Landing (2-in-1)

"I must admit that my choice to Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction was partly based on emotional factors."

Bai Xiaowen paused, then asked in return, "Shu Yi, in the Kane Plane, if we had chosen to enter as the son of the Bloodspear Warlord, fighting alongside a group of cannibals to slaughter human cities... what do you think?"

Li Shuyi's face turned a little pale, and she shook her head, saying, "I don't know."

"Logically speaking, the Spirit Realm is not the same as the real world. In the Spirit Realm, you can join any camp you want, even an anti-human camp. However, although there are no laws to bind us, our actions are still subject to the most basic moral constraints within us... or rather, to upholding the bottom line of humanity."

Bai Xiaowen said, "During the Jiajing Wokou Rebellion, Wokou Pirates raided the southeastern coast. After breaching cities, they killed the old and weak, and the able-bodied shaved their heads to serve as imposters in the army. Women wove cloth during the day and were raped by the Wokou Pirates at night. They were worse than beasts. Therefore, I do not want to join such a camp, even if it is only in the Spirit Realm Plane, even if it is only for ten days."

The Wokou Pirates during the Jiajing Wokou Rebellion were just like the invading Japanese army during the Anti-Japanese War—they had no humanity whatsoever. If Bai Xiaowen were placed in a different world during the Anti-Japanese War, would he side with the invading Japanese army? Obviously not. Even with a clear advantage in faction, Bai Xiaowen wouldn't do that.

This is the bottom line of humanity.

Li Shuyi said with relief, "I agree with you. Back in the Kane Plane, I felt like I could use all my strength to kill those cannibalistic Orcs. But if we were to stand on the Orcs side and slaughter humans, our combat power would probably be reduced. I don't even know if I would have the courage to wield a sword."

Bai Xiaowen nodded, and then said:

"Of course, my choice of the Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction also has rational considerations. From a background perspective, the Anti-Wokou Ming Army's Main Base is the Great Ming, a land of plenty. The goods that can be exchanged at the quartermaster's office are definitely diverse, and there may even be some top-quality local specialties. This can be seen from the rate at which the camp's reputation increases."

The reputation of the Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction grows relatively slowly. Generally speaking, in such camps where reputation is hard to gain, the quartermasters are extremely wealthy, and Merit Points are quite "valuable".

As for the Wokou Pirates, their forces are too scattered. This means that the military supplies for most of the Wokou Pirates forces are definitely of varying quality and scarce. It is easy to raise the reputation with the Wokou Pirates, and it is also relatively convenient to complete the main quest. But what's the point of raising it to Exalted? Having high reputation and a lot of Merit Points, but no good military supplies to exchange for, makes the reputation and merit points meaningless.

"Then how can we join the Anti-Wokou Ming Army?" Li Shuyi asked. "We're in the vast ocean right now, and we're new here. How easy is it to get back to land... I feel like the Spirit Realm Rules are somewhat biased towards making us join the Wokou Pirates."

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "Joining the Anti-Wokou Ming Army is definitely more difficult than joining the Wokou Pirates, after all, one is an official and the other is a bandit. But don't worry, it's not entirely hopeless... Let's open the treasure chest first."

After Zhao Zhixiong and his companion used an S-Tier item to teleport away, they essentially abandoned the treasure chest.

Bai Xiaowen opened the treasure chest; the rating for killing Chen One-Eye was B-Tier. He quickly clicked on the gold cards and selected two of them.

I was pretty lucky; I got a piece of Gold Equipment —the same Heavy-Backed Greatsword that Chen One-Eye used! This broadsword is a two-handed weapon with incredibly high additional attack power, but it requires 25 points of base strength and 20 points of base agility.

Bai Xiaowen put away the Gold Equipment, Heavy-Backed Greatsword; neither of them needed it.

Another item that dropped was called [Ship's Log], which was a record of Chen One-Eye's pirate fleet's voyages and raids.

"Let's go down." Bai Xiaowen started walking towards the lower deck.

"Huh?" Li Shuyi was somewhat surprised. The two of them had fought their way up from the lower deck, so why were they going back now?

"There should still be some able-bodied men that Chen One-Eye has kidnapped in the hold..." Bai Xiaowen said. "You think Chen One-Eye only kidnapped the four of us? Impossible. He must have kidnapped other people, mostly fishermen from coastal fishing villages. Let's rescue these fishermen and have them take charge of sailing the boat back to land!"

Bai Xiaowen was certain that the Spirit Realm Rules would not cut off the path for awakened individuals to join the Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction. In addition, with the identities of several awakened individuals as a reference, it was a foregone conclusion that there were captured fishermen who had been plundered in the other cabins of the lower deck.

Chen One-Eye's men on the ship had been eliminated. Bai Xiaowen and his companion went to the bottom deck, summoned the Vampire Kitz, and ordered him to smash the door and pick the lock. Soon, more than twenty fishermen were released, mostly young and strong men, and a few women who were barely clothed.

These fishermen are all Standard Template, with little strength.

After Bai Xiaowen stated his requirements, the group of fishermen were in a dilemma. In the end, they unanimously elected a man who looked to be in his thirties or forties to step forward.

The man bowed, displaying a scholarly air, and respectfully said, "Our benefactor has given his order; how could we dare disobey? However, there are two difficulties."

"Explain."

"The fishermen usually operate small boats, never having handled such large vessels before, so we have to learn as we go. However, our speed will definitely be slower than that of the experienced Wokou Pirates," the man said. "Another difficulty is that we've been confined to the hold, not knowing where we are or which direction to go. We want to return to the Great Ming, but we might end up in the Nanyang. If we end up in the Nanyang, that would be fine, but I'm afraid we might encounter some hidden reefs, and the whole ship would be doomed."

"What's your name, and what do you do?" Bai Xiaowen realized that the man was not a fisherman.

The man replied, "My name is Xie Sheng, and I am currently a teacher at the clan school in Xie Family Village."

"He's a scholar," Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly, handed the [Ship's Log] to Xie Sheng, and said, "It records the route of the Wokou Pirates pirate ships these days. Read the text aloud to these fishermen in detail so they can confirm their course and return to land along the way."

Xie Sheng quickly thanked Bai Xiaowen. A dozen fishermen took the helm and hoisted the sails, and the ship slowly began to turn around.

On the other ships, the pirates' fighting was also coming to an end.

It shouldn't have ended so quickly, but Chen One-Eye's death clearly dealt a heavy blow to the morale of their pirate group. Many of Chen One-Eye's pirates, upon seeing their Boss Tier dead, had no choice but to throw down their weapons and surrender.

Surrendering won't kill you.

The various factions of the Wokou Pirates welcomed these pirates who had seen blood and killed people, finding them far more useful than newly captured, kind-hearted fishermen.

Although Chen One-Eye was dead, the pirates with white turbans wrapped around their arms had no intention of letting the flagship go. After a brief reorganization and incorporation, they weighed anchor and set sail, actually catching up with it!

Seeing several sailboats approaching, Li Shuyi frowned and said, "Why are they chasing after us? Chen One-Eye is clearly dead, and they saw that too."

"I flipped through the last few pages of the Ship's Log. Chen One-Eye just captured a county town and looted a lot of goods. I guess this fight is also related to these goods... The looted goods are mainly on the flagship, so the enemy's intention to catch up is quite clear..."

Bai Xiaowen walked to the cargo hold at the bottom of the ship. This kind of hard labor was done by Kitz. He used his claws to dig and soon pried open the cargo hold door.

"Wow..." Kitz whistled.

Li Shuyi was also somewhat surprised. At a glance, the cargo hold was filled with gold and silver utensils and silk fabrics.

"These are all items that cannot be taken out of this world, so they are not of much value to us," Bai Xiaowen said.

"Boss, are you going to give it back to them?" Kitz said, his teeth aching. "What a waste of so much good stuff. If we took it ashore, we could sleep with so many girls."

"Give it back? Impossible. Besides, even if we did give it back to them, those pirates wouldn't let us go." Bai Xiaowen saw it very clearly.

"Boss is wise," Kitz flattered, chuckling, "Once the meat's in our mouths, why would we spit it out!"

"You still think you're a robber?" Bai Xiaowen glanced at Kitz.

Kitz shrank back, gave an awkward laugh, and said, "Yeah, I've cleared my name... I'm done with this."

"These are all ill-gotten gains plundered by the Wokou Pirates. They should be handed over to the government and returned to the people after they land," Bai Xiaowen said righteously.

As the approaching sailboat drew near, a tall, thin pirate Boss Tier dressed in sharkskin armor stood at the bow and called out, "Which channel are you from over there? Do you know whose cargo this ship belongs to?"

Bai Xiaowen stood at the stern. "They belong to Great Ming Dynasty."

"..."

The lean pirate Boss Tier's voice turned cold. "Mind your own business, you're asking for death!"

The pirates were indeed much faster than the group of novice fishermen, and their sails, propelled by the wind, cleaved through the waves.

Bai Xiaowen pulled out his Desert Eagle, held the gun with both hands, and aimed at the ropes of the enemy ship's sail.

The lanky pirate Boss Tier sneered, "I don't believe you have the skill to shoot an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces..."

Thump, thump, thump!

Gunshots rang out continuously.

Bai Xiaowen's current Shooting Specialty is 3, and even with the boost from the Ultimate Academic Ace, it's only 4. To say that he could hit the mooring rope with perfect accuracy from such a distance while the two ships are moving at high speed is beyond his capabilities. However, he has activated Rapid-Fire Mode, using quantity to compensate for accuracy.

If just one out of ten bullets hits the target, that's enough.

Under the furious gaze of the lean pirate Boss Tier, the sails and ropes of his ship were shot off, the sails fell to the ground, and the ship lay sideways on the sea. Then came the second ship, the third ship...

The fishermen on Bai Xiaowen's boat cheered and exclaimed in unison. They gradually figured out the knack of maneuvering the ship and increased their speed. Before long, they had left the group of pirates with white turbans out of sight.

The gaunt pirate Boss Tier's face was grim; he wished he could tear Bai Xiaowen to pieces. At that moment, one of his Wokou Pirates came to report that the ropes had been tied; should they continue the pursuit?

"Chase my ass."

The lanky pirate Boss Tier waved his hand, "With Chen One-Eye dead, we've accomplished half our objective, and we can give an explanation to my brother. Turn around and head back to the stronghold!"

Suddenly a small boat sped by, and a pirate reported, "Master Hong, two men suddenly appeared on Brother Er Biao's boat. Luo Xiucai said their names were... suspicious! Would you like to go and take a look?"

"What's wrong with Er Biao? How did he manage to sneak onto the ship without anyone noticing! What if he's a spy for the government troops? Wouldn't that ruin everything?" the skinny pirate Boss Tier, "Master Hong," roared.

"Master Hong, you don't know this, those two men just fell from the sky, they have nothing to do with Brother Er Biao." The pirate was clearly Er Biao's confidant.

"Is that so?" Master Hong was a little skeptical.

"It's true, all the brothers on the ship can testify. Those two even said they'd long admired Boss Xu and came specifically to join him. They were instrumental in Chen One-Eye's murder!"

"So, those who robbed my goods and ran away were also their accomplices?" Master Hong said angrily. "I'd like to ask them properly!"

Bai Xiaowen finally set foot on land.

The abducted fishermen, along with the tutor Xie Sheng, were extremely grateful. Bai Xiaowen took out some valuables and money from the cabin and distributed them to them, so that they wouldn't end up starving and freezing on the streets after returning home because their homes were destroyed.

Anyway, these valuables and coins are items that cannot be taken out of the Spirit Realm, so Bai Xiaowen doesn't mind giving some away. As for why he doesn't give more, Bai Xiaowen understands the principle that "a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." During the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, when powerful gentry and officials were plundering and seizing wealth, they were not much better than the Wokou Pirates.

Bai Xiaowen ordered his summoned creatures to move a ship full of goods to a secluded spot and store them there, then had the Vampire Kitz guard them. After doing all this, Bai Xiaowen, along with Li Shuyi, inquired along the way and found the nearest coastal defense outpost of the Anti-Wokou Ming Army, called Chongwu Garrison.

During the Ming Dynasty, the coastal defense in Fujian consisted of "five guards and twelve garrisons," with Chongwu Garrison being one of them. However, in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the fighting strength of the Ming Army in the guards and garrisons was quite average. The Records of the Ming Dynasty documented that a group of a hundred ronin samurai roamed thousands of miles and killed or wounded thousands of the Ming Army, which was not an unfounded story.

Historically, the pacification of the Japanese pirate raids was mainly due to three people: one civil official and two military officers.

Let's start with two military generals, Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, known as "Yu the Dragon and Qi the Tiger," who were figures who struck fear into the hearts of Wokou Pirates. According to Bai Xiaowen's recollection of Ming Dynasty history, Yu Dayou was praised for his strong personal abilities, while Qi Jiguang excelled at commanding troops.

The civil official was named Hu Zongxian.

The Ming Dynasty always valued civil officials over military ones. No matter how capable a military general was, he was still subject to the control of scholars. Hu Zongxian was the superior of Yu Longqi and Hu.

However, unlike the civil officials in plays who always hinder military generals, Hu Zongxian was a capable man. He reorganized the coastal defenses, established naval fortresses, and revitalized the Ming Army's neglected military affairs. But his greatest strength was not in training and strengthening the army, but in the old profession of a cultured person—deception.

Wang Zhi, a pirate tycoon during the Jiajing era, was a godfather-like figure among pirates. He proclaimed himself the Prince of Hui, based in Japan, and was known as the "Five Peaks Shipmaster." One of his sayings illustrates the extent of his power. "No pirate at sea shall survive unless he is under the control of (Wang) Zhi."

Yet this very person was lured ashore by Hu Zongxian, then Trapping, and killed. This shows how terrifying it is to be deceived by intellectuals.

When Bai Xiaowen arrived at Chongwu Garrison, he found that the soldiers' morale was much better than he had imagined. They were on guard duty and obeyed orders without question, unlike the lax discipline he had expected. This was clearly the result of Hu Zongxian's efforts in organizing the troops.