Chapter 133: Mirage Ships
One minute earlier, aboard Hurricane, Adrian was cursing.
"Damn it! The Legendary Sea Dragon was supposed to wear them down. What the hell happened?"
He stared at the water.
"What is down there?"
"There aren’t many monsters left," Edmund said quickly. "If we wait much longer, the Crown Lords will take the Temple’s Fortune. The plan has changed, but the Black Banner ambush can still wipe out this fleet."
Adrian nodded.
"We’ve come too far to turn back. I’ll notify Kiku Muto."
Then he felt obliged to add, "Free Will honors its agreements. We wouldn’t betray our allies if Cassian hadn’t pushed us this far."
"Of course." Edmund looked thoroughly convinced. "Keeping all those treasures for himself was bad enough. Now he’s trying to take first place from Coldridge as well. He disregarded his allies’ interests first."
He shook his head.
"The Black Banner Lords have shown us far more sincerity."
Adrian sent the message. Then he and Edmund went straight to the Gate concealed aboard Hurricane.
"Back to our Domains. They’ll be sealing this area any moment."
Had Cassian been there, he would have discovered that Hurricane also possessed Building Support.
"We’re businessmen," Adrian said. "Let Black Banner handle the fighting."
He glanced around the ship with genuine regret.
"A shame to lose a warship like this."
"What’s there to regret? They’ve promised us a Mirage Ship." Edmund smiled. "Who would have expected them to bring so many into Tidecrown?"
"Taking the Province is only part of it." Satisfaction crept back into Adrian’s voice. "I suspect the rest is for Cassian. He’s strong, but he has no idea when to keep his head down."
He stepped toward the Gate.
"He won’t survive this."
Edmund hesitated.
"Should we tell Kiku about whatever’s under the sea?"
Adrian considered it, then smiled.
"No need to complicate things. Our job was to lead them into the trap."
They passed through the Gate and left Hurricane behind.
——
Cassian watched the images arriving from a Ghost Fighter.
"So many Mirage Ships. They’ve certainly spent enough."
Mirage Mist was said to provide complete concealment, seal spatial passage, and cut an area off from outside communication. Seeing it in action, he understood the reputation.
"No wonder the Ghost Fighters missed them. Even the Bloodcrystal Bat form couldn’t pick them out. The Frost family’s intelligence didn’t catch a hint of this either."
Ten kilometers out from the Fortune Temple’s ward, thick white mist rose from an apparently empty sea. It spread across tens of kilometers of water.
Warships emerged from the whiteness.
Some were little more than ten meters long. Others stretched over two hundred. They kept coming, until layer after layer of ships enclosed the Temple on every side.
Among them stood tall, many-decked vessels more than a hundred meters long, white mist streaming from their structures.
Mirage Ships.
The true Mirage Ship was one of the most formidable Mythic warships of the Third Realm. These were Epic imitations, developed by Xavian Rell from the original design.
Even so, their concealment was far more than a trick of the light. It involved complex spatial techniques.
Cassian studied the mass of ships extending beyond the edge of the image.
"More than I expected. Just to be safe..."
He opened the fleet’s upgrade controls and confirmed the expenditure.
Deep under the sea, growth light washed over eleven Ghost Carriers. More than two hundred million Battle Essence went into raising them from Level 4 to Level 5.
Ghost One was already Level 5. Now all twelve Carriers had reached it.
Cassian looked back at the Mirage Ships and chuckled.
"Darian’s going to be swearing again."
He was right.
The other Lords’ scout ships were sending back reports. Almost at once, someone discovered that spatial passage throughout the sea around them had been sealed.
"Mirage Ships?" Darian gritted his teeth. "Xavian Rell. That damned traitor!"
Only a few Lords remained calm. Most were struggling to contain their panic.
"We’re surrounded! There must be ten thousand ships out there!"
"It doesn’t matter how strong ours are. How do we fight ten thousand?"
"I said we couldn’t trust the Beacon League!"
"Easy to say that now. If you’d really known Adrian was a traitor, you wouldn’t have come!"
"Has he lost his mind? He’s right here. Does he think we won’t kill him first?"
"Adrian! Get out here!"
Mercer had never stopped watching him. When arranging the formation, he had placed Hurricane in the center, ostensibly for its protection.
Corin’s expression changed.
"He’s abandoned the ship. He must have used a spatial item or a Gate before the seal went up!"
His troops attacked Hurricane’s shield. Once it broke, they found the ship empty.
Lydia stared at it.
"He gave up an Epic warship?"
"Then he’s expecting more than an Epic warship in return." Corin’s voice was grim. "Whatever Black Banner promised him is only the first part. If we all die, he becomes the surviving Lord with the highest contribution at the Temple. Think how much Fortune that could mean."
He looked toward the ships from Riftward.
"And with Riftward’s three main pillars gone, who stops Coldridge taking first in the ranking? Three gains from one betrayal."
Mercer let out a heavy breath.
"We took precautions. I never imagined they’d bring this many Mirage Ships into Tidecrown."
Even an imitation cost far more than an ordinary Epic warship.
The Mirage Beast heart cores needed to build them were exceptionally rare. Mirage Beasts were exotic sea monsters; among Tidecrown’s ten million Lords, no one had reported encountering one in the past month.
Bringing the finished ships here was another expense.
A warship built by a Lord first had to be sealed into an inactive state with an item of the same Quality before it could pass through the Homeworld into a newly opened Realm. If Cassian wanted to transfer a Ghost Carrier to Elara that way, he would need a Legendary sealing item.
A harsh female voice carried across the sea.
"Crown Lords, you are surrounded! Surrender, and I will grant you the treatment due prisoners under the Westmere Convention. Resist, and you die!"
Seraphine looked sick.
"Kiku Muto, Warden of Fellwater. That fat pig. I opened her profile out of curiosity once. Nearly lost my meal."
This sea lay far beyond the reach of a Warden’s March Waygate. Even their high-grade warships had needed two hours to reach the Temple.
The low-grade vessels surrounding them must have arrived well in advance.
Fellwater bordered Coldridge. Its position made an ambush like this possible.
Cassian glanced at Seraphine.
"I thought Warbound Lords feared nothing. One woman has you looking like that?"
There were only so many Wardens in the Province. He had opened Kiku’s profile too. Seraphine’s reaction was understandable.
Before she could answer, the voice called out again.
"Cassian, darling! I’ve admired you for so long. Spend a night with me, and we can discuss anything you like!"
The smile froze on his face.
Darian immediately became solemn.
"Cassian, our lives are in your hands. Could you make a small sacrifice?"
"He has a point," Seraphine said. "With attributes like yours, surely you can handle one wealthy patron."
Cassian said nothing.
"Cheer up," Darian continued. "At least this proves you’re the best-looking one here. Why else would she pick you out of all of us?"
Seraphine sighed.
"So being too handsome has its dangers."
Listening to the two of them, Corin gave a strained laugh.
"You can still joke at a time like this?"