Main battleship cabin.
A massive sea chart was spread across a wide ironwood table.
Ying Ziye, Ying Zheng, Wang Jian, and Meng Tian sat around it.
The atmosphere was oppressive.
Qinglong knelt on one knee, presenting a newly delivered secret report.
“Your Majesty, Ninth Prince.”
“Secret report from Insect Island.”
Ying Zheng did not reach out.
“Read it.”
“Yes.”
Qinglong unfolded the bamboo slip, his voice steady and emotionless.
“Xu Fu has established himself as king on the island, calling himself the ‘Heavenly King’.”
“He deceives the natives, claiming he is a divine being descended from the heavens, bringing miracles.”
“He has altered Great Qin’s script into grotesque symbols and is spreading it among the natives.”
Qinglong paused slightly.
“In his new writing system, the people of Great Qin are described as demons from across the Eastern Sea who eat human hearts and livers.”
“Outrageous!”
Wang Jian slammed his fist onto the table.
The ironwood groaned under the impact.
Qinglong continued reading.
“Xu Fu used the refined steel techniques brought from Great Qin to forge weapons, enslave the natives, and force them to mine silver ore.”
“He has built a palace modeled after Xianyang Palace, but filled with extreme luxury.”
“Inside, gold and silver are used as utensils, women are kept as slaves, and he spends his days drinking and indulging in pleasure.”
“……”
“Is he still alive?”
Meng Tian asked.
Qinglong replied, “Alive.”
Meng Tian said, “That’s excellent.”
Then he enunciated each word clearly:
“I want to personally rip off his head.”
Killing intent filled the command room until it felt almost tangible.
Yet Ying Zheng suddenly laughed.
It started as a low chuckle.
Then it grew louder and louder.
“Haha…”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
There was no joy in the laughter.
Only burning rage.
“Good!”
“Good Xu Fu!”
Ying Zheng stood and walked to the porthole, staring at the endless sea outside.
“I sent him overseas to seek the elixir of immortality.”
“And what did he do?”
Ying Zheng turned around.
“He used it to carve out a throne for himself!”
“My money, my people, my technology!”
“And he raised such a treacherous, biting white-eyed wolf!”
Wang Jian and Meng Tian both knelt immediately.
“Your Majesty! I request permission to fight!”
“Please give the order! I am willing to lead the army and flatten the Wa Island, and tear Xu Fu to pieces!”
Their voices were like thunder.
Ying Ziye licked the candy in his hand.
He jumped down from his chair and walked up to the sea map.
“Father, General Wang, General Meng.”
“There’s no need for such trouble.”
His small finger traced a circle around the long, narrow island.
“Why use a butcher knife to kill a chicken?”
Ying Ziye raised his small face.
“Just this one ship of ours.”
He patted the ironclad beneath him.
“It’s enough.”
Wang Jian froze for a moment.
Then he was overjoyed.
“Ninth Prince is wise!”
He rushed forward.
“This old minister may be advanced in age, but I still have the strength to command a ship!”
“For this battle, I am willing to be the vanguard!”
“Absolutely not!”
Meng Tian immediately stepped forward.
He shoved Wang Jian aside.
“General Wang, you are a pillar of the nation. You should sit in Xianyang and oversee affairs!”
“How could someone like Xu Fu, a petty scoundrel, require your personal action?”
Meng Tian thumped his chest.
“I alone am enough!”
Wang Jian’s beard bristled.
“Meng Tian! What do you mean by that?”
“Who are you calling old?!”
Meng Tian stiffened his neck.
“Whoever agrees is the one I’m talking about!”
“You—!”
Wang Jian grabbed Meng Tian by the collar.
“When I was conquering battlefields, you were still playing in the mud!”
Meng Tian grabbed Wang Jian’s wrist in return.
“Don’t rely on old glory! You should go back and hold your grandchildren!”
“I’ll hold your mother first!”
“You—!”
Two of Great Qin’s top generals, together over a hundred years old,
were now in the main cabin—
fighting like street thugs.
Bang!
The sea map table was knocked askew.
Clang!
A bronze incense burner fell to the ground and rolled several times.
Ying Zheng’s expression darkened.
“Enough!”
A furious roar rang out.
Wang Jian and Meng Tian immediately froze mid-motion.
The two glared at each other, still panting heavily.
Ying Zheng pointed at Wang Jian.
“Wang Jian!”
“How old are you already? And you’re still competing with the younger generation!”
“This ship is tossing violently at sea. If you strain your old back, who will take responsibility?!”
Then he turned to Meng Tian.
“And you! What kind of behavior is it to fight with a senior general?!”
Finally, Ying Zheng made the final decision.
“Meng Tian will be the main commander of this campaign!”
Meng Tian was overjoyed.
“This general obeys the order!”
Wang Jian’s face instantly fell.
He stood to the side, fuming, muttering under his breath.
“Favoritism…”
“Clearly favoritism…”
Ying Ziye clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Alright, alright, stop arguing.”
“If we’re going to fight, we should at least bring gifts.”
He called out toward the door.
“Men!”
“Bring up the ‘local specialties’ I prepared for Xu Fu!”
Several imperial guards carried in more than ten black ceramic jars.
The jars were tightly sealed with wax.
Ying Ziye ordered one to be opened.
A pungent smell, similar to tung oil, instantly filled the room.
Inside the jar was a semi-transparent, viscous black liquid.
Meng Tian asked curiously,
“Ninth Prince, what is this?”
Ying Ziye picked up a small wooden stick and dipped it into the liquid.
“Good stuff.”
He smiled.
“I heard that island is damp and cold, with lots of forests.”
“We are a benevolent army, so we should help them.”
He held the stick up in front of Meng Tian.
“Help them get rid of the dampness.”
“Light a fire, warm them up a little.”
His tone was innocent and harmless.
“This thing is called ‘Dragon Saliva Oil.’”
“As long as even a little bit sticks, water cannot extinguish it.”
“It will keep burning… and burning…”
“Until everything is reduced to ashes.”
Meng Tian stared at the dripping black liquid on the stick.
He could already imagine mountains of corpses and seas of fire, an entire island swallowed by flames.
At that moment.
A messenger rushed in.
“Report!”
“Urgent letter from the Crown Prince!”
Ying Zheng took the letter and quickly read it.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Fusu says the two thousand convicts in Xianyang are just wasting food sitting idle.”
“He suggests bringing them aboard and taking them to Wa Island.”
Ying Ziye nodded.
“Big brother is becoming more and more sensible.”
“Waste should be put to use.”
His gaze then fell on a captured Wa pirate leader in the corner, stripped of feathers and his mask, trembling in fear.
Ying Ziye beckoned to him.
“Oh right, Father.”
“For an overseas expedition, we should have a mascot.”
He pointed at the pirate leader.
“Tie him to the ship’s prow.”
“Let him lead the way.”
Ying Ziye smiled like an innocent child.
“And let him watch with his own eyes…”
“How his so-called ‘Heavenly King’ and his ‘divine fire’…”
“Turn into ashes before our Great Qin ‘Dragon Saliva’.”
……
“Woooooo—”
A long horn blast echoed across the sea.
The massive flagship, escorted by supply ships, turned its bow.
The black steel behemoth crushed the waves and roared toward the endless east.
At the bow,
the stripped Wa pirate leader was tightly bound to the prow.
The sea wind cut into his skin like blades.
He let out incoherent, desperate screams.
……
Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea.
Wa Island, Heavenly King Hall.
Xu Fu wore a loose silk kimono, reclining on a tatami mat.
Two fair-skinned native girls knelt beside him, carefully feeding him peeled fruit.
Below.
A subordinate knelt with a flattering smile.
“Congratulations, my King! Congratulations!”
“Latest news from the Central Plains—our ‘ghost ships’ have terrified the Qin people!”
“Fishermen from the Eastern Sea Commandery no longer dare to venture offshore!”
Xu Fu let out a satisfied chuckle.
He waved his hand, dismissing the girls.
“Ying Zheng…”
“Just a reckless man who only knows how to fight.”
He raised his cup and drank it in one gulp.
“This sea, this paradise… will ultimately belong to me!”
“He could never imagine that I have already attained true ‘immortality’ here!”
He closed his eyes, intoxicated by the illusion of power.
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