Smash and Dash (13)

"So this is armor? First time I've seen one. It feels huge."

The Ironclad Shark had smashed through the ship's lower hold with brute force and slipped away—a true smash-and-dash—but Ian had not come merely to cause destruction and trouble.

Since I'm already here, how could I not inspect the armor's internal structure and inscription layout?!

Inside the cabin, where seawater churned endlessly as it poured in, Ian raised his head and examined the colossal object before him.

This pale-blue armor from Canaanmore's Coldleaf Division stood nearly two stories tall. Its upper body was humanoid, but it had a crablike chassis and four legs. A massive turntable structure allowed its upper body to rotate freely, responding to attacks from every direction.

Its armor surface was exceptionally smooth. Just as the Silver Chip had detected, it was coated with a special layer resistant to beams and electrical shocks. The armor itself was also immensely sturdy. Ian reached out and touched it, realizing that its defensive strength could even compare to his own body when he activated his sublimation abilities.

The armor had not been activated. The alchemical furnace on its back probably had not even been loaded with fuel. Yet Ian could already imagine the countless pistons beneath its steel shell cycling back and forth in steady, rhythmic motion once it started up.

"Compared to Viscount Grant's aether armament, it is indeed much cruder, but that suits me perfectly."

The silver-blue gleam in the youth's eyes grew ever brighter. He chuckled, then activated the Silver Chip's recording function. "After all, aether armaments are far too complex. Even after all these years of study, there are very few structures I can replicate and make use of with my current tools."

"But armor is different."

Every inscription and Aether Furnace Core structure in an aether armament was unique, possessing special principles and functions that could unleash unimaginable power under particular circumstances.

In a sense, every aether armament was a highly composite and complete sublimation formula, integrating countless functions—a perfect crystallization of alchemy, inscription studies, and sublimation techniques in the world of Terra.

It could even be said that a fine aether armament was equivalent to a family's tangible inheritance. Even if all written records were lost, and the elders died for one reason or another before they could pass down their knowledge, as long as the family's aether armament remained, everything that had been lost could slowly be recovered.

Armor, meanwhile, did not even quite qualify as an inferior version of an aether armament.

It was merely a platform carrying many sublimation techniques and inscriptions, engraved with the various inscription abilities bestowed upon it by its creator and powered by an alchemical furnace.

"But it is precisely this crude design that I can learn from now."

Closing his eyes, Ian sensed the feedback relayed by the Silver Chip.

Underwater stealth inscription set, Coldleaf Type Three Underwater Propulsion Unit, aquatic cooling and heat-dissipation circuit, jet grappling claw, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree full-view observation module, Focus Type Two jet propulsion enhancement structure, sonar feedback, Spiderwalker Armor Enhancement Circuit, Giant Marine Armor-Piercing Dragon Lance...

It was almost instantaneous.

In an instant, Ian obtained more inscription circuit structures than he had gained through appraisal over the past four years combined!

If every aether armament was a tangible inheritance bordering on a work of art, then armor was the pinnacle of technology that a powerful nation could mass-produce!

This fourth-generation full-coverage combat armor was indeed no longer Canaanmore's newest model, but that did not mean its inscription structures had fallen far behind.

Even the shoddiest armor was equivalent to a combination of more than a dozen inscription structures—the crystallization of an empire's inscription craftsmanship!

"What a haul!"

He could not help murmuring in praise. At this very moment, with the Silver Chip's aid, Ian had completely reconstructed and replicated this naval combat armor within his mind.

Every component, every inscription plate, every construct structure—everything was incomparably clear.

If he acquired enough raw materials in the future, he could even build this armor from scratch with his own hands!

Even without replicating it, he had already gained enormously from these inscription circuits and propulsion unit structures alone.

True, under his current circumstances, handcrafting armor might be somewhat difficult. But making an inscription-powered arm, or a suit for silent underwater stealth, would be as easy as turning his hand over. He merely had to copy these inscription sets that should have been top secret.

"What a pity this armor has not been loaded with elemental crystals and cannot be activated... Otherwise, I would just drive it away."

The youth shook his head somewhat regretfully. "After all, large high-purity elemental crystals are precious as well. These pirates definitely could not obtain them. They only have a little support from Patrick, so they certainly would not normally keep them inside the armor."

By now, Ian could hear voices coming from around the cabin. His inscription copying had been quick, but the crew could not possibly be idiots who would simply let him act unhindered.

However, if he left just like this, he would not actually cause these pirates much damage... Their ship was a living-wood vessel, and repairs would be quite simple. He needed to leave them with some countermeasure.

"Should I make a real mess of things?"

Ian considered the possibility, then shook his head.

With his strength, he truly had no need to fear being ganged up on by the pirates here... But the question was, did he need to expose the power of a sand armor apprentice here? These pirates were, in the final analysis, the black gloves of Imperial nobles. He could not take that risk.

A secret mission of the Ellen Family and a suit of armor he had already copied in full were not worth risking discovery by the Empire of his power as a sand armor apprentice in order to seize.

In any case, this armor no longer held any secrets from him. If the opportunity arose, he could even hijack it after they loaded it with elemental crystals.

That would be far less risky, and he could even freeload some precious strategic fuel... The only trouble was how to locate armor at sea.

With that thought, the youth had an idea.

"Spray water."

At that moment, Ian was still carrying that Giant Clam one-handed in his left hand. Without a second thought, he pinched a piece of clam flesh, immediately making the giant shell become active and instinctively blast out a jet of water.

The blue-green stream of Origin Matter water shot like an arrow against the armor's surface... Naturally, it did not even leave a dent. The special armor possessed an extremely strong defensive bonus against water impacts.

But destruction had never been Ian's aim.

Within his mind, in the Silver Chip's feedback, once it had been stained by the Giant Clam's Origin Matter, this armor was essentially marked and highlighted by Ian.

As long as traces of the Giant Clam's Origin Matter remained on this armor, the chip—which had already recorded the fluctuations of the Giant Clam's Origin Matter—would lock onto its location and issue a warning the moment it came within a certain range.

What was more, Ian now remembered every structure of this armor.

Within Precognitive Vision, those seemingly sturdy plates and defensive constructions were riddled with weaknesses everywhere.

It might appear comparable to the Second Energy Level, but if they truly fought, this armor, whose weaknesses had been completely exposed, would probably be dismantled by Ian once he went all out... It was simply that he normally would not use his full strength. Once he did, he would risk becoming a fugitive.

He himself might manage, but Elan and the elder, as well as the White Folk of Harrison Port, would have nowhere to run.

"Time to go, time to go. I'll leave this armor here for now and come collect it someday."

Having done all this, Ian, who had already tacitly regarded the armor as his own, turned directly and dove toward the breach the Ironclad Shark had smashed open.

He also casually broke a plank off the living-wood hull. Besides researching it, he could use it as a clue for his report afterward... He would just say he had picked it up on the beach while foraging along the shore.

And less than half a minute after Ian, who had done every bad deed imaginable and was truly a great villain, departed—

A clamorous crowd of voices arrived.

"What happened?!"

Accompanied by hurried footsteps, an Elf pirate with dark green hair stared in shock at the two huge holes in the cabin, utterly bewildered in the water. "The Ironclad Shark's Ironclad Charge? But why did the living-wood ship not give a warning?!"

"And that impact—has this Ironclad Shark nearly reached the Second Energy Level? It pierced through two layers of my ship's armor in a single strike? What kind of joke is this?!"

Though shocked, the Elf pirate quickly regained his calm. He ordered the crew to repair the breaches with various spare planks, while blue light flared in his eyes. In an instant, he halted the seawater still pouring into the ship and even forced the accumulated water that had flooded most of the cabin back into the sea.

At the same time, the Elf pirate approached the armor with a solemn expression and carefully checked whether the trump card for this mission remained intact.

Then he let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness, there is no damage at all—what incredible luck. If that Ironclad Shark's charge had landed squarely, at least half the armor would have needed replacing... The alchemical furnace core has not started, and uncharged armor plates simply are not strong enough."

"Did the local natives control a Magic Beast to attack us? But that does not seem right either..."

"Wait, this Origin Matter?"

Half-kneeling before the armor, the Elf pirate seemed to notice something. He narrowed his eyes, bent down, and reached out to touch a patch of water droplets that had somehow not been repelled back into the sea by his ability. Then he brought them to his mouth. "This taste... Hm?"

The Elf pirate could not help opening his mouth, faintly revealing a row of sharp teeth. "Shellfish? High-pressure cutting water from a shellfish Magic Beast? It seems to be the Origin Matter scent of a Giant Clam?"

He revealed a startled expression. "Why would an Ironclad Shark join forces with a Giant Clam to attack my ship?"

"What exactly happened?!"