151. Submission 1

Indeed, under the meticulous search of the Death Empire’s fleet, this magical continent was finally discovered.

After searching the waters surrounding the various neighboring empires with no results, the fleet turned westward. Fleet Commander Shilin Degar, a Berserker who had endured days of harsh wind and sun to no avail, felt he was falling short compared to Deldu. Deldu was currently leading a massive fleet on an independent expedition and constantly sending back good news, having already conquered no less than fifteen islands. Yet here he was, unable to find even a single, blatantly obvious enemy. Every time he returned, several clan elders would surround him and endlessly "chat" with him. Now, if he failed to find anything, he wouldn't even dare go back; just thinking about the Great Elder silently staring at him with those huge eyes sent a chill down his spine.

"Judging by the currents and conditions around these waters, the south is unlikely. Another division of our fleet has already scouted that region, and all the islands there have been occupied. The north is too far and even less probable. That leaves only the west. Pass down the order: the fleet will concentrate and advance in a fan-shaped formation. If we can't sniff out this flock of winged cowards today, no one is going back!" After conferring with several deputy commanders over the nautical chart, Shilin decisively issued the order to search westward for the day.

Setting out early in the morning and continuing until noon, the lookout on the mast suddenly let out a shrill cry, "I see it! I see it! To the left, change course immediately! There's an island ahead!"

"Did you spot anything?" Shilin was in a foul mood, having stayed on the deck all this time. Hearing that the lookout had spotted an island, his heart leaped into his throat, and he hurriedly shouted, "Do you see any ships or anything of the sort?"

If there were no vessels, it might just turn out to be a false alarm. Being able to transport sixty thousand mages onto the imperial continent meant their naval forces must be quite formidable; otherwise, they would never have dared to harbor ambitions of grabbing a share of the spoils on the mainland.

"General, I can't see any yet. All I can make out is a hazy mass right now."

"Then heighten vigilance. Let's hope this isn't another wild goose chase."

"Understood, General."

Shilin sighed. He had no choice but to close the distance first; worrying now was useless. "Pass my order: the fleet is to prepare for combat."

The fact that the Death Empire had made it this far was largely due to these prudent frontline commanders. They constantly kept in mind the past instructions of Young Master Mo Fei: "We cannot afford major losses. A single oversight on our part could bring about the collapse of the entire empire. Whether we are sleeping or fighting, my requirements are simple: keep your eyes open and remain constantly vigilant. In this way, even if disaster is unavoidable, we can minimize our losses as much as possible. If anyone thinks the world is at peace and believes they can relax and enjoy themselves, then please submit your resignation requests to your immediate superior. As soldiers, soldiers of a mighty empire, if we wish to maintain our glory and honor, we must constantly prepare and fight for ourselves, for the empire, and for our imperial parents, brothers, and sisters. Can we allow any potential future enemy to wipe out our glory in a single battle?"

Of course not. Therefore, the empire's frontline commanders never forgot the instruction to remain vigilant at all times. Now, Shilin's fleet had issued battle preparations even before laying eyes on the enemy, meaning that upon a sudden encounter, they could strike first rather than being forced into a passive counterattack.

Closer and closer they drew.

"I see their docks!" the lookout yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Hold a defensive posture, no preemptive strikes." Seeing the docks meant the island was undoubtedly inhabited. As for whether these were the targets, it could not yet be determined. They couldn't just unleash a barrage of arrows upon seeing people.

The fleet was not particularly large; with the reinforcements gathered over the past few days, it numbered only a hundred and twenty vessels. However, these colossal warships had long since attracted the attention of those keeping watch.

"Enemy attack... Enemy attack!" The lookout spotted a group of figures clad in mage robes rushing toward the docks. Even as he cried out, massive fireballs were already plunging into the water right in front of the lead warship.

"So it's them! Order the fleet, fire at will, annihilate them!" Shilin roared viciously. They had finally found them; Shilin let out a long overdue sigh of relief.

The Invincible Warships were still beyond the effective attack range of the mages. Gigantic fireballs periodically slammed into the sea surface, sending up towering splashes of water. The Invincible Warships turned their broadsides toward the mages; the heavy assault ballistas mounted on the vessels were positioned along the flanks, with only a few placed at the bows and sterns.

The heavy ballistas emitted earth-shattering shrieks as they tore through the air. The mages on the shore could not reach the Invincible Warships, but the attack range of the warships' ballistas was three times that of the mages. Under the bombardment of more than a hundred Invincible Warships, the thousand-plus mages on the shore seemed to have no hope of survival, and the few warships docked at the pier were blasted straight to the ocean floor.

"Prepare for landing," Shilin shouted heartily.

"General, is this wise?" Deputy Commander Dogu asked with some concern upon hearing Shilin's order to land.

"The range of our infantry's heavy ballistas is at least twice theirs. As long as we are careful, how could these mages possibly harm our soldiers? If we wait for the Young Master to spell out and dictate our every move before we act, the Young Master will never be able to let go of us, and how would we then have the face to see him?"

"Yes, General! Let me lead the brothers ashore." Dogu's confidence was ignited. Regardless of the circumstances, however, he had no intention of letting Shilin go ashore himself.

"Good, brother, I leave this to you. In a moment, I will split the fleet and have them patrol along the coastline to put pressure on them and meanwhile scout the surrounding waters."

"Understood, General. I'm off then."

"Go on, brother, be careful. The Young Master is waiting for our triumphant news, and we all need to return alive to drink that celebration wine. After being chewed out by the elders and left dizzy these past few days, surely they won't come looking for me to 'chat' anymore, right?"

The two men laughed heartily, embraced, and Dogu decisively gave the order to deploy the landing craft.

Flat-bottomed landing craft rapidly surged toward the docks. Aside from the naval crew, every Invincible Warship carried over eight thousand infantrymen on each voyage. When feasible, they could conduct amphibious assaults against enemies or provide support to imperial land forces. These marine infantrymen, hailing from the empire's training camps, possessed collective combat capabilities scarcely inferior to those of the Berserker clan, and certain squad formations could even take down a squad of Berserkers.

The landing force was not massive—merely thirty thousand men. Apart from the commanders who were Berserkers, these thirty thousand marine infantrymen consisted entirely of soldiers from the other conquered nations within the imperial continent.

In the training camps of the Death Empire, these soldiers had been forged into special operations troops. They understood far better than the Berserkers how to leverage collective strength in combat, knowing well that they could not compare to the monstrous Berserkers of the mainland. Consequently, the training camps focused heavily on their unit coordination, allowing them to form various battle arrays depending on their level of cooperation to strike down the enemy.

After the Invincible Warships obliterated the mages at the docks, the inhabitants of the nearby village had long since fled into utter scatter. No, there were still a few elders and elderly mages standing at the head of the village, leaning on their magical staffs, looking apathetically at the approaching imperial soldiers.

With a wave of the hand, the advancing main force, arrayed in a tactical search formation, came to a halt. A semi-encirclement spontaneously formed.

Dogu, the naval deputy commander who had come ashore, glanced at the old men and walked over.

"You've finally come after all," one of them said, sounding as though he were muttering to himself as much as addressing Dogu.

"Indeed, we are here," Dogu replied. "What is owed to us must eventually be repaid."

"True, we are in your debt." The two spoke in a seemingly disconnected manner.

"What do you want?" another elderly mage asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Dogu said. "We are simply collecting a debt."

"You don't need to advance any further. You can state your terms to us; we still have some authority to make decisions."

"Some? That's far from enough!" What a joke—how could the Death Empire let them off the hook for such a meager concession? Even the millions-strong Bear clan was not feared by the Death Empire, which had gone so far as to build a fortress right in the heart of their territory; there was no way this matter could be settled so easily now.

"Then what do you want?"

"Many have plotted against our imperial continent, but by now they have either perished or are still being hunted down. You should have been well aware of this before setting your sights on our mainland. Another of our invincible fleets is currently attacking your largest ally. They dispatched over five million troops to assault our mainland, and by now barely a million of them have made it back home. Meanwhile, our invincible fleet continues to conquer their territories one by one. His Imperial Majesty's directive is the total annihilation of them all. As for your lot..." A heavy "hmph" terrified the old codgers.

"You..."

"Although you stirred up so much trouble on our mainland, considering that no catastrophic consequences have resulted yet, we can grant you a chance to decide your own future." Dogu had made up his mind: the Death Empire lacked mages, and when combining all the empires on the mainland, the number of tier-ten mages was pitifully small—for reasons unknown. Yet this island was entirely populated by mages.

"Do we have a choice?"

"You do!" Dogu declared. "You either accept the terms I offer, or you can choose total annihilation."

Dogu was not merely making idle threats; given the heavy ballistas whose range far exceeded that of these mages, dealing with them would be remarkably simple.

"Are you asking us to submit to you?" Another elderly mage's expression darkened with displeasure.

"Do you have any other options?" Dogu retorted coldly. "If our Grand Marshal were leading this expeditionary force, do you think you'd even have the chance to stand here alive and speak with me?"

Given Cain's temperament, he would have likely led his armies straight in for a brutal massacre long ago. When dealing with the empire's enemies, Cain's consistent approach was to eradicate future troubles permanently.

"Can you give us two days? We need to summon the other elders to deliberate," the first elderly mage sighed, casting a glance at the thousands of mangled corpses strewn across the shore. He knew matters were beyond redemption.

"Very well." Dogu knew better than to press too hard, and timely consented to the old mage's request. "We will camp right here. The day after tomorrow, at sunrise, if I do not see you, I will assume you have chosen to fight to the death."

The elderly mages wore expressionless faces as they turned and walked back toward the village. When the radicals within their clan had chosen this path, they had known it was a road of no return. Fortunately, those warmongers seemed unlikely to ever come back, so it fell to old fogies like them to decide the future of their clan.