Chapter 590: Section 378: Tacit Understanding
Snowbird Port dock.
The Mage Tower hummed as it operated, with the immense Purple Star Thunder Magic Array dominating the skies above the dock, deterring the Divine Wind Pirate Group.
The clash and battle on the sea persisted.
Corpses floated with the waves, various ship fragments either sinking or afloat.
The Rocket Assault Boats had been destroyed.
But the remnants of the Saber Gang remained active.
Most still struggled, while a few had escaped the range of the thunder strike and boarded the ships of the pirate group.
The Dragon-man youth spoke to Zi Di with an anxious tone, “What are our chances of success if we use the Deep Sea Monster Fish to stealthily approach beneath the Divine Wind Pirate Group and launch a surprise attack?”
Zi Di was startled by these words and quickly cautioned, “Lord, don’t be overanxious!”
“Lan Zao might have fallen, but he is still safe for now.”
The Dragon-man youth sighed and shook his head slightly, “That’s a misunderstanding by Ice Eagle. He won’t be able to conceal it for long.”
“In the chaos of the battlefield, Lan Zao fought his way through, killing quite a few members of the Saber Gang.”
“Also, once they regroup after the battle, they will surely reorganize. By then, when recounting affiliations, Lan Zao is completely an outsider, with no ties to any gang members. He will definitely be discovered.”
“Even if he pretended to be an ordinary civilian of Snowbird Port, nursing an admiration for the Saber Gang, it would be a huge blunder. He wouldn’t even be able to name the streets of Snowbird Port clearly.”
“We must rescue him quickly, otherwise, he will truly be in danger!”
Zi Di took a deep breath.
She had anticipated the Dragon-man youth’s attitude toward rescuing people.
But the idea he proposed was really foolish.
Right now, they were at the Snowbird Port dock. If they exposed the Deep Sea Monster Fish, what would the City Lord of Snowbird Port think?
The negative repercussions were too numerous, potentially exposing their real identities. The risks that would arise could be too great for the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to handle at their current limit.
Zi Di was not willing to take such a risk to rescue Lan Zao.
But she also knew that she couldn’t forcefully stop the Dragon-man youth.
Luckily, she had profound negotiation skills and immediately shifted her angle, trying to persuade him, “Lord, even if we expose the Deep Sea Monster Fish and use it to approach the Divine Wind, can we really rescue someone?”
“The opposing ship isn’t Silver Level magic-powered but Gold Level, with strong defenses!”
“At the same time, the members of the Divine Wind Pirate Group have not joined the battle and are in full form. Most importantly, there’s the Gold Level leader Feng Lian!”
Zi Di paused briefly, then continued, “Actually, I personally am not worried about your Lordship’s safety.”
“In the courageous duel earlier, you have fully proven yourself.”
“You can battle a Gold Level opponent.”
“But to extract Lan Zao from the midst of the enemy, the difficulty is on a different level from a one-on-one fight with a Gold Level, right?”
“I’m more worried about Lan Zao’s reaction…”
The Dragon-man youth interrupted her, “No, I trust Lan Zao!”
Zi Di immediately responded, “I trust him too! That’s why I am more worried.”
“Lord, please consider, if Lan Zao sees you charging in heedlessly, what would his reaction be?”
“He is your most steadfast follower, his heart must be filled with concern for you.”
“He will think that it was he who dragged you down. Were it not for rescuing him, you wouldn’t have put yourself in danger.”
“So, once you find yourself in peril, what do you think he will do?”
The Dragon-man youth’s heart skipped a beat, instantly conjuring the most likely scenario.
With a heavy tone, he replied to Zi Di, “When that time comes, even if Lan Zao hasn’t revealed his identity, he will join the battle of his own accord, seek death in the fight, to prevent me from taking further risks to save him.”
Aboard the Deep Sea Monster Fish, Zi Di’s mouth curved into a faint smile, “Exactly, my lord!”
“Damn it.” The Dragon-man youth clenched his fists, filled with anxiety and dilemma.
He was self-aware.
Though he had killed Teng Donglang, the final fatal blow was actually unclear.
He understood that even if he caused chaos and created an opportunity to save someone, he would undoubtedly be surrounded and in grave danger.
The likelihood was great that Lan Zao would choose to “die” in battle.
“What should I do now?” The Dragon-man youth felt somewhat at a loss.
He stood rooted on the spot, scanning the battlefield with furrowed brows, pondering deeply.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck him; he turned sharply, looking toward the Mage Tower at the dock.
He communicated with Zi Di again, his voice excited, “The Mage Tower has not attacked the Saber Gang members still at sea. These people are not much of a threat, the Snowbird Port City Lord wants to use them to hold back the Divine Wind Pirate Group!”
The Dragon-man youth outlined the Snowbird Port City Lord’s intention.
Since the Divine Wind Pirate Group had not immediately left, but continued to stay at sea, wanting to pick up more Saber Gang members, there was still a chance.
The Dragon-man youth continued his analysis, “The City Lord had previously reported the destruction of the Saber Gang. Now, with this unexpected turn of events, if all the gang leaders escape, this achievement will surely be greatly diminished.”
“Since he hasn’t furiously slaughtered these common gang members, but is delaying, he must be thinking of a solution.”
Zi Di immediately responded, acknowledging the Dragon-man youth’s analysis.
The Dragon-man youth took a deep breath, becoming even more composed.
He was no longer who he once was; his experiences at Snowbird Port had made him grow into a better leader.
He had learned to leverage power and take advantage of situations.
He had leveraged the Snowbird Port City Lord’s power against the Saber Gang before, so why couldn’t he do it now?
They had a cooperative relationship and had always cooperated happily. More importantly, the Snowbird Port City Lord should be more anxious than he was!
The Dragon-man youth immediately used the Communication Device to contact the Snowbird Port City Lord. He weighed his words, then spoke in an indignant tone, “City Lord, are we just going to stand by and watch? Watch these damned pirates take away all these criminal gang members?”
“My flagship is destroyed, my loss in personnel is severe.”
“We can’t let them go!”
However, the response from the Snowbird Port City Lord was unexpected.
“I’m afraid that’s all we can do,” the City Lord spoke heavily.
“Why?” the Dragon-man youth instantly inquired.
The City Lord openly admitted, “Because of Feng Lian.”
“This Human Race is no ordinary man; his combat strength is strong, far surpassing mine.”
“Pirates who can operate near Ice Sculpture Island have all been thoroughly tried. My Kingdom had once sent Holy Domain Level forces to eradicate the Divine Wind Pirate Group, but they failed.”
“What?” The Dragon-man youth was shocked, “Can Feng Lian really contend with the Holy Domain?”
The City Lord of Snowbird Port laughed, “Of course not.”
“Golden Level being a match for Holy Domain Level is too hard, almost impossible.”
“At that time, our Kingdom’s Holy Domain Level had finally captured the Divine Wind Pirate Group, made a direct move, and executed a decapitation strategy against Feng Lian.”
“Feng Lian abandoned ship to save his life, drawing our Kingdom’s Holy Domain far from the naval battlefield.”
“As a result, he escaped with severe injuries, while the Divine Wind and other pirate ships also managed to break away.”
“After this battle, our Kingdom raised the threat level of the Divine Wind Pirate Group up a notch. We wouldn’t make a move unless it was absolutely necessary.”
The City Lord of Snowbird Port continued, “And Feng Lian, this person, is very calm and cautious.”
“Most of the time, he doesn’t take risks lightly.”
“He’s also very wise to the ways of the world, likely having learned from the Holy Domain. Since that battle, the Divine Wind Pirate Group has become much more restrained under his leadership.”
“They hardly rob our Kingdom’s merchant ships anymore, instead they target other foreign vessels.”
“To tell you the truth, I would not risk facing him at sea.”
“Because there’s a good chance I would be killed by him!”
The Dragon-man youth fell into silence.
The candid words of Snowbird Port’s City Lord had shaken him.
The Dragon-man youth had witnessed the fighting of Snowbird Port’s City Lord himself.
In his mind, the youth made a comparison: according to what he knew, the fighting power of the City Lord of Snowbird Port could at least result in a stalemate against Teng Donglang.
If not accounting for any hidden cards Snowbird Port’s City Lord might have, his combat power was comparable to Teng Donglang’s.
Of course, it was highly likely that Snowbird Port’s City Lord was superior to Teng Donglang.
The reason was simple.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port, with a lightning strike, had eliminated the Saber Gang, and was definitely aiming to deal with Teng Donglang.
In the end, since he was confident enough to lead his team to encircle the Snowbird Duel Arena, he certainly had the confidence to suppress Teng Donglang.
But such a Golden Level figure, he outright told the Dragon-man youth that if he confronted Feng Lian, he could likely lose his life!
The strength of Feng Lian could be seen from this.
More and more gang members were being taken aboard the Divine Wind and other pirate ships.
The members of the Saber Gang were grateful to the Divine Wind Pirate Group.
Seeing familiar faces, many of the gang members instinctively huddled together, some even embracing each other in tears of joy.
Lan Zao was internally anxious.
He was an outsider, without any gang members he was familiar with.
The longer the time dragged on, the more isolated he appeared, and the bigger his vulnerabilities became.
The only thing he was thankful for was that the Dragon-man youth had simply stopped in place and didn’t rashly attack this area.
“The Lord must be considering my reaction.”
“I must do something, save myself!”
“Even if I am going to die, if I died just like this, it would be too regrettable. I at least have to struggle.”
With that thought, Lan Zao made his move.
He tried to incite the Spring Boxers to open fire on Snowbird Port’s docks with anger.
The Spring Boxer shook his head and refused, “Let’s rescue our own people first. Opening fire now would provoke the Patrol Fleet to move out and massacre our people, which would be bad!”
The Ice Eagle then reassured, “Don’t worry, one day, we will have our revenge.”
Seeing the hate-filled face of Lan Zao, eager for vengeance, Ice Eagle felt pleased.
He had also seen some of Lan Zao’s combat, noting his bravery and fearlessness.
More importantly, Lan Zao’s spirit and vigor impressed Ice Eagle.
Looking at the Saber Gang members in front of him, after being rescued, they had lost their courage, some even cried bitterly. Even several leaders had quieted down.
Only Lan Zao alone, was calling for counter-attack by firing the cannons.
The contrast was obvious.
Ice Eagle looked at Lan Zao, asking with interest, “Kid, what’s your name, and under which leader’s command are you?”
Lan Zao dared not answer that question, instead asking back, “Old Gang Leader, after these people are saved, can we open fire?”
“We will immediately evacuate,” the First Officer of the Divine Wind cut in upon hearing this conversation.
“Why?!” Lan Zao glared.
He was hoping for a fight so that he could slip away.
The First Officer looked at Lan Zao with a cold laugh, “Bronze boy, don’t be too presumptuous.”
“The fact that so many of your people are alive is because of our squad leader’s reputation.”
“How many of you would make it to the ship if the Mage Tower decided to execute you?”
“The City Lord of Snowbird Port hasn’t given the attack order, and we can’t fire. This has been the long-standing unspoken agreement between our group and the Ice Kingdom!”
“Be grateful that we saved you people.”
“Are you expecting our group to bombard one of the eight great ports, break the agreement, and provoke the Ice Kingdom into going all out against our group?!”
Lan Zao was stunned.
Reality often seemed ironic and absurd.
Who could imagine that the Ice Kingdom and a pirate group could reach an implicit agreement?
At least Lan Zao had not thought of it.
The highest position he ever held in his life was just a chief sailor on a merchant ship.
His level was too low.
However, upon reflection.
Behind the absurd reality, was a mutual wariness and an uneasy coexistence between the two sides.
The power of the Divine Wind Pirate Group could certainly not be compared with the Ice Kingdom, but they would never confront them head-on.
The Ice Kingdom, surrounded by sea on all sides, with its long coastline, would face great trouble if the Divine Wind Pirate Group desperately sought revenge.
But after Feng Lian successfully escaped from the Kingdom Holy Land, the Divine Wind Pirate Group earned the standing to reach this kind of unspoken agreement with the Ice Kingdom.
He had proven himself, just like the Dragon-man youth who slain Teng Donglang.
This is a Transcendent world.
This is the world of the strong.