In the pitch-black night, a searing flare suddenly shot into the sky, releasing waves of tidal light, followed by a second, then a third...
Right on their heels, glaring beams as brutal as miniature suns bore down alongside a deafening roar. Helicopters looked down from above, piercing the white fog and illuminating one terrified face after another.
All around the battered, sixth-hand Imperial destroyer, colossal shadows breached the mist without warning, boxing it in from front and rear.
Piercing alarms echoed across the entire expanse of sea.
When the brilliant lights dispersed the fog and flared once more, warships had already encircled them—practically right in front of their eyes!
Like soldiers descending from heaven!
"...S-Seven Cities?!"
The captain stared up in a daze, unable to believe it. Then, bursting into wild ecstasy, he waved his arms and shouted at the top of his lungs, "It's the Seven Cities Joint Defense fleet! Holy shit, it's the Seven Cities!
"Dr. Yu, we're saved! We're saved!"
He laughed madly, tugging at Yu Shu and cheering. But Yu Shu stood there like an empty shell, staring blankly at it all, barely able to process what was happening.
On the deck, the screaming officer's expression changed drastically. He shouted something frantically toward his subordinates, and the captain's face contorted in alarm.
"Kill them! Hurry! Don't leave anyone alive!"
The officer was screaming in a local dialect, "Or you and your children are dead!"
The soldiers snapped out of their confusion, raising their rifles toward the medical team, desperate to silence the witnesses before it was too late.
Yet at that exact instant, a cold snort rang out.
From the lead flagship, a low grunt reverberated like rolling thunder. Wherever it passed, vision blackened, limbs turned to lead, and bodies paralyzed.
The thuds of men collapsing sounded continuously.
Ropes dropped down from the helicopters, followed in rapid succession by heavily armed figures. Unlike the ragtag rabble on the destroyer, every one of them was impeccably equipped, towering and brawny, armed to the teeth.
Arriving even faster than they did were stun grenades.
Amid the chaos and clamor, everyone was subdued and pinned down firmly. Even the wailing officer was injected with an anesthetic and whisked away for emergency treatment.
When the flagship edged alongside and lowered its gangway, an impatient voice rang out.
"Are you filming this?"
His face grim, Minkler charged aboard with a large entourage. Pointing at the gruesome scene on deck with righteous indignation, he shouted, "Record everything! Quick, let our friends in the media take a look! Barbaric! Absolutely barbaric! Look, look at this! The blood on the deck isn't even dry yet!
"Not only did that deranged madman Ekonzo send his warships to invade the territorial waters of our Seven Cities, but in order to spread a virus and achieve his unspeakable ambitions, he even went so far as to kidnap the humanitarian medical team sent by the Church of Chongguang specifically to aid the Seven Cities!
"Waging war without declaration! A despicable sneak attack! How can human scum like this still have the nerve to walk this earth?! Fortunately, before the absolute worst could happen, the medical team has been rescued by our Seven Cities Joint Defense!"
"I apologize, everyone. I am deeply sorry I couldn't arrive sooner—"
Spreading his arms, he gave a vigorous hug to each bewildered, dazed member of the medical team, promising them, "You are safe now. Rest assured, we will definitely make that lunatic Ekonzo pay!"
Camera flashes flared endlessly alongside the constant clicking of shutters.
In the brief silence, members of the medical team finally came to their senses. Unable to hold back any longer, they broke into sobs and tears, embracing one another in tearful relief over having survived the ordeal.
"Which one is Yu Shu? Which one of you is Mr. Yu Shu? Where is his wife?"
Minkler strode straight toward the two doctors, the rehearsed smile from his public performance still lingering on his face. After giving Yu Shu a hug, he lowered his voice and murmured in his ear, "Rest easy, you're safe. Mr. Ji sent me.
"He told me to tell you that your father has been worried sick about you."
Yu Shu froze on the spot.
Speechless, he merely held his sobbing wife tight, gripping her with all his strength, refusing to let go.
Naturally, someone escorted them to Minkler's private luxury lounge aboard the ship, complete with cigars, red wine, soothing incense, plush bedding, and fresh amenities.
A place to rest properly.
There was even a phone provided so they could call home to report that they were safe.
Meanwhile, all the invading war criminals were swiftly subdued and locked away. The battered Imperial destroyer also became the spoils of war for the Seven Cities Joint Defense.
With foresight and complete mastery of the situation, Deputy Commander Minkler—who had fretted day and night for the nation and its people ever since taking office—had keenly caught wind of the mad warmonger's sinister scheme. Striking out with divine troops, he had decisively crushed Ekonzo's vile surprise attack, once again safeguarding the security of the Seven Cities!
Done! All taken care of!
Come daybreak tomorrow, this headline would be splashed across every television station in the Seven Cities. Another grand tale and legend would be added to the memoirs of the celebrated general, Minkler!
The moment he shut the door to his cabin on the ship, he could no longer contain his beam of delight, humming a tune with pure glee.
*Ah, as expected of my Brother Ji—no, Uncle Ji! His moves really are something else!*
*From this day on, your humble boy will follow his godfather through fire and water without a second thought!*
With just a flick of Ji's finger, ready-made military merit had landed right in his lap.
It was as if Ekonzo were a dog kept in Ji Jue's own yard!
Minkler hadn't needed to do anything at all. He had simply used his authority to mobilize the fleet for an emergency drill and lined them up in formation, only for the enemy destroyer to steam straight into his net.
A bloodless victory, secured in one sweep!
On top of that, he had fulfilled Ji Jue's request to 'try not to kill anyone' to perfection.
Indeed: before capturing them, no killing allowed; after capturing them, throw them into court and sentence them however you like!
What was this?
This was an army of righteousness, a force of supreme justice!
*Snap!*
A flash of light cut through the sky, and alarms sounded once more as if something had descended from above. But very quickly, the alarm was dismissed.
An elderly woman bearing the emblem of Chongguang above her brow appeared on deck. After politely presenting her credentials to the officer and thanking him for their righteous deed, she requested to meet with the medical team.
"Mother Letayo?"
Yu Shu recognized her face and blinked in surprise. "Didn't you go to the headquarters? Why are you..."
Letayo's expression was conflicted. With a melancholic sigh, she hugged them. "I'm sorry, child. I didn't end up being of any use.
"I was just meeting with the Seven Cities to plead for assistance, only to find out that Old Skinflint Deng had sought help on his own.
"The moment he confirmed you were safe, he made his confession to the church.
"Although he received a reprimand and a warning, I have to say, in all these years, this was the one thing he did that suited my tastes best. I had already prepared to request self-exile if there was no way to resolve this."
"Father... Is Father all right?" Yu Shu asked anxiously.
The other team members showed equal concern.
The title 'Father', like 'Mother', was how children raised in the church addressed their guardians. Though customs varied from place to place, elders and children unrelated by blood all took immense pride in a bond unfettered by lineage.
"Don't worry, he's fine. He's currently suspended pending an investigation, but it's just standard procedure. After all, nothing went wrong. Oh, by the way, remember to thank that Mr. Ji on my behalf when you can."
Before departing, Mother Letayo reached out, hugged Yu Shu once more, and smiled. "You did wonderfully as well. You did not let down his expectations of you."
Yu Shu went quiet for a moment, letting out a self-deprecating laugh.
He pulled open his collar.
The emblem had turned pitch-black.
"Mother," he murmured, "I killed someone."
"..."
Letayo froze, gazing at him in disbelief. Soon, as if reading something from him, she glimpsed what had transpired earlier, and a faint glint of tears surfaced in her eyes.
"My poor child."
Still holding the young man before her, she rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his forehead.
"Do not be afraid," she said softly. "Even so, I am still proud of you."
Yu Shu stiffened, his lips trembling slightly.
Unable to hold it back any longer, he buried his face in her shoulder and broke into a wail.
***
Mother Letayo departed just as she had arrived, though with lighter steps.
The most pressing crisis had been resolved; the rest could be handled in due course. Come daybreak tomorrow, the Church of Chongguang would step forward to express its gratitude for the righteous intervention of the Seven Cities Joint Defense fleet, dispatching an additional humanitarian medical team to the Seven Cities while sternly condemning Ekonzo's monstrous atrocities.
At least on the surface, that was how it would be.
And that was all that was needed.
Prestige was power. The Church of Chongguang needed only to declare its stance. From there, plenty of clever figures would leap at the chance to enforce justice on heaven's behalf.
Amid the thin mist, Yu Shu stood on the ship, staring blankly out at the distant waters.
Amid the surging swells, for a fleeting instant, he seemed to hear that distant singing again—corpses drifting past one after another, floating toward the far horizon.
When he looked back in confusion, he caught sight of the faint silhouette of an island deep within the white fog, and atop that island, a towering spire rising straight from the earth, reaching as if toward the sky...
Then it all vanished.
Gone completely.
He could no longer hear the song.
***
"Strange..."
Inside the workshop, Ji Jue frowned as he stared at the charts on the screen before him. "Did the signal cut out again for two seconds just now? A satellite relay delay?"
"No, sir," Isis replied. "Two signal dropouts occurred—one lasting four seconds, the other three seconds. Noise and interference appeared in our readings, accompanied by abnormal fluctuations in spiritus."
Ji Jue's brow furrowed immediately. "Is there a Celestial Chosen making mischief behind the scenes?"
"No. Cross-referencing suggests it is closer to a natural phenomenon, but with insufficient data and excessive interference, it cannot be identified for now."
Isis asked, "I have logged and archived the incident. Shall we continue monitoring it moving forward?"
"If we encounter it again, analyze it further and see."
Ji Jue let out a yawn. Having operated everything by remote control all night, he was exhausted as well.
"The elder sent a message expressing his gratitude, and I have replied on your behalf," Isis reported. "Also, the tool—ah, Mr. Minkler is calling."
"Put him through."
Once the call connected, the details matched Ji Jue's arrangements without any surprises.
Only the events that had occurred aboard the vessel, along with the atrocities and evidence extracted from interrogating Ekonzo's men, caused Ji Jue to freeze in silence for a long while.
"...Is that so? I understand."
He lowered his gaze, his tone abruptly turning cold. "Since they are pirates and invaders, execute them... Make it quick and clean. Pull up the evil by its roots.
"That way, it'll serve as a bit of a warning to others as well, won't it?"
"Rest easy, leave it all to me!"
Minkler thumped his chest, making a flurry of lavish promises before reluctantly hanging up.
He was practically drooling for Uncle Ji Jue to drop another massive reward on him.
*Please, oh please! Your boy really wants it!*
*Give me some more!*
Chapter 474