This chapter has a somewhat different formatting, possibly even font, than the rest of my chapters. I'm using my back up settup right now since I'm celebrating christmas with the family, please bear with it for a bit
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«Roll out cannon one, three, seven, and eight! Our target is the Moving Fortress so light barrages will be as useful as pissing in the wind, pluck the power suppliers from the boarding ballistas and latch them onto the cannons, we'll bury em all!»
Ching Shih's orders roared across the deck of the ship, eliciting a loud shout from the crew as they rushed to obey. A thunderous boom echoed through the sky as the crew rushed about, the Moving Fortress had launched their second attack. Metal cut through the sky in the form of cannon balls and massive spears, it was like a torrential downpour as it descended upon the Sand Sovereign. But Ching Shih's demeanor didn't falter in the slightest, the corners of his lips were actually turned up in an almost taunting manner.
«Look at that rabble, guys! They thing they can sink us with something as pathetic as that! Hah, I've met kids who can slap you harder and faster than that!»
Ching Shih laughed as he spun the rudder of the ship, a dim light surging up from its base as he poured his energy into it. The sand behind the ship was thrown into the air as Levi's tail rose up and smashed down again, launching the ship forward. The ship also spun sideways as it threw itself forward, avoiding the rain of metal while pointing its bow towards the Moving Fortress.
Wanderer heard the sound of wood and metal moving around in front of him, a small section beneath the bowsprit opening to reveal a cannon. Ching Shih didn't need to give the order, the weapon pointed at the enemy so there was only one thing it needed to do. A light tremble ran through the ship as the cannon launched its attack, four drill-like spears flying through the air. Wanderer didn't know if it was always like this or if they were strengthened by the modifications Ching Shih shouted out earlier, but the spears flew so fast that they left sight almost instantly.
He heard them reach the Moving Fortress only a second after they were launched, the grating sound of metal tearing through metal ringing through the air. They hadn't exploded in the same spectacle as the cannonballs launched by the Moving Fortress, they had simply hit the target and dug right into them. Appearance-wise, it looked far weaker and less effective, the size of the Moving Fortress made it hard to believe that four such spears could deall much damage. But Ching Shih's smile remained on his face, the grin of a sovereign.
«Just watch, Wanderer.»
There wasn't really any need for him to say it, Wanderer noticed it as he was saying it. The cannon that had just launched the spears fired another round right as the first round hit the Moving Fortress. And then a third round, and a fourth one, and a fifth one. The attacks were launched with nearly no time between them, the second barrage was already getting fired by the time the previous one hit the enemy, it didn't even take them a second to reload and fire again. Four spears didn't look like they could do much damage, but what about eight, twelve, sixteen, or even twenty? And that was just the one cannon, Wanderer hadn't forgotten that Ching Shih ordered them to prepare three more cannons as well.
The Moving Fortress fired another barrage of cannonballs and spears in retaliation, the air trembling as hundreds of cannons erupted in synch. Ching Shih gripped the rudder tightly and narrowed his eyes, the base of the rudder lighting up once more as he poured his energy into it. The ship shot forward, dauntlessly rushing towards the rain of attacks.
Ching Shih started to twist the rudder just as the atttacks were so close that Wanderer could smell them, the ship turning sharply again and again. Each twist of the rudder made the ship turn, it practically slithered through the attacks like a snake. Some of the attacks got close to hitting them, and the sand that was launched by each explosion rained down on the deck, but the Sand Sovereign was too fast for any of the attacks to nail it down.
It broke through the barrage, turning once more as it approached the Moving Fortress. Ching Shih steered the ship so that the side faced the opposing ship, three more hidden doors sliding open on the side of the ship. The other three cannons he wanted prepared revealed themselves behind the doors, the ship rocking from the force with which they fired their ammunition. These cannons were evidently a bit different from the first one, not only did they fire six spears each, but the weapons also weren't made from metal. They seemed to be made from crystal, each one filled with a dark orange liquid that released a quiet glow.
But as the attacks approached the Moving Fortress, the air around the ship twisted and shimmered violently. In a split-second, the massive ship vanished from sight, leaving the crystal spears with no enemy to hit. They pierced into the sand and vanished from sight, black smoke slowly rising from where they had disappeared.
«Hah, figures that you'd ask for something sneaky like that, fucking loach! Yi Sao, defensive!»
Ching Shih cursed, but his grin didn't fade, he simply spun the rudder with all his might and poured in as much energy as he could. The ship threw itself forward and spun violently, but the deafening sound of explosions rang out from behind them before the ship could move too far. The Moving Fortress had managed to move behind them, right into their blind-spot and undefended zone. A portion of the attacks were evaded, but they had teleported so close that almost half of the attacks were still en route to smashing into the ship.
But as the attacks rained down on the ship, the defense Ching Shih had called for was activated. The runes drawn on the sails light up with a bright cyan light, the sails fluttering so strongly that it seemed like they were stuck in a storm. The wind danced between the sails and the mast, it didn't form a defensive wall, it simply danced around so violently that a normal person would be torn to pieces if they were to fall into it.
The attacks fell into the dancing wind and were pushed off-course, each one deflected just enough to ensure that they would fall into the sand rather than onto the ship. And as the attacks were deflected, the Sand Sovereign finished its abrupt spin. The cannon at the front fired twice as it panned past the Moving Fortress and the three cannons on the side all fired the second they faced the fortress again, spears cutting through the air.
The metal spears dug into the fortress and left holes in its defences, sand pouring into some of the holes. The crystal spears also hit the fortress, it didn't seem like the massive ship could teleport freely. But the crystal spears didn't just run through the defenses in the same way the metal ones did, they had a different approach.
Two of the crystal spears flew into the holes left by the metal spears, tongues of fire erupting from the holes after the weapons landed in the ship. As for those that landed on the outer defenses of the ship, they exploded and scattered brilliant flames all around them. The sand melted and turned to glass and the metal in the defenses melted and merged with the melting sand. With one attack they managed to both weaken the defenses of the opponent and lock them in place, the molten metal and molten sand quickly solidifying and forming a cocoon at the base of the ship.
"Change to fragmentation, shred them before they can scurry away»
Ching Shih's thunderous orders rang across the ship as he twisted the rudder again, spinning the ship in the opposite direction this time. He didn't wait to check if the men below deck could do it in time, he simply trusted that they could and acted in accordance. The front of the ship once again faced the temporarily trapped fortress, the cannon launching three more rounds of attacks in the short window of time available to it. More holes were punched in the enemy ship, more openings were created for the following attacks.
The ship completed its spin, the three cannons once again rocking the ship as they ejected their contents. This time they didn't shoot crystal spears but straight lances that seemed to be constructed using a mixture of metal and stone. The weapons curved strangely as they flew, as if they were being controlled from a distance, delicately directed so that they quietly flew into the holes that dotted the fortress.
Wanderer could just barely see the lances split up as they sank into the holes, each lance turning into what looked like several hundred small and sharp fragments. He couldn't see it from the ship, but he didn't doubt that the fragments bounced around within the ship as he stood there, shredding everything they touched. Constructs were torn down and bodies were ruined. It was a terrible fate, being run through by the original spears, being burned alive by the crystal spears, or being torn to shreds by these fragmentation spears, the crew of the Moving Fortress were undoubtedly experiencing hell right now.
«It's funny, isn't it?»
The voice of Ching Shih reached Wanderer as he observed the carnage. The regal grin on his face had subdued somewhat and he had loosened his grip on the rudder, only turning it occasionally or filling it with energy so that he could maneuver around the Moving Fortress, peppering them with attacks while evading whatever they dished out.
«All they did was get a little bit of aid, a measly warp array, and suddenly they think they can do whatever it takes, that they can crush us and take our position.»
Ching Shih chuckled quietly as he spoke, but his laughter was deep and dark, filled with nothing but contempt and scorn for the ship they were tearing apart. Wanderer didn't know much about combat, but he could see that the Moving Fortress had already lost. Two sneak attacks had failed and they were taking more and more damage, each of their own attacks missing. They also hadn't teleported again so there was a chance that one of the previous attacks had torn apart what they used to accomplish that feat.
«Granted, our ship would get demolished if it was hit by just two or three of their cannons, their firepower is so explosive that it'd tear us to shreds. They've also got so much armor that it's ridiculous. I mean, just look at how many shots they're taking, we're gonna need to drain over 70% of our ammo to sink them, maybe more.»
Even the praises Ching Shih shot towards the somewhat distant ship felt sarcastic and disdainful. But even so, there was a kernel of truth in them. The attacks launched by their cannons tore open the desert whenever they landed, sand and rapidly cooling glass were launched everywhere. And while each of their own attacks pierced through the armor, the sheer immensity of both the fortress and its metal shell meant that they needed an excessive amount of attacks to do any meaningful damage. But despite all that, the final victor would not be the Moving Fortress, a fact Ching Shih and everyone else was well aware of.
«And yet, Wanderer, despite their higher fire power and defense, they won't manage to slither away from this alive. And why? Because we're faster, because we know how to utilize our advantages. Just a handful of their attacks will shred us, so all we have to do is make sure that we aren't hit. We evade their attacks, we stay out of their range, hailing them with attacks without giving them the chance to touch us, that's how we fight, how we win. It's like sharpening a stick, we whittle them down one stroke at a time, until nothing is left of them. That is why we were named the Sand Sovereign and not them.»
Ching Shih's gaze lingered on the ship they were tearing apart, its internals seemed to have been damaged so much that they couldn't even break free of the fused glass and metal that held it in place. Bit by bit it was shredded, one by one its cannons fell silent. Wanderer couldn't see Zin Yu or his crew, but were they screaming right now? Were they cursing Ching Shih and his men, cursing themselves for biting off more than they could chew? Or perhaps they were just silent, gloomily accepting the end that awaited them? But then again, was that not just another form of a scream?
There was no answer to his question, only the sound of cannons and the tearing of metal continued to ring through the air. It was just like Ching Shih said, they expended almost all of the ammunition that they had stocked, but the Moving Fortress was shredded to bits, falling apart as the sand slowly started to reclaim the pieces. Once it was a great ship, larger and prouder than most, but in the end, the sand would bury it all.
«Good work men, but we've already wasted enough time so let's dip! And don't even think about picking up a single thing from that wreckage, the last thing I need is for the Starborn Army to think that we've allied with Lucifer, I'd like to keep my little head.»
The Moving Fortress, Watchman and Terror of the Eastern Dunes met its end here. The crew and ship returned to the sand that once carried them, their treasures swallowed into the darkness below. Not even the Sand Sovereign wanted to get involved with the Starborn Army, not daring to pick up a single bit of loot on the off chance that it came from Lucifer and the invaders.
Ching Shih spun the rudder slightly and fed it some power, the ship turning away from the sinking wreckage and cutting through the sand as it resumed its journey towards the distant Ninth Star City. The doors that had opened on the side and front of the ship were closed, the cannons pulled back and the men returned to their usual positions. In no time at all, things had returned to such a calm that it seemed like the previous battle had been nothing but a hallucination.
Ching Shih's expression and demeanor had also returned to normal not long after they left behind the wreckage. His gaze swept the surroundings for a bit, studying the sky as well as the few landmarks he could see. He made a few calculations before eventually nodding his head, waving over the ship's navigator.
«Lingshi, take the rudder for a bit, we should be close enough for me to contact Doctor Yue now.»
Lingshi gave a quick sound of affirmation and came over, taking over control of the ship as Ching Shih moved away. Wanderer watched as he walked over to the rear of the ship and removed two of the planks there, revealing several grooves in the floor. He took out some Spirit Stones from his ring, but these were far murkier than the one they used to keep Bao stable so they were probably of a lower quality. He filled most of the grooves with a crystal each and then placed a metal bead covered with engravings into the final groove, the engravings lighting up one by one as the bead siphoned energy from the crystals.
«It's a communication item. By filling the metal bead with sufficient energy and maintaining a stable flow, we can establish a connection with others who have similar items. It's a bit annoying that it requires more energy the greater the distance, but that's just how life is when you can't afford the better versions.»
Lingshi leaned against the rudder as she explained, blowing away some of the brown strands that occasionally fell down in front of her face. Communication was always important, especially when you spent days, if not weeks or months at a time on your ship.
Wanderer's gaze lingered on Ching Shih, crouched next to the metal bead. He did indeed seem to be talking to someone, but Wanderer couldn't hear anything so he couldn't pick out any specifics. But Ching Shih's expression ligthened up after just a bit of talking so it seemed like things went as he hoped.
«Doctor Yue said that she can take a look at him. She just got in a bit of new equipment so she's confident that she can discover what sort of poison it is, finding an antidote will be a cake walk after that. Only downside is that we have to bring Bao to her, but as long as we give him some of the Spirit Stone before we disembark then things should be fine.»
Ching Shih's shoulders were already lowered as he picked up the metal bead again and gave the good news to the crew, it seemed like this Doctor Yue had enough reputation to ease his worries. The rest of the crew also relaxed after they received the news, a slightly more jolly mood settling on the ship as they continued their journey.
But even so, they didn't slow their pace, getting there faster would still be better after all. So they traveled through the night without resting, constantly maintaining their highest speed. And thanks to that, Ninth Star City slowly became visible on the horizon on the dawn of the third day after they left Skewer's Rest.
«Oh, it's coming into view. Look there, Wanderer, that's what an actual city looks like. From there, you can go almost anywhere in this world, we can even head directly to the Wolf Queen's groom selection if things still take a turn for the worse. There'll be far more people there than in Skewer's Rest, you're far more likely to find clues about your identity there.»
Wanderer raised his head as Ching Shih spoke, his gaze turning towards the buildings that became visible in the distance. Ching Shih beamed as he spoke, but Wanderer frowned slightly. His head hurt as he looked at the city. It felt like there was something in his ears, a constant rushing sound pricking his ears. It felt like a river was moving about in his ears, a myriad of different sounds merging together into a single annoying cacophony.
But there was no river around them, only a seemingly endless expanse of sand, so he had no idea where the sound originated and could only do his best to ignore it. The crew on the other hand, started to prepare things once they saw the city in the distance. They selected the members who would follow the crew into the city, prepared a bed and wagon for Bao, and made sure that he was completely stable so that they didn't need to risk bringing out a high-grade spirit Stone within the city.
Thanks to their speed, it didn't take them long to reach the distant city, merely a handful of hours. Buildings made of stone or murky glass rose all throughout the city, the larger buildings closer to the centre of the city marked by towers of stone and ice, as if they wanted to mock the scorching desert that stretched out around them. Just like Skewer's Rest, a harbor surrounded the city, welcoming ships of all sizes.
«Alright, prepare to disembark. Chao Zen, I'll leave the boat in your hands for a bit. If anything happens, don't hesitate and just take the ship away from the harbour, we'll just use one of the in-city warp arrays to head to safety.»
Ching Shih didn't give too many orders before he left, Chao Zen would know what to do if things took a turn for the worse. They then took the wagon they had prepared for the poisoned Bao and left the ship, mixing in with the crowd that was heading for the gates of the city.
The large gates were defended by four guards, but it seemed like their main purpose was to just look tough. They didn't even take note of the people that moved past them, they just gave them a quick glance before they continued to ignore them.
But as Ching Shih and his group moved past the guards, one of them froze up slightly. His softly trembling pupils followed Wanderer's back as he followed Ching Shih, it almost seemed like he couldn't believe his eyes. But he quickly acted, stealthily bringing out a jade orb engraved with a golden branch. This was big news, he would definitely be paid handsomely for this.