DLERB -Chapter 168 Let Them Leave—So They Can Bring the “Surprise” Back With Them!

Third quarter of the hour.

Wanghai Town, second floor of the “Fisherman” Tavern.

The tide had risen.

Antony rolled the blueprint back up and returned it to the brocade box.

He patted the lid lightly.

“The Emperor of the East is far too inexperienced.”

One of the trusted men beside him laughed as well.

“A bunch of fools blinded by gold.”

“They thought hanging up a corpse would scare Romans?”

“How ridiculous!”

Antony raised his wine cup.

“For Rome!”

“For this divine weapon of war!”

“And for the world that will soon kneel beneath our feet!”

The trusted men raised their cups fanatically.

“For Rome!”

BANG!

The secret chamber door was kicked open.

The tavern owner came stumbling and crawling inside.

Sweat covered his face.

“My lords! You must leave quickly!”

The owner’s voice had changed pitch from panic.

“A squad of soldiers has arrived at the docks! They’re conducting inspections!”

Antony’s wine cup froze halfway to his lips.

The hands of his companions dropped onto their sword hilts.

“What happened?”

“I-I don’t know!”

The owner looked as though he were about to cry.

“They said western barbarian spies infiltrated the town! They’re searching house by house!”

“The ship is already prepared! At the rear dock!”

“If you don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”

Antony threw down his wine cup.

He snatched up the brocade box from the table and clutched it tightly to his chest.

“Move!”

The group rushed out of the secret chamber.

Inside the tavern, the servant who had been sweeping earlier was gone.

The snoring drunkard in the corner had also disappeared.

Rear courtyard.

A narrow wooden pier connected to a small, unremarkable fishing boat.

Waves slapped against the hull.

“Hurry!”

the owner urged.

Antony was the first to leap aboard.

His trusted men followed close behind.

“Owner, what about you?”

“I’ll stay behind and delay them!”

The owner untied the mooring rope and shoved the boat hard.

“For the gold!”

The fishing boat rocked as it drifted away from the dock.

Antony glanced back.

He saw the tavern owner turning and running toward the town.

“A fairly loyal dog,” one trusted man said disdainfully.

Antony said nothing.

He merely hugged the brocade box while staring at the distant shoreline.

The fishing boat sailed out of the harbor.

The sea breeze carried the scent of freedom.

One trusted man stood up and looked back toward the docks.

Suddenly, he pointed.

“General! Look!”

Antony turned around.

At the small dock they had just departed from, more than a dozen torches had appeared.

Under the firelight, the outlines of Qin soldiers could vaguely be seen.

They had arrived one step too late.

Antony smiled.

“A bunch of useless fools.”

The others laughed along with him.

“They’ll never catch us now!”

“When we return with the army of Divine Mechanism Crossbows, the first thing we’ll do is burn this cursed town to the ground!”

Their laughter drifted across the sea.

They felt completely safe now.

The fishing boat sailed onward beneath the moonlight.

The ocean surface was as calm as a mirror.

Antony even found himself in the mood to admire the Eastern moon.

“This land’s moon will soon fly Roman eagle banners as well.”

The moment his words fell—

BOOM!

A thunderous crash erupted.

The ship violently shook, as though it had slammed into a reef.

“What’s happening?!”

Everyone lost their footing.

The boatman screamed in terror.

“Waves! Massive waves!”

Antony rushed out of the cabin.

Then froze.

The sea, calm as a mirror only moments earlier, had suddenly gone mad.

A gigantic wave over three zhang high crashed sideways toward them without warning.

CRASH!

Seawater flooded the deck.

The fishing boat was tossed into the air like a leaf, then smashed back down violently.

“AHHH!”

One trusted man was flung overboard instantly, swallowed by the black seawater.

“Hold on!”

Antony roared.

“CRACK!”

Another massive wave slammed into them.

The fragile mast snapped instantly.

The ship was completely out of control.

“General! The box!”

One of the trusted men pointed toward the railing.

The brocade box containing Rome’s future was sliding across the tilted deck toward the sea.

Antony’s blood turned cold.

Without thinking, he threw himself at it.

A split second before the box fell into the water, he caught it.

Freezing seawater had already risen to his waist.

He hugged the brocade box tightly and tied himself to the broken railing.

“Protect it!”

he roared at the remaining men.

“Protect it with your lives!”

Wave after wave crashed down.

Every impact felt as though it would smash the tiny fishing boat into splinters.

It was as if the gods themselves had abandoned them.

In endless darkness and raging seas, they waited for death.

Despair.

Just when Antony thought he was going to die there—

the storm stopped.

As suddenly as it had arrived.

The sea became calm once more.

All that remained was the wrecked fishing boat and a few survivors who had escaped death.

“We… survived?”

One trusted man collapsed on the deck, muttering blankly.

Antony clutched the brocade box and gasped for breath.

He had survived.

Survived with Rome’s hope in his arms.

At that moment—

a light appeared on the distant sea.

A large ship.

More than ten times bigger than their fishing boat.

And it was approaching them.

“Qin pursuers?”

The remaining men nervously gripped their swords.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

Antony studied the ship’s design.

“It’s a merchant vessel.”

The large ship drew near.

A rough voice called down from above in clumsy Qin speech.

“Hey! People down there!”

“Need help?”

Antony looked up.

A bearded man leaned over the railing.

“We encountered a storm!”

Antony shouted.

“Our ship is wrecked!”

“Come aboard, you poor bastards!”

The bearded captain tossed down a rope ladder.

“This cursed weather changes in an instant!”

Antony and his men climbed aboard the merchant ship in miserable condition.

The very first thing he did was check the brocade box in his arms.

Completely unharmed.

“Thank you!”

Antony gave the bearded captain a Roman military salute.

“And you are?”

“We’re merchants sailing the Western Sea route.”

The bearded captain handed him a flask of strong liquor.

“Heading home.”

“Where are you people going?”

Antony’s eyes flickered.

“We’re merchants too. Traveling to a very, very distant western land.”

“Perfect then.”

The bearded captain grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

“We’re headed the same way.”

“We can give you a ride.”

Antony looked at the cheerful captain and the sturdy merchant vessel.

He felt as though the God of War himself was watching over him.

Now, he was truly safe.

…

At the same time.

Dozens of li away.

Aboard the flagship of the Great Qin Eastern Sea Fleet, the Zhenyuan.

A general clad in black armor stood beside the railing.

Behind him, a Black Ice Terrace guard knelt on one knee.

“General.”

“The ‘Fisherman’ has sunk according to plan.”

“All targets have boarded the merchant ship Ferryman.”

The general did not turn around.

He merely gazed at the calm sea in the distance.

“How well was the Ninth Young Master’s ‘gift’ packaged?”

“Reporting to General—perfectly.”

The guard’s voice remained emotionless.

“The targets believe completely. They think they have personally experienced both divine punishment and divine salvation.”

The general nodded.

“Good.”

He waved a hand.

“Pass down the order.”

“The fleet will return.”

“And let the Ferryman deliver that grand gift safely into the hands of the Roman Senate.”

“Make absolutely certain…”

“…that they open it themselves.”