Chapter 106: The Summoning

Mercy?

The feeling of being pitied made Fules extremely uncomfortable. He roared and lunged at Qian Ye, his longsword thrusting straight for Qian Ye’s heart. However, just as he took a step forward, dark golden mist began to rise from Qian Ye’s body.

In that instant, Fules’ eyes widened in terror. To him, it wasn’t mist at all, but blood aura—dark golden blood aura, the rank and level of which he couldn’t even fathom!

In this moment, Fules’ blood core nearly stopped beating. A deep, instinctual understanding told him that the grade of that dark golden blood aura was far beyond anything he could imagine.

On the surface, Fules’ actions only paused slightly, but in a battle between warlords, such a tiny mistake was enough to be fatal. Fules desperately activated his own blood aura to counter Qian Ye. But an overwhelming pressure fell upon him, making it impossible for him to move. Then, the mighty East Peak flew over, easily piercing through his chest and destroying his blood core.

With the fall of the two vampire viscounts, the destroyer lost its last means of resistance, and its entire crew was swiftly annihilated.

The Zhao family warriors on the frigate cut the anchor cables one by one, separating from the vampire destroyer. This vampire warship was heavily damaged and would be useless in the upcoming battles, so Zhao Yuying decisively abandoned it. Once the fleet battle around the floating continent subsided, they would decide whether to let it become debris in the void or to tow it back for dismantling and recycling.

Qian Ye also returned to the frigate, watching as the destroyer gradually disappeared into the distance. The Zhao family’s frigate was also heavily injured and not fit for further combat. Even the war-hungry Zhao Yuying ordered the ship to turn around and fly at full speed towards the floating continent.

More and more warships from the Evernight side appeared on the horizon. Intense battles raged around the massive imperial landing fleet. Every moment, there were explosions and burning warships, their shockwaves causing the frigate to pitch and roll. Debris and fragments from unknown origins continually struck the hull, some even embedding themselves in the armor.

However, relying on the ship’s excellent performance and Zhao Yuying’s piloting skills, the frigate successfully dodged several waves of opportunistic opponents and harshly punished one of them before finally breaking through the battle lines and entering the floating continent.

The frigate flew to an imperial airship landing field, swaying as it descended, almost crashing to the ground. A large section of the outer armor shell flew over ten meters away, narrowly missing a maintenance vehicle.

As Qian Ye and Zhao Yuying stepped out of the frigate, several imperial maintenance personnel rushed over. A brigadier general looked at the frigate’s battered exterior, whistling, “You guys sure are lucky to have made it back alive! So, how did the battle go?”

“Knocked out a vampire destroyer and a few small fries,” Zhao Yuying said nonchalantly.

Although the brigadier general wasn’t particularly strong, he had served in the imperial fleet for many years and knew the weight of Zhao Yuying’s words. His expression changed. He tapped a section of the frigate’s nearly detached armor, asking, “That’s quite a feat. How did you do it?”

Zhao Yuying shrugged, “Simple. They tried to board us, but I took care of the marines, and Qian Ye took out their captain. That’s it.”

The brigadier general’s mouth hung open for a long time before he managed to say, “They actually tried to board your ship? That must have been a stroke of bad luck for them.”

However, when the brigadier general’s gaze fell on Qian Ye, he became somewhat puzzled. He knew that the captain of a vampire destroyer was usually at least a third-tier viscount. For Qian Ye to single-handedly defeat the captain, and with such apparent ease, was astonishing.

The brigadier general now had a better assessment of Qian Ye and Zhao Yuying’s strength and treated them with much more respect. “What are your plans now?”

Zhao Yuying glanced at the still raging battle in the void, her eyes narrowing, and asked Qian Ye, “Interested in getting more military merit?”

Qian Ye shrugged, “Why not? But it looks like our frigate needs a major overhaul.”

Zhao Yuying’s gaze fell on an imperial destroyer that was ready to launch, saying, “We’ll take that one!”

The brigadier general was startled and quickly objected, “No way! That’s part of the Third Fleet’s reserve, and it could be deployed at any moment!”

Zhao Yuying casually pulled a document from her pocket and shoved it into the brigadier general’s hand, “From now on, this ship is requisitioned by the Zhao family. This is the requisition order!”

The brigadier general read the document and saw that it was indeed a requisition order. His face twisted in a wry smile, and just as he was about to say something, Zhao Yuying interrupted, “Look at the state we’re in; who cares about reserves?”

“But, wait a minute…” The brigadier general watched helplessly as Zhao Yuying walked past him towards the destroyer, and he hurriedly followed, trying to stop her.

Just then, Qian Ye passed by him and lightly patted his shoulder, smiling, “It’s settled.”

The brigadier general suddenly froze, his expression strange, watching helplessly as Zhao Yuying and Qian Ye, along with the Zhao family’s crew, took control of the destroyer. It wasn’t until the destroyer took off that the brigadier general groaned, his face flushing red, nearly stumbling.

A nearby soldier, startled, rushed over to steady him. The brigadier general took several deep breaths to calm the boiling prime force within him, muttering, “So powerful!”

When he looked up at the departing destroyer, his eyes were filled with fear and awe.

Qian Ye’s casual pat had silently sent a strand of prime force into the brigadier general’s body, instantly causing all his prime force to boil. However, Qian Ye’s tiny strand of prime force surged left and right, continuously breaking through the brigadier general’s defenses. It took a long time before the brigadier general managed to use his own prime force to extinguish it, but in the process, he had used ten times the amount of prime force.

From this comparison, the brigadier general knew that although he and Qian Ye shared the same rank, their strengths were worlds apart. If Qian Ye wanted to kill him, it would be a simple matter.

This brigadier general was from the Third Fleet, and the officers of the imperial air fleet always looked down on the main land forces and were indifferent to the elite private armies of the four great families. But in the face of Qian Ye’s overwhelming power, he finally felt fear and respect.

As the destroyer took off, a lieutenant colonel asked, “What should we do now?”

The brigadier general looked at the requisition order, a shadow crossing his face, “I hope they get enough military merit to shut those people up. Otherwise, heh, this alone will cause them a lot of trouble.”

The other officers glanced at the requisition order, their expressions complex.

There were many types of requisition orders in the empire, generally used for forced requisition of supplies and equipment during wartime or emergencies. But the one Zhao Yuying handed to the brigadier general was one of the most special. This type of requisition order was for the use of imperial army supplies, equipment, and personnel by noble families.

The requisition order Zhao Yuying held had medium authority, sufficient to requisition a destroyer. Such orders were naturally rare, mostly kept by the four great families and a few upper-class noble families, originally used by the imperial family to court and reward the noble families. After all, the empire’s various regular armies were nominally under the control of the imperial family.

But using imperial forces to fulfill the requisitions of noble families would undoubtedly cause great dissatisfaction among the corresponding units, especially since Zhao Yuying’s requisition target was the high-ranking, elite imperial air fleet.

The destroyer quickly took off and disappeared from sight. Many of the ground crew officers shook their heads in dismay.

At that moment, a massive cruiser shook as it landed, with at least three or four parts of its hull spewing flames. “Prepare for rescue!” The brigadier general’s pupils contracted, and he shouted, rushing towards the landing site with his subordinates.

In the towering tower at the edge of the landing field, a stern-faced general stood by the window, his face grim. This old general, wearing the insignia of a major general, was Yang Li, the deputy commander of the Third Fleet, responsible for this area’s battles. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he turned, shouting, “Why is Destroyer 36 taking off? I don’t remember giving it an order to attack!”

An officer immediately rushed off, returning shortly with the exact information. He placed a document in front of the general, saying, “Destroyer 36 has been requisitioned by the Zhao family with a requisition order and is forcibly taking off to join the battle.”

Yang Li slammed his fist on the windowsill, enraged, “Absurd! Utterly absurd!”

He picked up the requisition order, his anger rising, and was about to tear it to shreds. But after a moment’s thought, he suppressed his rage, carefully smoothing out the order, and then sneered, “These noble families are becoming more and more lawless, daring to reach into our Third Fleet! Fetch someone!”

A staff officer immediately stepped forward, “What are your orders, sir?”

“Pack this up and send it to General Lu.”

The staff officer’s expression grew serious, “Yes, sir! I’ll ensure it’s delivered.”

Yang Li waved him away, his eyes fixed on the void, ice cold.

In the void, Zhao Yuying stood on the bridge, her gaze sweeping the vast expanse, searching for targets. Qian Ye had already entered the gun turret, familiarizing himself with the controls. The imperial destroyer was equipped with two heavy crossbows and one high-power prime cannon as its main weapons, along with some secondary guns.

For Qian Ye, this was a bit of a hassle; no matter how skilled he was, he couldn’t operate two heavy crossbows simultaneously. Thus, the additional damage he could inflict was limited. This was a destroyer; on a main battle cruiser, it would be even more so. In true fleet battles, individual power became increasingly insignificant.

The destroyer made a nimble turn in the air, targeting a spider demon warship. Zhao Yuying’s timing was perfect, as the spider demon warship had just destroyed a transport, its vision obscured by fiery debris, leaving it unaware of the approaching imperial destroyer.

Seizing this opportunity, Qian Ye fired three shots in rapid succession, hitting two. The hits destroyed the spider demon warship’s directional control limbs. Facing the severely damaged spider demon warship, Zhao Yuying naturally didn’t miss the chance, keeping it in her sights. At this point, no fancy gunnery was needed; the ship’s gunners poured fire onto the opponent, soon setting it ablaze, slowing its speed, and finally bringing it to a halt in the void.

Zhao Yuying ordered an acceleration, not bothering to fire again, and the destroyer flew past the spider demon warship, speeding towards the distant horizon.