Deterrence / A Gift

As the captain of the California, he had to shoulder his responsibilities.

When the massive red dot representing the Spectral Dragon crossed a certain boundary, Colonel Marvin roared.

"Torpedo tubes 1 through 4! Fire all torpedoes!"

Knowing they had only one chance, Colonel Marvin went all in, trying to save himself and his crew with maximum firepower.

Unfortunately, faced with an absolute gap in strength, Colonel Marvin's resistance was utterly powerless.

The MK48 Torpedo was a mature, reliable weapon with outstanding performance.

Other than its counterpart from the Mu Continent, no torpedo on this planet could rival it.

Yet when facing a Spectral Dragon, this wire-guided torpedo, previously used to attack warships, was clearly out of its element.

With a single blast of Death Dragon Breath, the Spectral Dragon effortlessly intercepted every torpedo fired at it.

In the Ashan World, Spectral Dragons fought living dragons in close combat. With their reaction speed, shooting down missiles with their breath was standard practice.

Intercepting torpedoes, which were clearly far more cumbersome than missiles, was even easier.

The four intercepted MK48 Torpedoes exploded underwater. Although the resulting shockwaves were powerful, they posed no serious threat to a Spectral Dragon with no internal organs.

It merely shook its enormous dragon head before continuing to swim toward the California, its tail swaying behind it.

On the sonar screen, the four markers representing the torpedoes vanished without a trace before reaching their target.

Captain Marvin naturally understood what that meant.

The torpedoes had been intercepted!

The California was finished!

They, too, would descend into the abyss of death!

Slowly removing his peaked cap, Colonel Marvin gave every officer and sailor in the command room the most formal salute of his life.

"It has been my honor to fight alongside you."

"Colonel, the honor was ours as well..."

The crew answered through choked sobs.

Though their voices trembled visibly with fear of death, they still expressed their feelings with the greatest courage and determination.

"Send a message to the Department of Defense. Report everything we know."

Lowering his salute, Colonel Marvin solemnly issued the final order of his life.

Even at the end of his life, Colonel Marvin remained true to the duties and mission of a captain.

He knew this was the last thing he could do for his country.

Just minutes after the message was sent, a violent tremor suddenly struck.

The California was torn apart beneath the Spectral Dragon's claws. Its pressure hull, capable of withstanding the immense pressure hundreds of meters underwater, seemed so fragile before the Spectral Dragon's overwhelming might.

Seawater instantly flooded the vessel, mercilessly swallowing every piece of equipment and every person aboard.

Because of the nuclear submarine's specialized design, the Spectral Dragon's attack did not trigger a reactor detonation.

However, the reactor casing ruptured beneath its claws, causing an unavoidable nuclear leak.

"ROAR!"

The Spectral Dragon let out a triumphant roar, swung its massive tail, and easily rose toward the surface.

To a Spectral Dragon, a little nuclear radiation was nothing worth mentioning.

In fact, protected by magic, not only the undead but even skilled human spellcasters did not fear nuclear radiation.

In the Silver City-State, the sacred land of mages in the Ashan World, ores capable of producing nuclear radiation were regarded as precious materials for magical experiments.

These ores were widely used to brew magical potions, craft magical equipment, and conduct advanced magical research such as profound bloodline experiments.

Deterrence

After witnessing the sinking of the California attack nuclear submarine, Moros severed his visual link with the Spectral Dragon.

"Dive into the deep sea and remain active near the Ocean Miracle."

After leaving this order for the Spectral Dragon, Moros stepped into the deep-blue swirling Demiplane passage.

He did not linger in his Demiplane. The moment his front foot stepped onto the black-gray land of Graveyard City, rich with Death Mana, his other foot opened another Demiplane passage leading to the capital of the Mu Continent.

During the previous series of battles that destroyed the councillor families, Moros had already left wraiths at many locations across the Mu Continent to serve as anchors for Demiplane passages.

Given the Mu Continent's current level of technology, they clearly had no way to detect these deliberately concealed wraiths.

This meant that as long as Moros wished it, he could use Demiplane passages to cross immense distances in an extremely short time and rapidly appear in any city on the Mu Continent.

This strategic mobility was precisely what gave him the confidence to

challenge the Mu Continent's regime.

Through Demiplane passages, he truly had the ability to set the entire Mu Continent ablaze with war.

At this moment, Moros decided to remind the Mu Continent's rulers just how incredible the power he possessed was.

The instant he stepped out of the Demiplane passage, Moros swiftly cast Phantom Forces, cleverly concealing his location.

Then he gracefully raised a hand and made a light sweep through the air before him.

The next moment, an enormous Demiplane passage appeared out of thin air above the city. On the other side, the Spectral Dragon that had long been prepared was already eager to move.

"Go. Bring a shocking greeting to the rulers of this continent."

As Moros's voice fell, a Spectral Dragon wrapped in dense Death Mana rushed out of the Demiplane passage, its form wreathed in black mist like a demon rising from hell.

"ROAR!"

The Spectral Dragon opened its savage, terrifying jaws and unleashed an earthshaking roar that shook the entire city.

Moros gazed toward the distant council building and waved his hand again.

Receiving the command, the Spectral Dragon immediately spread its tattered wings, tore through the sky, and flew toward the council building with thunderous momentum.

Its body, shrouded in black mist formed from dense Death Mana, cast a huge shadow over the ground. Like an omen of death, it filled countless citizens of the Mu Continent with deep terror and fear.

Given the volume of that dragon roar, the council building had naturally already noticed its approach.

But the Spectral Dragon was simply too fast. Before the councillors meeting inside could evacuate, the Spectral Dragon had already blocked their path.

"BOOM!"

With a thunderous crash, the council building's towering dome instantly collapsed, sending shattered stone and dust flying everywhere.

The councillors had no time to care that the priceless, exquisite reliefs had been reduced to nothing in an instant. Their attention was fixed on the uninvited guest that had suddenly burst in.

With a heavy thud, a dragon head shrouded in dense black mist thrust itself into the council building.

"Councillors, although this is our first meeting, I believe you recognize me."

Through the power of magic, Moros's voice emerged clearly from the Spectral Dragon's mouth, echoing through every corner of the council building.

"Moros?"

The council speaker called out the name hesitantly. Noticing that the Spectral Dragon showed no signs of attacking, some of his tension eased.

"It is I."

After acknowledging his identity, Moros continued.

"I came here for no other reason than to greet you. After all, you greeted me aboard the Ocean Miracle as well. It is only proper to return the courtesy, isn't it?"

There was a trace of mockery in Moros's words, as if he were truly observing a social custom rather than intimidating these councillors.

However, anyone capable of becoming a member of the Mu Continent Council and controlling the fate of the most powerful nation on this planet undoubtedly possessed considerable intelligence.

From Moros's single sentence, they keenly sensed his true intention.

This is his response to our probe!

More than one councillor had that thought.

Governments like the Far East, so fond of subordinates overthrowing their superiors, were exceptionally rare after all.

Before Moth to Fire commanded the California attack nuclear submarine to launch its attack, Councillor Eugene had already informed the other councillors of Moth to Fire's plan.

Damn Eugene! I knew his plan was unreliable!

Though he had already cursed Councillor Eugene, the Moth to Fire Council's representative, to hell and back in his heart, the speaker of the Mu Continent Council could only clean up his mess.

There was no helping it. As the council's leader, while wielding immense power, he also bore responsibilities he could not shirk.

The speaker took a deep breath, regulating his breathing and doing his best to remain calm and rational.

He glanced at the councillors around him and found their faces filled with tension and unease.

Clearly, they could offer him no substantive help now.

Thus, the elderly leader with a full head of white hair straightened his back and spoke in a firmer voice.

"Moros, there may indeed have been some misunderstandings between us, but you directly..."

He paused slightly, seemingly searching for more appropriate wording, before continuing.

"Well, paying us a visit like this does not seem to conform to our diplomatic conventions."

"Heh."

Moros sneered and shot back without any courtesy.

"Oh? So the Mu Continent's diplomatic convention is to use attack nuclear submarines as visiting etiquette. That truly opens my eyes."

Though he had heard the mockery and dissatisfaction in Moros's words, the speaker of the Mu Continent Council showed no sign of wavering.

He had spent many years struggling through the Mu Continent's political world and had long cultivated composure in the face of all kinds of sharp remarks and abuse.

In the speaker's eyes, Moros's sarcasm was no more than a gentle spring breeze,

unable to move him in the slightest.

"Don't say that. We of the Mu Continent..."

The speaker tried to ease the atmosphere, but Moros cut him off mercilessly.

"Enough!"

Moros had no interest in the speaker's long-winded speech and warned him directly.

"I only came to say hello today. If you continue to stubbornly persist, then next time, I will not merely be saying hello."

With that, Moros controlled the Spectral Dragon and left the council building without hesitation, flying toward the Demiplane passage high in the sky.

Watching the Spectral Dragon gradually disappear into the distance, a councillor moved close to the speaker and offered a suggestion.

"Speaker, should we have the Federal Army..."

The councillor's intention was obvious. He hoped the Mu Continent's military could deploy and completely destroy the skeletal dragon that had damaged the council building.

"No! Before we are certain we can resolve the root of the problem, rashly escalating the conflict will only put us in an even more passive position."

Gift

After retrieving the Spectral Dragon, Moros opened a Demiplane passage to the Graveyard territory without hesitation and vanished from the spot.

He believed that as long as the Mu Continent's rulers retained normal levels of intelligence, they would not come looking for trouble with him again.

At the very least, until they had sufficient confidence that they could deal with him, the Mu Continent's councillors would remain cautious and restrained.

And after witnessing his feat of commanding a Spectral Dragon in a surprise attack on the Mu Continent's capital, the other nations on this planet would undoubtedly better understand how to respect an undead wizard of Legendary Rank.

With the support of all kinds of cutting-edge technology, the Mu Continent's intelligence security was naturally trustworthy.

But the sight of a Spectral Dragon sweeping across the Mu Continent capital's skyline had been far too spectacular.

Although the Mu Continent could use speech censorship to downplay or even conceal the impact of this incident among its people, it could not prevent other countries—especially major powers such as Shenzhou and North America—from learning of the Spectral Dragon attack.

The facts proved that making an example of one to warn the rest was highly effective.

During the following days of the voyage, the wraiths scattered around the Ocean Miracle as a warning perimeter detected no abnormalities.

As everyone knew, whenever someone carried the burden forward, someone else was living peacefully through the years.

With the wraiths diligently standing watch and the Spectral Dragon faithfully guarding them, Moros was able to enjoy the rest of the journey without distraction.