Invasion!

"Come and capture us… Allow me to test the power of the weapons I just forged on you!" Lei Xin thought to himself.

"Everyone! All children and elderly remain in your houses. The adult mermaids will follow me. The 15 armed mermaids will hide in the waters and prepare for an ambush!" Lei Xiu shouted.

"Yes, Island Master!" the mermaids below replied loudly. Everyone knew that this was a battle between life and death. If they lost, the island, themselves, and their beloved Island Master would all be wiped out!

The mermaids followed Lei Xiu's orders and readied themselves.

Lei Xiu led the adult mermaids and split them up into three teams to guard the three water turrets. Then, Lei Xiu spent the remaining gold coins he had on him to build fifteen bows and sets of arrows in the weapon workshop. Each water turret would have five bows accompanied with arrows.

Although the power of the bows were not as strong as the water cannons, they could still cause some damage!

After preparation, Lei Xiu went to one of the water cannon turrets. On the platform, he looked out at the slowly approaching ship with a cold expression.

…

The ship not far away continued advancing. It was completely black, and there were a few skulls hanging on the ship's pole. There were three pitch-black cannon muzzles on the side of the ship, and waves of austere aura emanated from the ship, causing those who saw it to shudder in fear.

There were more than 40 people on the ship, and all of them looked valiant. They were clearly blood thirsty and sought to kill. All of them were gazing upon Mermaid Island and laughing heartily.

"Big Brother! It's there! A few days ago, when I was searching for mermaids, I saw a large school of mermaids heading towards that island!" exclaimed a bald man.

"These mermaids are all very beautiful and have very good figures. If what you said is true, then we'll capture these mermaids and sell them to those meritorious nobles. We won't have to worry about food for the rest of our lives!" the white-bearded man in front of them said with a loud laugh.

"It's absolutely true, Big Brother! The two of them saw it as well!" the bald man pointed at the two people beside him. They were the very three people who had witnessed the large school of mermaids rushing to Mermaid Island the other day.

"Great! When the time comes, we'll sell these mermaids and we won't have to resort to doing such dangerous business anymore. We'll live without a life of fear and trepidation!" the white-bearded man patted the bald man's shoulder and said happily.

Everyone on the ship laughed loudly. They all wanted to escape this endless cycle of putting their lives in danger. Now that they had this opportunity, they were naturally excited.

The ship gradually approached the island amidst their laughter. Living on the seas all year round gave them rich experiences, and so the reefs outside the island did not serve as a great obstacle to them.

Not long after, their ship landed ashore, and the people on board stepped onto the island under the lead of the white-bearded man.

"So many mermaids! We're rich! We're rich!" The group of people were so delighted that they almost cried out loud. Their eyes lit up with excitement.

Lei Xiu and the mermaids watched the enemies as they approached.

"Prepare for battle! Archers, fire! Prepare the water cannons! Open fire!" Lei Xiu ordered loudly.

"Brothers! Our good days are coming! Let's attack!" the white-bearded man shouted excitedly.

Lei Xiu wanted to complete the mission and protect Mermaid Island, while the white-bearded man and his group wanted to fight for their freedom to live good lives. Hence, both sides started attacking.

"Swish… swish… swish…"

Fifteen arrows shot towards the bearded man at an extremely fast speed. After shooting the first shots, the mermaids loaded the next set of arrows and fired. A large rain of arrows whistled over.

"Brothers, be careful!" the white-bearded man warned loudly.

The 40-odd of them were basically all swordsmen. All of them took out their weapons — some whipped out sabers, while others flashed out their swords, another group armed themselves with spears. In the face of the whistling rain of arrows, none of them showed any expression of panic.

All of them were calm as they waved their weapons to block the rain of arrows. The arrows by themselves could not cause any harm to the men. However, there were still ordinary people present amongst these armed men, and they could die in the rain of arrows if shot.

As the bows and arrows were specially made, the impact of the arrows was also very powerful. Some lucky ones managed to keep their bodies intact, while others had their limbs injured by the arrows, but continued to forge ahead.

As the white-bearded man and his gang saw their companions being pierced by arrows and getting killed, their eyes turned bloodshot and anger grew in their hearts.

"Brothers! Kill them! Go back to the ship and bombard them with cannons!" The white-bearded man roared at the sky and gritted his teeth. He rushed to the front of his companions in an attempt to block the rain of arrows. The people who were unarmed also knew that they were useless here, so they ran back to the ship and prepared the ship's cannons to bombard the island.

The cannons on their ship were made of gunpowder and were very powerful. Having been out at sea for many years, these ammunition could not be replenished. Hence, only a few dozen shells were left on the ship, which was also why the men had not planned on using these shells to bombard the island at the beginning.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Rumbling sounds echoed as three cannonballs were fired from the ship towards the island at high speed.

"Let's see if you'll die this time!" The white-bearded man's expression was ferocious. His heart roared, and his hands did not stop slashing the rain of arrows.

The water cannon turrets on the side of Lei Xiu had also gathered enough strength. With three loud bangs, three water cannonballs collided with those from the ship.

Deafening sounds came from the sky as small mushroom clouds rose from the point of collision!

"What! They actually have turrets!" the white-bearded man shouted as he looked at the collision in shock.

All the men were equally astonished because they had never thought that mermaids would have such turrets and high-quality weapons.

"Take aim at that ship!" Lei Xiu ordered. He could also tell that the shells on that ship were more threatening. Very soon, there was another loud boom, and a water cannonball blasted towards the ship with great power.

"Quick… quick! Fill up the ammunition!" The people on the ship shouted in panic as they saw the water cannonball flying closer towards them. The people on the ship hurriedly filled up the ammunition, and a boom sounded. A cannonball shot out from the muzzle and collided with the incoming water cannonball.

Mushroom clouds rose in the sky. On the side of Lei Xiu and the mermaids, they had once again accumulated enough energy to launch another set of water cannonballs. On the other hand, the people on the ship also hurriedly filled their ammunition and fired away.

Just like that, loud explosions continued to roar in the sky. Mushroom clouds rose, and the battle became even more intense.

A series of explosions drowned out the shouts of the people fighting below.

…

Lei Xiu was very anxious because every time a water cannonball was fired. Apart from the very first ones that they fired, every subsequent water cannonball required five gold coins to accumulate energy.

Similarly, the people on the ship were also equally anxious because they did not have much ammunition left. Furthermore, they did not know how much ammunition the other party had.

Both sides continued attacking each other. After a while, the ammunition on the ship was used up. The men's faces were filled with despair as they watched the water turrets on the island accumulating energy.

The army of men onshore had been broken up by the rain of arrows during this period of time. Despite being swordsmen, there were times when they were exhausted and careless, causing the white-bearded man's party to lose more than ten men. On the other side, the arrows were also almost down to zero after such a long time of firing.

"You guys don't have bows and arrows anymore, right? Hahahahaha…" the white-bearded man had been expecting the next shower of arrows, but alas, there was none. This meant that the other party had exhausted all of their arrows.

From the moment the men set foot on this island, they had been suppressed by Lei Xiu and the mermaid archers. As the other party were attacking from high up with so many arrows, the men had no chance to counterattack, and could only passively defend. As a result, they had lost more than ten people. Now that their chance to counterattack was here, none of them knew the impending predicament that their ship was about to encounter!

A boom echoed. The water turrets on the side of Lei Xiu and the mermaids had accumulated their energy. A water cannonball blasted towards the ship as usual. The white-bearded man was already numb to the sound. He looked at the sky where the cannonballs from each side would have collided.

But now, this cannonball from the island flew past directly overhead and aimed straight for the ship!

"This… this is impossible!" The white-bearded man cried out in shock as he witnessed the cannonball flying past with no obstacles in its way. His body went soft and his face was full of disbelief.

The water cannonball quickly collided with the hull of the ship, and created a huge hole immediately. Seawater flooded in endlessly, but this was not the end. The water cannonball exploded the moment it landed, and the energy vibrations emanating from it spread out in all directions.

Even though the ship was made out of a special type of wood, it still disintegrated inch by inch under the powerful energy. The bodies of the men on the ship also shattered under the energy ripples, and death was brought upon them.

Soon after, the ship was submerged by the endless seawater and sank to the depths of the sea.

"No!" The white-bearded man roared as his eyes turned bloodshot, and dejection written all over his face. The other men watched as their ship slowly disintegrated before them with their eyes wide open and trembling bodies. All of them had lost the will to fight.

"Sisters! Charge!" At this moment, Mo Nian and the rest of the fifteen mermaids, who had been lying in ambush in the water, saw that the invaders had lost their fighting spirit. The mermaids sprung out of the water, ready to give the men a head-on blow!