Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhang Lisheng’s words were confusing, but the maliciousness in the discourse had been fully revealed.
Most of the surrounding merchants were stupefied, but some of the clever ones among them had realized that things did not seem right. At once, they cleverly retreated a few steps away in silence.
Of course, some people would avoid evil, while others would come forward.
In the distance, a middle-aged man who was wearing a thick red armor made out of hollow wooden planks with two slightly curled mustache on his handsome and delicate face who was dressed as a paladin suddenly jumped in front of the young man and said amiably, “Mr. Scholar from a different mainland, it seems that you’re no stranger to the aggressor who raided the Sea Haines City tonight?”
When his words left his mouth, Yaj who inadvertently looked up at the ceiling of the Furoh Hall and saw a humanoid monster with a lion head riding an earth dragon that had a height of over two men brandishing the massive sword in his hand to cut a city defense officer’s waist off from the projection. The blood splattered on his face, but he had a ferocious hearty smile on instead. At once, a pang of realization hit her.
“The attackers of the Sea Haines City are actually Hellfire tribesmen who are wearing an enhanced ‘God-bestowed shell’ and riding some unknown war partners! This is not the invasion of any mysterious army but a barbaric disaster!” The female merchant shouted out loudly.
The surrounding fell into a moment of silence. A few seconds later, aristocrat merchants who had also sailed the Nutao Sea before broke the silence and refuted in doubts, “Miss Yaj, they indeed look like Hellfire people who are wearing the God-bestowed shells, but those cannibalistic monsters can’t make any steel fleet or armed canoe that can fly in the sky or even artillery that can destroy the mainland strong and sturdy walls…”
“But what if someone passes on this knowledge to them?” Yaj, who suddenly felt that she had never been so clear-minded before, interrupted his doubts. She stared at Zhang Lisheng as though her eyes could spurt fire while she said word by word hoarsely, “What if a person who has wisdom and knowledge so profound that we can’t imagine, who is also mad to the point of fanaticism, passes some extraordinary knowledge to the Hellfire people for the sake of power and his own interest…”
The young man’s legendary experience and significant influence in the Hellfire tribe was no longer a secret in the Sea Haines City. When the female merchant’s words left her mouth, the crowds gradually dispersed in cries of alarm as they were hit by realization. At once, only that mustached middle-aged man and an expressionless Yaj were left standing beside Zhang Lisheng.
“Is this Miss’ strange speculation correct, Mr. Scholar from a different mainland?” The middle-aged man gently drew an inverted ‘V’ that was like a pointed mountain on his chest using his right hand as he asked in a low voice with red hot brilliance faintly emitting from his palm.
At the same time, somebody had summoned the soldiers guarding the Furoh Hall. More than ten soldiers who were wearing full-body, heavy armor armed with two-handed epee stepped out of the crowds and surrounded the young man tightly under the leadership of a red-eyed city defense officer.
“Sir, you are now suspected of colluding with the enemy. Put your hands up in the air and stretch them out. Otherwise, the Sea Haines City’s City Defense Army will have the right to kill you during such an emergency!” The lean and capable city defense officer issued a warning to Zhang Lisheng as well.
“Raise my hands? Sure…” Zhang Lisheng looked around and frowned. A faint smile slowly spread across her face as he slowly raised his hands. As his arms lifted, the base of the whole Sea Haines City began to shake. Tens of millions of tons of compacted soil combined with groundwater flow impacted the stone pavement and cracked it, instantly turning the city into a mud.
Then, when the young man straightened his fingers, the wet mud in the city seemed to have been bestowed with life as they gathered together in the city walls, turning into two giant palms that suddenly plunged into the magical formation that was still shining brightly in the muddy water.
“You all have already suffered a crushing defeat, but you still put up a last-ditch struggle! How disgusting! Then again, this gives me a chance to tear up the ‘prey’ myself…” Looking up at the giant palms that were plunged deep into the muddy water, Zhang Lisheng muttered and placed his hands flat in front of his chest before gradually making a tearing action.
In an instant, the giant palms on the edge of the city began to tear the crust slowly with a mighty power that ordinary people could not imagine. In the despaired gaze of millions of mainlanders, he took several thousands of lives away as he tore the city into two halves.
The formation was immediately shattered. Without warning, a large metal bird suddenly flew out in the ruins of a collapsed tower on the edge of the city. Before it could lift off, Wizard Li’s biological weapons already burned it in a gathering fire. Just like this, after losing its last reliance on magical formation and alchemy tower, the Sea Haines City had become a howling mourning lamb, waiting to be slaughtered in front of the Wizard Li army.
At this moment, most of the City Defense Army around Zhang Lisheng had fallen to the ground in horror. It was clear that the enemy’s miraculous power had destroyed the will of these elite soldiers.
“What else do I need to do, Mr. City Defense Officer.” Zhang Lisheng stretched his arms and looked down at the Sea Haines City’s military official at his feet before asking softly sardonically. However, he only received a shudder in return.
The young man shrugged with satisfaction and turned his eyes to the mustached, middle-aged man not far away. “What about you, Sir? Is there anything else that you’d like to ask if I answer yes?”
“Sir, I’m Jensen Dawton, Grand Knight of the Fran Palace, and I’d like to pay my respect for you,” The middle-aged man clenched his left fist across his chest and said with a deep bow, “I’m guarding Prince Edo and Princess Seliya at the command of the Sun King to travel to Kattaman City State. If you can let go of the two Highnesses safely, the Fran King will be filled with gratitude towards you. However, if you capture us, please give a courteous reception to the prince and the princess.”
“You seem to be strong, don’t you wish to resist me?” Zhang Lisheng was slightly stunned and asked with interest.
“An ant may have the courage to resist an earth dragon, but a clever ‘hound’ will never do so, especially when he’s guarding his master,” The middle-aged man shook his body as he replied. His full-bodied armors broke into a few pieces and fell onto the muddy water in a dull thud.
“The sound of your armor falling to the ground is as heavy as your wisdom,” the young man thought for a moment and nodded as he spoke, “I can’t let His Highness Edo and Princess Seliya go, but I can give them the courteous reception they deserve.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Sir,’ Jensen expressed his gratitude with great relief. When his words left his mouth, the only standing soldier in the City Defense Army quietly took a step and waved his épée with his entire might using both hands and hacked towards Zhang Lisheng.
This sudden strike took the thousands of onlookers in the Furoh Hall by surprise first before giving them some hope. Unfortunately, when the tip of the sword was less than an inch away from the young man’s neck, the soldier was suddenly shot to death by a sharp spear that was as fast as a lightning bolt.
Immediately, a black shadow moved as an earth dragon of five to six meters tall with blood flowing from his wrinkled skin leaped down from the sky and opened its blood mouth to bite the city defense soldier. Ignoring his shrill cry, it began to swallow him alive.
“Great God, your glory had shone on every corner of the city,” When the ‘partner’ was eating, the four-feathered ferocious indigenous warrior riding the earth dragon’s back jumped off its mount and kneeled at Zhang Lisheng’s feet. At once, his ferociousness dissipated completely as he piously kissed the muddy water in front of Zhang Lisheng’s toes before saying respectfully.
“It’s only a victory that is not brilliant. Pass down my order, wipe out all city defense army that is recalcitrant. Turn the city defense forces that are stubbornly trying to defend this abandoned city defense army and all Sea Haines City’s people who have lifted any weapons in the battle to become slaves and follow Wizard Li’s expeditionary army to continue to march into the mainland. Let them become the spearhead when we are attacking the city,” Zhang Lisheng ordered with a frown. “Also, there’s a change of plan, increase the number of Wizard Li soldiers guarding the city. The rest of the expeditionary army must bring the battle fire to the front border of Yassen and Fran in three days before the powerful countries in the mainland can take any action.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” The Wizard Li’s chief warrior stood up and jumped on the back of the earth dragon before speeding away. At this time, some merchants who knew the Hellfire language had started to realize what was happening. With their mouths agape in bafflement, they studied Zhang Lisheng once again, not only because of his cruel command but because of the title of ‘Your Majesty,’ the title that the Wizard Li tribesman used to address him.
Not giving a damn to the surrounding look of horror, Zhang Lisheng took two steps forward and stood in front of Yaj before looking straight into the female merchant’s eyes and asked, “Yaj, it’s already late. I don’t wish to waste anymore time. Now, please tell me. Are you still willing to see through the promise you made last night that you’ll always obey my will? I can tell you a piece of news before you answer this question. This time, the Wizard Li’s expeditionary army will not attack only the Sea Haines City, but all coastal city-states of Kattaman. In other words, if you answer ‘yes,’ then after this battle, all of your surviving relatives will get…”
“You evil spiritual monster who claims to be a god! No matter how rotten the aristocrats in Kattaman are, we will never succumb to a barbaric belief!” Without warning, somebody howled loudly and interrupted the Wizard Li’s god’s words. “Stand straight, everybody in the Sea Haines City! This is not a war that can be compromised, but a war of races between savages and civilized men…”
While this impassioned old voice that Zhang Lisheng had already expected but was most unwilling to hear resonated in the Furoh Hall, many of the terrified mainlanders began to have changes in their expressions. The bloody hatred of the race could actually summon the courage from the most greedy merchant to resist. At once, he had no choice but to marvel at the tremendous power of the word ‘hate.’
If it was another conqueror, perhaps he would have long killed that person who shouted. However, Zhang Lisheng merely looked at that thin old figure in the distance who was venting out his anger and even raised his hand to stop the Wizard Li warriors rushing into the hall.
Only until the old man had exhausted his energy with nothing more to say and looked at him with vigorous eyes despite coughing hoarsely did the young man finally pointed at the old man and ordered nonchalantly, “Wolf Warrior, bring all of his tribesmen to me.”
“Yes, Your Great Majesty!” Several wolf-headed humanoid monsters with their sharp uneven teeth jutting out of their mouths jumped down from giant millispiders and walked up to the old man who shouted just now. They reached out their sharp nails and scratched his body before wiggling their huge noses as they took a whiff. After sniffing for a while, they jumped on their mounts and sped away from the hall.
