Chapter 142: The Whole Island in an Uproar! (23)

Maple Leaf Castle.

About three hours after the White Sturgeon sea battle ended, Count Robert received a detailed battle report.

He was so shocked he almost swallowed his own tongue: 'The storm fleet was almost annihilated; of 20 warships, only four remain, and the surviving soldiers were forced to surrender.'

'The White Sturgeon navy suffered no damage!'

'How could this naval battle turn out like this?'

In his impression, naval warfare was just a copy of land warfare.

Nothing more than two ships approaching, exchanging various spells and crossbow bolts, then when they got close enough, ramming into the enemy ship and fighting fiercely.

Even if one side won, there would certainly be damage; how could it become a damage‑free annihilation battle?

He couldn't figure it out.

A few days earlier, he had sent his cousin to White Sturgeon Island to report on the Black Stone warships; the cousin exaggerated, claiming they were the best warships of the age.

Although he thought they were not bad at the time, there were too few ships and they had not been battle‑tested, so how could they possibly be called the best in the world?

But now, he was truly shocked!

The scout gathering intelligence was Asan, Count Robert's most trusted confidant.

His face still bore a deep shock.

'My lord Count, the White Sturgeon Island warships run extremely fast, as fast as the finest horses, almost as if they could cleave the sea in two!'

'The thunder‑flame magical weapons strike hard and far, reaching two or three li away, far surpassing the range of the blast‑fire giant crossbow.'

'Although not very accurate, their power is astonishingly great; any hit will surely pierce a warship\'s defenses!'

'Throughout the battle, the White Sturgeon warships kept tracing an 8‑shaped path in the sea, striking left then right, then swinging back to left again, over and over.'

'The battle mages, left with no choice, flew in at the risk of their lives, only to find the White Sturgeon warships had set up numerous lightning‑torrent crossbows, firing countless lightning balls.'

'Mother Nature above, I have never seen so many, so dense lightning balls in my life! \'That is practically a horrifying massacre! \''

'The storm fleet could neither run nor escape, could not catch up nor land a hit, and just endured over an hour of pounding in the sea for nothing!'

Count Robert fully understood.

This is like mounted archers facing a group of infantry armed only with melee weapons; the infantry\'s only fate is to be shot down by the archers.

He let out a long breath, fell silent for a moment, then made his final decision.

'Pass on my order: the First, Second, and Third Maple Leaf Battle Groups are to assemble, go to the Ministry of Affairs, drag William the mage out of the Ministry building, and behead him in the street!'

The utter destruction of the Storm First Fleet completely solidified his confidence.

'Yes, my lord.'

Asan left with the secret order documents.

Count Robert gazed at the closed door, suddenly feeling a bit vexed, so he poured himself a cup of wine and drank it alone.

He instinctively looked toward the cross‑shaped round window, and immediately recalled the young man who had once stood there.

Back then, he had a feeling that this young man was not an ordinary mortal, but soon he thought it was just an illusion.

Now, time has proven his feeling correct.

That black‑haired young man is indeed no mortal! He said a new world unseen by anyone would appear, and at the time he thought that when facing this new world, both sides would be passive spectators.

But now he suddenly realized: he was indeed a spectator, while the other party might be the creator of that new world! Just thinking that such a formidable figure lay over sixty kilometers away sent a chill through his heart.

But then a strong sense of luck rose in his heart: 'Fortunately, my sister is his magic instructor, and he holds her in great respect. Otherwise, it would truly be terrifying.'

That thought eased him considerably, after which he began to feel regret.

'Too bad the Black Stone warships are still too few; if we had a hundred, we could charge straight into the Aurum Strait and perhaps wipe out the Lion Fleet.'

But then he shook his head with a wry laugh: 'Such invincible warships would surely be terribly expensive. Five ships are already a miracle; a hundred is pure fantasy.'

。。。。。。。。

About an hour later, the news of the Storm First Fleet's defeat was transmitted back to Dawn City.

There was a subtle detail.

The Duke learned of the news through a mind‑communication mage; he had intended to suppress it and keep the populace in the dark, but discovered that the civilians already knew earlier and in greater detail! Dawn City was already in an uproar; everyone in the streets and alleys was discussing this matter.

As they talked, several horrifying rumors somehow sprang up.

'The one who defeated the Duke is the Princess; the Duke is so useless, why does he get to live in a splendid castle while the mighty, beautiful Dawn Princess is stuck on a remote island?'

'The Baron of White Sturgeon Island and the King of Aaron are vying for the Princess, and they even defeated the Duke\'s fleet—truly unprecedented heroic figures!'

Besides that, there is another piece of shocking news.

'White Sturgeon Island has discovered a deep‑sea route to Levinde!'

After this news spread, ordinary people thought it was nothing, but those in the know were stunned speechless.

Some were frightened, some exhilarated, and some immediately sprang into action.

And similar situations occurred in every major city of the Southern Prefecture.

But while the city bustled, Dawn Castle was deathly silent.

Although it is a castle as splendid as heaven, it is shrouded in a terrifying low pressure; everyone tiptoes about, fearing they might inadvertently invite mortal danger.

At this moment, in an extraordinarily sturdy ducal study, two people were holding a confidential talk.

One was Dawn Duke, the other was Aaron's envoy, Sir Yalak.

The Duke's face turned pale: 'My sister is coming back; I fear I cannot stop her. And once she returns, the first to suffer losses will surely be His Majesty Deng.'

Sir Yalak let out a light sigh: 'This is truly most unfortunate news, but the Duke lacks confidence—it was merely a single naval defeat.'

In his view, the Black Stone warships of White Sturgeon Island are indeed formidable, but not invincible; they are merely half a step ahead of Aaron's domestic progress.

When this news reaches the homeland, His Majesty Deng will certainly greatly increase investment in the navy, and this half‑step gap will quickly be erased.

Why half a step? Because the Lion Fleet's giant ships have already begun large‑scale replacement with flame‑thunder magical weapons, and their main guns have a maximum range exceeding three kilometers, which is somewhat farther than the White Sturgeon warships' main guns.

When encountering a White Sturgeon warship, the warship's maneuverability is naturally inferior, but it will not be completely defenseless; indeed, it can even strike first before the opponent.

Considering that White Sturgeon Island only has five Black Stone warships, their Lion Fleet can completely win with a huge numerical advantage.

And Aaron's Black Stone warships are also on the way, they will be ready in at most a year.

Then Aaron will build ships on a large scale, producing a hundred in a year, easily crushing tiny White Sturgeon Island.

But the Duke naturally does not know this information.

His face grew ever darker, and he asked in a near-whisper: "Can your country send some powerful assassins to let certain people meet Mother Nature early?"

Sir Yalak spread his hands: "This dirty work, can the Duke himself not do it?"

My sister has a Sage protecting her, I have no confidence of success. But your country is different, your country.

Sir Yalak's face showed a mocking color: "Our king also does not want to provoke the Sage's misfortune curse; although the curse may not be effective, if it is, that would be very unpleasant."

The Duke's face turned bluish-black: "Then I cannot guarantee your country's interests in Weilan."

A near-pleading threat.

Sir Yalak spread his hands again: "The Storm Fleet still has a full forty warships. Perhaps I will go persuade the monarch to aid the Duke with a batch of powerful Flame Thunder magical devices."

The Duke gave a bitter smile: "What use are magical devices alone? Our ships cannot outrun theirs."

"Isn't that better than nothing?"

"At least we can fight back, and your warships still have numerical superiority. Go again, overwhelm with numbers; perhaps it will suffer heavy losses, but maybe we can still win, right?"

That statement is not wrong either; the Duke felt somewhat moved: "Your country is preparing to aid."

Just as he was speaking, someone suddenly knocked on the door, knocking heavily and hastily, making the Duke fly into a rage: "Come in, but if you do not state a reasonable reason, you will wait to see Mother Nature!"

Outside the door was the Internal Affairs Chief Bei De, who walked in trembling, approached the Duke's ear, and whispered a few words.

The Duke jumped up on the spot, his face turning almost completely black: "What?! How is this possible?!"

Sir Yalak felt curious: "Duke, may I know?"

The Duke almost collapsed in his chair, speaking weakly: "The earls of the Northern Prefecture actually joined White Sturgeon Island in opposing me."

"They issued a joint statement insisting on convening an all-island lord assembly to re-elect the Duke."

Sir Yalak shuddered slightly: "It seems the Baron's series of actions were premeditated. Duke, you are in big trouble."

The Dawn Duke wanted to burst out cursing, but ultimately dared not, only uttering two words: "Nonsense!"

Sir Yalak paced back and forth: "But I cannot understand why the earls of the Northern Prefecture dare to do this? Do they intend to cut off trade with the entire alliance?"

After all, Aaron and Dawn City can easily blockade the maritime trade routes, and in the Northern Prefecture, aside from Xia'er and Highland Prefecture having somewhat high-level industry, the other eight prefectures are vast farmlands.

Without maritime trade selling their produced wool, timber, leather and other basic raw materials in exchange for various modern goods, those earls' lives would be almost no different from ancient people.

The Duke only needs to mobilize the Dawn Legion, then summon the armies of the fifteen southern prefectures' earls, march north all the way, and easily suppress them.

After all, even if the White Sturgeon Island Baron is formidable, he is ultimately just a small baron; how could he possibly move the millions of the Northern Prefecture?

Therefore, he truly does not understand, and cannot help but suspect that the White Sturgeon Island Baron has bewitching arts.

The Duke let out a light sigh and spoke the second shocking piece of news: "Let me tell you, this is because White Sturgeon Island has discovered a deep-sea route to Levinde."

Upon hearing the news, Sir Yalak staggered, almost falling: "This is impossible!"

"Obviously it is true."

The Dawn Duke covered his forehead: "I now suspect that the Black Stone warships were sold to the baron by Levinde; otherwise, how could a tiny island possess such fine things?"

He certainly also knows about the Black Stone warships, and even knows that Aaron's Lion Fang Manufacturing Bureau has been researching them.

He once wanted to jointly develop them with Aaron, but Aaron completely ignored him.

Sir Yalak finally was utterly shocked: "Levinde is getting involved?!"

Now the essence of the matter has changed from an internal duchy rebellion to a kingdom-level confrontation.

The situation has suddenly become an order of magnitude more serious!

"I will take my leave first, Duke!"

This news is too terrifying; he must immediately send it back to his country.

(End of chapter)