From their anchored positions near the pier, the armed warships spat fire from their gunports in a relentless barrage.

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG!

Everything about them, from their distinct galleon-like construction to the naval cannons that lined their hulls, was starkly different from any vessel of the Central Plains. They were undoubtedly European armed merchantmen or warships, captured and refitted for a new, bloody purpose.

“Saints above…” one of the Luoyang faction elders whispered, the scene unfolding before him feeling utterly, terrifyingly unreal.

A naval bombardment… in the very heart of Luoyang!

He had been vaguely aware that his lord, the Second Young Master, and the formidable Grand Matron Ouyang had prepared an extreme, last-ditch measure. Elder Hahu had even hinted at it. But to witness the reality of that plan—to see fire and iron rain down upon his own city—left him and his fellow Luoyang elders utterly speechless, their minds reeling in shock.

As they stood frozen, the fleet’s command ship docked at the pier while the others continued their thunderous assault.

“Yeehaw!”

“Land, ho!”

A cacophony of voices, thick with the rough accents of the Jiangnan region, erupted from the deck.

“You good-for-nothing sons of bitches!” An officer, distinguished by the epaulets on his shoulders, roared as he kicked the shins of the sailors whooping and hollering. “Stop your damn yapping and get your arses on the pier! Formation, now!”

The elders watched as the crewmen leaped from the ship with a lithe, predatory grace.

[They’re all trained in the martial arts.]

[…Given that they are forces provided by the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons, I expected they would be no ordinary men.]

[This is beyond anything I imagined.]

Every single combatant disembarking from that ship was a practitioner of martial arts.

“Whoa, fuck! So this is Luoyang, the legendary Moon Palace?!”

“Look at that! Bright as midday even in the dead of night! The rumors weren’t bullshit after all!”

They were a chaotic, undisciplined mob, their energy wild and untamed.

[Did you see that?] one Luoyang elder communicated telepathically to his compatriot, who nodded grimly.

[…Every last one of them is armed with a firearm.]

Though their gear was a motley collection, they all shared that one commonality. They were all carrying firearms.

[…Flintlock muskets.]

It was the latest model, using a flint-striking mechanism for ignition. One man had a pistol tucked into his sash, flanked by a pair of gleaming sabers. Another shouldered a long rifle with a carved stock, a curved Japanese blade hanging at his hip. There was even one warrior who sported a Spanish officer’s cavalry saber and carried a bow from the eastern kingdom of Haedong on his back.

As unfamiliar as the Luoyang elders were with the affairs of the south, it was impossible not to recognize the identity of this force.

[Pirates.]

[The infamous pirate mercenaries of the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons.]

The Heavenly Wicked Hegemons was, on paper, an alliance of martial sects. In reality, it was a chaotic maelstrom, a den of vipers where hundreds of armed factions, ranging from dozens to hundreds of members strong, were locked in a perpetual state of conflict. And the most distinctive of these factions were the very men now swarming the pier: the pirate mercenary bands.

[In times of peace, they plunder the seas. When a client with deep pockets appears, they become soldiers of fortune.]

“Elder Hahu…” one of the Luoyang elders began, a film of cold sweat on his brow as he turned to the one-eyed man. “Is this… is this truly wise? They may be mercenaries, but there is no one who is unaware of their connection to the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons.”

The armies of the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons had set foot in Luoyang. The air grew thick with a tension so palpable that even the elite warriors of the Second Young Master’s faction, who had formed a protective circle around the elders, could be seen nervously gripping the hilts of their swords.

“It doesn’t matter,” Hahu stated flatly.

“But—,” a fellow elder tried to argue, but his trembling voice was swallowed by a furious roar from the direction of the pirates.

“Hey, you stupid bastard!”

The elders’ attention snapped toward the source of the voice, which boomed with an incredible amount of internal energy.

“The next ship needs to dock so we can unload more troops! What in the hell are you doing tying the damn ship to the pier?!”

It wasn’t difficult to identify the speaker. He wore a captain’s hat, and even amongst the wildly individualistic pirates, his presence was overwhelming. A massive, Hainan-style longsword was strapped to his back, and his unkempt white hair flew about him like a storm cloud. His eyes, however, were the most terrifying part; they blazed with an untamed, furious madness.

That distinctive appearance… it must be—

The elder’s thought was violently cut short.

BANG!

With a deafening roar, the sailor who had been foolishly tying the rope collapsed where he stood, still in the midst of offering his apology. A gaping hole had appeared in the center of his face, from which dark red blood now gushed. The pirate captain had simply drawn a pistol from his belt and executed him on the spot.

“…”

While the Luoyang elders froze, completely aghast at the casual brutality, the other pirates erupted in laughter.

“Stupid fool! Good riddance!”

“More money for us!”

“Captain! Thin the herd a little more, will ‘ya?!”

The captain, who carried three pistols on his belt, handed the one still smoking with acrid gunpowder to a subordinate, received a freshly loaded one in return, and tucked it away. He spat on the corpse before bellowing, “What are you standing around for?! Bring down the slaves we’re selling!”

“You heard him! Bring down the slaves!”

The pirates scrambled into action, dragging a miserable-looking group of people onto the deck.

“P-please, save me!”

“Mercy, I beg of you—!”

The rattling of the iron chains binding their ankles was deafening.

“Drag them out, goddammit!”

As the scene devolved into a pit of chaos, one of the elders rushed forward, his hands held up in a placating gesture. “Stop! Stop this at once!”

The captain’s wild, white hair whipped around as he turned to face him. “What is it?”

“This isn’t Jiangnan!” the elder exclaimed, his face a mask of disbelief. “Luoyang has no large-scale slave markets!”

“Eh?”

The captain looked genuinely perplexed. His men, too, stared back with blank incomprehension. In the silence that followed, the captives, seeing the finely dressed elders, began to wail.

“Please, noble sirs, please help us!”

“We are not slaves! We are common people!”

The captives were emaciated, their eyes hollow, and they were covered in so much filth that a foul stench rolled off them in waves. The Luoyang elder instinctively took a step back.

“Ah, tch…”

The captain ignored their cries and shook his head in frustration. “Why did I think hunting slaves on the way here to sell in Luoyang was a good idea?”

“Quickly, get them back on the ship—,” the elder began to say, but the captain had already issued his next order.

“Kill them all.”

Against the percussive backdrop of the distant cannonade, a volley of gunfire erupted on the deck. The sharp cracks of the pistols were deafening, and the thick, black smoke of gunpowder quickly enveloped the ship. Yet, through the haze, the screams of the kidnapped commoners were sickeningly clear, and the spray of their blood was a vivid, horrific crimson.

“Well, well. Apologies for the delay.”

Leaving his men to dump the fresh corpses into the river with loud splashes, the pirate captain sauntered over to the Second Young Master’s contingent. “When I heard there was a chance to burn Luoyang to the ground, well, we just couldn’t miss out on the fun! Came as fast as we could!”

It was Elder Hahu who stepped forward to answer the cackling pirate captain. “You have permission to burn the Valley of Sins, not Luoyang.” Hahu’s gaze was cold as he addressed the captain by his infamous moniker. “Four Seas’ Fiendish Slayer of the Fresh Blood Fleet.”

At the name, a fresh wave of shock rippled through the elders.

[The Fresh Blood Fleet? These men are from the Fresh Blood Fleet?]

[But they’re one of the most elite pirate mercenary bands in the entire Heavenly Wicked Hegemons, are they not?]

[The very ones said to have defeated a fleet of Spanish armed merchantmen?!]

[No wonder their scale and armaments are so extraordinary…!]

The master of the pirate fleet known as the Fresh Blood Fleet, a man considered one of the top martial experts in the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons, simply shrugged.

“Look, you burn a gorge or a valley or whatever the hell, you’re bound to singe a few other places, kill a few other people. It’s all part of the job. Why be so damn uptight about it?”

“The Lord of the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons must have given you direct orders,” Hahu pressed, his voice flat.

At the mention of the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons’s leader, Four Seas’ Fiendish Slayer quickly held up his hands and took a step back. “Now, I have no idea what you’re talking about! The Heavenly Wicked Hegemons has absolutely zero involvement in this affair!” he declared with a theatrical innocence. “This is all the personal endeavor of the great Four Seas’ Fiendish Slayer, an effort to achieve the glorious feat of being the first pirate to raid Luoyang and escape with my life.”

As they spoke, the next galleon in the fleet ceased its bombardment and moved to take the place of the command ship, beginning to disembark its own complement of troops.

“…Your false pretense is of no concern to me. Simply ensure you fulfill the terms of the contract.”

“Oh, don’t you worry your pretty little head about that,” the pirate captain cackled. “We’ll burn and kill everything in sight… except for that Grand Young Master and Fourth Young Master of yours, of course.” He gave Hahu a conspiratorial wink. “Your master, the Second Young Master, might one day be the lord of both the Sword Clan and the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons. It pays to make a good impression at times like these.”

“Captain! All combat personnel have disembarked, save for the ship operation crews! Assembly complete!” a subordinate reported.

By now, nearly a hundred pirate mercenaries stood in formation on the pier.

“Well, what are you waiting for?! Move out! Now!”

At the captain’s sharp command, the pirates began to move. Some sang bawdy sea shanties, others lit and smoked rolled tobacco. A chaotic, deadly tide of men began to march toward the Valley of Sins.

“…”

As Hahu watched them go with his one hollow eye, Four Seas’ Fiendish Slayer clapped him on the shoulder. “You’ve got the face of a man who’s given up on life, with those calmly insane eyes. I like people with eyes like that.”

He turned to follow his men, waving a hand over his shoulder. “If you survive this and ask me later, I’ll even take you on as a crewman.”

As the pirate captain strode away, laughing to himself, Hahu suddenly sent a telepathic message.

[Let me ask one thing.]

Four Seas’ Fiendish Slayer glanced back.

[You and your Fresh Blood Fleet. How long have you been waiting nearby?]

The pirate captain paused, considering whether to answer. Then, with a shrug, he sent his reply.

[You’ve got the look of a man who’s about to die anyway, so I’ll tell you as a parting gift to speed you on your way to the underworld.] He quickly scanned his surroundings, ensuring no one was close enough to intercept his message. [Your Second Young Master and Grand Matron Ouyang put in the request for our aid a long, long time ago.]

[How long?]

[Since the day your master left Luoyang for the Imperial Capital.]

With that, Four Seas’ Fiendish Slayer was about to leave for good, but he paused and called back, “Ah, by the way. Are you absolutely certain the Sword Clan won’t make a move?”

“If the Sword Clan was going to move,” Hahu replied, his voice a dead monotone, “do you think pirate scum like you would have ever been able to set foot on this pier?”

“True enough,” the pirate captain laughed as he disappeared into the darkness. “The great Sword Clan has well and truly fallen into ruin.”

Left alone, Hahu lifted his gaze to the black, unforgiving sky.

So, it was just as I suspected.

The day the Second Young Master had departed for the Imperial Capital was the very same day the man had plucked out his eye and offered him this one, final chance.

From the very beginning, that mother and son never placed an ounce of trust in me.

They had been preparing for a day like this all along. A hollow, broken laugh escaped Hahu’s lips, but the sound was utterly consumed by the relentless, thunderous roar of the Fresh Blood Fleet’s cannons echoing across the Yellow River.

***

The Sword Clan of Luoyang. The Supreme Operations Council.

“…So it was true,” the new female Supreme Operations Councilor said, a shudder running through her. “We’re receiving no reports. None at all.”

“What in heaven’s name is happening?” another councilor demanded, his tone laced with disbelief. “There is a naval bombardment taking place in our city, and the Agency hasn’t sent a single report?”

“Has the Agency truly fallen so far?”

The Agency was the central nervous system of the Sword Clan of Luoyang, an elite organization tasked with serving as the eyes and ears of the Supreme Operations Council. And at this critical moment, it was completely silent.

“If the Chairman hadn’t informed us, we would still be in here, completely oblivious, absorbed in our meeting!”

Their council chamber was, by design, hidden deep within the Clan’s inner sanctums, far too insulated to detect the faint, distant sounds of the cannonade.

“Has the Agency’s leadership thrown their lot in with the Second Young Master? Or the Third Young Master? Or the other corrupt branches of the Yeon bloodline?”

“Perhaps…” a councilor answered with a sigh of resignation, “they have thrown their lot in with all of them.”

Behind her screen, the new female councilor’s face went pale. “…Are you suggesting the Agency has abandoned its noble mission and is making its own bid for power?”

“Isn’t the proof of that unfolding as we speak?”

As the saying goes, it is always darkest under the lamp.

“There were a few intelligence reports that suggested suspicious movements within the Agency’s upper echelons, but every internal investigation came back clean…”

“Perhaps the ones conducting those investigations were compromised as well.”

“What?!”

The depth of the Agency’s corruption sent a chill of shock through them that was bone-deep. Amidst year after year of record-breaking profits, how far had the Sword Clan truly fallen?

“This is no time to sit and talk!” the new male councilor exclaimed, shooting to his feet. “We must act immediately! We need to crush the Agency and grind those pirate bastards to dust!”

“He’s right! Before it’s too late—!”

For most of them, a betrayal of this magnitude from an organization so integral to their power was an unprecedented crisis, the first they had ever faced.

“Everyone. Do not act rashly.”

A voice, heavy with profound internal energy, resonated through the secret grotto.

“As I told you all before.”

It was the voice of the Chairman of the Supreme Operations Council, the Director of the Sword Clan of Luoyang’s Martial Academy and also the man who was once known to the world as the Sword Sovereign.

“This is the once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity that the Grand Young Master has created for us.”

And from his lips, the name of Yeon So-hyeon was spoken.