengyu on the ground and beat the h.e.l.l out of him.