Although Liu Shucheng knew that diving underwater could confuse their vision, he couldn’t do that—it would prevent him from attracting the Dongyi warships to pursue him.

The rain of arrows soon came pouring down from the massive warship like a blanket covering the sky, shooting into the seawater. Some brushed past Liu Shucheng’s side, grazing his arm, his shoulder, his face. Some arrows had even pierced through his right shoulder armor, but he couldn’t stop. This was originally a gamble they were making with their lives. Even if he died, he had to swim a bit further toward the small boat, so they would follow him and notice that boat.

Liu Shucheng felt he hadn’t swum very far when he heard someone calling him again: “General Liu! Quickly!”

Liu Shucheng, who had been swimming with his head down, spotted the small boat where Great Zhou naval soldiers were shouting at him: “Quick, General Liu!”

Liu Shucheng gritted his teeth and dove underwater. All around him were arrows falling like rain. He used his last breath to swim to the side of the boat, but he had no strength left…

A strong, powerful arm on the boat grabbed Liu Shucheng and pulled him up from the seawater, yanking him into the small boat. “Quick, let’s go!”

Liu Shucheng, with an arrow in his shoulder and sword wounds on his back, gasped for breath. He was so exhausted he couldn’t move at all. His entire chest felt like it was about to explode from pain, and his body kept trembling. He was so weak and sore that he didn’t even have the strength to turn over. He couldn’t even feel the pain from his wounds that had been soaked in the salty seawater. All he could see was the patch of sky within his vision—stars like an ocean, the Milky Way brilliant and sparkling.

“General Liu, General Jiang Huaisheng sent us to meet you!” the man said.

Only then did Liu Shucheng notice that the group of soldiers around him rowing the small boat with all their might were not the soldiers he had previously ordered to stay in place and ultimately lead the naval forces to Long Island.

He raised his head again to look toward where the flames were leaping and saw many Great Zhou soldiers rescuing Great Zhou naval soldiers who had fortunately escaped from the Dongyi warships.

Looking further south, he saw brightly lit Great Zhou warships heading in their direction.

“What’s going on? Are we fighting tonight?” Liu Shucheng’s eyes widened as he looked back at the Great Zhou naval soldier speaking to him. He recognized this person as a minor general who had just been promoted to deputy general by Jiang Huaisheng. He grabbed the man’s wrist. “Didn’t His Majesty say to fight at Long Island? We’ve already prepared everything at Long Island. What kind of trouble is Jiang Huaisheng stirring up?”

“General, General Jiang Huaisheng had plans from the beginning. Originally, he was to have these three hundred elite soldiers set out together to board the Dongyi warships and assassinate the Dongyi commanders, destroy as many Dongyi warships as possible, and then General Tong would lead a naval fleet to provide support here… After pretending to provide support, they would flee, thus luring the Dongyi warships to pursue!” The deputy general sighed. “You suddenly knocked out General Jiang Huaisheng today without any warning. General Tong wasn’t on the main warship and had no idea. When General Tong was preparing to set sail according to his original agreement with General Jiang Huaisheng, he only then learned that you had knocked out General Jiang and come here yourself. He immediately awakened General Jiang Huaisheng, and the general personally brought warships to support you!”

Jiang Huaisheng’s deputy general didn’t mention that after Jiang Huaisheng woke up, he had flown into a great rage, calling Liu Shucheng a reckless fool. Even if he wanted to die in his place, he should have asked for details before leaving. How could a few small boats attract the Dongyi main force to pursue them? Did he think the Dongyi naval soldiers were all stupid pigs, or was he just being too stubborn?

Not only that, but Jiang Huaisheng had also cursed Liu Shucheng, saying that while he usually seemed experienced and wise, when it came to actual fighting, his brain flew off to the ninth heaven. He relied only on hot blood and recklessness, acting confused and muddle-headed, unfit for great responsibility.

But Jiang Huaisheng also knew that Liu Shucheng was doing this out of concern for him, worried that he might not return alive with his disabled hand!

Similarly, Jiang Huaisheng was also worried about Liu Shucheng dying on the enemy warships. Everyone knew that assassinating enemy commanders and destroying enemy warships, with few against many, had an extremely small chance of survival.

Liu Shucheng vaguely saw the upright figure standing at the bow of the foremost Great Zhou warship. He wanted to get up but pulled at his wounds, causing him to gasp in pain…

“General!” Jiang Huaisheng’s deputy general supported Liu Shucheng. “General, your wounds are bleeding heavily. Please don’t move!”

Hearing this, Liu Shucheng sat back down and looked back at the Dongyi warships that were indeed pursuing them. He also saw warships that hadn’t had time to escape—those that had gone to support the suicide squad brothers—being rammed and overturned.

Soon, the small boat reached the protection range of the Great Zhou warships, and the small boat was hoisted up.

General Tong personally jogged over to welcome Liu Shucheng, stepping on the railing with one foot and reaching out to support Liu Shucheng with one hand: “General Liu, you were too impulsive!”

Liu Shucheng bit his back teeth and leaped onto the deck. His legs couldn’t support his body, and he knelt on the ground, blood gushing out.

“How can this be called impulsive?” Liu Shucheng used General Tong’s supporting strength to stand up. “Jiang Huaisheng had already arranged everything that came after. In a life-or-death situation like this, if he had gone, he couldn’t have killed that Gao Liujun.”

General Tong was stunned: “You succeeded?”

Liu Shucheng saw Jiang Huaisheng with a grim expression walking toward him, and the corners of his lips curved into a smile: “If the lives of nine brothers couldn’t be exchanged for one enemy commander, that would be too… too much of a loss.”

As soon as the words fell, Liu Shucheng’s vision went black, and he collapsed.

“Shucheng!” Jiang Huaisheng rushed over and caught Liu Shucheng. Seeing that Liu Shucheng had truly fainted, he shouted, “Take him to the military physician! Give the order to turn around—lure the Dongyi naval forces to Long Island!”

As soon as Jiang Huaisheng’s words fell, the signal soldiers standing on the high mast signal platform guarded by torches immediately waved their signal flags. Signal soldiers on each ship waved their flags one after another, and the sound of horns rose and fell across the warships, ordering the ships to turn around.

The elite soldiers who had been rescued were all back, their small boats had been pulled up, and the Dongyi naval forces had also pursued them.

With the Dongyi naval commander killed, the deputy commander saw that the Great Zhou naval forces weren’t particularly numerous and was furious…

The commander’s assassination was a shameful disgrace. Now that the Great Zhou naval forces were inferior to the Dongyi forces, if he couldn’t annihilate them here, when he returned to face His Majesty, His Majesty would probably kill his entire family!

The deputy commander made up his mind and immediately gave orders: “Give the command—pursue the Great Zhou naval forces! We must annihilate these naval warships here to avenge our commander!”

“Revenge!”

“Revenge!”

The Dongyi naval soldiers were all shouting ferociously. The Great Zhou naval forces were too arrogant, actually climbing onto their Dongyi naval warships so quietly, killing their commander and destroying their warships!

What was hateful was that when their sentries discovered these Great Zhou warships, it was already too late.

“Pursue immediately! We absolutely cannot let them escape!” the Dongyi naval deputy commander shouted.