Chapter 597: Section 385: Play Long Fu?
The pirate fleet cut through the waves.
On the Divine Wind, new sails had already been hoisted.
On the deck, members of the Saber Gang crowded together, surrounded by murderous-looking pirates.
Feng Lian and Ice Eagle approached the Saber Gang members.
Two pirates escorted a member of the Saber Gang.
“Squad leader, we found this on him.”
“Kneel down!!”
A pirate from behind kicked the captive in the back of the knees, causing him to suddenly kneel.
Ice Eagle, seeing this man, immediately furrowed his brows and asked, “Mu Si, you betrayed us?!”
The gang member named Mu Si, upon seeing Ice Eagle, wore a complex expression, his lips moved, but he said nothing.
Ice Eagle then looked towards Feng Lian.
Feng Lian was examining the alchemy device in his hands.
This communication device was exactly the one pulled out of Mu Si’s stomach.
After examination, it could not only locate in real time but also had long-distance communication functions.
And it was precisely Mu Si’s specific location that was being tracked.
Once Mu Si boarded the Divine Wind, the Divine Wind’s location was exposed.
Feng Lian shifted his gaze from the alchemy device to Mu Si, but soon after, he looked towards Ice Eagle.
“Ice Eagle, what do you think?” Feng Lian’s tone was very neutral.
Ice Eagle thought it over and said seriously, “Mu Si is of the Black Iron Level, an old member of our gang. He has a gambling addiction and no extra wealth. He couldn’t possibly have bought such an alchemy device for no reason.”
“This alchemy device is compact and could be stored inside a body; clearly, it’s meant for espionage.”
“The evidence is quite sufficient.”
“He is the traitor!”
Having said that, Ice Eagle paused, then continued, “Lord Feng Lian, we are deeply grateful that you personally came to receive us.”
“Now, a traitor has emerged within our gang, almost dragging you into this; I deeply regret it.”
“We will offer compensation, the specific amount of Gold Coins to be double the current reward. What do you think?”
“As for this damned traitor, leave him to your discretion!”
“As for us… just drop us on a nearby inhabited island. We can arrange our own shipping and continue our actions.”
Feng Lian was somewhat surprised, “It seems you are deeply committed to your gang.”
Ice Eagle’s expression turned grim, and he shook his head, “We have failed, and that is exactly why we must uphold our position! If we give up now, we would be utter failures. I believe Teng Donglang and others who have died would also look down on us.”
“Um…” Feng Lian was about to speak when suddenly, a mutation occurred.
Mu Si’s mouth suddenly bled.
Soon, purple blood flowed from his eyes, ears, and nostrils.
Two breaths later, his entire skin turned purplish-black, and he lost his life breath.
“What did you do?!” The First Officer, furious, glared fiercely at the two pirates escorting the captive.
Both pirates also panicked and shouted, “This is impossible!”
“We clearly suppressed him with our fighting energy; he had no ability to resist.”
“He had no devices on him, and you, First Officer, personally checked him with the ship’s alchemy components.”
Feng Lian summoned his fighting energy.
Golden fighting energy swiftly extended and permeated into the purplish-black corpse.
When Feng Lian retracted his energy, his fighting energy had turned purple.
Feng Lian immediately disconnected, allowing the contaminated purple fighting energy to dissipate by itself.
“The poison is quite potent, affecting even the Golden Fighting Spirit.”
“This is not your fault.”
“This traitor took poison before taking action. Now that the time has come, he succumbed to the poison and died!”
Feng Lian revealed the truth.
The two pirates responsible for the escort, as if granted amnesty, relaxed and heavily patted Feng Lian’s back.
The First Officer frowned, “He took the drug before taking action? Was this a voluntary Death Soldier or was he an unfortunate victim pushed into it?”
Feng Lian didn’t respond but instead scanned the surroundings.
The remaining gang members fell silent, their faces showing fear and confusion.
No flaws were visible in their expressions.
Feng Lian sank into thought, “We’ve identified one traitor, but are there others?”
Regardless of whether Mu Si was a voluntary Death Soldier or a coerced unlucky victim, he had died from the poison.
The person who planned this operation and possessed this fiercely decisive manner of acting was alarming.
Feng Lian was more inclined to believe that there were other traitors!
“Mu Si took poison before acting, but there was not a trace of antidote on him.”
“The antidote should be with another traitor. Through the antidote, this traitor could have controlled Mu Si well.”
“If Mu Si had obtained the antidote and suddenly died from poisoning, it would have inevitably led to suspicion and investigation. Thus, if I were the planner inserting a traitor into the operation, I would never make such a foolish arrangement.”
“Of course, if the planner only wanted to organize a cannon fodder-type traitor, merely to serve the prior ambush by the navy. Poison-induced death would also make sense.”
Feng Lian looked towards Ice Eagle again.
Ice Eagle was deeply worried.
The two exchanged a glance, understanding the concerns in each other’s hearts.
Ice Eagle had realized this when he had asked Feng Lian earlier.
It was very likely that there were other traitors within the gang!
But Ice Eagle used very tactful language to communicate his decision to Feng Lian, which was to have him take the Saber Gang members and leave.
The Saber Gang was already in shambles.
If Feng Lian insisted on investigating, it would be the final force that broke the gang.
Because an investigation would be far more terrifying than an external enemy attacking; it would trigger mutual suspicion and doubt among the gang members, completely disintegrating them.
As the former leader of the gang, Ice Eagle was well aware of the real crisis facing the Saber Gang.
An insider?
It might exist, or it might not.
But at the moment, for the grand scheme of the Saber Gang, this issue could be temporarily set aside.
What relieved Ice Eagle was that after considering, Feng Lian nodded slightly, “Let’s do it that way.”
“We will drop you off at Flower Skirt Island.”
“Take care on your journey!”
Ice Eagle bowed deeply, expressing his gratitude solemnly, “Thank you, sir!”
When Zong Ge led the Fleet back to Snowbird Port, a large number of people were still cleaning up the battlefield on the docks.
Huge amounts of wooden debris were cleared, bodies were retrieved, collected, and cremated, and the Patrol Fleet was alert, patrolling around the docks with more than ten times the usual energy.
“I can’t believe something like this happened…” Upon seeing Zi Di, Zong Ge fully understood what had happened.
The Half-Beast snorted, “He actually pursued them alone!”
The one being blamed was naturally the Dragon-man youth.
Zi Di felt displeased when her beloved was being criticized.
She glanced at Zong Ge, “Looking at it now, it was wise of the squad leader to decide to pursue.”
“Who could have expected the Navy to ambush the Divine Wind Pirate Group?”
“From the intelligence we gathered, the Navy lost the battle, but the squad leader likely rescued Lan Zao amidst the chaos of the naval battle.”
The Navy’s large presence at Snowbird Port initially shocked Zi Di.
After gathering more intelligence, Zi Di began to feel hopeful.
Zong Ge shook his head, his expression stern.
“Before the action, you had already received the intelligence. Divine Wind’s speed even surpassed that of Deep Sea Monster Fish; what use was there in him chasing after it?”
“The Navy ambushing the Divine Wind Pirates was completely unexpected!”
“More crucially, he acted alone… That’s not something a leader should do.”
Zong Ge expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the Dragon-man youth.
He took a deep breath, his face filled with concern, “The Navy has been defeated, and this is the Kingdom’s Second Fleet.”
“Three Golden Level raiding Feng Lian, but utterly defeated and even had one killed, only barely surviving by using the Resurrection Technique.”
“From this battle, Feng Lian should be at the Golden Peak level, perhaps even comparable to Holy Domain, like the Empire’s Long Jia, Gandor, and Gertrude of the Golden Level.”
“Feng Lian once fled from an assassination in the Holy Domain, this intelligence led the Kingdom Navy to a misjudgment. This was one of the main reasons for their defeat.”
“I am really worried about him now.”
“If he attempts to act amidst the chaos, under Feng Lian’s watchful eye, even with Deception and Disguise Skill, it’s extremely risky.”
“Didn’t he say when he’ll be back?”
Zi Di shook her head, “No. Such an agreement is meaningless, the squad leader could only act according to circumstances.”
“No, it’s definitely meaningful!” Zong Ge firmly said, “If a time was agreed upon, when that time arrives, at least it would remind him that he should return!”
“Giving up on Lan Zao would have been the wisest.”
“Though he’s our companion, having escaped together from Mysterious Monster Island, he’s just at the Bronze Level.”
“If for his sake, our leader and the Deep Sea Monster Fish are compromised, that would be utterly bad and foolish.”
“You know what I am even more worried about?”
“I’m afraid that he didn’t succeed in the chaos, yet he still doesn’t want to give up and continues to follow the Divine Wind Pirate Group!”
Zi Di felt a pang in her heart, her worry intensifying.
According to her understanding of the Dragon-man youth, if he did succeed, it would be one thing, but if not, he might truly do as Zong Ge suggested and continue the pursuit!
Zi Di regretted, “I should have made a time agreement with him.”
“Now talking about this, it’s already too late. We can only wait.” Zong Ge sighed deeply, worn out.
Just then, a subordinate reported: The City Lord of Snowbird Port had sent a messenger, inviting the Dragon-man youth for a meeting.
“This is troublesome.” Zong Ge frowned deeply, “Disguising the squad leader with an Alchemy Puppet works for minor situations. But it can’t replace him in negotiating with the City Lord of Snowbird Port.”
“What could be the reason for this sudden invitation by the City Lord of Snowbird Port during this period?”
“Is it related to the Navy?”
“Or perhaps it’s another trouble caused by Bu Quan?”
Zi Di stood up, “Don’t worry, we have a way.”
“Before he left, the squad leader discussed a plan with me.”
“Our plan might involve splitting our forces. To prevent any accidents during this process, before he left, he had already left the Deception Array and some Pearl Bubbles with me.”
“Now, it’s your turn.”
Zong Ge was slightly startled, “You want me to play his part?”