Rural Intelligence Network · Pirate Trail

Building an intelligence network in the countryside was even simpler, because every village had a village chief, and the chief was usually the best-informed person around.

Some villages also had village constables. They patrolled every day and were equally well informed, so they could be recruited as well.

On Red Maple Island, Yang Yunzhi found the village chief and a hunter who also served as the village constable.

Both were initially doubtful. Only after he revealed his identity as a Navy lieutenant and promised to regularly send ships to patrol the waters did they reluctantly agree.

"If pirates come, can you really protect the village?" The hunter was a burly man with a face full of knife scars. His hand remained pressed against the woodcutter's blade at his waist as he spoke.

"If I can't, I'll bring you my head." Yang Yunzhi spoke calmly, but his words carried an unquestionable weight.

The village chief of Bluestone Island was a lean old scholar. When he heard that he was to become an "informant," he actually rubbed his hands excitedly. "I read Nine Methods of Intelligence Gathering and Essentials of Running Covert Networks in my youth! I merely suffered from having no one recognize my talent..."

Suppressing a laugh, Yang Yunzhi assigned this "theorist" a detailed list of tasks.

The village constable on Emerald Island was a drunkard. When Yang Yunzhi found him, he was lying sprawled on the beach in a drunken haze.

Yet this very man accurately recounted the arrival times and lengths of stay of every stranger who had visited the island over the past three months, and even estimated the general strength of several of them.

"Burp... I used to... run with them too..." The village constable burped, and a brief flash of clarity passed through his clouded eyes. "Now, though, booze is enough."

Yang Yunzhi was somewhat speechless. Who said there were no talented people among the common folk? Weren't they everywhere?

It was just a pity that this world placed too much emphasis on strength. As a result, many highly capable people found it difficult to rise, while plenty of brainless people with nothing but strength occupied high positions.

Like the Five Elders.

Yang Yunzhi left behind enough money for half a month's worth of liquor, along with a warning. "If you delay the real work, I'll deduct double the liquor money."

On the evening of the eighteenth day, Yang Yunzhi stood atop the watchtower on Rosy Cloud Island, looking down over the bay as lights gradually flickered on.

Eighteen days, nine islands, thirty-seven informants.

An invisible net had quietly spread open.

Beggars, newsboys, dockworkers, village chiefs, hunters, drunkards... these most insignificant little people had all become nodes in this net. Their eyes watched the docks, their ears listened to street gossip, and the charcoal in their hands, their memories, even their drunken mutterings all converged into tiny streams. Through the encrypted network built by Little Bean, they eventually flowed to Yang Yunzhi.

"Master, all of today's reports from the informants have been compiled." Little Bean's voice rang in his mind, carrying the lightness of someone who had just completed a major project. "No unusual circumstances have been found. However..."

"However what?"

"Red Maple Island fisherman 'Old Catfish' reported that at noon today, twenty miles southeast of the island, he glimpsed a ship flying black sails. It was moving very quickly and did not approach the fishing grounds, so he did not investigate further."

Yang Yunzhi narrowed his eyes.

Black sails did not necessarily mean pirates—some merchant ships used dark canvas as well. But at this time, in this location...

"Pull up all sighting reports from the waters around Red Maple Island over the past three days," he ordered.

A light screen unfolded before him, and dozens of brief text reports cascaded down it like a waterfall. Most were ordinary records of fishing boats passing by or merchant vessels docking. But Yang Yunzhi's gaze locked onto three of them:

"The seventh day, 2 p.m., thirty miles southeast. A ship's shadow flashed past; its flag could not be identified."

"The eighth day, 8 a.m., twenty-five miles southeast. Sounds of a vessel cutting through the waves; the ship itself was not seen."

"Today, noon, twenty miles southeast. Fast ship with black sails."

The three reports spanned from three days ago to today. The position had gradually closed from thirty miles to twenty miles, and the route faintly pointed toward a concealed anchorage southeast of Red Maple Island—where a freshwater stream emptied into a bay, an ideal spot for passing ships to replenish their water supply.

"Looks like they're scouting the area," Yang Yunzhi murmured.

He pulled up the Navy Headquarters bounty database and entered the keywords "black sails," "fast ship," and "West Blue." The light screen flickered for a moment before displaying seventeen bounty posters. Yang Yunzhi swiped rapidly through them, eventually stopping on one wanted poster.

[Blood Knife Pirates Captain: Blood Knife Henry]

[Bounty: 17 million Beli]

[Characteristics: Usually travels aboard a black three-masted fast ship, with a skull biting a broadsword as its figurehead. Fond of beheadings; vicious swordsman.]

[First Mate: White Sword Good, bounty 12 million Beli, enjoys cutting out human hearts.]

[Estimated total crew: 50–80 people]

Yang Yunzhi stared at the rough, savage face in the poster. Henry had a centipede-like scar across his chin, and when he grinned, he revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth. Beside him, the portrait of First Mate Good was far more effeminate—pale and gaunt, with long fingers, the perfect hands for wielding a rapier.

It had to be them!

"Fifty to eighty men..." Yang Yunzhi quickly calculated his side's combat strength.

Hina was certainly stronger than both captains, but the pirates had the advantage in numbers. If it turned into a melee, the new recruits would inevitably suffer casualties. And if the pirate ship was equipped with cannons...

"Master, there's new information." Little Bean's voice interrupted his thoughts. "From Red Maple Island informant 'Dock Rat': half an hour ago, five unfamiliar faces were asking around a tavern about freshwater supply points. They had South Blue accents. One of them carried a sword at his waist, and its hilt was wrapped in blood-colored cord."

Yang Yunzhi's eyes turned cold.

Blood Knife Henry's signature weapon was a broad-backed saber with its hilt wrapped in blood-colored hemp rope.

"Confirmed." He shut off the light screen and looked toward the darkening southeastern horizon. "Notify Major Hina. Convene an emergency combat meeting. Also..." He paused. "Put every informant on Red Maple Island into silent status. Observe only. No contact."

"Yes."

Night had fully fallen, and the last trace of rosy light at the boundary between sea and sky was swallowed by darkness. The distant ocean was black as ink, as though some restless beast lurked beneath it.

Yang Yunzhi gave that direction one last look before turning and walking down from the watchtower.

The sea wind suddenly grew sharper, making his clothes snap loudly. In the air, he seemed to hear the phantom clash of metal—an omen that a storm was approaching.

At the same time, on Ghost Mulberry Island at the other end of West Blue.

Bezos wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and sent an encrypted report through the Link Network.

His room was piled with messy drafts, while a complex relationship chart of the Oniki Clan was pinned to the wall. Red, blue, and black lines intertwined like a spiderweb.

The report was terrifyingly detailed.

From the vague causes of death of Oniki Ichiro's children who had died young, to the gambling dens and brothels frequented by Oniki Kijiro's three sons; from the sickly son of Oniki Nobuko, whose body had been ruined by excessive indulgence, to the complaints the various Generals and Pillars grumbled in private... even the daily class schedule of Oniki Ichiro's legitimate daughter, Miss Lina, her swordsmanship instructor's evaluations, and the books she had recently been reading were all recorded.

"A legitimate organization really is different. The intelligence they want me to gather is far more detailed than anything I collected before!" Bezos muttered as he gulped down some cheap liquor.

What he did not know was that, hundreds of miles away on Glass Island, Yang Yunzhi had just finished reading this report and was staring at Lina's portrait on the light screen.

Blonde hair, the delicate features of an Easterner, an upright posture when wielding a sword, and eyes that held an untainted sharpness beneath their clarity.

"Oniki Ichiro's legitimate daughter, seventeen years old, mixed heritage... royal education... uninvolved in family business..." Yang Yunzhi quietly recited, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the tabletop.

Outside the window, the night wind swept past the flagpole of the Navy base, and the flag billowed like waves beneath the moonlight.

A covert battle aimed at Ghost Mulberry Island, and a naval clash about to erupt, were silently beginning beneath the same night sky.

And connecting those two fronts was an intelligence network that had only just been woven—fragile, yet resilient.

As well as the man standing at its center, whose gaze had already pierced through the darkness.