518: This part is in Chapter 518.

"I'll go after them!"

Liu Hanyi was about to move but was stopped by Lin Xiao.

"Why chase them? You are Feng Yue now, and I am the Prince of Donghai. If we chase them, won't our cover be blown?"

Lin Xiao said, "Since they're delivering themselves to us, we'll just wait for tonight."

Hearing this, Liu Hanyi's beautiful eyes flickered as she said, "Your Highness, the pirate who made an appointment with you seems to be a woman."

"Hmm?" Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow. "What, is there a problem?"

Liu Hanyi directly clung to him, her breath like orchids:

"Your Highness, I'm worried that pirate woman might use some trickery. Before you go to the meeting, you should use me first..."

Lin Xiao didn't hear clearly what came next, but he understood the meaning.

She wanted to practice her cultivation!

At midnight.

Lin Xiao took a carriage to a temple in the south of the city.

Lin Xiao thought it would be a dilapidated, abandoned temple, but who would have thought it was a well-maintained one?

"Amitabha. Your Highness visits late at night; this humble monk pays his respects."

A monk with a fat head and big ears, looking kind and benevolent, greeted him with a smile.

"The benefactor has been waiting for a long time. Your Highness, please come inside..."

Lin Xiao glanced at the monk.

[Monk Jianyun, 39 years old, pirate spy, Aptitude: yellow grade]

Walking further in, he casually looked at a few young monks.

Good heavens! He had walked right into a pirate spy nest!

This Nanshan Temple didn't have any proper monks at all!

Lin Xiao suppressed his killing intent and entered a guest room.

A woman wearing a Japanese-style long dress with red patterns on a white background, revealing two long white legs and with black hair reaching the floor, sat upright on a futon.

The woman had a small round face, delicate and charming features, and was full of allure.

[Yamamoto Hio, 25 years old, Ghost Shark Army intelligence leader, Aptitude: mystic grade]

"Your Highness, please sit."

Yamamoto Hio handed Lin Xiao a cup of tea, smiling to reveal two dimples.

Lin Xiao sat down leisurely. "What business do you have with me?"

"This is what I should be asking Your Highness. Why didn't you reply to my brother's message? Do you really intend to break ties with our Ghost Shark Army?" Yamamoto Hio asked.

Yamamoto? Lin Xiao thought to himself, could this woman be the sister of the Ghost Shark leader, Yamamoto Ryuichi?

It seemed Yamamoto Ryuichi had sent a letter to the Prince of Donghai through Qinhuai Pavilion, but since the pavilion had collapsed, the letter never reached him.

"If you're going to blame someone, blame the Prince of Zhenbei. If he hadn't been so overbearing, I wouldn't have bothered to act."

"So... Your Highness truly intends to send troops to Centipede Island?"

"Naturally."

Yamamoto Hio smiled. "Forgive my bluntness, but the Dan Province Navy cannot possibly defeat our great Ghost Shark Army."

"My brother asked me to pass on a message. If Your Highness is willing to cede the Three Guanglang Islands, our Ghost Shark Army can give you a thousand heads."

"You can take those thousand heads back and give an account to the people of the Eastern Border."

Lin Xiao sneered. "Stop trying to intimidate me. This time, it's not just me who wants the Ghost Shark Army's head. In less than half a month, the Zhenbei Army's naval force will also arrive in Dan Province."

"Your Ghost Shark Army's time is up. Rather than dying at the hands of the Zhenbei Army, you should admit defeat early and scurry back to Japan."

"The Zhenbei Army?"

Yamamoto Hio smiled strangely. "Your Highness worries too much. With just those thirty-odd ships, they'll likely all be lost at sea within a few days."

"Your Highness surely doesn't think that while the Zhenbei Army heads south with such fanfare, the warriors of our Great Sakura Nation will just stand by and watch them pass smoothly?"

Lin Xiao's heart sank. As expected, there was cooperation among the pirates.

These pirates along the route would intercept Zhao Caiwei's navy in advance for the Ghost Shark Army.

"Furthermore... Your Highness shouldn't forget that for all these years, every bribe the Prince Zhaos Mansion and the officials of the Eastern Border provinces received from our Great Sakura Nation has been recorded in our ledgers."

"If this ledger were to be leaked and fall into the hands of the Prince of Zhenbei... I'm afraid he wouldn't even need to deploy troops. The people of the Eastern Border would throw open the city gates and invite the Prince of Zhenbei south to 'root out the traitors.'"

Lin Xiao looked grave, but inside he was grinning!

Tonight was worth it; he actually got an unexpected harvest!

Why hadn't he thought of it before? The pirates would definitely have evidence of collusion with the Prince of Donghai!

Seeing "the Prince of Donghai's" face darken, Yamamoto Hio showed a triumphant expression.

She suddenly stood up and walked to Lin Xiao's side with seductive steps.

She rested a long, snow-white leg on the table in front of Lin Xiao, showing off its stunningly slender lines.

"Your Highness, we are in the same boat. Have you forgotten the taste of Hio serving you last time?"

"You even said... that all the women in the mansion combined couldn't compare to me..."

Damn, Liu Hanyi was right. There really was this part!

Lin Xiao showed a struggling expression, then finally gritted his teeth and pushed the woman away!

"My mind is made up. Leave Centipede Island immediately, or... I will surely slaughter every last member of the Ghost Shark Army!"

Yamamoto Hio looked stunned. Her tried-and-true trick had actually been resisted by this man!

The charm on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold chill. "Your Highness, you Central Plains people have an old saying: 'He who understands the times is a wise man'..."

"You'd better think carefully. If you refuse my proposal, within a month, all the dirty deeds you've done and the evidence will be sent to the Zhenbei Princes Mansion."

"By then, you will not only lose the entire Dan Province Navy but also be spurned by all the people of the Eastern Border!"

Lin Xiao laughed loudly. "Don't forget, the Prince of Zhenbei won't listen to the nonsense of you pirates. Are you sure you really want that guy to govern the Eastern Border?"

Yamamoto Hio frowned. Truth be told, this was indeed what Yamamoto Ryuichi was worried about.

No matter how disobedient the Prince of Donghai was, at least he was easy to deal with.

If the Prince of Zhenbei really came, then Great Sakura would face a formidable enemy.

Facing that god of slaughter, even with an ocean in between, it would be hard to feel at ease!

But... she certainly couldn't back down now.

"The Prince of Zhenbei is powerful, but we can choose to submit. At worst, in the vast ocean, there will always be a place for us to stay."

Yamamoto Hio said coldly, "I'll ask you one last time: a thousand heads in exchange for your withdrawal. Do you agree?"

Lin Xiao gave a light snort and turned to walk out of the room, his attitude already more than clear.

In the darkness, several "monks" with unfriendly eyes emerged and came to Yamamoto Hio's side.

"Leader, should we..."

Yamamoto Hio's eyes flashed with a cold light. "No, killing him here will only make him a hero. Big brother said we must completely crush him on the battlefield!"

Lin Xiao heard all of this and thought to himself that these Yamamoto siblings really did have some skill; their plans were thorough and they knew when to push or pull.

If he hadn't come, based on the Prince of Donghai's character, even if the Eastern Sea Army gave their all, they might not have been able to wipe them out.

Three days later, the sky was clear for thousands of miles.

At the crack of dawn, nearly a hundred warships of the Dan Province Navy set out to sea together, not including the patrol and supply ships.

Although the warships weren't as large as the Zhenbei Army's—each only holding fifty or sixty men—in terms of scale, they were definitely top-tier in Great Gan.

Lin Xiao sat on the flagship. His posture of personally leading the expedition made Commander Guo Youning and many other naval soldiers exceptionally excited.

During the Wei hour in the afternoon, a long chain of islands appeared ahead, like a long worm lying across the sea.

"Your Highness! Centipede Island is just ahead!"

"If we go any further, I'm afraid there will be pirate frogmen coming to scuttle our ships. We need to decide how to fight here."

Commander Guo Youning said solemnly, "Please give the order, Your Highness!"

"Commander Guo, I am not familiar with naval warfare. This expedition will be entirely under your command."

Lin Xiao chose not to interfere; in fact, he really was a layman when it came to naval battles.

Commander Guo Youning wasn't surprised; on the contrary, he felt a sense of relief.

"This general obeys!"

He walked to the bow and ordered with signal flags: "All warships, disperse formation! The first and second battalions will lead the frontal assault with firearm suppression from a distance. The third and fourth battalions will outflank them from both sides and land!"

As Commander Guo Youning's orders were relayed, the grand fleet of a hundred warships began their charge toward Centipede Island!