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Its entire surface gleamed with golden light, as though carved from a single enormous piece of metal, so dazzlingly extravagant and almost unreal that everyone who saw it found it hard to believe it was actual gold.
It was far too massive. How could that be possible?
"Hey, is this really all right?"
On the deck of the speeding Ark Maxim, Smoothie could not hide her astonishment.
It was not the glittering ship beneath her feet that shocked her, but the direction its bow was pointing-
The Marines' G-1 branch!
Attacking a Marine Base single-handedly was a mad idea in itself.
"Don't worry, Big Sister Smoothie."
Oni's voice was calm as she steered.
"Unless that seat of power decides to break with the Family completely, we'll be fine.
Besides-"
At the bow, a figure in a black feather coat stood in the wind, his coattails snapping as the air tore at them.
If things really came to that, given Rossi's methods, the ones who should feel threatened would probably be in the base opposite them.
"Diamante, prepare for takeoff."
The golden warship cut through the sea, heading straight for the Marine Base.
On deck, soldiers tightened their fingers around their triggers. Some had already rushed to the guns, the chill of metal seeping through their palms.
The man leaning against the mainmast brought his hands together.
Beneath the grain of the wooden deck, something began to writhe and rise.
Golden veins climbed like vines, intertwining and extending to outline a vast, open framework.
Then liquid gold spilled out, covering it and solidifying, reflecting a blinding halo in the sunlight.
In just a few breaths, an enormous golden airship hovered before the Marine fortress, casting a suffocating shadow.
The soldiers in the base's watchtowers stared wide-eyed.
A low hum came