"Finally, I've been waiting for you, the guy with five blades."
At the port of the small Dragon Spring in Bohai, a group of dozens of people just disembarked from their sea vessel. The leader was a middle-aged man, tall and imposing, exuding an extraordinary aura, with five blades of varying lengths strapped to his back. As soon as his feet touched the ground, a figure appeared in front of him, blocking his way—Duan Lang.
"Qilin Demon Duan Lang," Han Chaohan, who was following behind the five-blade man, immediately noticed Duan Lang and his expression shifted. As he spoke, the subordinates behind the five-blade man quickly used their martial skills to surround Duan Lang in the port.
"Duan Lang, I don't think we have any personal grudges?" the five-blade man, Gai Suwen, blocked his subordinates from attacking and asked in a low voice. As he spoke, Gai Suwen began to gather his internal energy.
As the two sides stood facing each other, the other people at the port immediately fled, and some started to contact the Dragon Spring guards.
"Grudge or not, that's another matter. But I'm here today to eliminate bandits and pirates. Who doesn't know that you're the biggest bandit and pirate boss here? I'm here to carry out justice."
With that, Duan Lang drew his Huo Lin sword. A blazing hot sword net instantly enveloped Gai Suwen, Han Chaohan, and the other Koguryo experts behind him.
Gai Suwen immediately unsheathed two long blades from his back and unleashed a cross-shaped blade aura toward Duan Lang. At the same time, he swiftly retreated. Facing someone like Duan Lang, who had defeated Ning Daoqi and Bi Xuan, Gai Suwen knew he was no match. His first priority was to escape. He had a reputation in Koguryo, and he acted decisively.
As Gai Suwen retreated, his subordinates also made their move, but one person made the same choice as Gai Suwen—Han Chaohan. The two of them, one in front and the other behind, didn't hesitate at all and leaped into the sea.
"Good choice. If it were anyone else, you might have escaped."
Looking at Gai Suwen and Han Chaohan jumping into the sea, Duan Lang couldn't help but acknowledge their decision was quite swift. Normally, in such a situation, it would be difficult to track their escape. The Double Dragons had used this tactic to evade pursuit multiple times. However, unfortunately for them, they were facing Duan Lang.
Duan Lang didn't rush to pursue Gai Suwen and Han Chaohan but instead first dealt with Gai Suwen's subordinates at the port. Only after that did he focus on the two men who were locked in by his observation haki.
"You should have stayed in Koguryo plotting to usurp the throne, why come here to die?"
Gai Suwen held a high position in Koguryo. If it weren't for the support of Fu Cailin, he would have openly rebelled long ago. However, Duan Lang had given him a chance. After Fan Qinghui invited Fu Cailin to the Central Plains, Gai Suwen, upon realizing Fu Cailin had left, started planning a rebellion.
His plan was to establish his rule before Fu Cailin's return. Once everything settled, Fu Cailin would have to reluctantly accept his reign in order to maintain stability in Koguryo. That's why he came to Dragon Spring, to acquire Turkic war horses and weapons stored by Han Chaohan.
Han Chaohan was a well-known bandit leader from the northern grasslands, actually an undercover agent for Gai Suwen. He was used to accumulate wealth and purchase enough war horses. Without a doubt, the Turkic side had the largest number and best quality of war horses.
In addition to material resources, Gai Suwen was also here to seek help from the Buddhist monk, Funnan Tuo. These two had already formed an alliance. Gai Suwen harbored great ambitions. Even though he hadn't become the king of Koguryo yet, he was already eyeing Bai Ziting's Little Chang'an. If he succeeded, it might just be possible to save the current decline of Koguryo.
"The Buddhist brainwashing is indeed powerful. This guy even became a disciple of Funnan Tuo. I wonder if Fu Cailin will kill him once he finds out."
Han Chaohan appeared as a handsome, charming figure, even pursuing Fu Cailin's youngest female disciple, Fu Junqiang. But secretly, he was studying the so-called "Joyful Zen" with Funnan Tuo, a practice from the esoteric school.
"Sorry, I'll take your wealth. Perhaps you should consider spreading education."
After Duan Lang eliminated Gai Suwen and Han Chaohan, he returned to the port, which had already been surrounded by guards. The leader of the guards was the Captain of the Imperial Guards under Bai Ziting.
"You came at the right time. I need to meet Bai Ziting. I have a deal that I'm sure he'll be very interested in."
Originally, Zong Xianghua didn't want to bring Duan Lang to meet Bai Ziting, fearing it would bring danger. However, once Duan Lang mentioned the name Yin Xianhe, he immediately agreed.
"Sir, may I ask what kind of deal you wish to make?"
Facing Duan Lang, Bai Ziting didn't act arrogantly. He quickly met Duan Lang in the Great Hall of Little Chang'an, accompanied by the Buddhist monk, Funnan Tuo.
"This is a deal that could help you achieve your nation-building dreams. But before we discuss that, let me give you a greeting gift."
Before Bai Ziting could react, Duan Lang suddenly appeared beside Funnan Tuo. With a swift motion, he grabbed Funnan Tuo's bald head and slammed it onto the marble floor of the palace hall.
"This is the greeting gift. I've already crippled his martial arts." Duan Lang tossed Funnan Tuo aside, and Bai Ziting immediately stopped the guards who attempted to act and ordered them to take Funnan Tuo away.
Bai Ziting himself didn't have much interest in Buddhism. As someone aiming to become an emperor, he was mostly indifferent to religion. Look at Li Yuan, Li Shimin, Yu Wenji, Dou Jiande, and even Xieli and Tuli—none of them were devout believers.
However, in order to use Funnan Tuo's power to build his empire, Bai Ziting cooperated with him. After cooperating, everything progressed smoothly, but it also made Funnan Tuo too powerful. Duan Lang had obtained this intelligence from Han Chaohan.
"My deal is simple. I will go and kill Xieli and Tuli, and all you need to do is create chaos on the grasslands."
After finishing, Duan Lang didn't wait for Bai Ziting's reply and left.
He wasn't afraid Bai Ziting would refuse. If Bai Ziting wanted to build a nation, his first obstacle was the DTZ. Only if the grasslands descended into chaos would his nation-building succeed. With Bai Ziting leading the way and the DTZ losing their leader, Duan Lang was confident the grasslands would soon be in turmoil. Once that happened, the Western Turkic side might be tempted to act.
"It looks like the war situation is about to change."
Standing on the broken city wall of Tongguan in the east of Chang'an, Song Que sighed deeply. Tongguan was the most important of Chang'an's four gates, built by the Qin people during the Warring States period. It was strategically located near the Yellow River and surrounded by mountains, making it nearly impossible to breach.
Despite its fortifications, it took just one day for the Qin army to breach the pass, with minimal casualties, setting a historical low.
Throughout history, siege warfare had been the deadliest, with victories often achieved at the cost of countless soldiers' lives. However, this was something Daniel Davis didn't want. While death in war was inevitable, there was no need for soldiers to die unnecessarily.
With his strong support, the mechanized beast army under the command of Shen Tang was already established. The mechanized white tiger, the digging three brothers, the mechanical snake, the air-borne mechanical vermilion bird, and mechanical bats, as well as hydrogen balloons, were all in play.
Daniel Davis didn't establish a naval mechanized Black Turtle; the current naval warfare of the time was well-served by just a few mechanical Black Turtles, and there was no need for full-scale naval fleets.
"This is mechanical engineering, the power of physics and material science, with Confucianism as the supreme ideology—how laughable."
Daniel Davis was highly disdainful of the so-called brainwashing education of the feudal society, where the emperor was revered as a god. In his history lessons, he started with the rebellion of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, emphasizing that kings and nobles could only survive if the common people were allowed to live.
If such a cultural legacy had existed in the Pirate World, the World Government would have collapsed long ago.
Despite Li Tang having great generals like Li Shimin, Li Jing, and Li Seji, facing absolute power, they could only retreat unwillingly back to Chang'an.
Under the mechanical Vermilion Bird, the height of the city walls became meaningless. The Sha family had developed bombs suitable for air drops, and while the damage wasn't catastrophic, the panic they caused was impossible to quell.
"I didn't expect to have to rely on Yang Gong's treasure in the end."
After taking Tongguan, the army headed straight for Chang'an, while a select elite force of 5,000 men entered Chang'an through the secret tunnels of Yang Gong's treasure, planning a coordinated assault.
"This is likely the final battle."
Despite Li Shimin and Li Jing eavesdropping on the underground movements, they never anticipated the tunnels would be discovered. With the mechanical Vermilion Birds delivering soldiers into Chang'an, the Li army was overwhelmed and couldn't attend to the tunnels.
The secret of Yang Gong's treasure was inadvertently discovered by Fu Junqiang while assassinating Yang Guang, who then revealed it to the Double Dragons. Only they knew the exact details.
"We've finally reached this point."
The 5,000 elite troops quickly stormed the imperial palace, far more luxurious than the one in Luoyang. After all, this was the true imperial palace of the Sui Dynasty, while the one in Luoyang was merely a temporary palace.
As the imperial palace was surrounded, other parts of Chang'an fell eerily silent, with the aristocratic families waiting for the final outcome.
As Daniel Davis's influence grew, many aristocratic families secretly allied with him, including the Yuwen clan, who had already quietly surrendered under the guidance of Yuwenji.
With the Yuwen clan and Dugu Feng in cahoots, the other families knew which side to choose. Even though Daniel Davis was stricter with the families and had policies like the "treaty of kindness," they had to submit, as it was better than facing annihilation.
If the Li clan weren't the royal family of the Li Tang, they would have made the same choice.
What was the "treaty of kindness"? It was simple: family assets would be inherited equally by all legitimate descendants, not just by the eldest son.
Once this policy was introduced, the aristocratic families would be divided. No matter how good the relationship between siblings, when their own interests were at stake, they wouldn't let go. This wasn't something just aristocrats faced; common people experienced it too.
"They run fast. I thought they'd die with the country."
Standing in front of the palace gates, Daniel Davis didn't even need to use his observation haki. He already knew that Li Yuan had escaped with his family. There had always been spies around Li Yuan, one of whom was Wei Gonggong, a eunuch who had once served Yang Guang but now worked for Li Yuan.
In fact, Daniel Davis had allowed the Li clan to retreat safely. Otherwise, even without Wei Gonggong's tip-off, he could have trapped them all.
Now that the Li clan had withdrawn, the palace battle was over quickly, with only the Li clan's death guards left.
"Song Que, do you dare fight to the death?"
Not long after Daniel Davis entered the palace, a voice rang out, sounding pleasant but covering half of Chang'an—it was the voice of Master of the Sword, Fu Cailin.
"Fu Cailin, your opponent is me." Before Song Que could speak, Shi Zhi Xuan immediately confronted him.
"Evil King Shi Zhi Xuan, you!" Fu Cailin had originally not wanted to battle Shi Zhi Xuan, but with Duan Lang's appearance, Fu Cailin realized he had to fight to the death before Duan Lang found him. Otherwise, he would die in the same manner as Ning Daoqi and Bi Xuan, with no value.
Indeed, Song Que's swordsmanship countered Fu Cailin's swordplay in some aspects, but conversely, Fu Cailin's swordplay countered Song Que's Heavenly Blade. It was a contest of strength, and the outcome depended on their skills.
Under these circumstances, if one side had a death wish, they could both perish together. The only difference would be that one would die immediately, and the other would be gravely wounded but live a while longer.
However, this time, things wouldn't unfold like that. Even if Shi Zhi Xuan got injured, he could heal.
"The throne of the Emperor, how many have died for it over the years? I never thought I'd have a chance to sit on it."
While others continued to fight, Daniel Davis entered the palace and approached the dragon throne.
"The He Shi Bi is indeed related to unifying the world. I wonder if it works only in this world, or if it has effects across other worlds too."
Sitting on the throne, Daniel Davis immediately took out the He Shi Bi. Although it looked unchanged, its internal energy had grown significantly. As Shen Tang's territory expanded, the energy within the He Shi Bi increased.
"Could it be the legendary degree?" Thinking of the divine mask, Daniel Davis nodded thoughtfully.
(End of Chapter)
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