Ignorant and Incapable

As Lan Yi surfaced from the seawater, he couldn't help but wear a satisfied expression of post-coital bliss as he faced the azure sky. Indeed, stretching his muscles occasionally was good for both body and mind.

And all around him.

There were either lifeless warships devoid of any human presence, or wreckage already split in two, emitting dying groans amidst the rising and falling waves.

The thick black smoke seemed to be the mark of burning corpses, the pillars of smoke reaching straight into the sky, announcing to any city or merchant ship that could see this sea area in the distance that this war had ended... Of course, perhaps they thought it had just begun, and Lan Yi happened to think the same.

Chen Qimei had reported to Lan Yi.

This Punishment Fleet was the naval force of the great powers in the northern part of Star Han, encompassing almost all their maritime strength.

After losing their ability to interfere with the coastal areas of southern Star Han, the foreigners would surely mobilize all available forces to intervene against the rising martial artist groups in the south.

This was the typical mindset of the great powers.

In their view, even if they couldn't stop the rise of the martial artist groups, they would at least be a nuisance, ensuring that the martial artists didn't have too comfortable a time. This was a strategy with military means as the primary approach and economic means as a supplement, with the goal of probing the martial artists and disrupting their production capabilities.

World War I was about to break out.

The great powers did not intend to create a quagmire in the Far East that would drain their precious energy.

Instead, they hoped that the Punishment Fleet advancing south from the north could drag the martial artist groups to the negotiating table, using it as a bargaining chip to leash this incredibly fast-rising power with economic means as a collar.

But they never expected.

This fleet, which by all logic should not have been so easily defeated, a fleet with ample maneuvering space along the Star Han coast and with rear logistics ports, was actually wiped out so cleanly. Before their complete annihilation, they couldn't even transmit a single proper message back to Yanjing.

For the northern operational command.

The Punishment Fleet had suddenly lost contact at some point.

And before that, the last message transmitted by the Punishment Fleet was: Something is coming from the sky in the south, like white rainbow light or a meteor, and that thing stopped above the enemy ships.

Then, all contact was instantly lost.

The Punishment Fleet never sent any more telegrams back to the Yanjing command.

At first, the command center assumed it was a radio malfunction or natural interference. The Punishment Fleet, busy with the war, might have been pursuing victory and continued to call for contact. However, the last telegram sent back by the Punishment Fleet before losing contact cast a shadow of foreboding over the Yanjing command.

The martial artist groups rising in the south of Star Han.

Had they already mastered some form of aerial strike capability?

After all, even for the great powers, related aerial strike capabilities were still merely theoretical plans. Using aerial forces against warships on the ocean was a concept belonging to science fiction military theory.

Fifth hour of lost contact.

The Yanjing command center finally realized that something was seriously wrong.

Fifty-seven warships of various types in the Punishment Fleet, with over ten thousand personnel on board, all losing contact for so long could not be explained by radio malfunction or natural interference. The allied Punishment Fleet must have encountered something completely unexpected.

At this time, in the Yanjing command center, the arrogant foreigners had not yet begun to consider the possibility of the fleet's annihilation.

The reason was simple.

Even if they couldn't fight, they could always run, right? What could possibly stop an ironclad ship determined to flee?

Could it be that this ancient and decadent land truly possessed some epic weapon, like the myths and legends of India, capable of unleashing ten suns upon the sky?

Tenth hour of lost contact.

The foreigners in Yanjing, already filled with anxiety, anger, impatience, and unknown fear, finally took action.

Their action was... to vent first.

They declared military martial law in Yanjing and other areas, sent letters denouncing the current court's incompetence and instigation, which had led to dangerous rebels appearing in the south, severely threatening the lives and property of the foreigners residing in China. In this matter, the Qing Imperial Court bore inescapable responsibility and must be prepared to bear the consequences!

With such stern wording, the heavily armed forces, under the guise of martial law, were actually allowed to indulge themselves. The court's army remained completely unmoved, directly ignoring the situation.

The officials of the nation, suffering from extreme xenophobia, immediately prostrated themselves.

They truly had no idea what had happened in the south.

Moreover, those provincial governors in the south were all colluding and making deals with the great powers. Nominally they still belonged to the Qing Imperial Court, but in reality, they were already uncontrollable, on the verge of declaring themselves kings. The great powers were happy to see such weakening of the imperial court's authority when supporting their proxies, but they never expected to shoot themselves in the foot.

Perhaps this traitor Huo Yuanjia, and this demon person Lan Yi, were fostered by you yourselves, and now you've lost control?

Of course, the ministers dared not say such things directly, they could only think them in their hearts. On their lips, they offered utmost pleas, abandoning all dignity, begging their foreign friends not to be alarmed, to stop first, and then declare martial law after investigating clearly.

We, the great China, would certainly not engage in unreasonable and despicable sneak attacks!

All their words, their flowery rhetoric, boiled down to five words: "Father! Please stop hitting us!"

As it turned out.

When others want to find an excuse to beat you, no matter how desperately you cry and claim you didn't do it, they won't hold back. The bronze-headed leather belt swung wildly.

The three-year-old emperor on the dragon throne understood nothing.

He didn't understand what was happening outside the palace walls.

He looked dazedly at the weeping ministers, at the distant fires and smoke rising outside the palace walls. He heard a minister choked with despair say that the position he sat upon, and the empire of two hundred and ninety years, might be lost.

Why would it be lost?

Isn't the throne right here? Isn't the empire always there? If someone really dared to snatch it, then he... then he would go and invite that uncle who was very good at fighting but had a foot ailment to come back and fight the bad guys!

The young emperor felt angry for the first time.

His anger was like a young wolf, ignorant and baring its incomplete, rotten fangs under the shadow of a colossal entity and its immense presence.

Twenty-four hours of lost contact.

Finally, there was news of the Punishment Fleet!

The foreigners at the Yanjing Command finally obtained intelligence from an agent in Jinling amidst their revelry and indulgence. Shortly after this agent sent the telegram, their residence was raided and taken over by a group of Martial Artists. The second Lei Chi Immortal Lotus bloomed above the Jinling power plant.

Such a great feat, the entire city was in awe!

The Punishment Fleet that was heading south has been completely annihilated!

The man-eating demon daoist has departed from Puhai!

He is traveling north along the railway line! He is coming, he has already arrived! He is Lan Yi!!