Weather: Sunny. Wind direction: 3. Good.
After writing this in his diary as a matter of routine, Barque raised his head, tidied his cap, and strode out of the captain's room to the deck.
Seeing his appearance, the soldiers working on the deck immediately saluted him. Balck waved his hand at his subordinates. Then, he made a hand signal, and soon, a mage officer in charge of the lookout appeared in front of him.
"Sir."
"How's the situation?"
"Everything is normal. No abnormalities have been found."
"Is that so …"
Upon hearing the officer's answer, Barque snorted, picked up the pipe in his hand, and took a puff. Then, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the blue sky in front of him again, as well as the huge air fleet around him.
As the commander of the Magic Empire's First Elite Fleet, Barque had a proud resume. He was born in one of the oldest mage families in the Magic Empire, joined the army all the way, and became the supreme commander of the Magic Empire's First Fleet after many tough battles. To Barque, his fleet was his everything. He grew up here and joined the army.
Starting from the lowest soldier, he rose all the way to the position of commander.
These experiences were enough for Barque to raise his head proudly and bear all the scrutiny.
And the army he led was also the most powerful fleet of the Magic Empire.
Other than the flagship that Balck was on, the "Monarch", there was also the "Victory" and the "Flight". These three main battleships, in addition to the ten Galon-class light battleships, were the pillars of the entire First Fleet. They were also the most powerful and glorious fleet of the Magician Empire.
For that reason, when Barque learned from the parliament that he was to lead his own air fleet to welcome the guests, Barque was reluctant.
In his opinion, this should be the responsibility of those ignorant and incompetent royal guards. His duty was to defend the territory, not to imitate a monkey's performance.
In the face of Barque's dissatisfaction, the parliament couldn't do anything about it. In the end, Archmage Nicholas privately revealed to him that the guests this time were extraordinary and if he wasn't mistaken, they were here to threaten the Magic Empire.
The negotiation between the two sides depended on military strength, which was why the parliament finally asked the First Fleet to take action in person. If they could deter the guests, the parliament would more or less have the initiative in diplomatic negotiations.
Besides, Archmage Nicholas also secretly revealed to Barque that this time, the other party also led a large fleet and the performance of those battleships was very powerful. If it weren't for the First Fleet, perhaps they wouldn't be able to hold them off.
As a soldier, Barque wasn't interested in political intrigue. But as soon as he heard that they were going to compete, he couldn't help but.
What?
The Magic Empire's fleet manufacturing skills were the best in the world, and now, someone actually dared to challenge the Magic Empire right under their noses?
How could he tolerate this?
No one would be able to tolerate this!
That was why Barque finally accepted this order and carried out a large-scale overhaul of the entire First Fleet's aerial battleships. At the same time, he asked all the soldiers to show their best spirits. He wanted to see how powerful the fleet led by the other party was. How dare they compete with his aerial fleet?
"Have the Dragon Knights returned yet?"
"Reporting, Commander. Not yet."
"Tsk …"
Upon hearing this answer, Barque curled his lips in dissatisfaction. It was already high in the sky. Although according to the agreement, there should still be more than 10 minutes before the other party arrived, Barque was still displeased.
He even speculated maliciously that the other party's fleet was too slow. Maybe they would only arrive in the afternoon?
Just as Barque was pondering darkly in his heart, the officer beside him interrupted his thoughts again.
"Commander, the person we sent out has returned."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing his subordinate's words, Barque retracted his gaze and looked ahead again.
Shortly after, he saw a black spot emerging in the azure sky, slowly approaching.
Shortly after, a knight riding a wyvern appeared in front of everyone.
Upon seeing his appearance, someone waved a flag and guided him to fly over.
Just like that, the Dragon Knight wobbled as he rode the wyvern and landed on the deck.
Looking at this scene, Barque couldn't help but frown.
Every Dragon Knight had undergone training, and they were the most elite of warriors. No matter what they encountered, they should not panic. But now, this Dragon Knight was acting so flustered, and even his landing was so unstable. This made Burke rather unhappy.
Perhaps I should consider transferring him to another fleet. Such a person doesn't meet my requirements.
"Commander!
Commander! "
However, that unlucky knight didn't seem to know that he had been "laid off" in Burke's heart. He hurriedly rushed over and bowed to Burke with a pale face. Before Burke could say anything, he immediately said, "I'm sorry, but I'm sorry.
"Please give the order to disperse the fleet immediately. Otherwise, it will be too late!"
"What's wrong?
What happened? "
Looking at his subordinate's strange behavior, Barque was taken aback.
"Disperse?
Could it be that we're under attack?
Are you under attack? "
Saying so, Barque clutched the staff in his hand. If the other party came with ill intentions or even launched an attack, he would activate the signal immediately.
Fortunately, in order to display their strength, Barque's First Fleet was currently preparing an offensive formation, so there wasn't much need for adjustments.
Upon hearing Barque's words, the pale Dragon Knight shook his head.
"No, no … Sir, I'm not under attack. It's … it's …"
He paused as though he didn't know how to describe it.
"Y-It's too big!
Too big! "
"Too big?
What's too big? "
Upon hearing his words, Barque became even more confused. But before he continued asking, all of a sudden, he heard a series of exclamations from the deck.
Shortly after, his subordinate's voice sounded again.
"Commander!
Y-Look! "
What's wrong?
Upon hearing his subordinate's screams, Barque lifted his head and gazed at the sky. Then, he witnessed an unforgettable scene.
In the sky before them, the thick layers of clouds were silently torn apart. An incomparably massive, mountain-like being tore through the clouds and moved forward slowly. Its massive figure blotted out the sky and even the sun was completely blocked out.
The entire First Fleet was shrouded in its shadow!
"W-What exactly is …"
Barque stared blankly at the metal fleet before him. He didn't even realize that his smoking pipe had fallen from his hand.
But he couldn't be blamed. These terrifying behemoths had given Barque too much of a shock.
As the commander of the Magic Empire's First Fleet, Barque could be considered knowledgeable.
In fact, there were many things that could fly in the Magic Empire.
But the problem was that these things that could fly were in line with people's common sense.
For example, a floating city. To put it bluntly, it was like digging up a piece of land and flying it along with the castle above it.
Floating fortresses had a similar design. Of course, the same went for floating warships. For instance, Barque's' Monarch Warship 'didn't look any different from ships in the sea. Even the manufacturing methods and materials were similar.
But these … were they considered warships?
Looking at the gigantic iron shell, Balck felt as though all the knowledge he had accumulated in his life had been subverted. There was no deck, no observation deck, no masts, no sails, and not even a single power output device that a magic warship should have. The entire warship looked like a gigantic triangle. Even the other "warships" flying beside this gigantic object looked more like rectangular iron shells. How could this thing be considered a ship?
Gazing at the warship, Barque felt like his brain wasn't enough to process everything.