Chapter 1278 - 327: The Mystery of the Imperial Daughter Shocks Heroes, Candle Shadows in Dian Nan Stir the Monarch’s Heart (Part 2)

Wu Zhong suddenly slammed a fist onto the table with a "bang," the black iron prosthesis causing the tabletop to tremble violently, making the edges of the map curl up: "What use is just capturing people! I restructured the warship overnight, mounted wolf’s tooth rams at the prow, and lined the decks with Thunderfire guns! When the Wokou come, they will know that Great Ming’s steel is much harder than their broken boats!"

He waved his iron palm, the gears inside the prosthesis clanking, as if they had already begun to operate.

Shi Feiyang’s whole body exuded a sudden chill, his Liuli-like skin emitting an icy blue light, as he launched a phantom of the "Hundred Victories Saber Technique" with his palms. Golden sword qi crisscrossed, dimming the candle flames: "Good! Kong Triangle, Fan Shi, mobilize the troops immediately, setting off in three days! Liu Yehua, Southwest wind, prepare the warships and drill the formations! Xie Wen, continue surveillance, Wu Zhong, focus on improvements! This time, we must let the Wokou know—"

His voice resounded in the hall like a great bell, "Where the blade of our Heroic Sakura Association points, that shall be their burial ground!"

The crowd shouted in unison, their voices shaking the roof tiles. Outside the conference hall, thunder roared, and torrential rain poured down, as if playing a war song for the impending sea battle. The heroes of the Heroic Sakura Association, already boiling with blood, awaited the command to rise fierce tides in the Ryukyu Sea.

Shi Feiyang looked at this group of brothers with whom he shared liver and gall, seeing a trace of comfort in his Liuli-like eyes. The twilight of the South Sea was as red as blood, and twelve warships painted with the red-gold Heroic Cherry Blossom Totem cut through the waves, the sails fluttering wildly in the wind, as though to tear the entire firmament apart.

Shan Zhi stood at the prow, ten plum blossom darts rapidly rotating between his fingers, their cold gleam like stars falling. He gazed at the rolling lead clouds in the sky, suddenly sneering: "Brother Miao, there’s a bloody scent among those clouds; probably the ’Netherworld Ship’ of the Wokou pulling its ghost tricks again."

Miao Menlong, hearing this, swiftly drew his iron bow, the bowstring tensed into a full moon, issuing a beast-like hum.

The single-eyed pupils of this Divine Archer narrowed slightly, staring into the mist: "Just in time! My ’Sky-penetrating Arrow’ has drunk the blood of the prairie wolves and the lives of the desert bandits; today it’ll taste that of the Japanese!"

No sooner had the words fallen when the sea surface suddenly boiled, and three warships with ghastly cherry blossom patterns broke through the waves, their gunwales carved with gaping demon heads, seemingly ready to devour heaven and earth. "Baka!" The Fusang Wanderer standing at the prow shouted, the poisoned chain at his waist clinking, "The ants of the Heroic Sakura Association dare to meddle with the East Sea routes!"

The leading Samurai wielded a Three-Pointed Double-Edged Saber engraved with Hachiman statues, the blade emitting a bizarre, ghostly glow, "Today, I’ll have you buried in fish bellies as a sacrifice to the sea god!" "Form a line! Eight Trigrams Dragon Array!" Shan Zhi’s roar was like thunder, and in an instant, twelve warships shifted formations, the hooks projecting from the sides crisscrossing like a web.

Xiao Lingling lightly tapped on the mast, her Mandarin Duck Saber slicing through the air to produce twin cold gleams, the clashing blades emitting a dragon’s croon-like clear and long sound: "Sisters, show these Wokou the power of Central Plains saber techniques!"

Before her voice had completely faded, dozens of poisoned kunai pierced through the space, yet Miao Menlong’s bowstring lightly shook, and twelve godly arrows, their tails aflame with phosphorescence, shot out, weaving into a fiery net in the sky, intercepting all the kunai.

Wu Zhong’s black iron prosthesis suddenly unfolded, and the thirty-six-barreled Thunderfire guns lined up like ferocious steel fangs. "Fire!" With his iron palm heavily slapping the mechanism, lead bullets rained down like a torrential storm, only sparking strings of flame against the Wokou warship’s turtle-shell hull.

Seeing this, the Wokou Leader laughed wildly: "Petty tricks! Try the power of the ’Eight Banner Poison Mist’!" His cursed sword abruptly swung, spraying forth a purple mist, wherever it landed, the seawater frothed and bubbled, emitting acrid white smoke.

Jin Liufu performed the "Dragon in Water" technique, morphing into a black shadow diving into the depths, but was repelled by the toxic mist when approaching the enemy ship.

Emerging from the water, black blood oozing from his mouth and nose, he gritted his teeth: "This poison mist can turn water into bone-corroding poison!"

In this critical moment, an invigorating war song echoed from afar—Lu Chengfeng’s Azure Dragon Saber cleaved through the mist, and where the saber qi reached, it tore a gap through the toxic mist; Li Ji’s Wind Thunder Sword summoned heavenly thunder, with purple electricity coursing along the blade, booming and exploding.

"Reinforcements from the headquarters have arrived!" Lu Chengfeng stood at the prow of the modified warship, his Azure Dragon Saber pointing towards the enemy formations, "Today, these Wokou will know that the Ryukyu Sea is not a place for their recklessness!"

The watertight compartment design of the new warships proved effective, maintaining stable navigation even when hit by Wokou cannons. Li Ji’s long sword swung repeatedly, his sword qi transforming into lightning to shred an enemy ship’s sails to pieces.

Just as the battle was at a stalemate, a strange blue light surfaced on the sea.

Shi Feiyang’s figure, without anyone knowing when, stood atop the waves, executing the Bright Jade Technique to its "Supreme Forgetting Emotions Ice Soul Cold Prison," his Liuli-like skin almost transparent, with cold air condensed into a three-zhang white fog around him. He slowly raised his palms, and suddenly the wind abated between heaven and earth, only the clear, piercing sound of a saber slicing through the sky could be heard: "Hundred Victories Saber Technique—View of the Vast Sea!"

Nine arcs of golden saber qi enveloped in freezing air fanned out, where they passed, the sea agitated into ten-zhang high waves.

The Wokou warship’s sails were instantly shredded into fragments, and the hull was shaken violently by the residual saber qi, sweeping the Rangers on deck into the sea like fallen leaves. Seeing things were unfavorable, the Wokou Leader turned the prow to flee, but Wu Zhong sneered coldly, detaching the core component of the black iron prosthesis and hurling it like a thunderbolt into the watertight compartment’s crevice of the enemy ship.

"Sink!" Wu Zhong’s iron palm struck out, the modified mechanism roared to life, and seawater surged into the ship like a ferocious beast. The Wokou warship emitted a teeth-grating creak as it slowly tilted. The desperate wails of the Rangers on board were ruthlessly swallowed by the rushing waves.