Chapter 1304: Test Fire
The werewolves in the fortress fell into chaos. The range of the lookout systems in the new world was entirely different from back home. The werewolves did notice the incoming enemy and took certain precautions, but the gap wasn’t something they could cover.
It wasn’t easy to tell which direction the attacks were coming from at this point. Only when the entire fortress was drowned out by the shadow of the Martyr’s Palace did they notice the massive frame of the airship.
Amidst the confusion, a dense volley of origin bullets flew toward the Martyr’s Palace. Even though the werewolves had strengthened their anti-air firepower, their main target was still the beast army—most of their arsenal was made up of small, rapid-fire weapons. Besides, not many fortress weapons could pose a threat to the dragonship, even back in the Evernight World.
The rapid-fire guns on the ground couldn’t even cut through the origin power barrier around the Martyr’s Palace. Only the large-caliber cannons would get through from time to time, but the damage would be soaked up by the thick armor plates.
The hundreds of side-cannons rumbled as the Martyr’s Palace turned about, drowning this small werewolf fortress in a sea of fire.
Qianye frowned because the fight was going too quickly. At this rate, the battle would be over within half an hour. What if Sousa didn’t appear after they were done? Moreover, the cannons were using up terrifying amounts of ammunition, and all of that cost money. Even Qianye, with his current wealth, couldn’t support such frenzied bombardments over the long term.
Soon after ordering the cannoneers to slow down their fire, Qianye sensed a terrifying aura far off from the distance. Sousa’s furious roar echoed through the sky. “How dare you?!”
The werewolf overlord was still a great distance away when his aura erupted, but he approached at stunning speeds. He almost seemed to cross thousands of kilometers in a flash as he arrived at the battlefield.
With such terrifying speed, it would take him less than a day to travel between continents. It was obvious that Sousa was beyond angry and had very likely utilized his full potential.
A storm kicked up around the base in the blink of an eye. Even that perpetual sun in the sky dimmed down as an all-present aura swept through the area. Sousa’s thunderous roar even knocked the werewolf experts to the ground.
“Qianye! Do you think you can escape this time?”
Qianye did not reply. He stood atop the Martyr’s Palace with Dragonsgrave in hand and aimed at the distant figure. The recoil from the shot pushed the gun back and even caused the Martyr’s Palace to tremble slightly. An origin bullet left the muzzle in utter silence and flew toward Sousa.
This bullet was so fast and silent that Sousa only noticed the attack when it was fairly close. Shocked, he clawed at the origin bullet and grasped it in his fist before charging at Qianye. “Is that all you can do?”
He hadn’t even finished speaking when he felt an intense heat in his hand, then countless beams of light erupted. As though he were holding a sun in his hand, Sousa felt an intense scorching heat burning the skin.
The overlord’s expression changed drastically. He let out a loud cry as a torrent of dark green origin power exploded from his body. He tightened the grip on his left hand in an attempt to crush the explosion by force. The light and flame were immediately suppressed by the dark green energy, but the scene didn’t make Sousa happier. On the contrary, a dark shadow drifted over his expression.
In the midst of suppressing the intense flames, Sousa let out a sudden muffled groan and looked down at this abdomen. There was a small hole in his hunter’s attire with green blood flowing out from it.
The werewolf overlord looked up at Qianye. “You actually have a second shot left!”
“I have a third, too.” The gun was shrouded in a dark golden glow as Qianye aimed at Sousa’s forehead.
The werewolf stared at Dragongraves’ muzzle with narrowed eyes, not daring to be careless. It was at this moment that a sudden change occurred—a faintly discernible silhouette shot out from the side and brushed past Sousa’s body.
The great dark monarch staggered back with a groan. Without even looking back, he roared furiously, “Liu Daoji, it’s you again!”
Eunuch Liu appeared over a hundred meters away, smiling. “I haven’t used this name in a good while. I’m flattered that you still remember me, Mister Sousa.”
Sousa said through clenched teeth, “You humans are always so shameless and despicable, seeking victory in numbers!”
Eunuch Liu wasn’t angry. He said with a laugh, “We’re just small, insignificant characters. How can we play with you if we don’t come in numbers?”
Sousa said coldly, “What are you doing here instead of looking after those hateful brats?”
The eunuch said, “I’m growing old, so I wanted to take this time to move around and see the world. I heard the scenery here is quite good, so here I am.”
“You speak as though you’re on a picnic!” Sousa said coldly.
“How did you know I’m on holiday?” Eunuch Liu replied.
Sousa snorted. “I’m in no mood to joke around with you!”
Eunuch Liu said, “You’ve been talking for so long, aren’t you worried?”
Sousa’s expression shifted. “What’s there for me to worry about? You guys?”
Eunuch Liu only pointed to the ground. Sousa’s expression turned ashen. “How did you know?!”
“It’s only natural that we have eyes and ears in the Evernight Faction. I do wonder why you’re so surprised about something even humans know.”
Eunuch Liu’s words revealed certain things, but Sousa only snorted without replying. He shot a glance at Dragonsgrave and said, “Good gun.”
“Thank you for the praise.”
“This forest is yours now, I wish you the best in holding it.” Then, with a wave of his hand, a strong gale extinguished the flames below. All of the surviving werewolves were swept up and placed outside of the fortress. These werewolves realized that Sousa was in a state of fury, so they simply left without even bothering to gather their things.
Only when Sousa’s figure disappeared did Eunuch Liu return to Qianye’s side. He broke into a coughing fit with foamy blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth.
Qianye was surprised. “Are you okay?”
Eunuch Liu waved his hand. “It’s no big deal. Going within melee range of a great dark monarch involves a price, but he isn’t having a good time, either. In the end, the only wound he might find troublesome is the one from your Dragonsgrave. Looks like this gun is even more powerful than I expected. How you use it in the future will be up to you.”
“Please rest assured, I’ll use it well.”
Eunuch Liu shook his head. “Say, do you think this Dragonsgrave will become a calamity for the human race?”
“It will not as long as it remains in my hand!”
Eunuch Liu said, “I’m getting old and frequently thinking about useless things. When you’re done with things, visit the Duke Chengen residence for a while.”
“It… won’t be too convenient, will it?”
“I know Gaoyi very well. She has let go of the past entirely, why else would she help you so many times in secret?”
Qianye said after a while, “Very well.”
Eunuch Liu pointed at the forest below. “What do you plan to do with this forest?”
“This place is too close to the Moorland base. Sousa can rush over in mere moments and he can stay a good while, too. We won’t be able to hold onto this place, but we can’t leave the resources for him, either. We can’t just cut down the holy trees…”
The holy trees were a core resource of the new world. The Imperial researchers knew too little about them at this point, but just the ability to produce tree sap and stony metal made them priceless.
Qianye could already sense a formless connection with this holy forest. If he were to cut down the holy trees here, he would become a common enemy of all holy trees. He had no wish to experience rejection on the conscious plane again. The holy trees were important existences that were on a totally different level from humans.
Qianye had the sudden idea to move the trees away since he could neither cut down nor leave the trees.
He immediately put his thoughts into action. There were too many soldiers in the Martyr’s Palace, so there was no lack of manual labor. The dragonship slowly landed beside the abandoned werewolf fortress and opened its doors, pouring out tens of thousands of soldiers from within. Some of the troops split off to clean up the werewolf fortress and plundered the abandoned resources. The elites and experts followed Qianye and Eunuch Liu into the forest.
The two holy trees at the center of the forest were in bad shape, and many of their branches had been cut off. It was easy to see that Sousa wanted to study the trees, but there was little to expect considering how the ancestral faction liked to work.
The holy trees were sentient. Sensing the aura of the other holy trees on Qianye when he placed a hand on them, they gradually calmed down.
Qianye summoned all of the experts under his command to dig out the two holy trees, along with the pond below. These things were extremely heavy, but Qianye himself was extremely strong and Eunuch Liu’s cultivation was unfathomable. With the duo guiding the move and everyone else working in unison, the two holy trees were finally moved into the Martyr’s Palace.
With the holy trees gone, the entire forest was filled with the scent of death and decay. The life activities of all the ancient trees came to a sudden halt, and even the wind stopped blowing.
The wood in the forest was a high-quality resource, perfect for building warships as a replacement for alloy plates. Qianye ordered the soldiers aboard the Martyr’s Palace to chop down these ancient trees. The elite werewolf soldiers sported great strength and endurance. With tens of thousands of them working together, most of the good lumber in the forest had been extracted in just half a day.
Qianye knew that he couldn’t remain here for long, so he ordered the soldiers to return after accumulating a sizable batch of lumber. The Martyr’s Palace then took to the air and drifted away.
Far off in the distance, there was a pair of eyes on the Martyr’s Palace this whole time. It even tried to tail the departing airship, but the dragonship soon sped up and left the eyes behind.
…
Back in Moorland, Sousa was seated on his throne with his eyes closed. An elderly werewolf shaman arrived hurriedly. “Your Majesty, I wasn’t capable enough to follow the Martyr’s Palace. I did confirm their direction, however.”
Sousa said without opening his eyes, “The Ancestral Eye won’t be able to keep up with an airship of that grade. You did your best, you can rest now.”
“Your Majesty, their direction is…”
Sousa waved his hand impatiently. “It’s not important. Do you think they’ll head straight back to their stronghold?”
The old shaman wanted to say that Qianye never discovered the Ancestral Eye, but he didn’t dare speak more when Sousa clearly wasn’t interested.
The overlord stood up and headed to the rear of the hall, a storm brewing on his face.
...
At this moment, Qianye was asking Eunuch Liu, “What exactly is the new world hiding that even a great dark monarch has to fear?”