Leading a Patrol, Establishing Authority in the Ranks (First Update)

Night closed in from all sides. A thin mist rose from the Xun River, glowing an eerie orange-red in the light of the torches lining the bank.

"Board the ships!"

At the order, the thousand-odd soldiers of the Wave-Quelling Bureau began boarding the warships moored at the dock in groups.

They were five sand barges pressed into service. Originally flat-bottomed boats for hauling grain and sand, they had been refitted with raised bulwarks clad in iron. Thick rams had been fixed to their bows, giving them a savage look.

Qin Geng was assigned to the largest ship in the middle, the flagship of Chief Banner Officer Zhou Dawei.

The gangplank creaked beneath his feet.

On deck, the smell of tung oil, sweat, and river water hit him all at once.

A hundred or so people occupied the deck. It was not exactly crowded, but it was far from peaceful.

Some were old hands newly transferred from the river navy, leaning against the bulwark with spears in their arms as they bragged;

some were rough men from the martial world, crouched on the deck polishing Water-Splitting Thorns or Ghost-Head Sabers;

and a few were outsiders in Daoist robes or monks' clothes, resting with their eyes closed, conspicuously out of place.

Qin Geng did not join the crowd.

He found a quiet spot near the deckhouse and stood against the mast, arms folded, coolly assessing the people aboard.

These hundred-odd people were the Wave-Quelling Bureau in miniature.

Of its nine divisions, only the Baleful-Quelling Division remained ashore. All eight others had people on this ship.

As Qin Geng swept his gaze across the deck, it paused.

Beside a bollard at the stern stood someone he knew.

Tiger Cub, that lawless grandson of the Liu Family.

The boy wore a close-fitting black diving