Chapter 53
Tang Pu felt that his blood was cold.
No.
It's hot.
Like a pot of molten iron just taken off the stove, boiling over, it surged and surged through his veins, threatening to burn him to ashes.
He stood on the deck of the "Divine Machine Ship," a deck so wide that a horse could run across it, holding a cold, monocular brass telescope in his hand.
Through the telescope, it's hell.
The area of sea known as the "Devil's Fog Zone" was now like a huge, white cauldron of boiling soup. The thick fog, like bubbling broth, mixed everything together.
He couldn't see the boat clearly.
All he could see were several enormous, ominous, blood-red flames flickering wildly deep within the thick fog, like the eyes of demons in hell.
He could not hear the sounds of fighting.
That damned fog swallowed all the sounds.
But it seems he can hear it.
He could hear the agonizing groans as the wooden planks shattered.
He could hear the greedy, crackling chewing sounds as the flames devoured the sails.
He could hear the short, desperate scream of a dying man, as the thick fog and seawater poured into his throat.
He could even smell it.
The wind carried a unique, nauseating smell of burnt wood mixed with... the smell of roasted human flesh.
Behind him, the hundreds of battle-hardened warriors who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, like a pack of wolves that had smelled blood, let out suppressed, excited, low growls from their throats.
"Your Highness," the captain of the personal guards, a man with three scars on his face, licked his chapped lips, his voice hoarse, "those bunch of idiots in the Duke of Ying's mansion seem to be on the verge of collapse. Shouldn't we... prepare to... close the net?"
The operation is over.
yes.
He just sits here and does nothing.
Once that beast called "Black Shark" has completely torn Zhou Ye's ridiculous "national team" to shreds, he can, like the most skilled hunter, charge forward with his hounds and easily bite through the throat of that satiated, exhausted shark.
The credit belongs to him.
The beauty is also his.
The competition was won just like that.
It's that simple.
His strategist, his princess, his… Cui Yunshu, also said the same thing to him.
He pulled out the latest, secret letter that had been delivered by carrier pigeon.
The letter paper was made of the finest Xuan paper, carrying a unique, cool, and refreshing scent of ink that she possessed.
The words on the letter were also hers. They were delicate, yet carried a cold, sharp quality, as if she could calculate everything.
The letter said, "The bait has been swallowed; please step into the trap. Wait patiently for the outcome, and reap the benefits."
What a perfect plan!
How calm, how correct, how perfectly aligned with their "grand cause" and how in line with maximizing their "great cause" interests!
But……
Tang Pu gripped the cold telescope tightly.
He could almost see a young soldier, just like him, dressed in the uniform of the Qin army, clinging to a broken piece of ship plank, desperately sinking into the icy sea in that fiery hell.
He was also... a soldier of the Qin Dynasty.
Even though he's stupid.
Although his general was even more foolish.
But he was also a soldier of the Qin Dynasty.
It was Tang Pu, nominally, a fellow countryman.
A surge of intense, irrational, and primal military camaraderie, a feeling known as "brotherly love," erupted from the soles of his feet like a fire, colliding violently with the cold flame of ambition in his mind.
To save or not to save?
To win, or... not to win?
It was as if two ferocious beasts were tearing at Tang Pu's mind.
Just as he was about to be burned to ashes by these two completely different flames.
He saw the end of the letter.
Below the letter with the cold words "reap the benefits without lifting a finger" written on it, there was another small drawing with even finer strokes.
A... outrageously detailed waterway map of the "Devil's Fog Zone".
Above, each deadly reef was clearly marked in red.
Then, with a blue pen, he drew a winding, tortuous, yet absolutely safe passageway through this labyrinth of death.
Tang Pu's breathing suddenly stopped.
He looked at the picture, the small one that seemed to have been "just casually" attached.
The two ferocious beasts that were tearing each other apart in his mind instantly fell silent.
He suddenly smiled.
He understood.
He understood completely.
This is hardly a test.
No.
This is the test!
His strategist, his princess—she wasn't asking him how to choose.
She was telling him how a true, future "lord" should be chosen!
A person who only knows how to "reap the benefits without lifting a finger" is a tyrant.
And yet, even when victory seemed assured, he was still willing to risk everything and act with righteousness for those complete strangers…
That is the true king!
"I understand..." he murmured to himself, a brilliant, enlightened light bursting forth in his bloodshot eyes, which had been filled with inner turmoil. "I understand, strategist... I will not let you down!"
He suddenly raised his head, and all the hesitation and struggle on his handsome, weathered face vanished.
Instead, there is a kind of compassionate and resolute attitude that only a king deserves!
"Pass down the order!"
His voice was no longer hoarse, but filled with an unprecedented clarity and penetrating power!
"God Machine Ship, full speed ahead!"
"Target: Devil's Fog Zone, Central!"
"We...we're going to rescue them!"
...
Zhou Ye felt that he was about to die.
His flagship, the "Qilin," was stuck between two massive reefs.
The ship was tilted so badly that it was completely out of shape, and icy seawater was gurgling and pouring in through the holes in the hull.
Flames soared into the sky and thick smoke billowed around him.
All he could hear were the desperate, shrill screams of his own men and the arrogant, triumphant laughter of the elusive pirates.
He lost.
They lost badly, utterly defeated.
He will not only lose this competition and that beauty, but he will also... perish his own life, along with the lives of these thousands of officers and soldiers, in this damned, cursed sea.
Just as he closed his eyes, preparing to embrace the cold, deathly embrace.
A strange, deep, horn-like sound, as if from the depths of hell, pierced the thick fog.
The sound was long, desolate, and carried a chilling, murderous aura.
Everyone who was fighting instinctively stopped what they were doing.
Then.
They saw it.
A ship.
A colossal, jet-black ship, resembling a moving mountain.
Like a silent, black phantom, it slipped out silently from the thick, deadly fog.
It navigated the labyrinth of death, filled with countless hidden reefs, as if walking on flat ground, with an elegant demeanor, as if strolling in its own backyard.
There was a person standing at the bow of the boat.
A young general, clad in heavy black armor, wielding a long sword, with a hint of pity on his face but eyes as cold as a god's.
It was Tang Pu.
"It's...it's Prince An!" A surviving naval officer, looking at the figure that seemed to have descended from heaven, let out an incredulous, tearful scream.
The "divine machine ship" did not stop.
Like a red-hot, enormous dinner knife, it precisely, ruthlessly, and unreasonably sliced into that chaotic, loosely packed, pirate encirclement, like a cream cake.
The dark gun ports on both sides of the ship were suddenly flung open.
What's exposed isn't any kind of artillery.
Instead, they were rows of huge, triple-fire heavy ballistae that gleamed with a cold light!
"put!"
Tang Pu's voice was cold and resolute.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!"
Countless giant crossbow bolts, as thick as an infant's arm, accompanied by a sharp, tearing whistle, rained down like a dense, deadly storm, instantly engulfing the still-stunned pirate ships.
There were no screams.
Only the sound of the wooden plank being pierced instantly, and the human body being strung together like a candied hawthorn, was dull and muffled.
That wasn't a battle.
That was... crushing.
It was a complete and utter defeat, a dimensional reduction attack.
The remaining pirates were terrified by the sudden appearance of this monster-like vessel. They screamed, turned their ship around, and fled into the depths of the thick fog like a group of startled mice.
Tang Pu did not pursue.
He looked at the British soldiers struggling in the fire and water, and slowly raised his hands.
"Save people."
Small boats were lowered from the "divine machine ship".
The guards of Prince An's mansion pulled the soldiers, some of whom were half-frozen to death and others who were burned, out of the water.
Bowls of steaming hot meat soup with ginger slices were delivered to them.
One by one, dry, thick cotton-padded coats were draped over their bodies.
Zhou Ye was half-dragged and half-pulled from the sinking "Qilin" ship onto the deck of the "Shenji" ship.
He was soaking wet and looked like a drowned dog.
He looked at the enormous ship before him, a marvel of engineering, larger than all his ships combined.
He looked at his subordinates, who were wolfing down the meat soup, their eyes filled with fanaticism and gratitude as if they were looking at a god when they saw Tang Pu.
He then looked at Tang Pu, who stood at the bow of the boat, his posture as upright as a pine tree and his eyes as calm as an abyss.
For the first time, his face, which was always filled with arrogance and conceit, turned a deep liver color.
Shame, humiliation, and an indescribable, immense shock weighed heavily on his heart like three mountains.
He struggled to his feet, walked to Tang Pu, and deeply, deeply lowered his noble head, which he had never bowed to anyone before.
"Thank you... Your Highness, for saving my life."
His voice was hoarse and dry, like a snake whose tendons had been pulled out.
Tang Pu turned his head and looked at him.
On his face, there was neither the pride of a victor nor sympathy.
There was only one thing that made Zhou Ye feel even more ashamed: calmness.
"It was just a small favor."
Tang Pu said.
"We are all soldiers of the Great Qin."
After saying that, he stopped looking at him and turned around to continue looking at the surging sea, which held countless secrets.
There was only one thought in his mind.
"Master strategist, have I passed your test?"
"I accept this praise for the morale of the East China Sea Navy on your behalf."
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