Hu Xinzhu volunteered to go aboard the other side's ship for a meeting. To put it bluntly, he was bored stiff and wanted something to do.
More precisely, he had been living perfectly well in Twin Sun Red Dragon City as the emperor's confidant, a pampered young nobleman. He ate, drank, and played to his heart's content; every so often, he found a few fresh young courtesans to warm his bed, cheated someone, or stirred up a little trouble. How blissful had his life been?
But Lin Qi had actually sent him to that damned Western Intelligence Directorate!
"Ten thousand li from home!" Hu Xinzhu stood at the bow of the little wooden boat and sighed softly. "They say the women of the Western Continent are tall and broad, with rough skin and body hair all over! How could they compare to our Eastern beauties, so dainty and exquisite, lovely and fair? Heavens above, Lin Qi—if your big brother doesn't find you a few worthy opponents and have them torment you ten thousand times over on this island, then am I still Hu Xinzhu?"
With countless dark thoughts of ways to make trouble for Lin Qi churning through his mind, Hu Xinzhu eagerly urged the sailors to row faster.
There were five Tiger Clan ships and four Cloud Dragon Clan ships on the other side, nine vessels lined up in a row with dozens of meters between each one, occupying over ninety percent of the narrow bay entrance. Normally, though, if those nine ships simply drew a little closer together, at least three of Lin Qi's enormous seagoing vessels could enter.
When the sailors aboard the nine ships saw Hu Xinzhu approaching by boat, one of them let out a whistle. At once, several burly men in silver plate armor,