With hundreds of warships suddenly appearing, it was almost impossible for Ghost Hall not to notice. All they could do now was minimize their target as much as possible.
To keep Ghost Hall from figuring out their true numbers, Eastlyn’s Ninth Royal Uncle Nolan Dongling and his party decided to land at night. After settling Serena Feng, they launched a direct assault on Ghost Hall...
Ghost Hall was able to plant spies in the Eastlyn Imperial Navy, showing they were well prepared. Fortunately, Nolan’s arrangements at sea were kept secret—no one knew about them beforehand. This time, Ghost Hall was bound to suffer a loss.
Things unfolded exactly as Nolan had predicted: the Ghost King had long since learned that Nolan and Serena were leading the navy to attack Ghost Hall.
The Ghost King had assumed that after two years of inactivity, Nolan either couldn’t find Ghost Hall or had been frightened off. He never expected to hear news of Nolan’s move after all this time.
At this moment, the Ghost King felt incredibly fortunate—worried about Eastlyn’s retaliation, he had deliberately placed several agents within the Eastlyn Imperial Navy, and now they were proving useful.
When his subordinate reported that Nolan’s group was closing in, the Ghost King showed no concern at all. As soon as he learned the Eastlyn Imperial Navy was on the move, he had his spies tamper with their food. The force Nolan brought was nothing but a group of sick men on the verge of becoming idiots.
“Trey Mao, keep watch... The moment those warships appear, blow them up.” The Ghost King didn’t even plan to show up in person—he just gave the order to a deputy.
It wasn’t arrogance—he simply had to leave.
With only sick soldiers at Nolan’s command, there was no way they could escape alive. Once Nolan died, Eastlyn would plunge into chaos!
He wanted to reach Eastlyn before news of Nolan’s death arrived, seizing the chaos to reclaim everything that belonged to him.
There was another reason the Ghost King kept secret: he feared Nolan might have other plans.
If Nolan had made other preparations, Ghost Hall’s small force would be no match for the Eastlyn army, and Ghost Hall would surely fall. That’s why the Ghost King made two plans—leaving early was for the next phase.
If Nolan broke through Ghost Hall, the Ghost King would use an ancestral mechanism to blow up the entire island, burying Nolan and the island forever beneath the sea.
No matter what, Nolan’s fate was sealed. If the first plan succeeded, Ghost Hall would be spared; if it failed, the Ghost King was prepared to sacrifice Ghost Hall and everyone in it.
To the Ghost King, it was all worth it.
Before Nolan’s men stormed the island, the Ghost King gave clear instructions, had his double don the ghost mask and oversee the defense, ready to stall Nolan at the critical moment. Meanwhile, he slipped away alone in a small boat to a nearby islet.
No one in the world but the Ghost King knew the real secret to destroying Hundred-Ghost Island lay on another islet.
The Ghost King always wore a ghost mask—no one had ever seen his true face. When Nolan led his army against Ghost Hall, he saw the masked ‘Ghost King’ commanding the defenders from the rear...
The two sides were far apart, and the double resembled the Ghost King in both build and bearing—at least ninety percent similar. Nolan never suspected the Ghost King before him was a fake.
Ghost Hall’s defenses were strong, but their manpower was pitifully small—just over two hundred on the whole island. Nolan had brought twenty thousand seasoned naval troops; even if each man only stomped once, they could flatten Ghost Hall.
Nolan knew Ghost Hall’s individual fighters were formidable. When the ships reached the island, he didn’t order a direct charge—instead, he spared no gunpowder, using long masts to hurl thunder-blast grenades from afar, blasting a breach in their defenses first.
Ghost Hall’s people were indeed skilled, but facing twenty thousand well-armed sailors loaded with thunder-blast grenades and powder charges, all Ghost Hall could do was take a beating.
Ghost Hall had made similar explosives themselves, but their power was nowhere near what Nolan’s gunpowder could deliver.
However, Ghost Hall had something that gave Nolan a real headache—their war chariots.
After a round of explosive attacks, before Nolan could order the charge, Ghost Hall rolled out their war chariots—dozens lined up in a row, physically blocking Eastlyn’s army from advancing.
“Keep bombing!” Nolan ordered again.
This time, they had brought enough thunder-blast grenades to level Ghost Hall completely.
With Nolan’s command, the ‘pirates’ didn’t hold back—they air-dropped thunder-blast grenades and explosives all over the island. But then, a problem arose...
The war chariots Ghost Hall rolled out were incredibly sturdy. The grenades couldn’t break them, and each chariot had several long mechanical arms. Although not very nimble, when swung, these arms managed several times to bat the grenades back—or send them splashing into the sea.
“Hahaha, those things aren’t scary at all! Brothers, let’s kick those iron lumps right back and blow them up ourselves!” The Ghost Hall fighters saw their chance—dozens of experts rushed out at once...
Their footwork was superb; when the thunder-blast grenades flew over, ten of them could kick three to five back, greatly reducing the grenades’ impact—and sometimes even hurting their own side.
“Keep going.” Nolan didn’t call a halt. With a single gesture, a squad of archers appeared.
“Cover the archers’ landing.” At Nolan’s order, the Eastlyn troops began landing under cover of the grenade barrage.
“Not good, they’re landing!” The Ghost Hall defenders saw the dense ranks pouring onto the island and panicked: “Didn’t the king say the Eastlyn navy was all sick? They don’t look sick at all!”
“Could the intel be wrong?”
“No way, the king wouldn’t lie to us!” a Ghost Hall fighter insisted.
“It must be Eastlyn’s tricks—they ruined the king’s plan. Brothers, let’s go! Kill that Eastlyn dog emperor!” Trey Mao saw their unease and quickly redirected their anger toward Nolan.
“That Eastlyn dog emperor stole my king’s throne—my king is the true Lan heir!” Trey Mao cursed Nolan furiously, taunting, “Dog emperor, look at you, always hiding behind your men. Do you dare come out and fight me one-on-one?”
Trey Mao tried his hardest to provoke Nolan, but his cheap tricks were unlikely to work—Nolan wasn’t about to fall for them.
Nolan completely ignored Trey Mao. Seeing the Ghost Hall fighters exhausted from the grenade barrage, he calmly ordered, “Attack!”
This time, except for a few necessary defenders, the entire twenty-thousand-strong army surged onto the small Ghost Hall island. At the same moment, the Ghost King landed on a deserted islet, preparing either to destroy the island or head for Eastlyn—only to find someone had arrived ahead of him on the empty shore...