The night was deep, but no one on the island could sleep. The people who had worked hard all day and were supposed to rest when they changed shifts were already awakened. The island's natives gathered in one place, watching in horror as thousands of soldiers rushed onto the island.

It is unknown what kind of punishment they will face next. In the eyes of the islanders, these officers and soldiers are not much different from those pirates. This island was originally isolated from the world, and the fishermen on the island were not subject to any control or restraint.

The island's inhabitants have made a living by fishing and farming for generations. Apart from the occasional impact of hurricanes, they generally do not experience any disasters. This time, the sudden arrival of pirates shattered the peace of everyone on the island, plunging them directly from heaven to hell.

The islanders had never had any contact with government soldiers before, so in their minds the government soldiers were no different from pirates, bringing them only unknown fear and unease.

As for the villagers whose Achilles tendons had been severed and who could only crawl, their feelings upon seeing the government soldiers were complicated. They wanted to ask for help, but they also remembered that it was government soldiers who had massacred their village. For a moment, they couldn't figure out whether the government and the pirates were colluding.

However, if they were in cahoots, the government troops have already killed the pirates, and those who weren't killed have been tied up, locked up, and kept under guard.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and climbed out to see what was going on. They couldn't climb far, and escape was hopeless, so they could only climb out of the house to see what their current situation was like.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. We are people sent by the imperial court. The court is already aware of the massacre of the fishing village, so we have specially sent people to investigate this matter." Xingxing raised her voice to reassure the people, then paused.

After pausing for a moment to choose his words, he continued, "We can now confirm one thing: the one who ordered the massacre of the fishing village was not a government official, nor Prince Cheng, but a Japanese pirate. We tracked them to this island because we followed their trail."

"What happened? It really was the Japanese pirates, not the government? But those who killed people were definitely government officials!" One of the men lying on the ground cried out, pounding the ground with one hand, kicking up dust.

"Isn't it the government colluding with the Japanese pirates? It's clearly the government and the Japanese pirates colluding together to harm the people, otherwise how could the Japanese pirates command the government officials?"

"That's right. They broke into the village in the middle of the night and started massacring everyone except us able-bodied men. Those of us who were lucky enough to survive had our Achilles tendons severed. Those who colluded with the Japanese pirates were worse than animals."

For a moment, everyone was filled with righteous indignation, cursing and shouting, their emotions extremely agitated. Long-term oppression and repression, under the pirates' brutal iron fist, they dared not speak out in anger, nor dared to die. Their hearts were ashen, and they numbly repeated the dark days day after day.

Some of them did resist, but those who did were tortured to death using the most brutal methods. Everyone was shocked, and no one dared to utter a single word of 'no,' let alone resist. No one was unafraid of death. Even if their Achilles tendons were severed and they could not walk, they were still afraid of death, so they could only work obediently.

They did whatever the pirates told them to do without ever daring to question them, and even if they ended up not building anything, they still had to keep working.

Xingxing stood quietly listening to these poor people vent their frustrations like trapped beasts. Only after they finished cursing did she speak up, "I know you have all suffered a lot. We are late. I will send someone to take you back as soon as it is light tomorrow. The Japanese pirates who massacred the village are on this island. We will capture them as soon as possible and give the people of the fishing villages an explanation."

"Really?" The person who asked the question was already sobbing. "But everyone is dead, leaving only us cripples. Living is worse than being dead."

Living is worse than death, but even so, people still have to keep living.

"The government will send doctors to treat you and do their best to cure you," Xingxing promised, her voice choked with emotion. But she didn't dare to make any promises too confidently, after all, she wasn't a doctor and couldn't be sure if she could restore these people whose Achilles tendons had been severed to normal.

"The government will find a way to help you make a living in the future; they won't abandon you." Xingxing reassured them so much, but she still didn't dare to tell them to 'rest assured.' They had endured too much, and they couldn't let go of their worries until they were truly redeemed.

These people worked hard all day long and ate poorly, so everyone's body was severely depleted. Many of them worked while sick. Before, under the supervision of the pirates, they could only endure the pain, otherwise they would be buried alive.

Upon learning they were saved, the sick could no longer hold on and fainted, while the healthy all sat on the ground wailing. The sound of wailing echoed throughout the entire island, creating a particularly eerie atmosphere.

Those who heard it were all moved to tears.

This time, in addition to the imperial physician who followed Xingxing closely, two other doctors were also brought along. Military doctors must accompany troops into battle so that any casualties can be treated in a timely manner.

After treating the soldiers' wounds and resting briefly, the three doctors came to treat the common people. They were busy until dawn.

Xingxing and Zhu Lin's group did not rest. They were busy arranging the return journey for these people. First, they had to count the number of people, and then they could allocate the number of people to each boat and the number of soldiers to escort them.

Finally, the number reported by the people below was 1,130 people captured from the fishing village and 870 indigenous people from the island. The island's villagers included the elderly, children, and women, but they did not want to leave. The island was their home, and they wanted to continue living there.

Among the captured civilians, the oldest was in his early forties. According to them, they were not yet forty when they were captured, around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, and had already worked for the Japanese pirates for several years.

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