Fourth Calamity Behavior

"We are under attack!"

One by one, the Yilan-Tai'er Aegis Battlesuit, leaped out of the sea. The propulsion devices on their backs and shoulders immediately transformed and activated, the Levitation Stone propelling the sinners into the sky and into battle form.

The magnificent battle suits reflected the brilliance of the sunlight, the golden light faded, revealing a chilling aura. The sinners, who had returned to the Mortal World and gained their freedom, could not hide their excitement and fervor. The gods' promise had granted them their freedom.

This is the day to pledge allegiance.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

They howled like wild beasts. The almost fully automated Aegis Battlesuit sensed the fighting spirit and immediately transformed into killing forms. The Radiant Crystal Devices sprayed light blades, the Levitation Stone propelled their dives, and the Aegis descended from the sky!

One after another, the Aegis Guards crashed into the approaching Council ships like cannonballs. Yilan-Tai'er slashed furiously with his light blade, blood splattering everywhere. The sight of bloodshed fueled the sinners' fanaticism.

For hundreds and thousands of years, they have been brainwashed, enslaved, controlled and domesticated by priests, becoming ignorant, cowardly and numb. But precisely because of this, when they transformed from the weak to the strong, the depravity and cruelty they displayed became even darker and deeper, venting an astonishingly fierce intensity.

"We are under attack!"

The officers, who were eagerly searching from the mast, were the first to be cut down, their bodies torn to pieces and thrown to the ground. The sailors were shocked for a moment, then let out a shout and drew their weapons to fight back.

However, the magic cruiser excels at direct firefights but is less adept at boarding. With no marines on deck, the sailors are at an overwhelming disadvantage against the fully armed Aegis Guards!

After all, that was the last hope and blessing left behind by Yilan-Tai'er.

The essence, power, and wisdom of a once-peak Civilization.

Shocking change, unexpected events, slaughter—in the blink of an eye, the news of the invasion was confirmed.

"Report! The Azure Fleet has been spotted under attack! Confirmed by both Eagle Eye and reconnaissance drone images, the force is not from any known nation or ethnic group in the world; it is none other than Yilan-Tai'er!"

In a routine maneuver, Kang De, his face grim in the command post, ordered, "Send the eyewitness report to the Shogunate, order the garrison troops at the Distant Harbor to go on high alert, and have the Ministry of Unity prepare for the upcoming diplomatic matters."

Azure Fleet.

"This... Primal Gel- cast armor, Levitation Stone as a supplement, and Radiant Crystal for energy storage—this isn't something Kang De created; it truly is Yilan-Tai'er. They attacked us without warning..."

Congressman Aokexindun gripped the railing tightly, his knuckles turning white from the effort.

"Kang De was absolutely right!"

His eyes flashed, and he ordered, "Osko, report to the Council in your own name, and then inform Nixiyasi to begin the counterattack! Tell her to capture as many alive as possible! If that's not possible, dead ones will do! The bodies must be retrieved immediately and brought here!"

Osko's expression changed.

Now? Didn't you say that as long as I forced that woman Nixiyasi to lead the fleet here to rescue me, you would take me back to Tula Xiaye and protect me from Kang De's pursuit?

He stammered, "But..."

Congressman Aokexindun gave him a sinister look. "But what?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the two Arcane hunters behind the senator straightened up and stepped forward.

They wore close-fitting soft armor, carried wind blades on their backs, and had deep blue magic rings on their foreheads that shimmered with dangerous elemental light. Whether it was the miniature crossbow under their left wrist, the spellbreaker dagger at their waist, the short staff in their boots, or the potion bombs hanging on their chests, everything indicated that they were ruthless characters... No one understood mages better Arcane Council, so no one knew better Arcane Council how to deal with mages.

These Arcane hunters, directly under the Legal Department, are tasked with protecting legislators and apprehending spellcasters who have committed crimes. They are notorious for their ruthless methods and efficient, albeit unscrupulous, tactics.

Osko had no chance against them.

With his life in someone else's hands, and without even the chance to threaten violence, Osko realized he had underestimated the shamelessness and dishonesty of the senator. He helplessly lowered his head. "... Yes."

"Go ahead. My promise to you still stands, and if you do this task well, I'll pay you handsomely... I said I'd give you a new face and let you start a new life, but a new life has its good and bad, right?" Aokexindun smiled slightly. "Go ahead."

He reached out and beckoned the somewhat bewildered Anthony over. "Tell Commander Nixiyasi that her father is with me, he's perfectly safe, there's nothing to worry about."

Osko gritted his teeth, gave the councilor a perfunctory bow, and then turned to leave. At this moment, chaos erupted all around the flagship. Although Yilan-Tai'er had not yet arrived, riots had already broken out.

They said they set sail, came here, carried out the Council's orders, and then waited to make a fortune.

But now, a terrifying enemy of unknown origin has suddenly appeared. Seeing the carnage on their comrades from afar, the ships are filled with shock and rage. They immediately prepare for battle, needless to say, but...

This isn't what we agreed on!

What exactly is going on?

Those who were completely unaware of the situation cried out in alarm, "Oh no! Kang De has attacked! The Cathayan has started fighting!"

No one in this world has ever seen what Yilan-Tai'er looks like, but they know that Kang De's alchemical skills are unparalleled and he often comes up with new tricks. Seeing the warriors who float through the air and kill indiscriminately, wearing magnificent battle armor and shining brightly, those who have seen the world can easily associate them with the Dragon of Cathay.

Legend has it that his most formidable henchmen were equipped with all sorts of extravagant armor.

So...

"What do we do? What do we do? Didn't they say the Cathayan wouldn't dare to make a move?"

Having been continuously brainwashed by the Council and officers, they believed without a doubt that "Kang De would not dare to start a war lightly," which is why they dared to bite the bullet and snatch things from the Dragon of Cathay for the Starry Sky Council's huge profits.

But now...

"Will he use Forbidden Spell directly? Will we die? Should we surrender? Damn it! Weren't they saying the Cathayan wouldn't fight? Didn't they say he was having an affair with Commander Nixiyasi?!"

The unrest within the military was brewing in a strange direction.

"Putting everything else aside, Yilan-Tai'er has a pretty high-class image."

As the great battle approached, Kang De became increasingly calm, observing the battlefield and waiting for the opportune moment.

The original plan was to evacuate the staff and then use the Broken Isles as a large lure. Since there were three types of relic materials everywhere there, Yilan-Tai'er would most likely come to mine them. At that time, a Forbidden Spell would be cast, and all would be taken away in one fell swoop.

As for whether it will damage the relics and Star Palace ruins on the island... there's no need to worry. It can withstand even a nuclear bomb in the face or a direct hit from Nuclear Light Lance, so what's a few objects thrown from the sky?

Now, the Azure Fleet is determined not to leave, ignoring all advice and insisting on defying the law, leaving Kang De helpless. They are now entangled with the raiding forces of Yilan-Tai'er, and even if Kang De wanted to help, he was afraid that the indiscriminate gunfire would harm innocent bystanders and cause surprise to his allies.

There was nothing they could do but wait for the Azure Fleet to be wiped out by Yilan-Tai'er before seeking revenge.

"Record it, record it, so the Council won't have anything to say about it later. Body cameras are necessary."

Horus, a seasoned and experienced photography expert, readily agreed, then said, "Father, the Council suffered a great loss and will surely resort to sophistry. Your video recording is useless."

Kang De raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why is it useless?"

"Even though they don't understand, they can still insist the video is fake, since with the technology of this other world, it's impossible to verify," Horus said. "And it's true, videos can be faked. For example, I could edit together my father's past footage and words to create a new video and fool the people of Distant Harbor or someone else..."

Kang De angrily retorted, "You unfilial son, what do you intend to do?"

"Father, is this the time to talk about this?"

"... Didn't you say that first?!"

Kang De was disgruntled, but then continued watching the battle live.

He glanced at the close-up shot coming from above; the structure of the Aegis infantry's combat suit was clearly visible.

The Radiant Crystal draw upon elemental energy, unleashing wondrous transformations, sometimes unleashing ray attacks, sometimes extending light blades to slay enemies. The Primal Gel forges the battle suit itself, maintaining the coordinated operation between the suit and the user, while the Levitation Stone are agile and changeable, providing terrifying mobility with their own characteristics. This allows these warriors to dash left and right between the sea and sky, their momentum as nimble and fierce as Jiaolong, invincible in all directions.

This single combat suit embodies Yilan-Tai'er's exquisite mastery of these three legendary substances, reaching a pinnacle of skill. It is undoubtedly the culmination of wisdom and technological accumulation of this peak Civilization. Meanwhile, Distant Harbor's research on these three substances has only just begun. Even with the pioneering mage Malegith, leading the research, it is difficult to catch up with Yilan-Tai'er.

Even the technological capabilities contained within this combat suit, once applied to Kang De's current military industrial system, could bring many of his conceived dream units to life.

"Rocket Soldier, my Rocket Soldier..."

Kang De angrily exclaimed, "That damned Star Palace has ruined my plans!"

These good things should have belonged to the Kang family, but now things have changed. Although we don't know exactly what's going on with these Yilan-Tai'er, it's definitely the Star Palace's fault.

These precious ancient weapons were shattered into pieces by Forbidden Spell and scattered everywhere. It's not only a pity, but also a despicable waste.

"A Fu," Kang De picked up the communicator and ordered, "Move your warship forward ten nautical miles."

Without asking any questions, the obedient daughter replied, "Yes!"

Horus the Machine Spirit asked unhappily, "What do you want to do?"

"This battle is going to last a long time. We can't just stand by and watch while the monsters are being gathered together... Kill the enemies, salvage the wreckage, reverse engineer, and see if we can make a name for ourselves," Kang De said. "We won't stop until every last member of the Azure Fleet is dead."

He then spoke into the communicator, "Parrot?"

Malegith not in high spirits. She had witnessed the senseless massacre of the Council by Yilan-Tai'er and knew that Kang De's judgment was correct. The ancient people, who had once been glorious, had knelt before the Star Palace and were willing to be its lackeys and dogs. This made her, a prisoner with a similar fate, feel a sense of unease and confusion.

If anyone in Fantastic Beasts were to become a sycophant to the Star Palace, she would probably feel the same way.

"... I'm here." She sighed. "What?"

"Among A Fu's warships, there's a modified gunboat piled with some remnant materials, which should be quite attractive to Yilan-Tai'er. I've instructed A Fu to sail this ship close to the Azure Fleet, provoke Yilan-Tai'er to attack, kill them, and then reverse engineer the wreckage to see if we can scrape out any corrupted technology—goodness, now that you mention it, Yilan-Tai'er does seem a bit like a corrupt father."

It's certainly unique that it immediately went after the Azure Fleet upon its release.

Hearing this, the Parrot finally regained some energy and snorted, "Then what are you?"

Kang De proudly declared, "Naturally, it's the Fourth Scourge who installed mods and used the console, lacking any sense of martial ethics!"

Malegith spat. "You want me to capture a few alive?"

"Try our best, safety first," Kang De replied. "The wreckage is all broken, so its reference value is relatively low. If we could obtain the complete equipment, its research value would be much greater. Furthermore..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Don't you want to know what happened next?"

The Parrot instinctively said, "We don't understand their language..."

She stopped talking after saying that.

Kang De chuckled softly, his tone complex and enigmatic. "No need to understand."

A gunboat converted from a transport ship rumbled forward, followed closely by the massive hull of the warship Astolfo, its enormous hull cutting through the waves and looming over them.

Its steel hull was quite different from the Council's sailing warships, making it even more eye-catching.

A while ago, Kang De kept urging Britain to sign and implement the treaty, starting with old history lessons, demanding the lease of five treaty ports and demanding £2.3 billion in compensation. Yuebao naturally resisted to the death, but kept dragging things out, allowing Kang De to gradually extract benefits from them. In addition, with the "free and tax-free gifts" from the upper class at the equestrian center, the map of the White Mist World had already been opened to the foreigners.

Unfortunately, the United Kingdom were on high alert and prevented Kang De from getting close to the Royal Navy. The HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales were like a dream, a mirage. The ships that were replicated through the mirror image of the White Mist World were just cruise ships and cargo ships on the River Thames, as well as some merchant ships and fishing boats in the port.

The most valuable of these was the HMS Belfast, which was moored in the River Thames. Like the Iowa, it had been converted into a museum. Not only had many of its facilities been removed, but its structure was also badly corroded, and its shells and fuel were nowhere to be found. However, in keeping with the idea that "since it's already been copied," Kang De still took it to the Zhuerban naval base for conversion to see if it could be put to any use.

Unfortunately, the renovation project was too extensive. For the sake of the Head Maid's wedding dress, we should shed a tear for the Zerg swarm. For the sake of sentiment, Kang De had high hopes for the HMS Belfast's refit.

Therefore, this warship was too late to join the new war in the Broken Isles. Meanwhile, several cargo ships that were being converted at the same time had been simply fitted with various firepower platforms, turning them into sea fortresses that could be put to use now. Just like this armed gunboat, its long and wide hull was originally used to transport cargo, but now it has been converted into an armed vessel, carrying a certain amount of relic materials, and sailing across the sea.

The two steel warships were so conspicuous that they were immediately detected by the Azure Fleet. The panicked navy became even more desperate, which seemed to confirm their suspicions.

"Kang De's warships have arrived! These guys really were sent by the Cathayan!"

Since the special envoy took up residence in the fleet, sidelined the commander, and conspired with high-ranking officers to relegate dissidents to the suicide squad, the discipline and organization of the Azure Fleet have plummeted. Upon witnessing this, many brainless individuals ran around and shouted incoherently. The more they believed in the view that "Kang De dared not go to war with the Council," the more intense their fear became now that they discovered Kang De had actually taken action.

A few more level-headed and composed officers, however, realized that something was amiss.

Because the number of strange enemies keeps increasing!

Moreover, they all emerged from the sea, and more and more of them were appearing. Life detection devices indicated that they were emerging from the deep sea—to call it an ambush would be too strange, because judging from the continuous sequence of attacks, these strange creatures were clearly charging up in a line.

If it was Kang De who assigned it, he could have just opened a portal and stormed out; why bother queuing up underwater?

In the short span of time, more and more enemies flew out of the water, and they became stronger and stronger. At first, they were just lightly armored individual warriors, then they became huge heavy combat machines, and then they became behemoth-like combat platforms. They sprayed intense light, cut through the hull, or launched frost water cannons to sweep and bombard. Their combat performance improved rapidly from unfamiliar to skilled, and their efficiency increased.

Although the Azure Fleet ships organized a counterattack and used magic devices and ballistae to cover the attacked friendly ships, the large number of captured personnel and the lack of discipline caused a sharp decline in combat effectiveness. Even more critically, after the attack, the flagship did not issue any orders, and the entire command system was effectively paralyzed.

As a result, warships fell rapidly at a visible speed, and unknown killers fearlessly boarded the decks, slaughtering the crew with their superior equipment.

One after another.

As the melodious alarm sounded from afar, the criminals who had leaped out of the water noticed the steel behemoth in the distance. They instinctively sensed that the iron ship contained familiar treasures. Without hesitation, a dozen criminals drew their light blades, floated into the air, and flew towards that direction!

Kill the enemy, please the gods—it doesn't matter who you kill.

Beneath the Eternal Tower, Tuosidiwa stared blankly at the image reflected back from the Mirror of the Deep Sea.

"Their boats are made of wood, with a few large ships equipped with metal armor. They are still in the age of sail-powered ships, but they already have elemental energy power devices... They are at the crossroads of an era of transition."

The High Priest summarized the intelligence. "Individual weapons are still primarily melee weapons, with some elite warriors using elemental energy in combat, as are those of the extraordinary... The same applies to shipborne tactical weapons; most are manually operated. Although the elemental energy coverage is relatively high, however... alas..."

He shook his head.

"According to Aifu, the national organization she contacted is already one of the best among the new races of the Mortal World. If their main fleet is only this strong, it would probably collapse under the first wave of attacks from the Star Palace. As I predicted, the Mortal World has no hope. They are no match for the Star Palace. The so-called new races are probably just tools for their amusement..."

"Aifu, I'm afraid I've won this time..."

A flicker of disappointment and pain crossed his eyes, followed by a look of surprise.

"Wait, if it's only this bad..." he muttered to himself, "Why is Star Palace..."

Immediately afterwards, he heard a melodious, long cry.

The high priest looked up, pointed, and switched the perspective. From the perspective of the other Aegis Guards, two steel warships were cutting through the waves and sailing into the blue sea.

Tuosidiwa looked surprised. "A pure metal warship, without sails, that's interesting, but it has almost no elemental energy fluctuations. How can such a warship... huh?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"