Chapter Fifty-Five: The Crisis Temporarily Resolved

Since everyone he needed was present, Lin Lei simply used the same rhetoric he had employed to deceive Luo Rongguang, continuing to mislead the members of the Qian Sect. With the formidable “magical artifact” as evidence, and then demonstrating his ability to fly, Feng Desheng and his companions soon came to believe deeply in the Qianyuan Immortal before them, and honored him as the new leader of the Qian Sect within the Righteous Harmony Society.

At that moment, the battlefield at the North Shore Zuoying Battery was eerily strange. Lin Lei was boasting to a group of severely injured Qing soldiers, while the drones continued to carry out orders, slaughtering the remaining coalition soldiers.

As Lin Lei secured his position through bluffing, the coalition troops who had stormed ashore were wiped out by the Hive drones known as “Arbiters.”

The tally: 863 coalition corpses, worth about thirteen contribution points.

“Feng Desheng, organize your men to clean the battlefield and collect all the weapons and ammunition. Hand them over to me,” Lin Lei instructed.

The retrieval markers could only recover corpses—with luck, sometimes the clothing as well. Weapons and ammunition required specific recovery markers, which Lin Lei had not set.

Feng Desheng accepted the order with excitement—not just because they had annihilated the landing coalition troops, but more so for the honor of serving an immortal. The storybooks always said those who served immortals were the envoys of the gods!

Just as Feng Desheng and his men prepared to clean up the battlefield, the coalition warships at sea launched another bombardment against the Zuoying Battery.

Fortunately, after the coalition completed their landing earlier, most of the main guns had shifted to shell the secondary Zuoying Battery, so the intensity of this bombardment was greatly reduced.

Even so, three unlucky Qing soldiers were struck by shells.

“Damn it! I haven’t caused you trouble, yet you dare provoke me! System, can the Arbiter’s combined skill destroy a warship in one blow?” Lin Lei asked.

Luckily, the thunderous artillery fire drowned out his curses, so Feng Desheng and his men did not hear them—otherwise, their worldview would have been shattered.

“Destroying the enemy's propulsion system requires two groups of Arbiters using the combined skill, consuming only one-tenth of a high-energy crystal, and can be completed within two seconds. To sink a warship entirely requires half a high-energy crystal, charging for eight seconds,” the system replied.

As expected, even the lowest-power strike of the combined skill consumed one-tenth of the energy. Two groups of Arbiters alone had cost Lin Lei 200 contribution points in high-energy crystals; firing once would cost 20 points—more expensive than a missile.

“Forget it, keep attacking separately, focus on killing enemy personnel.” Lin Lei realized he could not afford this show and wisely backed down.

Actually, the coalition was only retaliating with a round of shelling before turning their ships to withdraw.

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The earlier battle was too bizarre; several coalition officers had caught sight of those flying objects through their telescopes.

Without understanding what these monsters were, they had no intention of sending more landing troops.

Yet, as Western nations with absolute confidence in sea power, they instinctively believed that as long as they had warships, they were invincible. Retaliatory bombardment seemed only natural.

They did not realize that if those “monsters” could fly on land, they might not be safe at sea either.

Soon, two warships unable to turn quickly were attacked by the drones.

“Ah! Devil birds! The devil birds are coming! Everyone, flee!” The observer Lishinov was the first to spot the drones.

Unfortunately, his warship was last in line to withdraw, and after his warning, he was the first to be killed by the drones.

The coalition sailors on the warships dubbed the Hive drones “devil birds,” for their bird-like shapes resembled creatures from hell, and anyone targeted by them met a grim fate, leaving not even bones behind.

Seeing the footage sent back by the drones, even Lin Lei had not expected that killing in “energy-saving” mode could serve as such a powerful psychological deterrent.

He quickly adjusted the instructions, letting the five most distant warships go, so they could spread this atmosphere of terror among the rest of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

When Luo Rongguang’s messenger arrived at Zuoying Battery, the massacre at sea had ended. Eleven warships floated lifelessly on the water, with not a single survivor aboard.

Upon receiving orders, the defenders at the secondary Zuoying Battery began withdrawing from their positions, some heading to reinforce the main army, others moving to the South Shore Battery.

Thus, Lin Lei now controlled two of the three batteries on the northern shore of Dagu.

The coalition landing forces had brought abundant weapons and equipment: 973 rifles of various types, 22 heavy machine guns, 12 light artillery pieces, and assorted ammunition.

Total recoverable value: 16 contribution points.

Yes, the most advanced weapons of this era were nothing but scrap to the system.

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The eleven warships at sea were also recovered by the ton.

Since the main objective of the coalition was to attack Tianjin, they had not deployed large cruisers or battleships with deep drafts, but rather light destroyers and gunboats.

Thus, the eleven warships weighed less than five thousand tons; including fuel, weapons, and supplies, their combined weight did not exceed ten thousand tons, and their recovery value would not surpass 300 contribution points.

After this battle, not even the principal of the war loan had been earned back—no wonder the system classified it as a moderate-risk loan.

“It seems these can’t be directly recovered; I need to find a way to exchange them for more valuable resources,” Lin Lei decided.

He allocated five hundred rifles and assorted ammunition for Feng Desheng to distribute. Now that Feng Desheng and his men had sincerely joined the Qian Sect, they could be regarded as Lin Lei’s “employees.” Lin Lei was responsible for their wages (weapons, food), and their battle spoils would automatically belong to him.

The rest of the captured equipment, including the warships, was stored in Lin Lei’s system space for future use.

With the Dagu crisis temporarily resolved, Lin Lei declined Luo Rongguang’s invitation to the victory banquet, summoned Feng Desheng, and inquired about the number of Qian Sect followers and their gathering places.

“Sir, earlier the Holy Mother Huang Lian, Lin Hei’er, sent her subordinates to contact me, saying that nearly ten thousand Qian Sect followers had arrived in the Langfang area, ready to support Dagu at any time. Unfortunately, Dagu Battery is a military zone, and non-government religious followers are not allowed to enter. But now that you are here in person, I believe the court will not object to accepting Qian Sect followers,” Feng Desheng replied.

Though unclear about Lin Lei’s intentions, as a devoted follower, Feng Desheng never questioned his leader—especially one who could wave a hand and make warships disappear like mountains. Such immortal methods were beyond mortal comprehension.

“Langfang? Don’t call back those followers yet. Have your men summon only those nearby. I need to go into the city; you must keep a constant watch on the sea. If enemy warships are spotted, fire a signal flare immediately and I’ll arrive as fast as possible,” Lin Lei ordered.

If his guess was correct, there would soon be a war in Langfang, led by the Righteous Harmony Society in the famed Langfang Victory. At such a crucial moment, if those people were recalled, the victory could easily turn into defeat.

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