Chapter 162 - 116: Commissioner, Bad News

Chapter 162: Chapter 116: Commissioner, Bad News

The morning mist had not yet scattered, but the rumble of the Ironclad Ship cutting through the water still echoed across the river’s surface.

The Ironclad Ship had only just departed when Lu Jing’an received the news.

He stood before the window of a riverside attic in the Lu Residence, his fingertips brushing across the cool latticework.

He watched as the wisp of black smoke disappeared into the mist downstream on the Canglan River.

On the table, a cup of tea, freshly brewed by Orchid, was still warm.

Lu Jing’an raised the teacup and took a sip.

The shimmering light of the river’s surface reflected in his eyes, which remained as calm and placid as still water.

Bai Lang had departed in a menacing display, taking all the elites of the Water Patrol Bureau aboard the Ironclad Ship he had commandeered from the Lu Family.

The banner at the bow snapped in the morning breeze, and shadowy figures moved about on the deck.

The cold glint of blades and spears occasionally pierced through the mist.

With such a grand display, it looked as if they were heading into a naval battle.

Thanks to the message Lu Jing’an had sent in advance, the Snake Demon had already submerged itself in the deep water.

It hid deep among the jagged reefs on the riverbed, its aura completely suppressed.

From sunrise to dusk, the drone of the Ironclad Ship’s engine ground back and forth across the river’s surface.

In the deepening twilight, beams from the searchlights swept futilely across the murky surface of the river.

They didn’t find the Snake Demon’s massive body, let alone a single palm-sized scale.

As night fell, the Ironclad Ship returned, trailing a weary plume of smoke.

At the docks, the shopkeepers and stewards from the various trading houses, who had been waiting anxiously, swarmed forward and surrounded Bai Lang.

Flickering torchlight illuminated their faces, each one a mask of terror or urgency.

Bai Lang stood at the bow, his crisp uniform damp with the night’s dew.

His face looked rather ghastly in the dim, yellow light.

Suppressing his rage, Bai Lang announced in a raspy voice:

"The monster has been driven from the waters of the Canglan River!

Starting tomorrow, the Water Patrol Bureau will intensify its patrols to ensure safe passage for all your vessels!"

A skeptical murmur rippled through the crowd, followed by a few scattered, unenthusiastic agreements.

「However, on the morning of the second day.」

Bai Lang was in his spacious yet frigid office at the Water Patrol Bureau.

He hadn’t even finished reading a document about the budget for dock repairs when the door was flung open.

A Water Patrol Officer stumbled in, his hat askew and his face deathly pale. His voice was distorted with panic as he cried out:

"D-Director! It’s terrible! The Snake Demon... it’s... it’s out again!"

"Two cargo ships and their two escort vessels—they’ve all been sunk!

There were seven or eight of our brothers on those ships... Not a single one made it back!"

SNAP!

The expensive, imported fountain pen in Bai Lang’s hand was snapped in two.

Black ink splattered onto the open document, spreading into a dark stain.

His expression darkened from ghastly pale to pitch black, and the veins at his temples throbbed violently.

’A provocation!’

’This is a blatant, undisguised provocation!’

’How dare a monstrous beast play him—play the entire Water Patrol Bureau—like a fiddle!’

"Assemble the men! We’re setting out!"

Bai Lang snarled the command through gritted teeth, snatching the greatcoat draped over the back of his chair.

Shrouded in a chilling Evil Qi, he strode out the door.

The Ironclad Ship once again roared out onto the Canglan River.

That day, the wind on the river was exceptionally strong, whipping up murky waves that battered the ship’s hull.

The Water Patrol Officers strained their eyes, searching every suspicious splash of water and every shadow that could possibly offer concealment.

From dawn till dusk, the ship patrolled nearly every inch of waterway within Yin Mountain County’s jurisdiction, not even sparing the tributaries and forks in the river.

And still, they found nothing.

It was as if the monster had dissolved into the river itself, evaporating into thin air.

By the time Bai Lang returned to the Water Patrol Bureau, dusk had deepened into night.

The crowd gathered outside the Government Office was even larger than the day before, their whispers merging into a low, suppressed drone.

The gazes fixed on Bai Lang were practically overflowing with suspicion and discontent.

With a livid face, Bai Lang strode through the crowd, staring straight ahead, the feeling of their pointing fingers like thorns in his back.

On the third day, at almost the exact same time, the dreadful news arrived once more.

Another merchant convoy had been attacked.

This time, there were no lucky survivors who managed to escape.

The news came from people downstream who had fished shattered planks from the water.

Bai Lang stood on the docks, watching as workers hauled fragments of a ship’s hull from the water, the pieces covered in savage claw marks and bite imprints.

His chest heaved violently, and the aura around him grew so cold that his adjutant instinctively took half a step back.

’Three consecutive days of precise strikes.’

’This wasn’t some ordinary monster making mischief; it was more like a premeditated hunt.’

The trading houses were in a complete panic.

The shopkeepers from Yin Mountain County, Xiao Mountain, and Lou Mountain gathered together, a palpable gloom hanging over them.

They had sailed the Canglan River for decades; when had they ever encountered such a brazen monster?

This was leaving them with no way to make a living!

Goods piled higher in the warehouses with each passing day, and the telegrams demanding shipments grew more frantic, yet the river route was completely blocked.

The former Water Bandits, who had been recruited and given escort uniforms, were especially terrified.

It seemed the Snake Demon was targeting them specifically; over the past three days...

more than twenty of their brothers had been lost.

This wasn’t an escort mission; it was a suicide run!

In just a couple of days, the available escorts had dwindled to almost none.

The rest had all gone into hiding, and no matter how many Silver Coins were offered...

...no one dared to set foot on that deadly waterway again.

On the fourth day, Bai Lang’s patience and reputation had been dragged through the mud.

Bai Lang no longer stayed behind at the Government Office; he decided to take command personally.

He assembled his most elite unit and boarded the largest Ironclad Ship.

They were to escort the only convoy that dared to set sail that day.

The convoy set off tentatively, with Bai Lang standing at the bow of his ship like a veritable Godslayer.

His gaze was electric as he scanned the surface of the river.

Perhaps intimidated by Bai Lang’s imposing presence, the journey was unnervingly calm; not so much as a large fish breached the surface.

The convoy passed nervously but safely through the waters of Yin Mountain County and entered the final stretch of waterway leading to the Provincial City.

Here, the river widened, and the banks grew more densely populated.

In the distance, the faint outline of the Provincial City’s docks was already visible.