Chapter 190: Sea Kingdom’s Hope, Gambler’s Tragic Sentiment
Outside the Black Shark Fortress.
“That old dog Cromwell, he’s truly ruthless!” Doyle cursed, staring at the numbers representing his forces’ losses on the magical sand table, with enemy troops converging from all directions. He felt a sharp pang in his teeth.
Doyle’s plan was indeed to force Shaq to attack, hoping his ragtag forces would be wiped out, and perhaps Shaq himself would fall in the brutal reality of war. But more importantly, he wanted to force Cromwell, the gambler, to reveal his hand. Without knowing the enemy’s moves and destructive capabilities, acting rashly could lead to a complete defeat. Thus, he had dispatched a seemingly genuine feint force, intending for them to explore and return.
Once the operation began, the shrewd Naga commander saw through Doyle’s intentions. He countered by dispatching even more troops to devour Doyle’s bait, leaving no chance for a retreat. Cromwell’s order was delivered with decisive speed. The moment he identified the internal conflict between the two Sea Kingdom princes, his plan was set in motion. By the time Doyle realized the predicament, his feint force was irrevocably committed. He was faced with a choice: risk a rescue attempt and potentially fall into an even larger trap, or watch his troops perish in vain.
He hadn’t anticipated Cromwell’s willingness to gamble so heavily, completely disregarding the threat from Crown Prince Shaq on the flank, to decisively eliminate Doyle’s forces. Honestly, a Naga vanguard officer had even taunted him, hoping Doyle would be provoked into leaving the fortress to rescue his men. But Doyle truly didn’t dare.
Doyle was intimidated by Cromwell’s setup. Even though he now possessed a means to counter the “Raging Thunder Punishment,” he lacked absolute confidence. Venturing out to rescue his troops now, without a larger ambush awaiting him, was too risky. After a series of failures, Doyle’s aggression had been blunted by Cromwell. The Naga not only held a significant advantage in equipment but Cromwell’s masterful command had consistently outmaneuvered Doyle. Doyle considered himself brave, yet facing the enemy’s cunning schemes, he had suffered losses repeatedly. At this point, he was too afraid to engage in risky, head-on confrontations with the opponent.
His only recourse was to have his mages provide long-range fire support while dispatching elite squads to flexibly disrupt the enemy formation, allowing his deployed forces to hold out longer and inflict maximum casualties on the Naga. After all, the enemy was operating far from their rear, making troop replenishment more difficult than for the Sea Kingdom. Consuming the enemy’s strength now would significantly reduce the pressure on their next offensive.
Regarding the feint force, Doyle had declared that the Crown Prince was attacking the enemy’s central camp. Once that succeeded, their current predicament would be resolved. However, the generals commanding at the front knew this was a lie. The “useless” Crown Prince lacked the capability to break through Cromwell’s central camp. It was merely a sliver of hope to keep them fighting longer. They were doomed, but at this point, the general could only use such a pretext to deceive his subordinates into fighting to the last.
“Even if we die, we die standing! Every Naga we take down is a gain!”
“So what if the enemy has better equipment? Our strength, our courage, is enough to bridge that gap!”
“Brothers, follow me! Behind us lies the core territory of the Sea Kingdom. We have nowhere left to retreat. Kill these Naga scoundrels!”
The Sea Kingdom general led the charge, displaying the pride befitting a Sea Kingdom noble, igniting high morale in their desperate situation. Instead of being passively annihilated, they began to break out. The Sea Kingdom was indeed in decline, but they were still the rulers of the vast seas. With their homeland at their backs, every soldier was ready to fight and die, willing to exchange injuries with these Naga!
At this moment, it was the Naga who hesitated. Simultaneously, their deployment was primarily focused on preventing this force from escaping, with their elite heavy troops positioned close to the Black Shark Fortress. Who could have imagined these Sea Kingdom madmen would charge forward? Their ferocity unnerved the Naga soldiers, causing them to instinctively slow their advance. In the end, the Sea Kingdom troops managed to break through the encirclement.
Unfortunately, this direction would only lead them further away from Black Shark Castle. In despair, the general and his men pressed forward with bloodthirsty bravery. Every soldier was the same, marching with resolute steps, engaging in frenzied slaughter, pushing ever onward. They didn’t truly believe the general’s words; they knew there were no reinforcements, no further plans from above. They were today’s sacrifices.
But one thing the general said was true: behind them lay their homes, their defenseless elderly and children. Sooner or later, they would have to fight these Naga. Beyond fighting, they had few other choices. The more enemies they killed, the safer their homeland would be. Even if they couldn’t kill all the enemies today, there would be subsequent battles, and battles thereafter… The Sea Kingdom would eventually outnumber the Naga, gaining an advantage, and perhaps see the dawn of victory? Then fight! Fight these invaders!
When their swords were blunted, they used their fists; when their fists were broken, they bit with their teeth, their mouths filled with blood as they desperately grappled with the enemy, only to be crushed under the interlocked iron hooves. Every step taken by this Sea Kingdom army was fought with unimaginable ferocity. The Sea Kingdom general decapitated the last Naga in front of him and, finding no more enemies, his legs buckled, nearly causing him to fall.
“General, where do we go?” his adjutant asked, supporting him. The adjutant was also covered in blood and had lost an arm. The two men leaned on each other, looking at their remaining brothers, numbering less than two thousand, and chuckled. “Of course, we’ll fight our way through again!”
“Fight our way through again!” At this point, would they surrender to these devils who invaded their homeland, instead of fighting to the death? The Sea Kingdom general turned, only to suddenly notice the fierce Naga soldiers who had been relentlessly pursuing them halt, listening to horns and drums, and looking back in confusion. It was a retreat order?
The Sea Kingdom general understood the enemy’s military orders and was perplexed: with such a significant advantage, why would the enemy retreat when they were on the verge of annihilation? It certainly wasn’t out of fear of their remaining two thousand men. But his actions were faster than his thoughts. Without waiting for an answer, the general followed his instinct, roaring, “The enemy is afraid! Leave them here, haha!”
“Leave them here, haha!” The shouts of killing turned into frenzied laughter. These men, who had narrowly escaped death, had long forgotten about life and death. Their exhausted bodies found new strength, and they charged toward the retreating Naga formation, desperately trying to hold them back.
Inside the Black Shark Fortress, Doyle also noticed the anomaly in the Naga forces. Almost all their units were retreating, and they seemed to be in quite a hurry. A sudden change in circumstances? “Could something have happened at the central camp? Did that waste of space actually succeed?” A disbelieving thought flickered through Doyle’s mind as he looked into the distance. Had his Crown Prince brother truly manipulated and defeated the enemy on a whim?
However, if it wasn’t Cromwell’s order, he couldn’t fathom any reason for these naturally brave Naga to retreat, especially with such an overwhelming advantage. Following this line of reasoning, if the Naga’s central camp had indeed encountered problems, then his feint, which had drawn the main force, was actually their golden opportunity! Of course, it could also be a trap specifically for him. But was such a trap, exposing their own rear, effective?
“Attack! Execute our Plan Three to intercept the Raging Thunder Punishment Legion. First and Second Legions, follow me out of the fortress. Third Legion, cooperate with the Royal Mage Corps for reconnaissance, to prevent any surprise attacks!” Doyle issued several commands in rapid succession, then personally donned his armor and charged out of the fortress. Having been repeatedly outplayed by Cromwell, Doyle had lost his edge, but he was still a developing commander and wouldn’t miss a fleeting tactical opportunity.
The Naga rear guard was composed of the resilient Ironclad Legion, the Raging Thunder Punishment Legion. This was entirely within Doyle’s expectations. These machines, fueled by intensely burning magic crystals, possessed powerful output and thick hides. They could switch from their arc generators to shields, making them adept at both offensive breakthroughs and defense. He glanced at a beautiful, alluring mermaid beside him, dressed in the attire of a bishop of the Church of Knowledge.
“Your Highness, rest assured, our Church has always been genuine.” She softly began to sing a ballad that was both sacred and bewitching. No one understood the lyrics, but under the influence of divine power, the song spread far and wide. Swarms of electric eels, bound together by bundles of kelp, rapidly approached the Raging Thunder Punishment Legion.
The electric eels were fast, and the Raging Thunder Harvestors’ arc generators posed little threat to them. Of course, their feeble arcs were equally ineffective against the Raging Thunder Harvestors’ armor. The key was the kelp they dragged along. Whether due to its species or some treatment by the bishop, this kelp was incredibly tough. The kelp entangled with the Raging Thunder Harvestors’ propellers, directly crippling their mobility. No matter how the pilots inside operated, they never expected a school of electric-eel-resistant fish carrying kelp to render them useless.
Witnessing this, the retreating Naga grew angry and helpless. They wanted to rescue their precious mechanical legion, but time did not permit. Doyle, having passed the Raging Thunder Punishment Legion, looked down at the slumped, sinking magic crystal machines and said with a strange expression, “Kelp… I spent a million gold coins for this pile of kelp?”
“Your Highness, you bought knowledge. Compared to the results, one million is absolutely worth it, isn’t it?” the enchanting bishop replied with a smile. Doyle remained silent. He truly couldn’t have conceived of such a tactic, nor could he have procured and trained such a large number of electric eels to transport kelp. So, the Church of Knowledge’s intervention was quite significant? But selling a pile of kelp for a million gold coins was utterly outrageous!
With the Raging Thunder Punishment Legion’s rear guard rendered ineffective, the Naga, caught by surprise, were engaged by Doyle’s advancing forces. The two sides became entangled. The Naga units rushing to support the central army could only leave behind a limited force to cover their retreat before continuing to fall back. On the front lines, a rare spectacle unfolded: mermaids chasing and hacking at Naga soldiers.
…
…
In the Naga central camp, a one-sided battle was taking place. Once his ambush of Swordfish Submarines was in position, Cromwell immediately launched his long-prepared strike, intending to overwhelm Shaq with a sudden encirclement. However, he hadn’t expected his risky gambit to fall entirely within Roger’s calculations.
He had deliberately exposed a weakness, delving too deep and thus delivering himself into the trap. When Cromwell revealed his “pair of twos,” Roger saw through his lack of a trump card and countered with a single bomb, disrupting all of Cromwell’s plans. That bomb was the biochemical self-detonating fish swarm. Interceptor fish disabled the torpedo barrage, armor-piercing fish punctured the submarines, and brain-eating fish controlled the war beasts. While named for these three types of fish, their appearances weren’t strictly fish-like, and their performance varied greatly within species. These results were observed and recorded by the mages, and later Lydia would summarize the experience and optimize their development.
However, with this three-pronged approach, Cromwell’s ambush behind Shaq’s forces was utterly annihilated. The war beasts, instead, became vanguard fodder for the Empire’s assault on the Naga central army. The biochemical fish are short-lived, rapidly breeding species. The brain-eating fish are similar; they disrupt the target’s central nervous system and temporarily take over its motor functions. For a time, the war beasts would not die, but once the brain-eating fish perished, without a brain, they would eventually die off too.
On Shaq’s front, the Naga launching their final, desperate charge did not gain any advantage. Because Shaq had timely ordered them to withstand the enemy’s final flicker of life, he assured them he would handle the reinforcements from the rear. Although he was a fresh commander on the battlefield, the orders coming from the Crown Prince’s whale carriage were flawless. No one could fault Margaret’s command. Moreover, the enemy’s central camp was indeed within sight. Basic trust between allies remained, and thus, under his encouragement, the lines held firm.
Despite deploying his trump card, Cromwell gained no advantage. Instead, with his central camp about to be breached, he finally panicked. Roger’s most prolifically bred biochemical fish were also revealed. Icefish, when detonating, rapidly lowered the temperature in an area, creating solid ice blocks hundreds of times their size. In a single night, the Base Coral, replenished by the abundant organic matter from the sea waves, spawned over a million Icefish. These Icefish detonated in all directions around Shaq’s forces, not to inflict casualties, but to… construct an ice labyrinth!
They built an ice labyrinth that prevented the returning main forces from immediately reinforcing the central camp! It also sealed off Cromwell’s escape route! This was a tactic that could only be fully executed in the deep sea, where the omnipresent seawater served as building material for the defenses, and the Icefish had already been deployed along the routes. At this moment, the dense detonation created a three-dimensional ice labyrinth spanning dozens of miles, turning the sea area into a mottled, eerie expanse.
Semi-transparent, sea urchin-shaped minefish lurked maliciously in the narrow corridors of the ice labyrinth. Directly destroying the labyrinth would waste a lot of time. And attempting to force one’s way through without destroying it, in such an environment, made it difficult to spot the minefish! Furthermore, the Naga forces that were rushing to the central camp were unfortunate enough to be caught in the low temperatures generated by the Icefish deployment, also freezing into blocks of ice. In a world with incredibly rich species and a constant stream of strange new creatures from the seabed, if a little fellow looked a bit odd, no one would suspect anything!
Cromwell, realizing his defeat was inevitable, clutched the recently activated distress beacon and sighed softly. He hadn’t expected the situation to collapse so quickly. The enemy’s strategy of feigning weakness had ignited his greed. Instead of immediately retreating to defend, he had attempted to lure the enemy in and surround them. In the end, he became the filling of this frozen dumpling.
The Sea Kingdom’s magnificent whale carriage stopped before the Naga central command tent. Crown Prince Shaq, his face alight with excitement, dismounted under the protection of his personal guards. Spotting Cromwell from afar, he exclaimed, “My heavens, I’ve actually captured a Naga Marshal!”
“No, you haven’t,” Cromwell said, black blood flowing from his mouth, scattering in the seawater as his body fell straight backward.
