71: Chapter 71: The Defense Line is Quagmire, the Hub is in Crisis

The lights at the Xingyan Outer Port did not go out all night.

The sound of the tide crashing against the black stone Pier, mixed with the creaking of ship planks, the tightening of cables, and the flashing of talisman lights, made one's chest feel stifled.

By the time Lu Changyuan arrived, three cargo ships were anchored across the Inner Harbor.

The merchant flags of the He family of Xingyan hung on the ships.

A dozen guards stood beneath the ships.

The head steward, dressed in an embroidered gold short robe, wore a smile on his face, but his hand rested on his Storage Pouch.

"Deputy Envoy Lu, it is not that we refuse to hand it over."

"It is just that the purification powder and the anti-evil sand are life-saving supplies right now, and the He family must first protect its own fleet."

"We naturally acknowledge the requisition order from the Zhenhai Military Warehouse."

"But for the goods to leave the port, we must wait for a confirmation letter from our family head."

Lu Hu rode on a Purple Lightning Seahorse, the ferocity in his eyes already uncontrollable.

Fifty Sword Ray Cavalry lined up along the Pier.

Tiny sparks of electricity flowed beneath the hooves of the seahorses.

The Adam's apples of those merchant guards were bobbing.

Lu Changyuan did not look at the steward's smiling face.

He looked toward the cabin.

The cabin doors were sealed with three merchant seals.

There was dampness on the seals.

This indicated that this batch of goods had only recently been moved out of the inner warehouse.

It was not that the He family had no goods.

They were waiting for a price.

Lu Changyuan took out his military token.

When the Array Pattern of the Zhenhai Military Warehouse lit up, all the talisman lights on the Pier dimmed.

"Wartime transport order."

"Open the cabins and tally the cargo within two quarters of an hour."

"Three hundred boxes of purification powder, two hundred boxes of anti-evil sand, and fifty bundles of Evil-warding Talisman paper, to be sent to the Zhenhai Fortress first."

The smile on the steward's face froze.

"Deputy Envoy Lu, this amount is too urgent."

"The He family has no intention of withholding the goods, it is just that the Xingyan Outer Port has many rules. You have just taken up your post, why burn bridges?"

Lu Changyuan nodded.

"Since there are many rules, we shall follow the rules."

He raised his hand.

A cavalryman behind him thrust a command flag into a crack in the Pier's stone.

A cold light pressed down from the flag surface.

The command seal pattern of the Zhenhai Military Warehouse Deputy Envoy spread out across the stone surface.

Lu Changyuan said, "The He family's Warehouse No. 3, No. 7, and No. 11 are sealed for wartime."

The steward looked up, and the smile on his face could no longer be maintained.

"Do you dare?"

Lu Changyuan looked at him.

"I dare."

"If you delay for another quarter of an hour, I will seal the No. 5 inner warehouse."

"If there is a single box falsely reported in the ledgers, thirty percent of your He family's annual transport quota will be deducted."

The steward's expression changed completely.

He finally understood that the young Deputy Envoy in front of him was not here to bargain with them.

The authority in his hands was not great.

But it was exactly enough to cut where it hurt the merchant firm the most.

Not seizing the main warehouse.

Not taking military rations.

Just sealing the warehouse numbers and quotas for wartime anti-demon supplies.

That was enough.

On the other side of the Outer Port, someone whispered a message.

Stewards from several other merchant firms were looking over here.

Lu Changyuan did not rush them.

He just took out an hourglass and placed it on the stone pillar of the Pier.

The fine sand fell.

Every grain seemed to fall onto the neck of the He family steward.

After half a quarter of an hour, the cabin doors opened.

The bitter smell of the purification powder and the metallic, fishy scent unique to the anti-evil sand surged out together.

Lu Hu grinned.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you had done this earlier?"

Lu Changyuan did not smile.

He had two cavalrymen board the ship to inspect the goods, and ordered empty ships in the Outer Port to pull alongside for transfer.

Box after box of goods was moved onto the ship.

Every box was opened on the spot to inspect its color, scent, and talisman seal.

If a seal was missing, it was recorded.

If the purification powder was damp, it was recorded.

If ordinary black sand was mixed into the anti-evil sand, it was also recorded.

When inspecting the twenty-seventh box, a cavalryman flipped open the bottom of the box, and the purification powder inside had already hardened into lumps.

The He family steward's face turned pale.

"The sea mist is heavy, it is hard to avoid the outer boxes getting damp."

Lu Changyuan glanced at him.

"Damp goods do not go to the front line."

"Replace them."

The steward's throat moved.

"There isn't much of the same batch in the warehouse."

Lu Changyuan said, "Then replenish it from the medicine boxes kept on your He family's own escort ships."

The faces of the guards on the Pier immediately turned ugly.

The He family steward wanted to speak, but Lu Changyuan had already pushed the box of hardened purification powder to his feet.

"You can protect your own ships first."

"But if the Zhenhai Fortress runs out of purification powder, protecting your ships will be useless."

"If you replenish it today, I will only record it as damp."

"If you do not replenish it today, I will record it as wartime withholding of supplies."

These two words were heavier than sealing the warehouse.

Withholding supplies could be explained as a dispute over rules.

Wartime withholding of supplies was enough to have the He family watched closely by the military warehouse for the next three months.

Half an incense stick later, the medicine boxes from the He family escort ships were moved away.

Twelve boxes of usable purification powder were replenished into the cargo ship.

Lu Changyuan had the cavalrymen seal the damp boxes separately, stamping them with the He family merchant seal and the military warehouse Deputy Envoy command pattern.

"It is not that I do not want your goods."

"It is that you should not stuff the front line with rotten goods."

By the time the first batch of cargo ships left the port, there was only half a cup of tea time left of the two hours Superintendent Mu Yunshang had given.

The He family steward stood on the spot, his forehead covered in sweat.

Lu Changyuan passed by him.

"Tell the He family head."

"Arriving at port on time today, the transport military merit will be given as usual."

"Mixing in sand today will also be recorded."

"I will also take the sealed samples of the damp goods."

"If the He family feels wronged, bring the warehouse ledgers of the same batch to the military warehouse to reconcile the accounts."

The steward opened his mouth, but dared not say another word.

Lu Hu followed behind and whispered, "Young Master, does this count as beating them into submission?"

Lu Changyuan watched the cargo ships leaving the port.

"It only counts as letting them know that I will use my blade."

"Merchant firms will not submit just because of a command flag."

"They will only listen temporarily because this command flag can truly cut their flesh."

The first batch of purification powder and anti-evil sand entered the Outer Port of the Zhenhai Fortress just as the second hour was ending.

Superintendent Mu Yunshang did not praise anyone.

She only had the military warehouse Cultivator add a blue line to the ledger wall.

Shi Jian stood under the ledger wall, holding three ledgers.

There was a new piece of paper beside him.

On the paper was written the sealing time for the He family's Warehouse No. 3, No. 7, and No. 11, along with a list of twelve boxes of damp goods and six boxes with mixed sand.

Superintendent Mu Yunshang looked at the paper and only said one sentence.

"Being able to get the goods to port, while also leaving behind leverage, is what counts as knowing how to do the first job."

Lu Changyuan did not accept this praise.

Because he knew that this kind of leverage would not make the merchant firm submit.

It would only make them hide things deeper next time.

Qingyuan.

Xingyan.

Zhenhai.

That line, which had originally been intermittent, was connected by a small section.

From that day on, Lu Changyuan did not return to the Vanguard Battalion.

He took the fifty Sword Ray Cavalry and traveled back and forth between the Zhenhai Fortress, the Xingyan Outer Port, and several temporary anchorages in the Outer Sea.

purification powder.

Evil-warding Talisman.

Anti-evil sand.

Medicinal herbs for wounds.

Formation base consumables.

Each batch of goods was not large.

Each batch had to actually arrive at the port.

Over the next half month, a small transport sand table belonging to him appeared in the Zhenhai Military Warehouse.

The sand table was not large.

But it was getting brighter and brighter.

The price of it lighting up was not small either.

After the He family, two other merchant firms in Xingyan began to bypass the Outer Port to quote prices.

Some escort fleets deliberately delayed for half a day.

There were also small merchant firms that brought genuine goods to offer, only to have their berths cut off by large merchant firms immediately after.

Lu Changyuan did not draw his blade every time.

For those that could be exchanged with military merit, he gave military merit.

For those that could be pressured with warehouse numbers, he pressured the warehouse numbers.

For those that were truly stuck, he would let Lu Hu take the cavalry to ride along the ship's side.

Half a month later, there was finally a line between Qingyuan, Xingyan, and Zhenhai that could barely breathe.

Lu Changyuan finally had a logistics spirit boat temporarily allocated to him.

The spirit boat was not luxurious.

But it was much safer than the front-line reef platforms.

Inside the cabin, there were warming formations, medicinal tea, and ledger information sent directly from the Zhenhai Military Warehouse.

When Lu Hu came in for the first time, he muttered a sentence.

"This place doesn't look like it's at war."

Lu Changyuan did not respond at the time.

Because he knew that this kind of stability was just a thin layer of oil floating on blood.

On the night of the fifteenth day.

The blood-colored alarm Array Pattern in the spirit boat's main control room suddenly lit up.

It was not just one.

It was thirty-seven of them lighting up at the same time.

Blinding red light exploded from the array wall, illuminating everyone's faces as if they had been soaked in blood.

On the sand table of the Zhenhai Fortress's front line, a large area along the Meteor Trench turned black.

The black color pressed down on the red, but was firmly blocked by purple high-level spiritual light.

Superintendent Mu Yunshang's communication projection appeared in the main control room.

Her face was colder than usual.

"An Abyss Demon Lord has appeared in the Meteor Trench."

"Three Golden Core battle generals of the Zhenhai Fortress, Lu Qingyao, and two main battle spirit boat teams are all trapped outside the trench."

"The daily consumption on the front line has quadrupled."

"What's worse is that something has happened to Xuangui Island."

The main control room immediately fell silent.

Xuangui Island.

Lu Changyuan looked toward the middle section of the sand table.

It was a large black rock island shaped like a crouching turtle, stuck right between the three shipping routes of Xingyan, Zhenhai, and Qingyuan.

It was not the front-most battlefield.

But it was the most critical hub.

Most of the purification supplies, medicinal herbs for wounds, talisman paper, and temporary Formation Plates used on the front line had to be sorted at Xuangui Island first, before being transferred to the Zhenhai Fortress and various reef lines.

Superintendent Mu Yunshang continued, "The garrison troops on the island have been reduced from seven thousand to five thousand, the remnants of the Zhao and Li families have suffered over fifty percent casualties, and military morale is wavering."

"The original garrison general, Commander Zhao Lingyue, has sent three documents regarding food shortages, but refuses to open the inner warehouse for inspection."

"This evening, the Array Pattern of the No. 3 supply warehouse on the island lost contact."

She raised her hand and pointed.

A circle of dim gray patterns appeared around the edge of the Xuangui Island light point.

"If Xuangui Island falls, the front line of the Zhenhai Fortress will not immediately collapse."

"But within three days, the purification powder will run out."

"Within five days, the medical ships will not be able to retreat."

"Within seven days, one hundred thousand Cultivators will begin to seize supplies for themselves."

Lu Hu's expression changed.

Lu Changyuan stared at that gray pattern.

At least thirty percent of the goods he had transported in over the past half month were stuck at Xuangui Island.

A batch of anti-demon supplies stockpiled by Blue Moon Island in the early stages had also been sent there via the military warehouse route, waiting for distribution to the front line.

If Xuangui Island rots.

Not only will the accounts of the Zhenhai Military Warehouse rot.

His accounts will also rot.

Superintendent Mu Yunshang said, "I have already ordered two nearby patrol fleets to head over there."

"But high-level combat power is tied up at the Meteor Trench, and no one can immediately stabilize the situation."

She looked at Lu Changyuan.

"You are the closest to Xuangui Island."

Lu Changyuan did not answer immediately.

Outside the main control room, the sea wind crashed against the boat's hull.

It was as if something was gnashing its teeth outside.

At the same time.

Deep inside the No. 3 supply warehouse on Xuangui Island.

Several people wearing the outer robes of warehouse-guarding Cultivators were crouching in the shadows.

Their arms beneath their sleeves were covered in black scale patterns.

A thin bone carving knife was slowly moving along the inside of the warehouse door.

Corrosive black Array Patterns were crawling outward along the door cracks.

The leader laughed in a low voice.

"The defense line is already empty."

"Tonight, we will let this army of one hundred thousand run out of food."