Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 323 Ten Thousand Dragons Emerge from the Water, A Storm Within the Pot

"Run!"

From the air, on the vast naval battlefield, all the warships rushed toward the open gates of heaven like madmen.

Behind them was a ferocious tide of ghost kings, raging like mad dogs.

Every minute and every second, Frankish figures scream as they are dragged onto the ghost ship, becoming part of the evil spirits that fall dead.

Even if the world's number one marines and supreme swordsmanship could kill those Yunmeng Ghost Masters, it would be meaningless on such a battlefield.

You can kill one or two, or even ten or a hundred, but here there are a full 100,000 dead!
Kill one and two more will surge forward; kill two and four more will surge forward, and the next one to rush forward might just be your own comrade from before—enough to shatter the morale of the world's most powerful army.

"The intelligence says that the historical dregs of the Tsushima Strait, the Cloud Mist Ghost Master, are a natural phenomenon that does not distinguish between friend and foe. How could the legendary warships of the East Sea Kingdom directly control them?"

This is not theological at all!

"Quickly, the gates of heaven have opened. Let's leave here and regroup."

On a fourth-tier nominal battleship closely following the legendary warship, the fleet's vice commander roared out orders:

"Priests of the army, activate the cross, summon the knights of heaven, and the entire fleet must accelerate its escape!"

A group of priests accompanying the army immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the blood-stained cross.

In the Western countries under the control of the Holy Cross Church, those who truly mastered the pinnacle of warfare skills were not strategists, but these clergymen.

hum!hum!hum!
As a sacred and grand chant resounded, beams of silver light shot straight into the sky from within the fleet.

They instantly swelled into massive Crusader heavy knights, as large as small mountains, standing atop each warship.

—Knights of Heaven!
The Holy Cross Church is essentially a powerful armed religious organization with numerous knightly orders under its command, adhering to the principle of "the sword and the cross go hand in hand".

Although the tactics are not as rich and varied as the military manuals of Shenzhou, they can still summon powerful military forces from the religious wars corresponding to those cross relics.

It grants various positive buffs to one's own fleet and soldiers, with effects no less than those of the Secret Scroll of Military Strategy.

Layer upon layer of phantom knights from the Crusades era enveloped each warship, bestowing upon them a portion of their speed, strength, and defense.

The fleet, which had been scattered by the tide of demon kings, regrouped into a heavy knight order, attempting to reassemble and speed up their escape.

History has been repeated unintentionally—the Scourge of God is chasing from behind, and the knights of the Holy Cross are running ahead.

Unfortunately, the Gates of Heaven are not something so convenient.

As a strategic method of troop transport, both opening and passage require a considerable amount of time.

Moreover, the invincible fleet behind them had to pass through the portal on their own in order to escape this deadly trap that Wang Cheng had meticulously arranged for them.

In that time, the Mirage Cloud Dragon ship, with a speed exceeding thirty knots, would have already blocked everyone's path.

At the same time, an attack was launched on the HMS Angel and the four leading fourth-class nominal battleships.

"Wang Xiaoqi, Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water, Release!"

Electric light flashed from the launch ports pre-drilled in the steel hull, propelling five dragon-shaped pillars into the sea using lightning catapults.

call out!call out!call out!
Once they entered the water, they transformed from inanimate objects into five real swimming dragons, swaying their bodies and leaving white trails in the 15-meter-deep water as they raced toward their target at high speed.

Its swimming speed was extremely fast, reaching twice the normal cruising speed of the Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship! A full 60 knots!
By the time the mid-level theological practitioners on the ship could sense where the danger was coming from, it was already too late.

When these "dragons emerging from the water" were less than ten meters from their target, they suddenly burst out of the seabed and recklessly crashed into the completely unprotected hull of their ship.

"Quickly, Tide Knight, activate Protect!"

Before the Duke could give the order, [Tide Knight] Antonio roared.

Behind him appeared the temple of Saint Vincent, the patron saint of Severanica, and the saint's power suddenly blessed him.

In an instant, a large, rapidly rotating band of water—the water-resistant ring—was created underwater.

Boom——!
The "Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water" missile, which was aimed at the legendary warship, was detonated prematurely, sending a huge splash of water dozens of meters high into the sea on one side.

Although the legendary warship's hull, which was far stronger than that of ordinary warships, remained undamaged, it was tossed about by the waves several times, like riding a wild horse.

The newly opened gates to heaven collapsed and dissipated due to unstable spatial positioning.

The Duke of Medinacel's face was so dark it seemed like water could drip from it:

“Something’s not right. This is no coincidence! How could Prince Jinghai, a king of a vassal state, know about the taboos surrounding the opening of the Heavenly Gate? And what about His Majesty’s golden edict?”
A traitor has emerged from our Western countries!
Moreover, that force was a sworn enemy who was extremely familiar with the Empire's intelligence.

Ah, one day the Inquisition will burn you traitors of the Holy Cross world to ashes.

But then he couldn't think about who the traitor who had betrayed Frank's intelligence was.

The other four nominal battleships behind them did not have a fourth-rank [Tide Knight] like Antonio on board.

Aside from a figurehead on one of the ships called "Goddess of Fortune" that had used up all the luck of everyone on board for the next month, causing the "Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water" amulet to unexpectedly fail to work.

The other three ships all took a heavy hit.

boom! boom! boom!
Water is about 800 times denser than air and is incompressible.

When the "torpedo," a magical version of the "Torpedo" that emerges from the water, explodes underwater, the energy can be efficiently transferred through the medium of water.

The energy transfer efficiency of the same amount of explosives detonated underwater is 1000 times that in air, and the power is far greater than that of air-dropped bombs.

Amidst the earth-shattering flames, the hulls of these warships near the waterline exploded with a deafening roar.

Broken oak planks, mutilated corpses, and even twisted bronze cannons were all sent flying into the sky by the shockwave.

Seawater and the surrounding air rushed into the large hole left by the explosion, and the carpenter on board tried desperately to plug the leak, but it was too late.

That wasn't all. The main ingredient of the "Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water" technique was the essence of Gui Water extracted from seawater. After the explosion, it immediately triggered a chain reaction, spreading rapidly along the sea surface to other warships in the vicinity.

They all exploded close to the waterline of the warships. At best, the hull was damaged, affecting the speed and allowing the Yunmeng Ghost Master to catch up. At worst, they were blown up with large holes like fourth-class ships, rendering them worthless for rescue.

The Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship was equipped with twenty "Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water" weapons, the first of which were handcrafted by master craftsmen.

After the ship spirit king flag is returned to its position, it can actively absorb the essence of Gui water to create its own flags. After the stock is depleted, two flags can be replenished every hour.

Combat against ordinary sailing warships is already a matter of diminishing returns.

Duke Medinacel roared in anger upon seeing this:
"Order! The entire fleet is to abandon disengagement from the battlefield and engage the enemy independently!"

The ship captains and naval officers are responsible for commanding the battle. Once the [Angel of a Thousand Wings] has dealt with the enemy ships, it will reinforce you immediately.

The Winged Angel, propelled by the force of the dragons emerging from the water, circled the sea.

The massive ship was enveloped in a golden glow, making it appear exceptionally light, like a golden leaf drifting across the water, suddenly turning to face the menacing [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship].

There's no need for headwinds; the Angel of a Thousand Wings is the source of all winds on this ocean, always maintaining an upwind position.

The Duke, his heart bleeding, no longer looked at the three fourth-tier ships slowly sinking, or the remaining invincible fleet being surrounded and dismembered by the "Demon King Tide".

He stared intently at the Mirage Cloud Dragon ship, and at Wang Cheng on board, who was giving him a cold, murderous look.

"I don't know where your legendary warship came from, nor do I know who secretly gave you information about the Thousand-Winged Angel. I have to admit that the Empire's intelligence work on the East Sea Kingdom has made a major mistake."

However, in the face of absolute strength, all tricks are futile.

You have lost your last chance to repent; my sentence for you is death!

Wang Cheng simply slit his throat and pointed his sword at them.

The Ghost King Tide accelerated and rushed towards the Myriad Winged Angel, with countless evil spirits raising the iron hooks in their hands.

Without a command, everyone on the legendary warship sprang into action. Harvey, the eunuch, sang a hymn, and a phantom choir and grand hall appeared in the background.

Like the Temple of the Patriarch behind the Tide Knight, it is equivalent to the "Dharma Temple Mandala" of the divine officials, building positions on the battlefield.

Although they are from the East and the West, the essence of their power is no different; both are used to achieve "harmony between man and nature" or "being with the gods," thereby greatly enhancing their own power.

Meanwhile, Gloria, the "Saint White Sister" with silver hair reaching her shoulders and a holy aura, removed her robes and shoes with the help of her attendant nuns, opened her arms, and a silver cross appeared behind her.

The chains were lowered, suspending him high in a martyr's pose.

Three silver nails appeared out of thin air, each firmly pinning down the left and right palms and the two bare feet crossed together.

Blood spurted out instantly, and her beautiful face contorted in pain.

"what!"

Amidst her piercing screams, the dripping blood emitted a golden-red light, transforming into countless twisted Latin characters that formed a terrifying crown of thorns above her head.

The physical pain did not affect her unwavering faith in the slightest, and she began to pray silently.

In the church, only the purest, most beautiful, and most steadfast virgins can be ordained as Sister White.

Their spiritual response is called "Sacrifice," which allows them to perfectly perform the auxiliary magic [Painful Miracle].

They are not good at fighting, but pain manifests in them in various miraculous forms.

This includes, but is not limited to, curing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, maintaining the highest morale, exorcising evil spirits, commanding wind, rain, and tides, and summoning schools of fish.
Just as the physical pain she was experiencing at that moment transformed into a miracle of "exorcism" for her.

Stab it--!
Silver light rippled from her body, and amplified by the Thousand-Winged Angel, instantly evaporated the Ghost King Tide that had caught up with them, creating a huge void.

A continuous sizzling sound came from the outside.

Taking this opportunity, Duke Medinaceli activated the Angel of Ten Thousand Wings' true capabilities beyond troop deployment, and uttered a low shout:
"Tree of Life, expand your domain!"

On the legendary warship, instead of the Five-Colored Soil altar, there is a living Tree of Life blessed by the church's clergy.

The raw materials are oak seeds and people of five races from all over the world: yellow, white, black, brown, and red.

Place the level 0 artifact in the tenth source material "Kingdom" at the bottom of the Tree of Life, and then use it as a medium to perfectly fuse the artifact and the warship together.

At this moment, Duke Medinaceli took his seat in the command position representing the first source material, the "Crown".

Take out a Tier 1 Relic corresponding to a state's treasure: [Trade Storm in a Teapot].

It looks like a rough porcelain teapot, clearly an export version that Chinese people don't use themselves.

However, this teapot is anchored in the tea, porcelain, and silk trade that the Western Continent had been inseparable from since the Song Dynasty, representing the beginning of the Maritime Silk Road.

Once upon a time, an inconspicuous little teapot could stir up maritime trade and sea storms that spanned hundreds of years between the East and West Oceans.

Even now, the Francois have an infuriating trade deficit with the Great Zhao, and they can't think of any products they can sell to them other than silver.

This was also the fundamental driving force behind the Great Zhao's plan to destroy the country.

The Duke dropped a pinch of black tea into the teapot, then filled it with hot water and stirred it continuously with a teaspoon.

The teapot and the figurehead angel with thousands of wings shone together.

Wow.
The sea in front of them began to spin rapidly, and in an instant, a giant whirlpool with a diameter of nearly 500 meters was formed between the two warships.

The rapidly spinning water instantly swept up the two closest legendary warships/Tiangong Treasure Ships.

This is the true power of the angels with ten thousand wings: [The Descent of Heaven]
"By using the various holy relics that the Francois have plundered from all over the world as a medium, a portion of the Heavenly Kingdom can be projected to the mortal realm, greatly enhancing the power of the corresponding holy relics. This can only be changed three times a day!"

(End of this chapter)