The Ships That Finally Reached Shore

"Hit him!" Zhu Jiaming prayed in his heart. Truth be told, if he had thought things through a bit more earlier, or if someone had warned him beforehand that the battle would unfold like this—chopped into ribbons right off the bat, brushing shoulders with death every passing second—he very likely would have hesitated and backed out. At least in that moment just now, he had genuinely regretted it. Yet matters had reached a point where regret was too late. And if he kept fighting... the Little Prince knew he was dead for sure. He pinned all his hopes on this single strike... Alas, *Clang!* Fonseca was formidable after all. At the hair's-breadth instant, he exhausted the very last wisp of source energy surging through his body and took a desperate gamble, chopping his blade straight down toward his own chest. The sword in the Little Prince's hand shattered. Fonseca's strength far exceeded the Little Prince's. Moreover, installing a spring mechanism inside a dead iron weapon inevitably made the blade itself more brittle, especially at the joint. The sword broke. What was meant to be a fatal blow ultimately left only a shallow wound across Fonseca's chest. And the Little Prince was, for the moment, out of tricks. Holding his breath, Zhu Jiaming tried to force another surge of source energy, struggling to twist his body around... He needed to run. However, with both sides exhausted of momentum and at the absolute end of their tether, Fonseca would clearly recover faster and sooner than he could. So, *It's over.* The Little Prince let out a bitter lament in his heart. *Why did I act on impulse and do something so idiotic? Sigh, Zhu Jiaming, don't you have any friends?* *That's right, you don't... Haha.* He mocked himself in vexation. Right then, *Bang!* A gunshot rang out. By the time the Little Prince heard the gunshot, the bullet had already drilled into Fonseca's chest. So it wasn't an ordinary bullet. ...Regrettably, it still didn't seem fatal. In that split second just before, Fonseca had already summoned another surge of source energy. He was wounded, but not dead. His thoughts suddenly a jumble, Zhu Jiaming froze slightly. He had assumed that regardless of his pleading or desperate reminders, under today's dire battle conditions, Wen Jifei would never use that final bullet on his behalf. Yet Wen Jifei had fired. That very last bullet had been aimed straight at Fonseca. Fonseca had been shot, but hadn't died. ...Then Fonseca died. The Little Prince suddenly caught sight of a blood-stained spearhead. A black spear plunged through Fonseca's back, right through his heart, and burst out from his chest. "Right?" Wu Xu asked earnestly, an uncharacteristic trace of urgency in his voice. "Ah... right." Zhu Jiaming knew he was asking about his left and right. Impressive. The Wu Lizard had actually gotten left and right correct twice in a row today. Zhu Jiaming gave him a bewildered look. Faced with two top-tier fighters trying to surround and kill him, Zhu Jiaming had no idea how Wu Xu had suddenly appeared here. Only when Wu Xu pulled free his spear and turned around did he see the two slash wounds on his back, blood gushing like a fountain. *Holy crap, why do I feel a little touched... No, no, if this keeps up, they're going to lead me astray.* The Little Prince struggled to keep his wits about him, reminding himself, *In front of the Bones of Eternal Life, there are no friends, no sentiment. Even Han the bastard would agree with me on that.* Glancing sideways, the figure of Han the bastard happened to enter his sight. He was there too, out of the sand pit. Perhaps because he had arrived a step too late, he had moved to intercept the two top-tier fighters pursuing Wu Xu from behind. With a single blade stroke, he forced them both back... or perhaps merely shocked them into retreating. "You've recovered?!" Zhu Jiaming couldn't help asking in pleasant surprise. Han Qingyu turned his head to look at him, blood steadily spilling from his mouth. Rather wretchedly, he said, "I'll leave them to you guys." With that, he turned away. Han Qingyu hadn't recovered at all. On the contrary, Theodore had already gathered himself. Enraged by Fonseca's death, the super combatant of the Black Hand was currently cleaving downward through the air with all his might. Over there stood only Rusty Sister. *Boom!* The moment Rusty Sister raised her blade to parry, it met empty air. Han Qingyu and the column sword hung horizontal above her, cutting off Theodore's strike. Likewise, as his body fell, the miniature column sword shot forward from a bizarre angle. Theodore narrowly dodged it, irritated: "Is that all you've got?!" The answer was yes. That was indeed all Han Qingyu had left. Aside from pinning his hopes on the excruciating pain wracking his internal organs and the four Bones of Eternal Life steadily vanishing within him, he had no chance of victory tonight. Yet just like that—once, twice, three times—he and Rusty Sister held off Theodore's assault together, occasionally even managing to strike back... *Boom!* Finally, once more, Han Qingyu was smashed bodily into the sand pit. Rusty Sister parried the follow-up slash, then swept her blade through a cluster of enemies rushing toward the sand pit, until she too could no longer hold out. A mouthful of blood suddenly surged up her throat. Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, Rusty Sister panicked and forced it back down. Had Zhe Qiuhong seen or known of this in that moment, she would have been overjoyed. It meant certain functions were gradually recovering... Yet the timing was all wrong. She didn't know, and even if she had, there was no time for explanations or joy. And Rusty Sister herself was completely oblivious to what it meant. A flurry of intense footsteps suddenly echoed behind them... *More of them?!* Rusty Sister forced a breath into her lungs and turned, only to find their own people arriving. Wen Jifei had led the three-hundred-man formation in a desperate charge toward them. Drawing within a hundred meters, the circular defensive formation wheeled around and spread into a winged formation, bracing back-to-back with Rusty Sister and Han Qingyu... They were going to hold off the swarm of ambushers descending from the rear. This was the only thing the three-hundred-man formation could do right now, and in all likelihood, they wouldn't truly be able to pull it off. Black Tooth and He Tangtang had shouldered far too much of the slaughter; now they could barely even remain standing. They couldn't hold on much longer either. At the same time, for the very same reason, Wu Xu and the Little Prince were fighting desperately on the other side, trying to hack their way out of the encirclement... *Bang!* Wen Jifei fired a shot in that direction. At the sound of the gunshot, the mob besieging Wu Xu and the Little Prince, along with the crowd pursuing from behind, came to a frightened halt at the same time. After all, a top-tier fighter had just died the last time that gun sounded. "...Don't be afraid! That was already his third shot! Even if he never fired it before, that gun has at most one bullet left!" Azure's source-energy-powered firearms were no longer a secret. From within the dusty-yellow crowd, someone shouted at the top of their lungs. "..." Wen Jifei gritted his teeth. He didn't dare fire an ordinary bullet at anyone; doing so would cost him even his final shred of deterrence. This was the endgame. Even the top combatants were at the end of their rope... Now that the Elegy of the Square was no longer fragile, this should have been his playground. Yet there was nothing he could do. Amidst the clamor, Rusty Sister stood on the other side of the crowd, her body swaying slightly. She looked up, her gaze stubborn behind her visor, and stared at Theodore. "One of the Four Supers of the City of Iniquity, serving as a dog for Alphonse. Aren't you ashamed? Aren't you afraid of Shu You finding out?" Theodore gave a faint laugh. Having fought to this point, victory was finally in his grasp... He was no longer in any hurry. After some thought, he figured it was better to leave these people for the mastermind himself to slaughter. The mastermind had already arrived. Besides, when it came to the iron armor's question, Theodore wasn't afraid. It was too far out here; Shu You couldn't possibly learn the truth so quickly, let alone rush over in time. And after tonight, neither he nor his men intended to remain... The man whom that person had once followed would grant them new identities, a haven of freedom, and tremendous wealth... Most importantly, he would share the secret of eternal life with him. Right then, toward the sea, the crowd of onlookers suddenly fell into a panic. Out on the near waters, a fleet had appeared. The lead vessel was towering and magnificent, with a figure standing on the foredeck. "Who's that?" "Who is it?" "Could it be a hunting team?" The crowd murmured nervously. Behind his sniper scope, Wen Jifei suddenly realized: Alphonse was here. They had never met Alphonse in person, but they had encountered his descendants and cut them down with their own hands. The figure standing on the bow looked even younger than his grandson, which made no sense. Yet Wen Jifei's intuition told him that it was Alphonse himself. The fleet numbered more than a dozen ships, but Alphonse had brought only around two hundred men, mostly to serve as sailors. He hadn't come with the intention of attacking the City of Iniquity. In terms of combat power, the standoff between him and Shu You currently looked like this: he dared not enter the city for fear of being swarmed, while Shu You was temporarily incapable of chasing him across the open seas. The ships were meant to evacuate Theodore's men from the Black Hand. Having mobilized in full force tonight, the Black Hand had no intention of returning to the city. Beyond slaughtering Han Qingyu and the others, they would incidentally harvest the crowd on the shore as a final parting supply from the City of Iniquity. If there were individuals of high status among them, they wouldn't mind taking them hostage out to sea and forcing their factions or families to bring ransoms for a trade. *Damn it! What the hell is this?!* Wen Jifei's mind was in total chaos. A barrage of thoughts flashed through his head at once—running, but how many could escape? Unwillingness, refusing to accept dying at Alphonse's hands, and... Glancing sideways, he caught sight of another ship appearing. It approached from the opposite side, making no pause as it steered straight toward the shore. *Is that a ship that arrived late?* Theodore thought. *Azure?!* Wen Jifei thought, nervous and excited. The vessel ground to a halt. Having noticed through binoculars early on that something was wrong, more than a dozen people leaped down onto the shore the moment the ship stopped. Two of them sprinted over carrying a large wooden crate, shouting, "Second Lieutenant Wen?! Is Second Lieutenant Wen there?! Give us the signal you agreed on with Tu Zi..." "Over here!" Positioned relatively close to the shore to begin with, Wen Jifei hurriedly ran to high ground and raised his hand to make the prearranged classified signal. The wooden crate came howling through the air, crashing down onto the sand slope. Instead of sliding, it lodged heavily into the earth.