Tie Niaofei bowed properly and withdrew, returning to his own small courtyard with the humility of a man who had just sold someone a dream and was now preparing the receipt.
The moment he vanished, Huang Yunfa's face shed its courtesy.
Suspicion settled in like a familiar coat.
A trusted subordinate stepped forward. "Master," he said carefully, "I don't believe him. Hundreds of muskets? A pack of runaway blacksmiths couldn't pull that off even if they hammered day and night."
Huang Yunfa nodded slowly. "I never said I believed him."
His fingers tapped the armrest. Once. Twice.
"Let him perform," he continued coolly. "When the goods arrive, you inspect them. Until then, he gets nothing from me. I've eaten too many traps to mistake bait for meat."
From his perch, Dao Xuan Tianzun heard every word.
He almost approved.
Good, Li Daoxuan thought. A predator who doubts is more interesting than one who rushes.
Tie Niaofei returned to his courtyard and was just about to issue orders when a familiar, calm voice interrupted him.
"No need to send messengers," Dao Xuan Tianzun said evenly. "Qichuan Ferry will already know. A ship will be dispatched shortly. You only need to arrange a place for inspection."
Tie Niaofei froze for half a breath—then smiled.
"As expected of Dao Xuan Tianzun."
Qichuan Ferry, Heyang County
Within a crescent-shaped backwater, ships lay packed together like resting beasts.
As Bai Yuan trained more captains and sailors, Dao Xuan Tianzun had quietly placed more and more ship models into the box. Gunboats. Cargo vessels. Medium transports.
The ferry no longer looked like a village wharf.
It looked like a future.
At that moment, Bai Yuan and Young Master Bai were circling a newly placed "merchant ship."
In the real world, it was eight centimeters long.
In the box, it had become a sixteen-meter vessel—solid, wide-bellied, empty inside like an unanswered question.
Young Master Bai ran his hand along the deck. "Father, there's space here. If I redesign the frame, I think we can install a steam engine."
Bai Yuan's eyes lit up. "Excellent! The Heavenly Lord left this ship without divine propulsion. I was wondering how we'd manage it without turning sailors into draft animals."
Before they could say more, gasps erupted from the docks.
"Greetings, Tianzun!"
The militia knelt in waves.
The silicone Dao Xuan Tianzun stepped down from the fortress platform, waving casually. "You've worked hard."
Bai Yuan and his son immediately straightened.
Orders were coming.
Dao Xuan Tianzun stopped before them, posture slightly crooked, voice calm.
"Take an oar-powered ship. Load two hundred and fifty smoothbore muskets. Send it to Gudu Ferry."
Bai Yuan didn't hesitate. "Your divine decree shall be obeyed."
Young Master Bai blinked. "Why oars? A divine ship would be faster."
"And why smoothbores?" Bai Yuan added. "Shouldn't we send rifled muskets? Or even Chassepot rifles? We've begun small-scale production—"
"No," Dao Xuan Tianzun said flatly. "No rifling. No ammunition. Only the oldest smoothbores."
Both men froze.
They didn't understand.
They didn't need to.
Orders were orders.
The empty-framed merchant ship was chosen. Workers swarmed aboard, carrying muskets from the armory. Two hundred and fifty of them piled together like stacked coffins of iron and wood.
An ugly pile.
A convincing pile.
Dozens of sailors were assigned to row.
To men accustomed to divine engines and gunboat escorts, this felt… humiliating.
Primitive.
But no one complained.
To escort this painfully ordinary vessel, Bai Yuan dispatched three gunboats, bristling with thirty-six cannons.
The contrast was obscene.
Three Days Later — Hedong Circuit
Tie Niaofei stood before Huang Yunfa once more.
"The firearms are ready," he said calmly. "Two hundred and fifty. But they cannot enter the city. If officials see them, they'll call it rebellion before you can blink."
Huang Yunfa waved a hand.
A subordinate stepped forward.
"He will inspect them," Huang Yunfa said. "If the goods are real, we'll talk."
Tie Niaofei nodded. "Then we go to Dayu Ferry."
Huang Yunfa's brows lifted slightly.
Dayu Ferry was a major hub. Government-controlled. Busy. Visible.
Too visible.
Tie Niaofei chuckled. "The ship won't dock there. We'll take a small boat upstream."
The explanation was messy.
Which made it believable.
Huang Yunfa nodded. "Go."
They rode hard.
At Dayu Ferry, Huang Yunfa's boat was already waiting. They boarded and pushed upstream more than ten li before spotting it.
A medium-sized ship.
Sixteen meters long.
Quiet.
Tie Niaofei pointed. "There."
As they drew alongside, Huang Yunfa's subordinate noticed the crew.
Sun-darkened skin. Calloused hands. The posture of men born on water.
They watched silently.
No smiles.
No greetings.
The subordinate's stomach tightened—but reason prevailed. No one would go this far just to kill me.
He climbed aboard.
Lifted the tarp.
And froze.
Muskets.
So many muskets.
Layer upon layer.
Enough to arm a regiment.
His breath caught.
"…So many muskets."
From the far bank of the river, unseen and unmoving, Dao Xuan Tianzun watched.
The hook had sunk deep.