Mutual Probing

Huo Yuanjia and Geng Liangchen had overestimated the foreigners' integrity.

The current vanguard fleet detachment had not transmitted any information back.

The foreign commander decisively ordered the bombardment of friendly ironclad ships ahead. On one hand, those ironclad ships were not part of his direct command, and their home country wasn't strong enough, so the foreign commander sold out his allies with great ease. On the other hand, they judged that the friendly forces ahead were all dead, or if not, then only a few remained. They urgently needed to bombard to boost their morale.

That's right, it was the foreigners' turn to need a morale boost!

Having their ships destroyed by Spirit Cultivation Practitioners, even if the ships weren't inherited, but only the people on board were cleared out, was enough for these officers who had fought on the battlefield to realize their own helplessness.

Helplessness, how terrifying.

It seemed that besides naval cannons.

They had no other effective means to deal with those two monsters. The humanoid monsters created by the evil sorcerer were more powerful than steam engines, more resistant to guns and cannons than cars, and faster than fleas on a cat!

If they didn't fire their cannons to boost morale.

Their morale might completely collapse.

Let alone the soldiers who were already pale and had caused accidental discharges, even the officers might lose their will to fight and directly choose to retreat to Yanjing to continue living as elites, rather than using the lives of the noble navy to grease their medals.

But the foreign commander didn't want to retreat yet.

Since they had set up their cannons and opened the gates of Star Han, the great powers had rarely lost here. Even if they lost, they could continue to pressure the Qing Imperial Court to achieve a dignified withdrawal. Before departing, Severely punish the branch had been publicized with great fanfare, intending to completely annihilate this Star Han force in the Far East that had lost control.

If they slunk back now.

Others might still be able to live in peace.

But the foreign commander's political life in parliament would definitely be ruined. The amount he had plundered in the Far East over the years would have to be vomited out to appease the anger of the high-ranking figures above, and even that might not be enough. His wife and daughters would most likely not be spared either, something he absolutely could not accept.

The ironclad ships, having lost control, were just targets as they spun in place.

Shortly after Geng Liangchen and Huo Yuanjia leaped into the water and moved nimbly, the ironclad ships, which had seemed like mountains of steel on the sea, were instantly engulfed in explosions, flames, and billowing black smoke.

Steel deformed and groaned in the flames and impact, eventually tearing apart and exploding. Even the hardest steel, facing such destructive power, deformed as smoothly as butter under intense stretching, and then, as seawater flooded in, caused even more severe damage. Having completely lost power, they began to list.

BOOM!!!

The detonating ammunition dismembered the lifeless ironclad ships from within.

Ship after ship, like Titans, the industrial crystallization of this era was ignited, blackened, and finally exploded, or listed like ghost ships swaying on the sea, or tilted and plunged into the sea, slowly sinking with the rise and fall of the waves. The wails of the soldiers on board who hadn't completely died from the mental attack became the accompaniment to this scene.

This scene was truly hell on earth.

However, hell like this.

In the past decade or so.

Had been all too common on the land of Star Han in this world. The martial artists brought fairness, and now hell was descending upon the enemy. Those who claimed to bring civilization and progress with their cannons and warships, and still shamelessly spoke of it, probably needed to reconsider.

It was like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

This round of bombardment had buried friendly forces but also successfully repelled two Spirit Cultivation Practitioners.

A person's mind power is not infinite.

Even Lan Yi creating such a huge disturbance relied on psionic energy and Daoist Arts for amplification. Huo Yuanjia and Geng Liangchen only had Innate Qi. Although this was within the range covered by the Lei Chi Immortal Lotus, it was too unrealistic to recklessly squander psionic energy and stimulate their mind power.

After the bombardment, the smoke filled the air.

The fierce sea wind whipped up waves that shattered like jade fragments on the sea surface, blowing away the jade fragments and the smoke. With the complete annihilation of the engaging detachment of the Punishment Fleet, the scene fell into an eerie, calm stalemate.

Huo Yuanjia and Geng Liangchen had returned to the Star Han warship.

They were diligently adjusting their breathing and absorbing psionic energy, preparing for the possible battle that might erupt next.

A skinny person fighting a wolf fears both sides.

The martial artists underestimated the breadth and mobility of naval combat, while the foreigners underestimated the resilience and comprehensive strength of the martial artists. Now that the battle had reached this peculiar state, both sides were cautiously maneuvering.

Neither wanted to retreat.

Instead, they were contemplating how to defeat the other.

The foreigners were not rigid NPCs.

After the bombardment, observing that the two martial artists had retreated, and combining the intelligence information received from various sources, they realized that, just like firearms and cannons, martial artists also needed some form of energy to be so fierce, and even to create illusions. If their energy reserves were insufficient, martial artists would become weak, and it was not impossible for them to even become ordinary people.

It seemed that in this regard.

The completely unscientific martial artists also followed scientific principles.

"All forces, advance!"

Unwilling to retreat shamefully, the foreign commander, after his staff presented their conjectures, decisively chose to advance with all his forces.

He also had no intention of landing operations.

If they could sink a few ironclad ships and then repel this wave of Star Han warships, and retrieve a few bodies. The battle report must be written truthfully, stating that a powerful and strange martial force comparable to an imperial-level entity was rapidly rising in the Far East, and this group had begun to control the southern part of Star Han.

For the sake of the empire's interests in China.

All forces must be mobilized to interfere with this group.

If necessary, even the local army could be mobilized...

The foreign commander, lost in thought, couldn't help but sigh.

Only by facing them directly can one understand the terror of Martial Artists. When Martial Artists control vast territories, integrating resources to cultivate talent and mass-produce soldiers, the Yellow Peril, which White people fear, will surely sweep across the entire world.

However, at this very moment, the old empires of Europe are all sharpening their blades, preparing for an imminent grand war. The powder keg could explode at any moment. At such a time, how could they have the energy or inclination to mobilize their main armies and interfere with the drastic changes occurring in Star Han?

Star Han's luck is just too good.

Precisely at this critical juncture, an evil sorcerer has emerged.

It must be that the people of this country have died too much, their souls sacrificed to Satan in vast numbers, thus summoning such a terrifying monster. Who knows, that sorcerer might have already devoured millions of people!

Just as the foreign commander was maliciously speculating.

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

Then, he raised his telescope in confusion and peered towards the southern horizon.

Strange.

When did that bright white streak appear in the sky? Was that streak there just now? And this white rainbow... why does it seem to be continuously growing, turning and extending towards this side?