Mythical Three Kingdoms

As Lochte maneuvered, Ma Xinde quickly led his forces to press forward on the second line of defense. Meanwhile, Gan Ning’s Pirate Group, having found a flaw, completely ignored the changes in the Kushan Navy’s second line of defense and focused all their efforts on attacking the first line of defense held by Vakas.

"Novica, Sakara, prepare your teams for battlefield disruption." As his pirates formally clashed with the Kushan Navy, Gan Ning felt a sense of calm; once engaged, his pirates would definitely not be inferior to the Kushan Navy.

Upon hearing this, Novica and Sakara immediately led two fleets to attack from the side, while Gan Ning directly deployed his flagship. Compared to the minor tactics used earlier, this time Gan Ning’s army had amassed a dense cloud of Cloud Qi that overshadowed the sky, pressing down upon the Kushan Navy.

Similarly, the Kushan Navy engaged with Gan Ning’s vanguard at the first line of defense, becoming deeply embroiled. The second line, led by Ma Xinde, then rushed at high speed, launching a barrage of arrows infused with Cloud Qi upon Gan Ning’s pirates.

Unlike the first line of defense, which focused on defense, it was obvious Ma Xinde’s fleet was intended for strong offensive suppression. As Gan Ning’s pirates broke through Vakas’ first line of defense, Ma Xinde’s warships were already closing in.

The pirate captains under Gan Ning, almost simultaneously with Ma Xinde’s captains, used the technique of Cloud Qi transformation. However, compared to the inexperienced commanders under Gan Ning, the Kushan regular army was quite proficient in using these simple techniques.

The moment the fleets met, they were instantly bound by the materialized Cloud Qi. Clearly, both the Kushan and the pirates aimed to eliminate the enemy’s viable forces in this attack.

Dozens of ships from both sides linked with materialized Cloud Qi, forming a dense web almost immediately upon meeting, with the warships serving as massive nodes in this network.

The Kushan Navy’s intentions were clear; they did not intend to let Gan Ning’s pirates continue to flee. They prepared to forcibly engage Gan Ning’s pirates in battle, thus leveraging their large-scale advantages to annihilate Gan Ning’s pirates in one swoop while minimizing their losses.

After all, Vakas’ judgment was a critical point of reference for Lochte, who, informed by the lookout of everything he saw, made the same judgement as Vakas.

That is to say, the pirate group’s commander or leader was likely a defected commander from the Kushan Empire Navy, which posed a significant problem.

An excellent commander, paired with seventy to one hundred twenty thousand well-trained pirates capable of using various naval techniques, could cause substantial losses to the Kushan Navy if Lochte responded incorrectly.

Moreover, a major problem arises if, once facing defeat, they directly lead their troops to retreat, potentially escaping outright, rendering this battle meaningless for the Kushan Navy.

Thus, upon confirming the identity of the pirate group, Lochte ordered other commanders to execute this plan. Given that the opposition possessed numerous naval tactical techniques similar to those of the Kushan Navy, whose impact could be highly destructive, Lochte decided to nullify all techniques and directly compare qualities.

Although Lochte had seen quite clearly before, recognizing the high quality of the opposing pirates, he believed that, no matter how high the pirates’ quality was, it could not surpass his elite.

As the pirates’ vanguard ships engaged, Ma Xinde’s and Gan Ning’s ships used Cloud Qi to bind each other. Their warships locked each other down, quickly forming a cluster on the sea akin to an island made of ships.

But unlike other places, on this island, everyone’s strength was significantly reduced. This was one of the Kushan Navy’s tactics for decisive battles, aimed not at significantly enhancing strength but at minimizing losses.

Even as personnel drew closer, their mutual Cloud Qi influenced each other. In this ship-linked situation, forcibly triggering the inherent Cloud Qi of the ships caused every soldier to face double-layered Cloud Suppression.

Under this level of Cloud Suppression, even those at Breakthrough Level in the center were unlikely to manifest Inner Qi. Thus, with both navies bound in this manner, their tactical advantages were completely nullified, leaving only the naval qualities to compete over, and basically, whoever won could devour the opposition.

Of course, that was the situation before. The Kushan Navy also continuously innovated their tactics, and this time, once entangled, neither the Kushan nor Gan Ning’s pirates, though suppressed by Cloud Qi, benefited from the reserved Cloud Qi of their ships enhancing their personnel.

"Hmph, definitely a traitorous Naval Commander; these tactics were acquired quite late on our side." Ma Xinde sneered at the effect achieved relying on reserved Cloud Qi on the opposing warships.

If Gan Ning did not possess such tactics where enemies entering his ship were directly stripped of enhancements while his personnel were enhanced, Ma Xinde wouldn’t have reacted as such. Unfortunately, Gan Ning possessed these tactics as well.

"Hey, if I didn’t know this, would I fight you in close combat?" Gan Ning sneered at the Kushan Navy completing their enhancement first. Because of his understanding, he was aware of the vast gap, essentially stating that without these technical tactics, engaging the Kushan in ship battles would definitely result in defeat.

For under these circumstances, even if Kushan engaged in defensive counterattacks, they’d be enough to tire others out. The double-layered Cloud Qi’s enhancement and suppression effect showed a clear advantage.

As the ships clashed, bonding tightly, neither sailors, crew, nor escorts showed a hint of surprise. Coldly observing their adversaries, they prepared to strike instantly as the ships approached.

"The opposition is indeed formidable." Lochte, with a serious expression, commanded Malacca Water Fort’s navy to press forward as well, recognizing that the displayed strength needed to be seized; otherwise, an empire-displeased Senior Commander could create unforeseen troubles.

"Such level of Suppression is indeed formidable!" As Gan Ning surged forward, his flagship was locked with Cloud Qi, feeling the dual suppression from the sky’s Cloud Qi and the ship’s reserved Cloud Qi. Gan Ning clearly realized he basically couldn’t manifest Inner Qi, but that wasn’t important.

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