Chaotic World Book
Chapter 555 - 539: The Sea Race Emerges

Chapter 555: Chapter 539: The Sea Race Emerges

A small lifeboat was lowered to the sea, and Zhao Changhe leaped onto the bow. Without any visible movement from him, the boat automatically cut through the waves and moved forward, as if an invisible Immortal God was helping him steer the vessel.

In the blink of an eye, the small boat was far away.

Tang En and the Tang family sailors behind him watched in astonishment. How did he manage that?

Having fasted in seclusion and now seemingly navigating a boat through the Void—was this the strength of the Human King?

For the first time, the Tang family realized that the world of Ancient Demons wasn’t so disconnected from theirs—it was actually quite close... If the top of the Human List was already like this, what about those on the Heavenly List? Had everybody previously underestimated them?

In truth, people indeed overestimated Zhao Changhe... The effort it took to put on that façade was substantial, his True Qi flowing away like water, depleting by a small measure in an instant. Had it not been for the Six Harmonies Divine Skill, which was sufficiently enduring and mighty, an ordinary person wouldn’t dare to play like this.

But he wasn’t pretending for the sake of it; he mainly wanted to test his newfound understanding of "Water Manipulation" from his last dozen days of seclusion.

Though one could achieve propulsion by forcibly injecting True Qi into the boat, the consumption would be even more outrageous. He estimated that before advancing a few miles, he would be panting like a tired dog, lying flat. However, by utilizing and fully understanding the power movement of the seawater—a comprehension achieved from Hua Zhenming—and moving along with the wind direction, he saved much more effort and quicker too.

But to others, it all looked very magical...

"Don’t just stand there gawking," Tang En was the first to snap out of his shock from witnessing the miraculous feat, "Get ashore. Call all our brothers back. Tie up all the islanders!"

The pirates probably never imagined that one day their den would be raided by guests. With all of their combat strength rapidly rushing to their base, only the weak, the ill, the courtesans, and the tavern waiters remained on the island, along with a bunch still asleep. The Tang sailors kidnapped them onto their ship without them knowing what had transpired, as if in a dream.

Are you guys the pirates or are we?

"My lord..." a frightened girl asked Tang En, "where are you taking us?"

Tang En turned his head to look at the vast group of bound, furious islanders, feeling a surge of emotion, and he too felt overwhelmed.

Because he also had no idea where they should go now... His own people were still being carried onto the boats in drunken stupor, and there were no other islands nearby...

Amidst the turmoil, suddenly, a sailor shouted, "What is that!"

Tang En looked into the distance, and under the cover of night, bizarre-shaped monsters emerged one after another from the sea, climbing and leaping towards Taiping Island and swarming the land.

The strange "gurgling" sounds made by the monsters intermingled with the noise of the waves, creating a scene that was both thrilling and eerie.

As if realizing the island was now devoid of humans, a sharp howl came from among the monsters, heads turning in unison, seemingly towards the lights of the far-off ships.

Then, they howled furiously, diving into the sea and surging over, their heads bobbing in the waves. The sailors finally recognized them: "Aren’t those fish heads?"

"Have the sea fish turned into demons?"

The sight of countless Fishmen rapidly approaching, the sea surface riddled with huge fish heads, sent chills down even the most seasoned sailor’s spine.

No wonder Zhao Changhe seemed to be cultivating immortality; didn’t these creatures look like demons?

However, Tang En was an elite valued by the Tang family, with over two decades of seafaring experience. He was the first to recover his wits and shouted loudly, "It’s just a bunch of fish! They can’t fly, nor can they conjure winds and waves to capsize our ship. They still have to laboriously swim over here, obviously aiming for close combat. What’s there to be scared of?"

The others also realized that indeed... looking like demons didn’t mean they were truly powerful, they still had to swim laboriously!

"Form the ships into a line! Prepare the bed crossbows!" Tang En suppressed his unease and managed to reveal a sinister smile, "They’re just a bunch of fat-headed fish, we’ll slaughter them all and take them back to make soup!"

"Swoosh!" The giant crossbow bolts roared out, piercing through the closest Fishman.

The terrifying impact sent the Fishman flying backwards, not ceasing momentum, and piercing through four or five more before stopping.

The voice of the Fishmen ceased for a moment, leaving only the sound of the waves, as if the cold wind was howling in fury.

The ship’s bow, however, was greatly encouraged.

They were just a group of fat-headed fish! They died just the same when pierced by a bolt, and one shot went through four or five of them. It seemed like they might have fish scale armor, but it appeared their defensive power was not beyond reach, not even as good as a human soldier layered in heavy armor!

At this point, the distance between the two parties had also closed significantly, and it was apparent that the number was not as outrageous as it seemed from afar. It seemed that the main force had gone to attack the place marked by fireworks earlier, and Zhao Changhe’s rush to aid was for that location. This was just some small shrimp and crab soldiers attacking the life island, not hard to deal with.

Tang En was substantially reassured at heart and raised his hand to shout fiercely, "Keep firing! Crossbows at the ready! Let these fat-headed fish taste what humans have to offer!"

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!" Thousands of arrows were released at once, blanketing the night sky.

Xia Longyuan probably never imagined that Great Xia’s fleet would first clash with the Sea Race at the Tang family’s domain.

...

Zhao Changhe steered his ship at breakneck speed towards the direction indicated by the fireworks and distress signals. After a little over an hour, he finally caught up with the battle ahead.

Ahead was an archipelago; the environment was complicated. Judging from the currents underfoot and the perception of True Qi, there were hidden reefs below, on which larger ships would likely run aground. The surrounding islands were probably riddled with these reefs.

This must be the real stronghold of the pirates. If it were an ordinary force coming to eliminate the pirates, these reefs alone could potentially annihilate an enemy unfamiliar with the local advantages.

However, the adversaries were not humans.

Countless fish-men covered every island, engaged in fierce combat with the defending pirates.

Fish-men emerged directly from the water—what need did they have for ships? Any geographical advantage turned into a joke; no one dared to speak of "local advantages" when it came to sea encounters with fish-men!

Especially eye-catching was a gigantic shark-man... to see a shark standing upright, who could understand the pressure?

An old man with a twisted beard was brandishing a saber as he tangled with the shark. The elder had a tall and sturdy frame, but he seemed like a child compared to the shark.

But human martial artists do not rely on size for victory. Zhao Changhe could feel the burst of Fist Power from the elder, who was surely also a Second Layer Secret Treasure holder from the Earth List.

The Earth List...

Something seemed off. Shouldn’t this be Dragon King Hai Pinglan?

But looking from left to right, he didn’t seem on par with those perverted characters of the Heavenly List that Changhe recognized. It seemed that he really wasn’t one of them. This individual must be the true leader of the pirates, not San Niang, the makeshift third leader who had temporarily taken the stage.

And the fleets of San Niang and Hua Zhenming were also rapidly approaching the battlefield. San Niang’s beautiful eyes were firmly fixed on the towering shark-man, her slender hand lightly grasped, gathering Mountain-splitting Fist Power, waiting to unleash it as soon as she was within range.

The elder spotted the approaching fleet and with a forceful breath commanded: "Everyone put on your Water Armor, prepare to abandon ship!"

The pirates all had Water Armor on hand, unsure of what their leader meant until they immediately felt all the ships begin to rock.

The next moment countless water spouts shot into the sky, effortlessly capsizing all the approaching pirate ships.

Fortunately, the pirates were prepared. As soon as the ship began to shake, everyone quickly donned their gear and dove into the sea.

In the water, a group of fish-men was already waiting, and instantly, a fierce battle ensued.

San Niang, the only one without aquatic gear, balanced lightly atop the slowly sinking mast, coldly observing a water figure that was slowly rising from the sea.

Zhao Changhe knew that this was the energy construct Xia Longyuan referred to, the same kind hidden behind Wang Daoning. According to Xia Longyuan, this was also a Third Layer Secret Treasure. It wasn’t directly attacking the bearded elder, which clearly showed a high-level intelligence, not of the same rank as the other fish-men.

The so-called "Spellcaster," "Conveyor of the Sea Emperor’s Will."

Xia Longyuan’s indiscriminate action, considering collateral damage, had yielded extremely useful information.

Surprisingly, the water figure spoke human language, "Third Layer Secret Treasure... to think there’s someone like you within the Pirate Group... Third Layer Secret Treasure, a woman, affiliated with water... could you be the Four Symbols Sect’s Xuanwu?"

San Niang certainly did not want the Sea Race to set their sights on the Four Symbols Sect just yet; the Holy Daughter was still out at sea looking for something. She was here to help, not to hinder. She replied, "How could the grand Sea God not know that the Tianyuan Pirate Group has always had a hidden third leader?"

"So, you are the legendary third leader," the water figure replied without any entanglement, calmly stating, "Very good... The Sea God is still in need of a Sea Queen."

San Niang exploded with rage, stepping on the mast, her whole body lunged directly at the water figure.

Before getting close, she unleashed her angry fist.

In an instant, the winds roared wildly, the sea raged, and a terrifying wave of Qi surged, causing a tidal wave to cover the skies.

It was as if that one punch had triggered a tsunami!

A colossal water figure stood ahead, with surging angry waves behind it. The Xuanwu star in the sky shone brightly as the graceful figure floated amidst it, wild and beautiful in her expression. Zhao Changhe, who had caught up from behind, suddenly regretted not having a camera to capture this breathtaking scene. If he could, it would make a perfect wallpaper.

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PS: I’ve been feeling really tired these days, don’t know why. Though I think my sleep has been okay recently...

Anyway, please vote for my monthly ticket~