Chapter 1042: Of course there’s more…
“What the hell kind of warriors-whoa, hey!”
“Xiao Liu? Where are you going? The opponents are over there.”
“Yes, but those ones will turn you into human skin coats and bone based accessories,” Zhen Liu explained. “I need your help with another issue entirely.”
“Huh?”
…Meanwhile…
<[Oh no, oh no, oh no! How could this be happening?!]>
<[Where are guards? Where are the mercenaries? Why is nobody fighting these bastards off?!]>
<[More importantly, where did they all come from?!]>
When the tidal wave and the surfing Grafted ones made contact, few people hoped that was the worst thing that could happen today. Evidently, they were wrong.
Due to everyone being distracted by the painfully loud, painfully bright display coming from the Grafted warriors, many people failed to notice or detect that inside of the wave were several strange vehicles.
These vehicles were essentially boxes made from the same materials of that seashells, with absolutely no normal means of propulsion. However, it had just the right ratio of surface area and density that enabled it to be carried by the tide…or in this case, a giant wave.
These boxes slammed directly into the side of the harbor of Undertow, levelling a couple buildings in the process.
At the initial stages of the conflict, many of the citizens that were in the area saw the boxes and just assumed it was just ocean debris. But then, around the same time that the Grafted launched their coordinated assault and was subsequently blocked, the boxes opened.
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And from the box came armies of soldiers dressed in unidentifiably black armor.
Now, most standing armies had a tendency to wear identifiable and colorful armor.
How else were people supposed to know that they were being conquered by opposing forces or liberated by friendly allies, unless they had a clear look at the armor being used?
How else was an army supposed to earn fortune and glory, unless they were remembered in and off the battlefield.
But alas, that was not the case this time around.
Instead, by rampaging in unidentifiable armor, the soldiers had allowed fear, doubt and uncertainty to become the main emotion that creeped into the heart of the civilians.
And when such feelings take hold, massive leaps of logic have a habit of being taken.
<[Who are these guys? Pirates? Invaders from another hidden kingdom? The Pearl Scale Empire?!]>
<[Wait...I think I know who they are! They're Zhen Clan soldiers!]>
<[Huh?!]>
When the Zhen Clan arrived to the shores of Undertow, people were understandably suspicious.
For years, the people of Undertow had lived in controlled isolation, in order to prevent outsiders from ever learning their location.
For longer still, they had done so for the sake of preventing the Pearl Scale Emperor’s forces or whatever remained of the Floating Khan’s armies, from finding them and taking them back into slavery.
So, the fact that the Zhen Clan, the known military dogs of the former, had suddenly appeared and had somehow tricked their city’s guardian into letting them in, was enough for people to assume the worst.
Granted, that ignored the fact that the soldiers attacking were heralded by the Grafted Ones, but panick and pain had a habit of wiping away one’s understanding of facts and logic.
As the panic and fighting intensified, a new cry came out from the public.
<[Where are our leaders?!]>
Unbeknownst to the populace below, their leaders were dealing with their own crisis.
…
<[What the hell?!]>
<[What is the meaning of this?!]>
<[Who is attacking Undertow City?!]>
At the exact same time as the attack of Undertow was going underway, the Undertow Council had finally managed to hack out an agreement with the Zhen Clan about establishing a part of Non-interference.
The long and short of this agreement was that Undertow wouldn’t help the Zhen Clan nor the Fallen, once the two sides came in contact with one another.
Unfortunately, before this agreement could’ve been signed and notarized, a calamity occurred.
Moments before pen touched paper, and the poured wine could be drunken as a sign of good will, the room was shaken to the point of people and furniture began to fall over. Immediately after this though, several guardsmen came in to report the situation.
<[Councilor! The city is under attack! Strange warriors with powers similar to the Storm Knights have appeared out of nowhere.]>
<[Guardian Tortallion is currently being held back by some unknown warrior using Grand Blue's power!]>
<[Soldiers in black armor have begun to flood the streets! The citizens are blaming the Zhen Clan!]>
For all intents and purposes, this attack was an unprecedented crisis.
Aside from the Great Siege over three hundred years ago, nothing like this had ever happened before.
Thankfully, the councillors were competent enough to know what to do in a crisis like this.
<[Everyone gather up and listen! I need half of you to-]>
Thud
<[What the fuck?]>
<[ What just happened?!]>
Before the head councilor could finish giving out instructions, one of the councilors present had suddenly fell to the ground, unconscious.
One person passing out during a time of crisis wasn’t that odd, since it’s known people had a tendency to faint when under extreme stress.
However, multiple people falling unconscious one after the other.
Thud, thud, thud!
That was a conspiracy.
<[What the-hrk!]>
The head councilor began to suddenly feel dizzy and sleepy as he feels to his knees, his head feeling as if he was swimming through swamp water. It was at this moment though that he noticed two things.
One, the guardsmen that had made their report hadn’t left the room, and were in fact, just kneeling while the entire leadership council members began falling one by one. This sight alone made the Head Councillor know that something was wrong.
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<[Y-you?]>
When it became more and more obvious that someone has betrayed Undertow and it’s council, the head councilor assumed the traitor to have been Feng Wei. After all, the man was a known pro-isolationist and more than willing to use to why his way.
However, it was because of this assumption that he was absolutely blind sided when he saw that the man looming over him, completely unaffected by whatever was going on with the others and himself, was none other than Deng Li, the wandering mercenary who advocated resurfacing. At least, that’s who it appeared to be at first.
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Needless to say, Bing Feng was confused as all hell at this revelation and wanted to know why this was happening.
However, remaining conscious was becoming an uphill battle, so he could only utter a single, questioning word.
<[Why?]>
Thankfully, whomever this imposter asshole was, he was the type who liked to brag.
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The imposter paused for dramatic effect, and even made it a point to grab Bing Feng’s face as he did.
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At this statement, the head councilor’s eyes went wide despite being so heavily drugged.
<[Y-you! You are...]>
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[Twin Ink Magnum!]
Pow!
Before the imposter could finish his sentence, a pair of inky tentacles stabbed towards him.
