You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

Since the ship Baili Jie and his group were on was a secret vessel of the Chaosheng Society, and it had dispatched three highly qualified mechanical masters, and was now venturing close to the waters of Shanghai, it was impossible for it to be without guards.

Upon learning that the Rootless Ferry fleet was approaching, a group of people filed out from the depths of the ship's cabin and stepped onto the deck.

The group was small, roughly twenty or so people, but each of them had extremely sharp eyes and a steady, powerful gait, clearly elites who had spent years licking blood from the edge of a knife.

They all had exposed steam-powered mechanical modifications on them, indicating that they were all steam-powered practitioners.

The leader was a tall, square-faced man, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, dressed in a dark blue outfit, with a cleaver hanging at his waist. A flexible tube about the thickness of a thumb was attached to the hilt of the cleaver, leading to a small steam tank behind his waist.

He strode to the bow of the boat, bowed slightly to Hua Xiangrong, and spoke in a deep, resonant voice:

"Offering flowers, I am Pei Qigeng, the head guard of the Jingzhe Hall of the Chaosheng Society. I am responsible for escorting the three masters and everyone else to safety!"

Hua Xiangrong returned the greeting respectfully: "Brother Pei, you've worked hard. May I ask... are all the people on the ship here?"

Pei Qigeng nodded: "That's right. Apart from the few shipwrights in the engine room, the only ones who can fight are us."

He paused, then calmly stated his family's financial situation:

"I am but a humble cultivator, at the second level of the Qi Heart Realm. I also have two brothers who would risk their lives for me: the tall one is called Tie Niu, at the first level of the Qi Heart Realm; the round-faced fat one is called Song Tonghu, also at the first level of the Qi Heart Realm. The rest of my brothers are at levels ranging from the fourth to the ninth level of the Forging Furnace Realm. While they may not be considered particularly powerful, I suppose... they shouldn't be considered weak?"

Upon hearing this, Hua Xiangrong gave a wry smile and nodded.

"Of course they're not weak. Brother Pei, your group would be able to do whatever they want in Shanghai, but..."

As she said this, she turned her head and looked at the black fleet in the distance:

"...Brother Pei, do you see that ship at the very front, the one flying the 'Martial' flag?"

Pei Qigeng followed her gaze, his brows furrowing slightly: "I see them. Who are those people on that boat?"

Hua Xiangrong took a deep breath and slowly said:

"That man's name is Wu Yan'an. He is the person in charge of the Wugen Ferry faction stationed on the sea route near Shanghai. He... is terrifying."

Pei Qigeng's expression became more serious.

"Master Hua, my brother and I have been working on inland rivers and lakes before, and we were only recently transferred to the Southeast Coast. We are not very familiar with the situation in this area. Could you please tell us more about this Wu Yan'an and what kind of person he is?"

Hua Xiangrong nodded and said very quickly:

"Wu Yan'an is at the third level of the Qi Xin realm. Normally, although people at the third level of the Qi Xin realm are troublesome, they may not be unable to fight. However, this person cannot be simply measured by his realm."

Her gaze grew even more serious:

"He possesses an extremely rare blood and qi constitution... [Swift Shadow Flowing Light]. This constitution makes him incredibly fast. In the early years, our canal gang had a few minor conflicts with him. I am at the second level of Qi Heart Realm, and with the help of the magnet, I could barely hold my own against him for a while. I could only defend myself and could hardly locate him accurately, let alone injure him."

She glanced down at her right prosthetic arm, her tone tinged with helplessness:

"What's more... I fought a fierce battle in Shanghai the day before yesterday to protect Baili Jing, and I couldn't use the magnet. I'm already very grateful that I can only use less than 30 or 40% of my usual abilities."

Upon hearing this, Pei Qigeng's brows furrowed even more deeply.

The tall man behind him, named Tie Niu, patted his chest and said in a deep voice:

"What are you afraid of! There are four of us at the Qi Xin level, why would we be afraid of just one Qi Xin third realm cultivator?!"

Pei Qigeng shook his head and said in a solemn tone:

"Tie Niu, don't underestimate your opponent. The [Swift Shadow Flowing Light] physique is extremely rare. People with this physique will make additional modifications to their legs. I have seen such people. They may not be too fast when they first start fighting, but they get faster and faster as the fight goes on. Once they get their speed up, no one in the same realm can touch a hair on their head."

He paused, his sharp gaze sweeping across the distant fleet:

"Moreover, the Canal Gang has not yet officially broken ties with Wugendu, and Hua Gongfeng's identity is sensitive, so it is not advisable to expose it at this time..."

"Furthermore, there is no way that Wu Yan'an is the only one on the other side; he must have a considerable number of elite soldiers on his ship."

Hearing this, the chubby Song Tonghu squinted his small eyes and asked, "Big brother, what do you mean?"

Pei Qigeng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:

"If we can talk, we should talk as much as possible; if we can avoid fighting, we should avoid conflict as much as possible. Our primary task on this trip is to protect everyone, not to fight a meaningless battle with Wugendu here."

He turned around and began assigning tasks at breakneck speed:

"But talk is talk, preparations must be done. Tie Niu, go and call all the boatmen up here. They don't even need to lift a finger, just have them all stand on the deck and make a show of themselves! The more people there are, the more imposing they'll look!"

"Copper Kettle, go and set up all the steam-powered ballistae on both sides of the ship, but don't fire them first. Don't give the enemy an excuse to attack!"

After assigning tasks on the deck, he turned to Hua Xiangrong, his tone becoming more polite:

"Flower offering, Miss Huanhuan, and that young man, please move to the cabin first."

"There are a few spare steam weapons in the armory at the bottom of the hold. Go in and pick out a few that you're comfortable with. If you can modify and disguise them so that the enemy won't recognize you, that would be even better. In case a real fight breaks out, you can be of some help from the shadows."

Hua Xiangrong knew this was not the time for politeness, so she nodded, grabbed Baili Jie and Huanhuan without saying a word, and turned to go into the cabin.

Pei Qigeng quickly assigned positions and tasks to his dozen or so elite subordinates.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the once quiet deck was filled with people. Although the boatmen had no weapons, they were all burly men who made a living in the wind and waves year after year. Just standing there, they exuded an aura of authority without anger.

At this moment, the ferry fleet of Wugendu had already arrived.

The vanguard ship, flying the Wu flag, took the lead, cutting through layers of white waves, and began to slowly slow down. Finally, it stopped side by side with the Chaosheng Society's ship, less than ten feet away on the sea.

Everyone could clearly see that there was a person standing at the bow of the ship.

Calling it a "person" is really a stretch.

The man's face was as pale as paper, his eyes were sunken, and his body was extremely thin, almost skin and bones, like a skeleton.

What's most unsettling are the steam-powered mechanical modifications he's made of.

Most mechanical modifications are integrated with flesh and blood, but the mechanical components on this "skull" are like iron frames used for construction, which were brute forcefully driven into his thin body, making it look particularly eerie and sinister.

This person must be Wu Yan'an.

On the deck, everyone fell silent.

Pei Qigeng took a deep breath, stepped forward, walked to the ship's side, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the opposite side, and said loudly:

"Everyone..."

"Shut up."

He had barely begun to speak when Wu Yan'an suddenly interrupted him.

Pei Qigeng frowned.

Then, Wu Yan'an slowly raised one hand.

The hand was covered with a thin layer of black iron-colored armor, and its five fingers, like five slender, sharp knives, gleamed coldly in the morning light. Then, the hand waved gently.

"kill."