Chapter 159: He Is the Empire

A late‑summer afternoon.

In the Harbor District of Dawn City, the temperature remained scorching, yet thin clouds gathered overhead, and a drizzle of sun‑rain fell.

But the rain that would normally drive people home today only amplified the bustling atmosphere of the Harbor District.

Because the Judge of the Vampire Count, the great nemesis of greedy nobles, the protector of Weilan citizens, the youngest ever magical Sage, the new Dawn Duke Luosen Sakusen, is about to arrive in his immensely powerful Black Stone warship to the ever‑loyal Dawn City.

The Harbor District pier teemed with crowds.

The seaside boulevard around Storm Bay was even more packed, leaving no room to breathe.

Looking down from above, one could only see a sea of heads with hair of every color, while the bodies were almost entirely invisible.

A common trait was that these people were essentially commoners; even the nobles were merely minor aristocrats.

The entire sea of Storm Bay had been cleared; all sailing cargo ships were forced to dock, yielding the widest waterway for the new duke's arrival.

Blue Whale Mansion, still operating as usual after changing owners, has a top‑floor suite that looks straight onto Storm Bay, and it was fully leased by envoys from various nations.

For centuries, Weilan had been Aaron's semi‑puppet principality, a echo of Aaron within the Natural Alliance, so aside from Weilaners, few in the Alliance paid attention to the appointment or death of the Weilan duke.

But this time was entirely different! It was the first duke since Weilan's founding who was not a member of the Aidelian family—the third such duke overall.

The previous two dukes both came from Aaron's ancient noble houses; they rose because of Aaron's backing and were essentially Aaron's hounds.

But this time was completely different!

This young duke forced his ascension under Aaron's heavy pressure.

He stood upon the corpses of at least forty‑six ancient southern noble families, sweeping away Aaron's puppets in Weilan and making Weilan the Natural Alliance's only truly independent grand principality.

Born on the most obscure island, yet achieving world‑shaking feats, he wielded a massive influence that rattled the entire Natural Alliance.

His ripple even reached beyond the Alliance to the Radiant Empire.

One guest in a suite of Blue Whale Mansion was Lady Ailin, a member of the Radiant royal family who had been ordered by the Empress to rush from Aaron to attend the ceremony.

She, of course, did not come alone; she brought an entire assistant team of High-tier Mages.

Now the whole team placed high‑performance astronomical telescopes one by one beside the massive glass windows.

At the same time, they launched a small rotating‑leaf flying device, using its Insight Eye spell to observe Storm Bay from every angle without blind spots.

Ailin, as the overall commander, was sitting in the grand hall's round leather chair, listening to the chief assistant mage's report.

"Madam, the scheduled arrival time is 2 p. m.; there's less than half an hour left,"

Ailin sat with her legs crossed, posture upright.

In her left hand she held a glass of icy crystal fruit drink; her right hand rested casually on the armrest, the finger bearing a large luminous crystal ring lightly tapping the cushion, sending concentric bright light ripples outward.

"The southeast wind is blowing now, fairly strong; the bay's waves are sizable, and the Golden Ocean will be even more tumultuous. Arriving on time won't be easy,"

The young male assistant lowered his gaze, fixing his eyes on the carpet so as not to be distracted by the elegant, beautiful lady before him.

"Madam, this is a perfect chance to observe the performance of Weilan's Black Stone warship,"

Ailin nodded, "Indeed, but do you think a flying device will appear?"

The assistant shook his head, "The announcement didn't mention a flying device. Such a powerful weapon likely won't be displayed lightly by the new duke."

"What a pity. Who are the people next to me?"

"Levinde, Kao, Aaron, and the Natural Alliance's five great principalities have all sent ceremony envoys, including Bosilia, Godewin, Jiamo, Fengdan and Baolilan."

Ailin smiled as she listened, "The little Natural Alliance has countless kings and dukes, like a gem shattered into eight pieces."

The topic was a bit grand, so the assistant lowered his head and gave no reply.

Ailin didn't need to respond, "Go attend to your duties; report any new developments to me immediately."

"Yes, madam."

The assistant returned to his observation team, feeling a weight lifted.

At the same time, neighboring countries were having roughly similar conversations, but two situations were somewhat unusual.

One was Levinde Kingdom's ceremony delegation.

The Levinde delegates were very silent.

Each silently set up various observation devices, communicating only through glances.

The source of the silence was Master Lafaye in the hall.

He was an important member of Levinde's Sila Royal Family.

This visit to Weilan was incidental; the main purpose was to discuss a dummy bank certificate with the new duke.

The certificate's amount was sizable, estimated over five million Ogre, and fully compensating Weilan would significantly affect Levinde's finances.

That aside,

The main reason was that the incident caused Levinde to lose face with the big players, earning the Levinde Royal Family a 'thief' reputation throughout the Alliance.

This severely damaged Levinde's commercial credibility, harming overseas trade across the board.

For every gain there was a loss, and the losses outweighed the gains.

Lafaye thought bitterly, "I have no idea who gave the petty king such a lousy idea!"

The other was Aaron.

Aaron had always been Weilan's suzerain, but this time was driven out.

One can imagine his gloomy mood.

Aaron's envoy Sir Yalak's complexion had been a steely blue lately, never returning to normal.

Amid the varied thoughts of the delegations and the soaring enthusiasm of the Harbor District, a buzzing thunder rolled in from the sky.

When the sound erupted, the crowd in the Harbor District burst into massive cheers.

It wasn't the first time they'd heard it; such a strange sound, once heard, is unforgettable.

The previous time it invoked fear, but this time it sparked pride.

Because it was a formidable flying device forged by the duke; after circling Weilan, it claimed the lives of all southern noble families, so the Weilan people called it the 'Thunder Angel that Announces the Count's Death.'

The envoys of various countries instantly felt energized!

Ailin, who had been lazily sitting in her seat, sprang up from the chair with a 'whoosh'.

This is the sound of violent air currents surging!

She had heard similar noises before; the high-speed flying artifact recently tested by the Radiant Empire produces similar sounds when in flight.

Locate the flying artifact's position immediately! Immediately! I want to see the clearest image~~

An observation team of twenty-something assistant mages had already begun busying.

About two minutes later, a clear three-dimensional light-and-shadow projection appeared on the floor of the living room's center, its main subjects being two blunt-triangle-shaped flying craft.

Above the flying craft is an oval cockpit, but the cockpit is shrouded by a blue light curtain, making the interior details indistinct.

Ailin instinctively covered her mouth and softly exclaimed, 'This artifact is huge!'

The wingspan is nearly twenty meters, more than double the size of the craft tested by the Empire.

She immediately asked, 'What is the current speed?'

The assistant mage immediately reported, '400 kilometers per hour, flying very smoothly, with near-perfect control over the surrounding airflow.'

I've seen it; it's indeed very stable, and it must have flown a long distance from White Sturgeon Island~~ What an astonishing flying craft!

Such a physique, such a flight posture, far surpass the Empire's latest developed flying craft.

Aside from being slightly slower in speed, the performance currently displayed already completely outclasses the Empire's flying craft.

At that moment, the two flying craft suddenly rolled and used it to rapidly lose altitude. In just a few seconds, they descended from over 500 meters to less than 30 meters above the bay, almost skimming the sea surface.

As they did so, the airflow kicked up by the craft directly drew two misty trails on the sea surface, and that terrifying wind-and-thunder roar echoed throughout the entire Storm Bay.

This elegant yet violent flight maneuver left Ailin speechless.

She had but one thought in mind: 'So agile, several levels more agile than the Empire's craft.'

If the Empire's flying craft dared to do that, it would surely slam directly onto the sea surface.

Wuuu~~~~

The Weilan spectators around Storm Bay were nearly driven mad, shouting with all their might, their voices almost drowning out the wind-and-thunder sound.

After all, the crowd included many mages and warriors, and these people have astonishingly loud voices.

Without holding back, they shouted at full force, coalescing into a terrifying sound wave that almost pierced the sky.

Hearing such a tremendous commotion, Ailin's complexion slightly changed, showing great solemnity, and a terrible thought flashed through her mind.

The souls of these Weilans are being coalesced together by the new Duke!

One person's intent is nothing; even a circle of people's intent is not frightening, but when hundreds of thousands of people all exert themselves toward a single direction, they can accomplish astonishing feats.

The Radiant Empire has never really united the Natural Alliance, precisely because the Natural Alliance is a loose sand.

But now, a strongman has appeared who may be able to gather the loose sand into a tower.

A vague thought arose in Ailin's mind.

If nothing unexpected happens, this new Duke will likely become the Empire's greatest foe!

At that moment, the two terrifying flying craft rose back into the high heavens, circling each other and disappearing above the clouds.

Before the crowd could even recover, a huge silhouette appeared at the entrance of Storm Bay.

The Black Stone warship has arrived.

The assistant mage immediately formed a clear image of the Black Stone warship into a new pure-water picture.

Ailin gazed intently.

Only to see, upon the blue-green water and white waves, a pointed warship about 50 meters long and nearly 8 meters wide, its whole body emitting a light-blue metallic sheen, was cutting through the waves.

Its speed was very fast; the warship's prow cleaved the waves like a battle-axe and fiercely pierced forward through the surf.

Waves several meters high surged toward the bow, easily smashed and split in half by the bow, then formed a hazy white mist that enveloped the hull, and the high-speed hull further shattered the mist, thus draping the entire warship in a billowing white gauze.

After just one glance, Ailin's eyes were locked onto the warship, and a single word filled her mind: 'What a beautiful warship!'

Not only she, but all the assistant mages in the room were also drawn in.

Because of this warship, it exudes an aura where mighty power and elegance coexist, beautiful enough to shock the heart and make the blood boil.

And not just one! Soon, the second, third, fourth, up to the tenth Black Stone warships all sailed into Storm Bay.

This fleet cuts through waves and splits the surf! This fleet forges ahead against the wind!

This fleet opposes nature's mighty power and fully displays the might of sorcery!

Whoosh~~~~

The spectators around Storm Bay once again boiled over to the extreme.

Compared to the non-human-made flying craft, in the Natural Alliance that highly values maritime trade, from kings and dukes down to common folk, everyone is very clear about the importance of warships.

Thus one can clearly feel the greatness and beauty of this Black Stone fleet before one's eyes.

Some impassioned people even spat blood while cheering.

The Blue Whale Mansion's various national observation delegations also gazed upon this beautiful and powerful steel fleet with eyes full of envy and awe.

Almost everyone, upon seeing this fleet for a moment, instinctively regarded it as the perfect exemplar of a new-era warship.

The room where Ailin was.

After a long while, Ailin spoke: 'Compared to these beautiful warships, our Black Stone warship is nothing but a gang of ugly monsters belching black smoke and moving slowly!'

The Radiant Empire's Black Stone warship is much larger than the one before our eyes, or rather, much bulkier, carrying many more thunderous artifacts, and its caliber is clearly larger as well.

But in terms of speed and maneuverability, it is far inferior to the warship before our eyes.

Especially in appearance, it is completely outclassed.

In comparison, the Radiant Empire's Black Stone warship is like a monster reeking of foul odor, while the warship before our eyes is an elegant white swan.

All humans have an innate desire for beauty; although there may be suspicion of inflating others' prestige, the assistant mages in the room also share the same view.

Our nation's Black Stone warship is truly unsightly.

Assistant mage said, "But if we clash on the open sea, our fleet will win."

The Radiant Empire already has more than 30 steel Black Stone warships, and it continues to launch new ones.

In terms of new warship production capacity, not to mention Weilan, the entire Natural Alliance combined might still not match the Radiant Empire.

In just one year, the empire can possess over a hundred steel Black Stone warships.

Ai Lin nodded.

"This is probably the only point worth taking comfort in, but ugliness is the original sin; when we return I must advise the Empress to harshly scold the mage who designed the new warships!"

Of course, even if we could win, it does not prevent those Radiant Empire mages from regarding this Weilan fleet as a strong opponent.

Because its propulsion performance is evidently outstanding.

Finally, the beautiful fleet slowly docked at the harbor pier, where a splendid escort carriage convoy had already been prepared.

Under the guard of countless strong protectors, the tall new duke and the beautiful Dawn Princess, clad in specially made marshal uniforms, arm‑in‑arm, walked side by side down the deck.

Ai Lin immediately said, "I heard this duke was promoted to Five‑ring Sage at a very young age. Zoom in, let me get a good look at him!"

The image zooms in, and with the Radiant Empire's excellent observation technique, one can almost see the new duke's whiskers on his lips.

Ai Lin examined him closely, thinking to herself, "It seems the rumors are true; the new duke indeed has a fine appearance."

She ordered the assistant nearby, "Record this appearance; Her Majesty the Empress must know what this Weilan duke looks like."

The assistant mage complied at once.

As for the Dawn Princess, Ai Lin only gave a casual glance.

She thought she was okay, indeed quite beautiful, and heard she also has Four‑ring magical achievements, which is decent—she's an outstanding princess, I suppose.

But being merely outstanding is far from enough to shock the world; one must reach the pinnacle to have the right to say that.

So, her gaze returned to the young new duke, and she thought, "This is probably the first opponent that His Majesty has valued so highly."

"I want to meet you properly and see exactly where your strength lies."

At the same time, Storm Bay.

Awaiting Luosen was the highest‑ranking member of the Aidelian clan.

Among them, Huolande and Te Wood stood side by side on either side of the road.

Seeing Luosen approach arm‑in‑arm with his niece, Te Wood gave Huolande a subtle glance, and Huolande averted his eyes as if he hadn't seen.

Te Wood muttered inwardly, "You old stubborn one, is this the time for obstinacy? Don't you know how terrifying the new duke is?"

The new duke needs only a single sentence, and these fanatical Weilan commoners around him can hang every Aidelian on street lamps! The Dawn Princess no longer bears the Aidelian surname; her full name is Selena Aidelian Saxon.

Therefore, to continue the family's glory, he must bear the humiliation and burden.

So, gritting his teeth, he stepped forward alone, bowed deeply, one hand placed on his chest, the other extended behind him, and shouted loudly.

"Great Lord of Weilan, the ever‑loyal Dawn City welcomes your arrival and feels boundless honor because of it!"

(End of chapter)