Chapter 1036: There Are Sea Creatures in the Sea (1)

The Water Forces stationed in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province were broadly divided into four commands. They were called the Ningbo Guard, the Shaoxing Guard, the Wenzhou Guard, and the Songjiang Guard.

The Suzhou–Shanghai region fell under the jurisdiction of the Shaoxing Guard, whose base was Zhangjiagang.

The Shaoxing Guard’s primary duty was to defend against foreign enemies entering the Yangtze from the East Sea.

And its other duties, in descending order of importance, were the blockade of civilian vessels going from the Yangtze out to sea, directly farming the food the Water Forces themselves would eat, and then things like guarding the coastline around Taicang and Shanghai.

If someone from Qing’s homeland heard that, they might say: how could coastal defense rank that low, lower even than farming? How could that possibly make sense?

But the Central Plains’ Water Forces were the Water Forces.

Not a navy. The Water Forces.

Because their foremost purpose was to stop foreign enemies who pushed inland from the sea.

Besides, officially, there were no people living on the coastline for the Water Forces to protect. The law flatly said people were not to live on the coast.

It was only because the Shanghai region was an officially recognized city with walls built by the state that guarding it had been nailed onto the duty list at all, even if only at the very bottom.

But when three beacon fires went up, that was a different story.

Three beacon fires, the most urgent possible call for aid.

And besides the three pillar-like columns of smoke, there were at least ten thin strands trailing up one after another even by rough count.

That meant fires had broken out in the city too, which meant the situation was extremely grave.

Maybe it was even the worst-case scenario. Maybe a great fleet of Japanese pirates had already crossed the walls.

“Full emergency mobilization! Muster at once! We sail within one shichen!”

And so, at Zhangjiagang, the drums spread far and wide.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Zhangjiagang was practically a military port in its entirety, so the moment the war drums rang out, the whole city changed color.

Because in the Central Plains, where Japanese pirate incursions were frequent, the Water Forces were people closer to real combat than almost anyone else, and people who knew the deaths of comrades better than most.

It was a city that understood the weight of that sound.

The expressions of those who had been walking the streets with smiling faces hardened all at once.

Men who had been strolling warmly hand in hand with their families let go of those hands with complicated expressions.

Married couples and lovers exchanged promises to come back, promises to wait, and then, in a display rather bold by Central Plains custom, sealed what might be their last moment with a kiss.

A father gripped the shoulders of his still-young son and told him that now he was the head of the household, that while his father was gone he had to look after the family well.

A marine rose from a drinking table with a close friend. The ones left behind grumbled that the bastard was running off without paying for the booze, but their faces were full of worry, and they kept shouting that the bastard had better come back so they could collect what he owed.

One man, whose wife had happened to be away from home at exactly this time, left behind only a few words—I’m going and I love you—before walking off with heavy steps; later, when his wife returned and saw the letter that remained, she collapsed on the spot.

Another bowed deeply before his parents, while the faces of his aged mother and father held nothing but worry.

Countless farewells headed into war, countless personal stories, filled the places aboard the warships to the brim.

And at last, they sailed.

The fleet drifted down along the current of the Yangtze.

Its speed was not particularly fast, yet to the marines facing battle, it felt unbearably fast.

At last they reached the downstream brackish-water zone, and the tall sailing ships of the Western barbarians lined up before Chongming Island began to come into view.

And then, uh... what was this?

There were no Japanese pirates?

It was the moment when the tension that had been stretched taut like a drawn thread suddenly went slack all at once.

Well, one of the Western barbarians’ ships was blazing away merrily, and several of the others had white flags raised here and there.

“Assistant Commander, no enemy ships are visible. There are only those Western barbarian vessels, but one is burning, and the others are flying white flags.”

“And the Japanese ships?”

“No Japanese pirates are in sight.”

“Looks like we arrived a step too late. It seems those Dutchmen fought the Japanese pirates. Bring us closer—they seem to need help.”

The Assistant Commander’s conclusion was certainly a strange one.

But this was a fleet that had only come running after seeing the beacon fires.

You really could not blame the Assistant Commander.

To begin with, the situation itself was something normal reasoning could never have guessed.

Who could possibly imagine that Dutch merchants, lawfully anchored with permission, would suddenly open bombardment on a city?

If this had been the history of Qing’s homeland, then the Portuguese merchants down south would already have raised hell earlier, and everyone would already have come to the realization that Westerners were the sort of bastards who shot the guns first and talked later, utterly unfit to associate with.

But here, in this pseudo-knockoff Central Plains, the Portuguese had a commendable record of even carrying out anti-pirate campaigns in order to obtain trade permission.

So naturally, it was easy to think the Dutch had likewise fought the Japanese pirates in hopes of securing trade authorization.

It was a moment of enormous relief for the Water Forces.

The savage Japanese pirates seemed to have already withdrawn, and they even felt some gratitude toward the Western barbarians who had apparently fought in their place.

Damn, we were the ones who were supposed to do the fighting.

Seriously. Today was supposed to be those Japanese bastards’ funeral.

Right? What a waste. What a waste. I was born to kill Japanese pirates, but those Western barbarians beat us to it.

The Water Forces men had relaxed enough that they were even trading jokes with one another.

And so, filled with grateful feeling, they brought their ships in close to rescue the survivors.

These bastards, why aren’t they lowering a ladder?

Central Plains ships had flat bottoms, and even comparing vessel to vessel, there was usually a difference of a whole deck between ships of this size.

And compared to the Fortune Ship, the main warship of the Central Plains Water Forces, the difference in deck height was more than a full zhang.

Were they in no condition to lower even a ladder?

Or was this enemy deception? Had the Japanese already occupied the ship and laid an ambush?

So the boarding operation was carried out slowly, and very, very carefully.

They threw hooks, hauled up rope ladders with the catches attached to the hooks, and fixed them in place. All the while, other warships remained on razor alert with their cannons trained, ready to fire at any moment.

And finally, when the vanguard climbed the ladders, the sight spread across the high deck of the Western ship was—

“Urk.” “Bleurgh!”

At the horror spread across the deck, several Water Forces men vomited where they stood.

“Hey, what in the world happened here? You there!”

“Achtvalchongeist...”

“No, what are you saying? Hey, are you all right? Get the interpreter! Bring the interpreter up here at once!”

In Qing’s homeland, an interpreter would be called something like a translator; another term for them was an interpreter of tongues.

Since the Water Forces naturally dealt with foreigners more than most, bringing an interpreter along was only to be expected.

Soon the interpreter climbed aboard, took one look at the corpses strewn about everywhere, and vomited violently himself before finally managing to open his mouth.

“[Gentlemen, are you all right? Do you require assistance? What happened here?]”

It was quite a formal expression—something like, Sirs, are you all right? Do you need help? What happened?—

But unfortunately, in the Central Plains, “Western speech” meant Portuguese.

He had addressed a Dutchman in Portuguese. Why would any answer come back?

Fortunately, many people in the West knew two or three languages, and in the case of the Netherlands in particular, it had long been a colony of Portugal, so there were many who knew Portuguese.

“[Ugh, the language of those fucking pig bastards...]”

“[An evil spirit?]” Let me see, what was it again? Ah, right—ghost. “[Did you say an evil spirit appeared? Sir, get hold of yourself. Please get hold of yourself. I am here to help you. Please, get hold of yourself.]”

“Achtvalchongeist, huagh, huaaah...”

But the sailor, drying out with his intestines hanging out, let his unfocused gaze drift into empty air. It seemed he could hear no more. He only kept muttering.

The same thing was happening on the other ships.

As for the severity of the patients’ conditions—or rather, all of the grievously wounded were unsalvageably grievous to begin with—if one had to put it into words, the only difference was whether they were still fresh or already withering.

The sailors’ common testimony: achtvalchongeist.

Just what in the world was this achtvalchongeist that the Dutch sailors feared so terribly?

Even in the hot weather, the Central Plains Water Forces began to feel a strange chill creeping over them.

And how much time passed?

The answer was not far away.

The expressions of the Water Forces men searching the enemy ship had by now filled to the brim with fear.

Because when they looked at the Dutchmen strewn throughout the interior in such hideous condition, they could only think: what kind of thing could possibly have rampaged so savagely? Surely it had to be some nameless Western monster.

So naturally their steps slowed.

With heavy crossbows and spears thrust forward, every nerve raised to the utmost, they huddled together in a single knot—shoulder to shoulder, back to back—advancing one careful step at a time.

And then it happened.

Suddenly, over there, something shaped vaguely like a person came into view.

Drenched in blood, with goblin-fire gleaming in its eyes—

“Aaaagh! Stop! Are you human or ghost!”

“Waaagh! It’s here!!”

At the same instant, the badly startled Water Forces men flinched violently, and with a sharp TWANG of drawn strings, iron bolts shot out from the heavy crossbows.

Of course, ordinary heavy crossbows like these were no great threat to a master of the martial world.

To begin with, they had fired without really aiming, so there were no bolts coming in properly anyway.

“Damn, what the hell? She’s from the Central Plains? Was there some Central Plains bastard in bed with these Westerners?”

The voice rang out clearly in the speech of the Central Plains, and it was so crisp and clear that the Water Forces men, who had been on the verge of panic, came back to their senses almost immediately.

“Aaaagh? Huh? Someone from the Central Plains?”

“From the Central Plains, yes. But why are you here? If you’re in league with these bastards—”

“No, no, we are soldiers of the Yangjae Garrison under the Shaoxing Guard! We set sail after seeing the beacon fires from Shanghai and are currently searching the interior. You, on the other hand, identify yourself at once!”

“Ah, so you’re soldiers. I’m, mm, just a passing martial artist, but when I saw these Western bastards firing cannons at Shanghai, I couldn’t hold back my anger and stepped in first.”

“Ah, so you were a martial arts master.”

It was that very moment.

The Water Forces men, who up to then had been frozen stiff with fear, all let out long breaths of relief at once.

Oh, that’s all it was? A martial arts master?

I thought it was some kind of Western monster or something. Seriously, what the hell.

If it’s a master, then sure, that makes sense. Ah, man. I got scared for nothing.

Looks like the Western barbarians messed with a martial artist they shouldn’t have. Well, they should have been more careful.

In truth, whether this really made sense even for a master was questionable.

But human beings fear the unknown. So compared to some mysterious monster, a master whose methods were filthy and cruel was far more reassuring.

“Would you perhaps be willing to come with us? We need to determine exactly what happened here...”

“Is there really any need for that? The fact that these bastards suddenly opened cannon fire is something you can confirm with Shanghai immediately enough, and from what I heard, they fired because they wanted to expand trade.”

“...? If they wanted to expand trade, why in the world would they fire cannons? Unless they meant to fight?”

“I suppose the soldiers of the Central Plains looked easy to them. If the Water Forces showed up, they’d wipe them out, then use that to intimidate everyone into accepting trade on favorable terms. So—may I be on my way now?”

The ruthless passing martial artist, Qing, asked with perfect naturalness.

If the Central Plains Water Forces had already made it this far inside, that meant the outside had probably already been cleaned up too.

It was a real shame she had not been able to smash up the rest of them, but it was not as if ending up in the army’s hands would change their fate.

The Central Plains never showed mercy to barbarians who violated its borders. Whether they were half-killed by her or executed after capture, it was all the same. They were dead men either way.

Though if swimming back and forth to fuck up the ships trying to flee first had not wasted so much time, she probably could have fucked up two more.

That part was a bit regrettable, but still, at this point she had done more than enough, hadn’t she?

She was starting to get hungry too. It felt like exactly the right time to head back and eat with the kids.

“Y-you can’t exactly leave like this, um, just a moment, would you please wait just a moment? We need to report to the General first, and since this is military business, we ask your understanding.”

“Mmm. I think it would be better if we all just went our separate ways.”

“It’s just that if you leave like this, our position is a little...”

Well, that was true enough.

After all, they could hardly make a report saying: While searching the ship, we found the culprit, and they said the Western bastards fired cannons first, so they personally wiped them out, and then went on their way.

“Ah! And if it is as you say, then the state will surely grant a great reward as well! A reward!”

At that, Qing scratched at her cheek.

“Mm. Well, it’s not that I need a reward. Fine, then ask this General of yours. Mm... though I think even that General would be much better off if we all just went our separate ways...”

Then Qing patted around at her waist, checking whether her pouch might have fallen off somewhere in the chaos.

At the fingertips tapping there, she felt the hard solidity of a heavy metal token.