Chapter 86: Escape and Pursuit

After that inexplicable burst of blood-fueled courage ended, the outcome of this brilliant aerial war was already sealed.

In reality, from the very beginning, the Sea Elves never had any chance of winning. You are well-trained, but Li Ang's Sky Battleships are always the optimal choice. Their loading, artillery fire, accuracy, and speed are all at a limit level impossible for mortals to reach.

What is this so-called limit level? It is the theoretical ceiling, a zone that humans could never reach. And Li Ang can perfectly achieve this effect through the coordination of the Psychic Network.

While others have a 5% hit rate with naval artillery, Li Ang can use regression correction to confirm that certain cannons will definitely hit their targets. Other fire that would miss due to angles or air turbulence simply does not fire. In this state, the armies of this era have absolutely no possibility of winning.

Li Ang has always been merciful and reasonable. He also hoped that his goodwill could be reciprocated.

But unfortunately, this world does not treat him with much goodwill.

After blasting the leading Sea Elf to death, the elements of the Aether Sea in the sky gradually receded. The Sea Elves scattered and fled, rushing in all directions in a panic. They did not need a place to return to; they only needed to escape this hellish place.

The remaining Sea Elves left on the battlefield began to curse Li Ang and the Sky Battleships. These Sea Elves were filled with grief and indignation at their fate, believing that if not for various accidents, they would never have ended up like this.

Li Ang had no desire to argue with them; he just quietly looked at the table before him and sighed with a sense of satisfaction.

"The Sea Elf problem is finally over..."

'Glorious victory!'

'In a single battle, you have crushed all the living forces of the Sea Elves! The Sea Elf faction will temporarily disappear until they regroup, or die forever upon the ocean.'

'You killed 485 Sea Elves and 321 sea behemoths during the battle. The remaining Sea Elves will remain in a state of permanent terror and horror toward your Star-Bearer Faction. They will never be able to attack your fleet again, nor will they be able to harm your people!'

Nothing left.

Just these few things, and then nothing else.

Neither the technology of the Sea Elves, nor their population, nor their beast-taming methods—nothing could be gained.

Li Ang did not even know what the point of this war was; it consumed a massive amount of his resources, slowed down his city-building progress, and even stalled the progress of his growing Wonder.

And in exchange, there were only those corpses falling from the sky and the figures of the Sea Elves fleeing in all directions. These soul-depleted wretches were not even ideal as slaves; being nomads was their nature, but in a way, it was also their inevitable result. Because other than that, they could do nothing.

"I might be the emptiest person in this world."

Looking at the scarlet ocean from the Observatory, Li Ang sighed and said in a melancholy, low voice to the standing-by Wufuruike:

"This was never what I wanted. I never wanted to be this barbaric. What I actually wanted to do was lead everyone toward a better tomorrow and build some Wonders. But the other side never wanted to listen to my explanation. I really don't know why it turned out like this."

"If they had been willing to listen to me, if there were no conflicts between us, wouldn't this world be a better place? I might have even lifted the curse on their souls. Really, if they had just promised, I could have actually done it. I want to lead humanity to the stars, but I never said I wanted to wipe everyone out. But all of this is so disappointing."

"What did I do wrong to make these Sea Elves disrespect me so much? I tolerated them for a full half-month, and this is the result we get. A pile of corpses, a heap of rotting meat."

"I don't quite understand your distress, my lord."

After pondering for a long time, Wufuruike scratched his scalp in confusion and gave an awkward smile at the troubled Li Ang. "Are you still human?"

"..."

Damn it, if you don't know how to talk, just shut up.

Glancing at the very subtle expression on Wufuruike's face, Li Ang looked at the ocean that had been rendered dark red and felt a sense of sorrow.

He wasn't mourning the life and death of the Sea Elves, but rather felt that all of this was truly meaningless. Li Ang was never afraid of war, but he liked wars of expansion, wars of Order, wars for survival and belief. This kind of war where they started fighting without even saying a word was something Li Ang disliked very much.

Especially when this battle yielded absolutely no profit.

You might say at least the trade routes are safe now, but those things should have been safe to begin with. They should never have been treated as bargaining chips.

If the Sea Elves had any real sincerity to negotiate, or if they really wanted to talk, would Li Ang have ignored them? He was so short-handed that he even had to cooperate with the Skaven and players, and he couldn't even open his second branch city. If the Sea Elves went to snatch people, he could just replenish their souls—why not? Li Ang might be short on other things, but was he short on Soul Fragments? He could just get them from the demons.

Melancholy is always short-lived.

Looking at the bloody ocean, Li Ang quickly pulled himself together.

At the very least, the four warships couldn't have been built for nothing. Sky Battleships are quite suitable for hunting and escorting; it would be necessary to arrange for a city to be built on Albion Island to provide security for trade.

Now, within the illumination range of the Psionic Beacon, a portion of the Norsca Peninsula was covered. When the time came, he could establish outposts on the Norsca Peninsula for monitoring, and he would be able to monitor the entire northern sea in a circular formation. By then, he could trade however he wanted.

However, just as Li Ang was daydreaming, a black figure interrupted his train of thought.

At the edge of the beacon's light, a massive black construct slowly squeezed into Li Ang's line of sight.

"Dark Elves? When did they arrive?"

Watching the Doom Ark slowly sailing from afar, Li Ang raised his eyebrows in surprise.

But before Li Ang could react, the Doom Ark lowered a small boat, carrying a team of Dark Elves dressed in elegant and refined attire, who bowed toward the rift in the sky.

"We have come to negotiate terms, Wizard King."

"..."

The sun must have risen in the south.

The Dark Elves were actually the most polite guys he had encountered so far.

Looking at the courteous Dark Elf delegation, Li Ang felt an incredible sense of absurdity.

(End of chapter)