Chapter 575: 559th Chapter: Who Belongs to Whom
Zhao Changhe and San Niang hadn’t expected that their nocturnal spying would only leave them more perplexed.
Even though San Niang had largely let go of her resentment towards Changkong of the Sea, she never considered him a good person.
Yet he was indeed declaring “kill without mercy.” But if that was just an act, what would happen if San Niang was actually killed? Who would take the blame?
San Niang recalled how that bastard had relentlessly pursued her with intent to kill. If it weren’t for her subordinates’ desperate rescue, she would have been truly dead. It didn’t seem like an act at all.
It was a complete fog, utterly indiscernible. The two of them patiently continued their surveillance until the banquet finally ended and the Penglai generals went to sleep, with no further incidents occurring.
San Niang observed the general who had earlier seemed eager to send a secret message. She somewhat wanted to go and ask him but couldn’t shake the feeling that her mere presence might harm him. She hesitated for a long time, intimidated by the decision.
“Patience,” Zhao Changhe squeezed her hand and whispered, “We are in the dark while they are exposed. By watching coldly from the sidelines, no change can escape our eyes; we’ll adapt as necessary.”
San Niang felt slightly assured and murmured in agreement, “What about Lai Qi…”
“If we don’t interfere, I can’t imagine Lai Qi has any way to refuse. It’s either death or conscription.”
Returning to Lai Qi’s guest quarters, they stumbled upon Lai Qi embarrassingly making his way back. Noticing their return, Lai Qi felt awkward for a moment but still came clean, “I thought about leaving under the cover of night. The guard who was politely showing me the way earlier, suddenly refused to let me go, blocking my path back to the ship no matter what excuse I offered.”
Zhao Changhe didn’t fault him for abandoning his own “guards” and patted his shoulder, “Just surrender honestly. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. I don’t think you can destroy a country now; at least not at this moment. But if you resist, you’re as good as dead now, and we might not even be able to save you.”
Sure enough, after agonizing through the night, Lai Qi was about to go and surrender to Changkong of the Sea the next morning when a commotion arose from the shore.
Lai Qi sprinted over only to find Zhao Changhe and his wife standing side by side, watching the scene unfold.
On the shore, Changkong of the Sea gave a cold order, “Since they refuse to surrender, don’t blame me for being ruthless. Attack, leave no one alive.”
“Boom, boom, boom!” The Penglai warships fired in unison, astonishingly equipped with cannons.
The power of these cannons was difficult to sum up in words; impacting the enemy decks, they would only make a crater, actually less powerful than the bed crossbows brought by the Tang family, but still impressively stunning for Zhao Changhe.
The mere emergence of firearms in the world was enough to stir the hearts of transmigrators, regardless of their power, potential for advancement, time required for evolution, or even if their evolved modern forms could injure God Demons—that was a matter for another time.
The opposing force was an unknown small country that had apparently just arrived that day, only to be bluntly persuaded to surrender by Changkong of the Sea, which then fell through.
They dared to refuse, clearly many times more powerful than Lai Qi’s fleet, displaying some confidence. After all, not every country was as weak as Lai Qi’s. The collective strength of all the nations was actually considerable.
The two sides were locked in a standoff offshore. Amidst the absolute disparity in armaments, the small country’s fleet was soon at a disadvantage and started withdrawing while still engaging in battle.
At that moment, another small country’s fleet arrived in the distance, calling out, “What’s happening?~”
The resisting fleet responded immediately, “Penglai Country wants to annex our fleet and country!”
The Penglai fleet didn’t bother to explain and just watched the newcomers approach. Changkong of the Sea took personal action, leaping onto the enemy’s bow. With a single palm strike, he killed the opposing commander and casually returned to his own ship.
The newly arrived fleet was stunned, “Changkong of the Sea! Your ambition is truly wolf-like! Do you really think Penglai is invincible?!”
The newest fleet joined the battle as well.
Watching all this, Zhao Changhe thought Changkong of the Sea’s actions were simply moronic. Last night seemed somewhat normal with Lai Qi, but what was he doing now?
Others may be weaker than you, but when they join forces, they are not that weak. If things get out of hand and chaos ensues, everything could fall apart.
Look at your own ship. Some people were killed by arrows. There are casualties now. Why do this?
“See that?” During his confusion, he received a message from San Niang, “The souls and yin qi of the dead just now scattered into the Void and were absorbed… This is a sacrifice, and it’s a sacrifice of their own followers… The skeletal remains left after the sacrifice could be devoured by the Sea Race and then evolve into new giant fish-men.”
Zhao Changhe glanced at her. Why are you so familiar with these Evil Skills…? The recollections of San Niang returning to the Four Symbols Sect with the Azure Dragon Coffin from Beimang flashed through Zhao Changhe’s mind, and he suddenly wondered if the Four Symbols Sect also possessed similar Evil Skills?
Is their so-called resurrection of Emperor Ye ultimately pointing to this? Hence it is called the Demon Sect.
San Niang didn’t know what he was thinking, but she continued as if she was an expert, “I sense it’s because the previous battle caused the Sea God’s long-accumulated Sea Race to suffer unacceptable casualties. To revive them, they can’t wait to use the slow method of fostering faith. This type of sacrifice is the fastest way.”
Zhao Changhe said, “So, the oppression by Admiral Changkong of various nations could indeed have the tacit approval of the Sea God behind it? It doesn’t matter if they are followers from other countries or his own from Penglai. All are sacrificed in the war… That’s why Admiral Changkong doesn’t care at all. He’s just killing people, friend or foe alike. Otherwise, I can’t explain such brainless, self-destructive behavior.”
San Niang hesitated for a moment but then responded with a “Hmm”: “Is Lai Qi lucky for arriving early and being too pitifully weak to be directly hit?”
Zhao Changhe asked, “If this is his strategy, should we continue fighting the Pirate Group?”
What puzzled San Niang the most was this: “It would actually be better to subdue them properly and use them to scout ahead, which could be of great use when fighting the Pirate Group. Now that they are fighting amongst themselves, should we still fight the Pirate Group…?”
In the midst of the couple’s conversation, more and more fleets arrived one after another. After all, there was only one day left before the agreed date, and most people did not dare to come at the last minute, choosing to arrive a day early, which was basically around this time.
As a result, the scene became more and more chaotic. No one knew what was happening here, and it became a mess.
Zhao Changhe suddenly thought if the pirates attacked at this time, they could probably wipe out the entire Alliance Army…
Just as he was thinking this, a horn sounded in the distance.
A pirate flag began to appear on the horizon, followed by two and then three. In no time, they covered the sky.
A huge swarm of pirate ships sped towards them from the distance, like a black tide sweeping over the island.
“It’s the Angry Sea Gang, the Angry Sea Gang is attacking!”
“It’s the Tianyuan Pirate Group!”
Two different names rose from different ships. Someone shouted at Admiral Changkong, “Admiral, with things as they are, are you still going to fight amongst yourselves?”
“Why not fight?” Admiral Changkong waved his hand decisively, repeating the same phrase: “Leave no armor behind!”
Everyone was dumbfounded. Even Zhao Changhe and San Niang widened their eyes.
All these unreasonable actions, when you think about it, if Admiral Changkong and the Tianyuan Pirate Group are actually on the same side, does it all suddenly make sense?
So the question is, since it’s confirmed that there are sacrificial Arrays on Penglai’s ships and that such a massacre has the intention of sacrifice behind it, does the Pirate Group know about this?
After all this time, could it be that even the Pirate Group belongs to the Sea God?
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PS: I have a bit of a fever and diarrhea today; I’m not sure if it’s because of the air conditioning or the sun. I still managed to finish this update; I’m truly as ironclad as Zhao Changhe, and even handsomer than him.
I’ll see how I feel after taking medicine tonight before deciding whether to take a day off tomorrow.