Quartermaster: Xu Wei (2-in-1)

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi exchanged a glance. They had to admit that the two special items that dropped from Ye Mazi's treasure chest were beyond their expectations.

Bai Xiaowen opened [Matsuura Shin Kuro's reply], read it through, and said, "It's true. Ye Mazi... is not a fake Japanese, but True Wokou! He is a samurai of the Matsuura Clan family, Japan Wokou Pirates clan, and his real name is Ma Ye..."

"Is he True Wokou? Why would he... pretend to be a Japanese?" Li Shuyi was a little confused.

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said, "I can't guess that. However, the fact that Ye Mazi is True Wokou is good news for me."

Bai Xiaowen then took out the Black Zombie King's "Defiled Heart" and fused it with Ye Mazi's blood. Sure enough, the Defiled Heart reacted, and the black mist on it was absorbed bit by bit and merged into the blood.

Soon, the Defiled Heart was cleansed, and Ye Mazi's blood turned pitch black, slowly evaporating and dissipating.

Bai Xiaowen merged the cleansed heart into Absolon's Blood Essence Stone.

The broken Blood Essence Stone emitted a red light, swallowing the heart whole. Then, the light flashed again, and the item's name Transformation to:

[Absolon's Blood Essence Stone (Slightly Damaged)]

"I didn't expect that even with the White Ghost Queen's essence core, the Black Zombie King's heart, and the blood of Chen Dong and Ye Ma —four special items of Leader Tier —they couldn't repair the Blood Essence Stone," Bai Xiaowen shook his head and laughed. "On one hand, products from lords are indeed high-end. On the other hand, we took too many shortcuts when we killed Absolon."

If you were to confront Absolon head-on and kill him, you should obtain a complete Blood Essence Stone.

Li Shuyi smiled and comforted her, "It's alright, I'm getting more and more excited about this Blood Essence Stone."

Bai Xiaowen put away the Blood Essence Stone and then carefully collected the other "Matsuura Clan Samurai Token" dropped by Ye Mazi. He then stood up and said, "Let's go. We'll go find Hu Zongxian first. Having completed the C-Tier Hero Quest, our reputation should have been raised to the Revered level."

Hu Zongxian stormed off, mainly because he was embarrassed; he wasn't really angry. He's currently resting in the flagship's main cabin.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's request to see him was quickly granted, and they were led in by the guards.

Scholars' faces change quickly. When Hu Zongxian saw Bai Xiaowen and his companion, his previously gloomy face immediately lit up with a smile, and he said, "You two are truly my lucky generals. You deserve the greatest credit for this successful attack that wiped out the three bandits."

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"C-Tier Hero Side Quest: Battle of Kinmen has been submitted. Quest completion rating: 81% (Good)."

"You have received a reward: 4000 Merit Points."

"Your reputation with the Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction has increased; your current reputation level is: Revered."

"Main Quest: Choice Completed. For the next 5 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, and 41 seconds, you and your teammates can leave the Jiajing Plane World at any time. All gains obtained, including but not limited to Psionic Points, equipment, and items, will remain."

"Your squad has gained 750 experience points and can be promoted to a Level 2 Elite Tier Squad. Promote now?"

Bai Xiaowen chose yes. After completing the A-Tier Elite Quest "Finding Medicine," he received a small amount of team experience, but only 300 points. It seems that Hero Quest still bring the fastest team growth.

"Your Elite Tier squad has advanced to level 2."

"When team members fight side by side, Critical Hit rate increases by 7%."

"Squad Active Skill: Tether radius increased to 120 meters, cooldown time reduced to 7 hours and 30 minutes."

Upgrading the Elite Tier squad to a level 2 team isn't a huge improvement; the Critical Hit rate increases by an extra 2%, and the Tether skill's range is slightly enhanced. However, such an improvement is already quite good; it's an extra benefit, and something is better than nothing.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi have accumulated 10,952 merit points in the Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction.

From the moment they met Hu Zongxian and presented him with a ship full of stolen goods as a gift, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi began accumulating Merit Points in the Anti-Wokou Ming Army. Merit Points were earned for tasks such as finding medicine, killing Vengeful Spirit Black Corpse, and killing Wokou Pirates.

Including the 4,000 points reward from the Hero Quest, the total points finally exceeded 10,000.

It must be said that Hu Zongxian, who had accepted Bai Xiaowen's "bribes," was quite generous, and he hadn't been stingy with the rewards he had given out in the past few days.

Bai Xiaowen also received a notification that Hu Zongxian and Xu Wei's Affection Level towards him had increased, and they were now friends.

"Your Excellency, I have a confidential matter to report. Please dismiss your attendants," Bai Xiaowen said.

Affection Level the level of friendship, Hu Zongxian naturally had no defenses. He waved for his two bodyguards to wait outside the cabin and closed the cabin door.

"What secrets does Master Bai have?" Hu Zongxian asked curiously.

"Congratulations on your great Kinmen at Kinmen, Your Excellency. I wonder what your next plan is for dealing with the Eastern Ying Wokou Pirates entrenched in Japan?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

Hu Zongxian smiled and said, "Only by War Preparations our weapons, training our soldiers, and preparing to meet the True Wokou invaders head-on when they do invade, can we live up to the Emperor's great favor."

Bai Xiaowen said, "Lord Governor, there's no such thing as being a thief for a thousand days but not being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days. Why not send a large army eastward to Japan and wipe out the True Wokou?"

Hu Zongxian's expression changed slightly, and he shook his head, saying, "No."

Why?

Hu Zongxian simply shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then said, "The reasons are complicated, and you're being a bit unrealistic. First of all, our founding emperor once decreed that Japan is a country that should not be conquered. As a mere subject, I can guard the country's borders and defend against Wokou Pirates, but if I were to attack the Japanese mainland, that would be a great disrespect and would surely be impeached by the censors."

After a pause, Hu Zongxian continued, "Furthermore, the enemy situation in Japan is unclear, and our army has just fought a major battle and needs to reorganize its prisoners. We cannot be hasty and reckless. As the art of war says, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated...'"

Bai Xiaowen had no time to listen to Hu Zongxian's ramblings on military strategy. He finally managed to seize an opening in Hu Zongxian's sentence and said, "Your Excellency, you are unaware of this, but I have obtained clues about the True Wokou soldier who stabbed General Yu that day. That True Wokou Matsuura Shin Kuro, and he is connected to the bandit leader Ye Mazi..."

Bai Xiaowen presented [Matsuura Shin Kuro's reply].

After reading the letter, Hu Zongxian frowned and said, "The situation with the Wokou Pirates is so complicated. It's unbelievable that there are even True Wokou Japanese pirates hidden among the fake ones. However, regardless of whether they are fake or True Wokou, they are all Wokou Pirates, and I will wipe them all out."

Bai Xiaowen said, "According to the letter, Matsuura Shin Kuro is one of the leaders of the Matsuura Clan. The Matsuura Clan's territory is located on the three islands of Iki, Hirado, Tsushima. These three islands are the source of the Wokou Pirates. Back then, Wang Zhi proclaimed himself king in Japan and occupied these islands. Your Excellency, since the enemy situation is unclear, I volunteer to lead a ship of men to the three islands of Japan to gather intelligence."

Hu Zongxian shook his head. "No, I only have the duty to defend the territory. It would be too taboo for me to launch a military campaign against foreign powers. Even if I send out a scout ship, who knows what kind of accusations those upright officials in the Censorate would level against me! Master Bai, there's no need to rush. I will petition His Majesty to grant an imperial edict to conquer Japan. The whole process will only take half a month."

Bai Xiaowen could easily see that this was Hu Zongxian's excuse, but since Hu Zongxian's attitude was firm, he did not try to persuade him further and turned to leave.

"This Hu Zongxian is far too timid. He's much worse than Prince Nicholas from the last world. He's so constrained and uncomfortable," Li Shuyi whispered.

"One is a subject, the other a prince, of course they're different," Bai Xiaowen laughed. "Hu Zongxian, while he certainly had the ambition to protect the country and its people and to be remembered in history, was also very selfish. Take the execution of Wang Zhi, for example. A group of officials who didn't know the inside story, or who knew the inside story but had ulterior motives, wanted to kill Wang Zhi. At first, Hu Zongxian argued his case, wanting to save Wang Zhi's life to appease the Wokou Pirates in the southeast. But later, someone said that he was protecting the Wokou Pirates and had been bribed by Wang Zhi. To protect himself, Hu Zongxian was forced to agree to execute Wang Zhi."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "Hu Zongxian's killing of Xu Hai was also an act of selfish self-preservation. He didn't trust Xu Hai and feared he would surrender and then rebel again, so he simply killed him all at once. As for the other small groups of Wokou Pirates, Hu Zongxian has already decided to wipe them out by force."

Li Shuyi still felt indignant about Hu Zongxian's dishonesty. "Doesn't he fear retribution for doing this?"

Bai Xiaowen shrugged. "Probably... Hu Zongxian's historical end was indeed tragic, I wonder if it was retribution."

Bai Xiaowen briefly explained to Li Shuyi that Hu Zongxian had always been on good terms with Zhao Wenhua, the adopted son of the notorious traitor Yan Song. After Yan Song fell from power, Hu Zongxian was also implicated and dismissed from his post.

Jiajing Emperor, mindful of Hu Zongxian's merits in suppressing the Japanese pirates, initially did not want to pursue the matter further. However, later, secret letters from Hu Zongxian and a privately drafted imperial edict were found in Zhao Wenhua's home. Now, no amount of merit could save him. Hu Zongxian was Imperial Prison and committed suicide, leaving behind the famous lines, "The precious sword is buried in the wrongful prison, the loyal soul lingers among the white clouds."

Did Hu Zongxian draft the imperial edict privately, or was he framed? Bai Xiaowen believes that it is more likely that he was framed.

But all this is meaningless now. Although Hu Zongxian had made great contributions in suppressing the Japanese pirates, he was associated with the treacherous minister Yan Song and had a history of betraying his promises and killing surrendered soldiers. Therefore, his posthumous reputation was not good. Although he was Hero Tier in essence, his fame was not as great as Yu Dayou's, and far less than Qi Jiguang's.

"So what should we do now? Hu Zongxian refuses to send troops, so we can't go out to sea. Even if we have clues about the ' Search for the Sword ' mission, we still can't do it," Li Shuyi said.

Bai Xiaowen nodded. "From what Hu Zongxian just said, it's clear that the Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction won't be making any major moves. We won't find any good missions here with the five days we've saved; at best, we'll only be able to find some small errand jobs."

"What should we do then? Xiao Wen, you must have a solution, right?"

Bai Xiaowen smiled and said, "I've had an idea... Look what this is?"

A talisman suddenly appeared in Bai Xiaowen's hand.

[Illusion Talisman (Hu Zongxian): Stores the image of Hu Zongxian, the Governor-General of Zhili and Zhejiang, from the Jiajing Plane World. Reusing it creates a realistic illusion of Hu Zongxian, controlled by the user (Bai Xiaowen), capable of simple actions such as walking, sitting, and lying down, but without offensive power. Lasts 22 minutes, disappears after use.]

"This... isn't this the talisman that fell from the White Ghost Queen's body? Could it be that you're going to..." Li Shuyi's face was flushed, and she was a little excited.

"Hmm, since Old Hu is so clueless, I'll just trick him a bit... But before that, let's go find the quartermaster and exchange all the Merit Points we've accumulated."

Bai Xiaowen smiled and put away the Illusion Talisman.

The quartermaster of the Anti-Wokou Ming Army was an old acquaintance, the advisor Xu Wei.

Xu Wei was drinking wine and reading ancient books in an empty cabin when Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi knocked on the door and entered.

"You two..."

Bai Xiaowen opened the quartermaster's exchange list, and Xu Dacaizi immediately froze on the spot, entering the vending machine mode.

After quickly glancing at it, Bai Xiaowen smiled.

The Anti-Pirate Ming Army Faction, truly lives up to its reputation as a unified and powerful force. They offer a wide variety of exchangeable items, including several excellent local specialties.

[Killing Intent Talisman: A+ grade item. When used by an Awakened, it increases critical Critical Hit rate by an additional 35% for 120 seconds. This enhancement talisman does not stack with other Critical Hit. 2500 Merit Points /talisman.]

This A-Tier item is quite good; the extra 35% critical Critical Hit rate is amazing, greatly increasing damage output, and the 120-second duration is also very powerful. However, the restriction that it "does not stack with other Critical Hit" makes it unsuitable for Li Shuyi.

Li Shuyi has a base Critical Hit rate of 20% from her "Thunderwind Combo" skill, and an additional 7% Critical Hit rate bonus from her team skill "Brutality" LV2, resulting in a total additional critical Critical Hit Critical Hit bonus of 27%. Even if she uses the Killing Intent Talisman, it won't add another 35% to the 27% bonus; it will simply overwrite the original Critical Hit rate, leaving the final Critical Hit rate at 35%.

[Marching Stratagems: S-Tier Item, increases the movement speed of all friendly units within a 1-kilometer radius by 40% and halves their stamina consumption. Duration: 60 minutes. 6000 Merit Points /item.]

Note: This is Xu Wei's reflection after reading the "Military" section of the "Six Compilations," one of the three great talents of the Ming Dynasty.

[Amnesty Edict: S-Tier item. Use on a neutral creature not in combat to recruit it. Use the item again to summon the creature to fight for you for 120 minutes. The target creature's level cannot exceed your level. The ratio of the target creature's strength to yours determines the success rate of the Amnesty Edict. 5500 Merit Points /order.]

Following the "Amnesty Edict," there is a special note regarding the impact of the Amnesty Edict from the neutral biological immune system, which holds a prominent position (influence).

That's easy to understand. They were already doing very well, so why would they accept your offer of amnesty for no reason?

These are all good items. In addition, in the equipment section, there is a blue-colored piece of equipment with the Ming Army characteristics, [Arm Ring Bracers]. Although it does not have any additional attributes, it increases the Parry chance by an extra 15%. For tank-type awakened characters, it is almost as good as Gold Equipment.

It's a pity they're Bind on Pickup; otherwise, exchanging for a few would definitely be very popular.

My mindset is easily affected... I need to reflect on this... Also, let me explain: historically, Hu Zongxian first recruited Xu Hai and then killed him. Hu Zongxian's historical evaluation also includes the phrase "betraying his promise and killing those who surrendered." That was his personality; for his own peace of mind, killing Xu Hai, who was useless and only brought trouble, was normal. Some readers find this hard to accept, and I understand; I also disapprove of betrayal. But as an author, I can't only write about perfect good people and utterly wicked people. In fact, even good people in the righteous camp (let's call them that for now) can do despicable things, and villains can have things like love, father-son relationships, and brotherhood... That's all I'll say; I hope everyone can understand me.