Free Web NovelChapter 2206: Chapter 241: Military Funds Released
The Second Elder and Wu Qingxia, among others, have now developed a blind worship towards Ding Fan and trust him infinitely. In their hearts, Ding Fan seems to have become omnipotent; no matter what kind of problem or how difficult and dangerous a situation is, everything can be easily solved as long as Ding Fan is present.
Three pirate groups, nearly fifty warships, and more than ten thousand people quietly approached Skull Island just before dawn. It’s impossible for anyone to believe that these people are here for sightseeing.
The Second Elder thought for a moment and decided on a delay strategy. He ordered his men to plant several white flags at the landing sites of the three pirate groups and had people waiting there.
Just before the sun was about to rise, all three pirate groups docked. They all saw the white flags of the Skeleton Sect and the envoys waiting there.
The three envoys, looking fearful and anxious, handed the letter written by the Second Elder to the three pirate groups. The letter stated that the Second Elder was willing to negotiate on behalf of Ding Fan, on condition that they do not invade Skull Island, and that Skull Island was willing to give each of the three factions ten million Black Obsidian Stones.
After reading the letter, all three factions paused. If they could obtain Black Obsidian Stones without loss of personnel, that would obviously be the best scenario. Furthermore, even if only to complete a task, they could wait for the stones to be in hand before launching an attack.
The Second Elder accurately gauged their greedy nature. This greed knows no bounds. The leaders of the three pirate groups immediately sent people to negotiate, with one party opening with a lion’s demand, asking for ninety million Black Obsidian Stones, while the other two asked for slightly less, at sixty million each. Almost all had the same idea: get the benefits first before making any further plans.
The Second Elder had no intention of giving these pirates Black Obsidian Stones; he just wanted to delay time. After a period of hesitation, he instructed the envoys to negotiate again, offering eighteen million Black Obsidian Stones if the pirates would withdraw.
The three pirate groups were hugely tempted; it seemed the rumors were true — Ding Fan really possessed wealth. Just like that, the Skeleton Sect had increased the offer by eight million, which isn’t exactly pocket change. For ordinary people, such a sum is unobtainable. To be honest, these three factions may be pirates, but none are native to the waters near Skull Island. So their appearance here is obviously instigated by someone.
The negotiation continued, and all three pirate leaders reduced their asking price a bit. They thought that if Skull Island was willing to offer twenty-five million, they could pause and not strike the Skeleton Sect, and attack only after they received those Black Obsidian Stones.
However, this time the Second Elder didn’t negotiate further; he didn’t send any envoys. Three small intervals passed by, and as noon approached, the pirate group leaders grew impatient when the Skull Island envoys finally appeared before them again.
The envoy brought a message: the Skeleton Sect was willing to offer twenty-five million Black Obsidian Stones, but the pirates would still need to wait for half a day. The fact is, this amount of Black Obsidian Stones was too large for the Second Elder and his people to have on hand; they’d have to retrieve it from the nearest Daozhen Trade Firm.
The pirate leaders agreed, thinking that a half-day delay wouldn’t affect their plans. Initially, they intended to sneak an attack, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen now. Moreover, the mastermind who summoned them indicated they should merely give Ding Fan a lesson, stating that it wouldn’t be too late to strike after securing the Black Obsidian Stones.
"Great!"
Upon receiving this news, the Second Elder was very pleased. With half a day available, it was likely Ding Fan could successfully elevate his realm. So, he pretended to dispatch a few people to Moon Mist Island, feigning the retrieval of Black Obsidian Stones, and advised the leaders of the pirate groups not to feel impatient. He also sent them plenty of food and drink, encouraging them to rest well...
"Why hasn’t the fighting started yet?"
A warship was anchored less than fifty miles from Skull Island. Xu Jianqiang and Xu Haibo leisurely drank spiritual tea, anticipating a good show, but despite the long wait, there wasn’t a sign of movement from Skull Island, leaving them puzzled.
"Send someone over to see what’s going on?"
After waiting a while longer and still seeing no activity, Xu Haibo gestured to his scout cavalry, who silently slipped into the sea and stealthily swam towards Skull Island.
Ding Fan’s intuition was correct. The mastermind behind Xu Family’s moves this time was indeed Madam Yan. It was Madam Yan who hinted for them to deal with Ding Fan, forcing Ding Fan to bow to the Herr Family, and more importantly, bow to her.
Not long ago, Xu Guotao’s son Xu Jianqiang had been forcibly thrown into the sea by Ding Fan. This made Xu Guotao feel quite humiliated, and now, with the command from Madam Yan in hand, he naturally wanted to restore his reputation.
The southeastern part of Tianmu Sea was Xu Guotao’s dominion. Who did Ding Fan think he was to flaunt his prowess on Skull Island? It was only because of the favor from Crimson Flame that Xu Guotao didn’t act against him.
As for these pirates, they exist deliberately under the allowance of the dominant powers, like the Xu family. When direct confrontation isn’t feasible for these masters, they resort to using pirates to execute their plans. Otherwise, given Xu Guotao’s power, how could he have allowed the Blood Fiend Pirate Group to exist within his territory?
Beyond that, the arriving pirates were all under the control of major forces. Madam Yan had separately sent messages around, and thus pirates from several dominant factions in the Tianmu Sea all gathered here. The intention was none other but to suppress Ding Fan’s arrogance, forcing him to bow.
But Madam Yan indeed had another objective. The Herr Family had a keen interest in the mysterious expert who was secretly protecting Ding Fan. The Daozhen Family dispatched numerous high-level scout cavalries to surveil nearby, hoping to see if the mysterious master who aided Ding Fan in Shenwu Country would appear, curious about who this person actually was.
"A bunch of fools!"
Soon, a scout from the Xu family gathered the intel and reported the situation. Upon hearing the scout’s words, Xu Haibo cursed. As an outsider, he could clearly see that Skull Island was stalling. There’s no way Ding Fan would surrender. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t yield to these pirates.
Xu Jianqiang was quick to respond too. He immediately realized what was happening and issued an order: "Someone, send word to Ru Mingwei, tell him I said so. They must attack immediately; Skull Island is delaying!"
The scout went to relay Xu Jianqiang’s orders, but soon returned. The reply nearly drove Xu Jianqiang and Xu Haibo mad with anger.
The three major pirate factions simply did not heed their commands, claiming fatigue from distant travels, and thus were unfit for immediate assault. These three pirate groups hailed from afar and were utterly dismissive of the Xu Family’s directives.
"Let’s go! We’ll handle this personally."
Xu Jianqiang, ablaze with fury, ordered his men to steer the warship towards Skull Island. Although puzzled by Ding Fan’s intentions to stall, something was definitely amiss.
The only course of action now was to leverage the prestige and position of the Xu Family’s Eldest Young Master to exert pressure. Besides, Xu Haibo was still present here. Madam Yan had indeed entrusted the Xu Family with overseeing the matter, so they proceeded themselves, anticipating obedience this time.
The two disguised themselves since they certainly couldn’t appear directly for this matter. When the warship was just twenty-something miles from Skull Island, it halted and didn’t continue further. The two discreetly landed ashore and entered Ru Mingwei’s chariot. Ru Mingwei was the most formidable leader among these pirates, commanding all three factions.
Seeing the Xu Family’s Eldest Young Master arrive in person, Ru Mingwei found no excuse to delay any longer. Before arriving at Skull Island, his backers had insisted that this operation follow the Xu Family’s commands, and now that Xu Jianqiang had come in person, he had no choice but to order the attack.
The sea wind howled, and drums sounded in unison, reigniting the battle against Skull Island.
"Face reality!"
Upon hearing the news, the Second Elder had no choice but to sigh, thinking a half-day delay possible, yet unexpectedly faced a sudden assault. He gritted his teeth, refraining from summoning Ding Fan or Wu Qingxia, instead commanding the people of Skull Island to prepare for a desperate fight.
This time, there were three large pirate factions at sea. Scout Cavalry Hall Head Wu Ren discerned only one Fourth Level expert within the Divine Realm was among them, while the other two pirate leaders were Third Level experts.
The island itself still had numerous traps and prohibitions that could withstand them for some time. Mu Gaosou and twenty Tigertooth Apes made for excellent combat forces. Though winning this battle would be difficult, holding off the enemy for a time wasn’t an issue.
Mu Gaosou had ventured out, realizing he would struggle to halt the enemy’s attack otherwise. He headed in one direction intending to kill the Divine Realm Third Level expert here, then provide aid to Skull Island’s people in the other directions.
The Fourth Elder separated with a group of experts. They led twenty Tigertooth Apes to counteract the enemy’s assault.
To the surprise of the Second Elder and the others, the assembled army of three pirate factions did not launch an all-out attack. Only over a thousand were sent, with few experts; merely two or three Divine Realm Third Level experts led each front.
This made the situation manageable as Mu Gaosou suppressed the enemy in his area, killing the Divine Realm Third Level leader there. He unleashed his Flying Divine Sword, slaughtering hundreds of pirates, forcing the rest to immediately flee.
On the other directions, the traps and prohibitions, along with the Tigertooth Apes, successfully repelled two armies’ attacks. The Second Elder further instructed his people to avoid overly aggressive counterattacks, prolong the confrontation, and avoid calling on Mu Gaosou, keeping the battle in stalemate.
"Report, the traps and prohibitions on Skull Island are too numerous. Our soldiers find advancing difficult, with grave casualties!"
"Report, thirty Tigertooth Apes were deployed from Skull Island. The Second-in-command is battling fiercely, killing fifteen Tigertooth Apes and twelve Divine Realm Third Level experts, yet the enemy still has many experts, complicating our assault, with over three thousand dead or wounded."
"The Third-in-command called for reinforcements; Skull Island summoned over forty Tigertooth Apes, leading to over five thousand perishing in combat."
"..."
One report after another was relayed to Ru Mingwei. Xu Haibo and Xu Jianqiang simmered with anger as they listened.
There weren’t any Divine Realm Third Level experts on Skull Island at all, at most just twenty Tigertooth Apes. Yet, according to battle reports, dozens of Tigertooth Apes and Divine Realm Third Level experts had been killed by Ru Mingwei’s people. Where did Skull Island get so many experts?!
"Young Master Xu, Third-in-command Xu!"
Ru Mingwei was visibly frustrated, telling the two, "This time we only received a payment of ten million Black Obsidian Stones for coming here. But the enemy’s strength is overwhelming, our losses are too severe. With such meager compensation, even for the bereaved it’s barely sufficient. Continuing like this, our soldiers will lose loyalty and morale."
"Hmm!"
Xu Jianqiang snorted coldly, recognizing Ru Mingwei’s thick-skinned demand for more Black Obsidian Stones. Without additional stones, there’d be no one willing to attack.
Xu Haibo struggled to contain his anger, loudly proclaiming, "We can comprehend the Patriarch Ru’s predicament, so, on behalf of the master, I’ll decide to give you six million Black Obsidian Stones as military funding. Patriarch Ru, have all the brothers storm Skull Island, and capture Ding Fan alive, there will be grand rewards!"
"Six million?"
Ru Mingwei’s beard trembled, a trace of scorn appearing in his eyes, casually waving his hand, stating, "Men, relay my order, the Third-in-command Xu has indeed supplied military funds, urging everyone to exert more effort and take down the people of Skull Island for me."
