After the battle

After the battle ended, Jelena led the Dragon Spirit Guardians in taking over Torturer's Deep, wiping out the remaining pirates who refused to surrender.

Liu Qian sent a ship out through the opening to tell Janice to bring the rest of the fleet into Torturer's Deep.

Once Janice arrived, she immediately joined Jelena in securing every part of Torturer's Deep.

After a while, dawn began to break, and the two women came over, looking slightly tired.

Jelena asked, "My lord, what should we do with this man?"

Two Dragon Spirit Guardians brought Rollo Uhoris over and forced him to kneel on the cold rock. Tears and snot streamed down his face as he pleaded, "My lord! I truly didn't betray you! I knew nothing about Crab Claw's ambush! My life is in your hands. How could I dare..."

As their guide, Rollo had naturally become the prime suspect after that perilous ambush.

Jelena had ordered him detained as soon as the fighting ended.

"Enough, Rollo."

Liu Qian's calm voice cut him off. "Get up. This truly had nothing to do with you."

He gestured for the guards to release Rollo.

Amid last night's chaos, he had seen everything clearly. Several arrows from Crab Claw's hidden forces had skimmed Rollo's scalp, nearly pinning him to the deck.

Once released, Rollo almost collapsed to the ground. Then he struggled upright and repeatedly bowed his head to Liu Qian, weeping with gratitude. "The gods will praise your mercy, my lord."

Liu Qian turned to Jelena. "What were our casualties?"

A shadow crossed Jelena's cool face. "One hundred and fifty-six Dragon Spirit Guardians were killed. Most fell when we first entered the channel, caught off guard by the dense volleys of arrows from the ambushers on both sides. They either died outright or fell into the sea with severe wounds. Fortunately, Janice and I have already revived them."

Once a Dragon Spirit Guardian died, magic had to be cast on them again to revive them, consuming a considerable amount of magic power.

Although Jelena and Janice had become Flame Knights and possessed magic power, their reserves were far too small.

Liu Qian took Jelena's and Janice's hands.

A gentle yet powerful flow of magic passed into them through his touch, and they felt a little of their depleted magic power return.

"Thank you, my lord," Jelena said softly.

She glanced at the rows of ghostlike pirates behind her and continued, "We also used the pirates' corpses to add another hundred Dragon Spirit Guardians each."

With the purity of Liu Qian's dragon blood now at 22%, his soul connection with the two Flame Knights had deepened, increasing the number of Dragon Spirit Guardians they could sustain and create.

Jelena's limit had risen to four hundred, while Janice's had reached six hundred.

Liu Qian looked at the blood-covered pirates behind Jelena. Though they had been dead, they now stood upright in formation, staring straight ahead without expression.

He nodded, then instructed, "Have them equip the weapons and armor we brought back from the Valyrian Ruins later."

They had brought a great deal of weaponry and armor out of the Valyrian Ruins. Besides the equipment already worn by the eight hundred Dragon Spirit Guardians, they still had over a thousand sets left.

Standing nearby, Rollo looked shocked and frightened as he watched the dead pirates come back to life. Looking at Liu Qian's eastern features, he recalled the Flame Longswords Liu Qian and Jelena had wielded last night, as well as the flaming arrow Liu Qian had fired.

That convinced him Liu Qian was undoubtedly a warlock from a foreign land, and his awe rose sharply.

Just then, a weary-looking woman with long brown hair hurried out of a larger sea cave below, carrying a baby wrapped in coarse cloth. She ran straight toward Rollo.

When she saw that Rollo had been released, tears instantly welled in her eyes.

"Vera, my Vera!" Rollo rushed excitedly toward his wife and pulled her and the child into a tight embrace, his voice choked with emotion. "Thank goodness... thank goodness... you're both safe..."

He carefully took the swaddled baby and gazed at the little wrinkled face. A nearly foolish smile of happiness spread across his face at having survived the ordeal. "Sweet baby... Daddy's back..."

Vera clutched Rollo's arm and asked, still shaken, "Rollo, what happened outside just now? Everything was shaking, and there were battle cries and flames everywhere. We hid in the deepest cave and were too frightened to sleep all night..."

Rollo hurriedly explained in a low voice. When Vera heard that Crab Claw had been killed, immense joy spread across her face.

His family had been forced to remain in Torturer's Deep as hostages, living in constant fear, while Rollo had been made to raid and plunder for Crab Claw. Those nightmarish days were finally over.

"Is this your wife?" Liu Qian's gaze settled on Vera.

Only then did Vera notice Liu Qian standing nearby, his bearing far from ordinary. Holding the child, she quickly bent her knees in a respectful curtsy.

Liu Qian nodded slightly, then looked at the baby sucking a finger in her arms. "What's the child's name?"

Rollo scratched his chestnut hair, looking a little embarrassed, and chuckled. "My lord... Rollo Uhoris."

Liu Qian couldn't help laughing. So all three generations shared the same name.

As though startled by Liu Qian's chuckle, little Rollo puckered his mouth and suddenly burst into a loud wail, his piercing cries breaking the solemn mood on the cliffside ledge.

Rollo and Vera immediately fumbled about, rocking and patting the baby as they clumsily tried to soothe him. For a moment, everything descended into a flustered commotion.

Once the little one's cries began to subside, Liu Qian looked at Rollo, who had finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Rollo."

"My lord." Rollo immediately straightened, his expression respectful. He now regarded Liu Qian as a powerful warlock and no longer dared underestimate him.

"Are you willing to pledge your allegiance to me, Liu Qian, and serve under me?" Liu Qian asked.

Rollo froze. He had not forgotten how this lord had burned Crab Claw's head to ashes with a single arrow last night, nor those Dragon Spirit Guardians, silent as iron and utterly fearless in the face of death. Above all, he had not forgotten Jelena, wielding her Flame Longsword like a god of slaughter on the cliff face.

Most importantly, they could actually revive dead pirates as puppets capable of fighting.

Following someone so powerful was an opportunity Rollo Uhoris had never dared imagine.

Rollo drew a deep breath and immediately dropped to one knee. "I, Rollo Uhoris of Tyrosh, swear in the name of the gods to pledge my allegiance to Liu Qian from this day forth..."

The Tyroshi had no tradition of knighthood, but they still knew a few simple oaths of allegiance.

Once he finished and stood up, Liu Qian looked at Jelena. "How many pirates surrendered?"

"More than eighteen hundred pirates surrendered."

Liu Qian looked back at Rollo. "You originally had

a little over a hundred men under you. Choose another three hundred or so from the pirates who surrendered at Torturer's Deep to bring the total to five hundred. From now on, these men will be under your direct command."

"My direct command?" Rollo's head snapped up, his eyes shining with disbelief. His voice even changed pitch with excitement. "Truly, my lord?"

"Of course," Liu Qian confirmed. "You know the waters, reefs, and islands of the Stepstones inside out. We'll need your experience to establish ourselves in these waters. These five hundred men will be yours to command."

He paused, his gaze passing over Rollo. "Do your job well."

"My lord, Rollo will fulfill his oath." Rollo was so excited that he nearly knelt again, but Liu Qian raised a hand to stop him.

With these pressing matters settled, Liu Qian had Jelena and her sister move the supplies from the ships into the warehouses of Torturer's Deep. Only then was he able to take Rollo along for a proper inspection of the pirate stronghold he had just brought under his control.