Chapter 1

The ceiling above creaked and groaned, the floor beneath trembled incessantly, and everything in sight swayed and threatened to break apart. Through the cracking walls, one could even see a massive beam spanning the ship's hull, bent into a visibly alarming curve. The moment that beam could no longer bear the strain would be the instant of the ship's utter destruction.

This disguised passenger ship had endured the onslaught of three pirate vessels for a full two hours. Under normal circumstances, a few mere pirate ships would never stand a chance against such a large vessel equipped with over-spec defense firepower. However, Charlemagne Yissou, having received a comprehensive education from a young age, could immediately discern that those three grey airships were merely disguised as pirate ships. The magical flashes erupting beneath their black iron decks possessed a dazzling golden-red hue, a brilliance only produced by the highest purity magic focusing crystals. Cannons could be made with such crystals, a luxury that even regular military forces couldn't always afford.

This was a trap, or rather, this voyage had been accompanied by a deep conspiracy from the very beginning.

However, considering traps and conspiracies at this moment was utterly pointless. Even the most sensitive political instincts couldn't halt the failure of the floating engine and the fracturing of the hull. The most important thing was to find a way to save the people on board—and if that proved impossible, then at least ensure that he and his sister could safely reach the Empire and inform the Emperor, who possessed the blood of dragons, about what had happened today.

"Boom!!"

A crystal-infused shell pierced the White Pearl's already battered magic shield and detonated violently outside the VIP cabin. The cabin walls couldn't withstand such an explosion and were instantly pulverized. The powerful shockwave surged into the cabin, instantly killing a guard standing near the window, blasting him away before he could even react. Charlemagne, however, activated the pendant on his chest at the last moment, erecting a semi-transparent barrier between himself and the shockwave.

Several guards, who had been disguised as ordinary passengers and stationed outside the room, rushed in. Blood streamed down their foreheads, making them look like ghouls from the Gorgon Abyss. Clearly, the previous explosion had also affected them.

"Your Highness!" a guard cried out anxiously. The smoke and wood splinters filling the room obscured Charlemagne's situation, allowing them only to see a precarious magical barrier flickering faintly in the center of the room. "Are you alright?!"

A gentle breeze dispersed the smoke and dust in the room. A dust-covered Charlemagne emerged. "I'm fine—where's Aivenna?"

"Princess is still in the magic core," one of the guards shouted, the continuous barrage of artillery fire from outside forcing him to yell at his prince to be heard. "All three power pillars have shut down. Princess is trying to restart the core, otherwise the entire ship will lose power..."

As if to echo the guard's words, another strange shriek echoed through the airship's interior, followed by a sudden lurch that everyone felt beneath their feet. The entire ship tilted to one side, and the already strained main support beam emitted a terrifying cracking sound from deep within the ship.

Charlemagne knew what had happened: the magic core's output had severely diminished. The meager magic it was producing wasn't even enough to keep a third of the airship's floating engines running. With most of the floating engines disabled, the remaining functioning engines became a fatal point, tearing the entire ship apart.

Charlemagne glanced at the guards around him. These brave warriors were all battle-hardened veterans, capable of taking on ten ordinary soldiers in any situation. But on a crumbling airship, even the most skilled swordsmanship and magic were useless.

When the attack first began, he thought it was just a common pirate incident, so he prepared his sword and magic stones, ready to eliminate any bandits who dared to board the ship. The royal family of the ancient kingdom of Yissou had never relied on dining etiquette and waltzes to govern their kingdom. However, subsequent developments proved otherwise.

The pirates unleashed a sustained barrage of firepower exceeding that of regular military forces, with no intention of robbery, revealing much more.

And Charlemagne and his brave guards had no opportunity to use their skills.

The prince bit his lip. "Go to each cabin, gather everyone who can be saved, prioritizing women and children, and bring them all to the dining hall. You, go tell Aivenna to abandon the magic core and bring all the usable power pillars to the dining hall. Tell the captain to abandon the counterattack, focus the energy on the engines, and try to get as close as possible to the Empire's border before the airship breaks apart. Once the ship disintegrates, activate the escape formation beneath the dining hall."

One of the guards hesitated. "But Your Highness, we are over the World Rift, far from any magic node. We could be directly teleported to the World Core..."

"But there's also a fifty percent chance of being safely transported to the surface," Charlemagne waved his hand forcefully. "Don't ask so many questions, that's an order!"

The guards nodded and turned to leave, but just then, a sharp-eyed guard suddenly noticed something in the clouds above.

Since the cabin walls had been completely blown away, one could simply look up to see the sky.

"Look over there!! Another ship! A... very strange ship!"

Charlemagne stared in astonishment at the direction the guard was pointing. He had already seen the ship, a massive vessel hundreds of meters long, nearly the same size as the ancient kingdom of Yissou's "Galo" class battleship. It shimmered with a silver-white light in the sunlight, possessing an imposing and majestic aura. But it had no magic sails unfurled, nor elemental trails billowing behind it. The shape of its hull was an unprecedented rectangular prism. It plunged out of the clouds at an angle, like a simply-lined aerial palace that had fallen from the sky.

Considering it had neither magic sails nor elemental trails, it didn't seem like something capable of flying. Charlemagne suspected it might have just fallen.

Then the strange "falling" airship slammed straight into the most heavily armed of the three pirate ships, instantly turning it into a cloud of fireworks.

Charlemagne's eyebrows twitched. He felt that this ship had fallen with remarkable precision.

But soon, the silver-white airship arrested its descent and raised its bow, slowly adjusting its course and aiming at the next pirate ship...

Charlemagne blinked: Okay, so it didn't fall.

One of the three pirate ships was smashed on the spot, and the other two were stunned. After instinctively firing their last rounds of crystal-infused shells at the White Pearl, the two pirate ships fell into an eerie silence. The usually undisciplined pirates seemed somewhat at a loss after losing their leader—and in such a manner.

The White Pearl was also silent, because it had no extra power to take any action. Maintaining its float was already the greatest miracle this ship could perform.

The scene was momentarily awkward.

But when the Great Tortoise Rock Terrace completed its ascent and slowly adjusted its angle, aiming at the next pirate ship, this awkwardness was finally broken.

The two pirate ships simultaneously adjusted their course and cannon fire angles. As lifelong desperadoes, they chose the most instinctual response: to destroy this suddenly intruding uninvited guest.

The ship was large, but it had no magic sails or elemental trails, so it didn't seem like it could fly properly. Maybe it was easy to bully—it just happened to fall at the right angle to smash their leader's ship.

Moreover, the fact that it fell in the first place was telling; this ship really couldn't fly properly. Even though it had barely regained altitude, it might break down if they just hit it a little—which would be an additional income.

In any case, the "White Pearl" was beyond saving; a powerless airship was just meat on a chopping board.

After the great pirate Kande cured his headache, the average IQ of his pirates was clearly not high enough.

In short, dozens of bright lines of fire soon streaked across the sky, plummeting towards the Great Tortoise Rock Terrace.

A series of explosions erupted on the starship's energy shield, but the shield didn't even shake.

Then it adjusted its angle and crashed straight into the second pirate ship.

Continuous crystal-infused shells bombarded the strange "airship" like raindrops, but the grand explosions couldn't hinder the large warship in the slightest. Its speed even increased, and by the time the second pirate ship realized something was wrong and desperately tried to evade, a collision was unavoidable.

A loud crash even scattered the clouds in the high altitude. Charlemagne and his guards watched helplessly as the pirate ship was smashed into scattered debris on the silver-white warship's bow. After a few flashes of fire, the once-mighty pirate ship was completely destroyed, turning into wreckage that fell into the World Rift below.

What happened next sent a chill down everyone's spine: the silver-white ship readjusted its heading again, and began accelerating towards the third pirate ship.

And none of the previous bombardment of crystal-infused shells had left even the slightest mark on the ship's silver-white armor.

The remaining pirate ship finally realized disaster was imminent. Terrified, the pirates frantically adjusted their course, trying to escape the "savage monster", but they were too late, or rather, the pirate ship's speed was too slow in front of that strange ship. Charlemagne saw the "silver-white airship" quickly catch up to the fleeing pirates and stubbornly chase them for a short distance, finally smashing into it.

On the bridge of the Great Tortoise Rock Terrace, Nolan's holographic image clapped her hands. "Done, manually."

"Hang a circle of heads on the ship's side, they don't look like good people at all," Vivian frowned, remembering the appearance of the three pirate ships. "But again, why did you have to ram them?"

"What can I do? The cannons can't be used," Nolan spread her hands. "Besides, I've been a ship for so long, but I haven't tried ramming combat before. Just wanted to have some fun."

"Are you dizzy?" Hao Ren looked at the ship girl with concern.

"It's okay, just a terrestrial atmospheric aircraft, very fragile," Nolan waved her hand. "I'm hard-headed!"