Chapter 2414: Souls Return to the Nine Provinces

Chapter 2414: Chapter 2131: Souls Return to the Nine Provinces

Ma Chao looked at Zhao Yun, whose imposing manner seemed to pierce the sky, with shock—at this moment, Zhao Yun indeed had a momentum comparable to Lyu Bu.

“Zilong, come back for dinner!” Lyu Qiling personally invited Zhao Yun, and Zhao Yun naturally turned his head, the imposing manner vanished, and he warmly responded to Lyu Qiling’s invitation.

“Well, Zilong, are you really going to fight with my father?” Lyu Qiling asked quietly while shoveling rice.

“Not fighting is impossible,” Zhao Yun said gently, showing no sign of worry whatsoever. Lyu Bu was strong, but Zhao Yun, who had suffered for a month, was pressed until he finally erupted, wasn’t weak either.

“How about I talk to my father? With Second Aunt there, there’s really no need to fight,” Lyu Qiling said, lowering her head and squeezing her fingers, her face a bit flushed. On the other side, Ma Yunlu pretended not to see or hear anything, turning her head to look at the wall.

“There’s no need for that, I’ll solve this problem. Rest assured, there will surely be a satisfactory answer then,” Zhao Yun smiled warmly, suggesting that these matters were unimportant, and reassured them that he could definitely handle it himself.

“Actually, it’s really unnecessary; my father dotes on me as his only daughter,” Lyu Qiling explained shyly, glancing sideways at the broth, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“Bro!” Ma Yunlu called to Ma Chao, turning her head.

“What’s the matter?” Ma Chao, not yet detecting the abnormal atmosphere, looked at Ma Yunlu with confusion.

“Go out for a moment.” Ma Yunlu did not lift her head and simply gestured towards the hall door.

“Uh?” Ma Chao looked confused at his sister.

“Go out for a moment.” Ma Yunlu lifted her head, squinted, and gazed kindly at Ma Chao, causing him to shiver. He immediately jumped up and scrambled out.

After leaving the hall, Ma Chao realized he was actually scared off by his sister’s mild gaze. At home, he always took the blame for his sister, but this time she kicked him out. Clearly, once she’s married, she no longer needs a brother. Ah, Ma Chao was annoyed.

“Well, it’s like that; my dad spoils me,” Lyu Qiling, rarely shy, said. Zhao Yun was utterly bewildered, “Actually, it seemed like last month was it. According to my dad, he probably wants a grandson.”

While Zhao Yun was stunned, Lyu Bu, who was on the verge of exploding, finally arrived at Donglai, where he immediately jumped onto the port with Diao Chan.

Sun Ce was currently lying in the ship’s cabin, boiling with anger. Lyu Bu, who vented his fury by instructing Sun Ce, definitely didn’t skimp on teaching Sun Ce well.

As for Gan Ning, several hundred ships with bells and skulls, clearly a pirate fleet, couldn’t help but catch the attention of the navy stationed at Donglai.

To be honest, such a massive pirate gathering, especially the leading battleship that nearly matched the sixth-generation ships, prompted Xu Sheng to initiate a blockade and alert posture soon as the lookout spotted Gan Ning’s pirate crew.

However, since Taishi Ci took a group to Fusang, Donglai Port had only about five thousand formed navy personnel now. Facing such a large pirate crew, even Xu Sheng felt uneasy, as he informed the citizens of Donglai Port to begin retreating while leading the navy to block them.

Fortunately, relying on Donglai Port, Xu Sheng wasn’t worried about any fallout from losing. Thankfully, Taishi Ci didn’t take the flagship Xingba Vessel when he left.

As Xu Sheng led the navy to confront Gan Ning’s pirate crew, Lyu Bu jumped lightly with Diao Chan, crossed several miles, and landed on Donglai Port. That moment, Xu Sheng, seeing the other’s figure, was inexplicably stunned—Diao Chan’s charm attracted attention under any circumstance.

“Don’t care about the Inner Qi Manifestation right now; everyone stay alert and prepare the bed crossbows!” Suppressing the battle line, Xu Sheng didn’t launch an attack. Such a vast pirate crew, be it him or even if Taishi Ci hadn’t left, wouldn’t rashly provoke without preparation.

“Pirates over there, listen up! This is the Great Han Empire, Donglai Port. Take another step forward, and we’ll attack!” Xu Sheng’s grand voice spread as a warning, but under Gan Ning’s wing, virtually no one understood.

“Oh, my dear navy, I’m back!” Gan Ning, standing on the ship’s railing with open arms, gestured an embrace and shouted to Xu Sheng, “Xu Wenxiang, I’m back!”

Xu Sheng paused, then remained alert, “General Gan, is it really you?”

“Hell yes, it’s definitely me, the grand master!” Gan Ning responded excitedly, “These are all my subordinates. By the way, that big ship is the seventh-generation ship custom-ordered back then, right? Lul Jicai really built it! That guy is impressive! By the way, how many were built? I brought a heap of supplies!”

“Don’t you know they question your identity?” Zhou Yu mocked Gan Ning from the side.

Gan Ning paused, then roared at Zhou Yu, “You scoundrel Zhou Gongjin, don’t you know this is a general’s prudence?”

After cursing Zhou Yu, Gan Ning turned and shouted at Xu Sheng, “Xu Wenxiang, you bastard, I promoted you to captain, took you to brothels back then…”

Xu Sheng was distraught; nobody asked you to say such things. His vigil wasn’t because he suspected Gan Ning wasn’t genuine; his doubt arose because Gan Ning personally stayed behind, and they witnessed him leading the army to complete defeat. Now, with tens of thousands and hundreds of warships returning, suspicion was inevitable.

“Stop talking already!” Xu Sheng looked at Gan Ning in distress, as Gan Ning had already uncovered a lot of his dark past, leaving him on the verge of breakdown.

“How else can I prove I’m the real deal if I don’t talk?” Gan Ning replied defiantly, continuing to dig up black history, Xu Sheng’s, Taishi Ci’s, Mi Fang’s…

“You can’t prove that by doing this,” Zhou Yu said with a slight sneer and then stood up to step in front of Gan Ning. “Xu Wenxiang, step aside. I’m enough to vouch for him.”

“Uh, Zhou Gongjin?” Xu Sheng looked at the figure that appeared before Gan Ning. Though Zhou Yu wasn’t exactly one of his inside men, it was no problem for Zhou Yu to back him in external matters if they were in step, but Xu Sheng was still a bit hesitant.

“You certainly have the qualifications to vouch for him, but I must ask for your forgiveness. I have to be wary because of my duty. I request Xingba to order his crew to lower their weapons.” Xu Sheng hesitated briefly before speaking, fearing he might offend Gan Ning, but he had to prioritize Donglai Port.

“Xu Wenxiang, you’d better wait. Once I’m back in the team, you’d better roll back to be the captain!” Gan Ning responded to Xu Sheng’s words with a threatening yell, then used Heart Connection to roar, “All hands, disarm, lower your weapons, and prepare to unload!”

Zhou Yu glanced at Gan Ning. Although Gan Ning was visibly angry, his eyes were incredibly clear, indicating that he was just bluffing. As the pirates disarmed and the warships approached to a certain distance, Gan Ning jumped from his warship directly onto the flagship Xingba Vessel commanded by Xu Sheng.

“Xu Wenxiang, you’ve really got some guts now. It’s been only two years since we last met, and you’re even ignoring my orders now!” Gan Ning headed straight for Xu Sheng after jumping onto the warship, making Xu Sheng feel awkward. Since Gan Ning had already ordered disarmament, Xu Sheng was pretty sure there were no issues with Gan Ning, thus could only grin awkwardly under Gan Ning’s questioning.

“What the hell are you laughing at!” Gan Ning punched Xu Sheng in the jaw, catching him completely off guard. Xu Sheng didn’t even have time to react before Gan Ning knocked him to the ground in a breath’s time. Then, using Voice Transmission with Heart Connection, Gan Ning roared angrily, “Don’t use weapons, confiscate from this group of idiots!”

Affected by Gan Ning’s order, before Xu Sheng could react, the pirate ship, which was very close to the Seventh Generation Ship, instantly erupted with Group Defense Formation. The blossoming Cloud Qi covered all the warships in Donglai Port, prompting the pirates to reflexively jump ship and start an assault.

With the suppression of the Group Defense Formation and the crushing of the Cloud Qi coverage, Gan Ning’s Bell Pirates, led by Sakara and Novica, directly launched a boarding attack.

This completely unexpected behavior toppled the navy led by Xu Sheng in a very short time, leaving Xu Sheng tied up like a caterpillar by Gan Ning with the Horizontal River Iron Chain.

“Gan Ning, what are you trying to do!” Xu Sheng roared angrily, suddenly realizing within this short time that he’d been completely defeated.

“Shut up!” Gan Ning glared at Xu Sheng coldly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the navy, only spotting a few recognizable soldiers among them.

“You bunch of failures, is this how I taught you back then? Losing once, yet you don’t even know to feel shame and muster courage afterward—these people are just a random group of pirates I recruited on the Indian Ocean, and you are defeated so easily!” Gan Ning looked coldly at Xu Sheng, “Inner Qi Manifestation, your strength has improved, but where’s your brain?”

“If I were the enemy this time, you’d all be dead!” Gan Ning coldly laughed at Xu Sheng. “A Seventh Generation Ship, custom-made with my name on it, yet you disgraced it so badly? Are you a pigbrain?”

“I truly want to eliminate all of you idiots!” Gan Ning said icily, his killing intent was unconcealed. Since unifying pirates in the Indian Ocean, the death count by Gan Ning’s hand soared straight up and, unlike in the Central Plains where there were concerns, in the Indian Ocean and Malacca, war casualties to Gan Ning were merely numbers changing!

Casualty rates, loss rates, deaths, disappearances, none of these mattered to Pirate King Gan Ning. His pursuit was just to let pirates die efficiently for victory, thus the Gan Ning returning from the Indian Ocean was three shades colder in temperament than before!

“Now, tell me, what is the purpose of your vigilance!” Gan Ning grabbed Xu Sheng’s armor, gazing at him who was full of shame, and sneered.

“Old soldiers who participated in the South Blue battle, step forward!” Gan Ning casually tossed Xu Sheng aside and strode forward a few steps, bellowing at the already defeated Han Navy.

Soon, a group of heavily injured veterans huddled together and boarded the Seventh Generation Ship, supporting each other. Gan Ning looked at these heavily wounded soldiers, a hint of gratification appeared on his face, but was subtlely concealed under his cold demeanor.

“Are you all that’s left?” Gan Ning gazed at the soldiers sparsely arranged in horizontal rows, trying their best to stand straight and form a neat line. Evidently, after the South Blue battle, only these were grouped into one army, most of whom were somewhat familiar to Gan Ning!

“Yes, General!” The centurion in the first row stepped out with difficulty. In the previous ship boarding battle, despite having weapons, he was thoroughly suppressed by Cloud Qi, leaving him utterly powerless against several pirate sneak attacks.

“Two years ago, the South Blue battle was my strategic error, it is I, Gan Ning, who have wronged you!” Gan Ning bowed on the ground, kowtowing to this group of veterans.

“General!” These navy veterans had witnessed Gan Ning’s journey from the Yangtze River to Liaodong, from Liaodong to South Blue, and when defeated, Gan Ning personally led the rear guard. Gan Ning brought them too many victories, and the South Blue battle faced the Kushan invincible resistance, thus it wasn’t a fault of battle. Consequently, when Gan Ning knelt, the veterans who fought in South Blue immediately rushed forward, desperately supporting Gan Ning.

“I couldn’t bring back their bodies, couldn’t bury them in the Central Plains, but I, Gan Ning, swear that one day I will break through South Blue, annex South Blue into Central Plains, allowing their souls to return to the Nine Provinces!” Gan Ning, tear-eyed, looked at this group of veterans from the deck.

“Are you still willing to follow me as you once did?” Gan Ning asked, looking at the tearful faces of the soldiers.

Willing to follow the General to the depths of Nine Springs!

I’ve returned, Central Plains, and one day shall lead a million troops, welcoming comrades’ souls back to Nine Provinces!