Command of the Sea

For the Noah Tree Boat, it was merely that one of the gunners had noticed two figures standing atop the enemy watchtower, dressed conspicuously differently from the ordinary soldiers, and casually sent another shell their way.

With the destructive Long-rod Projectiles developed by the Mechanical Bureau, the lethality of electromagnetic weapons had undergone a qualitative leap. Even with only two cannons mounted on the Tree Boat, they were enough to send any Seven Stars troops within range scurrying like rats, stripped of any will to keep fighting.

At that moment, High Priestess Sainiya had only one thought.

Fortunately, they were Jinxia's allies.

The only regret was that World Island had not taken this step sooner.

If the Elves had possessed weapons like these when facing Natating's fleet, they might not necessarily have secured final victory, but they could at least have bitten several chunks out of The Empire while buying a great deal of time for evacuation. They would not have ended up as they had now, with only a scant few Tree Boats escaping successfully while hundreds of thousands of their people became slaves of The Empire.

In truth, during her time in Jinxia, what had affected her most was not its weapons.

The shock to her way of thinking was far more intense than anything tangible.

Take the clash of cultures and customs, for example—not that the people here bore no prejudice toward Elves. Even she had heard the term "long-eared Yao." Yet in the Mechanical Department's laboratories, or in the Academies established by the Affairs Bureau, such remarks vanished without a trace. They made no effort to hide their interest in things from beyond their borders and brimmed with curiosity toward every unknown question.

This attitude was utterly different from that of the once-closed World Island.

Even