The Court's Response and the Ambush in the Bay

The anchor quickly agreed.

He began to act swiftly.

"Well done, streamer!"

"He looks like he's been through a lot of fighting!"

"Don't embarrass yourself!"

"Cheer up!"

"But there's a problem: can the streamer defeat these officials from the imperial court?" someone worried.

"What's there to be afraid of? We're always looking for a good show, and we're never afraid of things getting worse."

Soon, in the live stream, viewers began to see those annoying constables being arrested by the streamer and several players.

Those players were very skilled.

Among the yamen runners, there was one leader who was indeed very strong.

However, under the combined attack of these players, its weaknesses were exposed, and it had no choice but to succumb.

"Damn it! How dare you attack people from the imperial court! This is utterly rebellious!" The leader was still defiant even after being suppressed by the combined efforts of the players.

The players, however, didn't care at all; they used sealing talismans to seal them all away.

They threw these yamen runners into the sea one by one.

"Don't you like making people work at sea?"

"Then you can go and do the work in place of those ordinary people!"

And at this time...

The constables, soaking in the seawater, were all furious.

"You bastards, aren't you afraid of the imperial court's might?"

"Hahaha, you fools!" the anchor laughed at the constables. "Others may fear the imperial court, but we don't!"

"The cycle of Heavenly Dao has come full circle, and today it's your turn to suffer!"

Another streamer's fellow player mocked, "What imperial authority? Do you think we really care?"

"The emperor is far away, the sky is high, and the heavens are high; have you ever heard of that?"

"You bastards, you've committed countless evils, you deserve to die!"

"Now that I'm giving you a chance to live, aren't you going to cherish it?"

The audience cheered when they saw this.

At the same time.

On the leaderboard of disciplinary activities.

Real-time rankings have begun to appear.

[Ranked Island ID Points]

[1 2086 District Empty 2086 500,000 points]

[2nd District 9th Server God Lu Bu 450,000 points]

"Hehe, Cao Cao has always been the dominant force in District 9, but they're showing off and insist on challenging the big shots in the new district. Now it's Lu Bu's turn to be in charge." Some players started revealing gossip.

Unfortunately, this juicy gossip was only partially revealed before it was no longer discussed.

"Holy crap, my live stream hasn't even started yet, and they're already giving scores!"

"Ri, it started with over 500,000 points!"

"The second-place player also has over 400,000 points. Are they really that good?"

"Yes, we're still trying to harass the imperial court, but we can't even win a direct confrontation, so we don't dare to broadcast it live."

"Yeah, starting a live stream will only frustrate the viewers, and then the losers will be the ones climbing the ranks!"

"These people streaming are all from top-tier regions!"

"Clearly, what they did satisfied the audience, which is why the score is so high."

However, their scores soon reached a plateau.

Around 1 million points, their ranking stopped improving.

"It seems that 1 million points is the bottleneck."

"It seems that the emotions generated by the offline audience, when converted into incense offerings, are probably capped at around 1 million."

"That's right, every company is vying for offline traffic, but the total population is only so much, and a large number of people never watch live streams."

"In this way, there is naturally a limit to the rating."

"That's right!"

Just as these players analyzed, as the live stream progressed, the scores of the players quickly rose in turn.

It is gradually approaching 1 million points.

The highest Empty 2086, which was the first to reach 999,000 points and then stopped.

The people behind are also striving towards 900,000 points.

"Strange, it seems the Canxue powerhouse hasn't joined in!" someone wondered.

"Yes."

"Perhaps the big shots don't care about this list?"

"No, this ranking mainly tests offline influence. Without offline influence and sufficient channels for acquiring traffic, how can you attract viewers? Without viewers, even if you crush the people of the imperial court to death, you won't have any emotional energy or points."

"The boss is smart; he's playing to his strengths and avoiding his weaknesses."

"It seems the top player in the new district isn't planning to make a move this time."

At this moment, Gao Linzhi also had his eyes opened wide.

It must be said that these players are incredibly creative.

They all displayed remarkable skill, and of course, some of them were equally ruthless in their methods.

Ironically, this cruelty attracted even more viewers.

They were ruthless towards these officials of the imperial court, fearing that the audience would criticize them as saints.

These players seem completely unafraid of the imperial court.

They didn't care about the court's retaliation; instead, they used various tricks in their live streams to humiliate and torment the court officials in all sorts of ways.

This is actually quite normal.

Gao Linzhi knew that the people sent by the imperial court were both strong and weak in some ways.

It is very strong compared to ordinary novice players and natives.

However, it becomes weak against highly talented players who use cheats, as well as players from older servers.

Because the imperial court couldn't send out too many capable officers.

Their main force will still be stationed on the island.

The imperial court can only send out collection teams targeting ordinary villagers, not players.

After all, the players' unique characteristics and unpredictability are too great.

Even with divination skills and the support of the Game System, divination often fails.

After all, you can't predict what game items players will bring out.

Many of these game items possess the power to reverse fate.

And at this time...

In the event channel.

One player exclaimed excitedly, "Haha, I've figured it out! This is a reward for us ordinary players to get for free!"

"I started a live stream, the traffic wasn't high, but I've already got 60,000 points!"

"Wow, that's pretty good! I'll be in the top 1000."

"I also got 200,000 points!"

"That was so awesome!"

"These are all free rewards!"

"In the past, we couldn't even get into the rankings that offered rewards."

"Strange, why aren't major companies controlling offline traffic anymore?"

"Hmph, they're just trying to curry favor with the casual players; they don't dare to be as greedy as they used to be!"

"However, everyone should still be wary of the imperial court. I feel that the court cannot tolerate this any longer."

"Yes, we've gone this far; the imperial court will eventually retaliate."

However, not everyone can heed such advice.

Soon, new players emerged as a dark horse.

They came up with all sorts of tricks to vent the villagers' anger and retaliate against the imperial court's tax collection team.

This greatly stirred the emotions of the offline audience.

"Well done!"

"Well done!"

"Fantastic!"

Those people didn't just punish the yamen runners by arresting them and making them work; it wasn't that simple.

They used all sorts of methods.

At the same time, they also tried their best to get the yamen runners to confess the mistakes they had made in the past.

"I deserve to die, I am guilty, I once took the villagers' children for the sake of expropriation..."

As the constables confessed to their past crimes, the audience's emotions became even more intense.

"Kill them!"

"This damned imperial court is out of control!"

The livestream hosts, at the request of the viewers, also performed various elaborate performances of these yamen runners.

In short, the main focus is on emotional stimulation.

As for the consequences, all they cared about was the soaring points; they didn't even consider the long-term effects.

And at this time...

The imperial court's counterattack finally arrived.

The Fourth Prince repeatedly submitted memorials, and the players' actions were truly excessive.

Zheng Yuanheng stood on the stern of the "Jinghai" ship, his scarlet official robe fluttering in the sea breeze.

Forty-eight ironclad warships, engraved with runes, were spread out on the gray-blue sea, their sails looming like dark clouds.

How much longer until we reach Blackwater Island? He didn't turn around; he asked the naval admiral behind him.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the Imperial Observatory's navigation talisman has been activated. With favorable winds and currents, we should arrive in another half month," Admiral Zhou Xian's voice carried the roughness characteristic of a sailor.

Not long after, a sentry brought a message:

The scouts reported that the island bandits had built a wooden stockade on the west bank of a narrow bay ahead, with about three thousand men.

"Three thousand men?" Zheng Yuanheng finally turned around, a cold smile playing on his lips. "These rebels really know how to bewitch people; they've managed to gather so many!"

"What are the specifics?" he asked the sentry.

The sentry reported back in detail, "They were just a group of fishermen and salt workers; they only had some rusty knives and spears."

"With such limited military equipment, you dare to rebel?" Censor Zheng Yuanheng said disdainfully.

Naval Admiral Zhou Xian lowered his head and remained silent.

He knew that the Descenders was now incredibly powerful.

Those three thousand-plus people were probably just for show.

The real danger lurks among a few powerful individuals.

"These people were dissatisfied with the imperial court's collection of fishing taxes, and they even incited the island's inhabitants to rebel, killing the tax envoy sent by the court."

"They are utterly wicked! Our mission is to wipe them out in one fell swoop!" Zheng Yuanheng said fiercely.

"Your Excellency," a young voice came from the hatch. It was Xu Shen, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War accompanying the army. "I believe that after landing, we should treat them differently. Those who were coerced into joining us might be able to be appeased..."

"Mr. Xu, "Zheng Yuanheng interrupted him, his gaze fixed on the distant, faintly visible island silhouette. "His Majesty desires taxes, not the Saint."

"These islanders have colluded with those Descenders; they are no longer good citizens."

They all deserve to die!

Xu Shen's expression changed slightly. He wanted to say more, but he saw Zheng Yuanheng take out the secret edict in a yellow silk sleeve from his sleeve and slowly unfold it.

Imperial Edict:

Everyone quickly knelt down.

"This mission will employ a combination of suppression and appeasement, with suppression as the primary focus."

"Having been coerced into submission for so long, their hearts have already changed; we must not allow this to cause future trouble."

After he finished reading it, he folded the secret decree.

"This was drafted by the Grand Secretariat, approved by the Directorate of Ceremonial, and personally approved by the Emperor."

Xu Shen had nothing to say.

And at this time...

Suddenly, a horn sounded from the sea, deep and long, like the strange wail of some giant beast.

All ships immediately became alert.

At the captain's command, they began to change formation.

The vanguard of the Fuchuan and Haicang ships accelerated forward, the central army's tower ships provided cover, and the fast ships on both flanks spread out like the wings of a goose.

Runes flashed brightly.

Zheng Yuanheng gazed at the bay that was getting closer and closer.

On both sides of the island, rolling hills could be seen, with wisps of smoke rising from chimneys.

This is the best place to ambush.

"Give the order," he said to Admiral Zhou Xian, "At the beginning of the 11:00 PM, land on the west bank. First, bombard the island with cannons, then the infantry will deploy and land."

"Tell the generals."

He paused, the sea breeze ripping his voice to shreds:

I want to see the heads of these traitors within an hour.

At the same time.

An island on one side of the bay.

The sun was scorching, making the white sand on the beach reflect a blinding light.

Lin Cangming was standing on the watchtower of the wooden stockade, watching the dark fleet of ships approaching on the sea.

A sixteen-year-old boy stood beside him.

This is his student, and the only child on the island who learns and trains with the players.

"Sir," the boy's voice trembled, "The imperial ships... so many."

"More doesn't necessarily mean stronger," Lin Cangming said calmly.

He is only thirty-five years old this year.

As a new player, his cheating was extensive.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to ambush the imperial fleet.

He's also streaming live.

His live streams are very realistic.

Therefore, although there are few people now, there is great potential.

He's been playing this game for three months now.

Three months of island life tanned his skin and gave him fine lines around his eyes.

But his eyes were even clearer, like a deep pool.

Child, are you scared?

"Don't be afraid." The boy straightened his chest, then deflated again... "There's still a little bit."

Lin Cangming smiled and took out a jade pendant from his pocket.

He bought it from the auction house when he went to Wolf Snake Island to sell goods, spending 10 catties of gold.

He placed the jade pendant into the boy's hand.

"If a fight breaks out later, you should take the path behind the mountain."

"Go to White Sand Island in the south to find your uncle."

"Give this to your uncle, and he will take you in and protect you."

Sir, aren't you leaving?

"I won't leave. "Lin Cangming looked at the crowd gathered in the village.

Among these people were fishermen, salt workers, and other indigenous people who had been stranded on the island.

There were even a few soldiers who had escaped from the imperial ships in their earlier years.

There are always some people with a conscience.

These soldiers couldn't stand it anymore, so they chose to desert and stay on the island.

This time, they followed this Descenders and decided to rebel against the imperial court.

As for how he found out, it was obviously because someone had told Lin Cangming in advance.

Such repressive actions by the imperial court could not be concealed from the public.

In fact, the Imperial Observatory's flying boat should have been dispatched.

However, the Imperial Observatory clearly did not obey orders.

They gave the court a perfunctory answer, saying that the airships were in short supply and could not be spared.

Lin Cangming looked at the crowd and said, "If I leave, they will be three thousand lambs to the slaughter."

"As long as I'm here, they at least know there's still hope for survival."

Lin Cangming also knew that he was actually a buffer zone.

The player who came to deliver the message did not have good intentions.

He can't escape now either.

After all, the imperial court's orders were meant to sweep across the entire area.

The island where he was located happened to be within the scope of the imperial court's suppression.

Just then, white smoke suddenly rose from the sea, followed by a rumble like muffled thunder.

Cannonballs from certain runic cannons whistled across the sky.

The first shot landed on the beach in front of the village.

Not only did it send up towering sand pillars, but a black aura also spread towards the island.

"Get into cover! Activate the protective rune array!" Lin Cangming shouted, issuing the order.

He hadn't expected the imperial court to be so ruthless from the start.

The Game System has given a hint that this black aura is "cursed Black Mist," capable of instantly wiping out all life on the island!

The village was immediately thrown into chaos.

The group had originally planned to have a real fight.

However, they were thwarted by the court's unbridled methods.