Chapter 153: The Power of a Traitor!

"Actually, there is no need for a hard assault. You can sail the Kong family's ocean ship right over and directly board the Fei family's ocean ship with your men. Once you are aboard, you can capture them," Ye Mo mused for a moment, turning to say to Kong Zhonghai.

"Directly sail over and board? They won't allow me to get close. I'd better arrange a few smaller boats to approach quietly instead," Kong Zhonghai was taken aback.

"Aren't you the city lord of the Ten-Village Alliance?" Ye Mo smiled.

A flash of insight lit up in Kong Zhonghai's mind. He finally understood Ye Mo's intention and burst into hearty laughter. "True, I am the city lord of the Ten-Village Alliance and an 'ally' of the Fei family. Only Gao, Min, and Chen know I am a spy, and this news hasn't spread yet. The people of the Fei Immortal Village still regard me as an ally. I know what to do now. Brother Ye, rest assured!"

With that, he returned to his large Kong family ocean ship and sailed toward the Fei family ocean ship moored at the crude pier of the Red Fire Mineral Island.

Ye Mo then ordered the remaining five Ye family ocean ships to trail several miles behind the Kong family's vessel.

It was still deep in the night, and the sea was pitch black. Anything beyond several hundred feet was obscured in a hazy blur.

At the Red Fire Mineral Island pier:

A large ocean ship bearing a flag with the character "Kong" sailed slowly, approaching the Fei family's ship.

Kong Zhonghai stood openly at the bow, looking at the Fei family's ship three to four hundred feet away, feeling a slight tension in his heart. On the deck behind him, nearly twenty Kong family cultivators lay in ambush.

If he could approach smoothly, he could capture the Fei family's ship with almost effortless ease.

The splashing sound of the seawater immediately alerted several vigilant guards on the Fei family ship.

"City Lord Kong, why are you here?"

Recognizing Kong Zhonghai, several Fei family cultivators shouted loudly.

"City Lord Gao and the others have blockaded the Ye family island, and the fellow named Ye is hiding on the island, not daring to come out at all. Blocking the entrance with four large ocean ships feels like too much of a waste. City Lord Gao was uneasy about this side and sent me here first to check on the situation. City Lord Fei has already taken the Red Fire Mine, hasn't he? How about this, I'll come aboard your ship for a moment. Go call your city lord so I can discuss with him how to dispose of the Red Fire Mineral Island."

Kong Zhonghai laughed heartily as he inquired.

"What is there to be uneasy about?"

"Most likely they are afraid we'll monopolize it and want to come over for a share of the benefits."

The cultivators on the Fei family ship muttered among themselves in low, discontented tones. They also guessed that Kong Zhonghai's intention in coming was mostly to demand a share of the red fire ores.

However, they could not make decisions on such matters and had to defer to their city lord's wishes.

"Our city lord has already taken the Red Fire Mineral Island and has sent men back to bring some mining slaves over to dig for ore. City Lord Kong, please wait in the cabin for a moment; once our city lord returns, you can speak with him directly," the tall cultivator in charge of the garrison replied loudly.

"Very well."

Kong Zhonghai responded perfunctorily.

Soon, the Kong family's ship closed in to less than a hundred feet from the Fei family's vessel. The ship slowed down, drawing closer and closer. When they were just a few feet apart, it came to a complete halt. Several wooden planks were extended from the Kong family's ship to connect with the Fei family's vessel.

The cultivators on the Fei family ship noticed nothing amiss and greeted Kong Zhonghai with smiling faces.

"Make your move!"

Suddenly, a fierce glint flashed in Kong Zhonghai's eyes as he shouted in a deep voice.

Swish!

Swish!

The twenty-odd Kong village cultivators behind him drew their spiritual swords with a crisp clang, rushing out from their hiding spots on the deck. They leaped across the gap of several feet onto the opposing Fei family ship and lunged at the few Fei family cultivators.

Once the two ships were side by side, victory depended entirely on the strength of the shipboard cultivators.

"Kill them!"

"Not good! What are you trying to do?"

"You surnamed Kong, what are you playing at?!"

The Kong family ship carried over twenty Qi-Refining stage cultivators, whereas the Fei family ship held merely five, making them no match at all. There were a few other sailors and martial artists on the Fei family ship, but they were utterly useless in a fight.

Within the span of a few breaths, the five defending Fei family cultivators were all captured, with swords pressed against their necks as they knelt on the deck.

Not a single one of the remaining sailors on the ship managed to escape.

In an instant, the Fei family's ocean ship changed hands.

Because neither side's large ships had fired any cannons and relied only on spiritual swords and blades, City Lord Fei and the other cultivators deep within the Red Fire Mineral Island canyon remained completely undisturbed. Everything was silent and still.

"Kong Zhonghai, what is the meaning of this? Why are you turning on us? Are you trying to seize the Red Fire Mineral Island? When our city lord returns, he will make you pay dearly!"

The tall cultivator, captured by several Kong family cultivators, struggled fiercely and roared in fury.

"Your city lord can barely protect himself; do you still use him to threaten me?"

Kong Zhonghai crossed the wooden plank onto the Fei family ship, glanced at the tall cultivator, and said indifferently.

"Impossible! There are twenty cultivators on the island. What ability do you, Kong Zhonghai, have to defeat our city lord?"

The tall cultivator completely refused to believe Kong Zhonghai's unilateral claim.

In his impression, Kong Zhonghai was merely a cowardly city lord who dared not contend for anything. He had absolute confidence in his own city lord.

"Haha! Indeed, I might not be able to defeat City Lord Fei in a short time,"

Kong Zhonghai burst into loud laughter, "but trapping him to death on this Red Fire Mineral Island is quite enough. Do you think City Lord Fei can leave this Red Fire Mineral Island without an ocean ship? If I refuse to let him leave, he will be cooped up on this island eating ore for the rest of his life."

"City Lord Min, City Lord Gao... the Ten-Village Alliance will never agree to this!"

"The Ten-Village Alliance? Hmph, after today, do you think the Ten-Village Alliance will even exist?"

"Kong Zhonghai... you—did you collude with Ye Mo and betray the Ten-Village Alliance? Aren't you afraid of becoming a public enemy and facing joint suppression by all ten—no, nine villages?"

The tall cultivator suddenly realized the truth. His expression shifted drastically as he asked in panic.

"Haha!"

Kong Zhonghai sneered, "Jointly suppress my Kong village? If the Nine-Village Alliance could win, that might be possible. But do you think those nine hypocritical fellows can defeat City Lord Ye? I might as well tell you, City Lord Gao, City Lord Min, and City Lord Chen have already been captured and are currently catching fish on a desolate island. Your City Lord Fei probably won't last many days either."

Without wanting to dwell on the matter, Kong Zhonghai waved his hand, ordering his subordinates to take away the captured Fei family cultivators and martial artists below deck for strict interrogation to extract all kinds of intelligence regarding the Fei Immortal Village.

Before long, Ye Mo's five light ocean ships also arrived near the Red Fire Mineral Island, anchoring in the sea a few miles away from the island.

There were still over twenty Fei village cultivators on the island, but stripped of their ocean ships, they had already lost any threatening capability.

Kong Zhonghai came aboard the Ye family's light armored warship where Ye Mo was, and chuckled, "Brother Ye, according to the Fei village captives, City Lord Fei had previously sent men back to fetch reinforcements and mining slaves to come and dig for ore. They should be arriving soon. Shall we set up another ambush and surprise attack?"

"More Fei village cultivators are coming? It seems City Lord Fei is wholly committed to developing this Red Fire Mineral Island."

Ye Mo pondered for a moment and nodded slightly, "If they were sent back for reinforcements right after City Lord Fei landed on the island, calculating the time, they should be arriving soon. I'll send my spirit beast to take a look."

Ye Mo mentally issued an order to the Fire Crow.

The Fire Crow immediately spread its wings and soared high into the air, flying toward the distant sea to scout around. It could effortlessly scan the movements across dozens of miles of surrounding ocean.

Kong Zhonghai said with considerable envy, "City Lord Ye's Fire Crow seems to possess high intelligence and is skilled in reconnaissance. Had I known, I would have gotten a Fire Crow to raise myself."

Ye Mo did not answer immediately, only smiling faintly, "Given your financial resources, how could you not acquire a Fire Crow? It's just that you felt low-rank spirit birds like the Fire Crow weren't of high enough grade and didn't warrant cultivation."

Ordinary first-rank flying spirit beasts were actually quite numerous. However, few cultivators kept them because low-rank spirit birds possessed very low intelligence and could not properly execute tasks assigned by their masters.

In truth, the Fire Crow was a very common, small spirit bird. It possessed relatively high intelligence, but in terms of combat power, it was clearly inferior to large raptors like spirit eagles. Very few cultivators bothered to raise Fire Crows.

How could low-rank spirit birds bought in the marketplace compare to the little Fire Crow inside Ye Mo's ancient painting scroll? In terms of intelligence alone, the little Fire Crow surpassed many high-rank fierce beasts.

Kong Zhonghai's expression froze as he smiled bitterly, "You hit the mark. When choosing spirit beasts or spirit birds, one usually prioritizes combat power, aiming fundamentally for rare second or third-rank spirit beasts. Those kinds of beasts can actually help in battle. However, I now realize that a spirit bird capable of reconnaissance is far more useful than a combat spirit beast."

By the end of his words, Kong Zhonghai was shaking his head and sighing repeatedly.

Of course, raising spirit birds also involved matters of prestige. Only massive, high-grade, magnificent, and elegant spirit birds were favored by young scions of prominent families like him. No city lord had any interest in raising inconspicuous little spirit birds like the Fire Crow.

As for rogue cultivators, they lacked the surplus financial resources to raise spirit birds at all.

When he first allied with Ye Mo, Kong Zhonghai did so purely for mutual benefit. Through deeper contact now, however, he had come to understand that Ye Mo possessed extraordinary foresight in many aspects.

Before long.

A large ocean ship bearing the banner of the "Fei" character appeared on the sea dozens of miles away. Ye Mo immediately mobilized his five light ocean ships to flank from the side, preparing to cut off their retreat.

As for Kong Zhonghai's large ocean ship, it remained brazenly moored at the pier, parked alongside the other captured Fei family ocean ship.

After all, he still maintained his identity as a member of the Ten-Village Alliance.

To this day, the news of his betrayal had not leaked, retaining a powerful deceptive camouflage.

At this time, the sky was gradually growing bright. Although the dark night was receding, mist was rising from the sea surface, keeping visibility low and barely allowing visibility within several hundred feet.

Beyond that, everything remained hazy.

The newly arrived large ocean ship of the Fei family only vaguely noticed an extra large ocean ship moored at the pier when it reached within four or five miles of the Red Fire Mineral Island.

"Strange, why is there an extra ocean ship? Whose ship is that?"

A middle-aged cultivator in his forties, dressed in the attire of a head steward, asked with a puzzled expression upon seeing this scene.

Beside him stood a burly man in his thirties. The burly man also wore a look of confusion, saying, "When the city lord sent me back to the immortal village, there was only our own ocean ship... This ship must belong to another immortal village. Could it be that another city lord brought their ocean ship here, wanting a share of the spoils?"

Stewards Fei pondered this and found it deeply plausible, nodding as he said, "Very likely. After all, this Red Fire Island holds the greatest value, far surpassing the other subsidiary islands. It's only reasonable that cultivators from other immortal villages would come to contend for the mine. Heh heh, since we've already arrived, let's simply sink this other immortal village's ship!"

A sinister smile crept across Steward Fei's face.