The War Begins

Fran had no idea how the Alliance fought, and the Alliance wouldn't specifically call her over and arrange a VIP viewing spot for her when a battle started.

The Wartime Provision Department she's currently in is practically useless in the face of initial combat, so they won't be notified if war breaks out.

However, since her department was still based on a large airship, she was still able to know when the Alliance would make its move.

However, that was all. Four days after Fran boarded the airship, all the mages in the department knew that the Alliance had made the first move, and the war had truly begun.

However, there was no sound outside, because the airship was deliberately staying at the back, waiting for the battle in front to break up and the Battlefield to be cleaned up before it would follow.

Finally, on the sixth day, the airship sped forward and arrived at the front line of the Lohan Archipelago, Sea Blue Island, in the evening of the sixth day.

Fran didn't know what Sea Blue Island originally looked like, but it was probably a habitable place, not the desolate place it looked like, where all the houses had been swept away by a tornado.

The ground was covered with black scorched earth, forming clusters of black craters. Just by looking at it, one could tell exactly where the Alliance had launched its attack.

Scattered across the scorched earth were pieces of wood, and numerous wooden houses, torn apart in the battle, still bore traces of red.

Even the few houses that haven't disintegrated are completely uninhabitable; ruins are everywhere, and a seemingly sturdy wall could collapse if you just touched it.

Fran then turned her gaze to the enormous Floating City that was also flying in the air to the side.

According to information within the department, this is the Nineteenth Floating City, a flawed Floating City with some systemic errors in its floating inscriptions that are difficult to correct, so it underwent armed modification.

At this moment, the area above Nineteenth Floating City is no longer a densely packed urban area, but rather a vast expanse of open space, separated by various markers used by mages, and covered with numerous grotesque and enormous magical devices.

Sea Blue Island was probably completely destroyed by these things.

According to Fran, the mages did not encounter much resistance on Sea Blue Island, because there were almost no Third Order Professional left there.

It is obvious that Sea Blue Island could not have evolved from a feudal society to a high-tech society in just a few days, so the Second Order Profession User here have no way to deal with the Floating City in the sky.

"We'll be going down soon to start building the forward positions. That will free up our airships, so we'll have to move to a new location in a few days."

"Do you want to live with me? I think I'll get one of the biggest dorm rooms."

Monica was practically jumping up and down with her calculations, while Fran simply distanced herself from Monica, making it clear that she was refusing.

This left Monica with no choice but to leave, leaving Fran looking out the window.

The airship landed on a relatively flat piece of land. Fran was among the first to disembark. Upon landing, she was immediately struck by a strong smell of blood.

Although it wasn't visible on the surface, judging from the intensity of the smell, at least a hundred people must have died just from where the airship landed.

Fran didn't see any remains here, presumably because the mages had cleaned up the Battlefield quite well.

Fran frowned, covered her mouth and nose, and looked around. Her eyes instantly fell on the small hill on the island, where she felt a different kind of sensation.

This feeling is familiar; it's the aura of divine magic from the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents. Are there still some remnants here?

Fran scratched her head. She had no intention of doing anything herself, but instead walked directly to the Battle Mage who was stationed nearby.

"I sensed something ominous there. Could you send a squad of Battle Mage to investigate?"

Thank you for your feedback. We'll do it shortly.

Fran now has the Alliance's backing, so if anything dangerous happens, she naturally wants these Battle Mage Battle Mage to take the hits. Otherwise, wouldn't all the Gold Coin she's paid in taxes be wasted on them?

Although she personally didn't pay much tax, the Mana Telecommunications System, even without considering the additional service revenue attached to it by the Felistin Family, was a considerable sum of money.

A mage like her would naturally be considered a major taxpayer in the Alliance.

Incidentally, she has now handed over the Mana Telecommunications System to Forrest for full management, and after the Felistin Family's incident, she had him begin the project of finding new partners and reclaiming the Mana Telecommunications System.

However, this is a huge undertaking, and the Investigator even need to review it again, so it's impossible to be quick.

On the other side, on the small hillside that Fran had noticed, a sigh slowly rose.

"We've been discovered."

Cesar frowned as he looked at the blond figure.

"How did we get discovered?!" Chachek wasn't the one casting the divine spell, and the Goddess of Ocean Currents 'Goddess of Ocean Currents divine spells had more functional options only for her followers.

For other types of Profession like Chachek, divine magic naturally doesn't show favoritism, which is why he didn't even realize that someone was paying attention to him.

"Are you trying to fool me and get us to leave immediately?"

"That won't do. I want to observe the mages' movements and the specific layout of this place..."

Chachek completely rejected Cesar's proposal, and Cesar could only sigh deeply. Chachek didn't believe he had any solutions.

"Your Highness, someone has indeed discovered this place."

Suddenly, a figure in a beige hooded robe appeared behind Chachek. The figure was very thin and appeared suddenly, but no one present reacted much.

"Did he deliberately let someone discover it?" Chachek asked.

"Most likely not." A moment of silence followed.

"Do you have a method that will definitely not be detected by these mages?"

"No, Your Highness. Apart from the concealment personally constructed by the Lord of Shadows using Divine Power, there are absolutely no other methods in this world that can be easily discovered."

"Those sorcerers love to delve into these strange and unusual things, and they figure out methods to discover you from angles you never knew existed."

"All the methods I have, including those I obtained from a Fourth Order rogue, have been discovered by third-tier the Alliance mages."

Chachek raised an eyebrow helplessly. At this moment, they could already see a small team full of magical equipment rushing towards them from below.

"Can you cover up our presence here?"

"No, Your Highness, I have no knowledge of divine arts."

Chachek could only slowly back away, and then said:

"Then let's hurry up and retreat to the small island next to Sea Blue Island. It's relatively safe there for now."

While Chachek was communicating with that figure, Cesar didn't dare to utter a sound, and the figure in the long robe seemed to have no regard for anyone other than Chachek.

Cesar, Nolan (the former lord of White Dragon Port), and the two factions of God of War followers who were originally at odds all followed quietly behind, showing no intention of arguing whatsoever.

All of this was because of that figure. It was a Fourth Order Profession Holder whom Chachek had brought from the Srilan Empire using his extensive connections to ensure his safety.

This Fourth Order Profession Holder didn't come because of Chachek's identity or any order from the ruling emperor. He came simply because Chachek had paid a high price to invite him, and Chachek's status as a prince made it possible for him to do so.

These are Fourth Order Profession Holder. Third Order Professional can be considered pillars and central forces anywhere on the continent.

The Fourth Order, which is First Order higher than the Third Order Professional, can be considered to have a transcendent status.

Within the Srilan Empire, nobles fight tooth and nail for power and profit, but Fourth Order Profession Holder can completely ignore these power struggles as long as neither side provokes him.

These Third Order Professional could only follow slowly behind him, obeying the prince's instructions.

Even after Cesar learned about the situation here and realized that the Alliance couldn't stop them at all, he wanted to leave as soon as possible, but because of Chachek's orders, he didn't dare to leave.

As for the followers of the God of War, Cesar was unaware of the situation, but Nolan definitely wanted to leave. This person had finally managed to leave White Dragon Port, and instead of taking the route through the Northern Territory, he chose to go by sea, for a very simple reason.

That is, regardless of any past conflicts between Nolan and the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents, he is still a free Tier 3, Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents has no reason not to win him over, especially since Nolan owns a considerable number of properties on the Ocean.

Nolan had wanted to leave long ago. Although he disliked the Alliance's occupation of White Dragon Port, he wasn't stupid enough to turn against the Alliance; that would be suicide, and a hundred of him wouldn't have made a difference.

"Can you handle that Floating City up there?" Chachek suddenly asked.

Even the Fourth Order cultivator was stunned by this question for quite a while before slowly saying:

"If those above were all Third Order Mage, I might be able to bring this Floating City down, even at the cost of serious injury..."

"But I've never heard of Alliance's Floating City not having a single Fourth Order Mage."

Chachek was silent for a moment, then asked:

"Do you have any methods for interrogating mages? For example, ways to get useful information out of them?"

The Fourth Order Profession Holder finally encountered a question that he could answer affirmatively, and he nodded.

"Third Order Mage might make some mistakes, but it's still possible to force them to speak, and we here surely have plenty of ways to get those mages to talk."

He looked back and saw that Cesar and the others behind him had all lowered their heads.

"When can we make our move? I don't want to leave empty-handed this time." Chachek spent a lot of money to come to the front lines, and if he didn't gather any intelligence, he would have lost a lot of money, which is why he has been staying here.

"It's best to wait until that Floating City leaves, as they'll likely attack the next location soon after. If we time our attack carefully, we can avoid fighting the Floating City."

"What if the Floating City never leaves?"

"Then we'll have to take some risks." This answer satisfied Chachek.

"How long can we wait at most?"

"I can't be sure, but it shouldn't take more than three days." As soon as the Fourth Order Profession Holder finished speaking, Chachek frowned again; this timeframe was too short.

This Fourth Order Profession Holder knew what Chachek was thinking and said with a smile:

"Your Highness must understand that some things cannot be perfect, even for Fourth Order Profession Holder."