The sea wind was slightly cold.
It made Xu Fu’s wide silk sleeves flap loudly.
He stood at the highest point of the altar.
In his hand was half of a shattered crystal tube, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
That distance.
That height.
He could see everything clearly.
On the deck of the black giant warship, that man wore no armor.
A black dragon robe, the embroidered divine bird on it seeming as if it could come alive and devour the world.
That face.
Sharp features, sword-like brows, and an icy indifference that treated the world as nothing more than grass.
It was Ying Zheng.
Even reduced to ashes, Xu Fu would recognize him.
But how was this possible?
Xu Fu’s hands began to shake violently, as if seized by cramps.
“No… no, that’s not right…”
His teeth chattered uncontrollably.
When he left Xianyang, Ying Zheng’s body had already collapsed.
It was the result of long-term consumption of toxic “elixir pills.”
Puffy eye bags, a sickly bluish complexion, a hunched back.
But who was that man now?
Twenty years old?
At most twenty-five!
That was Ying Zheng at his peak—when he first took full control of power, sweeping across the Six States!
“Rejuvenation…?”
A loud boom echoed in Xu Fu’s mind.
He had lied to Ying Zheng his entire life, claiming there was an elixir of immortality.
And now he had fled overseas—yet Ying Zheng had truly found it?
This joke had gone too far!
If it were the old Ying Zheng, Xu Fu might still dare to fight him, relying on terrain and his thirty thousand fearless native “monkey soldiers.”
But that was a young Ying Zheng!
The tyrant who had unified the Six States and treated their kings like playthings!
“Heavenly King!”
The native chieftain beside him stared at Xu Fu trembling in confusion.
“Divine envoy… why haven’t they landed yet?”
The chieftain pointed at the giant ship at sea, still grinning foolishly.
“Should we kneel more neatly?”
“Kneel your ass!”
Xu Fu slapped him without hesitation.
Smack!
The chieftain was stunned.
Xu Fu wanted to run.
But his feet felt as if they had taken root in the altar.
He could not run.
If he ran, the “divine status” he had built in the eyes of these natives would collapse.
Without these cannon fodder, he would die even faster.
“Calm down… I must stay calm…”
He forced himself to steady his breathing and pulled out a smile uglier than crying.
He turned to face the dense mass of thirty thousand natives.
“My children!”
His voice cracked slightly.
“The divine envoy… is testing our sincerity!”
“They bring heavenly fire—that is our baptism!”
“If we endure it, everyone will attain immortality!”
At the words “immortality,” the natives’ eyes turned red.
They roared wildly, waving stone axes and bamboo spears.
“Long live the Heavenly King!”
“Welcome the divine envoy!”
Xu Fu wiped away cold sweat.
Good—this group of monkeys was still easy to manipulate.
At that moment—
“WOOOOOO—”
The steel behemoth at sea let out a deafening roar.
Black smoke billowed into the sky.
The enormous black ram at its bow pointed directly at the center of the beach.
On the deck.
Ying Ziye sat in a grand armchair, legs crossed, holding a telescope as he watched the absurd performance on the altar.
“Tsk tsk.”
He smacked his lips.
“Father, doesn’t Xu Fu look like a monkey wearing clothes?”
Ying Zheng stood beside him, hand resting on the Tai’a sword.
His gaze was colder than the deepest ocean.
“A monkey?”
He let out a cold laugh.
“Monkeys don’t have the guts to steal my empire.”
“Ziye.”
“Yes, Father.”
Ying Ziye put down the telescope and grabbed a handful of melon seeds from a plate.
“What are your orders?”
“I don’t want to hear him making noise anymore.”
Ying Zheng pointed toward the dense beach below.
“Make him shut up.”
“Got it.”
Ying Ziye clapped the seed shells off his hands.
He didn’t even bother to stand.
He simply waved casually at Meng Tian beside him, as if shooing away a fly.
“Uncle Meng Tian, time to work.”
“Remember—don’t kill them all at once. Leave them breathing.”
Meng Tian had already been waiting impatiently.
He grinned viciously, the scar on his face trembling.
With a sharp “clang,” he drew his sword and roared toward the side deck:
“Steam Cannon Unit!”
“Load the ‘Dragon Saliva Shells’!”
“Target: the monkeys on the beach!”
“Fire!!”
Clack—
Twenty black, hollow cannon mouths adjusted their angles simultaneously.
No gunpowder was needed.
Immense steam pressure had already reached its limit.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Low, heavy launch sounds rang out in rapid succession.
Twenty massive black ceramic jars shot into the sky, tracing twenty deathly arcs.
Like a flock of black crows diving straight toward the beach.
Xu Fu was about to continue deceiving the crowd.
Suddenly, he felt darkness above his head.
He looked up.
And saw the jars falling toward him.
“This is…”
Before he could react—
Crash!
The first ceramic jar smashed into the front of the crowd.
It shattered.
Thick black viscous liquid splashed outward, soaking the surrounding natives.
“Oil?”
Xu Fu froze.
Why send oil?
The next second—
On the ship, Ying Ziye snapped his fingers.
“Light it.”
The second volley was fired.
This time, what was launched was fire-laced ignition bundles with sparks.
Whoosh!
The moment the sparks touched the black oil—
Hell descended.
BOOM!!!
Not an explosion.
A flash fire.
This was refined fierce-burning oil from Great Qin workshops, mixed with white phosphorus and rubber.
Touch it and you die. Brush it and you perish.
Twenty landing points instantly turned into twenty blooming crimson lotus flames.
The fire seemed alive, crawling up human legs.
“AAAAAHHHH!!!”
Screams of agony drowned out the sound of the waves.
The natives splashed with oil desperately tried to beat out the flames.
But the more they struck, the bigger the fire grew.
When they slapped their bodies, the fire spread to their hands.
When they rolled on the ground, even the sand beneath them turned scorching hot.
“Water! Jump into the sea!”
Someone screamed and plunged into the water.
But—
The fire was still burning on the water’s surface.
The water boiled.
The people were cooked.
In just a few breaths—
The beach that had been full of cheers had turned into a hellscape.
The air was filled with a nauseating smell of roasted flesh mixed with burnt stench.
The “army” of thirty thousand shattered at the edges in a single volley.
The remaining natives were completely stunned.
They watched their companions struggle in the sea of fire, turning into charcoal.
This… this was not a divine envoy.
This was a demon.
A death-dealing devil!
“Run!!”
Someone screamed.
The army that had just been ready to die instantly collapsed.
They threw away bamboo spears and stone axes, crying and screaming as they fled.
Trampling and pushing each other in panic.
Xu Fu stood on the altar, his legs soft as noodles.
A wave of heat rushed over him, singeing his eyebrows.
He looked at the sea of fire.
Then at the unmoving black ship in the distance.
A crushing sense of despair gripped his throat like a giant hand.
Total suppression.
This was absolute suppression.
No swords or spears were needed.
They only had to move a finger—and you would burn to ashes.
“My… my king…”
The native chieftain was still alive, half his face burned away, crawling up the altar and grabbing Xu Fu’s leg.
“Save… save me…”
“Get lost!”
Xu Fu kicked his burned face away.
He only had one thought now.
Run.
Run into the forest!
As long as he reached the woods, the ship couldn’t follow!
He still had a chance!
Xu Fu lifted his robe and stumbled off the altar.
Even his hat fell off, but he didn’t care.
He ran while screaming at the top of his lungs:
“Retreat! Retreat into the forest!”
“This is witchcraft! Witchcraft!”
“Run!!”
On the ship.
Ying Ziye watched the fleeing silhouette.
He smiled.
A very happy smile.
“Trying to run?”
He picked up a slice of watermelon and took a bite.
Juice splashed everywhere.
“Uncle Meng Tian, land the troops.”
“Let our brothers stretch their muscles.”
“And remember—”
He spat out a watermelon seed.
“Anyone holding a weapon—kill them all.”
“Anyone wearing clothes—that’s Xu Fu’s lackey—also kill them all.”
Meng Tian laughed loudly and bit down on his saber handle.
“As you command!”
“All troops—prepare to land!”
“Drop the boarding ramps!”
“Kill!!”
BOOM! BOOM!
The giant warship slammed into the shallow shore.
Massive iron boarding planks crashed down, splashing mud everywhere.
As the dust cleared—
Countless Great Qin elite soldiers in heavy armor, wielding long sabers, emerged.
Like black tigers breaking free from their cages.
They roared and charged into the burning hellscape.
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