The Arab pirates had been following the fleet for twelve full days. During these twelve days, the pirate ships had been gathering in ever-increasing numbers. Now that they were approaching the strait, the waterway was becoming progressively narrower. The restless Arab pirates seemed to have reached an agreement, and like a swarm they charged forward all at once.

“Just as expected!” Liu Renyuan put his telescope away in its leather case and said to his deputy beside him, “They’re worried that the meat at their lips will be divided up by others, so they’ve decided to make their move before reaching the destination.”

The deputy said with a smile, “This subordinate has long wanted to know just how much combat power the Princess and Qingque possess. Today we can put them to the test. As long as we defeat the Arabs, it will also settle the hearts of those merchant ship managers, and they won’t cause us trouble when we reach the other side of the strait.”

The deep sound of horns rang out. The Chengqian passed by the Princess and Qingque, which were turning in circles, and came to the very front of the fleet, steadily guarding the entrance to the strait. Its purpose was to defend the strait and prevent pirates from the other side from taking the opportunity to attack the merchant ships.

The Princess sailed in a zigzag course and inserted itself at the rear of the fleet. The Qingque coordinated with it on the left and right flanks. Liu Renyuan was preparing to use these two ships to resist the swarming pirates.

In the narrow waterway, the current was rapid. The Princess, facing the wind from the side, was not in a very good position. In naval warfare, occupying the upwind position already meant holding the initiative—the Arab fleet now possessed this advantage.

There was no declaration of war, no conversation, not even the usual formality of demanding surrender. The pirate ships—high at both ends, low in the middle, with countless oars protruding from the lower deck—charged forward like arrows, driven by the ocean current. They desperately wanted to avoid the two warships and rush directly at the merchant vessels, but unfortunately, the two massive ships were blocking the current, so no matter how unwilling they were, they still needed to break through the warship blockade before they could pass.

The Qingque was first to engage. The leading pirate ship, relying on its speed, charged over viciously, planning to jump aboard the Qingque and seize the vessel once they got close. The densely packed pirates were bare-chested, holding curved swords in their hands, ready at any moment for boarding combat.

Dongyu operated the Qingque’s helm, shouting loudly. The adjutant beside him waved a flag, and with a humming sound, crossbow bolts trailing smoke flew toward the pirate ship. Just as the pirates were celebrating that the crossbow bolts hadn’t claimed their lives, there was a thunderous boom, and they found themselves already flying through the air, flailing their limbs before plunging into the sea. Thirty crossbow bolts unleashed their power together, and the upper half of the pirate ship simply vanished.

The two ships fired alternately. The pirate ships entering the ambush zone in succession were turned into torches or debris without even having the chance to fire a single arrow. Occasionally, any that slipped through the net would be smashed to pieces by the stone hammers on the massive warships.

After watching the battle situation for a while, Liu Fang went below deck. The old gentleman truly lacked any interest in watching such a dull battle, muttering as he descended to the cabin.

When the sea surface was covered with ship debris, the Arabs finally felt fear. They poured large barrels of black fierce fire oil into the ocean, and after igniting it, the flames spread downward with the current. The Arabs hiding behind hoped that this fierce fire oil could burn down these two terrifying massive ships.

Liu Renyuan ordered them to clear the passage. Everyone lay at the bow to watch the spectacle before them—this was a burning sea. What had originally been a secret stratagem, when used openly and brazenly, couldn’t achieve much effect. What the Arabs didn’t know was that the people before them were the true masters of fire attacks.

The river of fire rolled downward. Those pirates clinging to wooden planks and struggling on the water’s surface were swallowed up with wails and screams. The cleverer ones wanted to dive underwater, but they couldn’t escape this disaster either, because no matter how they dove, they always had to come up for air.

“They’re planning to escape. Do they think this bit of fire can stop us? Laughable! This is the ocean, not a river. This little bit of fire oil isn’t enough to cover the sea surface. Sound the horn—we advance.” Black smoke swirled across the sea surface. Liu Renyuan noticed that the fire oil behind was decreasing and keenly sensed the Arabs’ intention to flee.

Dongyu had noticed too. His Qingque was closer to those Arabs. He carefully circled around the burning water area—the wooden hull couldn’t yet withstand the scorching of the fire oil, let alone the fact that the ship was loaded with gunpowder.

After bypassing the burning zone, he saw the remaining dozen or so Arab ships hastily turning around, in disarray trying to escape. How could turning around against the wind be so easy? Even the Qingque had to make a large circle to turn, hadn’t it?

When the pirates saw the monster-like Qingque emerge from the thick smoke, they became even more panicked. The oars in the cabin below rowed even more frantically. When sailing against the wind, one could only execute zigzag maneuvers—this principle applied to all wind-powered vessels. Although the Arabs had oars, they still couldn’t escape this pattern.

Yun Ye’s massive ships had triangular sails that could help the warships turn quickly. The Arab ships only had one massive mast in the middle. To turn around, they could only rely on the power of the oars—time-consuming and labor-intensive. Just as they had completed their turn and before they could raise their main sails, the Princess charged over from the side. Its bow was fitted with a massive ram—the cone-shaped spike ruthlessly pierced into a pirate ship. The bow suddenly dipped down, then was lifted by the waves. Amid ear-piercing creaking sounds, that pirate ship was torn apart alive by the ram. The upper deck shattered inch by inch, and the slaves below deck watched in despair as the Princess’s massive hull rolled over them…

The Qingque paid no attention to those fleeing pirates. Taking advantage of a gust of headwind, it swiftly inserted itself in front of the pirates. Dongyu grinned widely and turned the ship’s body sideways. Now it was perfect—the pirates couldn’t escape even if they wanted to.

Forty-five merchant ships huddled in a small bay, trembling as they waited for the outcome of the battle. Thinking of the ferocity of the Arab pirates, countless managers pressed their palms together, sincerely praying to various deities to bless their warships with victorious return.

He Tianshang stood on one of the outermost merchant ships, binding all his clothing tightly, having already prepared for the impending battle.

Since arriving in Lingnan, his heart had felt somewhat better. Yun Ye had arranged extremely heavy work for him—from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning, he had to stay busy until bedtime at night, with no time for self-pity. Yun Ye had told him that this so-called mental anguish was very boring, that it was an illness requiring treatment, and the best treatment method was work. Without time to suffer, one wouldn’t suffer. People are forgetful—after enduring the most difficult period, when you look back, you’ll discover that your past suffering was truly inexplicable.

“Mister He, just now many wooden fragments floated down from upstream. The men also fished several pirates from the sea. It seems His Lordship and the others are fighting quite well and have gained the upper hand,” said Old Feng, the leader of the merchants, as he approached He Tianshang.

He Tianshang followed Old Feng to the stern, where the men were using whips to force those pirates onto the ship. A robust pirate saw He Tianshang appear, gave a sinister smile, and suddenly lunged at him. He Tianshang casually stepped aside to evade, and the horizontal blade at his waist swept across like white silk. That pirate’s head flew high into the air, blood from his neck shooting skyward, staining a large area of the deck red.

Having killed one pirate, He Tianshang seemed still unsatisfied and consecutively chopped off three more heads. Only when two pirates remained, collapsed limply on the ground, did he say to Old Feng, whose expression remained unchanged, “I trouble Manager Feng to find an interpreter. We need to know what happened up ahead.”

A shrewd-looking man beside Old Feng spoke a few brief sentences in awkward Arabic to those two pirates. Without any intimidation needed, the two pirates recounted their ordeal. They still didn’t understand why they had been defeated.

“Mister He, Ninth Uncle, His Lordship and the others killed nearly all the pirates up ahead. However, the pirates poured oil into the sea, planning a fire attack. It didn’t burn His Lordship’s ships, but instead burned to death all the pirates who had fallen into the sea. These few swam faster than the fire oil spread, which is how they managed to escape.”

A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of He Tianshang’s mouth. This was the first time he had smiled in nearly a year. Two warships alone possessed such combat power—His Majesty would surely be pleased to hear such news.

Old Feng wasn’t thinking that far ahead. He watched as sporadic flames drifted by up ahead, and the oppressive feeling in his heart immediately dissipated by more than half. The Arabs had pursued them so aggressively—they probably never imagined they were chasing a ferocious beast, did they?

This beast not only devoured people but now devoured ships as well. He just didn’t know whether the Arabs could satisfy these two terrifying beasts. He turned back with satisfaction to look at the Chengqian patrolling back and forth at the strait entrance—here was yet another hungry beast.

The battlefield quickly fell silent. Under the threat of the massive stone hammers swinging back and forth, the remaining two ships lowered their sails. Dan Ying and Xi Tong jumped aboard the pirate ships and took possession of the entire vessels.

Yun Ye liked to hang pirates from the ship’s sides, and this habit had been completely inherited by the Lingnan naval forces. So when Yun Ye and Li Tai emerged from the cabin, both sides of the two ships’ railings were already densely hung with pirates.

Sharks continuously leaped from the water, trying to devour those blood-dripping pirates. Each captured pirate’s punishment of fifty lashes was inescapable no matter what.

Two bandit chiefs hung from the ram. One of them seemed quite famous, called Zamuli. According to the interpreter’s report, this fellow apparently had the title of King of the Seven Seas—a true pirate king.

“Don’t kill him yet. Find out where his treasure is hidden. Next time we go to sea, we should play a game of treasure hunting. Actually, I regret finding the spices so early—we should have played around more. We haven’t even visited the Arab maritime territories, which is somewhat regrettable.”

Naval warfare at this time truly had nothing much to discuss. Apart from rams and striking poles, there were fire arrows, and everyone paired off to fight. After closing in, they engaged in boarding combat, competing in individual martial prowess.

The Princess and Qingque gave the enemy no opportunity to approach at all. The terrifying range of the eight-ox crossbows basically ensured they could completely destroy enemy ships from a safe distance. Eight-ox crossbow bolts equipped with gunpowder had almost no difference from cannons, except the distance wasn’t quite as far. Thinking of the terrible accuracy of front-loading cannons, the eight-ox crossbow was currently the best choice.