Chapter 1 Qi Zhentao's Fury

Qi Zhentao had been monitoring the unfolding situation from the lookout tower ever since the old sailors under his command issued their warning. When Guan Huan arrived at the mountaintop and saw Qi Zhentao's grave expression, Guan Huan felt relieved and waited for Old Master Qi's instructions.

The old master was so enraged that he laughed. The Seven Seas Trading Company had invested a tremendous amount of time, money, and effort into these warships and cargo ships. Many of the vessels in the harbor were originally designed by the Seven Seas Trading Company, including the Hunya-class ships, which the Dongping navy had gradually adopted. However, the Seven Seas Trading Company's Hunya-class ships were different from the standard naval vessels that looked identical. From the selection of materials to the final outfitting, no expense was spared. Most of the other ships were also the Cangshui-class and Lianshui-class, which were equally formidable and expensive. Smaller, weaker ships were considered too embarrassing to bring to the island. Only a small number of light, fast sailing ships were originally used for patrolling the islands or for transportation between the main island and the surrounding islets. Hei Ying Gang's mutually destructive act of arson not only trapped both Hei Ying Gang and the Seven Seas Trading Company on the island, forcing them into a desperate battle, but also caused Old Master Qi to worry about the decline in the Seven Seas Trading Company's deterrent power and combat effectiveness due to the damage to a large number of excellent ships after this battle, as he never considered the possibility of losing this battle.

To encounter such a situation when the Seven Seas Trading Company was in high spirits and discussing future development plans made Qi Zhentao especially furious.

"Good... good!" Qi Zhentao's beard trembled. "Since they don't want to run, that's great. Don't leave me a single survivor. In this battle, I will wipe out Hei Ying Gang." Qi Zhentao glared at the somber-faced old brothers and old partners around him, as well as the vigorous guards who had been recruited over the years, and roared, "Come on, let's go kill them. If I don't kill all these damned bastards, I, Old Qi, will never show my face again. Leave no one alive!"

With the help of the guards, Qi Zhentao donned his armor. The armor was designed by Ye Tao and crafted by several master craftsmen from the Yicheng branch of the Ye Family Workshop. The main part of the armor was made of black iron inlaid with gold and silver. The main body of the armor, which connected the shoulders and chest, looked like a triangle from the front, and the gold and silver decorative strips formed an abstract facial expression with bristling whiskers, naturally carrying a similar imposing air to Old Master Qi when he was angry. The back of the armor was made of black iron strips inlaid with gold, resembling the structure of an insect's abdomen. Whether bending over or straightening the back, it did not affect movement and provided complete protection without revealing any weaknesses. The ribs of the armor were made of high-quality rhinoceros hide, jiao (mythical aquatic dragon)-skin, and silk layered and glued together. Although the effect against blunt weapons was not as good as a full hard-shell armor, it ensured a very high level of puncture and arrow resistance with extremely light weight. The waist and leg armor were integrated, usually using the insect abdomen structure that required extremely high craftsmanship. Considering that the legs would be moving a lot during combat, in order to ensure mobility, the area between the two thigh guards and below the waist armor was made of specially tanned shark skin with layers of overlapping trapezoidal armor plates, which did not affect movement and did not reveal any weaknesses, making it much lighter than a full metal armor. When Ye Tao designed the armor for Old Master Qi, although he never considered that the armor would actually be used on the battlefield, he still carefully considered the protection, suitability, and weight. Because Old Master Qi liked the armor, he would always move the rosewood frame with the armor to his side as long as he stayed in one place for more than two days. He never thought that it would actually be used this time.

Qi Zhentao, who had not personally fought in battle for a long time, felt the armor pieces being loaded onto his body one by one, becoming a whole. The past moments flashed through his mind. The increasingly loud and approaching sounds of fighting outside could no longer be suppressed by the wind and rain, and the even more piercing explosions were constantly heard. Almost half of the port was lit up, as if the entire water surface was burning, a scene that excited everyone with violence in their blood.

"Chief, your saber." An old subordinate brought Qi Zhentao's weapon and handed it to him.

This was a long saber suitable for both one-handed and two-handed use. When the Yicheng branch of the Ye Family Workshop first mastered the Damascus steel manufacturing process, the old master ordered this saber. The layers of patterns on the Damascus steel always stirred up the waves in his heart, always reminding him of the days when he desperately bit a chipped short saber in his mouth and climbed onto the enemy's ship by digging his fingers into the cracks in the planks. But now, everything was different. The price of this saber was probably enough to arm three to five hundred pirate recruits like him back then. Not to mention the slender, well-proportioned, and aesthetically pleasing blade, the perfectly balanced guard, the handle, and the dragon head decoration with a black crystal at the end of the long handle, even the non-slip material wrapped around the handle could only be afforded by people of his status. It was not the silk and hemp interwoven, machine-woven material used by the Blood Kirin Army and the Yunzhou armies. The old master used much more high-end materials: three strands of jiao tendon and five strands of shark skin mixed and hand-woven into a non-slip material, which was tough, elastic, and had an amazing feel that made people not want to let go once they held it. Moreover, unlike the cheap materials that absorb sweat to achieve a non-slip effect, this material felt better the more it was soaked in various liquids. In the end, it could even give people the subtle feeling that the saber was an extension of the body. According to the old master's test, the liquid that made it feel the best after soaking was blood...

Looking at this long saber that he had always played with but had never truly tasted blood, the old master closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When Qi Zhentao opened his eyes again, he seemed like a different person. His eyes no longer held the peace, playfulness, and rational authority that had become familiar when he was a businessman. The old master actually looked like the Sea Demon King who had terrified people back then. The old brothers who had followed the old master for many years could not help but feel excited and wanted to shout when they saw such a Qi Zhentao.

"Men, follow me to kill the enemy." The old master strode into the wind and rain, shouting and leading everyone out, down the mountain path. "Kill all these bastards, and this deal won't be a loss after all." The old master's next words still showed that he was no longer the demon king who relied on violence.

The emergence of the Demon King naturally required sacrifices. Qi Zhentao and his men, who rushed out of the courtyard on the mountaintop in a flurry, surprised Shark Eye Lao Liu and his gang, who had already reached the top of the mountain.

"Old Man Qi is out!" A water ghost whispered, somewhat incredulously. Relying on the fact that they had two brothers who originally worked in Jiaoyayu, they bypassed the courtyard where Ye Tao was and climbed a dangerous cliff more than six zhang high to reach the top of the mountain. During the climb, two water ghosts fell straight down and died on the spot. When battles were happening everywhere on the island, the miserable screams were not conspicuous at all. It was like two small stones thrown into the rolling waves.

"Kill!" Seeing Qi Zhentao come out, Shark Eye Lao Liu's surprise attack plan completely failed, but he immediately reacted. "Killing Old Man Qi is worth it all."

A group of water ghosts immediately rushed out of the woods and bushes beside them, without shouting because for these water ghosts, opening their mouths in the most dangerous situation often meant death—because that was underwater. But this silence contained a determination to die and a burst of great power.

Qi Zhentao was also stunned. This situation was like opening the door and seeing an elephant crashing towards him, but Old Master Qi's aging nerves were so surprisingly active at this moment that he shouted, "Come on!" and then took a step towards the newcomers, slashing down with his saber with an unstoppable momentum.

Waa ya ya ya ya... Waa ha ha ha ha... In the mixed shouts of killing, the old master's voice was so bright and vivid, like a plate of rich blood red sprinkled on a pure black canvas, permeating and spreading. Later, no one knew whether the old master was laughing wildly or roaring. The posture of the demon god shocked the enemy and encouraged his own side.

Hearing the calls and shouts from behind his head that seemed to be able to make the wind and rain submit, Ye Tao, who was also fighting, revealed a smile. However, no one could see Ye Tao's relaxed smile, as he was wearing complete armor and had pulled down his visor. Unlike the old master's arrogant killing, Ye Tao was silent at this moment, although he was exerting great lethality.

When the extremely exquisite armor that did not appear ostentatious at all was worn on his body, Ye Tao's protective ability was not much worse than that of the two guards who came from heavy infantry backgrounds, and the custom-made armor that emphasized workmanship, protection, weight, sports, and balance made Ye Tao far more flexible than the two guards. It was precisely because of this that Liu Yong made up his mind and agreed to Ye Tao playing an important role in their dangerous and effective combat methods.