Chi Lai is a key figure, or rather, a target worth noting.
Because he was once a soldier, his combat ability and fighting spirit are both considerable and trustworthy.
Before the Tan Mo Navy acted, they were informed: stop Chi Lai from getting in contact with the Golden Level cannon, or else the combination would produce underestimated power!
Even Tan Mo doesn’t want to use his body to taste a hit from a Golden Level bomb.
The City Lord of Snowbird Port doesn’t want the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to fire cannons at their own dock. Whatever gets damaged, he would have to clean up the mess!
Therefore, Chi Lai was given special attention.
After Chi Lai cast two Divine Arts, he realized he had stirred up a hornet’s nest, drawing the attack of five pirates at the same level.
He hardly thought before starting to retreat!
It’s not that he lacked fighting spirit, but upon seeing the enemy’s strength, he had to pull back, using space to buy time, preventing the problem from worsening, and quietly waiting for reinforcements.
Chi Lai’s retreat was only half successful—when he jumped onto the White Bandage midway, he was intercepted.
The five "pirates" proceeded to attack him in a group.
Chi Lai was immediately at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, he had an equipment advantage.
On one hand, the alchemy tools on the White Bandage whisk around like giant pythons, occasionally disrupting the "pirates" or healing Chi Lai.
On the other hand, Chi Lai’s equipment was far superior to the "pirates’."
Naturally, the Tan Mo Navy couldn’t use their original equipment. They were using pirate gear secretly provided by the City Lord of Snowbird Port.
The latter was particularly worried about his plan being exposed, so he supplied very authentic pirate gear—truly used by pirates. These were spoils captured by the Empire’s spy from past battles.
Pirate equipment can’t compare to the Holy Bright Empire’s regular army. Nor can it match Chi Lai’s well-funded, constantly replenished gear.
Chi Lai fought desperately relying on his equipment advantage and quickly suffered multiple injuries.
"We need to save Chi Lai!!" Sanda bit his teeth in urgency on the flagship upon seeing this.
"I’ll do it!" A voice rang out as a stout Silver Level volunteered.
Sanda didn’t need to turn around; just by hearing the voice, he knew it was Menshi.
Menshi, holding a long-handled Warhammer in one hand and grasping a rope in the other, rapidly moved his short legs on the deck, and after a run-up, he jumped off the ship’s side.
Menshi swung on the long rope, swaying through the air directly to the windward side of another ship.
Then, he let go of the rope mid-air, grabbing another rope precisely, and swung again.
He quickly swung above the White Bandage.
Seeing Menshi about to descend onto the battlefield, the Transcendent among the Tan Mo Navy began their volley.
"Protect Lord Menshi!"
"Whirling Scimitar, toss!!"
At this critical moment, under the leadership of Fast Legs, the Fast Blade squad tossed the Extraordinary Weapon together.
The Whirling Scimitars flew beside Menshi, countering the attack and blocking most arrows.
Menshi, receiving such strong reinforcement, only had to face a few arrows, which he easily blocked with his defenses.
Boom.
He landed on the deck, shook his head, and immediately wielded his Warhammer, joining Chi Lai’s battle group.
With Menshi’s support, Chi Lai’s situation significantly improved, no longer facing peril.
Sanda exhaled a breath of stale air at this scene.
Whether it was Menshi swinging with a rope or the Fast Blade squad using Whirling Scimitar’s defense technique, they were all results of their recent intense military training.
"But simply achieving this is far from enough."
"These pirates are too strong!"
"There are just so many Silver Level, and there’s a strong possibility that the Golden Level has paralyzed the Mage Tower..."
As Sanda pondered, he suddenly heard a loud shout.
The shout was filled with shock and hatred, drawing many eyes.
People saw a Silver Level attacked by a comrade, his heart shredded by a sharp blade.
Sanda instantaneously found himself wrathful.
"Traitor!!" Many mercenaries awakened, rushing to kill the Silver Level who had just attacked a comrade.
The Silver Level succeeded and sneered a few times, retreating while sneering, quickly disappearing into a corner of the battlefield.
Sanda instantly recognized him as a Transcendent recently recruited by him, unexpectedly betraying them at a crucial moment.
"This isn’t a simple betrayal!"
"Given the pirates’ methods, he must be a pirate, sent to infiltrate our Mercenary Group."
"Damn it."
Experiencing this blow, the morale of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps noticeably fell.
Sanda couldn’t sit still anymore and decided to take the risk immediately.
The battlefield situation for the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was quite grim.
"If we don’t take risks now, there will be no chance at all!"
"Lord Zong Ge is not here, Cang Xu, Lan Zao, they’ve all left."
"The most ridiculous thing is, the squad leader also dumped us!!"
The goblin was furious, but his strong sense of responsibility deepened his resolve to fight to the end.
His personal strength was only Black Iron Level, so even if he joined the battle, he couldn’t make much of an impact. Thus, Sanda immediately turned around, hurriedly went down to the cabin via the Captain’s room’s secret slide.
He sprinted all the way, quickly reaching the cannon chamber.
This cabin was specifically used to house the Golden Level cannon.
Though Sanda knew that in such combat, under these battlefield conditions, using the Golden cannon wasn’t suitable. But he had no choice; this was his only idea that could affect the battle.
"Luckily, we’ve had military training during this time, and I’ve operated this cannon a few times."
It’s not just Sanda, several Transcendents including Menshi have undergone the same training.
Although Chi Lai is the most suitable handler, you can’t just rely on him alone. In fierce naval battles, anything unexpected could happen.
Therefore, Sanda’s training was meant to develop someone who could replace Chi Lai as the gunner at a critical moment.
The results of this training are not much, to be honest, very small. But Sanda has indeed mastered how to operate this Golden Level cannon.
However, when he pushed open the hatch and ran to the cannon, his heart sank.
The cannon had been destroyed!
"There are other traitors!! Right here on this flagship." Sanda was filled with rage, biting his lip until it bled.
Boom.
The next moment, a massive explosion occurred on the side of the flagship.
The flagship jolted violently, followed by billowing smoke.
Tan Mo’s navy had been waiting for a long time and immediately charged in through the breach on the side of the ship.
Sanda gritted his teeth and drew his sword, bravely blocking the way with the mercenaries in the cabin.
Two Silver Level navy personnel coordinated seamlessly, forming the tip of a charging arrow.
Sanda dealing with one was challenging enough, dealing with two was simply impossible!
Very soon, he was heavily injured, collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
A Silver Level navy member stepped forward coldly to finish him off.
Seeing Sanda about to meet his end, at the critical moment, a flash of blade light suddenly illuminated the burning cabin.
Clang!
With a crisp metallic collision sound, a mysterious Transcendent appeared in front of Sanda.
It was this stranger who blocked the fatal blow for Sanda.
The Silver Level navy was forced back, his arm slightly trembling, his face full of seriousness.
"Who... are you?" The navy squinted, the mysterious Transcendent was not in his intelligence report.
Sanda had the same doubt, he was certain it was his first time seeing this stranger.
The next moment, the stranger puffed out his thin chest, speaking in a stiff and plain tone: "Under Long Fu’s command, Wolf Howl."
"Long Fu?!" Sanda’s heart skipped a beat.
Roar—!
The mysterious Transcendent suddenly let out a roar, his long sword waving out a dazzling blade light, lunging at the Silver Level navy.
"Quick, help me!" After a few exchanges, the Silver Level navy shouted for help.
The other Silver Level member broke free to assist, but even with the combined strength of two, they couldn’t defeat "Wolf Howl."
"Wolf Howl" himself was very well-equipped, his Combat Skill was solid, his greatest advantage was his fearless nature, often willing to get injured to create combat advantages.
But this reckless fighting style soon had him covered in blood.
However, he fought more and more merrily, his expression remained cold and he roared occasionally, quite befitting the name "Wolf Howl."
"Hey, are you out of your mind?" Sanda caught his breath for a moment, rushed to assist, blocking an attack for "Wolf Howl."
But "Wolf Howl" wasn’t appreciative: "Get away, shorty. Don’t hinder my battle!"
Sanda snorted coldly: "Don’t fight like that, you’ll soon be dragged to death by this fighting style."
"Wolf Howl" snorted back: "Who cares about death, I’m here to complete the mission given by Long Fu’s squad leader!"
Sanda’s heart skipped a beat: "Long Fu... where is the squad leader?"
"Don’t know." After saying this, Wolf Howl charged again, entangling with the two Silver Level navy.
Sanda gritted his teeth, observed for a while, found their battle escalating, it would be hard for him as a Black Iron Level to intervene, and he’d likely be used as a burden to Wolf Howl, so he decisively retreated.
"How did Long Fu manage to recruit such a loyal Silver Level?"
With this question, Sanda reached the deck, and then was surprised to find that Wolf Howl was not the only supporter.
There were also three Silver Level Transcendents engaging the pirates.
Unlike Wolf Howl, who was a fighter using a blade, these three Silver Levels were all Mages.
They were all very well-equipped, each with a different style, but they all displayed formidable combat capability.
"These reinforcements are not ordinary Silver Level, just like Chi Lai and Menshi, they’re definitely elite!"
"They have appeared, where is Long Fu’s squad leader?"
"Wait, what am I expecting?"
"Even if Long Fu is here, he’s not Master Zong Ge, he’s still just Silver Level."
"His combat power at Silver Level is top-notch, true, but the pirates may very likely have Golden Level. And their Golden Level has already controlled the Mage Tower!"
The presence of the enemy’s Golden Level felt like a huge stone pressing on Sanda’s heart.
"Where did these people come from?" Tan Mo frowned.
He quickly contacted the Snowbird Port City Lord.
The Snowbird Port City Lord was also closely watching the battlefield, upon receiving the communication, his reply was calm: "I don’t know these people either."
"I suspect it’s the secret backing of Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps who previously were attacked and had members taken, secretly dispatching reinforcements."
Tan Mo frowned deeper: "Even you don’t know? The means by which this group disguises and hides are not to be underestimated."
"If they can hide Silver Level, can they hide Golden Level?"
The Snowbird Port City Lord pursed his lips, he worried the same.
If the opponent hid a Golden Level, it wouldn’t be easy to deal with.
Whether or not a Golden Level is participating, the intensity of the battlefield is a different matter.