Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 217 Qingliu Makes His Move: The Ninja Alliance Attacks the Main Island!

call--!
An invisible wind blew through the vast forests outside the musket factory, as if countless eyes were suddenly awakened and opened up, taking in the entire area within dozens of miles.

Holding the "Treasure of the King of Jinghai," Wang Cheng's inner light merged with the omnipresent incense offerings, prayers, and dragon energy around him.

His spirits soared, and from the perspective of a god, he took in his home base, Pinghu Port, as well as most of the territory of the Nine Provinces Island, which occupied the lands of seven vassal states, from high above.

Then the field of view narrows rapidly, but the observation accuracy increases dramatically.

Until the flintlock arsenal came into view, triangular dots representing friend and foe were marked in the surrounding mountains and forests. The friendly side was marked in green, indicating safety, while the enemy side was marked in red, indicating alert.

The enemy, unaware that they had been discovered, were all dressed in dark blue night clothes and were moving in two directions, supporting each other, stealthily making their way towards the armory through the dense forest.

Wang Cheng could even see that the commander, who was sitting on a small hill in the back, had the "apricot leaf pattern," the family crest of the Otomo family, embroidered on his sleeve.

This person was very confident and not worried at all about being captured and having his identity exposed.

At the same time, taking advantage of the scarcity, Wang Cheng also clearly saw the name, identity, and rank marked above the heads of each enemy.
"Miyagi, 15 years old, a low-ranking ninja of the Iwagakure, and a steel Iwagakure ninja of the Temple Army's demon soldiers."
Ability: At the cost of ten years of lifespan, without igniting the Heart Lamp, he obtained the ultimate ninjutsu technique [Demon Spear], which can resonate and coexist with steel weapons such as demon swords and demon spears that have killed more than ten people on the battlefield.

They acquire different abilities by using these weapons that kill without batting an eye, possessing immense strength, agility, and combat prowess far exceeding that of ordinary people.

Mikichi's demon spear is a "Twenty-Man Slayer Shuriken".

Note: These ordinary genin are usually trained and led by jonin of the fifth rank, known as "Steel Rock Ninjas." Most of these hastily trained temple soldiers don't live past thirty.

"Kuma, 18 years old, a genin of the Iwagakure, a demon soldier of the temple army, and a steel Iwagakure ninja. His demon spear is the [Twenty-Five Man Slayer Shuriken]."

"Jiro, 17 years old."

You can tell someone's identity just by looking at their name.

These ninjas who rushed to the front and stealthily made their way towards the armory didn't even have surnames; they were clearly all low-ranking ninja cannon fodder from commoner backgrounds.

The nine northern domains ruled by the Ōtomo family, especially the Hachiman region, were known for their various excellent weapons. It is quite normal that the ninja groups attached to this land evolved the "Ninja Art" of the humanoid weapon, the "Demon Spear".

Wang Cheng guessed that these genin must have entered the territory of the East Sea Kingdom in batches, posing as merchant caravans.

Neither side has declared war or closed the borders yet, and with a large flow of people coming and going, [Xie Li Yin Yang] can't keep up with it all at once.

The warning wasn't triggered until they began to act, revealing their naked malice.

"what--!"

Suddenly, a piercing scream shattered the darkness of the forest.

When Wang Cheng was building the flintlock musket production line, he was very particular about the location of the factory in order to balance secrecy and make full use of the hydraulic boring machine.

In addition to the dense forests, there is also a dense network of rivers.

A young genin dressed in dark blue night clothes and holding a blood-red hook sickle was pierced through the thigh by a bamboo spear that emerged from the water as he leaped across a stream.

"Damn it, we've been exposed!"

The young man, enduring the pain, suddenly swung his [Ten-Man Slayer Hook Scythe] in his hand, severing the bamboo spear, before losing his balance and falling into the water.

With the Ghost Spear by his side, he was very short but extremely strong, and he could jump out of the water again with a single kick.

However, three Sea Demons were already waiting in the water, and he was immediately held down by them as soon as he fell in.

In addition to the most loyal Chifeng Banner soldiers serving as the factory guards, the outer perimeter was also guarded by many of the temple soldiers [Haizhu Ghosts] under Mao Haifeng of the former Heifeng Banner!
These sea monsters, mainly composed of Japanese, were completely subdued by Wang Cheng using the "Golden Evil Master" and the "Silver Benevolent Servant," and he even tentatively lent a sliver of spiritual light to some of them.

These people are extremely loyal to Wang Cheng, their lord and creditor, and there is absolutely no possibility of them staging the traditional Yingzhou "subordinates overthrowing their superiors" scenario.

As the first line of defense, they usually lay in ambush underwater, only discovering the intruders a little later than the Treasure of the Prince of Jinghai.

The Ghostly Connection [Turtle Head Body] makes their strength surge to 300 jin after getting wet.

Holding a triangular dagger casually forged from a steel mill, he swiftly ripped seven or eight gruesome, gaping holes into the young ninja's body.

The stream was instantly stained red with blood.

Before the three sea monsters could carefully examine the identity of the approaching enemy...

Whoosh!
With a very faint whooshing sound, one of them, his face ashen, clutched his neck and fell to the ground, a bright green blowgun lodged in his neck.

This is a [Thirty-Eight Man Slayer Blowgun], its power has been enhanced to the point that it can kill instantly!
In fact, the genin who was killed also belonged to a three-person team, with two other genin teammates who were even stronger.

A female genin, probably in her early twenties, and a male genin covered in scars jumped down from the tree, their demon-summoning spears emitting an ominous red light.

"Sudden attack, kill everyone (rush in and kill everyone)!"

"He's blocking them!"

Almost simultaneously, a fierce battle broke out between Japanese soldiers and their collaborators within the outer perimeter of the arsenal.

The weapons wielded by the Steel Rock Ninja are varied and all extremely powerful, while the Sea Snake Demon can take advantage of the weather and terrain to leap swiftly on the crests of the river network, displaying immense strength.

The former will almost certainly die if they cross the boundary and reach the water.

Once the latter lands on the shore, it will immediately be torn into pieces.

"Ahhh"

clang clang clang.
Weapons clashed, blood sprayed, and screams echoed through the forest.

Wang Cheng projected everything Xie Liyin had seen onto the people around him, the 3D light and shadow illuminating the entire battlefield in crystal clarity. Longwei Ye, with his vast experience, pointed to a strikingly red assault team at the very back and said:
"The low-ranking ninjas that can be mass-produced are nothing to worry about, and we can handle the outer sea monsters ourselves."

Only these elite genin, composed of official officers, and chunin who have reached the middle third rank, are the most dangerous elite troops. They are strong, fearless, and exceptionally difficult to deal with.

I have dealt with the ninjas of the Kanpo, Gaiwen, Yamazaki, Negoro, and Saiga clans on the main island.

Their ruthlessness in treating human life as nothing remains vivid in my memory to this day.

Worried that Wang Cheng, having only been back for a few months, might not be familiar with this unique profession in Yingzhou, Dragon Tail jumped onto Wang Cheng's shoulder and whispered an explanation to him:
"The official system on Yingzhou is simpler than that of Dazhao, but it has its merits."

The numerous sword styles of samurai and the ninjutsu styles of ninjas made their methods diverse, and their combat power was in no way inferior to that of the officials of the Great Zhao Dynasty.

Most ninjutsu techniques are inherited from the secret scroll "Mansen-kai," and have six main branches: Righteous Mind, General Knowledge, Yin Ninjutsu, Yang Ninjutsu, Heavenly Timing, and Ninjutsu Weapons. Steel Rock Ninjutsu is the Ninjutsu Weapons branch.

Ninja ranks are simple and straightforward, divided into low, medium, and high.

Genin (tainin) are the most numerous low-ranking ninjas, accounting for 90% of a ninja group.

They were responsible for carrying out specific combat, reconnaissance, and assassination missions, and had the highest mortality rate, being regarded as "cannon fodder that could be discarded at any time for the mission."

No matter how strong they are, even if they can use ingenious schemes to kill Shinto officials, they will still be low-level ninjas until their death.

Elite genin are officials who voluntarily light up their inner lamps. They may not be very strong in combat at first, but they have the potential to be promoted.

Chunin are the actual commanders in combat, roughly equivalent to the sixth-rank officials in the Great Zhao Dynasty. They are all proficient in various exclusive ninjutsu of their own school and are responsible for commanding the genin squads on the front lines.

The Jonin (or strategist ninja) are the decision-making bodies of the ninja group, equivalent to fifth-rank officials in the Great Zhao Dynasty, and they continuously produce cannon fodder Genin.

Primarily responsible for formulating the overall strategy of the ninja group, accepting commissions from daimyo, assigning tasks, and conducting diplomatic negotiations, they are the core decision-makers within the organization.

Finally, Dragon Tail added one more sentence:
"If a fourth-rank ninja emerges within the ninja group, who can subdue everyone, he is called the 'Ninja Leader.' If a third-rank ninja, a living demon god, appears, he is undoubtedly the 'Ninja Hero'!"
I don't know if I can find such a high-ranking third-grade person anywhere in the entire continent. There might be one on the main island, but that would be kept strictly secret.

Wang Cheng nodded:

"Understood.

During this inspection, we packed everyone into the [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship], and used the debt collector's ability to target the steel mill's debtors, directly storming into the factory from Pinghu Port.

Even if the Iwa ninja have spies outside, they won't know we're here.

They must have been following old maps, specifically targeting arsenals and key military installations, but inadvertently underestimated the defensive capabilities.

In fact, it doesn't matter if the estimate is wrong.

With the basic version of the [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship], small-scale troop deployments of fewer than one hundred personnel within the East China Sea can be completed in an instant.

Everyone burst into laughter when they heard this.

Xu Youde, the Gongyang Confucian scholar who should have been the most eloquent, shamelessly praised it at this moment:
"It's not that he's deaf or blind, but we have a prince!"
Even we ourselves can't see the Prince's true strength, let alone these Japanese devils! If you ask me, the Prince is both learned and martial; unifying Yingzhou is just around the corner!

Wang Cheng glared at him, thinking to himself:

'This kind of person should absolutely not continue to be a first-class bodyguard.'

You're Gongyang Ru, aren't you? One day I'll punish you by making you the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, specifically responsible for educating and indoctrinating those Japanese traitors from the Outer Five Banners!

He quickly identified the elite four-person team that had broken through the defenses. It consisted of one sixth-rank and three seventh-rank members and was acting as the spearhead, rapidly breaking through the outer defenses of the Sea Demons.

"Gentlemen, who will avenge this traitor for me?"

Without a word, the taciturn sixth-rank "knife-selling man" Peng Wujiu was the first to rush out.

With his long sword drawn, he leaped forward, transforming into a streak of blindingly bright light that shot out into the distance.

"Your Highness, I'll go too."

Xu Youde, a sixth-rank scholar of the Gongyang School who aspired to become Wang Cheng's disciple, was not to be outdone. He picked up a pair of nine-sided gold hammers and followed closely behind.

Halfway there, he recited a saying from the Analects of Confucius:

"A gentleman has no authority if he is not serious!"

Om-!
Behind him appeared a statue of the Holy Teacher, who was nine feet six inches tall (two meters and two inches) and had a waist ten spans in circumference.

His own body swelled up, his muscles bulged, and his muscles formed the five characters "仁、义、礼、智、信".

It crashed down on the group of Steel Rock Ninjas like a 42-pound coastal defense gun shell.

However, no sooner had one wave subsided than another arose.

The outcome is still undecided.

Wang Cheng then received another warning from the Tsuchiya Artillery Factory:

"The shinobi group Sekiju, under the command of Mori Motonari, the daimyo of the main island and the guardian of Aki Province, just launched a sneak attack on the artillery factory?"

He hadn't taken the Otomo clan's Iwa ninja raid seriously.

As long as precautions are taken and the [Harmony of Yin and Yang] is used in time to identify and lock onto targets, this profession, which excels in special operations, will not cause any major trouble.

But upon hearing Mori Motonari's name, he suddenly seemed to remember something, and his expression immediately darkened.

(End of this chapter)