An unexpected zero-cost deal

Just then, the Aquatic Clan garrison on Dark Abyss Island actually abandoned every ground position outright, turning and plunging into the nearby sea. Even the few entry realm water demons were no exception, their auras swiftly disappearing into the complex terrain of the seabed.

It was not just Dark Abyss Island. Almost simultaneously, the same scene unfolded on the other islands along the Sea Serpent Chain. The Aquatic Clan troops that had previously fought to the death now abandoned all their ground fortifications without hesitation, diving into the sea and retreating toward the waters behind the Thunderclap Archipelago without looking back.

Yang Wenqing looked past the beachhead lines closing ranks below, past the ruined outlines of Dark Abyss Island's defenses, toward the region behind the Thunderclap Archipelago that had remained shrouded in dark clouds.

Dull reverberations still rolled out from there. By the time they reached his ears, the sea wind and waves had stripped away much of their force, but he could still sense the spiritual fluctuations within them.

He could not help murmuring, "It seems the Dragon Palace really is fighting among itself."

He recalled his granduncle-master's earlier message. Ao Guang's death might have been the spark that brought the rifts among the Dragon Clan's leadership erupting to the surface.

At this stage of the war, the scales of victory were being tipped by considerations on a higher level: the Dragon Clan's internal power struggle, the dialogue already underway between Wanxuan's leaders and those of the Dragon Palace, and the probes and bargains exchanged between two systems of power beneath the surface of war.

And he, Yang Wenqing, was merely a chess piece pushed onto a particular crucial point in this grand game. Yet he saw nothing wrong with that. A chess piece had its uses; having value