Shen Lian stepped forward and looked calmly at Hai Dongqing, who still had one breath left.
"Clear the battlefield. Interrogate the surviving pirates and find out where their lair is."
This naval battle had merely been an appetizer for their voyage across the sea.
However, just as everyone believed the battle was over, Hai Dongqing, lying on the deck, suddenly convulsed violently.
His previously dim eyes snapped open, flashing with final madness and resolve. With the last of his strength, he hurled the curved blade in his hand toward a stretch of sea not far away.
Shen Lian's gaze sharpened, Soul Power surging around him as he prepared to end Hai Dongqing's life at any moment.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Hai Dongqing's final attack was not aimed at them, but at that calm, unruffled patch of sea.
Boom—
A deafening explosion rang out. That stretch of sea instantly erupted, and an enormous column of water shot into the sky, dozens of meters high, like a water lotus suddenly blooming.
The seawater churned furiously, raising wave after wave that crashed toward the merchant ship, making its hull shake violently once more.
Shen Lian frowned deeply as he stared at the area where the massive spray had erupted, his heart full of doubt.
Why did Hai Dongqing attack that stretch of sea before dying? Could some secret be hidden there?
But when he saw that Hai Dongqing had completely lost all signs of life, his eyes wide open in death, Shen Lian shook his head and temporarily buried the question.
A dead man's strange actions might have been nothing more than final madness. There were more important matters to deal with now.
He turned, his gaze falling on the entrance to the cabin.
The surviving minor pirates were hiding there. Having witnessed