I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

In their minds, Qing Deng and his men should have been riddled with bullets and unable to advance an inch.

But the reality they were faced was that their comments couldn't get anywhere!

Their original understanding was pitifully shattered, and they forgot even to fight back, standing there dumbfounded.

At that moment, Qingdeng suddenly heard a loud shout from the opposite side.

"All of you, step back!"

Immediately afterwards, a richly dressed young man leaped onto the mast and stood face to face with Qing Deng.

Looking at the weapon held in the other's hand—a swift sword that flashed with a cold light—Qing Deng was taken aback.

Five years ago, when Qing Deng first met Elodie, they had a sparring match.

At that time, Elodie had not yet become a disciple of Qingdeng and did not know Japanese swordsmanship. She had only learned a little about the Swift Sword, so she used the Swift Sword to fight.

Although the match ended in a complete victory for Qingdeng, the strength of the Swift Sword left a deep impression on him.

To be fair, the Swift Sword is truly the top weapon for "sword duels"!

The Swift Sword has a rearward center of gravity and a slender blade, making it very lightweight and easy to wield with one hand.

Because it can be held with one hand, you can stand sideways, protecting your body's center line while extending your right arm and shoulder, greatly increasing your attack range.

In addition, the Swift Sword's main attack method is the fastest and most powerful thrust; once stabbed by the Swift Sword, one will basically lose the ability to move.

Lightweight, with a long attack range and great destructive power, the Swift Sword has always been invincible in one-on-one unarmored duels!

It's not hard to see that this young man intends to hold off Qing Deng and the others on the "bridge" all by himself!

Whether this young man was highly skilled and daring, or simply a fearless newborn calf, after witnessing Qing Deng's incredible skill of splitting bullets with a knife, he still dared to challenge Qing Deng to a duel.

Regardless, he had already stood firmly on the "bridgehead," blocking Qing Deng and the others' path like a high wall.

Without the need for tedious formalities like announcing their names, the two swordsmen stared intently at each other, immediately assumed their stances, and prepared to attack!

Qing Deng raised the tip of his knife, and Qing Yan raised his stance.

The opponent stood sideways, his right side, holding the sword, leaning towards Qingdeng, the sharp tip of the blade pointing directly at Qingdeng's chest.

At this moment, they resembled a pair of pirates who met on a narrow mast and engaged in a one-on-one duel!

This duel started suddenly and ended quickly.

The Vairocana of Qingdeng drew an arc.

The opponent's swift sword pierced in a straight line.

The two lines intertwine.

The two passed each other in the next instant.

Without even looking behind him, Qing Deng forcefully swung his sword, flicking away the remaining bloodstains, and continued forward.

As for his opponent... he gripped the Swift Sword, now only half-finished, his chest burst open, spitting out a large amount of blood. He then transformed into a kite with a broken string, drifting lightly downwards and falling into the sea.

In that instant, Qing Deng appeared to have only swung his sword once, but in fact he swung it twice.

The first strike, a slash from the upper right to the lower left, severed the opponent's sword.

The second strike, swung from the lower left to the upper right, swept across the opponent's chest.

Because the two strikes were exactly the same, at first glance, it gave people the illusion that "he only swung one sword."

After killing the brave but useless young man, Qing Deng had no more obstacles in front of him and smoothly jumped off the "bridge" and onto the deck of the enemy ship.

He had barely stood still when he swung his knife like a whip.

A purplish-black blade of light swept across, cutting down all the enemy soldiers within its range! Clearing out a wide "landing ground"!

Under Qingdeng's protection, the team members behind him boarded the ship one after another.

Without Qingdeng's orders, they spontaneously dispersed, each seeking out enemies and bravely taking the lead.

With the strong support of fresh troops, Todo Heisuke and his men, who had been at a disadvantage, were able to regain their footing.

Aoto found Todo Heisuke hiding at the bow of the ship, bandaging his left shoulder.

"Heisuke, are you injured?"

"It was just a graze from the bullet, nothing serious, nothing to worry about. Mr. Ju, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for being so incompetent and troubling you like this..."

Before Todo Heisuke could finish speaking, Aoto interrupted him calmly:

"Stop saying such boring things. Instead of wasting time blaming yourself, you should focus on bandaging your wound."

After speaking, he turned and ran towards the area with the most enemies.

Toudou Heisuke nodded vigorously, responding to Aoto with a firm gesture. He then hastily tightened the bandage on his left shoulder to stop the bleeding, picked up his treasured sword Kazusa no Kaneshige again, and quickly caught up with Aoto, rejoining the battle.

Aoto and Toudou Heisuke acted together, each forming a pincer movement, gradually suppressing the enemy forces on the deck.

Qingdeng didn't bring many reinforcements, but he alone was worth a thousand men!

Rushing forward, leaping, slashing... Vairocana's blade splashed out handfuls of blood, spreading death everywhere.

Although Qingdeng's offensive was still unstoppable, killing one person with each strike, he gradually noticed something unusual.

At first, when he saw that Todo Heisuke and the others were being suppressed, he thought it was because they were not strong enough.

But after arriving to provide support, he was shocked to realize that he had misunderstood.

The enemy soldiers on this ship are extremely elite! They are highly skilled, move with precision, and should not be underestimated!

Soon, Qingdeng understood something and muttered to himself:

"So that's how it is... This ship is the flagship...!"

These three enemy ships were all the same type and indistinguishable.

Since the crew of this enemy ship are exceptionally well-trained, it must be either the flagship or a major warship of the enemy forces!

"Heisuke Todo, you've hit the jackpot! The ship we're standing on is most likely the enemy's flagship."

"Flagship? Ha, that's really lucky! Since it's the enemy's flagship, we can't let this ship go!"

"Heisuke, leave the deck to me. You take a team to the cabin and sabotage the ship's steam engine."

"understand!"

Todo Heisuke selected a few skilled soldiers and ordered them to accompany him as they rushed into the cabin.

After watching Todo Heisuke leave, Aoto's talent "Foresight +9" suddenly activated—he sensed danger behind him.

At that moment, an enemy soldier in a royal blue uniform, bayonet in hand, attacked him from behind, aiming for his back.

Without even turning his head, Qing Deng slightly twisted his body, easily dodging the bayonet, and then swung his knife back, slicing open the opponent's soft belly.

The human abdomen contains a large number of nerves. Even if it is just punched, let alone cut open, it will cause pain and make people roll on the ground.

Qing Deng's blow was enough to kill. Although he would not die on the spot, he would lose the ability to move due to the excruciating pain and could only lie on the ground waiting to die.

However... something unexpected happened to Qing Deng.

But the other person clutched their cut stomach, staggered a couple of times, but did not fall to the ground.

The next moment, he steadied himself and charged at Qingdeng again with a roar! He crashed into Qingdeng's arms, bayonet and all!

This scene startled Qing Deng, causing his pupils to shrink slightly.

In that incredibly dangerous moment, Qingdeng's long-standing good habits played a crucial role.

For many years, whenever he defeated an opponent, regardless of whether the opponent was strong or weak, Qing Deng would subconsciously adopt the Zanshin stance, which had become an indelible muscle memory for him.

In other words, Qingdeng is still in a state of "fully tense, ready to counterattack at any time"!

At this critical moment, Qingdeng instinctively shifted his feet, his body moving before his mind, and narrowly avoided the opponent's attack.

In the moment of dodging, he swung his right arm, holding the knife, upwards—

call out!

This time, to ensure he killed his opponent, Qing Deng slashed at his chest.

This cut was extremely vicious, ripping open flesh, severing the sternum, and directly damaging the heart.

For an ordinary person, this is a serious injury that would be fatal.

But to everyone's surprise, the other person was still standing! They didn't die on the spot!

Blood gushed from his chest like a waterfall; all the blood in his body was drained within those few seconds.

He struggled a few times, trying to stand up straight, as if he wanted to fight back... Fortunately, such a terrifying scene did not happen.

As he tried to take a step forward, he seemed to lose his footing and fell to the ground, never to get up again, with disgusting, viscous, purplish-black blood flowing from his seven orifices.

Given the terrifying experience he had just gone through, Qingdeng remained vigilant and did not let his guard down until he was sure the other person had completely stopped breathing before slowly releasing his lingering energy.

Its abdomen was cut open, yet it still managed to launch a fierce counterattack... Such terrifying vitality cannot be explained simply by "strong willpower" or "high fighting spirit".

Qingdeng immediately recalled the intelligence he had obtained earlier: the enemy had "immortal bodies"!

"Watch out! Some of these guys are hard to kill! Attack their heads and hearts!"

Qingdeng issued a warning immediately.

Unfortunately, in this short time, quite a few team members have already encountered these monsters with their incredibly terrifying vitality and have been caught off guard and suffered losses.

There are countless examples of people who fought back even after having their carotid artery cut, who acted as if nothing had happened even after having their right lung pierced, who remained vigorous despite being stabbed multiple times...

Qing Deng noticed that all the enemy soldiers with terrifying vitality were wearing the same royal blue uniform.

Despite their small numbers, their terrifying "unyielding" demeanor dampened the morale of the Shinsengumi.

People of that era generally believed in gods and ghosts, and the Shinsengumi members were especially so.

Many members regard Qingdeng as a "living god" and firmly believe that Qingdeng is truly the human incarnation of Niou. Otherwise, they would not be able to understand why Qingdeng is so powerful.

For this reason, the Shinsengumi members are generally very superstitious—a trait that was originally helpful in consolidating Aoto's prestige has now had a negative effect.

"These guys are monsters!"

"Don't panic! Which of you is a virgin? My grandma said that a virgin's urine can exorcise demons!"

"I'm a virgin! But I can't pee a single drop right now!"

"Forget about virgin urine! That's nonsense! Bring me salt! Salt is the real exorcising agent!"