Chapter 720: Chapter Nine: Gods, Monsters, and Scholars (Part 2) Chapter 720: Chapter Nine: Gods, Monsters, and Scholars (Part 2) “Governor Qian, Lantau Island is right ahead!”

Soldiers shouted excitedly.

Upon hearing this, Qian Yongzhao had no time to care about the alcoholics and immediately picked up the Thousand-li Mirror.

He only saw shipwrecks standing tall in the harbor, with a fishing boat over three meters long drifting on the surface of the sea. The boat’s red sails were strikingly gorgeous, the symbol of Tianbao, famous throughout the South Seas. Legend has it in the South Seas that where the red sails are, that’s where Tianbao is.

Sure enough, sitting cross-legged on the boat with the red sails was a tall, thin man. By his appearance and attire, he was undoubtedly the notorious pirate Tianbao, who had been wanted by the government for over a decade.

Besides that, the harbor was empty, devoid of anything else.

Zhao Xiaoyi was not there! Xu Chaoyi was not there! Qian Tuo was not there! None of them were there!

“This?”

Qian Yongzhao was indecisive for a moment.

Three hours earlier.

Xue Ba untied the red bandana from his head and tied it tightly around the long knife he held, then licked his lips and said, “Tianbao, the brothers are all ready.”

The sailors on the boat were extremely solemn, resembling soldiers in mourning. In the entire harbor, only these last three thousand or so men remained.

It turned out that days before, Tianbao had split up the Five Flags. The Red Flag’s main force had left only three thousand loyal men, and they had long been ordered to prepare to withdraw from Lantau Island effective from that day.

First, he commanded Qian Tuo to lead one of the Lin Family’s Treasure Ships, along with fifty vessels, to escort the ill and elderly on the island to Macau. The objective was to set up camp to rest and recuperate, with full authority to act on all matters.

Second, he ordered Xu Chaoyi to lead another treasure ship and twenty vessels towards the coast along the government-controlled areas. If the government’s defenses were tight, they were to move on; if loose, they were to raid, continuing northward to disrupt the government’s focus in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. Then they would turn towards Luzon and other islands of the South Seas to rest and await news from the Great Alliance Leader.

Third, he instructed Black Flag’s Zhao Xiaoyi to lead seventy ships westward towards An Nan and the surrounding Nashna Archipelago area. They were to rest and await news from the Great Alliance Leader.

Fourth, he ordered the combined White and Blue Flags, including Cha Xiaodao, Zhi Nong, and others, to escort the Great Alliance Leader Zheng Xiu on the Lin’s Treasure Ship with fifty vessels to head south to Borneo and meet up with the Treasure Ship King Lin Ajin.

The remaining Red Flag factions, including Tianbao himself, were to stay put on the main island of Lantau, ready to fight the government to the death.

At the time, the thousands of men who remained had already prepared themselves for a desperate fight to the very end.

“Okay, you guys should set off too.”

Xue Ba was taken aback: “This? Aren’t we supposed to stay and resist the government?”

Li Yan asked Xue Ba with a half-smile: “Xiao Ba, do you think we can win?”

Xue Ba’s eyes widened: “Of course we can win. Tianbao, didn’t you say Lantau Island is protected by a sea god? At a critical moment, the sea god will manifest and protect us.”

“Ha ha ha ha, that’s exactly why I left you here out of the sixteen leaders,” Tianbao laughed. “If I didn’t say that, Elder Ning and the others wouldn’t have agreed to evacuate Lantau Island. Listen, you and Hu Bailing should set off immediately to catch up with the Great Alliance Leader’s troops and join with the White and Blue Flags.”

“And what about you, Tianbao?”

“Only if I stay on Lantau Island will the sea god manifest.”

Xue Ba frowned and thought hard for a while before reluctantly saying: “Tianbao, if you die today, Zhao Xiaoyi, Qian Tuo, and Xu Chaoyi may not acknowledge the Zheng Family as relatives anymore.”

Li Yan stared at Xue Ba: “So you’re not stupid after all. Then, will you obey my orders?”

Xue Ba scratched his head: “That… yes.”

————————-
“General Zhu, come take a look.”

Qian Yongzhao decisively handed the Thousand-li Mirror to Zhufen.

He pointed to the sea: “Is that Tianbao?”

Zhufen took the mirror, looked intently, and exclaimed in a high-pitched voice: “Indeed, that is Tianbao! Huh, where are the other Red Flags?”

“Hmph, I want to see what tricks he can pull off. Signal the flags, full speed ahead.”

“`
Ugh~
Clutching the railing, Saint Watson vomited a few times and collapsed on the deck as if drained of all strength. Moaning, he lay back facing the azure sky. A wisp of dark clouds was quietly encroaching on the horizon.

Sharp whistles pierced through the deck. The sailors in brown and black uniforms flitted across Saint Watson’s field of view as he licked off the remains of tomato from his mouth. Smacking his lips, he sighed in a meaningful yet unclear way, “what a beautiful fuckin’ day!”

“Mr. Watson, are you all right?”

A handsome face framed by square glasses obscured Saint Watson’s view.

For the long voyage, the East India Company had appointed a Shudra-caste Indian youth as his assistant. His name was Ruchika, with a complexion like milk and round, black eyes. Fluent in English, he had studied in Europa and had a certain foundation in applied science, thus he was selected by the company’s steward.

“Ruchika, stay away from me, your smell is nauseating me.”

Watson, covered in filth from alcohol, pinched his nose and turned over.

Dressed in a white shirt and suspenders, Ruchika sniffed under his arm, “But I just took a bath.”

“It’s because of that you took a bath, little pond. Do you really think you were chosen to be by my side because of your knowledge? You were chosen for your pretty face and your sufficiently tight shithole; those fat-bellied merchants think every Catholic family-bred scholar is a homosexual. Ha, they’ve miscalculated indeed.”

Watson sat up abruptly, searching his pockets, “Where’s my child? Dammit, my child.”

He screamed as if suddenly awakening from a dream, as though about to rush to a fire.

“Sir, are you looking for this?”

The youth, Ruchika, held a sealed glass sphere, with a white jellyfish dancing within.

“When the flow diversion bottle exploded, I took it out of your room.”

“Oh,” Watson said, somewhat embarrassed, but still took the glass sphere from Ruchika’s hands, “Thank you.”

“No worries, Mr. Saint Watson,” the young man’s face was flushed with a shy smile, “although you always disguise yourself with a rough exterior, I know you’re a respectable good person.”

“Aha, well done, heartfelt attack.”

Saint Watson carefully wiped the glass sphere.

“Sir, is this an endangered ancient organism?”

Ruchika asked curiously.

“Not really, it’s just an ordinary jellyfish. What’s precious is the creature attached to the jellyfish. It has all the intelligence of an adult and can even devour human hearts. It took a lot of effort for me to have it parasitize a jellyfish.”

“Then, what’s it for?”

“I’m still exploring, but it has already helped me out a lot. Usually, it is white, but when I encounter danger, it turns red.”

No sooner had he spoken than the jellyfish in the sphere spun rapidly, changing into a crimson hue, and deepened swiftly, even showing a tendency to turn black.

Saint Watson was stunned. He grabbed Ruchika by the collar, “Where are we now? Where has that idiot Andre taken me to?!”

“The local government here is clearing out pirates; we are on the way there, almost arriving. Mr. Andre mentioned this trip to you, but you were drunk at the time,” replied Ruchika.

Pushing Ruchika away, Saint Watson hurried to the captain’s quarters.

…

“Governor Qian, the enemy ship is within range. Should we fire?”

Qian Yongzhao narrowed his eyes, recalling what Yang Sheng had said before departure:
“The pirates from Lantau Island are fiercely brutal and their poison spreads far. We must eradicate them in this operation, leaving no room for future troubles.”

With that thought, Qian Yongzhao suppressed the faint unease in his heart, “Fire.”

The sky, which had been clear moments ago, was now densely overcast, and the sea churned with rough waves. Li Yan gazed out to the sea where several black cannonballs drew an arc in the air, descending towards the fishing boat beneath.

“`