Under One Person: The Sea Emperor Who Shattered Heaven and Earth

Wang family.

The current head of the family, Old Master Wang, sat in a sandalwood chair, with a detailed description of Jiang Zhen's abilities laid out in front of him.

"'Innate superpowers...'" Old Master Wang's voice was hoarse. "You mean, Jiang Zhen's ability to shatter the atmosphere and destroy mountain cannons at will, is really an innate superpower he was born with? Without any trace of cultivation?"

“Master, based on the intelligence we’ve gathered so far, Jiang Zhen has only practiced the Quanzhen Inner Alchemy Technique, and it’s only the most basic version.”

In a dark and secluded mansion.

Several men dressed in kimonos, their expressions sinister, sat together. On the table lay a blurry photograph of Jiang Zhen suspended in mid-air, along with a description of the gruesome death of Qian Laofei.

"What did they say over at Bihe Mountain?" a hoarse voice asked.

“This power is extremely terrifying,” another person said, bowing his head. “It is very likely the awakening of some long-lost ancient bloodline. If we allow him to integrate China’s waterways, our army’s logistics will face enormous obstacles.”

……

Nanjing.

On the desk of a high-ranking official, there was also Jiang Zhen's case file.

"The River-Shaking Dragon, the River-Treating... the third leader of the Canal Gang... such destructive power, if it could be used for military purposes..."

……

The entire martial arts community of extraordinary individuals was gripped by an atmosphere of extreme fervor and anxiety because of Jiang Zhen's battle. Those of his generation who had witnessed Jiang Zhen's abilities at the Lu family banquet were now all burning with rage, frantically going into seclusion to train intensively.

If the prestigious sects were amazed, then the other branches of the Canal Gang were utterly terrified.

"That good-for-nothing Qian Laofei!!"

The head of the Grand Canal branch, "Uncle Zhao Yuan," overturned the mahjong table in front of him. The exquisite jade mahjong tiles scattered all over the floor, making a crisp clattering sound, but it couldn't suppress the rage in his heart.

"You used to boast so much, but what about now?"

"Thousands of men! Hundreds of ships! And eight foreign cannons! Even if a pig led them, they could hold out for ten days to half a month if a warlord attacked, right?"

"That was Qian Laofei's headquarters! His old lair, which he'd been operating for twenty years! Is Jiang Zhen some kind of god descended from heaven? He wiped them all out in less than a day?!"

The lower-ranking officers below kept their heads down, none daring to speak. Their minds were filled with the scene described in the battle report: the atmosphere shattering like ice. This description was beyond their wildest imaginations…

"Boss... the scouts say that Jiang Zhen did indeed walk onto the dock alone. When he strangled Chief Qian and threw him into the water, none of the dozens of muskets dared to fire. Everyone was terrified by the shattered sky." The subordinate replied, trembling.

Zhao Yuan slumped into a chair, his eyes unfocused. He had previously planned to take advantage of Jiang Zhen's setback at the Huai River, but now it seemed that the telegram Jiang Zhen sent wasn't a threat, but a death warrant.

"Get ready for battle immediately! Have all the brothers move the ships into the inner harbor. Don't try that old fat Qian's bullshit chain-linking scheme!"

"And hurry up and contact Master Sun! Tell him that I don't care about any past grudges. If we don't stick together now, that bastard surnamed Qian under the river will have two more of us to keep him company tomorrow!"

At this moment, all the remaining major branches of the canal gang were on high alert. They brought out their most treasured firearms, and some even began laying mines on the river.

the other side.

At this time, the Huaihe River branch.

Jiang Zhen was not carried away by the great victory. He was sitting in Qian Laofei's still-warm rosewood chair, flipping through the dispatch map of the Huai River system.

"Xiao Zhen, now there's probably no one in the entire martial arts world who doesn't know your name, Jiang Zhen."

Master Feng strode in, his voice terrifyingly loud. He had changed into clean clothes and looked radiant.

Jiang Zhen didn't laugh. He looked at Master Feng with a serious expression: "Master Feng, reputation is not important. Although we have suppressed the Huai River now, we still have no real foundation here. Although Qian Laofei's men have knelt down, whether they are truly convinced or not depends on our next move."

Master Feng paused, then his tone became decisive: "Don't worry, I know about this. I've already had Bai Fu organize the manpower over there. Send some reliable brothers with special skills from the Shanghai branch, along with about a hundred gang members. The people in the Huaihe branch must be scattered and reorganized; we can't let them stay together."

Then Fifth Master Feng chuckled, "The gold and silver treasures left behind by Fatty Qian, as well as those hundreds of ships, our Shanghai branch can swallow them all!"

Jiang Zhen put down the map and nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Fifth Master. But the most important thing is to appease the poor and suffering canal workers here. Old Fatty Qian is dead, and his tyrannical henchmen have scattered. We need to make these canal workers understand that following me, Jiang Zhen, will only make things better."

"I don't want to move on to the next place and have my backyard catch fire."

“I understand,” said Master Feng solemnly. “I will have Bai Fu personally handle this matter.”

“There’s one more thing I need to trouble you with.” Jiang Zhen stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the canal workers outside who were organizing the clearing of the river. “Send a final telegram to all the remaining branches.”

Master Feng paused for a moment: "Still those same few words?"

"No, the authority has already been established."

“Tell them that Jiang’s trip was not for killing, but for integration.”

"The Huaihe River helm is the first to be restored, but not the last. The Huaihe River helm is the first to meet its end, but I hope it will be the last. Within a month, the heads of all branches must come to Fengyang to report on their duties and hand over the water rights. Those who fail to do so will be executed by Jiang himself."

If it weren't for helping Master Feng and his group completely control the Huaihe River, and purging the dissidents left behind by Old Man Qian, Jiang Zhen wouldn't even want to wait a month.

That night, the lights of countless docks remained lit all night long.

Chapter 29: I'll scare them awake even when they're sleeping (4000)

After announcing the change of ownership of the Huai River helm that day, Jiang Zhen did not respond to the crowd's subsequent shouts, but instead turned around to look at the tragic scene on the river.

Standing on the dilapidated dock, looking at the cargo ships that had been smashed together by his punch, the terrified crew members on board, and the people who had fallen into the water, he gave the first order that surprised all the Huai River transport workers: "Rescue them."

Seeing that no one moved, Fifth Master Feng stepped forward and roared, "Are you all deaf?! Didn't you hear what the gang leader said?!"

"Hurry up and go down to save them!"

The Huaihe gang members suddenly realized what was happening and rushed to the river to rescue people and stabilize the boats.

After watching everyone's hurried actions, Master Feng secretly praised Jiang Zhen, saying, "Little Zhen, this is a good move. You've used both kindness and severity. The severity has been established, now it's time to show kindness. I'm sure those who were rescued will be very grateful to you."

"Now we have a solid foundation."

Jiang Zhen smiled helplessly and said, "Fifth Master, I didn't think that much about it." Jiang Zhen looked at the people struggling in the river with deep eyes, "Most of them are just trying to make a living, they don't deserve to die. Those who can be saved will be sent for medical treatment; those who can't be saved, their names will be noted down, and their families will come to collect the money."

Although Jiang Zhen held back at the last moment, and all the men along the Huai River were skilled swimmers, the vacuum pressure and shockwave generated by that "air tremor: crack" still left a considerable mark on the river.

A day later, when the statistics came out, Jiang Zhen remained silent for a moment.

Confirmed deaths: 67 people. Most suffered internal organ damage from the shockwave, or were crushed into the mud by the capsized cargo ship in the chaos, unable to escape.

Injuries: Over 300 people. Injuries included broken bones, ruptured eardrums, unconsciousness due to water inhalation, and even loss of consciousness due to extreme shock.

Jiang Zhen was looking at the list when Fifth Master Feng came over and said, "Little Zhen, those who achieve great things don't concern themselves with trifles."

"Besides, if our Shanghai Hall really goes to war with the Huaihe River Gang, far more than just this few people will die."

"In other words, you prevented greater casualties with minimal casualties."

"Fifth Master, rest assured, I understand. I'm not that sentimental. Now that I've made up my mind, I won't look back. Please tell their families that if they want revenge, they can come at me."

"I, Jiang Zhen, accept this cause and effect that arose because of me."

Master Feng outwardly agreed, but in his heart he was thinking, how could the future leader of the canal gang willingly get himself tainted with such a stain? He could just handle some things secretly himself.

He couldn't help Jiang Zhen in a fight, but it was time for him to shine in this kind of situation that made him the target of hatred.

……

Five days later, three fleets of ships bearing the flags of the Shanghai Gang appeared on the river.

Before the ship even docked, a burly man, as tall as half an iron tower, jumped off the deck, landing on the bluestone slab with a dull thud.

"Third Master! You scared me to death, Old Zhou!"

"When you said you'd go alone, I've been on tenterhooks the whole time."

Zhou Tiedan's loud voice made the ears of the surrounding canal workers ring. Behind him was a middle-aged man with a refined demeanor, dressed in a moon-white long gown—Bai Fu.

When the two men received the message from Master Feng in Shanghai, there was an initial, deathly silence. One man had pacified the Huai River? Eight cannons? Thousands of men?

In their minds, this couldn't be explained by mere "fighting prowess"; it was practically a miracle. Their initial worry was quickly replaced by a torrent of ecstatic joy.

"Master." Bai Fu stepped forward, bowed deeply, and said with unprecedented excitement, "As soon as I received the news, I led my men here without stopping. Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. Two hundred elites from the Demon Capital Hall accompanied me, and we have everything we need, including money, accounting, and foremen."

Hearing Bai Fu's changed form of address, Jiang Zhen was stunned for a moment. It seemed that due to the impact of this incident, now apart from Master Feng, no one dared to call him Xiao Zhen anymore.

"Master Bai...we don't need to be so formal about this." Jiang Zhen looked at Bai Fu with a hint of helplessness.

Bai Fuye smiled. Jiang Zhen could call him Master Bai because of their friendship, but he could no longer call him Xiao Zhen. This was partly to maintain Jiang Zhen's dignity and partly to make his own identity clear.

Jiang Zhen may not mind now that he's just starting out, but in the future, as he grows stronger and more powerful, relying on his seniority and acting arrogantly will not end well. As the Ming Taizu once said, "I'll share a golden cup with you, but I won't spare you with a white blade."

Zhou Tiedan, who was standing to the side, stepped forward and knelt down on one knee, patting his chest loudly: "Third Master... uh... Gang Leader."

Just as he was about to address him using the old title, Zhou Tiedan, who was standing nearby, also heard Bai Fu's change of address. With his carefree personality, he realized what was going on and immediately changed his title. At the same time, he cursed Bai Fu inwardly, wondering why he hadn't informed Bai Fu beforehand, making him call him "Third Boss" as soon as he got off the boat.

Isn't this just trying to make him look bad in front of Jiang Zhen?

"When I heard the news from Fifth Master, I wished I could have grown wings and flown over right then and there! Don't worry, I can't beat you in a fight, but I, Zhou Tiedan, am a master at guarding the house! Anyone who dares to cause trouble under your nose, I, Zhou Tiedan, will personally take their head off. If anything goes wrong, you can take my head off!"

Jiang Zhen pulled Zhou Tiedan up and patted him on the shoulder: "Brother Zhou, don't worry, I believe in you. It's up to you now."

"Hey, hey, hey, the gang leader wouldn't dare let you call me 'Big Brother.' You have such a status now, the rules can't be broken. If you don't mind, I'll be presumptuous and you can just call me Old Zhou from now on."

"Alright... then, Lao Zhou?"

"Here!" Zhou Tiedan replied with a grin.

Bai Fu, who was standing to the side, then said, "Don't worry, Chief. Although it's harder to win people over in this kind of place than to kill them, I, Bai, still have some skills in this area."

Master Feng agreed, "Yes, don't be fooled by Bai Fu's current association with our canal gang. He was a scholar back in the Qing Dynasty, and he's certainly well-educated."

……

Sure enough, the first few days after Bai Fu took over were not peaceful.

There are always some people who won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.

After all, Qian Laofei had been operating here for over twenty years. If he didn't have a few loyal followers, Jiang Zhen didn't believe for a second that he wouldn't be up to some crooked schemes now that his boss was dead.

Sure enough, some of Qian Laofei's original core members, while outwardly kneeling before Jiang Zhen and begging for mercy, were secretly inciting the old canal workers to strike, and even conspiring to take advantage of the fact that the Shanghai people had not yet established a firm foothold to steal the gold and silver jewelry that had been accumulated in the basement for twenty years.

One night, in the warehouse of the Huaihe Rudder.

"Quick! Pack all these small yellow croakers and gold and silver jewelry into boxes. The boat will meet us in the reeds behind the mountain. Once that Jiang guy is fast asleep, those wolves from Shanghai will lower their guard..."

Before the words were even finished, an invisible, mountain-like pressure descended instantly.

Jiang Zhen stood quietly on the roof beam, watching. Moonlight shone through the gaps in the tiles onto his profile, making him look like an unapproachable god of war. Zhou Tiedan stood beside him.

"What a pity." Jiang Zhen's voice was very soft, but the group was extremely frightened. They were stunned on the spot for a moment, and then immediately begged for mercy.

"Master, spare us! We were just confused for a moment..."

"Foolish?" Jiang Zhen's eyes suddenly turned violent, and he pressed his right hand down in the air.