In the past, Nolan Dongling would never have tangled with Serena Feng on the road—he was always worried she might get pregnant en route, unable to receive proper care and forced to suffer. But now, Nolan doesn’t have to worry about that at all...
The Valley Master had said it himself: Nolan was never likely to have children, and with his current health, the chances are even slimmer. Unless something miraculous happens, Little Dumpling will probably be the only child he and Serena ever have.
Serena knew Nolan’s body was badly damaged, but she wasn’t a specialist in this field, and Nolan absolutely refused to let her test his semen. Besides, since they already had Little Dumpling, Serena didn’t push the issue.
Sea travel is mind-numbingly dull—every day the same endless ocean. After a while, anyone would get restless. So lately, Nolan’s been sticking close to Serena, and she gets it. With nothing to do at sea, why wouldn’t Nolan take the chance to get cozy?
Honestly, Serena had to admit—she’d rather be shut up in a cabin with Nolan than staring at the same old sea every day. Even if they weren’t talking, just being together made her feel at ease.
It takes more than two months at sea to get from Eastlyn to Hundred-Ghost Island. For those two months, Nolan and Serena were together day and night—there was nothing in their eyes but each other. With that much time, how could their feelings not deepen?
With nothing better to do, Nolan even tried his hand at painting Serena’s eyebrows—never mind that she’d never bothered with makeup before.
The shadow guards and attendants watched the emperor and empress grow more and more in sync, secretly thinking: Anyone hoping to get between Their Majesties is going to be sorely disappointed. With feelings like this, not just for a few years—even after a decade, they probably won’t cool off at all.
Serena and Nolan couldn’t care less about any of that. Time on the road was their rare chance to relax—if they didn’t enjoy it now, were they supposed to wait until after reaching Hundred-Ghost Island?
There were still ten days to go before they’d reach Hundred-Ghost Island. Nolan’s long-hidden Shadow Fleet had already assembled every battle-ready soldier, waiting for them in the waters they’d have to cross.
Nolan intended to test the Eastlyn Imperial Navy and the shadow guards, so he deliberately didn’t tell them the ships ahead were his own men. When the two sides met, the Eastlyn Imperial Navy mistook the other warships for pirates and immediately went on alert. Seeing the enemy numbers and ships were comparable to their own, the navy commander grew serious and sent someone to report to the emperor.
When facing pirates, there’s no choice but to fight. But since they weren’t familiar with these waters, they could easily suffer losses. For safety, they had to protect the emperor and empress and evacuate them.
The shadow guards thought the same. They immediately appeared and shielded Nolan: "Master, Madam. There are pirates ahead, and they’re numerous and know these waters well. We’re unlikely to gain the upper hand. Please, Master and Lady, withdraw at once."
“Hm?” Serena didn’t know what was happening up ahead and turned to look at Nolan.
Nolan gently shook his head, signaling Serena not to worry. Serena quickly realized Nolan wanted to test the Eastlyn Imperial Navy’s combat skills at sea, so she kept quiet.
Serena silently followed at Nolan’s side, watching as he refused the suggestion to evacuate and instead ordered the navy to attack…
The Eastlyn Imperial Navy worried about Nolan and Serena’s safety, but they dared not disobey Nolan’s orders. The navy commander had some men protect Serena and Nolan while ordering the attack.
On the other side, the troops disguised as pirates understood Nolan’s intentions as soon as they saw the attack order. They sailed out from behind the island and prepared for battle.
Of course, they wouldn’t go all out—they just wanted the Eastlyn Imperial Navy to see their strength and understand who was in charge, so they’d obey in the future.
One side thought they were facing pirates and aimed to annihilate them; the other wanted to make a show of force and secure their standing. Even if they held back, both sides fought with determination to win.
This was a drill, but not just a drill—both sides were really fighting, with real weapons, and the casualties were real too…
Serena understood that Nolan wanted to use this battle to gauge the two sides’ strength, and to establish who would be leader and who would be second-in-command in the newly merged fleet.
In the army, the strongest rules. Whoever won this battle would take command, lead the assault on Hundred-Ghost Island, and claim the greatest credit.
Victory means power!
It’s an eternal truth—even if Serena found it bloody, she wouldn’t stop it. Her job was to have the military doctors ready, so that any wounded, friend or foe, would be treated.
The military doctors couldn’t understand this order, but since it was from the empress, they had no choice but to obey…
Boom—a cannon fired, and the two fleets clashed in this nameless sea.
The team mistaken for pirates had rich experience in naval combat—far beyond the regular navy’s first time out. But they held back: they couldn’t go all out, and they definitely couldn’t let their mermen sabotage Nolan’s ships.
The Eastlyn Imperial Navy didn’t know their identities, but the pirates did know who was on the ships. They didn’t dare use their most destructive tactics against the Eastlyn Imperial Navy.
Because of this, the gap between the two sides wasn’t as big. Seeing the pirates didn’t attack their ships, the Eastlyn Imperial Navy sent out their mermen to dive underwater and try to sink the pirates’ ships.
Underwater, the pirates’ mermen couldn’t sink ships, so they could only defend. Both sides fought in the sea; bright red blood kept bubbling up, and people were pulled out every moment.
On deck, both sides began with cannons and crossbows, but soon realized the range was limited. They launched small boats to try and board the enemy warships.
Soon, both sides were locked in close combat. Even though the “pirates” held back, the fighting was still brutal. The sounds of battle, cannon fire, and clashing blades echoed across the sea, making waves on the once-calm surface…
The small boats floated on the sea, sometimes getting sunk. More and more people fell into the water, and the rescuers grew exhausted, but they didn’t dare stop.
The empress had given the order: no matter whose side, every wounded person must be rescued!
The rescue soldiers had no choice. They grabbed a breath at the boat’s edge, then kept saving people. Oddly, the “pirates” wouldn’t harm them, and sometimes even helped rescue others—even those who weren’t their own.
“Strange.” The soldier was bewildered, feeling that odd things kept happening this year—he couldn’t make sense of any of it.
The emperor was strange, the empress was strange—that he could understand; small people like him couldn’t fathom what the emperor and empress were thinking. But why were even the pirates acting so strangely?