Chapter 168: Returning Just in Time

Lin Qiu heard the Prime Minister Turtle’s voice, but all of this was still within his calculations!

Calculating the exact timing, Lin Qiu abruptly halted his movements, causing the attacks of the two fish to collide with each other.

The lingering shockwave of the attack knocked Lin Qiu’s body back a few dozen meters, but underwater, this distance was nothing more than the blink of an eye for Lin Qiu!

While the two fish were still channeling their energy to prepare their second wave of assault, Lin Qiu was already right in front of them!

"You—"

Before one of the fish could finish speaking, its body was crushed and distorted, and it was ultimately devoured by Lin Qiu!

Seeing his brother vanish right before his eyes, the other fish was terrified and whipped around to flee.

What a deserter or a defeated soldier! Could reputation be more important than one's life? As long as he ran far enough, even Battle Tiger and Gu Li wouldn't be able to catch him!

The ocean was so vast, wouldn't it be easy to find a quiet corner to hide?

"Trying to escape? Utterly foolish!"

Lin Qiu thought to himself that this fish was far too naive. Having already entered his hunting list, how could it possibly escape unscathed?

Even more foolishly, that fish didn't dare lure Lin Qiu toward Battle Tiger and Gu Li, terrified that he would be killed by them instead. Thus, it could only search for a gap and bolt away.

How could its speed ever compare to Lin Qiu's? In just a few minutes, Lin Qiu caught up with it.

"Confess honestly who ordered you to attack the Othershore King City, and perhaps I'll spare your life!" Lin Qiu said.

Believing he was dead for sure and standing on the very edge of desperation, the fish heard Lin Qiu's words and immediately spilled everything about Battle Tiger, Gu Li, and the Alliance of Secluded Races!

Spineless coward.

In his life, Lin Qiu despised creatures that betrayed their own kind the most. How could he possibly let such a creature live?

The Alliance of Secluded Races? To think they actually dared to reach their hands into the Othershore King City—he would absolutely not let them off easily.

After devouring the spineless fish, Lin Qiu turned back, intending to rush back to the Othershore King City, only to realize he had chased the target a very long distance away.

Hadn't he just fallen for a diversionary tactic?

Sensing danger, Lin Qiu immediately sprinted toward the Othershore King City at full speed.

By the time the Othershore King City came back into Lin Qiu's view, the Prime Minister Turtle and the vanguard squad were already engaging the forces of the Alliance of Secluded Races in fierce combat!

The true power of the Alliance of Secluded Races was being unleashed at this very moment!

The vanguard squad was holding on bitterly. The firepower of the Alliance of Secluded Races, combined with that of the Twenty-Eight Ancient Cities, was simply not something the current vanguard squad could confront head-on!

With his sharp eyes, Lin Qiu immediately spotted the four figures hiding in the back directing the battle. Concealing his presence, he quietly approached them.

"Call off your men right now, or you will directly vanish from this place in the next second."

Lin Qiu's voice echoed in the ears of the four individuals, sending a cold sweat down their spines!

They hadn't even noticed when Lin Qiu had approached them, let alone when he had slipped right up to their sides!

The four of them looked around frantically, but failing to find Lin Qiu's figure, they grew even more panicked.

"Sneaking around like a ghost, too cowardly to show your face!" Battle Tiger shouted.

Lin Qiu was no child; he wouldn't be provoked by such a cheap taunt to reveal himself just like that. Did he not care about his dignity?

His concealment couldn't last much longer. This was a desperate gamble, and he needed to force them to retreat immediately.

"Hah, do you take me for a fool? Stop wasting words. I simply don't want to waste time, otherwise all four of you would stay here permanently today!" Lin Qiu threatened.

They had all witnessed with their own eyes how the previous fish had been reduced to nothingness under Lin Qiu's attack.

Unsure whether Lin Qiu currently possessed some secret weapon or method to instantly eliminate them, and unwilling to take the risk at such close range, they had no choice but to signal a retreat.

When they tried to speak to Lin Qiu again, Lin Qiu had already returned to the vicinity of the Othershore King City.

Taking advantage of their troop withdrawal, Lin Qiu even sneaked around and devoured quite a few fish soldiers.

"Lord City Lord, are you alright?"

Seeing Lin Qiu appear before him without any visible injuries, the Prime Minister Turtle finally lowered his pounding heart.

Returning to the Othershore King City with the Prime Minister Turtle, Lin Qiu reverted to his human form and waved his hand. "I'm fine. The crucial question is, did the vanguard squad suffer any casualties?"

Under such a surprise attack, to say there were zero casualties would be entirely impossible.

However, judging by the Prime Minister Turtle's expression, the losses shouldn't be too severe.

"Rest assured, only a few were heavily injured and are already receiving treatment. There are no fatalities so far," the Prime Minister Turtle said, puffing out his chest with a hint of pride.

Yet, this battle achievement was indeed enough for him to feel proud of.

"Lord City Lord, do you know the origins of those attackers?"

The Prime Minister Turtle asked, harboring an increasingly ominous premonition.

Lin Qiu nodded, his expression turning solemn. "It was a joint attack by the Alliance of Secluded Races and the forces of the Twenty-Eight Ancient Cities."

A surprise attack of this scale was likely nothing more than a tentative appetizer on their part.

"The Alliance of Secluded Races?"

Dou Ming had just finished settling the members of the Nether Fish Clan. Hearing that Lin Qiu and the others had returned, he hurried over to find him.

As he arrived nearby, he happened to hear Lin Qiu mention the Alliance of Secluded Races.

While their Nether Fish Clan could also be considered a secluded race, they had no intention of standing in opposition to the Othershore King City like the others.

Why would the secluded races attack the Nether Fish Clan?

This left Lin Qiu momentarily baffled, but since the attackers used the Nether Fish Clan as an excuse, it was certainly a pretext the Othershore King City could not evade.

Since they had accepted the Nether Fish Clan, Lin Qiu was bound to shoulder the troubles they brought along.

Besides, the Nether Fish Clan was merely an excuse for the Alliance of Secluded Races to pick a fight with him. Even without them, Lin Qiu would have inevitably clashed with these forces sooner or later!

Taking advantage of the seals being not yet fully lifted to blunt the razor-sharp edge of the Alliance of Secluded Races right now was by no means a bad thing!

On the other side, after the four leaders of the alliance retreated in disarray, Battle Tiger suddenly came to a realization.

"Damn it, we fell into his trap again!"

The other three looked at him in confusion.

"If Lin Qiu could truly eliminate us with ease, there would have been zero reason to let us go! We have already formed a deadly blood feud; he must have been completely incapable of finishing us off, which is why he used intimidation to scare us away!"

Battle Tiger was filled with fierce regret. How could he have let himself be intimidated by a mere Lin Qiu?

Yet, matters had already reached this stage, and they had no choice but to regroup and stage a comeback.

"How are our casualties this severe?"

Bi Cang and Gu Li were tallying the returning fish soldiers together. Although they hadn't lost half their forces, how could they accept such a heavy toll in just a matter of a few minutes?

"What were the losses on the Othershore King City's side?" Bi Cang asked.

The leading fish captain had no idea why so many of his soldiers had inexplicably vanished either. "Both our side and their vanguard squad should have suffered practically zero casualties!"