Chapter 50

Baron's eldest son left the island at age ten and has not returned for ten years.

Everyone says the Baron's eldest son is a good-for-nothing; only the Baron, wearing patched leather armor and riding a skinny old horse, year after year sends his meager income to Dawn City to pay high tuition.

Now the Baron has been assassinated; this eldest son, almost condemned by all islanders as a good-for-nothing, whom everyone thought would forever remain in prosperous Dawn City, has actually returned.

Not only did he return, he also brought back three large, magnificent ships and declared he would protect them.

For a moment, the islanders of Sturgeon Wharf felt as if they were dreaming.

(a chanting sound)

The Sea Fishmen also spotted the approaching fleet; amidst shrill howls, some of them turned and rushed into the water, swiftly swimming toward the cargo ship.

They have extensive experience dealing with cargo ships.

Simply approach from underwater, use fishbone weapons to bore several large holes in the hull, and you can watch these huge vessels quickly sink beneath the sea.

By then, all the humans aboard would become their prey.

As a large group of Sea Fishmen swam toward the cargo ship, the Blaze Regiment also began formally entering combat state.

Regiment Commander Yap loudly issued tactical orders to his three deputy regiment commanders.

"Harry, make the seawater around the hull boil~~"

Deputy Regiment Commander Harry is a High-tier Battle Mage, responsible for directing the twenty battle mages in the regiment.

These battle mages are organized into teams of five, making four teams total.

Team members are Intermediate Mages, while team leaders are all High-tier Mages.

Harry immediately issued specific tactics: "Teams 1 and 2 on standby, team 3 on the left side of the bow, team 4 on the right, joint resonance casting, 'Boiling Water Technique'."

The low-level spell "Boiling Water Technique" is the most effective method against underwater ambush by Sea Fishmen.

The so-called "Joint Resonance Casting" is a special casting mode of the army, requiring the consumption of resonance runes; although it does not alter spell intensity, it can greatly increase spell scale.

The combined casting of ten Intermediate-High Mages is enough to engulf the hull in boiling water.

At the same time, Yap looked toward the captain: "Advance in a line formation, let the boiling water cover the hull of the entire fleet."

The captain immediately had the crew signal the rear ship via flags.

Yap immediately issued third order: "Ned, electrocute the fishmen on shore into charcoal!"

Deputy Regiment Commander Ned leads fifty elite crossbowmen, whose heavy steel crossbows have an effective range of up to four hundred meters and are equipped with various special-function rune bolts.

He immediately ordered his subordinates: "Teams 1, 2, and 3, target the Sea Fishmen on shore, Thunderbolt Arrows, three rounds of covering fire."

Yap's orders didn't stop.

"Ned, snipe Sea Fishmen of intermediate strength or above!"

"Harry, search for the Sea Fishman leader; once found, directly curse to death!"

Following his order, on the flagship cargo ship, scorching hot fire lines suddenly rose, drawing beautiful arcs in the air, precisely landing on the beach outside the embankment.

These fire lines, upon landing, violently explode into a circular electric net, covering a diameter of up to ten meters and lasting five seconds.

Sea Fishmen struck by lightning are either dead or crippled.

Even more lethal, Thunderbolt Arrows often fall where Sea Fishmen are most densely packed.

Thus one arrow at least kills or injures five to ten Sea Fishmen.

Each volley of thirty arrows, after three rounds, the Sea Fishmen on the beach instantly thin by sixty percent, with the remaining Sea Fishmen almost all wounded.

At the same time, vicious cold arrows are interspersed, continually harvesting the lives of strong fishmen.

And those Sea Fishmen who dive from the seabed toward the large cargo ship are even more unfortunate.

Many Sea Fishmen dove directly into the boiling water, instantly becoming boiled frogs.

At the seabed, they also fail to grasp the situation, just keep charging forward; when they realize it's wrong and try to retreat, it's already too late.

Thus many fishmen were boiled to death by the boiling water.

Only see where the cargo ship passed, white steam rose, and each Sea Fishman floated belly-up on the sea surface.

Just moments ago the fishmen army, mighty as a rainbow, was instantly dazed by this fierce and precise attack; the battle situation was instantly reversed 180 degrees by the Blaze Regiment.

"Haha~ Found you!"

Deputy Regiment Commander Harry suddenly shouted: "Team 1, lock onto my sigil, Shatter Heart Curse!"

Team 1's five mages had already formed a pentagram on the deck, each with head down, hands tightly gripping their standard battle magic staff, linking mana via Soul Bridge.

After three seconds, the team leader suddenly raised the staff; the gem at the tip burst into a circle of deep purple light: "Soul Curse: Shatter Heart!"

With that, the purple light on the gem spread outward a circle, dissipating in the air after half a meter.

Almost simultaneously, a conspicuous mana disturbance appeared in the seawater about 180 meters from the cargo ship.

Half a second later, the disturbance faded like a lamp; after a moment, a Sea Fishman with light purple skin surfaced.

Obviously, this Sea Fishman is the commander of this attack; from the mana disturbance just now, he should have intermediate peak mana cultivation.

Unfortunately, facing a combined curse strike from a team of intermediate-high battle mages, he was instantly killed.

The commander killed, the casualties that instantly appeared were so horrific, Sea Fishman morale instantly collapsed.

In a confused clamor, they flung open their webbed big feet and dove into the water to flee.

In an instant, only fishman corpses littered the beach.

Such an efficient and terrifying combat method left the garrison of White Sturgeon Wharf staring agape.

Meanwhile, the crew and sailors from Shire County all looked reverent, gazing at the Blaze Regiment's warriors with the eyes of beholding a war god.

Selena watched this scene, spiritually whispering to Luosen: "The Blaze Regiment's combat strength is not bad."

Luosen slightly nodded in agreement: "In the northern Weilan, it counts as the strongest regiment, and is Count Robert's greatest reliance."

But only in northern Weilan.

Looking across all Weilan, several elite corps can rival the Blaze Regiment, while Dawn City's Dawnlight Crusader Legion is even more dominant, its whole corps are high-tier professionals.

White Continent still has something stronger.

Aaron's Lionheart Legion, Kao's Blaze Knights, Levinde's Royal Mage Corps are the elite of the elite, practically like otherworldly nuclear weapons.

On the battlefield, unless they meet an equal legion, they are the incarnations of war gods on earth.

After a while, three cargo ships entered the White Sturgeon dock one after another.

【Clang—】

The gate of the dock's defensive wall opened.

A bearded man in worn leather armor, holding a rusted iron spear, stepped forward first.

Two similarly worn-armor aides followed behind him.

Behind them was a group of villagers holding spears, each face showing a mix of confusion and awe.

They couldn't believe that the legendary good-for-nothing eldest son could be this strong.

Luosen had already walked to the bow, looking down at the bearded man at the front.

"Tato, when I left back then, you were still a squire holding my father's horse; do you still recognize me?"

Tato lifted his eyes and carefully sized up Luosen. All the White Sturgeon islanders were doing the same.

In the sunlight, the young man had a thick mass of black curly hair, pure black eyes, and features and a tall, sturdy build as rugged as the old baron's.

He was practically a younger version of the old baron.

Tato immediately concluded that this had to be the old baron's biological son; otherwise he wouldn't resemble him so much.

As everyone knows, the old baron is a very devoted man who loves only one woman, so he has only one son.

Therefore, this young man before us must be the baron's eldest son.

Thus, Tato shouted: "Young master, you've finally returned!"

Ailiya immediately corrected: "Not young master, but lord!"

Luosen also frowned: "What are you hesitating about? Why won't you swear allegiance to me?!"

Tato's gaze swept over the three fully loaded cargo ships and the gleaming-armored warriors on the deck, he gulped, then went 【plop】 and half-kneeled in the mud.

He planted his spear in the ground with both hands and shouted loudly: "I, the guardian of the Sturgeon Dock, Senior Knight Tato, in the name of Mother Nature, swear allegiance to you!"

Luosen nodded satisfactorily: "Good, Knight Tato, I accept your allegiance."

Then he looked at the two sturdy men behind Tato and said: "My father told me there are three knights stationed at the Sturgeon Dock; you must be Tato's aides, right?"

The two knights had already been shaken by Luosen's display, nodding repeatedly.

"Then why not pledge allegiance to me?"

「Plop~Plop~」

The two knight aides also immediately swore allegiance.

Luosen nodded satisfactorily: "Now, organize the villagers to help unload the ship!"

As he spoke, he flung ten gold coins with Mage Hand: "This is a reward for your brave fighting; take it and split it yourselves."

Tato snatched them up, clenched the coins tightly in his hand, and his heart instantly burned hot.

"What a generous new baron!"

This was the largest reward he had ever received in his life, while the old baron did give rewards too, but they were just a chicken or a leather glove—only a token consolation.

"He brought back so much supplies and such strong troops; it looks like he accomplished something big in Dawn City."

His hesitation vanished; he resolved to serve the new baron well, then turned and bellowed at the villagers: "What are you standing around for? Why aren't you helping the lord unload the ship?!"

The villagers snapped out of their daze and rushed forward to help unload the ship.

Luosen also led the others down the ship.

He had taken just a few steps when a young man dressed as an ordinary fisherman strode out from the crowd.

It was Shitou, who had come ahead to scout the situation on White Sturgeon Island.

His face was somewhat grim, as if he had uncovered some bad news.

Luosen waved and sent Klub to direct the unloading of supplies, while he and Selena went forward to wait for the report.

Stonard wore a worried expression: "My lord, the situation on the island is not good; a serious internal conflict has erupted."

Luosen shrugged: "That really is bad news; what exactly is the situation?"

"Simply put, your uncle Sir Alès and your aunt's husband Sir Sad both claim they have a right to inherit the barony."

"Besides, there are three other knights: two support your uncle, one supports your aunt's husband. Every day they lead their own knights, dragging along farmers from various towns, and brawl in the fields."

Shitou wanted to call it war, but the scale is really too small, with hardly any equipment; both sides are in rags, and when they fight there's basically no tactics, just sheer hot-blooded courage.

So calling it war is really too grandiose; it's more like a brawl.

Princess Selena let out a 「pfft」 laugh: "Luosen, now I really feel like I've been exiled."

The impoverished environment, the infamous reputation, the unsavory internal strife—truly a barbaric backwater on the edge of civilization.

As for these circumstances, Luosen had long known them; he was just using Stonard's mouth to say them now.

He smiled and assured his wife: "Don't worry, tonight we'll be able to rest in Crescent Castle."

Stonard immediately shook his head: "Master, it's not that simple."

"Sir Alès, that is your uncle, gained the upper hand in the struggle and seized Crescent Castle half a month ago."

"I also heard that the over sixty Crescent Knights who originally served the old lord have all switched their allegiance to Sir Alès."

"So Sir Alès now has the allegiance of over a hundred knights, plus their retinues, amounting to more than four hundred regular troops, most of whom are currently in Crescent City."

Selena blinked: "Oh, this really is bad news."

Luosen shrugged: "Indeed it's a bit bad, but fortunately we were prepared."

"Shitou, any more?"

"Yes!"

Stonard's face grew graver as he lowered his voice: "I've discovered that the knights might be secretly cooperating with the Forest Spirit. Sir, it's quite possible the old master wasn't simply killed by the Forest Spirit."

Luosen raised his eyebrows slightly: "Heh~ This matter is somewhat interesting."

This shows that hidden in the forests of White Sturgeon Island are some new situations he doesn't know about.

After pondering for a moment, he said: "I understand this matter. Return to your unit."

At the same time, he silently thought: "Laifu, I want to defeat Knight Ales as quickly as possible; given the current information, what is the most suitable tactic?"

Laifu's Heart of the War God has a branch ability called War Simulation, which Luosen trained using various war records from the White Continent.

It covers both grand strategy and minor tactics.

At this moment the ability activates, immediately beginning the simulation.

One second later it gives the answer: "Use elite forces to launch a blitz strike on Crescent City."

This is exactly what Luosen thought.

Such small-scale war simulations involving fewer than a thousand people pose little difficulty for the mind, so the War Simulation ability is optional.

The true advantage of the War Simulation ability lies in simulating large-scale troop engagements of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

Luosen also doesn't know whether he will ever get to use this ability in his lifetime.

Of course, that's for the future; currently, what is most needed is elite forces.

Thus, he turned and walked toward the Flame War Regiment that was being reorganized.

"Regiment Commander Yup, we need to have a good talk."

Yup's hearing is excellent; he had already heard the news from Stonard, and seeing Luosen approach, he naturally knew his purpose.

He chuckled to himself: "This time I'll make money again; I must empty this baron's pockets."

Luosen, seeing his expression, roughly guessed his thoughts and also smirked inwardly.

"You've come to my island and still want to earn my money? However you earned it, spend it here."

(End of chapter)