Very soon, the imperial officers in the cabin also noticed Qianye standing on the Earth Dragon’s head. Cries of surprise rang out in the chamber.
“What is that?”
“Qianye! It’s Qianye!”
“Is the colossus under his control? How is that possible?”
Lu Saobei felt a chill run down his entire body, and he simply couldn’t muster up the courage to fight back. Only a single voice echoed in his ears, “How is this possible?”
At this moment, many people had noticed that the Earth Dragon beneath Qianye was merely a husk, but that did little to alleviate the terror in their hearts. The remains of a void colossus was a priceless treasure in and of itself. Even the empire had only gotten their hands on a small number of them throughout its long history.
The massive Martyr’s Palace bore down on the imperial fleet with peerless momentum. At the last moment, Qianye looked toward Lu Saobei and stared deeply into his eyes. There was some mockery in his gaze, as well as a hint of pity.
Lu Saobei never understood the meaning in Qianye’s eyes, and he didn’t have the time to, either. As the giant shadow darkened everything, he suddenly recalled the reinforcement request he had sent to the empire. Considering his description and judgment of Qianye’s strength, there was no way the empire would dispatch a divine champion with this new hunting party, regardless of the importance attached to the target. He could easily imagine this group of assassins being wiped out entirely against Qianye and his Martyr’s Palace.
Lu Saobei’s heart was filled with regret when his consciousness was devoured by darkness.
Three balls of fire burst out in the sky, flinging the ship wreckage into the deep void. Qianye looked down from atop the Martyr’s Palace and sighed softly in his heart.
Instead of focusing on Evernight and the dark races, the empire had sent three brand new warships and a core power like Lu Saobei to hunt him down. Was there such a deep enmity between him and the imperial military?
Qianye shook his head, getting rid of the uncomfortable feeling. He had already understood that stepping back wasn’t the way to deal with such an organization. The only way forward was to hit them until they were hurt and scared, just like with the mercenaries. Forcing them to think hard before each successive operation was the best way to get rid of this trouble.
It was just that Qianye couldn’t quite get the empire’s way of thinking. They were unexpectedly quite obstinate regarding this matter, so much so that they would spare no effort to get him killed.
Qianye raised his hand—it was slender, elegant, and suffused with a lustrous glow, adding just the right amount of morbidity to his appearance. Even by ancient vampire standards, this was a perfect hand. The vampires viewed a perfect appearance as a sign of noble bloodline. From this point of view, Qianye was indeed upholding the dignity of an ancient vampire.
But under this beautiful exterior, Qianye knew just how much power this hand contained. Aided by East Peak or the Twin Flowers, it possessed great destructive potential. But his current strength was far from enough. His voice would be more resounding only when he could easily kill a marshal or a duke—only then would those bigshots listen to what he had to say.
A sanguineous bolt of lightning shot forth as Qianye closed his fist.
The Martyr’s Palace made a turn and flew toward the cargo ship. Cries of astonishment echoed on the old airship. The Highbeard soldiers on deck aimed their weapons at the palace but forgot to open fire. Their eyes were full of despair since even a child could tell that their guns could do nothing against this mountainous enemy.
“Hold it, all of you. Lower your weapons!” Bluemoon walked out onto the deck and shouted at her subordinates, stopping them from doing anything dumb. “I want all hands on deck, apart from the ship operators.”
The Highbeards swarmed onto the deck, all of them dazed upon beholding the massive Earth Dragon husk. Only up close could one truly feel this shocking impact. The Earth Dragon’s skull alone was hundreds of meters tall, not to mention those peak-like spines behind it.
After all the Highbheards had arrived on the deck, Bluemoon fell to one knee. “Bluemoon greets Master.”
A commotion ran through the Highbeards. Bluemoon had already announced beforehand that they would be meeting their new master, and those on the airship were Bluemoon’s trusted aides who were completely loyal to her. That was why they were chosen to be the first batch to set foot on the Northern Continent.
Qianye nodded at Bluemoon. With a single thought of his, the Earth Dragon’s mouth opened slowly and, to everyone’s astonishment, swallowed the cargo ship whole.
By the time Bluemoon had conducted the landing, Qianye was also back in the cabin. The Highbeard soldiers looked left and right, shocked at the miraculous scene before them. They had never imagined that there would be an airship this big—it could even fit an entire battleship, to speak nothing of a small cargo vessel.
“What are you all gazing at? Move the goods down and begin assembling the kinetic sails!” Bluemoon issued an order.
The Highbeards went to work—shipping the crates down, and then checking and assembling the contents. They were proficient with their work and apparently experts in the field. Qianye nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Bluemoon stood beside him. “These are some of the best people in my tribe. Not only can they fight, but all of them specialize in a couple of special skills. This time, I chose people proficient in construction, mining, smelting, and machinery.”
“Not bad, we need such people for the initial construction of our base.” Qianye nodded.
Bluemoon spoke again, “Right now, the Northern Continent is still a secret location. We mustn’t let its existence come to light before you have the power to go up against a divine champion. So, most of these people will remain here and construct our new ancestral land. Only five of my most trusted men will operate with us. I won’t allow the others to leave the place or contact the outside world before you’re strong enough.”
Qianye praised, “Attentive, well done.”
Bluemoon passed Qianye a list. “This is the second purchase list, please take a look.”
Qianye scanned the entire list—the kinetic sails were still on it along with several kinds of engines, minerals, metals, and trucks. Additionally, Bluemoon had listed a number of high-power origin cannons, likely to increase the firepower of Martyr’s Palace.
Qianye crossed out the cannons, saying, “These cannons are too close-ranged. They’re useless for us, they can wait.”
Bluemoon nodded. This list was something she had built a while ago when she hadn’t thought of the Martyr’s Palace’s fighting style. Who would’ve thought Qianye would choose the most primitive method of battle—ramming!
Martyr’s Palace was built from the intact frame of the Earth Dragon. It was as hard as steel and practically invincible. Not to mention ramming a small airship, even the imperial battleships couldn’t stop an all-out collision like that. Lu Saobei was also too careless—he had failed to notice that his movements had been compromised or that the Martyr’s Palace would cross the void and arrive from above, annihilating their entire fleet.
What Qianye wanted were the ballista cannons produced by the empire or the vampire race. These things were extremely powerful, covered long distances, and could even carry special effects; they were outstanding weapons without peer. Many imperial airships would use ballistae as their primary weapon.
Bluemoon asked, “When shall we go and buy the second batch?”
“Three days later.”
“Three days? Isn’t that too fast? We need at least ten days to install these kinetic sails.”
Qianye smiled. “Three days is enough for Ji Rui to realize what has happened. We should get a pretty good deal next time, at the expense of his own profits.”
“Understood, Master.”
The Martyr’s Palace didn’t go very far and merely hovered over the Eastern Sea. Bluemoon stayed behind to lead her tribesmen in setting up the new equipment, while Qianye left for Southern Blue on his own.
After Qianye’s departure, the entire Martyr’s Palace was left in Bluemoon’s hands. The Highbeard warriors began whispering and passing meaningful glances at one another.
A giant vessel like the Martyr’s Palace was more valuable than a small nation. If they could rob it, the Highbeards would rise meteorically.
Bluemoon’s eyes landed on that giant silver heart. She and the other tribesmen were building a cabin room around the heart during recent days. The engine on the heart let out a low rumbling sound as it circulated constantly. Bluemoon knew that it was the key to controlling the heart and even the entire Martyr’s Palace.
Every time her gaze passed by the engine, her heart would palpitate, her breathing would grow faster, and her internal kinetic output would also grow unstable.
After exchanging glances with the other Highbeards, a sinister-looking man with one eye arrived beside Bluemoon and whispered, “Shieldmaiden, shall we… drive this airship back to the tribe?”
Bluemoon looked back and said coldly, “Don’t let me hear such words again.”
The burly man replied hurriedly, “Shieldmaiden, this is a great opportunity. There won’t be one ever again if we miss it!”
“Have you forgotten how Stormwind Fury ended up?”
“But how can Stormwind Fury compare to us Highbeards? We’re much stronger!”
“Master is also growing!” Bluemoon looked apprehensive.
The one-eyed man was startled. Although he was unwilling, he bowed toward Bluemoon and said, “I obey.”
These Highbeard tribesmen were from Bluemoon’s direct line and were completely loyal to her. Bluemoon jumped onto one of the crates and asked in a loud voice, “We Highbeards are forced to leave our ancestral home and wander the world as mercenaries after coming of age, never knowing how long we have to live. Why is that?”
Everyone stopped the work at hand and gazed at Bluemoon. This was their destiny, a problem plaguing every Highbeard.
“Because we are adept in battle and we have no divine champion in our race, not even one! That’s why we can only fight like dogs for those divine champions, waiting for them to spare us some leftovers. We have never dared to go up against them.”
The one-eyed man cried, “That is true, but what does that have to do with this?”
Bluemoon’s expression was cold. “The key is that our master is soon to become a divine champion, and he won’t stop there! I have no doubts about that!”