After leaving the follow-up plans for the shipworm farm to Tristan, Veylin left the underground laboratory.
The smell of nutrient solution still lingered in his nostrils, but his thoughts had already jumped to the next issue.
He walked down the corridor toward the Technology Department.
"Breach a third-rate battleship's magic shield."
That was the task he had assigned to Elwin and the Technology Department not long ago.
According to intelligence publicly released by the Empire, a shield of that caliber could withstand three direct hits from fifth-circle magic.
It was, without question, an extremely difficult task.
In the Technology Department's workshop, Elwin was hunched over a huge glass tank, his entire face almost pressed against it.
"My lord!"
Hearing footsteps, Elwin whipped around. When he saw Veylin, he forced a stiff smile.
"Any progress on the project?" Veylin went straight to the point.
"Yes... yes." Elwin hurriedly nodded and pointed at the tank behind him. "My lord, please look!"
Inside the tank, a curtain of light simulated a warship's energy shield. Outside it, several palm-sized, oddly shaped "fish" swam through the water.
They had no scales. Their bodies had a translucent, gelatinous surface, with several slender, fleshy tendrils beneath their bellies.
"These are 'shield mimic fish.'" Elwin's introduction was brief and direct. He pointed at one of them. "Among the knowledge possessed by the Many-Armed Folk, we found a special kind of fish with an innate ability to pass through energy fields."
"These little creatures can adjust the frequency of their own biological fields to match the target shield exactly, and then... pass through."
As he finished speaking, the mimic fish he was pointing at gently waved its tendrils. A faint glow at the same frequency as the shield spread over its body.
The next second, like one drop of