Chapter Sixty-One: Dog's Head!

Over an hour later, the massive waves from the explosion finally subsided, and the sea gradually returned to calm. Yang Ye stood on the deck of the Sky Patrol, gazing through binoculars at the distant coast of Fusang.

Directly ahead, Yokohama Harbor billowed with thick smoke, and on the nearby waters, apart from the Sky Patrol, not a single hunting vessel remained. The Huaxia military’s sweep was thorough and merciless.

Huaxia fighter jets, returning from their mission, swept low overhead. With Yang Ye’s keen eyesight, he could even make out the pilots in their cockpits saluting the Sky Patrol.

“These show-offs…” Yang Ye chuckled, picked up the radio, and ordered the Sky Patrol to increase speed.

After the fighter jets departed, five anti-submarine patrol planes arrived, circling the Sky Patrol to guard against Fusang submarines. Though Yang Ye had assured Tanaka that matters beneath the waves need not concern the military, Tanaka dispatched the planes just in case.

“Splash! Splash!” With the order given, Yang Ye and Long Xiaoqing leapt into the sea.

Once in the water, Long Xiaoqing shed her mortal form, transforming into a colossal dragon dozens of meters long. After storing Long Xiaoqing’s wooden body in his storage ring, Yang Ye seated himself atop her dragon head.

With a flick of her tail, Long Xiaoqing joyfully circled the Sky Patrol several times before turning toward Fusang. She was unaware that her playful circling had startled Captain Wei Yong and the entire crew in the cockpit.

...

“Husband, there’s something ahead!” After swimming dozens of nautical miles in one breath, Long Xiaoqing’s voice suddenly echoed in Yang Ye’s mind.

“Go check it out!” Without weapons on land or sea, the only threat to the Sky Patrol now lay beneath the waves—submarines.

Soon, a submarine over a hundred meters long appeared before Yang Ye, several hundred meters away. It was slowly cruising, blocking the Sky Patrol’s path.

“Xiaoqing, don’t get close! Be careful, the submarine may be loaded with explosives.” Yang Ye immediately warned her. He knew the ruthless nature of Fusang’s people—such tactics were entirely possible.

Long Xiaoqing laughed, “Don’t worry, even without approaching, I have ways to deal with it.”

With that, she spun around, coiling her body and swiftly rotating. The surrounding seawater churned with her movements, spinning ever faster.

The rapidly swirling water soon formed a massive whirlpool.

---

The whirlpool grew larger, its rotation accelerating. Before long, a colossal whirlpool several kilometers wide had formed on the sea’s surface, stirring water across dozens of miles.

The Fusang submarine, caught too close, was ensnared by the whirlpool and began spinning with the water.

“Ha! Let’s go!” Long Xiaoqing cried out in delight, darting away from the spinning waters.

“Xiaoqing, you’re brilliant!” Yang Ye clutched his head with a wry smile, dizzy from Long Xiaoqing’s whirlwind.

On the surface, Captain Wei Yong immediately ordered the Sky Patrol to change course upon seeing the sudden gigantic whirlpool ahead. Even a massive ship like theirs would struggle to escape if caught.

Suddenly—

A thunderous boom erupted from the depths. The whirlpool vanished, and the sea roiled violently.

It turned out the Fusang submarine, spun by the vortex, had crashed into the seabed, detonating part of its onboard explosives. Compared to the hundreds of tons of high explosives carried by the ships, this blast was feeble.

Once again, the Sky Patrol faced towering waves.

Beneath the surface, Fusang’s submarines were not alone. Long Xiaoqing used the same method, eliminating them one by one.

In these waters, Long Xiaoqing was an invincible force.

Over three hours later, the Sky Patrol drew near the harbor. By then, Yang Ye and Long Xiaoqing had returned to the ship. All submarines and sea mines beneath the waves had been cleared.

Over two hundred cultivators, weapons in hand, used star power to stride across the undulating sea, landing on Fusang soil.

Once ashore, the Sky Patrol traced a U-shaped path through the harbor, swiftly departing. To remain here would be to serve as a living target for Fusang’s defenders.

“Rat-tat-tat…” Even before their feet were steady, gunfire erupted throughout the harbor. Some heavy artillery, missed in the earlier bombardment, also opened fire.

---

Amidst the hail of bullets and shrapnel, Yang Ye and Long Xiaoqing led the two hundred cultivators in a scattered assault.

In less than ten minutes, every Fusang gunman was slain. They were mere ordinary men—no cultivators among them.

Yang Ye knew that, following the Huaxia bombardment and the appearance of the Sky Patrol, all Fusang cultivators had been recalled by the emperor to defend Kyoto.

In the Third World War, Fusang suffered devastating losses: the island of Shikoku sank, half of Kyushu was flooded, and Hokkaido became barren, leaving only the Kyoto region—fortified during the war—as habitable for humans.

Yokohama’s port was close to Kyoto, and after clearing the harbor resistance, Yang Ye’s group sped toward the ancient city.

At this moment, the world’s attention was riveted on the sudden outbreak of war.

With the rise of cultivators and the abolition of armies across nations, Huaxia’s military operation against Fusang was the greatest of the past century.

Regardless of its outcome, this campaign would be chronicled in the military textbooks of every nation.

Just as the Gulf War, long ago, had left its mark, this war would profoundly influence future generations.

...

At the gates of Kyoto’s imperial palace, Kawayama Jue knelt in despair, casting a hopeless glance at the shadowed halls.

Drawing his short blade from his waist, he plunged it into his abdomen and, gritting his teeth, carved a cross. Blood and viscera poured forth.

With a swift swing, a Fusang samurai behind him decapitated Kawayama Jue.

He had served merely as a liaison for this operation, but after its failure, all blame fell upon him. Those who commanded him—cultivators of stellar rank—would never pay the price.

Within the palace, in a chamber adorned with ancient, mysterious charm, Emperor Nine Origins knelt upon a mat, hands pressed together in prayer before a statue of a beast with a dog’s head and human body.

It was because of this statue that Yang Ye called the Fusang people “Fusang Dogs”—a moniker that fit all too well.

Emperor Nine Origins knew that the cultivators gathered within the palace could not possibly resist Ye Tianzu and his companions. Thus, he had to seek the support of the Guardian.

Suddenly, the dog-headed statue swiveled, its gaze settling on Emperor Nine Origins, and its eyes emitted a pale blue glow.

Seeing the statue come to life, Emperor Nine Origins smiled and exhaled in relief.