Star Gate

Chapter 547: Entering the North Sea (IV)

As Li Hao sped toward the North Sea, some chaos was occurring over the waters. The various pirate factions received word that Light Sword was about to cross the East Sea and enter the North Sea.

The White Shark Raiders.

There was another figure standing next to White Shark. He wore a mask and rasped, “General White Shark, upstairs has given word that it’s best if you can kill Light Sword and take her Windchaser Boot! Of course, it’s even better if you can capture her alive.”

“Five of the Steadfast Duke’s generals were killed in an instant, are you sure it can be done?” White Shark frowned.

“That was before, Light Sword is hanging onto life by a thread. More importantly is that many people will be fishing in troubled waters. However, the North Sea is our domain...”

White Shark remained noncommittal. Our domain? That was too much. The White Shark Raiders did not lead the eight great pirate factions. His number two and three had just died and internal confusion roiled his organization. This was not a good time.

And yet, the speaker had come from upstairs. Although White Shark wasn’t afraid since he was stronger than his fellow commanders, there was no need for open hostilities. He thought for a bit before saying, “Light Sword may be looking to flee to Silver Moon and hoping that its martial masters will save her. We don’t need to go to great effort. We may come across her if we wait here.”

“I’m afraid that she’ll be dead before she reaches us,” cautioned Mask Face. “Why don’t you draw closer to the East Sea...”

“I’ll think about it!” White Shark couldn’t be bothered with the suggestion. That was someone else’s territory. He’d just be creating trouble for himself if he went. He rather hoped that Light Sword would make it to Silver Moon. Those chasing her might follow and create trouble for the province. That would give him a chance to move against Li Hao.

......

At the same time, at the intersection of the East and North Sea borders.

Blood dripped continuously from Light Sword’s wounds and she occasionally threw up pieces of internal organs. She was alive because light power surged through her body, suppressing her wounds.

She wasn’t entirely without hope, even though she’d extracted a promise from Li Hao. Light energy was extremely suited for healing and recovery. Anyone else would have long self-detonated, but she’d gone on a fugitive run and was still alive for it. Some hope shone in her eyes, but it was gradually extinguishing.

Those behind her gave chase relentlessly. The key thing was, news of her deeds and escape had spread like wildfire. Powerhouses were already beginning to encircle her. Plainly, it was tempting that the Steadfast Duke hadn’t been able to capture her.

Light Sword looked at the North Sea ahead. She needed to cross it and enter the Moon Sea to count as having truly set foot into Silver Moon territory. But there were more than five hundred miles separating the two sides!

She probably wouldn’t make it that far.

I did my best... she murmured inwardly. There was no way out of this, but even so, she would not go down without a fight!

Light Sword continued to run, wanting to see who would be the first to jump out and take a stand. She would kill some of them even if her organs completely ruptured. She would have the world know that Light Sword was matchless and unrivaled!

Any of Silver Moon’s Seven Swords was not trash if they’d lived to present day. Granted, she walked an ancient cultivation path that wasn’t complete. That didn’t concern her, Light Sword had always ignored her slow rate of improvement.

Time passed bit by bit; the solemn look in Light Sword’s eyes intensified. Too many had come! It’d only been such a short period of time, but she could sense there were at least ten Novas jockeying for position behind her. They were all very powerful—not just initial Novas.

There might be even more waiting in front for her.

......

Li Hao was now fully in North Sea territory. The limitless water coaxed him onto the ship’s deck. This was his first time out of Silver Moon’s jurisdiction. When he fought the pirates before, he’d done so within the Moon Sea.

The waves of the North Sea were even bigger! They slapped the water with deafening rumbles. Li Hao, however, felt like he was on top of the world. The North Sea was beautiful! What a pity it didn’t belong to Silver Moon.

Panther also looked around curiously. What a big sea. What a beautiful sea!

Man and dog stooped at the ship’s bow, unconcerned about danger and simply luxuriated in the comfort of witnessing an even greater world. Perhaps I should’ve left with Hou Xiaochen, Li Hao suddenly thought.

The sea and sky were boundless. As the Divine Kun Ship skimmed the waves, the young man was in fine fettle at seeing a bigger world. This was so different from the Moon Sea as both shores were visible from the water when it came to the latter. It was a bit too narrow to be called a sea. The North Sea, however, ran boundless from side to side.

Li Hao stood at the ship’s bow and peered around him. So this was the North Sea. The core of the dynasty—the central region—was surrounded by seas on all sides. The North, South, East and West Seas bordered the central region, the latter split the dynasty into two major portions.

The young man looked to the south—there was the central continent. However, Battle Heaven intelligence indicated that it might be an island instead, not a core continent. Li Hao gently flicked his sword as he observed the surroundings. To sway along the wind like a willow leaf. The sword was nimble and agile.

As the Divine Kun Ship shot ahead, some balls of light came into hazy perception. Though they were very far away, they weren’t too far if Li Hao could see them. He steered the ship toward them and came across a merchant ship. There were people on the decks; Li Hao couldn’t be bothered with a closer look after quickly determining they weren’t pirates.

The little ship cut through the waves, leaving a faint mirage for those on the merchant ship to look at. It wasn’t tangible enough to be identified, so another urban legend was likely to be added to the North Sea repertoire after today. There might be a new story of big fish appearing in the sea in the dead of night, ones that were as fast as the shuttle of a loom.

......

The little ship quickly came across another ship, one that looked like another merchant vessel, but was filled with supernaturals. There were two Solars and nearly one hundred supernaturals.

Ships like these were most likely pirates. There was the occasional surprise that they might be part of an army sent out to eradicate pirates, but that was very rare!

Li Hao pushed off from the deck and soared into the air. He darted through the void and hovered over the ship. Ears twitching, he momentarily eavesdropped to confirm that they were indeed a band of pirates. Sword light flashed!

BAM!

The ship hold exploded amid a series of outraged shouts. Solars roared with anger as sword light illuminated the void.

“Who are you and what enmity do you have with us?!” shouted one of the Solars. “We are the Brokensea Army...”

The Brokensea Army was just a cover—they were the Brokensea Raiders of the eight pirate factions.

Li Hao sent a head flying through the air with a flick of his sword.

“Li Hao of the Five Styles discipline!” he chuckled, slashing down with his sword and detonating the pirates beneath him!

The Solar who’d shouted was already headless on the ground. The entire ship of pirates followed their comrade’s footsteps in death. Li Hao waved a few storage rings into his hand. He couldn’t be bothered to scan them and only determined that there were no more people alive on the ship. He punctured the vessel with his sword and filled it with water, watching it sink.

With that, he jumped back onto the Divine Kun Ship. That hadn’t taken a lot of time. He would draw his sword if he saw anything unfair along the way. He didn’t like pirates. When martial masters liked something, they liked it. When they didn’t, they used their own methods to make the target disappear. Li Hao seemed to be acting more freely after leaving Silver Moon.

“Let’s go!” Li Hao called out when he saw Panther playing with the pirates that’d jumped into the water.

A smile seemed to appear on the dog’s face and it smacked one last pirate to death. Floundering a few times, it swam back to the ship. The little ship continued on its way while the large ship behind it was lost beneath the waves. A one-hundred-person team of the eight pirate factions led by Solars abruptly vanished amid the deep blue.

Li Hao made quick time, pausing to kill any pirate ships he came across. This was also a way to look for Light Sword as she might show herself if he killed enough people.

The sky was bright now as sunrise broke over the sea. The wheel of red rising over the waters was exceedingly beautiful as it illuminated the depths. Li Hao looked into the distance with a furrowed brow. It was three hours since he entered the sea and the Divine Kun Ship was making fast time. It’d covered at least five hundred kilometers, but there was still no sight of Light Sword to be found. He was worried about missing the other as well as the sea was too expansive. If she kept to one side, they might just miss each other.

He could see balls of light in this unbroken expanse and could probably identify a Nova from ten thousand meters away. That only made for ten kilometers, which was far too short in the sea.

“It’s too hard to find her!” Li Hao sighed and looked at the dog. “Panth, do you smell anything?”

Panther shook its head after a twitch of its nose. There were limits to its sense of smell and it wasn’t easy trying to find someone across such a stretch of water.

Perhaps... I should grab a powerhouse and ask them questions.

The eight pirate factions seemed to have a strong intelligence network. They should know where Light Sword was. However, none of them were ideal to offend.

Or perhaps a merchant convoy or trading company...

There were high numbers of merchants in the sea. They ferried central resources to the four corners and brought curiosities from the four corners to the central region. Their business spanned a large scale and ran across the four seas. All of them were backed by major factions. Their sources of information were very thorough as well.

As they sailed the four seas, they were typically cordial with the pirates. Some of them were merchants one second ago and pirates the next. This was what Golden Spear’s information said; Li Hao wouldn’t have known otherwise.

It was exceedingly difficult trying to find someone in the vast seas. But once he had an idea in mind, the young man worked quickly. He crossed another fifty kilometers in the blink of an eye, bearing down on three ships that were either a merchant convoy or pirates.

When he drew closer, he sensed that they should be merchants. One conspicuous factor of pirates was that they possessed no ordinary people on their ships. The pirates might nurture new recruits, but they would never do so on a ship. They had their bases, the islands, or even on shore on the mainland.

Merchants would have supernaturals protecting them, but not many. A flag fluttered from the lead ship—Li Hao recognized it. He was a deputy director of the Night Watchers now, he knew of the more famous designs. This one was a gold coin flag of the Ministry of Finance.