The Heaven Dou Empire's Future Fleet!

"Listen up, merchant ships ahead! We're from the Purple Pearl Battle Group! Stop right there if you don't want to die!"

A rough, cold shout erupted from the pirate ship. However, upon hearing this, the merchant ship belonging to the Star Luo Imperial Family rowed even faster!

"How dare you disregard Grandpa's words? You're asking for death!"

A murderous shout rang out, and the next second, a figure suddenly shot out from the pirate ship and sped towards the merchant ship in front!

The figure was a burly man with a fierce appearance and a robust build, who looked to be in his fifties.

The giant had five Soul Ring lit up on his body, clearly indicating that he was a Soul King.

As the Soul King shot out, several figures also flew out from the pirate ships next to him, making a total of seven people including the Soul King!

These pirates also unleashed their Martial Soul, clearly indicating that they were all Soul Master, and their strength levels were all above level 30 Soul Elder!

Seeing this, Zhou Chen, who was riding Xiao Bai and watching the show on the sea not far away, narrowed his eyes.

After the Battle of Jialing Pass, both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire suffered heavy casualties among their Soul Master, and the Spirit Hall lost several Soul Master legions.

The Great Spirit Master sects and families, such as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, the Elephant Armor Sect, the Holy Dragon Sect, the Silver Moon Family, and the Peerless Dragon Serpent Clan, also suffered considerable losses in that great battle.

Such massive casualties made the already scarce Soul Master even more precious. The status of a Soul Elder was comparable to that of a Soul King in the past, and the status of a Soul King was comparable to that of a Soul Emperor in the past.

But now, this lowly pirate group, with just a few dilapidated ships, actually has seven Soul Masters, and they are all elites. Even before the Battle of Jialing Pass, they would have been qualified to be members of the Spirit Hall's Soul Master Legion!

That's quite strange.

Thinking of this, a flash of light appeared in Zhou Chen's hand, and a thick book appeared in his hand, which was the original Douluo novel.

He wanted to see what these pirates were really like in the original story.

Or perhaps, these pirates were simply a butterfly effect caused by the time traveler stirring up this era, which altered the original timeline of the story.

Just as Zhou Chen was reading the original work, the giant man at the Soul King level roared murderously, "Attack! Kill these nobles of the Star Luo Empire and let them know how powerful we are!"

Before he finished speaking, the Soul King led the other Soul Master pirates to leap onto the Star Luo Royal Family's merchant ship. They began killing the guards and sailors on the deck, and used water-based Soul Skill to cut off the oars on both sides of the merchant ship and tear the sails on the mast, slowing down the ship's progress!

As soon as the merchant ship slowed down, several pirate ships that had been relentlessly pursuing it immediately surrounded it and quickly used their rams and hulls to bring the merchant ship to a stop!

Immediately afterwards, pirates of various styles and menacing auras swarmed out of the pirate ships and boarded the merchant ships, beginning a brutal boarding action.

Besides the seven Soul Masters who boarded the merchant ship first, there were quite a few other Soul Master among these pirates, and they were all Sea Soul Master.

Although the Star Luo Royal Family's guards were not weak, and there were many Soul Master above the Soul Elder and well-trained, well-equipped soldiers, this was the sea, with abundant water-attribute energy that Sea Soul Master could mobilize, giving them a considerable advantage.

Moreover, if all else fails, these Sea Soul Master can dive into the sea and sink the merchant ship, feeding all the Star Luo Royal Family's troops to the fish.

Of course, that was the last resort. A giant merchant ship is very valuable, and these pirates would never be willing to destroy it unless absolutely necessary.

The Star Luo Royal Family Guards and sailors on the deck were no match for the pirates and could only retreat in defeat. Before long, they were completely wiped out. The pirates began to penetrate deep into the ship's cabins, ruthlessly eliminating any survivors.

Before long, almost the entire merchant ship was wiped out.

"This is so cruel, I, a person of justice, simply cannot stand by and watch."

Zhou Chen closed the original novel, righteously finding himself a reason to intervene, and then gestured for Xiao Bai to approach the merchant ship.

The pirates were cheering, but before they could cheer for long, their voices fell silent, like ducks being strangled.

Because a huge blue-gray shark was speeding through the waves towards the merchant ship!

"That's... the Demon Spirit Great White Shark, known as the most ferocious and powerful of all shark-like Sea Soul Beast?"

"What? The Demon Spirit Great White Shark is the guardian beast of Sea God Island, how come it's here?"

"How can this Demon Spirit Great White Shark be so huge? How old is it?!"

"There's a person standing on the back of that Demon Spirit Great White Shark!"

"How is that possible?"

"..."

The pirates' cries of terror rose and fell. They knew very well that such a huge Demon Spirit Great White Shark was probably as powerful as a human Soul Douluo or even a Title Douluo, and was simply beyond the capabilities of their rabble!

In just a few breaths, Xiao Bai swam to the side of the merchant ship and then gently flicked its tail!

"Boom!!"

A violent impact rang out, and a large hole was torn open in the hull of the merchant ship. A huge amount of seawater began to rush into the ship, causing it to gradually tilt and sink.

Seeing that the merchant ship was about to sink, the ordinary pirates hurriedly abandoned ship and jumped into the sea like dumplings, while the Sea Soul Master used their Soul Power to either fly into the sky or dive into the sea, trying to avoid the attack of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark.

However, they were overthinking it.

Xiao Bai opened its mouth and emitted a light blast. As soon as the light blast touched the seawater, it immediately began to absorb the seawater on a large scale, just like a black hole, and caused the seawater to rotate continuously, forming a vortex!

"Demon Spirit Whirlpool!"

A cold voice rang out, and the next moment, all the pirates who jumped into the sea, whether ordinary pirates or Soul Master pirates, were sucked into the whirlpool and were crushed to pieces as if they were stuffed into a meat grinder.

Not only the pirates, but even their ships were caught in the whirlpool, their hulls cracked, and they capsized and sank.

Only a few Sea Soul Master who took to the sky and whose Martial Soul were seagulls, petrels, and the like survived by sheer luck.

Unfortunately, before these Soul Masters could even feel relieved, they were pulled in by a suction force from a distance and dragged onto the back of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark, Xiao Bai, before landing in front of Zhou Chen.

"I'm asking you this. If you answer honestly and truthfully, you will live. Do you understand?"

Zhou Chen said coldly.

Why should I listen to you?

A somewhat dim-witted Sea Soul Master, with his neck stiffened, acted arrogantly.

"Hmm, that's tough enough!"

Zhou Chen smiled faintly, then raised his hand, and a golden light shot out, blasting the head of the Sea Soul Master to pieces!

This horrific scene terrified the other Sea Soul Master.

One of the timid Sea Soul Master' legs buckled, and he knelt before Zhou Chen, his voice trembling as he said, "I understand, I understand! Ask away, sir! I would never dare to lie!"

This pirate wasn't stupid; he knew exactly how strong the man in front of him, who could control such a massive Demon Spirit Great White Shark, truly was!

"Very good."

Zhou Chen smiled, waved his hand, and killed the remaining pirates. He then kicked their bodies off Xiao Bai's back and into the sea, leaving only the kneeling, cowardly pirate behind.

"The first question is, who are you...?"

Before Zhou Chen could finish his question, the kneeling Sea Soul Master hurriedly said, "My lord, we are pirates belonging to the Purple Pearl Pirate Group."

Zhou Chen nodded and asked, "So, how big is your Purple Pearl Pirate Group? Where is your hideout? And who is your leader?"

The timid Sea Soul Master cooperated perfectly, saying, "Our Purple Pearl Pirate Group is located on Purple Pearl Island, not far from Vast Sea City. Over the years, under the leadership of our Captain Zi Zhenzhu, we have absorbed or destroyed most of the pirates in this sea area, forming the largest pirate crew in history!"

"Our Purple Pearl Pirate Group has over three thousand members, including several hundred Soul Master. Our captain is a woman, very beautiful, with a great figure and considerable strength, though of course, she can't compare to you."

"Oh."

Zhou Chen responded calmly, then asked, "Since Vast Sea City is so close to your Purple Pearl Island, why hasn't the city lord of Vast Sea City sent troops to wipe you out?"

The pirate curled his lip and said, "That's none of their business! Putting aside the formidable strength of our Purple Pearl Pirate Group, the order issued by the Spirit Hall that land-based Soul Master are not allowed to enter the sea is enough to deter the Hanhai City Lord from making any rash moves."

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen raised an eyebrow, a hint of anger flashing between his brows.

It should be noted that Vast Sea City is a major coastal city of the Heaven Dou Empire. The city lord is personally appointed by the emperor and is not under the jurisdiction of the provincial governor, but directly receives orders from Empress Xue Ke.

How dare someone hold such an important position and do nothing but occupy it without doing anything? Instead of clearing out the pirates, they used the orders of the Spirit Hall as a shield.

Doesn't that city lord know that the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Spirit Hall are now at odds?

Is this guy from the Heaven Dou Empire or the Spirit Hall?

As the saying goes, loyalty without absolute loyalty is absolute disloyalty. As the husband of Empress Xue Ke and the Nation Protecting Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, how could Zhou Chen tolerate such behavior?

The city lord of Vast Sea City can die now.

Seeing the growing anger on Zhou Chen's face, the timid pirate assumed that the man was dissatisfied with the actions of the Purple Pearl Pirate Group, so he quickly defended himself, saying, "Sir, our Purple Pearl Pirate Group is very measured and won't push people too far. We usually only care about money and don't kill people."

"Not kill anyone? Then why did you kill everyone on the entire ship just now?"

Zhou Chen said coldly.

"This... this is because the one who brought people out this time is Heidel. Heidel is cruel by nature and is also a Soul King. He joined the pirate group with many Soul Master he brought with him. He has a high status in the group and has always been very arrogant. He often disobeys the orders of Captain Zi Zhenzhu and wantonly slaughters passing merchant ships."

After a pause, the timid pirate instinctively said, "However, the targets of this massacre are nobles. So what if they're killed? How many nobles are any good?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the pirate realized something was wrong, and cold sweat instantly poured down his back.

The young man before us, dressed in purple robes, wearing Purple-Gold Crown, with White Jade Pendant at his waist, and with a handsome face, clearly comes from a wealthy and noble family, and is very likely a high-ranking nobleman!

To speak ill of nobles in front of them and to think that killing nobles was a good thing is incredibly stupid!

The cowardly pirate instantly felt despair.

However, Zhou Chen was not angry. Instead, he smiled faintly and said, "Hehe, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Get up. I won't kill you, as long as you behave."

After a pause, Zhou Chen glanced at the cowardly pirate with a half-smile, then said calmly, "You will lead the way to Purple Pearl Island."

"Well..."

The cowardly pirate looked astonished, as if he hadn't expected to survive.

However, the pirate quickly realized his mistake and, as if granted a pardon, said obsequiously, "Yes, yes. Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir! I will show you the way right away!"

"Xiao Bai, let's go."

At Zhou Chen's command, Xiao Bai immediately swam towards Purple Pearl Island, following the cowardly pirate's directions.

As the Demon Soul Great White Shark King, how fast could Xiao Bai swim? In just a quarter of an hour, she swam to the vicinity of Purple Pearl Island.

The island is quite large; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to house more than three thousand pirates and their families.

On the shore of Zi Zhenzhu, a pier was built, and a large number of pirate ships were moored near the pier, making it quite a large operation.

These pirate ships were mostly of medium size, with a layer of iron-gray metal covering their hulls for protection, making them appear quite sturdy.

Zhou Chen even felt that the Empire Fleet directly commanded by the Heaven Dou Imperial Family might not be as large or as high-quality as the Purple Pearl Pirate Group's fleet!

Perhaps, the Purple Pearl Pirate Group could be incorporated into the Heaven Dou Empire's fleet to expand its strength.

Both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire have territories bordering the sea. If they are protected by powerful fleets, they can bypass the Star Luo Empire's heavily fortified fortresses and use transport ships to transport large numbers of soldiers to the Star Luo Empire, directly attacking its important cities and logistics bases, catching them off guard!

Thinking this way, Zhou Chen immediately felt happy.

Finding a spot without any scouts, Zhou Chen grabbed the pirate's trembling shoulders and threw him ashore.

Then, Zhou Chen jumped to the shore, and Xiao Bai, under a flash of blue-gray light, transformed from a massive Demon Spirit Great White Shark into human form.

"Chen Ge, did you come to Purple Pearl Island intending to kill all the pirates on this island?"

Xiao Bai blinked her big, bright eyes and said.

"No."

Zhou Chen shook his head and slowly said, "Winning hearts and minds is the best strategy, while attacking cities is the next best. Psychological warfare is superior to physical warfare. To defeat a pirate group, it is not necessary to resort to utter slaughter."

"That's to..."

Xiao Bai looked confused; with her intelligence, she couldn't possibly guess what her Chen Ge was thinking.

"It's very simple."

Zhou Chen smiled and said, "Incorporate the Purple Pearl Pirate Group, make them submit to the Heaven Dou Empire, pledge allegiance to the Empress, and make them part of the Empire Fleet, receiving monthly salaries, to fight for the Empire!"

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