Chapter 138

The heavens are azure, the clouds pale, and the blue waves stretch for ten thousand miles.

The Knights of the Northern County were invited to a viewing platform hidden among the mountains.

Looking northeast over the sea from the mountain, one can clearly see an endless expanse of azure water.

"Gentlemen, I will demonstrate the power of the new warship in these waters."

Luosen said so, and under the curious gazes of the Knights, he turned to Harry beside him: "Lieutenant Colonel, have the Queen of Banshees come over."

The Queen of Banshees is the second high‑speed warship, an improvement over the first Sturgeon ship, with many upgrades; the two biggest are as follows.

First, it is equipped with cannons.

Second, beyond the Lightning Storm rune, it adds a Pure Water Shield rune array, a Mind Immunity rune array, and a Storm‑Calming rune array, greatly enhancing the hull's and crew's defensive capabilities.

Due to the navy's rapid expansion, Harry the mage was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

He had already prepared everything and immediately issued detailed execution orders to the telegraph operators.

The Knights immediately spotted the telegraph box.

They are the Earl's agents, and in their county they are all people of first‑rate insight.

At first sight of the telegraph box, they all found it quite strange.

Sir Hanfulai Knight was eager to ask for details, but at that moment the Queen of Banshees arrived.

In the northern sea, a sleek warship painted pale blue with a pointed bow drifted in slowly.

After the second round of upgrades, the warship's dimensions remained essentially unchanged: 50 meters long, width increased slightly to 8 meters, and the deck height above the water 10 meters.

Because of the added heavy combat equipment, the fully loaded displacement now exceeds 2,800 tons.

The weight comes not only from its size but also from the hull material's average density being far greater than wood, plus a large amount of heavy metal components such as cannons, metal ammunition, and hybrid‑power cores.

A wooden sailing warship of the same dimensions would weigh no more than about 1,000 tons empty and under 2,000 tons fully loaded. The appearance of the warship instantly captured all the Knights' attention.

The Knights immediately noticed many things that seemed off.

"Where are the sails? Why are there no sails?"

"Ha— it's actually sailing against the wind! And it's going pretty fast!"

"Why is this ship so narrow? Narrow and long, yet with a pointed bow?"

"Shouldn't a warship have a rounded bow?"

"What are those rows of windows along both sides of the hull for? They look like a series of black holes to me."

Lieutenant Colonel Harry stepped forward to brief the Knights on the basics.

"Esteemed gentlemen, this is the Black Stone Flame Cannon ship independently developed by White Sturgeon Island. Its propulsion no longer relies on uncontrollable sea breezes but on fiercely burning Black Stone."

Upon hearing this, Sir Hanfulai, who had long been stationed in Dawn City, furrowed his brow.

"I have heard that the major naval powers of White Continent are all testing Black Stone warships, employing a high‑temperature pure‑water device called the 'Rune Steam Engine', which can supply immense power to thrust warships weighing tens of thousands of tons at great speed."

"Baron, is it the same for you?"

Luosen gave a vague nod: "My warship has a few minor innovations, but the principle is much the same—drawing power from Black Stone."

Sir Hanfulai, assuming he understood, nodded and asked, "Burning Black Stone to obtain power is indeed excellent, freeing us from heavy sails, but how fast can it go?"

Luosen immediately gave Harry a signal: "Major, let the Knights see the speed of the Queen of Banshees."

Harry, understanding immediately, relayed the order: "Proceed at medium speed, 27 km per hour."

That's roughly 15 knots, whereas a sailing warship in strong winds tops out at about 12 knots, so this speed already surpasses all sailing warships.

Following the order, the Queen of Banshees gradually increased speed.

Its pointed bow began to slice the waves lightly, and cone‑shaped sprays fanned out from both sides of the hull, giving the Queen of Banshees an increasingly impressive presence.

"A ship this large, yet it can run so fast!"

"Indeed fast, and it's against the wind!"

"No wonder it's a new Black Stone warship; it feels like a sea beast."

Listening to the praise, Lieutenant Colonel Harry chuckled inwardly: "What a bunch of unsophisticated country bumpkins~"

The ship's top speed is 45 km per hour; for now it's merely a warm‑up. Reaching that speed would truly be wild.

Sir Hanfulai watched attentively for a moment, then asked, "Baron, are those windows on the sides housing the new flame‑thunder devices?"

"Yes, they are flame‑thunder devices; on White Sturgeon Island we call them cannons."

"Cannons? The word does roll off the tongue nicely."

Among the ten Knights, Sir Hanfulai's insight clearly surpassed the others, even the Sir Robert from Shire County could not match him.

Of course, the most knowledgeable person in Shire County is not Sir Robert but the Earl's younger sister, Arcane Master Lady Agneth.

"Can you demonstrate the cannons' power?" Sir Hanfulai asked.

Luosen nodded: "Certainly, this is the focus of today's warship demonstration, and we will show all the Knights the tremendous power of this new weapon!"

To firmly align the Earl with White Sturgeon Island, we must display overwhelming strength, so this time Luosen staged a grand one.

He gave Lieutenant Colonel Harry a nod, and the latter immediately issued orders according to the pre‑planned operation.

"Queen of Banshees, enter the designated sea area and attack the target vessel."

With the order, the Queen of Banshees on the sea adjusted its heading, while the Fish‑folk Slayer skiffs quickly fell in line, maintaining order on the water to keep unrelated parties out of the danger zone.

Sir Hanfulai kept a close watch and observed that the vessels on the sea coordinated with uncanny harmony, as if guided by an invisible collective will.

He could not help but ask, "Baron, does every ship have a Mind‑Transmission mage?"

Mind arts are subtle and their cultivation quite demanding; equipping them on large warships is normal, but doing so on small skiffs would be rather extravagant.

What puzzled him further was that he saw no trace of any such mage.

Luosen smiled: "It's not a mage, but our island's unique Lightning Messenger. Yes, that big black box over there."

The Lightning Messenger, another brand‑new device, left the Northern Knights staring in astonishment.

Sir Hanfulai said, "Is it more effective than Mind Transmission?"

Very useful; if each Knight needs, I will freely give Lightning Messengers to achieve real-time communication between White Sturgeon Island and each Baron.

Upon hearing this, the Knights became even more surprised.

"Can this work? My Black Sea Prefecture is over 600 kilometers away from White Sturgeon Island!"

"Right, and is this thing reliable?"

Luosen smiled and said: "Later, I will introduce the performance of the Lightning Messenger to those who believe, but for now, let's continue looking at the warship."

The Siren Queen is basically in position, and its target ship is a simulated ironclad warship built on a reef one kilometer away.

Although it's a simulated warship, it still took a lot of effort, consuming a full 5000 Ogres to complete, and the hull is also a full 70 meters long.

From a distance, it looks almost identical to the current mainstream ironclad warship.

On the other side, Knight Humphrey felt that White Sturgeon Island seemed to possess a large number of entirely new arcane achievements; he was very curious, but since the warship was already in place, he could only redirect his attention back to the warship.

Luosen began his introduction again.

"The warship's installed smoothbore rear-mounted cannons use explosive spherical shells, totaling 32 guns."

"There are currently two specifications."

"The two large guns at the front are the forward main guns, caliber 12 cm, charge 5 kg, maximum range over 2 km. Each side has 15 auxiliary guns, caliber 10 cm, charge 3.5 kg, maximum range 1.5 km."

This data is quite professional; the Knights didn't understand it at all, but they all felt it was impressive, the real deal.

Knight Humphrey listened intently, then latched onto a term he didn't understand and asked: "Explosive spherical shell, what does that mean?"

Luosen gave a straightforward explanation: "The essence of a cannon is a powerful projectile device. Its function is to hurl an iron ball to strike the opponent."

"This iron ball is what we call a shell."

"Oh~~ what about the explosion?"

"The meaning of explosion is that the iron ball contains a certain amount of gunpowder. At the moment it hits the target, the internal gunpowder is ignited, turning into an immensely powerful explosive fireball."

The gunpowder inside the explosive shell is newly developed by Beier Laboratory; its power is comparable to that of Order Thunder Powder, and its safety is even better.

So how can we achieve safe and stable activation?

Beier ingeniously divided the activation process into two steps.

The first step is a specially crafted rune magic ring installed at the muzzle of the barrel; when the shell passes through the barrel, it must pass through the rune ring, completing the first-stage activation of the gunpowder, putting it into a collision-trigger state.

Thus, it both ensures the shell's safety and gives it tremendous explosive power.

After a pause, Luosen concluded: "The power of projection arts and explosive arts is both astonishing, so the shell's power is also astonishing." The Knights listened attentively, all curious, not knowing just how 'astonishing' this method is.

At this moment, the Siren Queen had fully reached its designated position, the hull turned sideways, and all 15 side gun barrels were aimed at a target one kilometer away.

Major Harry received the captain's request: "My lord, the Siren Queen requests permission to attack."

"Wait a moment."

Luosen raised his hand to signal and warned: "Gentlemen, please note that there will be some commotion; don't be startled."

The Knights were somewhat dismissive, thinking: 'The distance is two kilometers; how big could the commotion possibly be?'

Someone even voiced doubt.

"The target ship is rather far away; can we even reach it?"

"That target ship looks very sturdy, and real warships activate a pure water shield, which is best against fire magic; even if we hit it at this distance, what could it possibly do?"

Major Harry beside him immediately explained: "Sir, please look closely at the target ship; we have not only wrapped the wooden hull in a layer of iron plating, but also activated a pure water shield, whose strength reaches the Fifth Ring."

Upon hearing this, all the Knights promptly used Eagle Eye to narrow their eyes and observe.

Indeed, they discovered a thick layer of watery light coating the target ship's surface; considering the Baron's earlier gift of the Heart of the Ocean necklace, the claim of a Fifth Ring pure water shield remains credible.

Knight Humphrey observed more meticulously and directly confirmed: "It is indeed a very sturdy target ship; its defensive capability should be no less than that of all current mainstream ironclad warships."

Now that everyone is ready, Luosen gave the order to fire.

Ten seconds later, the Siren Queen began to roar.

The 15 side-mounted cannons erupted in succession according to sequence.

"Boom boom boom boom~~~"

The sound was like thunder shaking the sea; flames burst from one side of the hull like a giant palm parting clouds, and the target ship set in the distance was instantly engulfed in flames and thick smoke.

Countless seagulls on the beach scattered in fright, and birds in the mountains and forests took flight from far to near, as if disturbed by an invisible terrifying force.

Just as the Knights were feeling puzzled, the cannon's shockwave arrived! Everyone felt their bodies jolted by violent sound waves, not only impacting their internal organs but even giving the illusion of being unable to stand firm.

It was as if a giant's hand were violently shaking them.

The Knights couldn't help but let out low exclamations, their faces showing deep shock.

"The commotion is huge; indeed it's blazing thunder!"

"With such a commotion, the power must be extraordinary!"

"Look at the target ship~ look at the target ship~~"

The wind at sea was strong, and the smoke from the gunpowder explosion was quickly blown away, revealing the true appearance of the target ship.

The ironclad warship that was just moments ago impregnable and mighty now lies riddled with holes, almost split in two.

That sturdy ironclad armor and the Fifth Ring pure water shield hardly provided any defensive effect at all.

The Knights were instantly dumbfounded, looking at each other in silence for a while before someone finally spoke.

"What level must this attack power reach?"

"It must be the Sixth Ring, after all the Sixth Ring is the ultimate of power."

Knight Humphrey also followed his usual line of thought and asked: "Baron, what is the strength of this device?"

Luosen smiled and nodded: "Pretty much; not only is the strength high, the magical scale is enormous, resulting in absolutely astonishing power."

"So far, no mortal can withstand a direct hit from the cannon blast, even if they prepare in advance it's useless."

Major Harry listened to the lord's answer, wanting to laugh inside but daring not to let it out.

"The lord's words are really amusing, hehe~~"

But he wasn't wrong either; indeed, no one can take a direct hit.

These days, he has been testing the power of this new magical device.

The more he tested, the more he felt the terror of this cannon's power.

He now feels that even a god, if struck once, would likely fall on the spot.

But Luosen's extremely conservative answer has already left the knights feeling utterly shocked, as if their worldview were about to be overturned.

Because of the law of focus without destruction, magical strength is the hardest attribute to break through; now it has actually reached the extreme of Six Rings, enough to easily shred the magical defenses of all sailing warships in the world.

Although White Sturgeon Island still has few warships, only five, this ship is fast, powerful, and can strike so far that it is practically the nemesis of sailing warships.

But in the end, the number is still a bit low.

Although it gave the knights great confidence, there is still some worry.

Knight Humphrey asked: "Baron, five ships, is that really enough?"

He immediately added: "The northbound force is the First Storm Fleet, which has mustered a full 20 warships, three of which are storm giants over a thousand tons each."

The storm giants are Weilan's largest ships, with a light displacement of 1,200 tons; below them are 800-ton gale ships and 500-ton wave ships.

Dawn City has a total of three fleets, and this time they have brought one-third of their strength. For White Sturgeon Island, this cannot be considered not taking it seriously.

Rosen Ziran naturally also knew this news; he observed the knights' faces and found that the knights from the poor counties had resolute expressions, showing they had already made up their minds to follow, but the knights from the wealthy counties, such as Tall Mountain County and Shire County, still showed hesitation on their faces.

Because the northern counties are generally poor, most of the knights have already been convinced by the new warships.

Then the purpose of this demonstration has already been achieved.

Thus he smiled and said: "Besides the warships, we have also devised detailed tactics, with full confidence to defeat the storm fleet at sea."

After saying that, he looked at all the knights of the northern counties.

"The problem is, once the island-wide lord convention is launched, the Duke will surely declare the northern counties rebellious and send troops to suppress them."

"Then, do the northern counties have confidence to defeat the Duke's army on land?"

Upon hearing this, the knights instinctively wanted to say yes, but when the words reached their lips, they finally couldn't get them out.

Because they felt guilty.

Although historically the northern counties' army was indeed strong, often able to defeat the southern counties' army, but with changing times, the northern counties have become poorer and the southern counties richer.

When a place is poor, the army's equipment and training become weak; of course, the southern counties' army training is also weak, but they can't stand up to the opponent's good equipment.

Occasionally, conflicts also arise between the counties, especially between the north and south, where minor frictions are constant.

But the northern counties clearly feel that they are gradually losing their advantage over the southern counties.

If they can't win on the battlefield, they naturally can't talk tough.

The knights' silence was entirely within Luosen's expectations.

Because the Island Intelligence Bureau had long ago figured out the details of Weilan's twenty-five counties.

In fact, Luosen understands their strength even better than the various county barons, and from a higher perspective he has seen the waxing and waning of the north-south powers.

Weilan Giant Island, the south has many plains, the north many mountains.

The plains are good for the economy but hard to defend; the mountains are tough for the economy but easy to defend and hard to attack. Moreover, for historical reasons, the south and north have long been at odds, so there is a vague line of power balance.

But as the south becomes wealthier and more populous, and with Aaron's support bringing large amounts of high-end magical equipment, this power demarcation line is gradually shifting northward.

If there is no intervention, the northern counties will eventually be completely swallowed by the southern counties, and Weilan Giant Island will also become completely a puppet of Aaron.

But the northern counties are Luosen's current base, and the barons are the strongest force in the northern counties at present.

So he has to back up the barons.

Of course, just backing them up, he won't let the northern counties collapse, nor will he let them run amok.

Because what he wants is the whole Weilan Giant Island, not just the northern counties.

Facing the knights' silence, Luosen shouted: "Gentlemen of valor, our north lacks no brave warriors, but lacks powerful weapons and equipment."

This has long been the fact, and all the knights nodded in agreement.

Luosen raised his hand to take a lightning torrent crossbow handed over by Major Harry, walked to the mountaintop observation platform, pulled the trigger at the distant air, and continuously swept left and right.

Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~~

The lightning torrent surged forth, continuous electric light illuminating the eyes of every northern knight.

The terrifying lightning blaze burst for a full minute before stopping; afterward, Luosen held the steaming lightning crossbow with one hand, turned, and looked at the northern knights.

"The lightning torrent crossbow fires 300 intermediate lightning bolts per minute, range 400 meters, a new divine weapon on the battlefield, each costing only 1,500 ogres."

"Want a batch, gentlemen?"

(End of chapter)