Chapter 765
Chapter 765
Shen Lang's remaining fleet of eighteen ships sailed on, pushing ever northeast. His destination was the Isle of Joy.
"My love, how much further must we go?"
Mulan, like a beautiful mermaid, had dived into the sea to quietly sense the energies of nature, of the water and the earth. No earthquake happens by chance. It is the violent eruption of energy that has accumulated on the seabed for a very long time. In fact, several earthquakes had already occurred in the South Sea. A few months ago, an earthquake in Tiannan Province had caused a thousand homes to collapse. At the time, the court officials had unanimously declared it a warning from the heavens, urging King Ning Yuanxian to promptly perform the Grand Rite of Heaven Worship. They submitted memorials arguing that he must offer thanks for the heavens' protection in the recent war, on which the nation's fate had rested. It was for this very reason that King Ning Yuanxian had no choice but to conduct the Grand Rite on the ninth day of the seventh month. However, the earthquake in Tiannan Province was merely an aftershock. The true epicenter was in the southern sea, where tremors occurred constantly. Shen Lang suddenly suspected that this series of earthquakes might be related to the excavation of the ancient ruins beneath Blackrock Isle.
Jin Mulan sensed that the preceding tremors were minor and that a much larger earthquake was brewing beneath this stretch of sea. It would be a great earthquake of a truly terrifying and astonishing magnitude. Its intensity was predicted to surpass that of all the earthquakes that had occurred over the past few months combined. This undersea quake would undoubtedly create a massive tsunami, before which any fleet would be crushed like rotten wood. Mulan swiftly leaped out of the water and returned to the deck.
"Husband, a great undersea earthquake will erupt before tonight!"
Shen Lang gave the order.
"Fleet, full speed ahead toward the Isle of Joy."
And so, Shen Lang's fleet unfurled its sails and charted a course for a single point at maximum speed. Behind them, the Xue Clan's fleet gave chase, their pursuit frenzied and filled with murderous intent. This time, Shen Lang would lead them into a true hell.
* * *
The two fleets were sailing at their limits. Shen Lang's fleet had to feign severe damage, so he adjusted their speed to be slightly slower than the Xue Clan's, allowing the distance between them to shrink. The gap between the fleets steadily closed until only a dozen or so li remained. But suddenly, Yan Nanfei felt a primal sense of unease. So did Xue Ban. Though the weather was clear and the sun was bright, birds were flying persistently in one direction, and countless fish were desperately swimming northeast.
*It looks as if they're fleeing.*
Why were they fleeing? In most cases, animals possessed a more primal intuition than humans and could sense danger. Unbeknownst to them, the seabed was already trembling.
"Uncle, those birds and schools of fish are fleeing eastward."
The number of birds in the sky grew until they nearly blotted out the sun, and the schools of fish in the sea multiplied to the point where the water seemed to boil. They witnessed large sharks, whales, and various other types of fish swimming together in a chaotic mix. This was normally the time when sharks would hunt, yet far from hunting, they were focused solely on swimming madly to the east.
"Uncle, this is too strange!"
"Indeed, it is!"
Not just Xue Ban, but the entire Xue Clan fleet witnessed these omens, though they could only think them odd. The sea was an unknown world; who knew how many strange things occurred within its depths? Yan Nanfei shook off all distracting thoughts and bellowed.
"Fleet, advance at full speed in an encirclement formation! Crush Shen Lang's fleet and kill them all!"
The war drums, silent for several hours, thundered once more. The blood of the nearly thirty thousand men of the Xue Clan's allied fleet boiled as they sharpened their blades.
"Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!"
The massive ballistae and catapults aboard the ships were readied.
*I will kill Shen Lang, Jin Mulan, and the entire Jin Clan. I will bury you all.*
Viewed from the sky, the Xue Clan's fleet looked like a colossal beast with its mouth wide open, while Shen Lang's mere eighteen ships resembled a small fish desperately trying to escape. But then, Shen Lang's fleet suddenly picked up speed.
*What's happening? Weren't your ships severely damaged? Isn't that why you were slow? Was it all a disguise? A man can feign a limp, but can an entire fleet feign damage?*
Shen Lang's fleet moved faster and faster, soon becoming more than twenty percent faster than the Xue Clan's, leaving them far behind in an instant.
Ahead, the Isle of Joy came into view. It was not a large island, only a few dozen square kilometers, but it possessed a perfect bay on its eastern side. The entire island was shaped like a crescent moon, half-encircling a body of water. Shen Lang shouted.
"Fleet, full speed ahead! Enter the bay of the Isle of Joy and take cover!"
* * *
The unease in Xue Ban and Yan Nanfei grew deeper.
"Uncle, could we have fallen into a trap?"
"What's the point of saying that now? Full speed ahead! Destroy Shen Lang's fleet and kill them all!"
But Shen Lang's fleet was too fast, and the distance between the two forces only widened. Just then, as the sun began to set in the west, a strange cloud formation appeared in the sky.
*Could those be the so-called earthquake clouds I've only heard about? Though there's no scientific basis for their existence.*
Shen Lang's fleet pressed on at full speed and finally entered the harbor of the Isle of Joy.
"Drop anchor and chain the ships to the reefs! Everyone, get on the island!"
Could these ships be saved? Even sheltered within the island's harbor, it was a near-hopeless prospect. At Shen Lang's command, the three thousand soldiers aboard the warships all disembarked onto the Isle of Joy and began climbing a mountain peak several hundred meters high. Shen Lang reached the summit and looked down upon the Xue Clan's fleet. From the top of the several-hundred-meter peak, he had a clear view of the entire sea. The sight of nearly thirty thousand men aboard one hundred and seventy ships was truly magnificent.
The fleet was spread out in a wide formation, stretching for several li. This was the navy the Xue Clan had spent a century building, using the wealth and power they had amassed over decades. It was thanks to this fleet that the Xue Clan had monopolized trade in the southern sea, amassed wealth rivaling that of a nation, and seized power that could blot out the sky. This fleet was more professional and powerful than Qiu Tianwei's former fleet. He couldn't imagine how much blood, sweat, and gold had been poured into building such a fleet, but the cost must have been astronomical.
At that same moment, out on the sea, Yan Nanfei and Xue Ban also spotted Shen Lang's party atop the mountain on the Isle of Joy. In an instant, their anxiety reached its peak. In truth, there was no longer any need to guess what trick he had played. The seabed immediately began to rumble, and the surface of the sea started to churn. A numbness spread through Yan Nanfei's scalp, but he gritted his teeth, pointed at Shen Lang and Jin Mulan on the mountaintop, and screamed.
"Full speed ahead! Land on the island! Kill Shen Lang and Jin Mulan! Dishonor Jin Mulan until she's dead!"
Yan Nanfei could no longer contain his rage, nor could he afford to consider the consequences. He simply shrieked like a madman. The thirty thousand men aboard the one hundred and seventy ships charged madly toward the Isle of Joy, quickly closing the distance until they were only five li from landing.
"Kill Shen Lang and all his people!"
Though fear gripped his heart, Yan Nanfei's eyes were bloodshot as he screamed himself hoarse. The sun set in the west, painting a beautiful scene. Shen Lang stood on the mountaintop, gazing at the sea. Mulan snuggled into his embrace and whispered affectionately.
"Husband, it's here!"
*RUMBLE!*
Suddenly, a heaven-shaking roar erupted from beneath the sea. The seabed was instantly compressed as tectonic plates collided violently. The heavens and earth began to assert their might. From the seabed to the west, an incomparably ferocious earthquake erupted. It was an earthquake of truly astonishing power. Though Shen Lang was a hundred li from the epicenter, he could feel the world tremble. The earthquake's area of effect wasn't vast, but its epicenter was close enough to land to transmit incredible destructive power.
It was as if a god had raised a giant hand and stirred up a furious wave. The great undersea earthquake gave birth to a sky-high tsunami, a colossal wave dozens of meters tall, that surged forward with immense destructive power, threatening to annihilate everything in its path. A wall of water, stretching nearly a hundred li wide, rushed in at a frantic speed of two hundred meters per second. It was a phenomenal sight. As Shen Lang had said before, it was a hundred times more spectacular than the destruction of Qiu Tianwei, and a hundred times more magnificent than the avalanche at the Great Calamity Palace.
*RUMBLE!*
Hearing the immense roar, Yan Nanfei screamed madly.
"Faster! Faster! Full speed ahead, land on the island!"
But the aftershocks of the quake violently shook the entire sea, making it difficult to control the ships. After the tremor finally subsided, the hundred-plus ships of the Xue Clan desperately charged toward the Isle of Joy, but it was already too late. It was impossible to escape a tsunami moving at over two hundred meters per second, a speed that would cover a distance of dozens of li in just three or four minutes.
The moment Yan Nanfei, Xue Ban, and the thirty thousand men of the Xue Clan's allied fleet turned to look back, the strangest sight in the world met their eyes. A colossal wave, stretching a hundred li wide and soaring dozens of meters high, looked like ten thousand horses stampeding with enough force to shatter the heavens and the earth. How could the power of man stand against such a mighty display of nature's force? How could a mere human fleet possibly escape? Yan Nanfei simply closed his eyes.
"Shen Lang, you bastard! Shen Lang! You bastard!"
*CRASH!*
A few seconds later, the sky-high tsunami swept over everything. The Xue Clan's one hundred and seventy ships and thirty thousand men vanished completely. Like rotten wood snapping, like the world itself breaking apart, everything was cleanly erased.
* * *
Watching the scene unfold, a shiver ran down Shen Lang's spine. The sense of catharsis was overwhelming. Even Mulan's beautiful body trembled slightly. The two stood on the mountaintop, leaning against each other, watching the tsunami together, watching tens of thousands of people disappear. It was so romantic. Behind them, Wu Lie, the Nirvana Army, and the warriors of the Jin Clan watched the couple, and their teeth were set on edge. Because that pair of cockroaches was at it again.
*My lord, we just want to watch the tsunami in peace. Must you two flaunt your affection at a time like this?*
Shen Lang and Mulan, this beautiful pair, were simply captivated by the magnificent beauty of the tsunami before them; they had no intention of showing off. Their entire beings were enthralled by the wave. It was absolutely thrilling. In the blink of an eye, a vast fleet and over thirty thousand men had vanished. Even after, the towering tsunami continued its mad rampage, sweeping everything away.
*RUMBLE.*
Soon, the furious wave slammed into the Isle of Joy. In that instant, the world shook again, and the entire island trembled violently. It was like a colossal blizzard raging. For a moment, an astonishingly large wave crashed down, threatening to submerge the entire island and sweep away everyone on the mountaintop, but in the end, it did not. The surging wave crashed against the island, creating a spray of water hundreds of meters high. The sight was so spectacular that Shen Lang even felt a sense of refreshing coolness. Then, at some point, the wave receded. The island had withstood the tsunami. The tsunami, having split around the island, continued its journey eastward across the sea. Perhaps that wave would travel very, very far.
The great tsunami had passed, but it was not yet time to descend the mountain. In the aftermath of a great earthquake, there could be multiple aftershocks. Thus, this would not be the only tsunami; more would come to batter the island, though each successive wave would be smaller than the last. About an hour later, the surface of the sea finally grew calm.
Then, another scene unfolded. Countless fragments of debris floated to the surface, densely covering the water below the island. The hundred-plus ships of the Xue Clan's allied fleet had all been smashed to pieces. The power of the tsunami was so immense that it had shattered even the sturdiest warships in an instant. Next, innumerable corpses floated to the surface. The bodies were carried by the waves and washed ashore. No one had survived the tsunami. The thirty thousand allied troops were thus annihilated.