The man had only been polite. Tang Changsheng was not about to seize on a feather and brandish it like an imperial decree. Professional military command was not something just anyone could interfere with...
Sure enough, Su Rongsheng had only been courteous. Frowning, he said, "Fire blanks. Disperse them!"
Tang Changsheng was frowning too, but not because of the so-called rioters on the docks. A stream of black vapor hung over Hemp Mountain, and his first thought was of killing intent.
Yet this killing intent was utterly different from any he had seen before.
Near Suxu City, the fiends of the Purple Dusk Heavenly Court had used killing intent to set up the Yellow Springs Netherworld Formation, turning everything within a hundred or two hundred li into a Netherworld Ghost Domain.
What he saw now seemed more complex, though Tang Changsheng could not quite say how.
While he pondered, the order went out. Moments later, several blanks burst in the air...
The crowd, which had stood as still as wooden posts, suddenly erupted into motion like a boiling pot.
"Mother of God, they're firing cannons! The army's firing cannons!"
Tens of thousands of rioters scattered, shoving one another in their rush to escape. In the blink of an eye, they left the ground littered with shoes trampled off in the crush, along with several unlucky souls who had been trampled nearly to death.
No, there was another group... Their clothes hung in rags, and they moved strangely. Unaffected by the commotion, they continued their slow advance toward the Warship.
There were only two or three hundred of them. Disgust flashed across Su Rongsheng's face. "Drive them off!"
"Yes, sir!" At the order, the Ground Forces soldiers put on riot gear and prepared to disembark and restore order.
Just then, Tang