In any case, the crews of the Imperial vessels were visited by a temporary period of peace and tranquility. Cheerful bustles swirled through the mess halls of every vessel.
Though alcohol was forbidden, the crew members were in thrall of drunkenness born of battle and victory, and the food tasted better to them than it actually was.
"Even our young Rear Admiral is actually pretty good, don't you think?" whispered some back and forth. "I was thinking he was just here as a decoration, with nothing going for him but his looks, but he's really quite the tactician. Maybe even the best since Admiral Luo Liang and Shen Xing in the old days …"
The question of why, and for whom, they and their unseen, unknown enemies were killing one another was nowhere to be heard among the soldiers at that time.
