Preparing for Battle

One of the subordinates immediately began to flatter him: "Sir, your tactics are brilliant! This move is simply genius! In Ningport, you're the local emperor—what the court says doesn't matter; only your word counts! With this batch of cargo, we'll make a fortune and cover the losses from Jing Town."

Eric Qian replied, "That's right. Lily Evans took Jing Town, so we'll swallow her cargo and business! Ningport is my turf. As long as I'm here, Lily Evans won't get a single crate out of Ningport's docks!"

After speaking, Eric Qian immediately gave the order—prepare for battle.

Eric Qian's men all disguised themselves as pirates. That way, even if Lily Evans's fleet managed to escape, they could just claim they'd run into pirates and chalk it up to bad luck—no one would blame Eric Qian.

Eric Qian was thoroughly pleased with his own scheme. Grinning from ear to ear, he ordered the pirate fleet to form ranks and launch an attack on Lily Evans's fleet!

"Quick, get all the catapults ready! As soon as we're within range, start firing!" Eric Qian commanded. "Use loose stones—they kill people without damaging the ships!"

"Yes, Boss!"

More than a dozen ships, each armed with over twenty catapults, aimed straight at Lily Evans's fleet, surged forward with overwhelming momentum!

The two fleets were now close—almost within catapult range. Eric Qian's trusted aide stood on the deck, spotted Edward, and shouted smugly, "Hey, you on the other ship! Take a good look—we've got hundreds of catapults here, deadly long-range weapons! Once we start firing, you're all done for! If you know what's good for you, surrender now and drop your weapons!"

Edward stood on deck, completely unafraid. Suddenly, he took a few steps back, turned, and called out, "General Sean Hayes!"

Sean Hayes's face was as cold as steel as he strode onto the deck. Behind him, like a tidal wave, more than a hundred Black Armor Qin Soldiers surged out from below deck.

The sudden appearance of so many Black Armor Qin Soldiers stunned Eric Qian. He quickly ordered his men to stop the ships. "What's going on? Why are there so many Black Armor Qin Soldiers on their ship?"

His men replied, "Yeah, boss, all these soldiers just popped up out of nowhere. Should we still attack?"

Eric Qian stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh and declared, "So what if they have Black Armor Qin Soldiers? Sure, our men can't beat those elite troops in a straight fight, but don't forget—we've got catapults! We don't need to wait for their fleet to get close; we can smash most of them from a distance. Nothing to be afraid of!"

"Boss is right! Our catapults are the best—out here at sea, we fear no one!"

Eric Qian's pirate fleet regrouped, narrowing the distance between the two fleets and staying within catapult range.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Sean Hayes gave the order. The Black Armor Qin Soldiers took their positions, lined up along the ship's edge, and quickly smashed open the large wooden crates sitting by the rail.

Inside the crates, lined up in full view, were rows of Scarlet Cannons—ten on each ship!

These Scarlet Cannons were the most advanced weapons Edward had purchased from France. Not only were they incredibly powerful, their range was three times that of Eric Qian's catapults!

In other words, Eric Qian's catapults were out of range, but Sean Hayes's Scarlet Cannons could hit them easily!