Badge in Azure

By right, when a mage continued to be able to cast spells even though he was in a place without any elements, that meant that he was doing so by using up the magic chords in his body and the power of his spells would be reduced drastically. That also meant that mages that could only cast spells using the magic net would be useless without it.

Saleen walked around the metal towers and arrived at the back of the deck. There were more than one-hundred pieces of flying equipment on the deck. They were different from the components of flying equipment at the front of the deck. On both sides of the narrow and long metal machine were triangular-shaped wings that were wide and heavy and could not be flapped.

From the looks of it, the object seemed to be the Mechanical Soul in flying motion. Its flying speed would definitely be high, but the style of its flying would be much poorer than a mage’s.

Nevertheless, the object was huge and could carry along much more equipment than the flying equipment at the front of the deck. Clearly, they were equipment used for aerial battles while those at the front of the deck were used for spying.

Saleen then walked over to the side of the vessel to inspect. The side of this ancient combat vessel was like a city wall as it was about forty yards away from the surface of the water. If they encountered an ordinary combat vessel, there was no way the latter would be able to board their ship. Only flying mages would be able to do so.

It was precisely because of that strange design that the Cloudflow forces never expected the dragon skeleton combat vessel to fly up forty-yards high and land on their deck. To the Cloudflow soldiers, that was a miracle.

The design of the two-hundred yard tall dragon skeleton combat vessel was strange, and the side of the vessel was only about ten yards away from the surface of the water. One leap from the vessel scared all the Cloudflow soldiers out of their wits.

The side of the ancient combat vessel was made of metal armor that was half a yard thick. The metal armor was made of more than one-hundred layers of thin metal slices compressed together with magic material in between. It weighed less than one-tenth of metal, otherwise the ancient combat vessel would never have been able to stay afloat.

Pieces of the metal armor were mounted onto the body of the vessel, layer over layer. Even if they were destroyed, new armor could still be put in place. A forty yard tall body would definitely encounter countless forms of attacks. Without the layer of armor, even the most resilient combat vessel would be severely damaged.

The Cloudflow forces did not use that armor. Nor did they have better ways to replace the defensive equipment.

After observing the interior of the side of the vessel, there was a platform that was about three yards wide. Other than magic cannons, there were also a number of metal crossbow stands. Saleen did not manage to see what was so special about the designs. Some combat styles just never changed, even over tens of thousands of years.

After about every sixty yards there was an opening that was relatively wide. Saleen saw the openings as miniature city gates, where springboards could be extended and used to embark on enemy combat vessels.

Saleen felt uncomfortable while walking on the ancient combat vessel. That was because the design of the magic net was very different from his beliefs about magic. If the humans of the first dynasty were so powerful, why was there a need to design something like that?

What Saleen did not know, was that while the humans on the main dimension were powerful, there were many living creatures in other dimensions that were not so. Grade nine was the highest level they could ever attain. When humans made use of living creatures from other dimensions to fight for them, it was only natural that they had to design equipment that would boost the powers of those living creatures.

Even some of the magic equipment in present times were initially designed by humans for other living creatures.

The designs were passed down over the years and they were the reasons why humans were still able to remain in charge of the Myers Mainland despite the weakening of their powers. They helped the humans to completely exterminate the living creatures that existed in the dimension before the humans.

It was also because of that reason that the third dynasty fell. The fourth dynasty was basically humans’ last period of glory.

By right, the metal towers were designed for dwarves to make their preparations. Dwarves were only one-third in height compared to humans and, although they could not develop magic chords, they were born with powerful mental strength. Each metal tower was able to contain twenty-four dwarves, which was equivalent to twenty-four sorcerers.

The magic net on the ancient combat vessel would allow thirty-four-hundred and fifty-six dwarves to become grade-9 soldiers, casting countless grade-9 spells.

Even strong opponents like Fycro and Joey would be bombed into pieces.

When conquering other dimensions, the ancient combat vessel was only used for security and protection purposes. The main attacking combat vessel was as long as ten miles with a massive magic net system. Dwarves, elves, spirits, and demons that boarded the combat vessel would quickly develop into sorcerers. Back then, sorcerers were considered soldiers.

After walking one round, Saleen did not discover any loopholes in the ancient combat vessel’s defense. The only thing was that with the Mechanical Soul controlling the combat vessel, only about one-hundredth of the vessel’s abilities could be exploited.

The weapons duplicated by the Mechanical Soul possessed low damage, short attacking range, and used up a lot of magic nuclei that had to be at least grade-9. Saleen still had more than one-thousand standard units of grade-9 magic nuclei, but they would not last if they were being used up so quickly. They had to find the cemetery of the single-horned white whales in order to solve the problem of the ancient combat vessel’s source of energy once and for all.

Fortunately, magic power furnaces did not require high-level magic nuclei. Any magic nuclei, magic crystals, or even some low-level shards of magic nuclei could be used to extract fire elements to allow the magic power furnaces to operate smoothly.

Saleen felt torn. If he activated all the magic power furnaces, not only would the ancient combat vessel not have to use up so much resources, many disciples would be able to become something equivalent to sorcerers.

By activating the magic net, the ancient combat vessel would be invincible. Who should he let into the magic net? His own citizens? Saleen would never allow that to happen. Living creatures from other dimensions? Only demons were eligible, but he was not sure if they would obey him.

“Genga, how many magic power furnaces are there on this combat vessel?”

“Two-hundred and twenty-one, of which twenty-four are used to provide energy for the magic net. The magic power furnace in the core motor operated on its own, while the remaining two-hundred and twenty magic power furnaces are spread around the eighteen levels of the combat vessel. Many of the defensive and offensive equipment depends on the magic power furnaces,” the Mechanical Soul replied seriously. It was clear to him by then that Saleen was not someone that would put up with his temper. It was better for him to be respectful.

“Alright. Help me duplicate a diagram of the magic power furnace. Let me know if you are unable to do it.”

“Master, there is no way I can do it. The diagram of the magic power furnace is too complicated, and it uses three-dimensional magic patterns. The most detailed part is made up of standard units of singular elements. Unless I have advanced to grade-14, I cannot…”

“I understand.” Saleen was not disappointed. After all, if the magic power furnace could be re-created, the Cloudflow people would have been able to take over the entire dimension.

Once the magic power furnaces were taken away from the ancient combat vessel, they would go to waste. How Saleen wished that the magic power furnaces could be the same as the core of Sky City!

Sky City was the finest accomplishment of human magic. After all the Sky Cities fell to their destruction, no mage could design an alchemy machine that was so powerful yet exquisite. As for magic power furnaces, they were still being mass-produced at the end of the second dynasty and it was only in the beginning of the fourth dynasty that they vanished entirely from Myers Mainland.

Back in the dragon skeleton combat vessel, Saleen did not say a word. Some of the clones of the Mechanical Soul continued to follow him, waiting for any questions. What Saleen was thinking was whether it was better to take apart the combat vessel or to leave it as it was.

After thinking for a long time, Saleen decided that the combat vessel should remain as it was for a time. The Mechanical Soul had already devoured the vessel, so Saleen would only obtain a bunch of materials after taking it apart and would not be able to gain much from studying them.

More importantly, that was not the only ancient combat vessel since there was another one on Dragon Island. Now that he had taken over the vessel, Grand Duke Iron Blood would definitely have to activate the other one. Next time, Saleen would not have the chance to fly the dragon skeleton combat vessel up onto the deck of the ancient combat vessel.

If the ancient combat vessel had been taken apart, the armor could have been made into shields for all of Saleen’s main armies. Besides, each piece of the special metal used for building the combat vessel was more valuable than all the magic metal in his knowledge.

“Magic net, oh magic net, once I find the single-horned white whale cemetery, I will have enough magic nuclei to operate the Ancient completely. As for the magic net… I shall let the demons enter it. Demons possess powerful mental strength. A demon, who is the equivalent of a sorcerer, will be more powerful than one that was the equivalent of a high-level swordmaster.”

Three days passed before the reclusive ocean current suddenly appeared from south to north. The winged skeleton immediately commanded the fleets to head towards the north from the small island.

The dragon skeleton combat vessel followed the ocean current carefully. There were unknown materials in the ocean current and wherever the current passed through, the miniature living creatures that devoured everything would avoid it, forming a trail to a safe region that was more than ten miles wide.

It might seem that ten miles were considered very wide for a combat vessel, but since the vessel was traveling at eighty miles an hour, any slight deviation would cause the combat vessel to be amidst the red ocean and be disintegrated by the miniature living creatures.

The ancient combat vessel was particularly at risk as it was more than a mile in length. Any slight deviation would result in this precious vessel being destroyed.

The pan’s turtle alchemical boat brought up the rear of the fleet and released bone spirits to ensure that all was safe behind them. Leading the way was the dragon skeleton combat vessel. They followed the ocean current carefully as they dared not risk any deviation.

After more than one-thousand miles without being followed by anyone, the winged skeleton quickly caught up with the vessels as he was worried about the safety of the dragon skeleton combat vessel. The ocean current would last for about a week. The vessels were traveling at eighty miles an hour and would be able to travel two-thousand miles in a day. They would be able to enter the safe region of the ocean by following the ocean current. The region that they were currently in was the one where the magic compass would not work, so the winged skeleton did not dare to be complacent.

After traveling so carefully for two days, the red ocean was finally behind them and Saleen breathed a sigh of relief. They would reach the circumference of the Oceanic Ice Block if they traveled another ten-thousand miles towards the north. There would be very few dangerous magic beasts there.

All the combat vessels inspected their equipment and the winged skeleton summoned new spirits of the dead to replenish those within each combat vessel. Reaching the circumference of the Oceanic Ice Block was only the beginning. That time, Saleen’s target was no longer red krill. The battle that was about to take place would be a difficult one.

Saleen was looking forward to seeing the ancient combat vessel in action. If they were able to utilize the combat vessel properly, so the hunt should not be too difficult.