634 Escor (1/2)

Upon the endless ocean, there was only the sound of the distant tide.

In the thick cloud of fog, all was quiet.

A vast and mighty fleet was hidden in the mist, moving silently forward. They had cut off all contact with the outside world, entering a state of total silence. They kept a minimum distance between ships in the fog, only communicating with each other through primitive lamp signals.

The thick fog covered everything. The ships' engines were set as low as possible, and the slight sounds that they produced were covered up by the chaotic noise of the black zone. They advanced towards the Ultimate as silently as ghosts.

Sylvaine sat in the command seat on the bridge of the Royal Navy's flagship, silently staring at the nautical charts.

”We've already passed beyond our nation's borders, Commander,” the navigator reported. ”In ten minutes we'll be leaving the black zone and coming into the range of the Ultimate.”

Sylvaine nodded. ”Prepare to exit stealth mode.”

A crisp voice came on the receiver, ”Commander, we've received a message from the Anglo Kingdom. It has the Privy Council's ID.”

Soon, the Secretary of the Navy's voice came through, ”Viscount Sylvaine, the fate of the nation rests on this mission. This battle will decide which of the nations will achieve naval supremacy in the future. You absolutely cannot let down your guard.”

”I understand.” Sylvaine saluted. ”I will not let Her Majesty down.”

”Excellent,” the Secretary of the Navy said. ”Four hours ago, His Highness the Prince and the Royal Musician Division left the harbor with the second wave of warships. They will rendezvous with you soon. All military affairs are still under your command, His Highness will abide by your decisions.”

The Secretary of the Navy's spoke very tacitly. Military affairs were under Sylvaine's control, but any big decisions would have to receive the Prince of Avalon's approval. Sylvaine had no objections to this. After all, he was one of the Prince's most ardent supporters. Moreover, the Prince of Avalon was coming as a representative of the royal family. As the crown prince of the Anglo Kingdom, it made sense for him to come and supervise the fleet in place of the Queen.

And what was more, presently, the Royal Navy lacked any heavy warships like the Mountain of Nomadism, leaving Sylvaine a little nervous.

The Royal Navy had of course performed admirably in the aftermath of the Leviathan War, but the glorious sacrifices that they had made could not be taken lightly.

Most of the warships had been damaged in the process of defending the homeland and purging the demons afterward. Many more ships were unable to leave port because they had not been properly maintained. He estimated that it would take two years to refit them all. And even more ships had been retired. After performing a cost analysis, the Kingdom had decided to build new ships to replace them.

Although the core of the fleet, twelve legendary warships, had not sustained much damage, this was not enough to constitute an entire fleet. They also needed longships, clippers, and even armored merchant ships to shore up their numbers.

Creating a fleet in such a short time had already exhausted the Department of the Navy. They had scraped what they had together to form this fleet. But they had no actual combat experience, which did not inspire much confidence in their warfare capabilities.

Sylvaine had set out earlier with six of the legendary warships and a few light clippers in order to seize the initiative. The rest of the fleet had been divided into two waves that were to come in succession.

Since he had to wait for the Mountain of Nomadism to be refitted and temporarily aid the court with additional matters, Ye Qingxuan had come with the second wave. By then, many of the merchant ships had been fitted for war and were shoring up the weak points in the fleet, giving the Royal Navy the ability to fight any foe.

When he heard the Ye Qingxuan was coming, Sylvaine breathed a silent sigh of relief. After reporting all the routine military affairs, he ended the transmission. He looked at the sea chart again but soon realized that something was wrong. ”Navigator, how long ago did we leave the black zone?”

”15 minutes ago,” the navigator answered. ”We're still six hours of sailing away from being in the range of the Ultimate.”

Sylvaine raised his eyebrows. ”If we've already left the black zone, why is the fog still so thick? Transmit these orders to the musicians on the ship: find out what's going on around us. I hope we haven't run into a problem.”

Fog was a common sight on the ocean, especially around the edges of the black zone. Sylvaine's family had been in the Royal Navy for generations, and there was nothing unusual about this. But, just to be safe, it would be best to have a few musicians and a clipper check it out.

To be honest, he'd had enough of this fog.

The musician sitting on the iron chair beside the navigator quickly opened his eyes and stared into a chaotic ball of aether. ”Commander, there's still too much noise from the red zone, I can't find anything. It might be because whatever happened is still going on, and it's causing changes in the red zone. The call to recover Leviathan didn't end too long ago, maybe there are a few sea monsters that still haven't gone dormant.

”Tell the fleet, all warships are to be on high alert and to prepare for combat.”

Soon, the sound of warship engines firing up at Sylvaine's orders filled the red zone, rippling out in all directions. Amid the hurried movement, each member of the crew...

It was at this point that the distant wave of aether suddenly disappeared. The Revelation Musicians who had lifted off the deck to investigate entered the silence with a slight feeling of unease. Suddenly, a shrill noise burst forth. In the deepest part of the fog, the musicians' sound of heart burst forth, giving off a terrifying flame and aetheric turbulence.

The turbulence swept through the fog, throwing it into chaos.

The flame disappeared quickly, but it threw faint shadows all around.