With no other choice, Xu Mochen ordered the fleet to stand by where it was. He first sent four or five small boats carrying several diplomats to the port, where they could find someone with authority to talk to and explain their purpose. He trusted the other side would understand their actions.
Under Xu Mochen's arrangements, a group of diplomats led by Gu Yuntong boarded several small boats and successfully docked at the port. As the diplomats and naval personnel disembarked and came ashore, many couldn't help drawing in the fresh air around them. After ten days adrift at sea, at last their feet were planted firmly on land!
But before they could catch their breath, a rumble sounded from not far outside the port. In the distance, several Soul Masters were leading a group of soldiers toward the harbor, surrounding it. The soldiers carried long wooden-speared pikes and partly wooden round shields, and wore leather armor.
When they saw the fleet docked nearby and the mysterious visitors in "strange clothes" who had already come ashore, shock and panic showed on their faces. Many of the soldiers trembled at the sight before them; some nearly turned tail and ran!
Terrifying! Absolutely terrifying! Those steel beasts docked at sea, belching clouds of black smoke and roaring like thunder—were they really not monsters? They had rushed here after receiving a distress signal from the port!
At first, when they heard the report, the messenger had shouted in terror, stumbling over phrases like "at sea," "giant monsters," "spitting black smoke," and "roaring loud enough to shake the heavens." They had thought it was ridiculous, even suspected the man was exaggerating! But now that they were seeing it with their own eyes, they realized the truth was even more outrageous than the report!
"Are we really supposed to fight these super-monsters?" At the thought, the soldiers shivered from head to toe! They were only the City Defense Army of Linghai City! Usually, they just kept order in the city and dealt with small gangs of bandits and criminals. When had they ever seen anything like this?
Would those sea monsters come ashore and swallow them all in one bite? What was the point of fighting? That would be like carrying a lantern into a latrine—asking for death!
The leader of this City Defense Army, Zhao Ziheng, was also filled with fear when he saw the mysterious visitors. But his years of military training, together with his status as a Soul Master, allowed him to force down his trembling. Watching the line of strangely dressed people approach, he steeled himself and led several Soul Masters forward to meet them.
Zhao Ziheng and the others carefully studied the group's strange clothes. There were fifty-five people in all, fifty of whom seemed to be soldiers or armed personnel. The weapons and equipment they carried were bizarre. They wore armor and helmets, but the style was nothing like leather armor, chain mail, lamellar armor, scale armor, or plate armor.
Their battle armor was an odd blue, with metal components and intricate patterns in blue and other colors that blended together. A faint blue light seemed to glimmer across the armor. Their helmets looked like strangely shaped blue pot lids, painted in the same colors as their armor, and each had an enormous pair of "glasses" strapped to the front. The black gloves and military boots on their hands and feet were obviously made from exceptional materials.
Although he couldn't identify what the equipment was made of, Zhao Ziheng could clearly tell that their armor alone was far more advanced than the plate armor worn by the Royal Guard he had seen!
Each of them also carried a large, oddly shaped, bulging pack on their back. Other strange items seemed to be fastened around their waists and chests. In addition, each man either had a long, oddly shaped "fire stick" slung over his shoulder or a shorter "fire stick" hanging across his chest. Zhao Ziheng's initial guess was that these things were some kind of weapon, though he didn't know how to use them or how powerful they were.
Did you raise one like a broadsword and chop with it, or hold it like a spear and thrust? Could such bizarrely shaped weapons really be any use in battle?
The remaining five people were dressed far more normally. Each wore only a black, neatly cut, well-fitted robe, with a strange "cloth strap" across the chest. Was this some kind of local custom? Unlike the armed personnel, whose expressions were solemn and whose bearing was resolute, these five men in black robes seemed friendly and kind.
The square-faced, sharp-looking middle-aged man at their head raised a hand. The armed personnel immediately formed two columns, one on either side. Not one of them made an unnecessary movement or uttered an unnecessary word. Their immaculate formation and strict discipline left even the well-traveled Zhao Ziheng marveling.
"Elite troops! These armed men are definitely well-trained elites! Even the Royal Guard of the Heaven Dou Empire might not have such frightening military skill and discipline." Zhao Ziheng marveled inwardly. He had lived on Douluo Continent for years and had never heard of such an elite force. Who were these people? Could they be a special unit secretly trained by the Star Luo Empire to the south?
Though his thoughts churned like raging waves, Zhao Ziheng did his best to maintain a friendly expression. Addressing the middle-aged man approaching him, he said, "Pardon me, gentlemen. I'm Zhao Ziheng, commander of the Linghai City Defense Army, a seventy-fourth-rank Battle Soul Saint. May I ask where you've come from and what brings you to our little city?"
Since the other side had shown no hostility, there was no reason to provoke them. The most important thing now was to keep them here and learn who they were. Zhao Ziheng had already ordered a messenger to send an urgent report to the Governor's Office of Fasinuo Province. If the provincial governor thought it necessary, he would immediately report the situation to the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire. Then the decision would be in the hands of his superiors, not his.
The man in black at the head of the group also maintained a friendly smile. He stepped forward and extended his right hand, introducing himself. "Greetings, respected Commander of the City Defense Army. I'm Gu Yuntong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sun Moon Empire. We're visitors from overseas, from another continent tens of thousands of miles west of yours. This is our first visit to your continent. The difficult journey has caused you considerable trouble, and we sincerely apologize. We're willing to compensate you for any losses we've caused."
Gu Yuntong bowed slightly. His words were courteous and faultlessly phrased; even Zhao Ziheng could find nothing to criticize. Yet Gu Yuntong's words left him utterly stunned.
"W-what? You—you're f-from a-another c-continent w-west of u-us? A-and there's a—a Sun Moon E-Empire?" Zhao Ziheng was so shocked by what he had heard that his mouth hung open and he could barely speak!
This news was enough to shake him for an entire year! Zhao Ziheng was certain that even if a level-ninety-nine Peerless Strongman had appeared before him, he wouldn't have been this shocked!
After all, he had at least heard a few stories about level-ninety-nine Peerless Strongmen on Douluo Continent. But there had never been the slightest record in Douluo Continent's history of another continent beyond it, let alone people from that continent arriving on terrifying giant monsters to visit them. It was enough to shake heaven and earth!
In fact, according to the general worldview of the people of Douluo Continent, there was supposed to be only one continent in the world: Douluo Continent. Since when had some faraway, wondrous nation appeared? At that moment, Zhao Ziheng's entire worldview collapsed!
After a long while, Zhao Ziheng finally came to his senses. Seeing Gu Yuntong's right hand still extended before him and the warm smile still on his face, he realized he had been rude. He hurriedly returned the smile and took Gu Yuntong's hand, apologizing again and again. "Please forgive me. I was so astonished that I forgot my manners. Welcome, welcome to our Douluo Continent, guests from afar!"
Judging by Zhao Ziheng's assessment of the situation, everything was clearly far beyond his authority. Visitors from a mysterious nation on a distant continent were not something he was qualified to handle. The most important thing now was to send another group of messengers as quickly as possible to report the matter to the Governor's Office of Fasinuo Province and the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, and let them decide what to do.
Fortunately, everything Zhao Ziheng did was within Gu Yuntong's expectations, and he took no offense. Instead, he politely explained that the things at sea were warships belonging to the Sun Moon Empire. Of course, they hadn't come to attack them; they were simply on an exploratory voyage to spread friendship! (Whether you believe it or not, I believe it!)
He asked them not to worry: until they received permission, the bulk of their fleet would not dock along their coast. People and supplies would be transported by their own small boats.
Gu Yuntong also explained that his fleet had been at sea for a long time and was nearly out of supplies. They hoped to obtain food and fresh water here. Of course, they wouldn't take anything for free; to show their sincerity, they were willing to trade some of their own supplies for an equal value.
Hearing Gu Yuntong's words, Zhao Ziheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly waved his hands and refused payment, saying they could provide all the food and fresh water the visitors needed for free, so long as they kept their word. But Gu Yuntong insisted that the people of the Sun Moon Empire valued honesty and never took advantage of others. He took out a Soul Tool Ring and gave it to Zhao Ziheng, explaining that it contained some gold to pay for the food and water, and that he could keep any extra as a small token of goodwill.
At first, Zhao Ziheng kept refusing, but in the end he couldn't prevail against Gu Yuntong's persistence and reluctantly accepted the Storage Soul Tool Ring. He carefully channeled his Soul Power into it to check, then was surprised to find that it held around a hundred taels of gold! He immediately realized that the other side was truly loaded. His goodwill toward the Sun Moon Empire shot up by leaps and bounds. He promptly began issuing orders to his subordinates.
Once Zhao Ziheng had finished giving his orders, he started chatting with Gu Yuntong and, while he was at it, asking about the other continent and the so-called Sun Moon Empire. As it happened, Gu Yuntong also wanted to learn about Douluo Continent, so the two hit it off and chatted with great enthusiasm.
Only after all the supplies had arrived and been loaded onto the ships and into the Storage Soul Tools did the two men, who had found each other much too late, part with great reluctance. Zhao Ziheng could only set up camp nearby, though. No matter how friendly they had become, he couldn't stop keeping a close eye on these mysterious visitors.
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