The battle was at its end, everyone inside the tournament knew it, everyone watching from the outside knew it as well. It was just that no one was expecting the finishing blow to come from the military aircraft of the Vesper faction. Previously, the Forever Pirates focused on taking down the ships, as they were completely surrounded by them at this point. Though they were not exactly a threat, escape would be a lot more difficult if there were obstacles in their way.

Fighters, bombers, and the Boeings, on the other hand, were not a huge priority originally, but if Madam Zheng knew what they carried, that would be a much different story. The fighters guarded the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that were in the sky from being taken down. Thus, the B-29s were able to get close enough to the surrounded pirates and unload its cargo.

This was the gift that the mysterious lady had given to Zheng He, master of the Vesper faction. As such, this was the reason that both of them were so completely sure that the Forever Pirates would have no way of retaliating once they were hit with the secret weapon. The surprise was an atomic bomb, the exact kind that was used in the WW2 bombing of Hiroshima. Also nicknamed the “Little Boy”.

Once the Little Boy was unleashed onto the Pirates as well as some Vesper forces, everyone knew it was over. Such a huge blast would have decimated everything in a few kilometers of the drop site. not to mention those who were sitting right under it. The Forever Pirates did not stand a chance against such a weapon, heck, they had not even seen one used before, much less having a plan to counterattack it. This essentially concluded the naval portion of the tournament and everyone who had not perished from the atomic bomb was transported out. Celebrating their win.

Madam Zheng and the rest of her group were shocked at the events that took place. They had fought for months with the Vesper faction in this one tournament alone. How did they lose in such a despicable way? But, they did lose, and there was nothing that they could do to change that fact. It did not come down tactics that won out, in the end, it was the enemy’s superior technology that allowed them to win. To think, that they spent so much time only to get this result, they were all understandably upset.

The award ceremony for the naval tournament would be in a couple of days, but Madam Zheng did not plan on waiting for that day to come to act upon her suspicions. Zheng He had mentioned in the final battle that there was one of her pirates that had temporary control of his forces. Usually, she would just brush it off, but not today.

The tactics and maneuvers stunk of her handiwork, and could only be used if one had multiple years of training under their belt. No one would be able to get to that degree of proficiency with just a few years of training. That meant that there was at least one elder within her ranks that was helping out Zheng He. She intended to find that person and personally kick them out.

She had an internal investigation done on many of her advisors, elders, inner circle members, and various other high ranking personnel. Of course, her two husbands were exempted from such operations, she trusted them with her life, and not just because their marriage extended past death. Originally, she already had her suspicions, but after this internal review, she was more than certain of who was behind these actions.

Not only the incident in the tournament, but also a bit of corruption that was present within her faction that was also tied with these people. Under normal circumstances, she would have given them a warning plus a punishment and let them return to their position, but ever since she had come to planet 4, she had been pretty lax on her subordinates. Therefore, she had to make an example out of those that sought to profit from her under her watchful eye.

Thus, under watch from all of the important figures of the Forever Pirates that were present, she made an absolute example of what would await those who had greater ambitions. Everyone who was present, if they didn’t before, now knew that Madam Zheng was no saint. Those who served her would be rewarded, and those who went against her didn’t be very sorry they did.

These few that had betrayed her had been made an example of, but that would not deter all of them. For the first time in the history of her existence as a pirate, she rewarded those who could produce results very handsomely, so handsomely, she hoped, that no one would even think about betraying her.

After all of those few days of madness and a large degree of internal changes, the Forever Pirates emerged from their headquarters stronger and even more united than before. Though this was a temporary change, the air they had about themselves were now a bit nobler. They all got themselves to the award ceremony that was being hosted by Li Guang, but not before Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge were able to have a little chat with Baron about what had gone down in the tournament.

(BM) “So how was it? How did you feel after fighting such a battle?” Baron discussed with Zi Bo and Zi Ji Ge while they were getting some drinks.

(ZJG) “It was quite a difficult battle, I perished before they dropped the atomic bomb right on top of us, but my brother Zi Bo did not.” Zi Ji Ge said.

(ZB) “Well, it was quite an experience, you could say. I had never fought for my life in such a drastic way, and the way that the Vesper forces seemed to use a whole array of tactics to defeat us, really blew my mind.” Zi Bo answered.