Chapter 8: Naval Battle or Land Battle?

However, Aisha still underestimated these Naga Sirens. The moment they saw the three dead Naga Sirens, they figured out Li Mingxing's method of dealing with them. Therefore, the moment they saw Li Mingxing preparing to strike, they scattered in all directions.

The five weakest Naga Sirens, armed with harpoons, immediately plunged into the water, while the rest swiftly retreated to distant surrounding areas.

Seeing this, Li Mingxing's expression grew quite solemn. He knew that if he deployed his troops to fight on the water's surface, they would definitely be no match for these Naga Sirens. Thus, Li Mingxing now had to resort to some new tactics.

With this in mind, Li Mingxing turned back and said to Aisha, "Tell your subordinates to prepare the Seaweed Domain spell. You don't need to target the Nagas; just use it to deal with the female Naga's torpedoes. We'll handle the rest."

Since Li Mingxing spoke with such certainty, he naturally had his own methods. He had already observed that the Naga Sirens were not entirely incapable of close-quarters combat, but they were accustomed to relying on their speed and weapons for ranged attacks. To deal with such enemies, one needed either formidable defense or extreme speed.

Currently, Li Mingxing possessed neither of these advantages, leaving him with only a third choice: to stand his ground against their attacks and wait until they ran out of ammunition.

Achieving this was quite difficult. Li Mingxing could only estimate the ammunition capacity of the female Naga; as for the rest of the enemies, he had no idea how much ammunition they carried. Moreover, since these Naga Sirens frequently darted back into the sea, who knew if they would replenish their ammunition underwater? If this dragged on, Li Mingxing had no idea when it would end.

At Li Mingxing's command, his troops retreated onto his ship, watching the attacks launched by the Naga Sirens.

Soon, the Naga Sirens noticed Li Mingxing's intention. After hesitating for a moment, they finally gathered back toward Li Mingxing's side. After all, Li Mingxing's current plan looked like an attempt to escape; if they really let him get away, the three Naga Sirens who had died here would have died in vain.

As they approached Li Mingxing, the half-demon mermaid recalled the traits of the Nagas. She smiled and said to Li Mingxing, "My lord, if I were you, I would back the ship up by several dozen meters right now."

"Why?" Li Mingxing asked, puzzled.

"It's the habit of the Naga Sirens. Unless they are wiped out to the last one, they will never let go of enemies who have killed their kin. Therefore, in waters like these, ordinary people never provoke the Naga Sirens." The half-demon mermaid explained.

"Does that mean as long as we retreat, they will chase after us and keep following us? Don't they need to care about their nest?"

"Of course they care. But do you know why these Naga Sirens have settlements all across these waters? It's because they will pursue relentlessly. After killing their enemy, they will either stay put, find a place nearby to settle down, or simply merge into a nearby Naga Siren settlement to live. So you can't shake them off at all."

"That means they'll keep following us. You wouldn't happen to want to use their habits to lure them into our trap, would you? But there doesn't seem to be any suitable place for a trap around here."

"There is. My lord, you didn't notice—before we arrived here, there was a cluster of reef islands." The half-demon mermaid said.

Li Mingxing thought back carefully, took out the map to take another look, and finally nodded gently, "There really is such a place. You plan to trap them there? That actually sounds like a great spot. The water is shallow, and there are plenty of reefs. Those creatures can still use their speed, but their underwater diving attacks won't work. Let's make our move there."

After calculating in his mind, Li Mingxing turned back and gave a few instructions to Zheng. Zheng nodded repeatedly and, shortly after, flew away with all of Li Mingxing's flying troops.

Once these units departed, the speed of Li Mingxing's ship increased significantly. Because his vessel was transformed from a magical treasure, it could execute turns and acceleration with great ease.

Although the Naga Sirens realized Li Mingxing's intentions, their natural instincts drove them to continue the pursuit. As their speed increased, they drew closer and closer to Li Mingxing's side. On several occasions, the female Naga Siren even prepared to fire her torpedoes at Li Mingxing's ship.

After chasing and fleeing for about twenty minutes, Li Mingxing and his group arrived at the location mentioned by the half-demon mermaid. Glancing at the Nagas, who were now only a little over two hundred meters away, Li Mingxing shouted loudly, "Aisha, take your subordinates down first and prepare the Seaweed Domain. Zheng, use aerial attacks to stall them for five to six minutes. Everyone else disembark; we're fighting a land battle now!"

Hearing this, the centaurs and dwarves on Li Mingxing's ship immediately leaped down. While the centaurs managed fine, the dwarves were ecstatic. Having been cooped up on the ship for so long, they had been longing to set foot on solid ground. Now that the opportunity had finally arrived, none of the dwarves intended to miss it.

At Li Mingxing's command, the dwarves immediately jumped onto the nearby reef islands. At the same time, the mermaids on Li Mingxing's ship plunged into the sea. They swam toward the sea monsters and carefully clung to their backs, watching the battle unfold between their mortal enemies, the Naga Sirens, and Li Mingxing's air force.

Because Li Mingxing had issued strict orders, the aerial battle was fought with immense vigor. The harpies fully unleashed their capabilities, darting continuously through the air, dodging incoming bullets and spears, and retaliating with blowdarts.

Meanwhile, all of Li Mingxing's griffins hovered high in the sky, awaiting the right moment—the chance for a single, decisive strike.

Once all of Li Mingxing's troops had boarded the reefs, Li Mingxing himself jumped onto a larger reef island and waved his foreleg. His massive ship vanished into the sea, replaced instantly by a large ship-shaped necklace hanging around his neck.

Li Mingxing's land troops were also fully prepared. The dwarves, who had just recovered a bit of stamina, stood firmly at the very front. Having seen no combat until now, they desperately needed a fierce battle to vent their energy.

Naturally, the centaurs and jungle lizardmen were also deployed across the reef islands under Li Mingxing's command. Behind these cannon-fodder units stood the newly joined mermaid troops and Li Mingxing's forest sprite legions. Functioning as magical support, they were busy chanting their respective spells, ready to step in when the frontlines failed to hold back the enemy.

Seeing Li Mingxing deploy all his troops onto the land, the Naga Sirens were momentarily startled. However, they were absolute masters of naval warfare; otherwise, they could never have dominated these waters for years through sheer relentless pursuit.

Recognizing the situation, the female Naga Siren immediately shouted, "Several of you, hold them off! I'm going to blow those freakish islands to pieces. I refuse to believe these land-dwellers can swim faster than us in the water!"

With that, the female Naga Siren began her preparations. However, she was unaware that seven hundred meters up in the sky, Zheng had already locked onto her. Zheng gripped his long spear tightly and patted the black dragon beneath him. "Prepare for the charge. We must secure a one-hit kill this time, or we'll be in trouble. I don't want to bring trouble to Ah Xing, so it's all up to you."

The black dragon seemed to understand Zheng's words. It let out a roar in the sky and plunged downward like a streak of black lightning. Sensing the impending danger, the female Naga Siren reacted swiftly, preparing to dive back into the ocean depths.

Her plan was theoretically sound because once she was underwater, even Zheng's high-altitude charge wouldn't be able to hit her accurately.

Yet, she underestimated the velocity of Zheng's dive. In the blink of an eye, Zheng was right in front of her, his long spear aimed squarely at the female Naga Siren.

At that moment, several nearby Naga Sirens reacted. Two of the stronger ones lunged directly into the path of Zheng's spear, intercepting the blow meant for the female Naga Siren.

Taking advantage of this, the female Naga Siren plunged into the seawater. Clearly infuriated by Zheng's attack, she swam a short distance underwater before raising her torpedo launcher and firing her entire payload of torpedoes toward the reef island where Li Mingxing and his forces stood.

Due to the stealthy nature of the torpedo attacks, Li Mingxing failed to spot them in time. However, Aisha, who had remained close to Li Mingxing, sensed that something was wrong and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Something's coming! Prepare the Seaweed Domain!"

Yet, Aisha's efforts were slightly too late. Although her Seaweed Domain intercepted three of the torpedoes, two still struck the reef island where Li Mingxing and his troops were positioned.

In the massive explosion, a batch of Li Mingxing's land troops was blasted into the sea, including the two grey-stone warriors who had been standing at the very front.

Watching the grey-stone warriors struggle helplessly in the water before his eyes, a wave of fury surged within Li Mingxing. "Harpies, use lightning strikes on this sea area!"