Chapter 18
For all the scheming and plotting going on in the seas around Hainan Island, the Tournament continued as expected, insofar as only the conspirators were even remotely aware of the conspiracy. On the island, thirty-two competitors, several score of officials, Chancellor Gengshi and his entourage and thousands of observers were blissfully unaware that the world as they knew it stood on the precipice of immense change.
There were four fleets of ships of various sizes and classes in, on and around Hainan Island. First to be counted were the legitimate visitors to and participants in the tournament who had chosen to transport to the island leaving their ship with minimal crew or returning to their ship each night. The second fleet, consisting primarily of smaller craft; runabouts,
