Who wishes to fight must first count the cost. - Sun Tzu. 1807, Qing China. The seas brim with treachery and blood as pirates plague the waters of the South China Sea. Among them is the Red Flag Fleet, known as the strongest pirate coalition in all of China- that is, until their Grand Admiral, Zheng Yi, dies in a hurricane. The five remaining admirals vie for influence in the gap he left behind. Silent among them is Zheng Yi Sao, now widowed by her husband's death and plagued by a thirst for unfathomable power. The price of greed is high, the price of hubris higher still. Forging a tenuous alliance with Chang Ziyi, her late husband's young and charismatic protege, and the Black Admiral Guo Xingtei, a vicious pirate with an ancient grudge, she seizes power over the Red Flag Fleet and elects herself Grand Admiral. Zheng Yi Sao, now named Zheng Shi, sails with new purpose: Of conquest, devastation, and irrevocable destruction the likes of which China has never seen. There are no lengths she will not go until all the sea is hers, and all the men who sail it- even sinking herself to its depths, if she must. Based on a true story.