Chapter 285: The Same Tactic

A hundred thousand kilometers from Divine Province, seventy-two Ghost warships moved through the deep sea.

They traveled a thousand meters below the surface. Every hull stretched for hundreds of meters. Even Legendary sea monsters turned away after a distant look at the formation.

Twelve were the familiar Ghost Carriers, now larger than their old Level-5 hulls. Another twelve were Heavy Ghost Battleships, longer and narrower, with heavy armor, jutting spikes, and rows of gun barrels along both sides. Each bore a main cannon twenty meters across at its bow.

The remaining forty-eight were Light Ghost Battleships, smaller but no less vicious.

These were the two Battleship models the Abyssal Dockyard had recently unlocked.

[Heavy Ghost Battleship]

[Quality: Legendary One-Star | Level: 12]

[Main Gun: Power 6,000 ×1]

[Secondary Guns: Power 3,000 ×100]

[Shield: Power 4,500 | Armor: 4,500]

[Maximum Speed: 220 knots]

[Energy: 80,000 / 80,000]

[Trait 1 — Firepower Overload: Firing rate +50%; weapon power +50%. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

[Trait 2 — Dive: Enter the deep sea. Continuously consumes Energy.]

[Trait 3 — Concealment: Hide the hull from sight. Continuously consumes Energy.]

The figures became far more impressive with something to compare them against. A Ghost Carrier of the same Level had a main-gun power of only 4,200. Even the Carriers’ earlier guns had easily destroyed Black Banner’s Epic warships.

With Firepower Overload active, a Heavy Ghost Battleship could destroy an Epic vessel with a single shot.

The Abyssal Dockyard had worked day and night to complete sixty new Battleships. Cassian had paid their material costs, then poured almost all the Battle Essence he had earned over the past month into the fleet—more than twenty billion in income, with only essential expenses set aside.

It had barely been enough to bring all seventy-two ships to Level 12.

Without the Folded Sanctuary and his army of Eclipse hunters, even owning the Dockyard would not have let him support a fleet like this. High-grade Aether had been bought and supplied for its fuel as well. Everything from concealment to its guns consumed Energy.

At the head of the formation, Ghost One suddenly vanished.

The other ships followed it into empty water, disappearing one after another.

——

On the surface above, a towering Mirage Ship lay within a sea of mist. It was five hundred meters long and two hundred meters high. Mirage Mist enclosed the waters for ten kilometers around it, separating them into a space of their own.

Aurelia stood at the bow. Through the boundary, which allowed those inside to see out, she watched the coalition fleet dozens of kilometers away.

Water surged nearby. Ghost One’s enormous hull rose to the surface inside the pocket space.

Liora waved from its deck.

"Aurelia! We’re here. Our Lord must be getting impatient."

"Then take command. The battle is yours."

A Mirage Ship became less mobile once it enclosed a separate space. The larger that space, the greater the burden. Aurelia had brought the vessel ahead of the fleet, putting it in position while watching the enemy’s movements.

Excitement flashed in Liora’s eyes. She began issuing orders.

Within the Mirage Ship’s protection, the seventy-two Ghost warships took their places. Some held near the surface; others waited at different depths below them. The whole formation advanced toward the coalition.

——

"Warning. Spatial disturbance detected."

"Large spatial pocket approaching the fleet."

"Volume suggests a combined Mirage space generated by several vessels."

Alarms rang aboard the Meridian-class cruisers along the coalition’s perimeter. The warning quickly reached the commanders.

On a warship barely a hundred meters long, a banquet was already underway. Hundreds of scantily dressed hostesses moved among the officers and Lords, pouring drinks and inviting wandering hands. They appeared to be celebrating their earlier victory.

Garran Ravenscar looked up sharply.

"What’s happening?"

Once he heard the report, his confidence returned. He approached the middle-aged man seated nearby and bowed slightly.

"The Crown Lords haven’t learned their lesson, Uncle. There’s nothing to worry about."

The man had been resting with his eyes closed, ignoring the woman trying to attract his attention. Now he opened them.

Garran saw what looked like lightning flash in that gaze. He lowered his head at once.

Tavian Ravenscar was his uncle, and one of the War Marshals who had descended with Western Beacon’s force. That connection had made Garran the expedition’s nominal commander, giving him a chance to claim the credit for taking Divine Province.

"Another of the Mirage Ships the Crown captured?" Tavian asked.

"Most likely, Uncle."

"Letting them capture our Mirage Ships. A disgrace to the Black Banner."

"Cassian was too strong," Garran said with an apologetic smile. "And our soldiers in Divine Province have all fallen."

Tavian gave no sign of accepting the excuse.

"Deal with it quickly. Then increase our speed. The sooner we take Divine Province, the fewer opportunities they have to cause trouble."

He sounded as though the outcome had already been decided.

This expedition had several times as many veterans from Sector 632 as the previous invasion. The finest naval forces of several Provinces had assembled for it, joined by allies from Western Beacon, the Talassar League, the Ivory Dominion, the Dawn Coast, and elsewhere.

Their warships alone numbered more than a million.

Once that force reached Divine Province, Cassian’s depleted Dawnwing corps would hardly matter. Even had his whole army survived intact, Tavian believed it would only make the conquest a little more troublesome.

The other commanders had heard the report too.

Colonel Corbett of Western Beacon kept an arm around a hostess, his hand wandering as he laughed.

"Wasn’t the last lesson enough? If they insist on humiliating themselves, I’ll open a broadcast."

[Lord Corbett has opened a live broadcast: Naval Battle—All Viewers Welcome.]

Lords poured into it from the Homeworld Channel.

"Exactly, Colonel." Orrick Selwyn of the Talassar League smiled at him. "Against your Meridian cruisers, the Crown’s concealment makes them little more than stationary targets."

Corbett enjoyed the praise and returned it generously.

"Speaking of the Crown, your people set a fine example. Invite three hundred thousand of their Lords to settle under commercial agreements, then wipe them out in a few days. Admirable work."

"They violated the terms of trade first," Orrick said solemnly. "Naturally, our people were outraged. They brought the consequences on themselves."

The commanders from the Ivory Dominion, the Dawn Coast, Bharan, and the Coral Federation exchanged knowing looks.

They had heard about that massacre. It had happened in the peaceful interior of the Talassar League, far from any war sector.

Trade violations had been the excuse. The settlers’ hard work had made their Domains prosper, and the local Lords had resented being outdone. Envy had turned a commercial invitation into slaughter.

"Here we go," Corbett said. "Watch."

Blue-green light gathered aboard more than a hundred Meridian cruisers. A moment later, Phase Lances shot toward the detected Mirage space.

Everyone waited for the familiar result. Several ships, perhaps a dozen or more, would be dragged into the open and destroyed beneath the coalition’s guns.

Corbett raised his glass.

"To the beautiful display we’re about to—"

His smile froze. He sprang to his feet.

"Impossible!"

The Phase Lances had passed straight through the target area. They flew several kilometers farther before splashing into the sea.

It looked like ordinary water. Nothing caught the weapons. Nothing was dragged out.

The others stared.

"A false alarm?" Orrick ventured.

"Impossible," Corbett said at once. Then understanding seemed to dawn on his face. "The Realm is full of strange things. Perhaps it’s a naturally formed pocket of space."

The officers relaxed, some smiling at the unnecessary alarm.

Then the warning sounded again.

"Major Energy surge detected!"

Kilometers away, the empty sea appeared to split open. Through the gaps, they glimpsed armored hulls and enormous gun muzzles.

"Defend!"

"Shields up!"

"Open fire!"

The shouted orders came too late. The moment the Mirage space opened, its cannons fired.

A pillar of light twenty meters across struck a Meridian cruiser. Its shield was already up. The beam went through both shield and hull without stopping.

An Epic warship, pierced in an instant.

The watching Lords recoiled. Before they could recover, the sea erupted.

Thousands of Energy beams rose from beneath the surface. Large or small, almost every one pierced a ship.

And then the enemy vanished.

Only a second after opening, the pocket space sealed itself again. Without the explosions, the screams, and the furious shouts rolling across the fleet, the commanders might have believed they had imagined the whole attack.

Orrick stared at the sea. "How are we supposed to fight this?"