Chapter 638: Sea Beast Tide 6
"The death toll is down to three a week but..." Ying Yi frowned.
In his opinion, three a week was still too many.
After all, the Zhenyue archipelago originally didn’t have many residents.
If each outpost had such a death toll and the sea beasts’ tide continued for more than a year, they would lose close to two thousand people each year.
With such a death toll, the Zhenyue archipelago would soon become an empty fortress.
Thinking of this, Ying Yi began to pore over the reports.
An incense stick later, his eyes narrowed and his right middle finger subconsciously tapped on the table.
"Poison." He muttered.
After the initial loss when the level three sea beasts first appeared, all ten outposts implemented the puppet strategy.
As a result, everything happened as predicted.
Although the coordination between people and puppets was a little dicey at the beginning, everything worked out and the Zhenyue archipelago managed a counterattack.
Unfortunately, puppets could not protect human cultivators from poisonous sea beasts.
"We have detoxification pills that can eliminate most poisons. However, these pills do not work on rare poisons." Ying Yi said with a thoughtful expression.
’We need a better way of dealing with poisons.’ He thought and reached for a communication image stone, preparing to call the other Ying guards.
However, before he could, he heard a loud buzz.
Without hesitation, Ying Yi shifted his focus and took out his communication pendant.
Less than sixty breaths later, the man stood up and rushed out of his room.
"What’s the matter?" Ying Yi asked when he met Jiang Han.
"I have just received a message from the watch tower. Three level five ships are flying towards the Zhenyue archipelago." Jiang Han said with a solemn expression.
"Flying from the mainland or from the deeper seas?"
"Mainland."
"Which island are they heading to?"
"It’s not clear yet."
After that, Jiang Han and Ying Yi went to the watchtower.
Like Jiang Han said, it was unclear which island the three ships were targeting.
However, the two didn’t take the ships lightly.
After all, it was the middle of a sea beasts’ tide!
Who in their right mind would choose to go to sea at this time?
Thinking this way, Ying Yi contacted the other Ying guards.
"Should we inform young master Yu and young master Jiang?" Ying Qi asked as soon as the communication connected.
"They should already know." Ying Yi said with a confident look.
"In that case..." Ying Wu started and Ying Yi nodded.
"Since they know but haven’t contacted us, it means they want us to handle the matter."
"What if they want refuge?" Ying San asked but other Ying guards looked at him like he was out of his mind.
"They left the mainland to seek refuge in the Zhenyue archipelago? The Zhenyue archipelago which is smack in the middle of the sea beasts’ tide?" Ying Ba asked, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
Hearing that, Ying San chuckled in embarrassment.
"They could be reinforcements." Ying Si said.
"Did anyone call for reinforcements?" Ying Ju asked.
"I didn’t."
"Neither did I."
"Why would we call for reinforcements when young master Yu and young master Jiang are on the archipelago?"
"There is also senior Ao Tian, senior Xiaolan, and the puppets."
Ying Yi narrowed his eyes when he heard none of the Ying guards called for help.
"Maye someone is trying to take advantage of the sea beast tide." He said.
"Eldest brother, what do you mean?" Ying Liu asked.
"Because of the sea beasts’ tide, young master Jiang deactivated the illusion formation surrounding the archipelago. It’s likely someone wants to take advantage of the sea beasts’ tide to explore the so-called fog sea."
"How should we deal with the situation?" Ying Shi asked.
"Although the strangers are suspicious, don’t let them distract you from the sea beasts’ tide. We are already losing more people than we can afford." Ying Yi reminded with a solemn look.
When he saw that everyone understood, he continued.
"We don’t know which island the ships will target or the purpose of those people’s visit. Regardless, we must all be vigilant."
"First, we must all recall our people. Let everyone retreat into the formations until we know what those ships are about."
"Second, we must be ready to activate the guardian formations at any time. Speaking of formations, it has been four months since the sea beasts tide began. Are your guardian formations still intact?"
"My outpost’s formation is intact." Ying San volunteered.
"Mine is also fine. No problems whatsoever." Ying Ba said.
"Young master Jiang arranged the formations. They shouldn’t be damaged for a long time."
"Mine is also..."
After hearing all the formations were still in good condition, Ying Yi continued.
"Whoever goes out to meet the three ships should be well prepared. Ride a level-five flying ship and activate the protective formation. You should also bring an appropriate number of puppets."
"Understood." The Ying guards said.
Just then, Ying Er received a message and hurriedly stood up.
"They are heading to my outpost." He said while walking.
"How many?" Ying Yi asked.
"Ten nascent soul realm cultivators, one hundred and thirty core formation realm cultivators, and two hundred and fifty-nine origin tempering cultivators."
"What a big force." Ying Liu narrowed his eyes.
"It’s almost equal to the total number of higher realm cultivators in a big force like the Cangxing sect."
"Second brother, do you need help?" Ying Wu asked, ready to head to the second outpost.
However, Ying Er was not a soft persimmon.
Although he was mild-tempered and looked easy to deal with, that was just a façade.
After all, Yu Nianzhen personally trained the Ying guards.
How could any of them be easy to deal with?
By the time the three ships entered the one-hundred-metre range of the second outpost, Ying Er was ready.
Not only had his people retreated into the formation but he had also arranged the welcoming party.
Before the three ships approached any closer, five, level five ships flew out of the second outpost.
