172: Chapter 172 Naval Guns Establish Authority, Bargains in Hand!

Lin Xiao looked out the window at the figures drawing closer, his eyes reflecting the deep blue sea light.

The fusion of the ship and the train had not yet begun.

This meant that the queen elizabeth could operate independently.

It was also a perfect opportunity to temper the arrogance of these mermen.

Lin Xiao withdrew his gaze and issued an order in the chat channel:

【 Car 07-01 Lin Xiao: Everyone, stay in the train, protect your respective territories, and do not leave the carriages without orders! 】

The moment the message was sent, a series of "Received" popped up in the chat channel.

He turned his head to look at Jing Hua.

"Why are you still standing there?"

Compared to just a moment ago, his tone had become much more serious, and every word carried an unquestionable weight, "Why aren't you hurrying to muster your men for battle?"

Without waiting for Jing Hua to respond, Lin Xiao vaulted out of the window.

A membrane rippled behind him, and the cold seawater instantly enveloped his entire body.

He did not look back, his left hand grasping at the air, and [Death Grip] shot out from his palm, precisely wrapping around the railing of the queen elizabeth.

The chain formed by shadows tightened abruptly.

Then, his body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, carving a sharp arc through the deep blue seawater.

In just a few seconds, he had landed steadily on the deck of the ship, his figure quickly disappearing behind the off-white flesh cabin door.

Inside the territory, Jing Hua watched the disappearing figure, stunned for a moment.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately just took a deep breath and turned to look at Princess Xiyao.

"Your Highness, just wait here."

Her tone was a bit softer than before, but still carried an irrefutable firmness, "We will be back shortly."

Princess Xiyao nodded, not saying anything more.

Jing Hua turned around, her gaze sweeping over the Merfolk Guards in the room.

"Chao Yin," she called out a name, "You take five people and stay behind to guard the Princess. Without my orders, no one is to approach."

Chao Yin seemed to want to say something, but after seeing Jing Hua's gaze, she swallowed her words.

"Understood."

Saying this, Chao Yin pointed out five guards, who spread out within the territory, shielding Princess Xiyao in the center.

Jing Hua did not delay any further, taking Pearl Tear's squad to quickly walk out of the territory and rendezvous with the sentries already lined up and waiting outside the train.

On the way to the rendezvous.

Pearl Tear followed behind Jing Hua, lowering her voice to ask: "Lady Jing Hua, can we really cooperate with those humans?"

Jing Hua turned around, her gaze landing on the giant ship in the distance that had already begun to turn.

"Let's first see what kind of battle this human is capable of fighting."

...

After Jing Hua assembled all the current combat forces, she sent a scout to the secret base to notify the remaining old merman troops.

Because the ones rushing over from the capital now were the vanguard troops under Cang Ming, and the main force would certainly be following behind, so they had to prepare for battle in advance.

She began to organize the troops, shouting slogans to boost morale.

On the other side, on the ship, Lin Xiao had no interest in listening to those impassioned pre-battle pep talks.

He had already arrived at the ship's main control room at this moment.

The off-white flesh pulsed slowly beneath his feet, as if welcoming the return of its master.

Lin Xiao reached out and touched the pulsing core in the center of the cabin.

His vision instantly split.

Eight main cannons turned simultaneously, aiming at the figures galloping across the plain.

In his split vision, Lin Xiao clearly saw the appearance of the newcomers.

They were completely different from Jing Hua and the others.

These mermen charging over were extremely burly, with knotted muscles, eyes as red as blood, and scales standing on end, as if they had been stimulated to their limit by some kind of power.

This wasn't just a gender difference.

The sea beasts beneath them were equally ferocious, with spiral mouthparts lined with dense, sharp teeth turned outward, spitting out green mucus.

Watching this scene, a thought flashed through Lin Xiao's mind.

Princess Xiyao had mentioned earlier.

The altar could bestow blessings upon the warriors of the Merman Kingdom.

And when he took out the source essence, Princess Xiyao was able to understand the use of this item immediately.

Could it be that the so-called blessing was just having these mermen directly consume the purified and refined black substance, which was source essence?

Not synthesizing special potions separately, such as [Fantasy Potion - Stamina], [Fantasy Potion - Spirit]?

These mermen were simply too crazy!

Lin Xiao's gaze turned cold.

The battle was on the verge of breaking out.

He directly steered the queen elizabeth to charge out.

The massive hull stirred up a trail of white bubbles on the seabed, the off-white flesh bow cleaving the seawater and creating surging currents.

The eight giant cannons fired in succession.

The Iron-Devouring Worms, curled into balls, were sent along the chambers into the turrets and then blasted out from the barrels, dragging white wakes as they precisely slammed into the center of the merman ranks.

The first volley.

Eight giant craters exploded on the plain, the shockwaves carrying snow-white sediment as they spread in all directions.

The sea beasts charging in the front were hit head-on, flesh flying everywhere, and their mournful cries echoed in the seawater.

The merman warriors riding on their backs were thrown off; some stopped moving on the spot, while others were still struggling in the mud and sand with half their bodies, but were quickly devoured by the Iron-Devouring Worms.

The vanguard looked to be hundreds strong, with a dense formation and high morale.

But in front of 381mm ship guns, morale was the most worthless thing.

Lin Xiao did not stop.

The second volley followed closely.

This time he adjusted the angle, and the shells landed in the middle of the formation, completely cutting off the front and rear of the troop.

Those mermen who were not directly hit were knocked over by the shockwaves, and a hint of fear finally appeared in their blood-red eyes.

The third volley.

Lin Xiao aimed at the most densely packed area of the formation.

Eight clouds of water mist exploded simultaneously, and mud mixed with blue blood surged continuously.

When the murky current dissipated, only a field of wreckage remained on the plain.

Of the hundreds-strong vanguard, more than half had fallen in just three volleys.

Lin Xiao looked at the corpses covering the ground, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

Killing these mermen yielded no stardust, no supplies, not even points.

But the chips brought by these three rounds of shelling were far more valuable than those visible rewards.

Jing Hua was standing on a rock in the distance at this moment, witnessing everything with her own eyes.

This was the sincerity Lin Xiao had brought out.

And it was also the warning he gave to these arrogant mermen.

Lin Xiao was about to detach from the core when suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

He stopped his movements.

The mermen were dead, but the equipment on them was still there.

Those Bio-Armors, those weapons, those shoulder guards embedded with deep blue crystals—these things could still be used after some repairs!

Lin Xiao steered the ship to descend slowly, the massive bottom of the ship landing steadily on the sediment layer of the plain.

He detached from the core, left the cabin, and landed on the ground.

The movement speed bonus provided by [deep sea aria] made him feel like a fish in water, and in just a few breaths, he arrived at the area where the corpses were scattered.

He crouched down and stripped a chest piece from a relatively intact merman corpse.

The texture was very unique, like some kind of soft leather, but when pulled hard, one could feel its astonishing toughness.

Lin Xiao folded the combat armor and stuffed it into his backpack.

Then weapons, bracers, belts, boots...

One corpse, two corpses, three corpses...

He moved nimbly among the corpses, as if harvesting a delayed batch of spoils of war.

Lin Xiao had originally wanted to cooperate with these mermen, with the intention of getting the Bio-Armors on them.

In the doomsday world, equipment was always hard currency!

But now, he already had them.

So, if Jing Hua still wanted to seek cooperation, then she must bring out better sincerity!