Chapter 52

Zhou Ye, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Ying of the Great Qin Dynasty, felt his face burning with pain.

It felt like being slapped a hundred times in front of the entire capital.

He stood at the bow of his flagship, the sea breeze making his magnificent brocade robe embroidered with qilin flutter. Yet, he felt not a trace of the imposing presence befitting the "General Who Suppresses Bandits."

He felt like a joke.

What a huge, stupid, and pathetic joke.

"Good news!"

He forced out those two words through his teeth. His gums were bleeding from the excessive force, and his mouth tasted of rust.

Prince An, Tang Pu.

That brute who only brought a few hundred personal guards and a few dilapidated merchant ships.

Surprisingly, while his massive "national team" of over a dozen official ships was still wandering aimlessly at sea like headless flies, he had already sent back the first report of victory!

We wiped out one of the bandits' strongholds!

Three hundred heads will be beheaded!

One bandit leader has been captured!

Every word was like a slap across his face.

“Young Master Zhou,” the naval vice admiral beside him, a weathered old sea wolf in his forties, spoke cautiously, “Prince Tang… after all, has spent many years in the northern border and is familiar with battle formations. We…”

"Shut up!" Zhou Ye whirled around, his handsome face contorted with jealousy and anger. "You mean, I'm inferior to him? My Duke of Ying's mansion, a family with a century of military tradition, is not as good as a mere brat who relies on his father's influence?!"

The lieutenant immediately lowered his head and dared not utter another word.

Zhou Ye's chest heaved violently.

He cannot lose.

He can't afford to lose either.

This is not only about his reputation, but also about the status of the British Duke's Mansion in the court.

If he can't even compare to a brute prince, how will he ever establish himself in the capital? How will he face those who point fingers and laugh at him behind his back?

How could he possibly marry that famous and incredibly wealthy fourth young lady of the Cui family?

The thought of Cui Yunshu's cool, aloof face, bearing a faint scar yet breathtakingly beautiful, ignited an even more intense flame in Zhou Ye's heart, a flame mixed with possessiveness and resentment.

He has to win!

At all costs!

"Pass down the order!" he roared at the messenger behind him. "Bounty! Double the reward amount for me! Tell those fishermen that anyone who provides clues about the 'Black Shark' will receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver! Anyone who provides the location of its lair will receive a reward of one thousand taels of silver!"

"yes!"

Just then.

On the distant sea, a patrol boat sped towards them, the soldiers on board waving flags excitedly.

"Report—!"

"Young master! A lone pirate ship has been spotted ahead! We...we've captured one alive!"

Zhou Ye's eyes suddenly lit up.

...

"Black Shark" is actually named Zhang Xuan.

At this moment, he was sitting in the cabin of his flagship, "Sea Dragon King," wiping the huge scimitar inlaid with shark teeth in his hand with a rough linen cloth.

The cabin was very quiet.

The only sound was the faint, teeth-grinding hiss of the blade slicing through the linen.

But in his heart, a blood-red storm was brewing, powerful enough to overturn the heavens and the earth.

Ghost Hand Island.

His most important, and most secretive, supply point and place for selling stolen goods, just like that, it was gone.

Overnight, it was uprooted.

More than three hundred brothers, without even a sound, all turned into minced meat to feed the fish in the sea.

The ship he sent to meet them found only a charred ruin still emitting black smoke, and the sea full of floating corpses.

There was no anger on Black Shark's face.

His face, weathered by the sea breeze and scorching sun like old tree bark, held only a chilling, cruel killing intent born from extreme calm.

He knew he had met his match this time.

The opponent is not that bunch of incompetent government officials.

Those incompetent officials don't even know where Ghost Hand Island is.

The opponent was fast, accurate, and ruthless. Moreover, it seemed as if he had eyes that could see through everything and knew all of his plans perfectly.

Conventional tactics are no longer working.

So……

The corners of "Black Shark's" mouth slowly parted into a ferocious, shark-like smile.

Since you like to play dirty tricks.

Then I'll play a bigger game with you.

"Boss!"

A one-eyed pirate with a scar on his face rushed in, looking excited.

"The fish... has taken the bait!"

"Oh?" "Black Shark" stopped wiping his knife and raised his sharp, eagle-like eyes.

"That stupid fleet from the British Duke's mansion has captured the decoy ship we deliberately released! The men on board have confessed as you instructed!"

“Good that you’ve confessed.” “Black Shark” smiled. He stood up, walked to the huge nautical chart in the cabin, and pointed heavily at a complex sea area marked with countless red crosses, resembling a maze.

Devil's Fog Zone.

"Pass down the order." His voice was like two rocks rubbing against each other, hoarse and full of blood.

"Let all the brothers go to the 'fog zone' and get ready... for the feast."

"Today, I'm going to treat these young noblemen from the capital to a meal of wine brewed with their own blood!"

...

The British Royal Navy's fleet, like a rooster injected with adrenaline, charged aggressively into the legendary "Devil's Fog Zone."

Zhou Ye stood at the bow of the ship, full of vigor and confidence.

He had just personally interrogated the captured pirate leader.

That spineless coward confessed everything after only a few lashes.

He said that the "Black Shark's" lair is located in the center of this foggy area, on an island called "Yanwangdian" (King of Hell's Palace).

Zhou Ye was overjoyed.

He felt that even the heavens were on his side. Tang Pu, that reckless fool, had only gotten lucky and taken down an insignificant little stronghold. But he, Zhou Ye, was about to strike at the heart of the matter, capture "Black Shark" himself, and achieve this unparalleled feat!

He completely ignored the solemn, hesitant expression on the face of the naval vice admiral beside him.

"Young master, this foggy area is perpetually shrouded in mist, riddled with hidden reefs, and the navigation channels are extremely complex. We..."

"What are you afraid of!" Zhou Ye interrupted him impatiently. "If the pirates' ships can go, why can't ours?!"

"Besides," he sneered, "we have a dozen large ships, what are we afraid of with a mere bunch of pirates? We'd crush them!"

The lieutenant looked at Zhou Ye's face, which was flushed with excitement, and swallowed the rest of his words.

The fleet sailed into the thick fog.

Almost instantly, the sky darkened.

Visibility was less than three feet.

Allied ships in front, behind, left, and right disappeared into the thick, milky-white fog that smelled damp and musty.

All that could be heard from each other's boats were the panicked alarm sounds of gongs and drums.

But the sound became blurred and distorted in this eerie fog, its direction indistinguishable.

"What's going on?! Why is the fog so thick?!" For the first time, Zhou Ye felt a sense of unease.

"Slow down! All ships slow down! Close in!" the lieutenant shouted the order.

However, it was too late.

"boom--!"

A loud bang!

The lead ship of the fleet seemed to have crashed into an invisible mountain, and the entire ship shook violently!

Immediately following was the tooth-grinding creaking sound of the wooden planks being torn apart!

"We've run aground! We've run aground!" came terrified, desperate screams from the ship.

Chaos spread like wildfire.

"Hard to port! Quick! There's a reef on the left!"

"On the right! There are some on the right too!!"

"Boom—!"

Another ship has run aground.

Just as the British Royal Navy's fleet was colliding and in disarray in this labyrinthine reef, like a flock of panicked chickens trapped in a cage.

The real hunters have appeared.

One after another, small, black-painted pirate ships, resembling water ghosts, silently emerged from all directions of the thick fog.

They did not approach or board the ship.

They simply launched rockets, each one laden with sulfur and kerosene.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

The rockets, trailing long plumes of flame, flew like a swarm of bloodthirsty locusts, landing precisely on the massive official ships that were immobilized by running aground or hitting reefs.

A huge fire suddenly broke out.

The officers and soldiers trapped on the ship let out piercing screams. Some were burned alive, while others jumped into the icy sea, but because they couldn't swim, they quickly sank.

Zhou Ye stood atop his flagship, staring in disbelief at the hellish scene before him.

His face was completely devoid of color.

“A trap…this is a trap…” he muttered to himself, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

He finally realized how foolish he had been.

...

The deck of the "Divine Machine Ship" was very quiet.

Tang Pu held a monocular telescope and quietly looked at the distant sea shrouded in thick fog, which seemed like another world.

He can't hear anything.

But he can see it.

The edge of that thick fog was tinged with an ominous, eerie, blood-red hue by the towering flames.

He can smell it.

The smell carried on the wind was that of burnt wood and... the smell of roasted human flesh.

"Your Highness," a guard behind him couldn't help but speak, "it seems... the people from the Duke of Ying's mansion have been ambushed. Should we......"

Tang Pu remained silent.

He simply pulled a letter from his pocket.

It was sent by Cui Yunshu; it was the latest, urgent, and confidential letter.

The letter contained only one sentence.

"The bait has been swallowed; please step into the trap. Wait patiently for the outcome, and reap the benefits."

To reap the benefits without lifting a finger.

As Tang Pu looked at those four words, for the first time, his eyes, which always burned with fire, revealed struggle and hesitation.

Winning is simple.

He just sits here and does nothing.

Once the British Duke's fleet is completely torn apart by the "Black Shark," he can lead his elite troops to clean up the mess.

In the end, all the credit and the beauty will be his.

But……

He gripped the binoculars tightly, as if he could hear the desperate, agonizing screams of the Qin soldiers coming from the thick fog.

Those were his comrades.

Although they belonged to a foolish, arrogant, pig-like general.

But they were also soldiers wearing Qin military uniforms.

Tang Pu was torn between his inner turmoil and his own conscience.

His "great cause" and his honor and bottom line as a soldier clashed most fiercely at this moment.

To save or not to save?

This was a difficult problem that his strategist had not been able to solve for him.