Chapter 301: Chapter 300: You Fell Down Before I Even Made a Move Chapter 301: Chapter 300: You Fell Down Before I Even Made a Move “Those damned bastards!”
Watching the warship approaching him, Captain Fox knew that today’s battle was inevitable. Of course, if it were possible, he would have liked to weigh anchor immediately and engage with the enemy. Unfortunately, the ship was not yet repaired; it could go nowhere and could only serve as a sitting target for a fixed cannon turret….
“Alright, everyone, perk up and head to the guns! Prepare for battle!”
Although this merchant ship was not comparable to Fanriel’s warships, it was still well trained. Soon, the sailors had dropped their tasks and quickly manned the Magitech Conductor Turrets, aiming at the distant warship.
As Captain Fox’s command echoed, cannonballs fired forth from the barrels, soaring toward Fanriel’s escort ship. But just as the cannonballs reached the front of the escort ship, a semi-circular barrier burst forth with a flash of Magic Radiance, causing the cannonballs to slide off to the sides, splashing into the sea with thuds and plops.
“Hmph, that’s why these paupers are just paupers.”
Watching the scene unfold, Ambassador Luden scoffed, then reached out to grab a cigar and placed it in his mouth. In his view, an escort ship dealing with a merchant vessel was like capturing something with one’s hands tied; not to speak of this world where all mainstream military warships possessed constant Magic Shields and various defenses. Their cannonballs were also extraordinary, specifically designed to break Magic Barriers or to create flames and explosions. Such ammunition was usually restricted and couldn’t possibly circulate among civilians. Not to mention these merchant ships; possessing military supplies was illegal and, once discovered, would lead to imprisonment.
For this reason, ordinary merchant ships could only have standard cannonballs and couldn’t access military restricted items. However, that level of attack clearly couldn’t breach the escort ship’s barrier.
“Hahaha, a bunch of civilians trying to break our Fanriel warship? Simply delusional….”
Luden hadn’t finished his sentence when suddenly his vision was enveloped by a radiant crimson surge. A deafening roar howled past, and for a moment Luden couldn’t hear anything at all. He could only stand there dumbfounded, watching as the flood of energy crashed like angry waves against the Energy Barrier before scattering to the sides, the blinding red light finally vanishing after a moment.
Only then did Luden reach up to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He felt weak all over, knowing that the attack had come so suddenly that he hadn’t been able to react at all. If not for the protection of the Energy Barrier, he would have been finished!
“What are you doing! Counterattack, destroy that broken ship!”
“What, it didn’t get destroyed?”
Putting down her parasol, Tilia also showed a hint of displeasure. She had thought that using her power, she could easily blow up that broken ship, but she hadn’t expected that the ship’s hard shell was much tougher than a Ghost Ship’s. Her all-out attack had been ineffective.
Did she need to use that…?
With that thought, Tilia couldn’t help but look toward the handle of her parasol, where a small, delicately crafted rose pattern was emitting a faint glow.
But as she hesitated, suddenly, a voice came from beside her.
Hearing Nymph’s words, Tilia turned toward the Little Angel in surprise. Having spent many days together, Tilia had come to understand Nymph well. As Fang Zheng’s first summoned creature, her bond with Fang Zheng was naturally the strongest, and besides, the Little Angel was also gifted in Alchemy. However, her combat ability… frankly, in Tilia’s view, even a newly born Follower of the Crimson Realm might be much stronger than her dear Angel Sister.
But now, she was going to face a warship?
“Are you sure? If it’s too dangerous…”
Hearing Tilia’s inquiry, Nymph smiled and shook her head.
“In fact, it’s already over.
“Prepare to attack! Annihilate them!”
At that moment, Luden was full of vigor, wildly waving his hands and loudly issuing the command. However, what Luden didn’t expect was that just as he had finished speaking, he heard a massive “bang,” and the next moment, the ship under his feet suddenly slowed down.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“Report! The Magic Energy Engine has malfunctioned!”
“How is that possible?”
Hearing the report from his crew, the captain was taken aback. This was Fanriel’s latest model of warship, and the Magic Energy Engine was a newly produced fitting; how could it malfunction?
“What’s the cause of the malfunction?”
“It’s…a sudden overload of Magitech energy that destroyed parts of the Magic Energy Engine!”
“Fix it immediately!”
“We’re working on repairs, but…”
“The damage is too severe, I’m afraid it won’t be fixed anytime soon!”
Hearing this, the captain furrowed his brows, though he quickly made a decision.
“Immediately focus on repairing the engine. Everyone else, prepare to operate the turrets. The enemy is now within firing range; lock on and prepare to fire!”
Although the magic energy engine was destroyed, the warships of the Main World were originally driven by both sails and magic energy, which was an insurance of sorts. Even without the magic energy engine, the sail-enabled warship could still move, though it couldn’t change direction as freely as with the magic energy engine. But in his view, dealing with a mere merchant ship posed no problem.
“Target, two o’clock direction——!”
Following the captain’s command, several turrets simultaneously turned, aiming at the Black Crow Ship.
Luden had no idea what happened, for right after he heard the captain say “fire,” all he felt was a deafening explosion, followed by darkness as he fell to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, the sight before him took him aback.
He saw what should have been an intact warship now engulfed in thick smoke and flames, with the deck torn apart and nothing but huge holes in sight. The sharp alarm and shouts mingled together made it impossible to discern what was being said.
“What’s going on? What’s happening?”
Leaning on a nearby control console, Luden staggered to his feet and shouted loudly. But at this moment, the captain nearby was completely ignoring what Luden was saying, instead, he was frantically calling into a speaking tube.
“Put out the fire immediately! Don’t let the fire spread to the ammunition depot! What? The sea valve was opened automatically? How could this happen? Was it blown open in the explosion just now? Damn…”
“What happened? Captain, what exactly is going on?”
Seeing the captain’s panicky demeanor, Ambassador Luden quickly grabbed his shoulder and shouted loudly, while the captain just shook his head blankly.
“I don’t know. I only know that the moment we fired, all magitech turrets overloaded and exploded! Damn it, what exactly is going on…”
“Captain, there’s trouble!”
But at that moment, suddenly, a crew member, his face ashen, ran over in a panic.
“The magic energy core is showing an unknown high-energy reaction!”
Hearing this, Luden hadn’t even reacted yet, but the captain’s face immediately turned ghastly pale.
“Abandon ship, everyone, get out immediately…”
The next moment, a sky-high blaze engulfed everything.
“Uh… what just happened?”
Tilia stood on the deck, staring blankly at the distant warship. She just saw the warship spontaneously catch fire, then explode instantly, split in two, and slowly sink into the sea. This left Tilia somewhat at a loss for words… What happened? She hadn’t even made her move, and the ship was already sunk?
“Sister Nymph? Was this your doing?”
Upon hearing Tilia’s question, Nymph, with her right hand lowered, smiled and nodded.
“Luckily, their magic utilization rate was quite high, which allowed me to hack into the warship’s magic circuits. As it turns out, it was quite effective.”
Tilia silently glanced at the faint glow shimmering at Nymph’s fingertips, then swept her eyes over the warship wreckage that was now submerged by the sea.
It seemed she needed to reassess her sister dear’s combat abilities once more.