Chapter 1 The Joint Fleet

On the main ship of the joint fleet, all the soldiers stared blankly for a moment at the figure that had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Most of the soldiers didn't know the content of the communication between "Thunder Tiger" Meredith and Suren just now, but at this critical moment, a sudden appearance obviously meant a high probability of it being the enemy.

They also reacted to the battle in the first moment. All kinds of Mechanical Alchemist warrior outer suits and armors clanked, guns and cannons were aimed instantly, and the feet of the sorcerer-type professionals lit up with the light of alchemy arrays.

Everyone felt a burst of anger in their hearts. Directly appearing on the deck of the legion's main ship, did they really think there was no one in their Alchemy Plane?

However, after seeing who it was, almost everyone's solemn expression turned to surprise.

Because they found that face very familiar.

There were many high-ranking officers on the main ship's deck. Many of them had attended Fick's and Yekaterina's wedding. Especially those young officers, how could they not remember the guy who made them gnash their teeth with jealousy?

Even if they hadn't seen him in person, they had seen that face countless times in the newspapers of the two major empires during the few days of the wedding.

And that iconic black crow spirit pet.

Fick Regarde?

Why would this guy be here?

Although it was a bit unbelievable, everyone stopped their movements in preparation for the attack.

Seeing that face clearly, "Thunder Tiger" Meredith's eyes twitched inexplicably, and he also felt a little incredible: It really was this kid.

But what surprised him even more was that they were just talking, and Suren teleported over so directly and accurately?

This method was very powerful.

It should be known that there were various interference devices on the warship to prevent space teleportation, and just now in the communicator, the Eternal Night Emperor was at least very far away from the joint fleet. And he just teleported over directly?

At least, none of the space-type professionals he had seen could do it so calmly.

Before he could think too much, Suren smiled slightly: "Long time no see, Marshal Meredith."

Although many of these people had seen Suren, the only one Suren had a close relationship with was Grandpa Dora, the bald old marshal.

...

Just half an hour ago, Suren took the Eternal Night on a long-distance plane shift.

After several teleports consumed a lot of energy crystals, they arrived at the Imperial Strait.

Originally, the Imperial Strait was wide, and finding a lost fleet was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But with Tani and his mother's perception abilities, asking the fish in the sea, they easily confirmed that there was an abnormal area on this sea surface.

Then they followed it over.

Unexpectedly, they were lucky and directly ran into the joint fleet.

And they hadn't arrived late.

Although this fleet had suffered some battle damage, the main force was still very complete.

"Thunder Tiger" Meredith looked at Suren, his expression slightly complicated.

He was one of the few people who knew that the Dawn Group was entrusted by Master Lucien as the spark of Mechanical Alchemist civilization.

Before, when he didn't hear any news about the Dawn Group, he thought they had gone to the western desolate sea to find a place to establish an alchemic civilization, a "New World."

He didn't expect that they had been near the Imperial Strait all along?

Seeing the Dawn Group come to support, he was very gratified.

But from the bottom of his heart, he didn't want to see them here.

In the current situation, even if several large fleets of the Empire came over, they might not be able to save them, let alone an adventure group.

Meredith frowned and asked, "Why are you here, kid?"

Suren didn't explain the process in detail, but replied with a light smile: "I received a message from Ruin saying that the Imperial Fleet was lost in this area. We came over to take a look and didn't expect to actually encounter it."

Meredith listened to these words, his expression still not easing at all, and asked, "Did Dora insist on coming?"

He still thought it was his granddaughter being willful, so his tone wasn't very good.

Suren shook his head, "No. Dora is currently undergoing a full mechanical body transformation and hasn't completed it yet. If you want to see her, you may have to wait a while."

The old man was Dora's own grandfather, so it wasn't wrong to use honorifics.

Hearing these words, Meredith's eyes trembled obviously, and he sighed slightly, "That girl finally took this step..."

As a grandfather, although he understood his granddaughter's lofty ambitions, he still felt somewhat regretful in his heart.

But obviously, now wasn't the time to say this.

The enemy was on the way to encircle them, and the situation could be described as a matter of life and death.

But Suren wasn't worried at all.

After all, the Dawn Group had already arrived at the ambush location.

Just a few ten-thousand-man magic legions, it wasn't like he hadn't killed them before, so the threat wasn't great.

But the soldiers on the joint fleet didn't know the situation. Facing a powerful enemy, their expressions had never relaxed in the slightest.

How could Suren not feel the tragic and determined atmosphere in the fleet.

Meredith didn't ask any more unimportant questions, but said directly:

"Are you here to reinforce us?"

After a pause, he didn't mince words, and said solemnly: "The ones ambushing us are the ten-thousand-man magic legions from the Celestial God Plane. You may not know what a ten-thousand-man magic legion is, but it's a terrifying legion comparable to the combat power of a Ninth-Order professional. Without a fleet several times the size of the enemy, there's no chance of winning..."

In order not to cause unnecessary panic, the Joint Empire's officialdom didn't reveal too much about the horror of the ten-thousand-man magic legion to the outside world.

Only those professional soldiers had fought them head-on.

And only they knew just how desperate a "ten-thousand-man magic legion" really was.

Those mages from the Celestial God Plane formed legions of ten thousand people, capable of releasing world-destroying legion forbidden spells. No city could withstand such firepower.

The reason the entire territory of Mafa fell was because more than a dozen ten-thousand-man magic legions had swept across it.

Until a month ago, they had already breached the imperial capital, Cabitrone.

The Alchemist Plane lacked high-end combat power, and there were few who could directly block those ten-thousand-man magic legions composed of Seventh and Eighth-Order mages.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that they were retreating steadily.

This time, they received secret intelligence that the ten-thousand-man magic legion wanted to smuggle through the Imperial Strait. Originally, they wanted to gather the legions and take advantage of the warships to launch a surprise attack and boost morale. But they didn't expect the news to leak, and they were ambushed instead.

Leading to the current desperate situation.

The old marshal was still recounting his worries.

Suren wasn't in a hurry and listened quietly.

Having fought so many times, how could he not know the power of the ten-thousand-man magic legion?

Because the enemy's encirclement hadn't closed yet, he was afraid that taking action now would scare some of them away. So he wasn't in a hurry and planned to wait until they got closer before wiping them out in one fell swoop.

Meredith originally said these things to persuade the Dawn Group to prioritize the overall situation, preserve the spark of Alchemist civilization, and leave this place.

But as he spoke, he looked at Suren's still calm expression, and he felt strange: Why didn't this kid react at all?

He looked at Suren again, feeling that he seemed to be much stronger than the last time they met, but he shouldn't be so unresponsive to "ten-thousand-man magic legions," right?

Where did this guy's inexplicable confidence come from?

Meredith thought of something and suddenly changed the subject, asking, "Has that Mr. Mirror from your Dawn Organization come?"

As he spoke, he immediately added with doubt, "But... wasn't Mr. Mirror injured before?"

Without a Ninth-Order, he couldn't think of any reason why Suren would have this confidence.

Suren was originally listening casually.

But hearing these words, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately asked, "Mr. Mirror is injured?"

He wasn't surprised that Mr. Mirror had advanced to Ninth-Order, but he was surprised that his own senior sister was injured.

Meredith asked back with a slightly strange expression, "You don't know? After Mr. Mirror advanced to Ninth-Order, she has been destroying the Celestial God Plane's experts who descended in the Zambra Iron Waterfall Province in southern Mafa. But more than half a month ago, it was said that the will of an alien god descended, and she was besieged by the experts of the Celestial God Plane and was seriously injured. After she was injured, the imperial capital, Cabitrone, fell..."

Suren frowned as he listened.

He really didn't know about this.

Judging from the time, it should have been when the Dawn Group was still in the Dragon Kingdom Sea.

How could Suren not know his senior sister's cold and proud nature? If she could avoid troubling others, she definitely wouldn't.

She didn't say anything about her injuries, probably because she felt that even if Suren and the others knew, they wouldn't be able to help.

Thinking of this, Suren directly asked with the communicator: "Senior Sister, are you injured?"

On the other end of the communicator, Mr. Mirror's calm reply quickly came: "Yes."

It seemed that she didn't intend to say anything more.

Suren had long been familiar with his senior sister's personality. If he didn't get to the bottom of it, she wouldn't take the initiative to mention it, so he asked directly, "What exactly is the situation? Is it serious?"

Hearing these words, Mr. Mirror finally replied, "A Ninth-Order Archmage descended from the Celestial God Plane and used high-level holy light divine power. The injury is a bit troublesome and needs to be recuperated for a while."

Although she said it lightly, Suren knew that if Mr. Mirror said she needed to recuperate, it meant that the injury wasn't light.

Hearing these words, his face suddenly became gloomy.

Sensing it, Mr. Mirror's location was probably still in southern Mafa.

Suren thought for a while and said, "Senior Sister, I still have something to deal with here. I'll come over later. Is it convenient for you?"

Mr. Mirror on the other end of the communicator didn't refuse and only responded lightly, "Yes."

...

Everyone in the entire fleet watched Suren stand there, as if he was "daydreaming" for a moment.

Meredith didn't understand what was going on and didn't disturb him.

But looking at Suren's suddenly sharp aura, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he vaguely sensed a strange feeling that made his heart palpitate.

Before he could think too much.

At this moment, Suren hung up the communication and changed his previous unhurried manner, and began to talk about business: "Marshal, you are now trapped by the Celestial God Plane's legion magic, this is the legion forbidden spell [Sea of Mirrors], no matter which direction you go, you can't sail out. Before long, the encirclement will be completely formed, and then eight ten-thousand-man magic legions will condense into a [City-Destroying Battle Formation]. If you counterattack at that time, even if the steam warships have equipment advantages, you will be very passive..."

He wasn't in a hurry before because he felt that the enemy would never give up such a large piece of fat and would eventually take the bait.

But now he was anxious to see the situation on Mr. Mirror's side, so he didn't want to delay any longer.

The sooner the battle was resolved, the better.

Meredith listened to Suren's statement and asked in confusion, "City-Destroying Battle Formation?"

Suren nodded and explained, "Yes. A super battle formation composed of eight ten-thousand-man magic legions. It is usually used to break cities and destroy fortifications, and its power is very great."

The ten-thousand-man magic legions of the Celestial God Plane weren't just independent ten-thousand-man battle formations, they could also form super-large magic arrays with multiple legions.

Once formed, even if the warships of the joint fleet were strong, they would be sitting ducks.

Meredith knew a lot of intelligence about the Celestial God Plane and had heard some of it more or less.

Hearing Suren's words, he immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

He frowned and asked, "Then what do you mean?"

Suren said lightly, "I think we should stop the ship now and wait for them to come and fight."

As soon as these words came out, they immediately caused a huge uproar in everyone's hearts.

...

The conversation between the two wasn't avoided by the high-ranking officers on the deck.

Listening to Suren's words, some showed shock, and some showed skeptical expressions.

If they charged, they might be able to break through.

If they stopped, wouldn't that be waiting for death?

Their perception of Suren still remained on Yekaterina's husband, the crown prince of the Regarde family.

Although his status was high, the military generally didn't like these high-ranking nobles who had never been on the battlefield, didn't understand anything, but liked to make random suggestions.

How could Meredith not know what everyone was thinking? He directly asked, "But, will we have a chance of winning if we stop?"

Suren nodded and said calmly, "Yes."

Looking at everyone's doubtful faces, he added, "When those Celestial God Plane guys surround us later, the fleet will only be responsible for defense and counterattack. The Dawn Group will help deal with the rest of the battle."

He still said it very implicitly.

He didn't say that he could almost solve it by himself.

But even with these words, the huge steam warship was silent.

Everyone looked at him with strange and questioning expressions.

Meredith didn't think Suren was joking, but he also felt that this was impossible.

For the sake of his comrades' safety, he asked cautiously again, "Do you... does your Dawn Group have any other Ninth-Orders coming?"

Hearing these words, Suren didn't know how to explain it.

In the eyes of a normal person, this situation would indeed require either a Ninth-Order professional or a million-strong army to change the situation.

But Suren couldn't say that he could solve a ten-thousand-man magic legion by himself, right?

If he said that, no one would believe it even more.

Strength ultimately had to be known through fighting, not through words.

Suren pondered for a moment and only said lightly, "Although no matter what you choose, the result is the same. But stopping now to assemble a defensive formation will reduce a lot of damage to the fleet."

The fact was indeed that the Dawn Group had arrived, and the enemy's result was already doomed. What was ultimately uncertain was the battle damage on both sides.

But hearing these high-sounding words, the soldiers on the deck had different expressions.

Some were questioning, some felt it was ridiculous, some were mocking, some were angry...

But no one chose to believe it.

Because it was simply impossible!

Even Meredith, who could be said to be the most knowledgeable old marshal in the Alchemist Plane, had a stiff expression on his face.

He couldn't say he didn't trust him, because his intuition told him that Suren wasn't joking.

He couldn't say he trusted him, because he couldn't take the 200,000 warriors of the fleet as a joke.

From this moment on, the atmosphere of the conversation instantly became a little awkward.

Suren didn't know how to explain it.

But at this moment, General Rostov, another marshal, came to the rescue.

He pondered for a moment and said, "I think... our fleet can also stop and fight. After all, it won't be worse than the current situation."

Sometimes, intuition also plays a big part in battlefield decisions.

Meredith also meant this, but after all, it was the joint fleet, and it wasn't good for him to make a decision alone.

Hearing General Rostov's words, he also nodded, "Yes. Since that's the case, let's stop the ship and have a decisive battle."

The situation was basically clear now, and the enemy's goal was to wipe them out, and then besiege and attack the reinforcements.

Stopping to have a decisive battle could also end the battle sooner.

Perhaps it could also avoid reinforcements from sacrificing themselves in vain.

...

Although the soldiers on the ship were full of doubts about the outrageous reinforcement of the "Dawn Group," no one objected because the two marshals had given the order.

The steam steel ships of the seven large fleets slowed down and stopped, and then they assembled a defensive formation on the sea, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

The soldiers were all busy at their respective posts.

At this time, "Thunder Tiger" Meredith finally couldn't help the curiosity in his heart and asked, "Suren, now that the ship has stopped, can you tell me, what secret trump card do you have? What exactly is your plan?"

He always felt that Suren was mysterious, but he was also full of confidence, which must be because he had hidden some amazing trump card.

Hearing the old man's inquiry, Suren still explained a little more, "Ah... my plan is, to wait for the enemies from the Celestial God Plane to get close, and then take action."

Meredith was originally thinking of hearing some explosive plan, but as he listened, there was no more.

His old face twitched, "That's it?"

"Yes."

Suren nodded and said his true thoughts, "This way, they will gather together, and it will be difficult to escape at that time."

Hearing these words, Marshal Meredith and General Rostov already didn't know how to describe their complex feelings.

If someone else said these words, they would definitely think that this young man was really crazy.

And that they were also crazy.

They would actually believe such an outrageous plan.

But after the shock, when they recalled the words...

Wait!

Something didn't seem right.

This guy called to stop the ship, not to repel the enemy, but to make it difficult for the enemy to escape?

He was... planning to wipe out the enemy?

The two old marshals looked at each other, and they felt inexplicably frightened.

Meredith cast an inquiring look, "What do you think?"

How could General Rostov not understand? He smiled bitterly, "To be honest, my understanding of the world and decades of combat experience make it impossible for me to believe such a plan. But I believe in Her Majesty's vision. The person she chose must have something extraordinary."

Meredith also said with emotion, "Yes, Her Majesty Yekaterina is indeed a wise monarch with great talent. The person she chose is naturally not bad. And if it wasn't for my granddaughter saying that this kid is very good, I wouldn't dare to believe such a crazy plan."

The two semi-old men at the peak of the empire's military power both sighed in unison.

They also looked at Suren's calm and composed expression from beginning to end, and their hearts were very complicated.

Hearing this plan even more than facing the previous desperate situation of death, made them feel like they were in a bizarre nightmare.

Since things had come to this, they could only wait for a miracle to happen.

...

In this way, the joint fleet stopped on the sea and used the warships to set up a defensive battle formation.

At this time, the reconnaissance regiment on the periphery had discovered that the enemy's fleet was chasing after them.

In the distant view, Suren also saw those civilian sailing ships, mostly merchant ships, as well as some pirate ships and large fishing boats.

All the shipyards in Mafa had been destroyed, and all the warships had been transferred to Ruin. And the maritime transport in Mafa was originally not very developed. As a result, those guys in the Celestial God Plane didn't have suitable big ships, and they only found these small boats.

But the eight ten-thousand-man magic legions had also gathered thousands of ships of all sizes and surrounded them from all directions, which looked quite spectacular.

Because they knew that there was a huge gap between the warships' artillery fire, those guys in the Celestial God Plane took action before they got close to the range.

The waves were rolling, the wind was raging, the sky was thundering and lightning, and the sea was a scene of doomsday.

Several ten-thousand-man magic legions mobilized the majestic power of the elements, [Tidal Surge], [Hurricane], [Ten Thousand Thunderbolts]... one forbidden spell-level legion magic after another was cast from a distance.

The joint fleet did have an absolute advantage in warship equipment, but in terms of mobilizing the power of natural elements, the fleet's alchemists were far inferior to the ten-thousand-man magic legions.

The two sides started a naval battle from a distance.

The sound of cannons was endless, and the power of the elements became more and more violent.

In the communicator, news from the front scout legion came from time to time:

"Marshal, the enemy has stopped fifteen nautical miles away from us!"

"It has been confirmed that there are eight ten-thousand-man legions of the enemy!"

"Not good, their position is very special... It seems that they are preparing some kind of legion magic!"

"..."

Bad news came back from the periphery.

On the deck, Meredith and General Rostov were holding single-tube telescopes and observing the ships at the end of the horizon with serious expressions.

It really was eight ten-thousand-man magic legions!

It really was preparing a magic array!

They realized that this was completely in line with what Suren had said before!

Hearing those reports, everyone on the ship glanced at the black-clothed man with a crow on his shoulder on the deck.

The decisive battle had begun, and they could only expect a miracle to happen.

Although the two sides were still very far apart, the battle instantly became extremely fierce.

Suren didn't make a move.

He just watched quietly.

He was still waiting for the opportunity.

Wait until the [City-Destroying Battle Formation] condensed by the enemy was irreversible, and then go over.

At that time, the magical backlash would be enough for those guys to drink a pot.

......

After all, the joint fleet also had more than 200,000 elites, and the best warship equipment.

Even if those guys in the Celestial God Plane wanted to forcibly swallow them, they would easily break their teeth.

So those people weren't in a hurry. It was just that distance was a natural guarantee for mages, and some super-order magic required a long time to prepare.

It was also a coincidence that just as Suren was watching the battle, the sky above their heads suddenly became covered with dark clouds, flashing terrifying red lightning.

And the strange thing was that those red lightning bolts were rapidly condensing under the guidance of some mysterious power, turning into a ferocious lightning dragon!

Suren looked up at it and didn't pay any more attention. He just muttered in his heart, "Legion forbidden spell. Lightning Dragon... It seems that there is a very powerful Eighth-Order Lightning Archmage in the enemy legion."

And in the first time, the major warships also reacted.

"Everyone be careful! The enemy has condensed a lightning forbidden spell!"

"Activate the level-9 mechanical defense shield! Lightning rods are ready!"

"Magic professionals, steal elements and reduce the power of the enemy's magic!"

"..."

The joint fleets were all elites, and they had a wealth of experience.

They didn't need Suren to intervene at all, and the staff had made the best response.

However, this kind of Ninth-Order forbidden spell-level legion magic was very tricky even for them to deal with.

The lightning in the sky became more and more terrifying, and countless lightning snakes struck the sea surface, as if the red blood vessels connected the sea and the sky, and the world turned scarlet red.

The ships had already activated their energy defense shields, and those lightning strikes were harmless.

But large swaths of charred dead fish were floating in the sea.

Before long, the lightning dragon in the sky had condensed to a length of several hundred meters, and it was faintly exuding a dragon might that made people's scalps tingle!

None of the soldiers on the deck had ever seen a giant dragon, and they didn't know what dragon might was. They only felt that their souls were trembling for no reason, as if they couldn't breathe under the pressure of the lightning dragon in the sky.

Even the Eighth-Order professionals on the ship had solemn expressions.

Only Suren remained unmoved. He raised the corners of his mouth slightly and dismissed the dragon might.

Compared to the giant dragons he had encountered in the Dragon Kingdom Sea before, this level of dragon might was really nothing.

Seeing this, his eyes shone brightly, and he glanced at the sky, and only then did he have a slight surprise when he saw something. He thought to himself, "Oh... there is also an epic magic guide device [Lightning Dragon's Fang] hidden, which is a good thing."

Just as this thought emerged in his mind.

Suddenly, there was a loud "crack"!

A red lightning bolt with a thickness of several meters rapidly struck down from the sky, and its power was so terrifying that it seemed to split a crack in space.

This red lightning bolt went straight to the main ship where Suren was, hitting it accurately!

However, the joint fleet was backed by the royal family after all, and there were many alchemic curse objects on the warship. Even if this lightning had a terrifying power, it was all blocked by the defense shield.

However, before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.

The giant dragon condensed by lightning in the sky flapped its wings and flew straight towards the main ship.

The scarlet dazzling light illuminated pale faces, and everyone felt a despair of destruction descending under this terrifying dragon might.

Legion magic wasn't something an individual could withstand.

Only Suren remained motionless.

Seeing this, he had already seen through the hidden killing intent of this magic and sneered, "Tsk tsk, so that's the idea... but how can I let you behead the commander-in-chief as soon as you come!"

With a loud "bang", the lightning dragon crashed into the defense shield and exploded.

Even without penetrating the defense shield, the huge energy shock wave caused large numbers of low-level professionals on the warship to faint.

It was blocked!

Just as everyone was celebrating that the energy defense shield had blocked this fatal blow,

However, a change occurred suddenly!

In an instant, a change that no one had expected occurred.

At the place where the lightning dragon exploded, an inconspicuous red dragon tooth pierced through the defense shield like lightning and went straight to Meredith and General Rostov!

Those guys in the Celestial God Plane didn't know what method they used to lock the positions of the two marshals, but the lightning arrived in the blink of an eye and was unavoidable.

The dragon teeth had always had super physical and magical penetration, and this [Lightning Dragon's Fang] left by a Ninth-Order giant dragon was a top-level magic guide device, which could almost make the defenses of all high-level mechanical war armors useless.

Although this lightning bolt might not kill the two of them, it would be enough to seriously injure them.

Seeing the red lightning piercing towards the two marshals, everyone's eyes were shocked, but even the personal guards didn't have time to stop it.

Meredith and General Rostov had stern expressions and didn't show any fear. They had already prepared for defense.

But they knew that once they were seriously injured, the morale of this battle would collapse before it even started.

It was when everyone was desperate.

Suddenly, a miracle happened!

A figure teleported to dozens of meters in front of the two old marshals, just blocking the inevitable trajectory of the red lightning.

However, what happened next made everyone dumbfounded.

That figure actually... grabbed that red lightning bolt with one hand.

He caught it!

It was like pinching a ferocious lightning snake,

Defending barehanded!

Seeing this scene, everyone, including Meredith and General Rostov, was stunned!

Looking closely, the figure was covered with dragon scales and shimmering dark light, and a domineering aura more terrifying than the dragon might instantly swept the audience.

The man stood aloof, like a heavenly god descending!