A fleet of ships of varying sizes appeared from a distance. On top of these ships, a white flag with a dragon's head fluttered arrogantly.
"Captain, there are only four of them, each with Tier-2 strength," reported a female officer in a firm tone. "Two players and two Faithwardens. Their ships are non-combat, equipped with 20 high-level cannons and around 100,000 points of defense."
The captain, a disheveled man with messy curly hair, stared sharply at the Lein's ship in the distance. His eyes radiated a cold light. "Good... These little bastards dare to expose our hideout with such a small force?" The captain grinned fiercely, skillfully playing with a small knife in his fingers.
The knife suddenly struck the table in front of him. "Load all the fire cannons, battle lasers, and thunder bombs. Don't leave a single scrap!" the captain shouted, his voice loud and full of anger, startling the female officer.
"Yes, Sir," she replied, trembling.
***
On the Lein's Ship
"Damn... There are ten of them," Grey muttered, surprised to see ten ships in the distance.
The smallest ship was 100 meters long, while the flagship in the middle was 500 meters long. Lein felt troubled. "Ten ships with the smallest being 100 meters?" he sighed deeply as he looked at the cannon in front of him.
Lein checked the cannon data:
[Fire Cannon]
- Type: Ship defense weapon
- Power: 3,000
- Firing speed: Every 1 minute
- Range: 10 km
- Defense: 15,000
- Energy consumption: 300 energy crystals
"It seems I have to use that weapon," Lein thought hard.
Lein pulled out an altar with a sharp triangle standing on it. At the tip of the triangle, there was a transparent round ball.
[Sky Punishment Mortar]
- Type: Ship defense weapon
- Power: 50,000
- Firing speed: 5 shots, 1-minute cooldown
- Firing range: 100 km
- Defense: 100,000
- Energy consumption: 10,000 energy crystals
"What??? Sky Mortar?" Elaine exclaimed from beside him. She had seen this weapon when she followed her father to an imperial event, where their ship was suddenly attacked, and the destructive mortar saved them.
"Ten thousand energy crystals? True to its name," Lein chuckled.
This sky mortar was one of the items from the Tou Pavilion. Besides high-level ships, this pavilion also provided special ship defense weapons.
[Sky Punishment Mortar: Duplicate 10,000 times? Confirm?]
"Yes," Lein answered firmly.
Immediately, 10,000 mortars appeared in his storage ring. He began to pull them out one by one until five mortars stood firmly.
"Brother Lein, you hide too well," Elaine and Grey said almost simultaneously, surprised.
"It's nothing, Brother Grey. Come, help me set up these mortars quickly," said Lein while installing mortars in several empty areas of the ship.
The installation required attention, like large nails on each side, taking time if done alone. They didn't have time to remove the previous fire cannons, so they set up the mortars wherever they could.
In less than a minute, five mortars were installed.
"Let's destroy that Beast Master," Lein said, handing a bag of energy crystals to Elaine and Grey.
The mortars began consuming the energy crystals, the transparent balls at their tips lighting up, the light growing brighter.
***
Meanwhile, on the enemy ship.
"Warit, how is it? Are the weapons loaded?" the Captain asked his female officer.
"Still in process, Sir, 1 minute and 12 seconds more," she answered timidly.
"Why so long? I told you all weapons should always be loaded!" The Captain gritted his teeth in frustration. Their current distance was about 34 km from the Lein's ship.
"How about we attack directly, Sir? There might be valuable items on them?" one of the subordinates suggested.
"Hmm, that's true," the Captain pondered. He initially wanted to destroy the Lein's ship out of anger, but his subordinate's suggestion made sense.
"You're right... Besides, our position will be easily tracked if we use the ship's attack."
"Everyone, increase to maximum speed. Hijack that ship!" the Captain ordered.
However, they froze witnessing a massive energy surge from the Lein's ship.
"No!!! Destruction Mortar!!!" they screamed in panic, but it was too late. The light had already shot out, striking them instantly.
Explosion...
"Boom... Bam... Boom..."
Five massive explosions shook, followed by five simultaneous explosions. The blasts were so powerful that they shook the glass walls of the Lein's ship. A mushroom cloud 100 meters high formed.
[Killed (Lapur Tu - Beast Bonding) exp +2,700 points, +1 contribution]
[Killed (Trull - Spirit Link) exp +12,500 points, +10 contribution]
[Killed (Ramuan retu - Spirit Link) exp +11,700, +10 contribution]
[Killed (Gazer - Alpha Command) exp +123,900, +1000 contribution]
Kill notifications flooded in. Most were Beast Bonding, Tier-1 soldiers of a Beast Master, then Tier-2 Spirit Link, and some Alpha Command with over 100,000 exp. Alpha Command was Tier-3 Beast Master.
[Congratulations, Ruler level increased. Level 21, Attribute points +250]
[Killed (Qal mu - Tier-2) exp +13,100, +10 contribution]
Besides Beast Masters, Lein also saw notifications providing information about player kills. Lein guessed the Beast Masters were also assisted by players from other realms.
Lein estimated that each ship had at least 50 people. With a total of 10 ships, that meant over 500 people. For someone with Tier-2 strength, this was a nightmare. But for Lein, they were all exp points.
A few seconds later, the exp notifications stopped.
"Brother, look, some are still alive," Nita's voice sounded.
Grey and Elaine also saw it. A white Griffin flew in the void, its size more than 50 meters. Other beasts like a red bat and a fish with 8 wings were also visible.
"Damn... True enough. You almost made me die, damn it," the Captain muttered, breathing heavily. If he had been late summoning his protective turtle star, he would have turned to ash.
The Captain then directed his beasts toward Lein. He couldn't wait to tear apart the person who had made him so miserable now.
The Griffin flew very fast, followed by 5 other stars. In line with the level of the Beast Master who summoned them, these wild beasts were very large and strong.
"Danger, Brother Lein, that's a Tier-3 creature," Grey said, trembling.
Lein watched the six beasts coming from a distance at very high speed.
"Brother Grey, thank you... But you need to leave now," Lein said seriously.
The person in front of him was a Tier-3 Beast Master.
[Status]
- Name: Voirel
- Race: Torvu Race
- Power Core: Beast Master
- Rank: Alpha Command
"But Brother Lein..." Grey felt very troubled. Not because he didn't want to help, but the presence of Tier-3 creatures was indeed very terrifying.
"Sorry Brother Lein... Why don't we leave together?" Elaine suggested.
"We have our own way. Besides, that person surely won't just watch and let us go without effort," Lein replied.
Grey and Elaine didn't wait any longer. They saw a great flame spew from the Griffin's mouth. Immediately they took out a portal and entered together with Elaine.