Chapter 972: I shall form the head

Leisurely times always fly by.

Soon, the seven-day holiday in the Witch World came to an end, the birthday banquet at the Long Wang Palace finally dispersed, and Dorothy finally regained her freedom.

"Your Majesty the Long Wang, Your Majesty the Empress, thank you both for your care during this time."

In the palace dining hall, after preparing one last sumptuous breakfast for Nidhogg and Guinevere, Dorothy rose to bid them farewell.

"There is no need for such formalities; it was merely normal hospitality, hardly worth calling 'care.' On the contrary, we have been the ones enjoying the care of your culinary skills."

Nidhogg remained as majestic as ever. This perfect King merely nodded; her eyes remained deep and unfathomable, revealing no emotion, and her tone was neither hurried nor slow, calm and without ripples.

She was neither overly enthusiastic nor could she be called cold.

However, Guinevere, standing to the side, was far more expressive. Her Majesty the Empress stepped forward with teary eyes and hugged the Home Witch.

"Dorothy, you must come visit often. Don't be a stranger; treat this place as your own home. I will come find you when I have time later."

Home Witch: "..."

Feeling the fragrant and soft embrace of Her Majesty the Empress, Dorothy was flattered. She struggled with difficulty to break free from that overly enthusiastic hug, then nodded.

"Mm-hmm, I will."

Just like that, after finishing the last breakfast in the Long Wang Palace, Dorothy and her sisters left the palace amidst a high-standard farewell ceremony from the palace servants and guards.

Originally, Dorothy had intended to take the White Dragon Battleship home, but just as she reached the entrance, she discovered that Long Ma's luxurious Pegasus carriage had been waiting there for a long time.

"Get in."

The carriage door opened, and Yufillia beckoned to everyone.

Once everyone was inside, the Pegasus pulling the carriage let out a loud neigh, then began to trot, flapping their wings behind them, lifting the carriage into the air and galloping away.

"Are you really not going to rest for two more days, my child?"

Inside the carriage, Long Ma looked at her daughter before her and asked with some reluctance.

After all, she had originally hoped her daughter could stay with her for two more days, but she had been whisked away by the Long Wang. As a subordinate, Yufillia couldn't say anything about it.

Now that her daughter had finally left the palace, she had to rush to the battlefield without a moment's rest.

The Yufillia of the past had been just as decisive, but now that she was a mother, she found herself a bit reluctant to part with her daughter.

If she could, she would have liked to accompany her daughter on the expedition herself, but unfortunately, she now shouldered many responsibilities and was no longer as carefree and free as before; she truly could not leave.

"Mother, how many days have I already been resting?"

Looking at her mother who was reluctant to let her go, Dorothy could only harden her heart and shake her head.

If it hadn't been for the birthday banquet personally hosted by the Long Wang, they should have set off a week ago. Now, they really couldn't delay any longer.

After all, the journey ahead would also take time.

The Total Mana Wasteland world was quite far from the Witch World; even with the void jumps of the Witch Battleships, it would still take several months.

Now that she knew the strategy mission for the Total Mana Wasteland involved something of great significance, the Home Witch naturally dared not be negligent. Even though she was quite reluctant to leave her mother, she was even more afraid of accidentally delaying the Demon King's grand trap.

It was better to go early and be at ease.

"Mother, we can still meet often in the Mana Web World via the Mana Web anyway. I will build the Mana Web base station as soon as I arrive at the Total Mana Wasteland."

Dorothy could only comfort her mother this way.

Sigh, she hadn't really been idle these past few days; she had been reading up on knowledge from the outside world, so she knew that life would be much harder after leaving the Witch World.

If nothing else, just the transportation was very inconvenient.

Within the Witch World, various portals could be seen everywhere, and she also possessed an over-spec artifact like the Partition Barrier of the Inquisition, which basically allowed her to ignore distance and go wherever she wanted.

But once outside the Witch World, even the Partition Barrier could not easily operate across worlds.

After all, although the Partition Barrier was an artifact containing the authority of the Sect, it was ultimately just a creation of a Sage, not the Sage of the Sect opening the door personally.

Many of the witches' powers really could not be applied in the outside world. Once they left the protection of the World Mother, they had to rely more on their own strength.

Of course, the Mana Web was an exception.

The reason the Mana Web was called the witches' greatest creation was that it connected all realms; even if one left the Witch World, one could summon the Mana Web to descend at any time, thereby borrowing its power.

In fact, the internal Mana Web of the Witch World was actually in "adolescent" mode; many functions that were too "brutal" were not open to ordinary witches. The true power of this great creation could only be perceived after leaving the Witch World.

The Great Expedition of the Long Wang era relied on absolute power to conquer worlds one by one, while the "expedition" of the Demon King era was conducted through the Mana Web.

Today, the Mana Web basically covered all known worlds in the Western Universe, and with the continuous expansion of those pioneers, its scale was expanding rapidly every moment.

If the expansion of the Mana Web was also viewed as an "expedition," then the Demon King's speed and scale of conquest were countless times stronger than the Long Wang's.

Mm, this time, Dorothy and the others were also going to become pioneers of the Mana Web. As long as they could successfully break through the world wall defense of the Total Mana Wasteland, enter the world, and successfully gain a foothold, they could immediately hold a ceremony to summon the power of the Mana Web to descend.

"The Mana Web is still not as real as reality."

Regarding her daughter's comfort, Yufillia muttered softly.

However, the Dragon Queen was not the type to be overly sentimental. She quickly pulled herself together, put away her maternal feelings, and returned to her usual capable and carefree self.

"Mm, then we'll keep in touch via the Mana Web. Speaking of which, you haven't seen the true Mana Web yet; don't be startled later."

She said with a smile.

"Then I shall look forward to it."

Dorothy became quite interested upon hearing this.

Amidst this final chat between mother and daughter, they arrived at the Radiant Territory.

And today, the docks of the Radiant Territory were exceptionally lively.

When Dorothy and the others stepped out of the carriage, what met their eyes were various battleships blocking out the sky.

Clearly, the expeditionary force had already assembled.

Among this massive fleet, the most numerous were naturally the warships of the Angel Witches; most of these warships featured various relief sculptures of angelic deities, and some even had magnificent, sacred cathedrals built directly onto them.

It was a pity that while they looked impressive, most of the battleships were just standard models. Only the flagship, the Apocalypse, was a legendary battleship, but it was also an ancient ship with a long history, a relic passed down from the era of the God King, and could be considered one of the most precious legacies retained by the Angel Witches after their decline.

"Provincial Military Commander, the Apocalypse Fleet has assembled. Please give your orders."

The eight-winged red-haired Angel Witch Maria flew over from the massive flagship with its magnificent cathedral complex and reported to the Pure White Witch.

Besides the Apocalypse Fleet, the second most numerous were various golden, glittering transport ships.

From the "nouveau riche" gold color scheme, one could tell that this was the transport fleet from the Golden Township.

Although the transport ships had massive tonnage and were indeed impressive when piled together, cargo ships were ultimately not as majestic as true battleships. Fortunately, within this transport fleet, a peculiar, luxurious battleship shaped like a crown held up the scene all by itself.

This was the brand-new legendary battleship—the Golden Princess.

This brand-new legendary ship, which had only just officially debuted, stole the show this time. Even though the Apocalypse Fleet next door had more ships, she was the absolute protagonist the moment she appeared, and the eyes of the sea of spectators on the docks were mostly focused on her.

"Lady Senior Miya, all supplies have been loaded. We can depart at any time."

The Radiant Dragon Elder Sitle flew down from the Golden Princess, came before her own Princess, and reported as such.

Mm, the former number one Senior Miya-hater had now become the number one Senior Miya-supporter. After the birth of the Golden Princess, this Great Elder wished she could eat, drink, and sleep on the ship, looking for all the world like she wanted to make this battleship her home.

The third major part of the fleet consisted of red-and-black Gothic battleships. The style of these battleships was somewhat similar to the angel battleships of the Apocalypse Fleet, but the various reliefs on the hulls were all terrifying demons, and some of the buildings on the battleships were also eerie and terrifying ancient castles.

However, although the number of battleships in this fleet was not large, only a few dozen, the quality was terrifyingly high. The thirteen massive battleships at the lead were all legendary.

"Wow, is this the Eternal Night Fleet of the Vampire Grand Dukes? They've all been deployed? I haven't seen a scene like this in many years."

"Good heavens, the ace fleet of the Night Watchman Battle Group from the past. I've learned something today."

"Uh, didn't the Vampire Thirteen Clans just get raided? How were they let out?"

"This is the last of the Vampire Thirteen Clans' family fortune. These old things are probably really prepared to risk their lives."

As soon as this pitch-black fleet appeared, the crowd below the docks exploded, and many people exclaimed one after another.

From the castle battleship at the very front of the Eternal Night Fleet, Grand Duke Dracula flew over with her two daughters.

The Loli Ancestor first looked at Dorothy, smiled at her, and then turned her gaze to Alice, who was standing to the side.

"Little Alice, how about you become the new Provincial Military Commander of the Eternal Night Fleet?"

Little Witch: "Ah? Me!"

Alice, who had been excitedly looking around at the surrounding battleships beside her sister, pointed at herself in a daze, then turned to look at her sister beside her.

"Hehe, haven't you always wanted to be a General? Well, your dream has come true today."

Dorothy also smiled and patted her silly sister on the shoulder.

However, she also saw the intention of the seemingly relaxed Ancestor before her.

This was practically arranging her affairs after death; she had designated Alice as the future ruler of the vampires. If they were to unfortunately fall on the battlefield, Alice would be the heir to their legacy.

However, Dorothy was also somewhat surprised as she looked at the thirteen legendary battleships before her.

After all, when she raided their homes before, the Vampire Witches hadn't brought out these old things they kept at the bottom of the box, but now that everyone was deployed, it was clear they were truly prepared to risk their lives.

The final part of the fleet consisted of a few alien battleships that were completely different in style from everyone else.

Rather than battleships, they were more like a few mobile theater stages, all decked out in lanterns and streamers, exquisite and beautiful. You could even see the beauties in grand attire singing and dancing on the open-air stages on the decks through the transparent mana shields, performing wonderful shows.

Mm, if someone didn't know better, they might think these few ships were invited to perform for the expedition, but those who were truly in the know were already sweating profusely the moment they saw this formation.

"Damn, is this the Pure Beauty Parade Troupe from the Night City? Oh my god, why have they all been deployed? It's over, there's going to be a big move."

"Uh, what's wrong? Are these singers and dancers very powerful?"

"How should I put it? It's not a question of whether they are powerful or not, but that it's better not to talk about it. After all, I'm not sure if I'll be warned or silenced when I go home later if I say it."

"Hehe, you coward, I'll say it. Some singing and dancing troupes are art workers on the surface, but in reality, they are secret service battle groups that kill without blood. Pure Beauty, my foot. I'll tell you their nickname, and you might understand better: they are people from the Night Shadow."

"Night Shadow? That number one underground assassin organization?"

"Uh, isn't it a legendary hacker organization?"

"Eh, why did I hear it was an intelligence agency?"

"I give up on you lot who don't understand romance. With so many big stars and beauties here, can't you just appreciate them properly? Ms. Olena, I love you!"

Although there were only three of these alien battleships singing and dancing, their popularity was unexpectedly high.

Amidst the cheers of the onlookers, a stunning beauty in grand attire flew over from the stage.

The popular singer of the Night City, Siren Witch Olena, came before Dorothy and the others and reported to Madeline and Audrey.

"Two young ladies, the stage has been set up. The sisters can go on stage to perform at any time."

Dorothy, standing to the side, also looked at those three special battleships, feeling very grateful to the two wives of the Aphrodite family in her heart.

The wives had truly spent a fortune this time.

The Night Shadow followed an elite route; it was said they only had ten cruise ships in total, and now three had come at once. This sincerity was already maxed out.

Mm, with this, the vanguard of the Total Mana Wasteland strategy group had basically assembled, and the rest was Dorothy's own people.

The Home Witch stopped dawdling; she just stepped forward and snapped her fingers.

And so, the entire Radiant Territory trembled, as if some behemoth was rising from the ground.

But it wasn't "as if"; in fact, that was exactly what was happening.

Those were six massive wonder workshops.

As a disciple of the War Mentor Noerose, the buildings Dorothy manufactured could naturally not be ordinary buildings.

These six wonder buildings, which cost countless resources, were both production units and war fortresses.

And now, it was time for the base vehicles to transform and set off.

Or rather, it should be called the War Mothership—Nephthys.

The six massive wonder workshops shot into the sky amidst the astonished gazes of countless people, interlocking with each other, and finally transformed into a special fortress battleship in the shape of a metallic pyramid.

Wonder merging in progress...

Yay, another month of perfect attendance. I really worked hard for myself. ===== CHAPTER 973 =====