Chapter 577: Accomplishmen (1/2)
t [V6C107 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]
Qianye glanced at the burning arachne battleship as they passed by, but until the very end, he found no one climbing out from within. Apparently, the crew had all died inside.
Qianye moved about restlessly as a sense of uncomfortable helplessness arose in his heart. A force made up of an arachne viscount and hundreds of elites couldn’t be considered weak at all on a ground battlefield—one would need to spend some time in order to finish them off. Such a force had currently perished in the blink of an eye, and he hadn’t even seen what they looked like.
Qianye quickly recollected his thoughts and turned toward a different direction.
Zhao Yuying’s control of the ship was extremely decisive. She began accelerating madly just as a squadron of three Evernight battleships appeared in the distance. If she hadn’t accelerated in advance, it was quite likely that they would’ve been surrounded already.
Zhao Yuying circled far around the enemy and charged diagonally into an area populated with imperial airships. Even so, the three Evernight battleships were still on their tail. Qianye turned the turret around and aimed at the enemy from afar, observing their movements all the while.
Two out of the three battleships were vampire models, while the third was an arachne type. Among them, the arachne airship’s movements were the most erratic. However, the arachne battleship left an intense trail of origin power in Qianye’s True Sight and slowly painted a clear picture of its movements.
Qianye stomped down on the foot pedal all of a sudden, sending a three-meter-long ballista bolt flying into the void. It was just that the projectile’s landing point was an empty void—there was nothing there at all. Its proximity to the arachne battleship was only relative.
This blast surprised even Zhao Yuying. She muttered to herself, “Did he misfire?”
However, that arachne battleship made a sudden leap and actually moved into the bolt’s trajectory!
The giant metallic bolt easily punched through the battleship’s armor and drilled right into its core region. Afterward, the origin arrays on the bolt started to flicker, ultimately ending in a shocking explosion.
The arachne battleship was merely of the corvette class—its speed was immediately reduced after being struck by Qianye. Much like a wounded beast in the chaotic battlefield, it was soon locked onto.
Qianye’s shot seemed to have alerted the other two vampire destroyers. The two ships lowered their speed at almost the same time and soon left to seek other targets.
The imperial destroyer wasn’t battle-crazed. It only kept on flying forward and quickly increased the distance between them.
The intense airship battles continued for an entire day before coming to a stop. The vessel was full of injuries when Zhao Yuying ordered the ship to descend, but owing to its powerful armor, the imperial battleship hadn’t suffered too great a damage.
Zhao Yuying and Qianye walked down from the destroyer together. The former grabbed Qianye’s shoulder and laughed, “Little Five, it looks like we should really build an airship for you. All we need to install is a single high-output cannon.”
Hearing this, the Zhao clan staff behind them were filled with embarrassment and admiration. The imperial officer in charge of recording contributions had already rushed over. Everyone, including the original captain of the airship, was tongue-tied and their expressions transformed rapidly. They kept stealing glances at Qianye from time to time.
During this fierce battle, this destroyer alone had destroyed or crippled two Evernight cruisers and three corvettes. This accomplishment could be considered quite glorious. Meanwhile, the ship’s own damages were almost negligible—it would be able to fly once more after some repairs.
In addition to Zhao Yuying’s piloting skills, Qianye’s cannon skills had also reached great heights. He was only in charge of a single turret, but his hit rate was almost three out of four. Additionally, most of the kills were achieved in Qianye’s hands. He had even set a record of firing three times in a row against the last opponent.
At dawn the next day, the horizon had only lit up slightly when the third fleet vice commander-in-chief arrived at the command tower. The battle had already ended at this point, and the airship port was filled with all kinds of battleships, transports, and soldiers who had just disembarked. The scene was one of utter disorder with in-repair and refueling vehicles everywhere.
Seeing this scene, Yang Li couldn’t help but snort loudly. This caused the temperature in the room to fall by several degrees. A military officer who had followed Yang Li for a long time reported, “General, those are all airships belonging to the aristocratic families. They simply park wherever they want regardless of what we say.”
Yang Li’s expression turned dark as he said with a snort, “These bloodsuckers are like insects latching onto the empire!”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but his aides all knew the meaning. Yang Li was born from a humble family and had to climb all the way through the ranks to where he was now. He had always believed the major clans to be more bugs than pillars of the empire. It could be said that he detested the clans greatly.
At this moment, Yang Li thought of something. “Where’s the No. 36 that was conscripted yesterday? How’s it doing?”
The officer flipped through the records and said, “It has returned from battle yesterday with light damages. It’s expected to be redeployed after simple repairs. This is No. 36’s contribution status.”
Yang Li saw clear hesitation in the officer’s eyes. He immediately glared at the man and shouted, “Give me that. What’s there to hide?”
The officer could only pass the register over. Yang Li snatched the document and scanned it briefly before his expression transformed drastically. He then flipped it back and forth several times before handing it back to the officer.
The latter said hurriedly, “I’ve already checked with the crew, the contributions are in order.”