Mythical Three Kingdoms-Chapter 1702 - 1625: The Empire Never Plays Nice (2)

Things like Inner Qi Manifestation sound terrifying, but for an empire, possessing only thirty or forty such experts would hardly qualify it as an empire. Even Parthia, which is currently being pressed by Rome, isn't too weak in this regard.

Even the Northern Huns, who have been dead for over a hundred years, relying on the foundation and fate of an empire, can accumulate nearly a double-digit number of Inner Qi Manifestations, and among them, five even possess Legion Talent. This illustrates the vast discrepancy between a typical small country and an empire.

Gan Ning retreated north along the Malay Peninsula, which was, of course, an inevitable choice, given the enormous disparity in strength between the two sides. Even a splendid naval commander like Gan Ning couldn't bridge this gap.

If it were another commander in such a situation, they might choose a battle to the death, leading to the complete destruction of the fleet and personnel, but Gan Ning, despite his apparent foolishness, wouldn't do so at all.

Gan Ning knows well that the people he leads are far more important than the so-called warships and face. Though Liu Bei, who possesses core technology, manages to build less than a hundred warships annually due to foundational limitations, a suitable naval commander under Liu Bei's rule is only him.

If Gan Ning were to perish, Liu Bei's navy would be practically decimated. As for retraining the navy, that's a joke; even if Gan Ning never speaks of it, he knows well that for the Northerners, training a navy is more challenging than training cavalry.

Therefore, should Gan Ning and his marines be annihilated, Liu Bei's war for Central Plains unification would be delayed by at least three years. Although Gan Ning often boasts in front of Chen Xi about his unparalleled naval command skills, Gan Ning knows himself.

Gan Ning's conduct is merely to instill confidence in his subordinates and various civil and military officials. In reality, after the naval battle on the Yangtze River, Gan Ning realized that, at the same level, he was definitely not a match for Zhou Yu in naval battles.

What's more terrifying is that, after that single encounter, Gan Ning inexplicably feels Zhou Yu might be the genius naval commander born for naval battle he had always imagined. During the Yangtze River battle, had it not been for the superior large ships, he might not have escaped defeat even if he got away alive.

Since taking to the sea, Gan Ning has never encountered a naval commander superior to Zhou Yu. Frankly, Gan Ning even knows that if he and his marines were eradicated, Liu Xuande's ambition for Eastern Wu would be finished.

If Zhou Yu could deploy a hundred thousand marines to block the Yangtze River, Gan Ning believes nobody else in the world today could manage a challenging fight. So, he absolutely cannot die!

"Retreat!" Gan Ning shouted, delivering the latest orders. He had already seen the Kushan Fleet pursuing in full force from behind, an unstoppable mighty force.

Gan Ning's marines were desperately unleashing their full potential, squeezing every bit of physical strength within themselves to regain the northern direction faster, while everyone understood that the Kushan Fleet behind was a completely different level of combat power.

"Is this what an empire... is like?" Taishi Ci stood at the stern, watching the mighty Kushan Fleet behind, feeling a chill in his heart. For the first time, he had grasped the concept of an empire, which also birthed a yearning for his country.

"We got ourselves into a mess, hahaha." Gan Ning suddenly laughed as he spoke.

"Can you still laugh?" Taishi Ci looked at Gan Ning, speechless.

"Should I cry?" Gan Ning remained carefree, "Don't worry, I've checked their speed and it seems a bit slower than ours. Continuing like this, they'll lose us in at most a day. Equipping more acceleration equipment is indeed meaningful for staying alive."

"But we've stirred up big trouble this time." Taishi Ci said with a wry smile, "If Kushan learns we've destroyed their navy, they might not rest until we're dead. I never imagined a navy could be this enormous."

"Hey, doesn't it also mean that one day our navy can reach such a level?" Gan Ning was still hopeful for the future.

"Hey, you guys still have time to talk about these things. Haven't you noticed that the enemy's fleet on the left is accelerating?" Guann Hai said with a wry smile, also shocked by the opposing power.

"..." Gan Ning squinted, looking at Kushan's left wing fleet of about thirty ships, his expression solemn. He saw not only collective defense on the enemy's warships but also the radiance of Legion Talent.

To be honest, it's the first time since setting out to sea that Gan Ning has witnessed an enemy possessing Legion Talent. Even Gan Ning himself knows what it means, as he's somewhat frightened.

As for Legion Attack, frankly speaking, by simply observing the almost materialized collective defense of the Kushan Fleet, Gan Ning and Taishi Ci knew their own Legion Attack would be utterly ineffective against the tens of thousands of troops.

Such enormous military force, combined with Cloud Qi, Military Formation, and defense formations, constituted nearly invincible defensive power for this fleet, making it a super fleet capable of navigating storms with no adversaries on the current seas.

"Legion Talent, huh?" Gan Ning squinted as he spoke, "Looks like a battle is inevitable. Let's activate Legion Talent, accelerate the fleet further, increase distance with that fleet, and then annihilate the opposition."