Beside the port of Minas Tirith lay a hidden cove sealed off by the Security Department, with several patrol boats stationed around it.
With a teeth-grating groan of metal, the enormous gate leading to the Underground Waterway slowly rose.
Seawater surged in, churning up rolling white waves inside the passage.
Beneath the water, a colossal shape floated silently.
Leviathan One.
Inside it, soft light from runes illuminated a vast chamber.
Sea Wolf stepped into the central Command Room and was immediately stunned by the sight before him.
He instinctively looked up. The ceiling was as high as a cathedral vault, and the combination of flesh, fascia, and metal framework looked surprisingly harmonious. Countless ghostly blue energy conduits crisscrossed like blood vessels.
"What the fuck..." Sea Wolf could not help swearing. He paced a few steps back and forth, gauging the space.
"This damn place... is bigger than my ship's entire deck! Lord Veylin, did you cram a whole army into this monster's belly?"
"In theory, it can carry two hundred fully armed Taxi Soldiers," Veylin's voice came from the command platform ahead. "But for the maiden voyage, I only brought a hundred."
Sea Wolf followed the voice and saw Veylin standing on a raised platform, with Valerius, Barrett, and Ola behind him.
Around them, nearly a hundred mages and knights were making their way to rows of seats.
Barrett patted the seat nearest him, signaling Sea Wolf to come over. A palm-sized black beetle-like creature rested quietly on its armrest-the "Hive Terminal."
It was Sea Wolf's first close look at the thing, and disgust was written all over his face.
"What's this... for?"
"Connecting." Barrett kept it brief. He picked up his own terminal and deftly pressed it against the back of his neck.
The beetle's appendages automatically latched onto