The hundred-man team entered the city through the West Gate and arrived at the dock.
At this moment, Xie Kui was waiting respectfully by the dock.
Seeing the team approach, he quickly went to greet them.
"Commander, the ships are ready and can depart at any time."
"If that's the case, then let's go."
Lin Sheng's gaze fell on the two large ships docked by the shore, and he spoke indifferently.
Soon, the ships left the shore and disappeared over the horizon not long after.
*
Whoosh.
Torrential rain poured down, striking the deck with crisp sounds.
Lin Sheng stood on the deck, and the downpour, upon reaching three feet in front of him, automatically moved away, as if an invisible barrier enveloped him.
He held a sea chart in his hand, on which several locations were heavily marked with red ink. After glancing over it, he tossed it to Meng Lie and spoke indifferently.
"The main active sea bandits recently are divided into five groups. We will eliminate all five of these sea bandit groups in one go."
"Your subordinate obeys the order."
Meng Lie nodded solemnly.
Originally, he wanted to say something.
After all, among these five pirate forces, two of them were quite strong, and they had only brought a little over 100 people and merely two warships this time.
Compared to the numerous sea bandits, it seemed somewhat insufficient, but upon remembering Lin Sheng's strength, he dismissed the idea of speaking.
Having followed him for these days, he had some understanding of his temperament.
Lin Sheng was mostly indifferent, as if nothing could pique his interest.
Even when he consecutively killed several Divine Form masters from Gongsun family, he showed little emotion.
This was not just because of his cold temperament, but more so an absolute confidence in his own strength.
As the Imperial Guard Commander of Nanzhao Imperial City, Meng Lie had seen countless Geniuses, but the current Imperial Son-in-Law was definitely the foremost person he had ever seen below the Grandmaster realm.
The ships rode the wind and waves, speeding onward.
Even in stormy areas, the Crimson Feather Army's special warships were unaffected.
Clearly, these warships were definitely no less capable than the three warships of the Eastern Province military back then.
Although these pirate forces were generally entrenched in the near-shore area, the near-shore waters were extremely vast, and even with the warships' high speed, it would still take a considerable amount of time.
Two days later.
Somewhere in the near-shore waters.
Several large merchant ships sailed on the sea.
The side of the ship had a large character 'Feng' written on it.
If someone from Haihe City saw it, they would immediately recognize this fleet as belonging to the Feng Family, the largest merchant guild in Haihe City.
On the lead merchant ship, a strong, middle-aged elder held a monocular telescope, looking at the sea.
"We've reached the near-shore area. We should reach Haihe City's dock in about three more days."
The middle-aged elder put down the telescope and said slowly.
"Father, this time we've exchanged for a lot of goods from those people from Siro Country. Once we reach Haihe City, distributing them will definitely earn us a hefty profit."
A charming maiden in her prime, with a joyful expression, said with a smile.
The middle-aged man's name was Feng Cheng, and he was the head of the Feng Family.
"Yes, Die'er, if this business deal succeeds, your father might be able to find a way to get you a Heavenly Gifted Spiritual Spring, which can further enhance your Aptitude, especially for your mental state, it's extremely beneficial."
Feng Cheng also smiled, his eyes full of doting affection as he looked at the young girl.
"That's wonderful, Father! Don't worry, your daughter will definitely live up to your expectations, Breakthrough to Bones Transformation early, and in the future, I will definitely become a Divine Form, no, a Grandmaster Martial Artist!"
Upon hearing this, the young girl's almond-shaped eyes curved into crescent moons, and she cheered joyfully, clutching the middle-aged man's arm.
Looking at his daughter's cheerful demeanor, Feng Cheng's eyes were filled with smiles.
After so many years, his Feng Family had finally produced a Martial Dao Genius with top-tier Bloodline potential.
As long as he could ensure her Martial Dao path was smooth, he was willing to pay any price.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken such a huge risk to venture deep into the East Sea to trade with a Siro Country merchant fleet this time.
Fortunately, the journey was smooth, and now that they had reached the near-shore area, they were basically safe.
With this business deal completed, he would have accumulated enough savings to purchase a small bottle of Heavenly Gifted Spiritual Spring through channels.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but envision his daughter leading the Feng Family to its Peak in the future.
Just then, a sharp horn sound suddenly echoed from afar, interrupting his thoughts.
He subconsciously turned his head towards the source of the sound, only to see several black ships on the distant sea, with sails fully unfurled, approaching their position at an extremely fast speed.
Feng Cheng frowned slightly, picked up the telescope, and focused his vision to look.
Upon seeing the black sea snake emblem on the sails of the black ships, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately shouted sternly into the cabin.
"Everyone, full rudder, speed up!"
At this moment, others also noticed the situation of the ships in the distance.
They quickly accelerated their ships, but even at full speed.
The several black ships in their sight were still constantly closing the distance. In just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they had already closed in a lot. When a crew member noticed the emblem on the sails.
He couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
"It's the Black Snake's people! It's the Black Snake's people! Run!"
For a moment, everyone was in a panic.
"Die'er, you go back to the cabin first."
Feng Cheng stood on the deck, looking at the black ships getting closer and closer to them, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Father, I'm not leaving. I want to be with you."
The young girl, however, spoke earnestly, refusing to budge no matter what the man said.
Seeing this, Feng Cheng could only sigh and pulled her behind him.
Another incense stick's time passed, and the black ships were only one or two hundred meters away from them.
They could even clearly see the black-turbaned, fierce-looking sailors with scimitars standing on the opposing ship's deck.
Feng Cheng took a deep breath, walked to the edge of the deck, and cupped his hands towards the opposite ship.
"Brother Black Snake, long time no see! Feng here greets you!"
On the opposite deck, the sailors parted, and a gaunt, one-eyed man emerged.
The one-eyed man was shirtless, with a lifelike black sea snake tattooed on his chest. A powerful aura emanated from him, clearly a Martial Artist in the Divine Form Middle Stage.
This one-eyed man was none other than Black Snake, the leader of the Black Snake Pirate Group.
Black Snake came to the edge of the deck, a sinister smile on his face, and spoke to Feng Cheng.
"Long time no see, Patriarch Feng, your demeanor hasn't diminished a bit."
"Brother Black Snake, you jest. This time, I've brought back some rare treasures. If Brother Black Snake is interested, I'll pick a few for you to play with."
Feng Cheng cupped his hands again, speaking quite courteously.
"Rare treasures?"
Upon hearing this, Black Snake suddenly laughed, but soon his laughter stopped, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he slowly said.
"Brother Feng, I won't beat around the bush with you. I know what's on your ship. Leave everything behind, and I can guarantee no harm will come to any of you. Otherwise, don't blame me, Black Snake, for not considering our past acquaintance."
"You're dreaming!"
Before Feng Cheng could speak, Feng Die'er behind him had already jumped out.
She knew very well that the goods on this ship were almost entirely acquired with their Feng Family's entire fortune.
If they were to hand them over just like that, even if they returned to the city safely, the vast Feng Family would inevitably fall into decline.
"Die'er!"
Feng Cheng pulled her behind him. His face was very grim.
This business deal had been extremely secretive, yet the news had still leaked. Clearly, there was a traitor within the Feng Family.
However, now was not the time to dwell on that. He took a step forward and spoke in a deep voice.
"Brother Black Snake, this shipment concerns the future of my Feng Family. It's impossible for Feng to hand them over. Thirty percent, I am willing to offer thirty percent of the goods to all you brothers. I wonder if Brother Black Snake would be satisfied."
Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to clash with the other party. After all, although the Feng Family was not weak, they couldn't all be at sea.
Moreover, the Black Snake Pirate Group's strength was not comparable to ordinary pirates, especially Black Snake himself, who not only possessed Divine Form Middle Stage strength but also was proficient in various secret techniques, with sinister methods, and his combat power was even above that of ordinary Martial Artists of the same rank.
However, upon hearing his words, Black Snake seemed to have heard the biggest joke, and burst into laughter.
"Brothers, this old man wants to send us away with thirty percent. Do you agree?"
"No! No!"
"Kill them all!"
The pirates on the ship immediately waved their weapons, shouting fiercely.
"Father, why are you still wasting words with them? Let's fight them!"
Feng Die'er shouted at this moment.
Although she was young, her cultivation was already at Blood Transportation Peak. To have such cultivation at her age was indeed quite impressive.
"Old Feng, I heard your legitimate daughter has good Aptitude and is usually pampered. I didn't expect you to bring her out this time. That's good too, I haven't played with such a top-tier, tender piece of goods yet. If she can satisfy me, maybe I'll leave you a Bloodline."
Looking at the vibrant Feng Die'er, Black Snake extended his black, pointed tongue, licked his lips, and revealed a lewd smile.
"Black Snake!"
At this moment, Feng Cheng could no longer hold back and roared in a deep voice.
Clearly, the other party had already decided to take advantage of him.
It was useless to say anything more now.
"Men, fire arrows!"
He immediately spoke sternly.
As his voice fell, sailors armed with crossbows and arrows immediately rushed out of the cabin.
But before they could fire their crossbows, muffled thuds already sounded from the black ships.
A group of pirates were seen holding long-barreled firearms.
As gunpowder smoke rose, rows of Feng Family sailors immediately fell.
"Charge! Kill every single one of them, don't leave anyone alive!"
Following Black Snake's shout.
One by one, the Black Snake pirates immediately leaped onto the Feng Family ships.
"Kill!"
Feng Cheng's face was somewhat grim. He handed his daughter to the person beside him, drew his broadsword, and led his men to meet the attack.
However, just as he killed a few bandits, he felt a strong gust of wind coming from his side.
Without thinking, he swung his sword horizontally.
But it struck nothing. Before he could react, a withered, thin hand, as nimble as a snake's head, had already reached out and slapped his chest.
Feng Cheng sensed something was wrong and reacted extremely quickly, immediately flashing back and retreating. At the same time, he held his broadsword horizontally in front of his chest. However, unexpectedly, the withered hand suddenly changed direction and firmly slapped his left shoulder.
Bang--
The next moment, Feng Cheng's body flew backward. Although he managed to control his posture in mid-air and barely landed on the ground, the skin on his left shoulder had already turned black.
And the blackness was still spreading, clearly indicating he had been poisoned with a strange toxin.
"Old man, you've been hit by my Black Nightmare Poison. The more you circulate your Qi, the faster the poison spreads. I wonder how long you can last."
Black Snake's figure emerged. He lightly licked his black finger and sneered.
"Even if this old man dies, I'll drag you down with me!"
Feng Cheng clenched the hilt of his sword and spoke in a deep voice.
Although his words were tough, he could clearly feel that the circulation of Qi in his left shoulder was extremely sluggish.
He glanced at the surrounding battlefield again. Facing the well-prepared pirates, the people he brought were clearly no match.
They were constantly falling at this moment, clearly unable to hold on for too long.
"Is Heaven trying to destroy my Feng Family!?"
He couldn't help but feel a sense of despair in his heart, but Black Snake didn't give him a chance to breathe. His figure, like a ghost, had already silently attacked again.
He quickly held his sword to block, but after only a few short moves.
"Father!"
With Feng Die'er's cry, he was inevitably distracted and was slapped away again.
His strength was already inferior to the opponent's, and coupled with the strange poison in his body, this distraction made him completely fall into a disadvantage.
But he didn't care about his injuries, because at this moment, Feng Die'er had already been seized by two pirates.
"Haha... Old man, if you commit suicide in front of me now, maybe I'll be a little kinder to your daughter."
Black Snake's sinister voice sounded.
"You're dreaming!"
Feng Cheng cursed angrily, and immediately activated a secret technique without hesitation. He didn't believe a single word of the other party's lies.
Just as he was about to fight to the death to save his daughter.
Woo!
A deep, majestic horn sound echoed.
The sound was not like a conch, but rather like a Dragon's roar.
Upon hearing this commotion, everyone present couldn't help but temporarily stop their actions and look in the direction of the sound. They saw two large ships rapidly approaching on the distant sea.
Red flags fluttered on the ships, and a crimson Dragon shape was faintly visible.
"This is... the Crimson Feather Army!"
As people from Haihe City, they were naturally very familiar with this flag, and someone immediately recognized their identity.
"Help! Help!"
Taking advantage of the moment everyone was distracted by the ships, Feng Die'er seized the opportunity to break free from her restraints and pulled a signal flare from her waist.
Instantly, a red smoke exploded in the air above the ship.
Crimson Feather Army ship.
"What's happening over there?"
Lin Sheng lay on the deck, his eyes slightly closed, feeling the Ji Hai Magic Blood talent within him becoming more active as he approached the ocean.
"Reporting to General, it's a merchant ship from Haihe City. It seems to have encountered pirates."
Meng Lie spoke softly from the side.
"Pirates? Is it one of those five pirate groups?"
"Reporting to General, in my subordinate's opinion, it should be the Black Snake Pirate Group, which ranks third among the five pirate groups."
It was Xie Kui who spoke. He focused his gaze and looked carefully, quickly recognizing their identity.
"Oh? If that's the case, then go deal with it."
Lin Sheng spoke indifferently, not even raising an eyelid from beginning to end.
"Your humble subordinate obeys the order!"
Immediately, Meng Lie, Xie Kui, and others had disappeared from the deck.