Chapter 99

**Seeking all kinds of recommendations and member clicks!**

Although Lin Qing, out of compassion, revealed his plan to Li Huamei a bit earlier, he was very skilled at taking advantage of any opportunity to benefit himself. He cunningly made a request to Li Huamei.

"However, the only difficult part is," he smiled, "Mr. Crawford might not agree to this. I need to persuade him. The fee for this favor..."

He rubbed his fingers together, looking like a money-hungry person.

Originally, Li Huamei, who was somewhat confused by Lin Qing's actions, was puzzled about what Richard Huisen was up to and why he had suddenly decided to help her, but in the end, it was still about money!

Her expression turned cold, but she felt relieved inside.

As the saying goes, "No one gets up early without profit." If Richard Huisen had a selfless and considerate attitude, she would be more worried and even reject his proposal. This kind of person, who asks for money, is better for business, with no debts owed to each other.

"Alright, how much do you want?" Li Huamei asked with interest.

"Let me think. How about a ten percent commission? Ten percent of the profit!" Lin Qing made a bold demand.

Yang Xien angrily said, "You don't do anything, just talk, and you want ten percent of the profit? Impossible!"

Lin Qing retorted, "No, no! General, I must say, some key and scarce resources are just that valuable. We are in a commodity economy. Without enough benefits, even Admiral Li wouldn't believe I would work so hard for long, right?"

"True!" Li Huamei decisively agreed, "I accept."

Lin Qing could get a ten percent commission from the trade between the Li family's chamber of commerce and Crawford. Honestly, although the total amount was not small, it was still a minor gain for Lin Qing. However, any opportunity to earn money, he wouldn't let go. Besides, if he refused, Li Huamei wouldn't trust him.

From the trade volume of the Li family's fleet, even a ten percent profit was very substantial.

Dinner ended.

Lin Qing returned to his room and immediately wrote a letter to Crawford.

Crawford's attitude towards this matter was actually ambiguous, entirely depending on how Lin Qing presented it.

Lin Qing was very clear about the psychology of these powerful figures.

In his letter, he emphasized only one point: the Li family's chamber of commerce was at the end of its rope, almost unable to make ends meet.

This was actually a strange statement.

As an Englishman, why would Crawford care if the Li family couldn't make ends meet? If it were an ordinary person, like Espinosa in Africa, he might have laughed heartily.

But Lin Qing knew that Crawford was not an ordinary person.

He was a vulture, a vulture with a global perspective.

His ambition was to bring all seven seas under the glory of the British flag!

The wealthy Ming Dynasty, naturally, was within his greedy gaze.

Otherwise, why would Crawford, whose sphere of influence was in Africa and Europe, send himself to Li Huamei to act as an intermediary between him, Britain, and the court?

This was proof of his foresight.

In fact, in the end, Crawford received a substantial reward—he almost used Richard's betrayal to control Hangzhou and overthrow Li Huamei.

Lin Qing's logic was very clear.

If Crawford did not agree to this trade, the Li family would eventually collapse.

Who would benefit from this?

Certainly not Crawford, who was far away in Africa and had not yet extended his reach into East Asia!

But the nearby Raimu family would!

Once the Li family's chamber of commerce was squeezed out, the Raimu family would have no rivals and would dominate East Asia.

Would this be in Crawford's and Britain's interests?

Obviously not.

Therefore, Crawford had some motivation to help the Li family's chamber of commerce, which was at a significant disadvantage and on the brink of bankruptcy.

At the very least, it would create a situation where China and Japan were in opposition, mutually restraining each other. Once he defeated Espinosa in Africa and advanced into Southeast Asia, he could then enter East Asia and reap the benefits.

Lin Qing's suggestion was quickly responded to by Crawford.

He agreed with Lin Qing's proposal, but as Lin Qing had predicted, he required the trade to take place in Malacca and to be conducted as a barter trade.

This would maximize his own benefits, while the Li family's gains would be limited. After all, Crawford only wanted to help Li Huamei against the Raimu family, not to make her truly powerful.

Lin Qing calculated the Li family's gains and nodded in satisfaction.

This gain would neither make the Li family truly powerful nor allow them to survive for long, which was a good outcome for Lin Qing.

He would also receive a substantial benefit.

Lin Qing received a notification.

"Due to your advice, the Li family's fleet has obtained the opportunity to trade directly with Crawford."

"Your contribution to the Li family's chamber of commerce has increased by 10 points, reaching 20 points."

"You have gained Li Huamei's respect, and her goodwill towards you has increased by 10 points, now at -15 points."

Lin Qing chuckled.

But at that moment, he suddenly heard a loud explosion!

Lin Qing was violently thrown into the air and crashed to the ground, unable to move.

"What's happening? Is there a sea monster?" Lin Qing looked out the window.

He saw that the entire Li family fleet was engulfed in flames!

At that moment, dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and on the pitch-black horizon, flashes of light appeared, like the fierce eyes of giant beasts in the darkness, followed by sharp whistles.

Then, a loud explosion echoed through the Li family fleet, and a ship was hit, catching fire and exploding.

It was a cannon attack!

This was an enemy attack!

The Li family fleet reacted quickly, with sharp alarm gongs sounding throughout the fleet. The sailors, well-trained, took their positions. The assault captain led the sailors to form ranks on the deck, their gleaming curved swords whistling as they swung. The cannon ports of the firing platforms were adjusted, and they fired retaliatory shots at the distant enemy ships, spewing vengeful flames.

Bang! Bang!

Boom!

A ship over two kilometers away was hit by a single cannon shot!

Lin Qing was stunned.

He knew this was likely James' doing.

This kind of range and accuracy was not scientific, right?

But with the help of the flashes of light, Lin Qing could see clearly.

With James' miraculous aim, in the brief flashes of light, Lin Qing saw the approaching enemy.

Ugly warships, like black turtles, were lurking in the darkness a kilometer away, their red lights flickering like the greedy eyes of giant beasts, ready to devour the Li family fleet in the darkness.

They were the Raimu family's ironclad ships!

"Damn! Why would the Raimu family attack the Li family without Sanjo Shinji informing me?" Lin Qing was both shocked and angry.

"Boom!" A 40-pound solid shot cannonball exploded on Lin Qing's cabin wall, like a hammer of Thor, smashing into the hull of the large Chinese sailing ship. The powerful impact, even with the added iron plating, could not withstand the blast, and the wall was penetrated!

Lin Qing, just recovering from the shock, was again dazed by the impact, his ears ringing, and blood trickling from his nose.

He was both shocked and angry, receiving a notification: "You have been hit by cannon fire."

"Cannon fire causes area splash damage, and anyone within the blast radius may be injured."

"You have taken 12 points of damage and are in a 2-second stun."

Fortunately, the accuracy of the ship's cannons at this time was low, making it difficult to cause continuous damage.

However, even so, Lin Qing was scared cold.

Solid shot cannonballs were mainly aimed at ships, with strong impact and armor-piercing capabilities. If they were shrapnel shells, Lin Qing estimated that his 60 health points, even with the damage reduction from his bulletproof vest, would not be enough to survive!

He would be instantly killed!

Thinking of this, a chill ran through Lin Qing's heart.

The most feared world for adventurers was not the martial arts world of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," but the large-scale war settings of World War II and the Age of Exploration. A single cannonball could kill anyone, no matter how powerful they were, making them unjustly dead without a place to appeal.

The Huachen, as the flagship, was the primary target of the Japanese ironclad fleet. In the previous volley, it was hit by three cannonballs, with two areas catching fire. Fortunately, the mast was not hit, or the ship's speed would have been greatly reduced. Xing Jiu was organizing the sailors to carry buckets of water to extinguish the fires and repair the damaged areas.

James was operating the cannons, launching a fierce counterattack on the ironclad ships.

His accuracy was extremely high, far beyond the single-digit hit rate of cannons in this era, even in daylight, let alone in the dark.

But the leading ironclad ship kept firing, indicating successful attacks.

It was futile.

With the help of the continuous flashes of light, Lin Qing could see clearly that the ironclad ships were advancing towards the Li family fleet with overwhelming momentum.

Because they were ironclad ships!

Ironclad ships were equipped with an additional layer of iron plating on the outer hull, enhancing their protection to the level of a turtle shell.

These warships, at the cost of reduced range and cargo capacity, had their durability and defense raised to the highest level. The conditions for their construction were extremely strict, and it was evident that the Raimu family had meticulously developed the ports in Nagasaki and other Japanese ports, raising their development and armament levels to a very high degree, surpassing Hangzhou comprehensively.

This strong overall strength was manifested on the battlefield as invincible combat power!

Even under the fierce and accurate continuous cannon fire from the Li family's flagship Huachen, equipped with the Dragon King statue and James, the enemy's ironclad ships still advanced like iron-headed wolves, viciously closing in while launching fierce attacks on the disorganized Li family fleet.

Lin Qing took a deep breath.

The surprise attack tonight was very unexpected and sudden.

It was clear that Sanjo Shinji did not trust him, the killer of the Hong Gang!

He chose to act alone, using the Raimu family's invincible ironclad fleet to launch a devastating surprise attack on the Li family fleet!

...

**Page Flip AD Starts**

**Page Flip AD Ends**