Chapter 228 - Fish in a Barrel

Qin Shuang was no weakling. She had mastered the powers of the Nine Martial Castes and unleashed her might in the form of the Sonorous Brigade, a powerful fusion of the Giant Thunder Sparrow and the Giant Archer. Soaring through the sky, she fired enormous, lethal arrows with deadly precision. Each shot struck down enemy generals, sending them hurtling into the polluted sea below as their lives ebbed away.

With her Thunder Sparrows in formation, Qin Shuang swiftly broke free from the encirclement and returned to Han Wu’s shelter. The Wei Kingdom’s generals, stung by their defeat, seethed with rage and vowed to raze the entire region in vengeance for their fallen comrades.

The fleet picked up speed and soon reached the region’s outskirts. Han Wu had already withdrawn the Cleansing Flower Spirits and Deeptrench Frogmen from the surrounding lands. The Cleansing Flower Spirits were rare treasures, and he would not allow the Wei Kingdom’s forces to destroy them.

As the soldiers and generals aboard the ships caught sight of Han Wu’s massive shelter, they erupted with shouts of disbelief and excitement. “A Royal Capital! To think they dared to build such a city in this desolate wilderness!”

To them, Han Wu’s Royal Capital was sacrilegious and a direct challenge to their authority.

“We must destroy it for the sake of the Wei Kingdom!” one shouted.

“Yes, we cannot allow this to challenge our sovereign!” another added fiercely.

Driven by righteous fury, they leapt from their ships and stormed toward the capital, determined to tear it down.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Han Wu’s skeleton army was already waiting in formation outside the gates. Millions of skeletons stood rigidly, ready for the Wei Kingdom’s generals to arrive. When the two forces met, a fierce battle erupted.

The trio watched from a hidden vantage point and quickly realized the generals were absurdly powerful. Each soldier effortlessly cut down hundreds of skeletons alone. Using the Nine Martial Castes’ powers, they summoned several other units to fight alongside them. Their fierce attacks shattered countless skeletons, sending bone fragments flying. It seemed inevitable that the millions of skeletons would fall.

Han Wu wasn’t worried because this was only the beginning. The soldiers grew more confident as they crushed wave after wave of skeletons and could already imagine the rewards their kingdom would grant for such valor.

They were still lost in that hopeful fantasy when a thunderous sound jolted them back to reality. Heavy, earthshaking footsteps echoed across the battlefield. Several ten-meters-tall bone giants emerged before them. Their overwhelming power and bodies forged from hardened bone fragments made them nearly invulnerable.

“They must be the enemy’s trump card. Everyone, attack and bring down those white skeletons! The Royal Capital will be ours!” one general shouted, rallying the soldiers’ spirits.

Another brutal battle erupted, but this time the soldiers found themselves pushed back. Their strikes landed solidly yet barely harmed the bone giants. In contrast, the giants’ attacks proved nearly always fatal. They broke through the soldiers’ formation and forced them to retreat.

The generals at the rear shouted commands, rallying their troops to fight back. Their soldiers shook off their fear and charged at the enemy once more. This time, the generals joined the battle to take down the bone giants. Transforming into their Heavy Cavalry castes, they became as powerful as Lord life forms. They matched the Osteomancers, which stood at the peak of all Heroic life forms. Under their assault, many Osteomancers fell in battle. It was only a matter of time before all of them were defeated.

Fortunately, Han Wu had more than skeletons in his army. While the soldiers and generals battled the skeletons, Qin Shuang and Han Wu circled the edge of the battlefield and slipped toward the docked ships along the coast.

Only a handful of soldiers and generals remained to guard the ships. Working together, Han Wu and Qin Shuang quickly eliminated them and gained access to the vessels.

One dying general managed to pull out a flare and fired it high into the air. The flare exploded and alerted the soldiers on the battlefield.

“Those bastards! They’re stalling us with the skeletons while targeting our ships!”

“Everyone retreat! Protect the ships!”

A group of generals rushed back in panic, only to find their ships gone. The polluted black seawater rippled where their vessels had been, reflecting their dejected faces. Soon, the skeleton army surrounded them from behind.

The Wei Kingdom’s soldiers were trapped like fish in a barrel. They were all captured and thrown into the dungeon beneath the Royal Capital. Han Wu and Qin Shuang stashed the ships safely before returning to interrogate the prisoners.

Having lost the battle, the soldiers had no choice but to keep a low profile. After enduring several harsh interrogations, the generals finally revealed everything they knew.

The Wei Kingdom and the other kingdoms were under assault from strange mutated beasts. At the same time, the Will of the Warring Kingdom Civilization compelled the kingdoms to send soldiers out to kill all outsiders.

Han Wu already understood that the Will was spiraling out of control because of an invasion from another civilization. If they did not find a way to restore it soon, the Warring Kingdom Civilization would be lost forever.

However, that task was incredibly difficult. First, they needed to stop the pollution spreading from the invading civilization. The Cleansing Spirit Flowers only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. There was also a limited supply—tens of billions would be needed to purify the entire civilization, which made that option impossible.

One general informed Han Wu of a way to permanently seal the rifts that poured in the black oil. Though it would not fully resolve the pollution, it could temporarily slow the spread.

Han Wu discussed the idea with Qin Shuang and Sun Qingnian. After careful deliberation, the three agreed to help the Will of the Warring Kingdom Civilization. Their first objective was to seal the rift near their own shelter.