Chapter 136 - Blood Steam Battle -1
Blood Steam Battle. Thus was called the great battle that would decide the outcome of the conflict between the Four Pirate Generals. Only two left, the Steam Goddess, Ho Ri-Na, would challenge the Red Devil Jin-Sang in one last attempt to reverse the situation and dominate the pirate scene of the Forgotten Ocean.
Incredibly for everyone who was waiting for this confrontation with trepidation, Ho Ri-Na's chances of victory had shot up within a couple of days. First of all, it became known that one of Jin-Sang's spirit soldiers had died in the clash against the Storm Lightning, Kan Na-Kim. This news amazed everyone, but it wasn't enough to question the absolute advantage that the Red Devil possessed. However, the news of Mok Tong-Hyo's loss, third in command in Jin-Sang crew, caused a considerable sensation.
Mok Tong-Hyo had been taken down in public, in the middle of a city under the Red Devil's control. As if that wasn't enough, his opponents were just a couple of young martial artists and their two spirit beasts. Typically, it was unthinkable that two of the younger generation would have reached the rank of spirit soldier. But not only had they succeeded, but they had even killed a third stage spirit soldier.
Furthermore, from the reports of the people present that day, it seemed that Mok Tong-Hyo had explicitly come looking for them, attacking suddenly without warning. Consequently, the conjecture that these young martial artists had a severe conflict against the Red Devil became widespread; it was so severe that the latter had sent one of his best men to catch those young martial artists.
All this seemed very strange to those who listened without having a complete vision of the facts. By putting the various news together, it was easy to understand that that pair of young martial artists were none other than those responsible for blackmailing Ho Ri-Na. After all, that fact alone had previously created a great uproar. Yet, instead of the Steam Goddess' men, Mok Tong-Hyo had been sent. A crazy idea was therefore formulated - Ho Ri-Na had staged a fake blackmail attempt so as to bring one of Jin-Sang's best men into the open and thus reduce his power. And from the actions of the Steam Goddess, it seemed to be the case.
Ho Ri-Na had, in fact, summoned various pirate groups that weren't directly affiliated to the Four Pirate Generals. By promising them various rewards and part of the territories owned by the other Pirate Generals, Ho Ri-Na managed to convince them to join her crew against the battle against Jin-Sang, thereby increasing her strength.
If it had been before, these pirate groups would have said no without thinking about Ho Ri-Na's proposal. As tempting as it was, they weren't stupid enough to embark on a suicide war; the power of the Red Devil was too high after all. But now things were different - the number of spirit soldiers on both sides had become the same. No, on the contrary, the balance needle was hanging from the side of Ho Ri-Na thanks to the variable known as Hei and Lian.
Not wanting to waste the momentum she had unexpectedly gained, Ho Ri-Na immediately gave orders to prepare for battle. Although it was hasty as a maneuver, doing so would have denied the various groups to rethink with a clear mind about her proposal and withdraw their promise of support. Also, she wanted to prevent the Red Devil from gathering reinforcements, or otherwise, she would end up losing the advantage obtained.
So, Ho Ri-Na, in command of her crew and allies, sailed toward the base of Jin-Sang to end the conflict once and for all.
*
Red Skull Island, Pirate General Jin-Sang's Base
In the waters in front of the island that served as the main camp of the Red Devil, there were two fleets, each having dozens and dozens of ships in tow. They were the ships of the two Pirate Generals left alive - Ho Ri-Na and Jin-Sang. The Steam Goddess had a total of 500 men, while the Red Devil possessed 800 men instead. Numerically, the Red Devil was clearly ahead. However, victory wouldn't be determined so much by the battle between these pirates who were only at the level of spirit apprentice. Instead, the outcome would be decided by the eight spirit soldiers in play. The first who won their fight would get the advantage.
"Can't you see anything yet?" Asked a female voice.
It was Ho Yeon-Hong. She was leading the ship that was usually commanded by Ho Ri-Na. After Hei and Lian's betrayal, Ho Yeon-Hong had become more diligent in her training and became more determined. Ho Ri-Na herself witnessed the maturation of her little sister and therefore decided to let her participate in the battle, even if initially she had decided to exclude her.
At the moment, the young gray-haired woman was asking the lookout men if they could see movements in the waters around them. Even after what had happened, her thoughts were still fixed on Hei, although the meaning of her feelings had changed.
"Don't worry, Yeon. He'll definitely come." Beside her, Ho Ri-Na said confidently.
The Steam Goddess, although she didn't like Hei, knew that he wouldn't give up such an opportunity. Without a doubt, he would soon show up and do everything he could to get the most out of the conflict between the two crews.
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"Alright. Tell all ships to start moving forward. Let this conflict end. The victory will be ours!"
With the official order of Ho Ri-Na, all the ships under her command began to advance. Even the ships in the service of the Red Devil began to move, ready to intercept those of Ho Ri-Na. The eight spirit soldiers, including the two Pirate Generals, slowly began to rise high into the sky as their eyes locked on their respective opponents.
But as the battle was about to begin, the figure of a ship became increasingly clear from afar. All the fighters, in particular, the spirit soldiers on both sides, carefully watched the approach of the ship.
"They are arriving! The secret card of Ho Ri-Na! "
"Back then, it was really an orchestrated plan. No wonder the Steam Goddess is worshiped so highly."
"Don't be frightened. The power of Captain Jin-Sang is absolute. Even with those two bratty spirit soldiers, the victory is still ours."
Everywhere there were murmurs and screams of excitement and nervousness. Ho Ri-Na's troops were reinvigorated by the arrival of the artifact ship carrying Hei and Lian. At the same time, Jin-Sang's pirates were seized with agitation at the real possibility of their defeat. However, even with the appearance of the two new arrivals, it was still too early to be sure of the outcome.
"Give me here."
Ho Yeon-Hong took a telescope from one of the lookouts and pointed it at the artifact ship. Thanks to the visual instrument, she could see Hei standing on the parapet at the bow of the ship. His long pitch-black hair slowly swayed, following the wind currents, while his dark brown eyes were fixed forward; he was uncaring of the gaze of hundreds and hundreds of people who were watching him.
Ho Yeon-Hong's heart began to beat quickly, but she tried to calm down by taking large mouthfuls of air. She then looked away from the telescope, returning it to the lookout man from whom she had taken it. It wasn't the time to get caught up in feelings; she had an important task to perform now.
The artifact ship continued to advance, aiming at Jin-Sang's ships. However, it didn't seem that Hei intended to go up to the sky and fight against the spirit soldiers gathered there. Instead, he was aiming for small fries aboard on the ships. The meaning of these actions was clear - he won't intervene in the struggle between spirit soldiers. At least not yet.
"BASTARD! I'll kill you!" Sok Yeong-Gi roared and gritted his teeth.
Because of his actions against Ho Ri-Na, in order to avoid attacks by the Steam Goddess men, Hei wouldn't have helped them immediately. He would wait until they were in conditions that no longer posed a threat to him. And this didn't apply only to just the spirit soldiers in the service of Ho Ri-Na, but to the Steam Goddess herself. It meant that Ho Ri-Na was going to have to deal with Jin-Sang alone for an indefinite period of time.
"It's okay. It was something that was part of our calculations anyway." Ho Ri-Na exclaimed without getting angry. As a pirate, she couldn't blame Hei for his prudent actions. She, too, would have done the same if she had been in him.
Thus, Ho Ri-Na, in command of her spirit soldiers, began to clash against Jin-Sang and his spirit soldiers. However, unexpectedly, the actions of the Red Devil weren't as violent as they usually were during his fights. Jin-Sang knew the truth - that Hei and Lian were not on the side of Ho Ri-Na. How could they be on the same side when a loot like the Pirate King Hae Seong's treasure was at stake? No, the brat known as Hei would surely use Ho Ri-Na to weaken him, even at the cost of sacrificing the Steam Goddess herself.
Jin-Sang would usually attack at full power, but with the real danger posed by Hei and Lian, he couldn't afford to overexpose himself. Yet he couldn't even go down into a passive situation, at least not against Ho Ri-Na, whose fighting power was by no means low. Ho Ri-Na was amazed at Jin-Sang's actions, reluctantly having to praise once again Hei's ability to use their relationship to put pressure against such a dangerous enemy.
Meanwhile, Hei, Lian, Xing, and Ye had each boarded a different ship. Although victory would have been decided by the clash between spirit soldiers on both sides, it wasn't as if the conflict between the spirit apprentice pirates on the ships was meaningless. The pirates in the ships represented the power of influence of their respective Pirate Generals and the backbone of their dominion. Losing too many of them was a severe blow despite being just spirit apprentices. But there was another even more important reason.
In case of need, these spirit apprentice pirates could have joined forces to attack one of the enemy spirit soldiers. The union of hundreds of techniques, although coming from weaker martial artists, was such as to worry even the Pirate Generals themselves. Besides, they could also be used literally as human shields to protect their commanders.
The battles in the four ships chosen by Hei and his family immediately took a sharp turn in favor of Ho Ri-Na's pirates. To keep his spirit power as much as possible, Hei simply used Snake Fist, reducing his spirit power to a minimum, depending on the enemy. His swift and precise hits, despite not causing severe damage, blocked the enemy pirates just enough to allow Ho Ri-Na's pirates to attack freely.
Instead, Lian was maneuvering her ribbons and throwing the enemy pirates, one by one, off the ship's deck. None of these were able to fly or walk in the water. So, every time they fell into the water, they had to swim if they wanted to return to their ships. But unfortunately for them, Old Tohyon would be waiting for them. By exploiting the propulsion mechanism of the artifact ship and the shield function, the old sailor would literally trample the poor unfortunates, crushing them under the weight of the artifact ship. It was similar to being swept away by the charge of a huge elephant, and not even possessing spirit power was enough to emerge unscathed from that attack.
But the most unfortunate ones were the enemies aboard the ships on which Ye and Xing had boarded. The two little divine beasts were spreading terror everywhere. Not even the most experienced pirates were able to resist fear when they faced these two huge scary creatures. The few brave ones, who dared to challenge them, ended up being cut into pieces or crushed until they became a pulp. Upon seeing the macabre end of their comrades, the survivors threw themselves off the ships in search of safety, only to be crushed by the artifact ship driven by Old Tohyon.
Undoubtedly, although they weren't participating in the clash between the spirit soldiers, the impact provoked by Hei and the others wasn't at all low. Furthermore, the continued decline of their subordinates was putting the spirit soldiers of Jin-Sang and the Red Devil himself more and more in difficulty.