The might of the Qin crossbow was renowned throughout the land.
Before Qin had unified the six states, all other kingdoms harbored a deep fear of Qin's crossbow bolts.
Now, the soldiers unleashed the crossbows upon the whale with a determined will to kill.
However, as the real battle commenced, the situation proved different from their expectations.
Though the Qin crossbows were incredibly powerful, their bolts struck the colossal whale as if piercing a tiny thorn into its flesh.
Such a thorn would indeed cause the whale pain, but for it, this was far from fatal.
In fact, many of these small thorns inflicted no injury at all.
More still, they only caused the whale discomfort.
Thus, the whale's enraged shriek instantly reached the ears of many.
"Screech!!"
This piercing cry sent a jolt through the eardrums of numerous individuals.
More importantly, after its scream, the whale went berserk.
It swam rapidly in the water, ferociously ramming Lin Tian's ships.
Initially, only one ship bore the brunt of the whale's assault, but in its frenzied state, it directly attacked ten vessels.
This allowed everyone on those ten ships to witness the enormous whale.
Those who had never seen a whale were utterly astonished, their hearts filled with awe.
They even felt a sense of helplessness, unsure of how to proceed.
Meanwhile, some of the Japanese individuals who had seen whales before now cried out in terror.
"The Sea God! It's the immortal Sea God!!"
"Heavens! We've encountered the Sea God, we're finished! We're doomed!!"
"We're going to die, we're going to die. None who have met the Sea God have ever lived to tell the tale, we've brought immense misfortune upon ourselves!!"
To these Japanese, the whale's existence was a sea god.
It was simply too powerful, so powerful that it seemed impossible to kill.
Once their people fell into the sea, their demise was certain.
Therefore, in the ocean, the presence of a sea god had always been synonymous with absolute terror.
The Japanese who had heard the legends of the sea god now turned deathly pale, devoid of any color.
They could already foresee their own deaths in the sea.
This premonition was an incredibly sorrowful one.
More significantly, the legend of the sea god spread rapidly among the Japanese.
As more and more Japanese learned of the sea god's fearsome nature and what lay ahead, their faces grew grim.
However, after their initial despair, some spoke with fierce determination:
"Very well, let us all perish together! Let those people die with us! Let the Sea God avenge us!!"
"Yes! The harm they have done to us can never be undone, let them die, they all deserve to die!!"
"Just you wait, the Sea God will surely avenge us, the Sea God will deal with them properly, the Sea God will not let them go!!"
These individuals had been castrated, and they had lost all hope for their lives.
In their hearts, there was only one thought: revenge against Lin Tian and his men, to avenge themselves.
Now that the sea god had appeared and intended to avenge them, they naturally wished for the sea god to grant them retribution.
Thus, they all gazed fanatically at the whale thrashing wildly in the sea, hoping it would annihilate Lin Tian's entire army.
Lin Tian, too, frowned slightly as he observed the whale in the water.
The whale was enormous, and its skin was exceptionally thick.
This rendered ordinary arrows useless against it, akin to mere tickles, causing no significant harm.
Consequently, Lin Tian quickly issued his command.
"Use heavy crossbows, use long bolts. Ordinary arrows will be of little use against it!"
"Also, its head should be a weak point. Attack its head!!"
"Yes!!"
Upon hearing Lin Tian's orders, his subordinates immediately adjusted their strategy.
Powerful heavy crossbows were brought forth at this moment.
The bolts of the heavy crossbows were substantial; each bolt was equivalent to a short spear.
This length was sufficient to pose a threat to the whale.
Once a vital spot was hit, the whale would surely perish.
The soldiers in the army clearly recognized this, and thus, they became even more serious and focused.
The next moment, a volley of heavy crossbow bolts was launched.
This volley of bolts had a relatively short range, and because of this, their power was immense.
This formidable power instantly pierced the whale's defenses and inflicted a wound.
This time, it was not a mere tickle, but an intensely painful sensation.
Accompanying this was a gushing flow of blood.
In an instant, the waters beside Lin Tian's ship were dyed red.
Witnessing this scene, the soldiers erupted in cheers.
"It hit! It hit!!"
"It works! The heavy crossbow bolts are effective against it!!"
"I thought it was truly too tough to kill, but it seems it can be killed after all!!"
Upon discovering that the whale was wounded, the anxiety in everyone's hearts instantly diminished.
The whale's injury proved that it could be killed.
Since it could be killed, they had no reason to fear it any longer.
Their task from then on was simple: to slay this leviathan of the sea.
However, as they prepared to aim at the whale again, they found it screaming incessantly and thrashing violently in the water.
It swam from the vicinity of one ship to another, and from another to yet another, making it difficult to target.
More importantly, the bleeding whale became even more enraged. It rammed their ships with ferocious intensity, causing everyone to lose their footing.
Even the prepared crossbows began to roll.
The soldiers on the ships either fell to the ground or clung to the railings, not daring to relax their grip.
For if they loosened their hold, they could easily be thrown into the sea.
This made each of them look extremely grim.
"Damn it, this leviathan is enraged, it's giving us no chance to fire!"
"Its objective is clear: it wants to ram our ships, throw us into the sea, and then drown us without giving us a chance to fight back!"
"Miserable! If only we had handheld heavy crossbows, I would have shot it dead on the spot, and it wouldn't have had the chance to rampage like this."
"Everyone hold on tight, don't let it capsize us into the sea!"
Facing the whale's onslaught, the soldiers had no effective counter.
They were unable to maintain their balance, much less stabilize the crossbows, thus preventing them from firing.
Their inability to shoot the whale only emboldened it further.
However, at this moment, Lin Tian moved.