The sea mist was hazy.
Wang Xiao stood at the very front of the warship’s deck, his hands gripping the railing trembling slightly.
He was not only the deputy commander of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion, but also a retainer of Xu Zihuang’s family.
These former Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion soldiers who defected with him were all loyalists of Xu Zihuang’s family.
A young man who looked no older than thirty walked out of the cabin to the deck, quietly stepping behind Wang Xiao.
His figure was rather slender, and his delicate, effeminate face could easily be mistaken for a woman’s at first glance if not for the obvious masculine Adam’s apple.
His long black hair was meticulously combed and draped over his shoulders, giving him the suave air of a gentle scholar.
Unlike the soldiers of the legion, he wasn’t wearing dark purple dragon-patterned armor, but rather a luxurious white soul master robe.
The young man took a few steps forward to lean against the railing shoulder-to-shoulder with Wang Xiao, his deep black pupils following Wang Xiao’s gaze toward the dim, distant sea.
“Uncle Wang.”
“Yao Yang, you didn’t actually have to come with us.
If this fails, you’ll be forced to live on the run just like us.
The noble title your family has held for a millennium will likely be revoked.” Wang Xiao continued to gaze at the distant sea, his authoritative tiger eyes showing a rare hint of other emotions.
Yao Yang smiled bitterly and shook his head, but his tone was exceptionally firm.
“If it weren’t for the Prince and you back then, I couldn’t have lived until now, and my family’s bloodline would have ended with my generation, let alone any hereditary titles.
If I must flee, then I shall flee.
I’ve grown tired of such a peaceful life anyway.
I could never repay the Prince’s kindness in a lifetime.
Now, to sit back and do nothing while we rescue his only heir—I simply couldn’t live with myself.”
“If we successfully rescue the young master this time, you might not be able to just throw away your status as Viscount Yuenan.”
A look of reminiscence flashed in Wang Xiao’s eyes, not surprised by Yao Yang’s attitude.
He chuckled with an inscrutable expression and patted his shoulder.
Hearing this, Yao Yang’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Uncle Wang, have you agreed to my previous proposal?”
“Everything will be decided after we rescue the young master.”
Wang Xiao waved his hand, not giving a definitive answer.
Immediately, he turned and walked before the soldiers who were already fully prepared.
The previously severely injured Meng Cang was impressively standing among them.
Under the treatment of a healing-type soul master, his external injuries had mostly closed up.
However, such severe trauma was impossible to recover from in a short time.
Wang Xiao swept a cold glance over Meng Cang and actually kicked him out of the formation.
Among these former Imperial Dragon soldiers, Wang Xiao clearly held high prestige.
The entire deck was dead silent.
Meng Cang opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately kept quiet.
Wang Xiao consecutively selected five more people from the team to stay on the warship alongside Meng Cang.
Without another word, he waved his large hand and leaped straight from the deck toward the surface of the sea.
Yao Yang and the group of over forty elite former soldiers followed closely behind, their soul power flashing continuously in the darkness.
Small boats were taken out of soul tools, floating on the sea one after another.
These small boats were extremely peculiar.
They had no sails and a long, narrow hull.
Each boat had only three seats.
Strictly speaking, these boats could be considered Class 3 soul tools.
Engraved within each was a Class 3 propulsion core array.
As long as soul power was injected, they could maintain high-speed navigation.
The group took turns injecting soul power to ensure everyone remained at peak condition, while keeping their formation and speeding toward the island whose outline was faintly visible in the distance.
Yao Yang, who was in the same boat as Wang Xiao, suddenly underwent a complete transformation.
His long black hair scattered in the wind, and his previously effeminate aura became extremely cold and sinister.
His entire body turned illusory, becoming a pitch-black phantom as thick black mist rose from his feet.
His black eyes also turned blood red.
It was extremely eerie.
One yellow, three purple, three black.
Seven soul rings—exceeding the optimal ratio for ordinary soul masters—rose successively from his feet.
Looking under thirty years old, he was unexpectedly a Soul Sage level powerhouse!
As the fifth black soul ring flashed, he said deeply to the crowd, “Be careful not to leave the range of my Fifth Soul Skill.”
Before he finished speaking, the soldiers and the boats beneath them disappeared from the surface of the sea one after another, as if the previous scene had never happened.
Back on the deck, Meng Cang punched the floor heavily in unwilling frustration.
Among the soldiers left on the warship, a young man looking seventeen or eighteen quickly squatted down to help Meng Cang up.
An honest-looking face, eighty percent similar to Meng Cang’s, showed a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Father, you clearly made a great contribution this time.
For the Commander to treat you like this is truly unfair.”
The dissatisfaction wasn’t just for his father, but also for himself.
He had wanted to show off his skills, but his very first mission after joining the Imperial Dragon Legion ended like this.
To say he had no emotional reaction would be impossible.
Hearing his son Meng Lang’s words, the frustration on Meng Cang’s face vanished entirely.
He widened his eyes, abruptly raised his head, swung his right arm, and slapped his son viciously.
“Bang, bang, bang—” Meng Lang was slapped away, flying tens of meters and bouncing off the deck three times before his body slammed tightly against the refined iron railing.
One could imagine just how heavy that slap was.
“You bastard!” Meng Cang’s chest heaved with anger.
Jarring his previous injuries, he coughed up a mouthful of bloody phlegm.
Enduring the burning pain on his cheek and body, Meng Lang looked at his furious father and lowered his head in fear and grievance.
After a long time, Meng Cang rubbed his forehead and sighed at Meng Lang, “Did you not notice that everyone the Commander left behind, except for Old Cheng, are people whose soul power hasn’t broken through rank fifty?!
Your soul power is only rank forty, and you haven’t even acquired your fourth soul ring.
What could you possibly do if you went?!
You’d only be a burden.
There are the forces of two soul engineer legions over there.
Although the Western Sea Legion can’t compare to our Imperial Dragon Legion, it is still one of the few elite legions of the Sun Moon Empire.”
“Forget it, Old Meng.
Meng Lang is just a bit young and hot-blooded.
Weren’t we like that back then?”
The other five soldiers left behind were all older.
One of them quickly stepped forward to smooth things over and helped Meng Lang up.
It was Old Cheng.
“Old Cheng, don’t speak up for this bastard.”
Meng Cang’s gaze toward Meng Lang was still fierce, but seeing these old brothers who had risked their lives together for decades stepping in, he couldn’t bring himself to lash out again.
Meng Lang stood up and touched his swollen cheek, his face full of resentment.
He had an honest personality, but that didn’t mean he was stupid.
At this time, he naturally took the way out, not daring to trigger his father’s temper again.
…
In the first-floor hall of the castle bathed in soul tool lighting, Xu Zihuang sat silently in the central head seat, tasting the fragrant fruit juice freshly squeezed from fruits transported from the mainland.
Sitting in the upper left seat next to him was Hai Xiao, and in the upper right seat was Commander Yu Yun of the Vast Sea Soul Engineer Legion, who had escorted the hundred noble ladies.
This was a soul engineer legion formed by a coastal border city of the Sun Moon Empire.
The quality of the soldiers varied greatly, far inferior to Hai Xiao’s Western Sea Legion.
There were also only a hundred personnel.
Yu Yun, the commander, was several decades older than Hai Xiao, but his cultivation had just broken through to the Soul Sage level, and that was with the aid of medicine.
He would likely remain at this stage for the rest of his life.
Before an 8th-Class Soul Engineer like Hai Xiao, he kept his posture very low.
Xu Zihuang propped his chin with his right hand and looked up.
The hall was filled with chattering girls.
Although the noble ladies were conversing with each other, he knew their attention was entirely focused on him.
“Hmph.” Chuckling self-deprecatingly in his heart, this scene reminded him of the time before he was exiled to this island.
Back then, he was the only son of an immensely powerful prince.
The major nobles of the empire racked their brains trying to send their legitimate daughters to his family’s mansion, just to find an opportunity to interact with him and seek a minuscule chance of a marriage alliance.
How similar it was to the current scene, yet his situation in the two instances was completely different.
The noble ladies in the hall, whether glamorous or pure, always casually tried to show off their best sides to him.
But the sorrows and joys of humans are not connected.
Xu Zihuang only felt they were noisy.
However, to satisfy his cousin Xu Tianran, he still pretended to be picking.
Perhaps, as Hai Xiao had said earlier, he could keep all these noble ladies.
But that would contradict the personality he had shown in the past.
To avoid any unexpected changes, he intended to select only ten.
Of course, according to his own preferences.
After all, there was no need to wrong himself.
(END CHAPTER)