Shangguan Jianyi looked into the distance at the aftermath of the naval battle. It was a weird and terrible scene: a fire was blazing on the surface of the lake and dozens of warships were engulfed by the flames. They looked like sacrificial offerings made of paper when seen from afar. The terrible cries of his soldiers, as they were attacked with fire and water, were frighteningly heart-wrenching.
“So, this is the Dragon King’s secret weapon?” asked Shangguan Jianyi. He was nonchalant about the huge loss suffered by his navy; he had merely lost a few dozen warships, and even the oarsmen and soldiers on those vessels were mostly freshly supplied by the four nations on the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake.
The advisor standing next to him was feeling a little uneasy. He was the person who had provided Shangguan Jianyi with the intelligence report that said the Dragon King had gotten hold on a new type of weapon and suggested that they should attack pre-emptively to find out what it was. He had not expected the turn of events. The warships of the Dragon army had a huge advantage and had won the battle even before both sides had barely made contact with each other.
What was most strange was that the liquid, which looked like black oil, was flammable on water and in fact the fire grew stronger as the battle went on. As such, the round projectiles containing such liquid hurled from the catapults on the enemy ships could set their targets on fire without requiring much aiming.
The intelligence report was passed on to the advisor by word of mouth and it would never be possible to trace it back to its source.
Shangguan Yun did not appear on the battlefield personally. Even though he did not have any rank or title in the Golden Roc army, he was being increasingly proactive and wandered all around. It was getting common for him to go missing for a few days.
Shangguan Jianyi silently accepted his nephew’s shenanigans; as long as the Third Young Master did not interfere in military matters, he could freely order his devoted followers and the Golden Roc killers around.
“Prepare to engage the enemy.”
Commander Yi’s order was quickly executed.
The main body of the Golden Roc Army was deployed on the north coast of the Xiaoyao Lake and its right flank was close to a mountain peak. To the north of that peak was the sea-crossing bridge, which was in the final stage of repair.
The first rank of the army was just a few steps away from the levee and made up of a closely packed row of ballistas, followed by another row of huge catapults. Compared to them, the devices on the warships of the Dragon army that flung the ‘Fierce Bombs’ were no more than small toys.
In this manner, Shangguan Jianyi waited for the enemy warships to launch their attack on the bridge.
The two opposing forces were separated by the lake, with the Golden Roc army situated at the southeast corner. The soldiers of the Dragon army had also seen the results of the naval battle and discussed about it excitedly amongst themselves. All of a sudden, victory did not seem so distant to them anymore.
To the surprise of both armies, the Dragon King unexpectedly ordered his troops to retreat 15 kilometers before the fire raging on the Lake had even died down.
When the Right General Shang Liao arrived back to shore, he realized that he had become a hero. The soldiers of the Dragon army formed two rows, lining the path to welcome him back. The soldiers from the Kang Kingdom were especially excited and they displayed the respect a subject accorded to his or her ruler toward the newly crowned king of the Kang Kingdom.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…” Shang Liao was feeling a little smug as he heard them address him in a way that he had not gotten used to yet. That said, when he entered the main tent of the Dragon King, the only expression he wore was that of indignation.
“May I ask why are we retreating, Dragon King? The fire will soon die down and our forces can go straight for the bridge during that time to raze everything to the ground.”
The high-ranking military officers of each camp were present and even though they were surprised by the Right General’s performance, they were not pleased by his aggressiveness.
“We’ve decided that the decisive battle will be on land and that there’s already no need to destroy the bridge,” replied Gu Shenwei.
Shang Liao understood that he had been too rude; perhaps it was because he had sensed the faint hostility from the other officers. As such, he bowed and replied, “Everything will be carried out as per your orders, Dragon King.”
He was the Right General and newly crowned king of the Kang nation. As such, he did not have to kneel before the Dragon King.
Next, the Dragon King delegated tasks and duties to his army and navy respectively. Shang Liao was to produce even more Fierce Bombs and supply them to both the army and navy.
The meeting was thus concluded and Shang Liao found an excuse to remain behind; he wanted to voice his displeasure to the Dragon King in private.
“Dragon King, we’ve used the Fierce Bombs just to destroy only dozens of enemy warships. Aren’t we a little overdoing things?”
“I believe we’ve already reached an agreement. The purpose of the battle is to test the effects of our new weapon. It’s all good, I’ve seen it now.”
The Dragon King’s nonchalance caused Shang Liao to feel even more displeased. He hesitated before saying what was really going on in his mind. “Do you trust me, Dragon King?”
Gu Shenwei nodded his head. He had already more or less grasped what sort of person the new king of the Kang nation was. Shang Liao was a person who looked amiable and low-key but was inwardly proud. He was also the type of general the Dragon army sorely lacked at the moment. Dugu Xian was overly conservative and the military officers of the Great Snowmountain were too rash. The others were too mediocre and Shang Liao’s character was a beneficial addition to the Dragon army.
“I trust you and therefore I want to discuss about the issue about ‘price’ with you,” said Gu Shenwei.
During his first official discussion with the Dragon King, Shang Liao had boasted of helping the Dragon King to defeat the Golden Roc army at the price of giving him 10,000 soldiers. He had also requested for complete independence of the Kang Kingdom and that it would not be under the control of any foreigner.
Shang Liao was extremely surprised to hear the Dragon King bring up the matter again. It was because he had originally just wanted the latter to quickly value his importance, but he had not expected the Dragon King to treat it seriously. “I… still the same. Give me 10,000 soldiers and the independence of the Kang Kingdom.”
Shang Liao immediately regretted after speaking. From observing the Dragon King, he realized that he should have requested for better terms.
Gu Shenwei was even clearer on what sort of person Shang Liao was now. He was extremely smart but still lacking in negotiation experience. “I’ll offer you an even better ‘price’,” he said.
“Ah?”
“You can have 10,000 soldiers, or even more, but you have to recruit them by yourself. Other than our navy or ships, the Dragon army won’t part with a single soldier for you.”
“Let me think about it.”
Indeed, Shang Liao needed to think about it. The Dragon King was only offering him an empty title and staffing structure, but even so, they were important things. Without them, even if he had managed to gather more soldiers, he had to divide them into units of thousands and could not command them directly. That said, the vast Xiaoyao Lake region was sparsely populated, and there were not many potential recruits left since most able-bodied males had been swooped up by the Dragon and Golden Roc armies respectively.
“Alright, I agree, but I wish to add on one more condition.”
Shang Liao was learning about negotiation fast. He was already aware of the technique of giving in to achieve more.
“Speak.”
“After the war, I hope the Dragon King will allow me to expand the territory of the Kang Kingdom. I won’t need your help, nor your interference. The Kang Kingdom will accomplish it with its own troops and effort.”
Shang Liao’s ambition was not small and increasing all the while. Gu Shenwei was wary of this fact, but before the inevitable falling out, he needed this ambitious man to serve the Dragon army. He considered it before replying, “Sooner or later, I’ll lead my army to seize Jade City. After that, you can expand the territory of the Kang Kingdom, but I’ll only allow you to move westward.”
To the west of the Kang Kingdom lay the Sha and Hui Kingdoms; Gu Shenwei had no second thoughts about sacrificing these two small nations.
Shang Liao also considered the Dragon King’s reply, before saying, “I hope you’ll keep your promise, Dragon King.”
“As long as you can recruit a 10,000-strong army, I’ll keep to any promise.”
Shang Liao laughed. All of a sudden, he understood what was unique about the Dragon King. This man, who was considerably younger than him, possessed a self-confidence of unheard of levels, and it gave his surbodinates free rein to display their capabilities.
From Gu Shenwei’s perspective, allowing Shang Liao more room to perform was a makeshift stratagem that he was forced to go ahead with.
Gu Shenwei was extremely certain that there were still talents yet to be unearthed in the Xiaoyao Lake region. He was sure that both the Dragon and Golden Roc armies could not reach into every corner of the five kingdoms to recruit every available able-bodied male. That said, perhaps Shang Liao had a way to accomplish it. He was a descendant of the royal family of the Kang Kingdom and familiar with local customs, but was only willing to put in all his effort when fighting for his own benefit.
Looking at the matter from another angle, even if Shang Liao failed, all the Dragon King would have given was just a verbal promise.
Gu Shenwei had a rough idea about how his plan to achieve hegemony should go: when both Norland and the Golden Roc Fort ruled over their occupied territories, he should do his best to support these territories’ independence cause. After his army grew stronger, he would come up with a way to get rid of all the unnecessary kings.
Currently, there was only Shang Liao worth supporting. Gu Shenwei felt that it was too little.
Shang Liao’s tone was warmer considerably after they had reached a deal. “Dragon King, there’s something that I have to declare first. I cannot produce so many Fierce Bombs—there is a serious lack of materials, manpower and time. It’s up to you to decide whether to use them in one setting or to split them between the army and navy.”
“Did you come up with the idea to make them?”
“No, it came from the Great Qin Kingdom of the far west. They treat it as a national treasure and a closely guarded secret. I managed to get the formula by luck.”
“If you show the formula to more people, I’m sure the rate of production will increase.”
Shang Liao was silent for a while. “I can pass it to you, Dragon King, but I hope you understand that there’s a reason why the Great Qin Kingdom kept it a closely guarded secret. Once it spreads, it’ll be hard to prevent the formula from falling into the hands of the Golden Roc Fort.”
It was another way of rejecting the Dragon King; Gu Shenwei did not wish to insist. Even though the bombs were devastating, they had a flaw that could not be overlooked. During the naval battle, it was clearly exposed.
The highly flammable liquid was contained in a leather sack and the launchers had an effective range which was smaller than that of a catapult. Besides, the sack could be easily shattered and the only warship lost by the Dragon army was destroyed by the flames from the Fierce Bombs it was carrying.
Also, the unique property of the Fierce Bombs was that it burned stronger in the presence of water; its power would be greatly diminished when used on land.
“Try to mass produce as much of it as possible, with the priority to supply our army.”
15 minutes ago, Shang Liao would violently object to such an arrangement, but now, he bowed and acknowledged the Dragon King’s order. He even came up with a reason for the Dragon King: that the Dragon army already had complete dominance on the water and that the decisive battle would eventually be fought on land.
Gu Shenwei kept calculating the time and his odds while waiting for Maid Lotus to come back with good news.
At the moment, both armies would have believed that the only way for the Dragon army to emerge victorious was to make use of the Fierce Bombs. As such, the special forces led by Tuo Nengya could create an even bigger surprise.
This was the main objective of today’s battle.
The old macheteman, Tuo Nengya, was many miles away, hidden deep in the mountains. He still did not know that he would be undertaking a task of huge importance.
Before the Dragon King’s messengers had even arrived, the sharp Tuo Nengya had sensed that a battle was going on. He gathered his scattered troops and appealed to each tribe in the name of the Dragon King, promising them huge rewards if they sent their soldiers to take part in the battle.
There were tribal warriors joining his forces everyday and it grew steadily. Ha Chilie, was incredibly pleased with this turn of events, as most of the tribes had supported the Dragon King because they trusted his father and him; the Ha family had thus gained recognition in the Wushan mountain region.
Tuo Nengya grew vigilant even as he felt pleased. With the addition of many new soldiers, it gave the killers of the Golden Roc Fort a chance to sneak into his forces while it was being bolstered.
That very morning when the warships of the Dragon army achieved complete victory, Tuo Nengya was up especially early. He was preoccupied with a premonition that something bad was going to happen. He had many similar experiences from venturing in jiang hu. That said, his hunch was not always accurate. In fact, it turned out to be even lesser than 50 per cent true.
Premonitions were usually another way that rich experiences could be expressed in. Tuo Nengya remained deep in thought by himself for a while, before deciding to go with his instincts. He began a round of thorough investigations into all of the new soldiers in his camp.
He believed that if there were really Golden Roc killers who had sneaked into his unit, none of them could escape from his scrutiny.