520: Chapter 520 is a Great Loyal Minister

In fact, many of the naval soldiers had already realized that the "Prince of Donghai" had been captured and were panicking.

At this moment, they all turned their eyes toward Commander Guo Youning, caught in a dilemma.

Grief welled up in Commander Guo Youning; he hadn't expected such a disastrous start. Not only were there heavy casualties, but even his own Prince had been dragged into it.

But as a subordinate of the Prince of East Sea, he could only prioritize saving the Prince's life.

Besides, with the current low morale, they would likely lose even if they ignored the Prince's safety and launched a full-scale attack.

"Retreat..."

Commander Guo Youning had no choice but to grit his teeth and give the order.

Instantly, the pirates of the Ghost Shark Army erupted in cheers of victory, hurling all sorts of foul language at the Dan Province Navy.

In contrast, the soldiers of Dan Province were in a sorry state, crowding onto the remaining functional warships and retreating dejectedly.

Cowardly, frustrated, angry, yet helpless!

"Prince! This general will definitely come to save you! You must hold on!!"

Commander Guo Youning shouted toward Lin Xiao, tears streaming down his face.

"Yamamoto Ryuichi! If you dare harm the Prince, I swear I will take your life!!"

Lin Xiao wore a wry smile; this man surnamed Guo was a decent naval instructor, but he was far too foolishly loyal.

With a master like Prince of Donghai, why bother caring about his life or death?

To put it bluntly, Commander Guo Youning felt in his bones that a Prince was noble and transcendent, and no matter how many soldiers were sacrificed, they could never be compared to the Prince's life.

Lin Xiao once again deeply realized that some things could not be changed overnight.

Even if he could bring advanced ideas and systems, the people of this world might not necessarily be willing to accept them.

Night fell.

The victorious Ghost Shark Army returned to the island and began their celebration.

Many supplies left behind by the Dan Province Army during the day had been looted by them.

Lin Xiao was locked in a wooden cage, guarded by two pirates.

At dinner time, Yamamoto Hio came to the cell door and set down a plate of food.

"Prince, the conditions on the island aren't great. Just make do with this."

Lin Xiao asked casually, "How long do you plan to keep this Prince locked up?"

Yamamoto Hio giggled, "What, are you finally scared?"

Lin Xiao looked at the woman shaking with laughter and felt a bit of regret; with such good looks, it was a pity she wasn't an action actress.

"Don't worry, Prince. As long as you cooperate obediently, my brother won't kill you."

Yamamoto Hio said, "You might be stupid, but at least you're the legitimate Prince of East Sea. That status is still somewhat useful."

Lin Xiao nodded. In terms of "cost-effectiveness," killing Prince of Donghai was the most pointless thing to do; it would only leave the Dan Province Navy with no choice but to fight to the death.

It might even be spun as the "Prince of East Sea dying heroically in battle," causing the people of the Eastern Border to unite against a common enemy and strengthening their resolve to fight the pirates.

On the contrary, a living Prince of East Sea, a hostage kidnapped in such a pathetic manner... could be used to squeeze out a lot of benefits.

"You pirates actually have some brains, but not many," Lin Xiao commented.

Yamamoto Hio's face turned cold. "Hmph, still talking tough when death is at your door. You're just a captured prisoner; what right do you have to comment on our great warriors of the Great Sakura Nation?"

Lin Xiao stood up silently and patted the dust off his clothes.

Then, a burst of True Qi erupted with a "bang!"

The wooden cage surrounding him instantly disintegrated into countless fragments!

The two pirates guarding him were impaled by the wood splinters and died on the spot.

Yamamoto Hio also let out a scream as bloody gashes were carved all over her body, including her face!!

Before Yamamoto Hio could react, Lin Xiao had already grabbed her by the throat!

"You... you're not Zhao... Who exactly are you..."

Yamamoto Hio looked terrified, her throat unable to draw breath, her whole body feeling as if its strength had been drained.

At this moment, she finally realized—they had captured the wrong person!?

"Are the ledgers of Prince of Donghai and the Eastern Border officials' secret dealings with you on this island?" Lin Xiao asked.

"If you let me go... I'll..."

Lin Xiao immediately lost interest and snapped the woman's neck.

Moments later, Lin Xiao, restored to his original appearance and attire, appeared at the site of the massive bonfire celebration.

Yamamoto Ryuichi and a group of core members of the Ghost Shark Army were watching a group of naked women dance.

When a strange man holding a black blade appeared, Yamamoto Ryuichi and the others were startled, wondering if their eyes were playing tricks on them!

Lin Xiao did not hesitate in the slightest. Blood Shadow Mad Blade swung out a massive fan-shaped blade light, taking a long row of heads!

Yamamoto Ryuichi's martial arts were actually quite decent, nearing the Grandmaster level, but before a Heavenly Immortal, he was like an ant.

Lin Xiao was like a human harvester, moving across the island like the wind, slaughtering at will.

Just like on Haihua Island, everyone here was a devil, so he felt no burden in killing them.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, only some kidnapped women from the Eastern Border remained on the island.

Through his perception, Lin Xiao found a pile of ledgers and tossed them all into his space.

Then he took out a military flag he had prepared long ago and impaled Yamamoto Ryuichi's corpse with its pole, planting it firmly.

A group of shivering Central Plains women finally saw clearly that the words "Zhenbei" were written prominently on the flag!

"Go home. There are no more pirates on the island."

After saying this, Lin Xiao left Centipede Island without waiting for the women to ask anything more.

The next day.

The naval forces that returned to the shores of Dan Province brought back the heavy news of Prince of Donghai's capture and the failure of the pirate suppression. The citizens in the city, who had been waiting expectantly, wept in grief.

They thought they were finally going to have a day to hold their heads high and go out to sea to fish in peace, but instead, the result was endless despair!

And when the people heard that the pirates wanted ten thousand dan of grain to release Prince of Donghai, public anger was instantly ignited!

"Good heavens! Are you even going to let us commoners live!? Ten thousand dan is enough to feed how many families for a year!?"

"Prince of Donghai kept saying he was going to suppress the pirates, yet now we have to pay grain to save him!? I'm not paying!!"

"Just let him die! I can't stay in this place anymore; I'm going to the North!"

"Go to the North for what? If you ask me, we should throw open the city gates and welcome the Prince of Zhenbei to come south and take charge for us!"

"Exactly! Only where the Zhenbei Army is can we commoners have a good life!"

The anger of the people in Dan Province City rose in waves.

Fearing that the conflict would be completely exacerbated, the local government didn't dare to collect grain from the people, and naval generals like Commander Guo Youning were also at their wits' end.

What no one noticed was that in the southern suburbs outside the city, a group of monks at Nanshan Temple had been slaughtered.

Another day passed, and a boat carrying a group of distressed women arrived at the coast of Dan Province.

When the navy learned that these women had escaped from Centipede Island, they immediately reported it to Commander Guo Youning.

After hearing the women's story, Commander Guo Youning found it unbelievable and immediately led his troops out to sea to investigate Centipede Island.

When they arrived on the island, the stench made a group of naval soldiers vomit instantly.

Seeing the "Zhenbei" military flag fluttering proudly atop Yamamoto Ryuichi's corpse, Commander Guo Youning couldn't help but fall to his knees, old tears streaming down his face.

A few days later.

News that the Ghost Shark Army had been wiped out by the Prince of Zhenbei and that the Prince of Donghai, Zhao Wugou, had gone missing after being captured spread everywhere.

The people felt as if they had returned from purgatory to heaven, overjoyed and spreading the news to one another!

They had thought the Zhenbei Army would take a few days to reach Centipede Island, but who would have guessed that the Prince of Zhenbei had used a smokescreen and launched a surprise attack on the island ahead of schedule!?

This is what you call divine military strategy!

After destroying the Ghost Shark Army, the Prince of Zhenbei didn't say a word and silently left by boat.

In comparison, what was Prince of Donghai? After such a high-profile show of force, he ended up a prisoner!

The difference was clear!

The people of the Eastern Border were in an uproar, and officials from various provinces were faced with a choice!

They were mainly divided into two factions: one believed they should surrender to the Prince of Zhenbei and welcome the Zhenbei Army into the Eastern Border.

The other faction, led by the Governor of Qizhou Han Yu, was determined to support Prince of Donghai's eldest son, Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea, in inheriting the title of Prince of East Sea.

Governor of Qizhou Han Yu not only said this, but he also joined with other Eastern Border officials to send a joint petition to the Emperor so that Prince Zhaokang of the East Sea could succeed the title as soon as possible.

The Capital.

The Imperial Study.

Crown Prince Li Chenghao looked at the joint petition in his hand, very satisfied.

"Good, this Governor of Qizhou Han Yu—I can see now that he is a loyal subject!"

"No matter how you look at it, it's not the Prince of Zhenbei's place to interfere in the affairs of the Eastern Border. Those rebellious subjects truly deserve to be killed!"