The World Online

As expected, Shi Lang did not disappoint Ouyang Shuo.

4th month, 27th day, Shi Lang led the 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions of the Jiaozhou Squadron, the 5th division of the Beihai Bay Squadron, and the 1st division of the Yashan Bay Squadron, a total of 100 thousand people, and set off toward Annan.

For this trip, the Shanhai City navy went all out. Under the precise and flexible leadership of Shi Lang, they launched relentless assaults on the Annnan Navy.

The Annan Alliance Navy, who had come over for revenge, spent less than four days parading and showing off their strength in Beihai Bay before they were crushed.

Be it warships, equipment, or general standards, they were at two different levels. The number of Annan sailors were not at a huge advantage in front of the 100 thousand Shanhai City ones.

Defeat was as expected, and the Annan navy retreated.

Following Ouyang Shuo’s instructions, Shi Lang led the troops to chase the enemy.

In just two days, 50 thousand of them had died and 70 thousand were captured. The remaining 20 thousand were in a bad state, as they pulled themselves back to shore. 400 warships had sunken into the ocean, never to reappear again.

After this battle, the Annan Navy would not be able to form up a decent-sized squadron again.

Capturing 70 thousand odd sailors provided precious troops for the expansion of the Nanyang Navy. NPCs were not extreme patriots, so when they were captured, it was easy for them to switch sides.

If not, it would not be worth it for a Lord to spend so much effort in starting a country war, losing men and resources. If they only got a bunch of prisoners that needed a long time to change their mindset, wouldn’t it be not worth?

The game only lasted for 10 years, and it did not allow for such time to brainwash them.

Hence, Gaia had such a simple setting. Similarly, the mindsets of the five thousand guards in Lion City, and the previous natives of Singapore changed, and they were going to lead a new life.

……

4th month, 29th day, Shi Lang led the navy, going along the Annan coastline and patrolling it from north to south. When they saw ports, they would immediately stop and blow apart the ports and shipyards.

The hundreds of thousands of Annan players were furious at the brutality of the enemy, but there was nothing that they could do. They could only watch on as their ports were destroyed, as they looked in fear at the departing enemy.

The entire country was in silence.

This day was termed by Annan as the humiliation day.

5th month, 3rd day, Shi Lang led his troops through the west and middle Spratly Islands to warn the nearby Luzon.

When the Luzon navy heard the news about the Annan Navy’s defeat, they ran without fighting.

Strong Navy!

This battle basically cemented the position of Shanhai City as the king of the seas. In a short time, no one could challenge their crown. The entire Nanyang was their back ocean, and if other squadrons wanted to appear, they would have to think twice.

When this news spread back to China, everyone felt their blood boil.

His acts not only showed the strength of Shanhai City, it also brought honor to the Chinese.

Even Di Chen and the other Lords were shocked. Only now did they realize that the mysterious navy hidden by Shanhai City was actually so powerful and on such a large scale.

It was obvious that their previous evaluations of Shanhai City were far from enough. After all, behind their strong army was an equally strong navy.

On the other side, Xiong Ba, Zhan Lang, and the other Lords near the ocean realized the importance of navy warfare. Without hesitating, they decided to model after Shanhai City and develop their navy.

All of a sudden, the bookings and orders for ships in Shanhai city’s shipyards were filled up. The shipbuilding industry welcomed a golden age.

The entire country seafaring time that Ouyang Shuo had looked forward to and was planning had slowly arrived.

……

The charm of the country war hooked all the players. The number of requests for Shanhai City to open up Xingzhou Prefecture grew larger by the day. Numerous players rushed to Shanhai City to say that they were willing to fight for their country.

”Kill those Java monkeys!” Amongst these cries, the shouts at Java were the loudest, showing their disdain for these enemies.

Under Ouyang Shuo’s instructions, Song Jia came out to explain.

”The situation there is still not settled, and it is still really nervous times. The Lianzhou Lord is already going all out. When the time is right, Lion City will be opened to players.” Song Jia promised.

”When will the time be right? Can you give us an answer?” someone asked.

”Within a month.” Song Jia replied.

”Good, we will wait!”

Only after getting a satisfactory reply did the players leave.

Any country would have many warriors with a strong desire to fight.

Even though Earth Online had a cruel death penalty, it still did not stop players from being passionate in PKing. Be it in the wilderness or the arenas, they could not compare to country wars.

In a country war, the Lord and his men would obtain merit points when they killed the enemy. For example, Ouyang Shuo’s actions toward Java, Johor, and Annan had brought him another 90 thousand merit points.

He was just 120 thousand merit points away from becoming a duke.

Adventure gamemode players were different. They were split into two scenarios. If they were under a Lord, then they would not obtain any rewards. They would be just earning points for their Lord.

However, if they acted alone, when they killed enemy players, they would obtain killing points. These points could be used in the imperial city to exchange for stronger PK equipment.

The lowest rank of the PK equipment was dark gold. In the later parts, even god weapons would appear more often. The battle between adventure gamemode players of different countries would be one of the attractive parts late game.

In the future, at the borders of the countries, there would be blood red regions for players to kill one another.

In Ouyang Shuo’s last life, China gave birth to many PK maniacs. One of them was Blood Romance, who was termed as the best PK player.

At the current moment, the border line had not been opened. Shanhai City occupied Singapore and formed the Xingzhou Prefecture, so naturally the connection points between Xingzhou Prefecture and the other members of the ASEAN were PK regions.

Hence, when the players received the news, their blood boiled, and some PK players were grinding their weapons. Even Blood Romance could not help but write to Ouyang Shuo to ask.

Ouyang Shuo’s reply was to wait.

He aimed to alienate the ASEAN and separate them into allies and enemies. Ouyang Shuo’s goal was to lead the players of China to fight the enemies while leaving the allies alone.

This would result in a win-win situation.

….

The successive military actions of Shanhai City had blown the ASEAN apart.

Defeat after defeat made them clearly recognize that, although in land battle they might not fear them, they were not the opponents of the Shanhai City Navy in sea warfare.

The entire Nanyang Region was the territory of the Nanyang Navy, they went anywhere they wanted and were invincible.

This cruel fact made them extremely uncomfortable.

ASEAN was in a tough spot: if they fought, they couldn’t win on the seas, and the enemy did not come onto land to fight, making the ASEAN players grit their teeth in anger. However, if they retreated, they would lose face.

The various representatives of the countries quarreled, and they were not able to come to a consensus. Shanhai City gaining a stable footing in Xingzhou Prefecture had become a fact and no one had the strength to change that.

……

Just as the ASEAN entered a stalemate, Shanhai City gave them a way out.

To fight was not his goal.

5th month, 4th day, Shanhai City officially signed a trade agreement with Johor.

Based on the agreement, Johor would pay 100 thousand gold to buy back the captured soldiers, and both sides would discuss and confirm the trade taxes and engage in sea trade.

At the same time, Johor would open two trading ports to Shanhai City. At the same time, the Nanshan Port in Yashan City and Xingzhou Port would be open to Johor.

It was obvious that the loses of both Java and Annan had helped both Shantha and Guo Yannan make up their minds. The two of them went around Han Duya, deciding to agree on the trade deal with Shanhai City.

Sabah City and Perak City both had one huge port.

The moment the news went out, each country in ASEAN had different thoughts. Some were tempted, but others scolded Johor for betraying the ASEAN. Even within Johor, there were people who were against it.

The most intense voice naturally belonged to Han Duya.

However, since both Shantha and Guo Yannan had come to a consensus privately, no matter how much Han Duya opposed, it was no use. After all, sea trading in the game was basically between territories.

That was not all that Shanhai City did.

5th month, 5th day, Shanhai City, with the help of Shantha, reached out to all the countries in ASEAN, including Annan and Java, which had conflicts with them to open sea trade.

”Shanhai City coming to the Malacca Straits definitely isn’t for war. We have no intention to fight you and start more battles. We are here to open up trading channels, so that goods can flow, and everyone can get rich together.” Ouyang Shuo gave a standard lie.

At the same time, the branch of Honglu Temple in Lion City had brought gifts to the various ASEAN states to show their good intentions.

As they say: Give them a beating and then grant them something sweet.

The next two days, the reactions of the various countries were different.

Brunei, Siam, Zhenla, and Laos all accepted the good intentions of Shanhai City and agreed to open up to trade. Nanzhang, which was located inland, did not have a port, so they did not agree nor reject.

The three countries that had conflicts with Shanhai City, Annan, Luzon, and Java, rejected cooperation as expected; they even chased out the ambassadors sent by Shanhai City.

The animosity of the three toward Shanhai City could not be any more obvious.

When Ouyang Shuo received the news, he grinned.