The Eastlyn Imperial Navy pressed closer and closer, but Prince Nolan and Serena stood smiling at the prow, showing no intention of fighting. To the navy, this looked like fear—Nolan and Serena were too intimidated to fight as the warships approached.
The navy commander immediately shouted, "Who are you? Trespassing in Eastlyn waters—drop your weapons, surrender, and you will not be killed."
After shouting for a while and getting no response from Prince Nolan and Serena, the commander yelled again, "People on the ship, do you hear me? Who are you? If you don't answer, don't blame us for attacking!"
"Nope!" Prince Nolan and Serena had no interest in dealing with this crowd, but Zuo An did—he answered with obvious annoyance.
He’d waited seven whole days for this battle. He had no idea how the Eastlyn navy searched—despite their slow sailing, it still took them six full days to find the group. Truly, their incompetence was extreme.
Incompetence was one thing, but after finally finding them, instead of attacking fiercely, they wasted time with useless words. It was just boring.
"How dare you act so insolent in Eastlyn waters! If you don’t say who you are, don’t blame me for being ruthless!" the navy commander shouted again.
"Ruthless? Even if I tell you who we are, would you show us any mercy? What if I said I’m Prince Nolan of Eastlyn—would you believe me?" Zuo An replied with a roguish grin, looking casual but actually watching the enemy’s speed and the distance between ships.
At sea, if the ships are too far apart, it’s hard to fight; too close, and it’s not safe.
"You bandits dare to impersonate a prince! Full speed ahead—kill them all!" The navy commander had never seen Prince Nolan or even his portrait; his shouts were really to avoid killing the wrong target.
He knew all too well what happened to the previous garrison that tried to kill Prince Nolan—their losses were disastrous. If he attacked the wrong people, he’d be in deep trouble when he got back.
After hearing Zuo An’s words, the navy commander was sure—this really was Prince Nolan, their target. No ordinary person would dare invoke Nolan’s name.
With the target right in front of him, the commander gave the order without hesitation. He didn’t believe that twenty thousand men could lose to just three people. Even if the ship had bodyguards and sailors, shipboard combat was nothing like fighting on land—at sea, the navy ruled.
The Eastlyn warships accelerated, churning up the water and tightening the encirclement. Prince Nolan’s expression didn’t change; Serena simply watched, ready to treat any wounded.
In these past days, she’d come to terms with it—she was human, not a god. She couldn’t stop wars from happening; all she could do was excel at her own job and think about nothing else. War was the only way to gain power.
Prince Nolan’s ship remained motionless until the Eastlyn warships were just over a hundred meters away. Only then did Nolan speak: "To battle!"
He said 'to battle,' not 'prepare for battle'—which meant Nolan had already made all the necessary preparations.
Bang, bang... Suddenly, the hull of the great ship let out deafening noises as side panels swung down toward the water. With a series of splashes, warships slid out from hidden bays on both sides and surged into the sea...
"What is that?" The Eastlyn sailors rubbed their eyes in disbelief. They’d thought destroying this one big ship would end it, but it turned out there were many smaller ships inside. Clearly, the enemy had come prepared.
"Warships. They're warships." The deputy commander was visibly nervous.
There was nothing they could do—these were rookies who’d never fought a real battle, and seeing Prince Nolan roll out warships made them anxious.
They’d expected to fight just an ordinary big ship, but now their enemy had warships. It was like facing a child who’d suddenly turned into a grown fighter—no wonder the Eastlyn navy was nervous.
"Men, prepare for battle!" The navy commander was nervous too, but he knew this was his only shot—if he wanted to escape a life of thankless naval policing, he had to win this fight today.
The Eastlyn Imperial Navy was a tragic force—they’d never fought a real sea battle before, usually just checking cargo and keeping order at the port. This was their first true naval engagement—exciting, but also terrifying.
"Yes, sir!" The sailors still looked sharp and spirited. Years of wind and rain had toughened them—they weren’t pampered weaklings. Prince Nolan was satisfied; these men would be a valuable asset once captured.
Serena couldn’t help but laugh. "You haven’t even started fighting, and you’re already treating them as spoils of war."
"They can only be spoils of war. I won’t allow any accidents," Prince Nolan replied coldly. Judging the distance between the fleets, he ordered sharply, "Attack!"
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers rolled out something that looked like an old-style red-coat cannon, but Serena knew it wasn’t a cannon at all—it was an improved trebuchet designed by Prince Nolan, and its ammunition was thunder-blast grenades.
With a sharp whistling sound, a black thunder-blast grenade soared into the sky, tracing a beautiful arc before landing with a thud on an Eastlyn warship. The specially made fuse crackled and hissed, and before the sailors could react—boom! A deafening blast tore a crater in the deck and set the ship ablaze...
Aaaah...
The Eastlyn sailors had no time to fight back—screaming, they were blasted onto the deck.
"Quick, quick! Raise the sails—defend!" The navy commander saw the hail of thunder-blast grenades and shouted, "Ready the heavy crossbows—shoot down those black things!"
Whoosh, whoosh... Thick crossbow bolts flew at the thunder-blast grenades, intercepting quite a few. But even so, the Eastlyn navy suffered heavy losses.
Thud... One thunder-blast grenade landed on the navy commander's ship.
"Quick, quick, get out of the way! Dodge it!"
"Protect the commander! Protect the commander!"
Having witnessed the power of the thunder-blast grenades, the Eastlyn sailors didn’t dare face them head-on—everyone ran far away. But strangely, the grenade rolled around for a bit and did nothing.
"What’s going on? Go check!" The commander poked the bodyguard next to him. The bodyguard, terrified, braced himself for death, closed his eyes, and picked up the thunder-blast grenade.
"Huh, it didn’t go off." The sailor holding the grenade slowly opened his eyes. Seeing he was safe, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and inspected it closely.
"What did you find?" The navy commander, seeing there was no danger, finally stepped forward with his men.
"General, this black sphere can’t explode if it gets wet." The soldier pointed at the fuse, which had been extinguished by water. The commander’s eyes lit up.
"Water—pour water over the deck! Men, each of you grab a bucket—these black grenades aren’t scary at all." Having found a solution, the commander gave his orders. Sure enough, they managed to douse the thunder-blast grenades and prevent them from exploding.
Thunder-blast grenade attack: neutralized!