Chapter 58: Golden Sword Orchid, Burning the Blood Copper
「Not long ago.」
Aboard the Blood Copper.
In the captain’s cabin.
A frantic knocking echoed.
Captain Qi Maoxin opened his eyes, annoyed at being disturbed.
Taking a deep breath, he sat up straight in bed. Only then did Qi Maoxin speak, his voice stern.
"Enter."
The very next moment,
a figure burst through the door in a hurry.
The door slammed against the frame with a BANG!
"Uncle Maoxin, something’s happened!" Qi Changxin gasped, breathing heavily.
Seeing this younger kinsman, a man he held in high regard,
Qi Maoxin suppressed his annoyance and gestured for him to elaborate.
"There’s trouble at Copper Drum Bay! The entire harbor is ablaze!"
"The Luo Family has launched a surprise attack on Copper Drum Bay!"
Qi Changxin’s face was anxious, his expression grave.
"What?!"
Hearing this, Qi Maoxin’s expression turned grim as he asked in alarm,
"When did the Luo Family assemble a fleet? Why were we completely unaware?"
The Blood Copper had been patrolling outside Copper Drum Bay for a long time, constantly monitoring the Luo Family’s movements.
A large-scale military operation, one that involved assembling a fleet of Spiritual Boats, would have been difficult to hide from the Blood Copper’s watch.
"There was no fleet assembly..." Qi Changxin said calmly.
"In my opinion, this must be a military gamble launched by a single captain!"
"And somehow, he actually succeeded!"
A flicker of regret appeared in Qi Changxin’s eyes.
’If I had known,’ he thought, ’I should have boldly infiltrated Copper Drum Bay and tried to persuade the Shu Family’s fleet to surrender!’
He took a deep breath to calm himself. His expression turned serious as he began to analyze the situation like a strategist.
"From the looks of it, the fires aren’t dying down. It’s highly likely the Luo Family has captured Copper Drum Bay!"
"Copper Drum Bay itself isn’t a huge loss, but the Shu Family’s fleet within it is crucial!"
"We can’t let the Luo Family seize the Shu Family’s fleet so easily!"
"Uncle Maoxin, we have to take action!"
Though his voice was young, it resonated with force and conviction.
After hearing his analysis,
Qi Maoxin nodded gravely, his face stern.
Once the Luo Family absorbed the Shu Family’s fleet, they would possess a sizable naval force!
Without deploying a tier-2 Spiritual Boat,
the Qi Family would have a very difficult time dealing with them.
Then, a vicious glint appeared in Qi Maoxin’s eyes. As if remembering something, he said grimly,
"The few mid-grade Spiritual Boats are one thing."
"But the Shu Family’s high-grade Spiritual Boat, the Golden Sword Orchid, absolutely cannot fall into their hands!"
"That ship was the Spiritual Boat Shu Shaojing left to his family to protect them. He specially commissioned a master shipwright from the Cyan Profound Sect to build it."
"As a result, the Golden Sword Orchid’s performance specifications surpass even the Blood Copper’s by a significant margin!"
Qi Changxin’s expression changed at his words.
High-grade Spiritual Boats were a critical asset.
After all, whether it was the Qi Family’s tier-2 Spiritual Boat or the Luo Family’s Yunjin,
these family flagships held strategic importance and couldn’t be deployed lightly.
For ordinary maritime disputes and border skirmishes, the main forces that showed up to establish dominance were almost always high-grade Spiritual Boats!
The Qi Family’s positioning of the Blood Copper was a perfect example of this.
By relying on the Blood Copper’s superior performance, the Qi Family could often gain the upper hand in border conflicts.
But if the Luo Family possessed a high-grade Spiritual Boat that could reliably overpower the Blood Copper...
...that would be terrible news for the Qi Family!
Compared to the Shu Family, who had a shallow foundation and lacked qualified sailors, the Luo Family obtaining the Golden Sword Orchid would be like adding wings to a tiger!
"Set course for Copper Drum Bay!"
"We cannot let the Luo Family have the Golden Sword Orchid!"
"Also, prepare the fire oil. If we can’t take the ship, we must at least cripple the Golden Sword Orchid!"
Qi Maoxin’s expression was cold, his tone sinister.
...
BOOM!
The Blood Copper charged into the harbor, its bow raised high. The coppery light glinting off its hull gave it a menacing air.
The Qi Family truly lived up to its name as an old cultivation family with deep naval traditions; its crew was highly skilled.
Under their control, the Blood Copper quickly turned, revealing the cold, gleaming muzzles of its crossbows!
Inside the harbor,
Su Ye watched the scene unfold, not with panic, but with great interest, his arms crossed.
"Tsk, tsk... Unwelcome guests have arrived..."
A bloodthirsty smile then spread across his lips.
"But... I knew you would come!"
After having their numbers thinned out several times, the defensive strength of the Shu Family cultivators in Copper Drum Bay was greatly reduced.
Other than Shu Fenglin, that late-stage cultivator,
Su Ye hadn’t paid the rest of them any mind.
The one he had been so wary of, the one he was defending against this whole time... was the Blood Copper!
Just then, Su Ye raised three fingers and began to count.
"One, two, three!"
SNAP.
Su Ye snapped his fingers elegantly.
The very next moment!
RUMBLE!
The shore batteries on both sides roared to life in unison!
...
Aboard the Blood Copper.
On deck.
"Quick! Turn the ship broadside! Load the fire oil! We fire two volleys and then retreat!"
Qi Changxin’s loud voice boomed as he gave commands.
But at that moment, his pupils suddenly constricted!
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
A piercing whistle tore through the air, like the shriek of a banshee!
Qi Changxin looked up at the several Crossbow Arrows arcing through the sky, completely stunned.
’No way... those Shu Family wastes. I can accept them losing the shore batteries, but did they not even have time to destroy the ballistae?’
’And the Luo Family actually turned all the cannons to face outward? This is a trap?!’
A moment later, terror filled Qi Changxin’s face, and a cold sweat drenched his back.
’Oh no!’
To carry out their fire attack plan,
the Blood Copper had moved all of its fire oil onto the deck...
And he was the one who had personally ordered it to be moved...
The next instant!
THWACK!
A Crossbow Arrow carrying a ceramic pot of fire oil slammed into the Blood Copper’s deck!
The pot shattered, and the highly flammable oil splashed everywhere, instantly erupting into a raging inferno upon contact with the air!
And as if cursed by the worst possible luck,
one of the Crossbow Arrows scored a direct hit on the barrels of fire oil stacked on the deck...
"No!" Qi Changxin let out a despairing wail.
BOOM!
The stacked barrels of fire oil exploded instantly!
An orange mushroom cloud bloomed like a flower on the deck of the Blood Copper!
Light! Heat!
It was as if a miniature sun had briefly risen over the harbor!
The Blood Copper’s mast snapped instantly under the terrifying force of the blast!
Its white sails were swiftly consumed by the inferno, turning to blackened tatters that drifted down from the sky!
Many of the Blood Copper’s crew, engulfed in flames, screamed as they fell from the deck into the sea, but even the water couldn’t extinguish the fire.
Before long, these strangers Su Ye had never met became his ’well-done’ acquaintances...
"Hiss..." Su Ye sucked in a sharp breath.
He stared at the brilliant fireworks as a wave of heat washed over him, dyeing his face crimson.
’But... are fire oil Crossbow Arrows really this powerful?’
Su Ye wondered in surprise, scratching his head.
But soon, his eyes darted to the side, and a cold smile appeared.
’Those guys really had ill intentions, stacking so much fire oil on their deck...’
’Serves them right!’
The Blood Copper crew’s attempt to be clever had just super-sized Su Ye’s victory!
His original plan had merely been to force the Blood Copper to retreat.
But now...
"Send out the Spiritual Boats. Rescue the crewmen in the water and take them hostage."
"Try to put out the fire. See if we can keep the Blood Copper from sinking and seize control of the ship!"
...