Douluo Dalu 2: Sun-Moon Glory

Huo Yuhao and Meng Hongchen both nodded, taking the access cards handed to them before making their way below deck to the resting quarters. Meanwhile, Captain Shi Dongsheng called out loudly for the soldiers to prepare for departure and headed toward the command room of the ship.

Descending the stairs, Huo Yuhao saw a long corridor filled with navy crew quarters. Uniformed sailors were rushing back and forth, clearly busy with their respective duties.

"Hey, Yuhao. Did you notice? These soldiers were giving us weird looks. Not exactly friendly ones, huh?" Meng Hongchen leaned in, whispering close to Huo Yuhao's ear with a small pout.

Huo Yuhao nodded in agreement. With his sharp senses, he'd picked up on that the moment they stepped onto the deck. Many of those glances were filled with either skepticism or thinly veiled contempt.

"Yeah, I noticed. It's a little hard to miss," he murmured.

Glancing down at his own outfit, then at Meng Hongchen's light traveling clothes, he suddenly understood. "Meng, look at what we're wearing. Doesn't exactly scream 'serious mission', does it?"

Meng blinked, then looked at her own clean, fashionable clothes and then back at Yuhao's similar outfit. Her eyes wandered to the sailors clad in crisp white navy uniforms, faces darkened from sun and wind, their arms showing signs of hardened training and grit. Realization dawned in her eyes as she gave a sheepish nod.

"Oh. I get it now. If I were one of them and saw a pair of pampered noble kids showing up all dressed for a vacation during a dangerous sea mission... yeah, I'd probably think we're just here for show too."

Smart as ever, Meng Hongchen quickly grasped the reasoning behind the soldiers' less-than-welcoming attitudes.

Before long, the two of them reached their assigned room. Huo Yuhao scanned the access card over the handle, and with a soft beep, the door clicked open.

Surprisingly, the room wasn't bad at all. Functional, clean, and clearly made for soul engineer corps members, it provided a decent resting space on such a military vessel.

As he closed the door behind them, Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "Let them think we're just a pair of spoiled nobles for now. Hunting sea spirit beasts... now that's something I'm looking forward to."

Meng Hongchen nodded eagerly. She had her eye on finding a powerful ten-thousand-year-level ice-type sea spirit beast to become her sixth soul ring.

"Let's take a short rest first. Once the ship stabilizes, I'm going to have a proper talk with Captain Shi. There's a lot I want to ask him. What about you, Meng?"

"I might explore the ship a little. Never been out to sea before," she replied with a bright grin.

They both glanced at the bunk beds in the room and shared a mutual, silent sigh—one took the top, the other the bottom, and they began settling in.

Given the speed of the Yao Ri, Huo Yuhao guessed that this voyage might take longer than he initially expected—possibly more than ten days. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any pressing matters back at Mingdu while he was away.

Later that night, Huo Yuhao sat opposite Captain Shi Dongsheng in the warship's command room, the two engaged in a serious conversation. The sea roared outside, causing the ship to sway gently. The soul lamp above them swayed with the motion, casting a dim, flickering glow across the room.

"Sealed milk bottles?" Shi Dongsheng furrowed his brows, staring at the young man seated before him.

"That's right, Captain Shi. You're an eighth-level soul engineer and once a researcher at the Mingde Hall. You should know that conventional milk bottles tend to leak soul power," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

Shi Dongsheng nodded. Of course he knew.

But what Huo Yuhao told him next made his heart skip a beat. Mingde Hall had developed a new type of milk bottle—one that didn't leak soul power and could even absorb soul power from the atmosphere. And this technology was still a secret.

Shi Dongsheng's breathing grew heavier. As a seasoned soul engineer, how could he not understand what this meant?

No more soul engineers manually charging soul tools. This single advancement would revolutionize every corner of soul tool warfare.

Especially for the navy.

This would change everything.

If linked soul tools no longer needed constant recharging from soul engineers and could instead rely on sealed milk bottles... then even large-scale warships like the Yao Ri could be mass-produced and deployed across the entire Sun Moon Imperial Navy.

And this was just the beginning.

"Captain Shi," Huo Yuhao continued, "I told you this confidential information for two reasons. One is trust. The other is because I believe in your passion for the navy. With these milk bottles, we could dramatically boost naval strength. Humans have lived too long with their backs to the sea, afraid of the soul beasts within. If we keep shrinking back, it's only a matter of time before we lose everything."

He placed a small stack of blueprints on the desk.

"Here. These are conceptual naval warship designs I came up with, based on the sealed milk bottle system. Please take a look, and perhaps you can help me refine the offensive and defensive systems with your expertise."

Shi Dongsheng's eyes widened in admiration. He took the blueprints with reverent hands and began to study them. As his eyes scanned the lines and specifications, his face slowly transformed from shock to amazement.

With these milk bottles, these ships... they could be built.

And they weren't just more advanced than the Yao Ri. They were leaps ahead in terms of firepower, armor, design, and even adaptability.

He looked up at Huo Yuhao again. This boy in front of him—he was only thirteen. A child.

And yet these blueprints?

Shi Dongsheng felt an almost surreal detachment, as if the roles had reversed. He, the veteran captain, was being taught the future by this youth.

His hands trembled as he carefully set the blueprints down on the table.

"What are their names?" he asked, voice husky.

Huo Yuhao answered without hesitation.

"Battleship. Destroyer. Cruiser."

Shi Dongsheng nodded slowly. He didn't need to ask which was which. The biggest one with the heaviest armor and firepower? The battleship. The nimblest, built for scouting and flanking? Cruiser. The fast-striking, well-rounded one for escort and support? Destroyer.

Each served a unique role.

But combined?

They'd form a fleet unlike any the world had ever seen.

With just one glance, Shi Dongsheng could already picture them sailing in formation, engines humming, soul cannons charged—unstoppable. Unmatched.

Invincible.

All thanks to a thirteen-year-old boy who sat across from him with the calm composure of a seasoned strategist.

(End of Chapter)

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