A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

Shang Wanqing squatted on the deck, her eyes fixed on the dark shadow in front of her.

The pirates' grain ships were moored on the innermost side, three large ships with extremely deep drafts were moored together, their masts looking like a few dead trees stuck in the water in the night.

There were seven or eight sentry boats scattered around the perimeter, with torches flickering on their decks, visible from two hundred paces away.

She didn't look at the sentry ships. She only looked at the grain ships.

"Go along the flank, don't attack the sentry boats, go straight into the inner circle."

The sailor at the helm was a veteran in his forties, his palms were sweaty, and he dared not exert any force when gripping the rudder.

Upon hearing this, he opened his mouth slightly, but swallowed back the words "in case we are discovered."

Shang Wanqing did not turn around.

She was calculating in her mind.

The intervals between the torches on the sentry boats indicated that they had just changed shifts, and the next patrol would take at least another fifteen minutes.

The north wind is blowing from behind, so the sail doesn't need to be fully unfurled; half-furled is enough, and the noise will be quieter.

The three fast boats had a shallower draft than the patrol boat. As long as they didn't hit any rocks, they could pass by the edge of the reef without being heard by the other side.

What she feared was not being discovered.

What I fear is that the modified boat I built has never actually sailed in a real reef area.

No matter how well the drawings are done, the rocks on the seabed won't grow the same way as the drawings.

As the first speedboat glided close to the edge of the reef, a very faint scraping sound came from its hull.

Shang Wanqing froze, her hands gripping the rope beside her tightly.

Nothing.

The boat didn't stop or veer, but darted through the rocks like a fish.

She loosened the rope, revealing a red mark on her fingertips where the rope had cut into them.

The second ship caught up. The third ship passed as well.

The three ships, like three knives, silently cut into the heart of the pirate fleet.

The grain ships were getting closer. Shang Wanqing could see the sails of the closest ship, which were loosely draped over the mast by the sea breeze, and there were patches on the sails.

There were no lights on the deck.

Unlike warships, grain ships were not constantly watched; at most, one or two people would be left on guard at night.

enough.

She pulled the first pottery jar out from behind her.

The jar wasn't big, about the size of a fist, and it was sealed tightly with wax.

She weighed it in her hand; the feel was similar to the batch she had tested at Yanmen Pass two years ago.

At that time, she poured kerosene on the siege engine below the city wall, and it burned all night long. Water poured on it only made it burn brighter.

But it's different at sea. There are winds and waves at sea, and canvas is easier to tarnish than wood, but it's also easier for the wind to blow it away.

She had no idea how badly it had burned.

But even if you're unsure, you still have to throw it away.

She bit open the wax seal with her teeth, and a pungent, oily smell immediately rushed out.

The sailor next to her choked and coughed. Shang Wanqing glared at him, and the man quickly covered his mouth.

The clipper was less than thirty paces from the side of the grain ship.

Shang Wanqing stood up, holding the pottery jar in her right hand and pulling a fire tumbler from her belt with her left.

The wind blew from behind, and the tinderbox lit up with a single blast.

She brought the fire close to the mouth of the pot, and a ball of blue-white flame instantly shot out from the oil noodles. The heat hit her face, and her eyebrows were singed.

can not wait.

If you wait any longer, your hand will be burned.

Shang Wanqing threw the pottery jar at the canvas of the nearest grain ship.

She heard the can tumble twice in the air and hit the canvas.

It wasn't a bang. It was a soft thud.

It was like pouring a bucket of oil into a fire.

A burst of light instantly lit up the canvas.

It wasn't ordinary fire; it was the kind of blue flame that shot outwards, leaping up along the sail at a speed that was more like burning paper than burning cloth.

The second can.

Shang Wanqing had already lit the second pottery jar.

This time she didn't throw it onto the sail, but instead tossed it onto the deck.

The can shattered on the wooden plank, splattering oil everywhere, and the deck immediately caught fire.

The pirate on duty had just poked his head out of the cabin, his face still showing signs of grogginess from just waking up.

He saw the fire on the deck, paused for a moment, and opened his mouth to shout.

The third can fell at his feet.

The man's trouser leg caught fire first, then his whole body.

The screams carried far across the sea, but Shang Wanqing couldn't care less about them.

On both the left and right sides, two other speedboats simultaneously launched their attack.

One oil canister after another flew out, and the pirates' grain ships looked as if three candles had been lit.

The firelight cast an orange-red glow on the sea, illuminating even the waves.

Shang Wanqing stood at the stern of the boat, still clutching the last empty can in her hand.

She glanced into the fire.

It was even more intense than she had imagined.

The wind at sea carried the flames outwards, and the mast of the first grain ship was already ablaze. Sparks were blown by the wind onto the ships moored nearby.

The ships were so close together, their canvases touching, their ropes tangled, that if one caught fire, the others would follow.

A bugle call sounded in the distance.

The pirates have finally woken up.

Shouts came from all directions, torches were lit one after another, some people stood at the bow to direct the firefighting, and others poured water onto the sails with buckets.

Water was poured on it, but the fire didn't go out.

Instead, it shot up even higher.

Shang Wanqing's heart tightened, then she smiled.

correct.

That's it.

Kerosene burns even more intensely when it comes into contact with water; she tried this two years ago.

At that time in Yanmen Pass, the craftsmen all thought she had gone mad. They tried to extinguish the fire with water, but it only made it burn bigger and bigger, which scared everyone in the workshop so much that they ran out.

It took her three days to understand the principle, and another half month to stabilize the formula.

But at that time she never thought she would use it at sea.

The ones used at sea are different from those used on city walls.

Beneath the city walls, wood and iron armor were burned; at sea, canvas and ship planks were burned.

The canvas was lighter than the wood, and when the wind blew it up, the burning fragments flew everywhere.

The ships moored around the grain ships didn't have time to cut their mooring lines, and any sparks that landed on the sails became new sources of fire.

The entire parking area was in complete chaos.

Someone jumped into the water. Someone yelled and tried to cut the cable.

Someone was dragging grain sacks out of the cabin when they discovered that the deck had been burned through, the grain sacks fell into the fire, and the person almost fell in as well.

Shang Wanqing threw the empty can into the sea.

"withdraw."

The helmsman had been waiting for this word.

With a turn of the rudder, the speedboat veered sharply to the side, tilted slightly, and as the sails caught the wind, its speed suddenly increased.

The other two fast boats also turned, and the three boats, one in front and two behind, sped off into the open sea.

The fire grew bigger and bigger.

Shang Wanqing sat at the stern and looked back. The entire sea was glowing red from the firelight, as if someone had laid a layer of burning silk on the water.

The pirate ships finally reacted.

Three or four fast boats caught up from the outside, and they were quite fast, but it took them quite a while to get around the burning area.

By the time they had properly adjusted their course and started the chase, Shang Wanqing's three boats had already entered the shallows.

Old Zhao's tide time chart is not lying.

The tide was just receding, and the water was only knee-deep.

The modified speedboat has a shallow draft and can pass right up to the edge of the reef.

The pirate ships that followed them to the entrance of the shoal dared not go any further.

Their draft is deeper than this; if they really rush in, they'll just scrape the bottom and get stranded.

Shang Wanqing heard the cursing coming from behind, with a few words of dialect she couldn't understand mixed in.

She ignored her.

The three fast boats passed through the reef channels and entered the open sea, where their speed increased again.

They've completely shaken off.

Shang Wanqing slumped onto the deck.

My legs are shaking. Not from fear, but from being tense for too long.

She has been squatting on the deck without moving for almost two hours since leaving the port, and her legs have long since gone numb.

My hands were shaking, and my fingertips were burned by the fire tongs; they're only starting to hurt now.

She looked down at her hands.

The crevices under my fingernails were full of oil stains, and there was a new crack on the web between my thumb and forefinger, probably from when I was applying wax to seal it.

Two years ago, when she tested kerosene at Yanmen Pass, she only thought that this stuff could burn.

I only realized today that the fire at sea is more beautiful than the fire on the city walls.

The firelight reflected on the water's surface, spreading outwards in layers, as if something was burning on the seabed.

The red light in the distance hasn't dimmed yet; the wind blows the flames this way and that, but it can't extinguish them no matter what.