Monarch of Evernight - Chapter 1195

Chapter 1195

Chapter 1195: Fights

In Qianye’s eyes, Expansive was neither good nor bad . After a while, he asked, “Who does Expansive belong to?”

Nan Ruohuai replied respectfully, “The city lord of Expansive is my second brother’s maternal grandfather, who also happens to be his biggest supporter . ”

He was rather calm while saying this, but Qianye seemed to have figured something out . “Is there some enmity between you two?”

“He’s my brother, so it’s not a hatred as deep as the oceans . ” Nan Ruohuai took a deep breath and said through clenched teeth, “The person I liked the most died in his residence!”

Qianye nodded . “What do you want me to do?”

Nan Ruohuai fell to his knees and said in a deep voice, “Just hand him to me and my life is forever yours . ”

Qianye said calmly, “Is it not mine right now?”

Nan Ruohuai looked up . “I have some meager talents if I do say so myself, and I have not been wasting the past twenty years of my life . I know your intentions for raising me up to the position, but if I follow you wholeheartedly, I will make Zheng flourish on my own accord . You will not have to worry about this small place . There’s a difference in putting a puppet on the throne . ”

For a while, Qianye looked intently at Nan Ruohuai, at the prostrating man’s grey hair and neck . There was no change in his emotions, but he was somewhat moved .

The prince didn’t look up, yet in that posture, he was even calmer and more collected than in his past interactions with Qianye . After a while, Qianye laughed . “Zheng is small?”

Only at this point did Nan Ruohuai heave a sigh of relief . “This place is the world to us, but to you, it’s probably just a corner . Not to mention Zheng, even the entire Fort Continent is just a big springboard for you . ”

Qianye broke into a laugh . “Your confidence in me is pretty strong . ”

“The truth is that I have never seen, or even heard of, someone like you . ”

Qianye stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the void over the yonder horizon . “Do you know what I’m doing?”

Nan Ruohuai hesitated briefly, then said in due honesty, “To be honest, I don’t . ”

Qianye sighed . “I actually don’t have any big objectives . I’m just playing things by ear . ”

Nan Ruohuai was stunned . He found this rather incredulous but didn’t ask further, knowing that he was in no position to make Qianye spit out his secrets .

He really had no idea that Qianye had no personal ambitions . What he wanted to do was protect his brothers and help one person up the Sacred Mountain .

Now that all of Eastern Sun Island had been taken, all that was left was to occupy the territory and prepare for war . Qianye had locked down the entire airspace outside of the island, only allowing airships in and not out . In one day’s time, Dark Flame’s ten thousand soldiers arrived in quick succession, relieving the elite squads in each region . At the same time, Seclusion began a large scale construction of defensive structures and reinforced cannon turrets .

This island was now Qianye’s first springboard and forward base on the Fort continent, so he attached a fair bit of importance to it . After the first batch of soldiers arrived, Qianye ordered his men to send word back to Dark Flame . They were to prepare a number of engineering airships and recruit technicians, and fly them to Eastern Sun .

Several days later, after all forces were in position, Qianye led his forces toward Expansive .

Ten thousand soldiers arrived on the island, but only four thousand left with Qianye . The island wasn’t small, and the minimum recommended garrison should be around ten thousand . He couldn’t leave any less than six thousand, or the mercenaries themselves might just quit .

Expansive was home to fifty thousand people and could be considered a big city . Transportation was easy as the place was built close to the riverbank, and there was a black stone mine outside providing the factories with an endless supply of energy . The first thing Qianye saw upon arrival wasn’t the city but the black chimney stacks above the walls .

What lay behind the rolling smoke was a stream of gold coins . Expansive boasted established factories and, more importantly, large batches of skilled technicians who could be put to use in the Imperial factory systems with a bit of training . Zheng had been imitating the Empire in many aspects, so their factories are also quite similar . It was just that they were at the Empire's standards from fifty years ago .

An ear-piercing alarm rang throughout the city as the airship approached the city airspace . Even Qianye, who was in the battlecruiser, could hear it quite clearly . He walked up to the deck and looked down . There, he saw a tall steel tower, valves open and gushing steam as it produced an ear-splitting whistle .

A kinetic tower with a steam whistle?

Qianye was a bit surprised at how well-equipped this city was . That kinetic tower might be an older model, but it was a kinetic tower nonetheless . Many cities in the neutral lands didn’t even have one . Although it was an older model, its specs and output were rather high .

Did this mean there might be a high-power cannon turret in the city?

Qianye’s expression froze as he caught a strange whistling sound . A dark-colored tower opened up in the distance and fired a large ballista bolt . The projectile drew an arc in the air as it flew toward the battlecruiser .

If this wasn’t an attack from the enemy, Qianye would be rather inclined to praise the perfect timing of the shot . The descending battlecruiser had no time to accelerate, and there was no way such a big airship could outrun a homing bolt anyway .

The entire ship trembled with a loud boom, the intensity of which surprised Qianye somewhat . This bolt was a bit more powerful than he had anticipated .

Qianye’s figure appeared at the bow of the ship, where he saw a ballista bolt half-nailed into the outer plate of the battlecruiser .

As a veteran, the captain had adjusted the airship’s body as soon as he saw that evasion wasn’t possible . The armor on this part was the thickest on the entire airship .

Qianye went forth with East Peak and cut off the protruding bit . The bolt was extremely solid inside . If it was a homing explosive bolt like the Empire’s newest model, the explosion would have blasted away the armor on the airship’s bow .

The battlecruiser might be able to take this attack, but the other airships couldn’t!

At this point, three more turrets rose up, their top ends opening as they each fired a homing ballista bolt .

The first bolt shot toward a corvette, the next at the battlecruiser, and the last one flew toward the back .

Qianye had no time to think . His silhouette flickered as he appeared beside the corvette . East Peak slashed six times, cutting the incoming projectile into pieces with Sweeping Calm . The battlecruiser shook violently after it was struck once again . Fortunately, this bolt pierced the thickest part of the ship’s armor as well .

Qianye’s expression shifted as he looked back . The last ballista bolt was aiming for the transport at the back! The slow airship naturally couldn’t get away from firing range—the bolt shot through the vessel and flew a thousand meters into the air before falling back down .

A large defect appeared in the mid-section of the airship, ejecting flames and human silhouettes . Alarms rang loudly on the transport as it fell in a nosedive .

Just as the airship was about to be destroyed, one of the cabin doors popped open amidst a gush of steam . It was apparently forced open from the inside . The transport then began to spin, throwing out one mercenary after the other .

Only at this point did Qianye heave a sigh of relief .

This response was the wisest choice . Those on the airship were elite mercenaries with no lack of those at rank five, six, or even higher . Most of them would only be injured and not die after falling from such a height . The alternative was staying in the burning airship that would soon turn into a coffin of raging flames .

To be able to fling out the mercenaries while avoiding the potential explosion radius, this captain was definitely quick-witted .

Once the mercenaries were on flat ground, Qianye would have no worries about their fighting power . No one was better than these mercenaries in urban warfare .

Next was Dark Flame’s turn to fire .

Even the high-power cannon turrets from the main cities of Great Qin couldn’t fire very quickly . The reloading time for these four cannon towers was even slower . The battlecruiser captain had already started preparing for an attack after the first maneuver, and now, he was ready . The rumble of the main cannon was quickly followed by the destruction of half a cannon turret .

The battlecruiser kept turning without confirming the outcome of the last shot, and was soon aiming at a different turret . The three corvettes in the air were also in combat positions . They charged from a high-altitude, guns blazing, and drowning the third cannon turret in a sea of flames .

Only the final cannon turret was left . Another ballista bolt had just appeared from the inside, and a big cloud of steam drowned out the tower as the gears accumulated kinetic energy . This time, its target was no longer the battlecruiser, but one of the corvettes instead .

In the blink of an eye, the tower had completed the accumulation process . The giant ballista was trembling and rearing to fire when, all of a sudden, Qianye appeared above it . He rammed a steel beam into the cannon, jamming its cartridge and mechanical parts .

How could the officer in charge react to the sudden changes? After completing a series of adjustments, he stepped down on the firing pedal out of instinct . However, the giant ballista was jammed, leaving no space for the kinetic power to escape . Soon, the energy reached critical levels and the steel casing of the turret bulged up visibly .

The turret exploded amidst the desperate cries of the soldiers and officers . The massive energy flung metal parts—some weighing several tons—hundreds of meters into the air! How could the human body withstand such a force? The soldiers inside never made it out and died without even a corpse left .

Qianye returned to the bridge of the battlecruiser to find the captain issuing orders nervously . He gestured for the man to continue, and that he didn’t need to ask for instructions .

The captain issued a constant stream of orders, commanding the massive warship to circle around the city . This maximized the firepower of its side cannons as they destroyed the city’s smaller turrets .

With the four main turrets gone, there was nothing left in Expansive that could pose a threat to Qianye .

The defenses in the city were more powerful than expected, so Qianye decided to be patient . He watched as the battlecruiser circled above, clearing away one street block after the other .

After an entire hour, when there was no more cannon or ballista fire in the city, Qianye ordered the land forces to enter .

Qianye himself made a beeline for the city lord’s residence, silencing the guards with Life Plunder . As he entered the main hall, he saw a powerful-looking old man with white hair on the throne . The old man slowly stood up and hoisted a large battle axe over his shoulder—it would seem that he was waiting for Qianye .

The latter didn’t attack immediately . As such, Qianye spoke, “Nan Ruohuai will make for a good king of Zheng . Why can you not see this? You should know that you don’t stand half a chance . ”

The old man snorted . “The nation of Zheng belongs to its people . Who the hell are you!?”