From within the [Fire Cloud], Yun Zhi’s emotionless voice echoed out.
Hearing this, Liu Piaoxu felt both anger and fear.
“You! You little bastard! Do you even know what nonsense you’re talking about?! You dare make a move against me?! Even if your father Zheng Yunlong were here, he wouldn’t dare do anything to me! Do you really think this [Shanhai Region] belongs to your Zheng Family?!”
Pointing at Zheng Hao with a trembling finger, Liu Piaoxu panicked. She truly panicked.
If Zheng Hao went mad and opened fire, sinking every [Smoke Ship] here, who could she appeal to? The authorities? Even the authorities would have to think carefully about the Zheng Family’s influence.
“Zheng Hao! Stop being unreasonable! At worst, I’ll agree to become your Ship Maiden!”
Tears welled in Liu Ruyan’s eyes, but inside, hatred for Zheng Hao had already taken root. She was certain he was doing all this simply to force her to submit. And the more he pushed, the more she despised him.
Idiot. Turtle man. Today you treat me like this. In the future, I’ll join forces with Zhou Hang, drain the Zheng Family dry, and gnaw their bones clean.
She thought viciously, while putting on a pitiful expression.
As for what this mother and daughter were saying, Zheng Hao treated it as if he hadn’t heard a single word.
He stared at the [Smoke Ship] blocking the [Fire Cloud], a cold smile forming at the corner of his lips.
“My sea route… Is it something your lousy A-grade Ship can block? I’ll give you one chance. Say it. What have you done? Kneel down and admit your mistake. Otherwise…”
His eyes narrowed as he stared at the Liu family mother and daughter.
He almost hoped they wouldn’t admit it. The Liu Family was Zhou Hang’s stepping stone. If he wiped them out directly, how much Destiny Luck could he plunder from Zhou Hang?
“You! You little brat! How dare you speak to me like that?! For Ruyan’s sake, you’re going this far? Even if you get her—”
“Boom!!!”
Before Liu Piaoxu could finish, Zheng Hao expressionlessly slapped the side of the [Fire Cloud].
Boom boom boom!
A dense barrage of shells, wrapped in smoke and flames, roared toward the [Smoke Ship] directly ahead.
Boom! Boom!
In mere moments, the upright [Smoke Ship] was blasted apart. Wooden splinters flew everywhere, deck planks shattered, and countless holes were torn through the hull. Firelight engulfed the ship in an instant.
“Ahhh!!!”
A shrill scream echoed across the sea. The [Smoke Ship] trembled violently. A woman in a gauze dress, covered in blood, fell from the [Captain’s Cabin] with a splash and sank into the sea.
Bubbles rose across the water’s surface.
The small ship that had blocked the view vanished without a trace, leaving only a floating sea of blood.
Gunpowder smoke filled the air. Dozens of gunboats instantly aimed their cannons toward the [Cargo Ship].
Silence.
A silence so deep a pin could be heard dropping.
“You!”
“You!!!”
“Zheng Hao! Zheng Hao! What exactly do you want?!”
All their previous arrogance vanished. They were truly afraid now.
The young man standing at the bow wore no expression at all. There wasn’t the slightest trace of that submissive, lovestruck fool they once mocked.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Speak. What did you do?”
The smoke still curled inside the barrels. Zheng Hao’s gaze drifted into the distance, where he could faintly see the [Enforcement Team] and the Yang Family’s Ship Maiden rushing toward them.
“Tch… Destiny Luck?”
He narrowed his eyes.
Zheng Hao knew very well that as part of the female lead’s family, the Liu Family possessed considerable Destiny Luck. It wouldn’t be so easy to wipe them out entirely.
Then he would simply increase the pressure.
“Still not talking? Next, it’ll be your [Cargo Ship] sinking to the bottom of the sea!”
His icy voice echoed across the waters. Liu Piaoxu clenched her teeth, trembling. “You… you wouldn’t dare…”
Boom!!! Boom!!!
Before she could finish, two shells from the [Fire Cloud] blasted open two gaping holes in the lower deck of the [Cargo Ship].
Water rushed in violently through the openings. A third shell was already about to fire.
Liu Piaoxu completely broke down.
She could not lose this [Cargo Ship]. It was the foundation of the Liu Family, passed down through generations.
With a thud, she dropped to her knees on the deck. “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I was wrong! I was blinded by greed. I secretly stole Zheng Family goods! It was my fault! All my fault!”
“Oh? And?”
Zheng Hao stroked the still-heated cannon barrel, his gaze teasingly shifting toward Zhou Hang.
Zhou Hang’s face darkened instantly. He grabbed Hang Ping and hurried back several steps.
“I… I shouldn’t have! I shouldn’t have violated the Merchant Assembly agreement and secretly traded with the Zhou Family! I shouldn’t have used the shipping slots purchased by the Zheng Family to carry Zhou Family goods…”
“My fault! It’s all my fault!”
Lying prostrate on the deck, Liu Piaoxu had completely lost her composure. There was none of her previous pride left.
“Hmph. Liu Family, listen carefully. For all these years you’ve swallowed Zheng Family goods, you will repay everything within one month. And you dared to sell Zhou Family goods using the shipping quotas contracted by my Zheng Family?”
“The Zhou Family ignored the rules of the Merchant Alliance. My Zheng Family will pursue this matter to the end! And furthermore… From this day forward, all business between the Liu Family and the Zheng Family is completely severed. Don’t even think about receiving a single deal in the [Shanhai Region] again!”
“Did you hear me?!”
His cold voice echoed across the sea. Liu Piaoxu slumped onto the deck like a lump of lifeless flesh.
“What?! Completely… completely cut off trade ties?! This… this!!!”
Her lips turned pale and bluish.
Only she knew what severing trade with the Zheng Family meant.
It meant the Liu Family’s financial chain would collapse entirely.
And once blacklisted by the Zheng Family, who in the [Shanhai Region] would dare do business with them?
It was over.
The Liu Family was finished!
“No! You can’t! You can’t do this! Ruyan! Ruyan, persuade Zheng Hao!”
Grabbing the dazed Liu Ruyan, Liu Piaoxu pleaded desperately.
“Zheng Hao… Zheng Hao… I’ll let you enter the [Captain’s Cabin] today… You—”
Tears streamed down Liu Ruyan’s face. She no longer understood what that so-called turtle man was thinking.
“Trash. You think I still care about your broken ship? This is my father’s decision. The Liu Family can be erased from the [Shanhai Region]…”
Zheng Hao’s cold voice cut through the air. He did not spare the mother and daughter another glance.
They sat on the deck with their legs folded beneath them, like frost-bitten eggplants, utterly wilted.
The cannons slowly rotated, suddenly aiming at Zhou Hang and Hang Ping.
Zhou Hang’s face tightened. His body trembled as he stared at Zheng Hao.
“Zheng Hao! What are you doing?! You know the Human-Ship Law! Ship Maidens are not allowed to kill without cause! If you dare touch me, aren’t you afraid the [Enforcement Team] will arrest you?”
Forcing himself to speak, Zhou Hang was on the verge of collapse.
Damn it!
He hadn’t even grown yet, and the so-called villain had already mobilized all his power to suppress him. This wasn’t how the script was supposed to go.
How was he supposed to play this?
“That’s right. I can’t kill you. But blasting the Ship Maiden behind you into pieces… so she can never become a Ship Maiden again… that’s not exactly killing anyone, is it?”
“After all… You’re the one who disrupted my Zheng Family’s business first.”