After the loud sound faded, the Bridge the Goliath fell into dead silence.
The officers and soldiers looked bewildered, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
"You... you all heard that too?"
"The voice, the voice seemed to be ringing directly in my head!"
"Could there really be gods in this world?"
Bang!
Mouro's face contorted with rage as he slammed his fist on the control panel.
"What's the panic! It must be those rats in the gutter playing tricks. They think they can scare me with such petty tricks? Dream on!" He tried to dispel the fear growing in his heart with his voice. In General Muoro's dictionary, there was no such word as "god," only absolute firepower was the truth!
"Never mind, port and starboard, all close-in weapon turrets, aim at that wrecked ship and smash its airbags!"
He suddenly waved his hand, pointing to the tiny target below outside the observation window.
The command was transmitted throughout the entire warship via hands-free, Mouro simultaneously grabbed another microphone. "Stop playing tricks on me! Hand over the Volucite, or the next round will be all about your heads!"
On either side of the Goliath's massive hull, several small turrets emitted the distinctive hissing sound of hydraulic operation.
The dark muzzle spun rapidly, locking onto the Tiger Moth five kilometers away.
The next moment, flames erupted!
A series of explosions rang out, and dozens of bright tracer bullets shot towards the Tiger Moth with sharp whistles.
Although these shells are not as lethal as the main guns, they are enough to easily tear through the airship's skin and supporting frame, rendering it unable to take off again.
The shells arrived in an instant, a series of flashes exploding around the Tiger Moth, engulfing it in billowing smoke. "See that?! This is what happens when you resist! Maggots! Scum! Fall to the ground!"
General Muoro looked at the target engulfed by the explosion through his binoculars and let out a triumphant laugh.
It was as if only in this way could the fear from just now be completely eliminated.
A chorus of agreement and sighs of relief rose from the Bridge; it was indeed just a bluff, and those air pirates were no match for Goliath.
However, as the smoke and dust from the explosion were dispersed by the airflow, everyone fell silent.
The Tiger Moth is intact.
It remained quietly suspended beside the Erdtree, without a single scratch on its hull.
It was as if the fierce barrage that had just torn it to shreds was merely a slideshow.
Between the Tiger Moth and the Goliath, a semi-transparent golden light curtain was dissipating, and the scenery behind the curtain was slightly distorted due to refraction.
Clearly, it was this light barrier that annihilated all the attacks.
"What is that?" a young radar officer couldn't help but mutter.
Mouro whirled around and grabbed Muska by the collar. " Muska! What's going on?! Have Dola and the others already obtained the treasure of Laputa?! Have they?! How much information are you hiding from me?!"
Muska forcefully pulled away from Mouro's hand, straightened her disheveled collar, and a rare look of panic appeared on her face.
He was rapidly reviewing his family's heritage in his mind, including Volucite, robot armies, weather control technology, and the devastating " Heavenly Fire "—all of which were recorded or legendary in history.
But the golden giant tree before them, the light barrier that could withstand physical cannon fire, and the voice that resounded directly to the soul—none of them were mentioned! Not a single word of them!
The situation was spiraling out of control, and a chilling fear gripped him.
"It seems you haven't heeded my warning."
Just then, that unhurried and authoritative voice rang out again, this time with a hint of helplessness.
"Who are you? What is your connection to the treasures of Laputa?"
Muska suppressed the turmoil in his heart and seized the opportunity to ask further questions.
"I am who I am."
"I am the Erdtree, and also the god of law."
"Gods? Bah!" Mouro interrupted Muska's question, grabbing the speakerphone again and yelling, "Damn space pirates! Stop trying to fool people with these low-down tricks!"
Mouro refused to believe anything that defied common sense. He preferred to think that the shelling had been ineffective and that the gunners had simply missed their target due to some kind of illusion.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed to him, and his voice regained its violent intensity. "I'm saying this one last time! Immediately! Right now! Kneel down and surrender! Otherwise..."
Mouro slammed his fist on the command platform again.
"I'll use Goliath's main cannon to blast you and the entire Railway Valley to smithereens! I mean it!"
His response was a soft sigh.
"If you don't heed my advice, don't blame me for being heartless."
Mu En felt the fear emanating from the airship and the continuous flow of Volucite energy from its roots, and sighed inwardly.
He realized that he had underestimated himself too much, even to the point of being self-deprecating.
He completely underestimated the power of this 300-meter-tall " Minor Erdtree " clone when it was fully charged.
Goliath?
In his eyes, that once invincible steel behemoth was no different from a grasshopper struggling in autumn.
You can hold it in your hand and play with it whenever you want.
"Still talking tough even when you're about to die!"
Mouro was completely enraged by that sigh and no longer cared about whether he might accidentally hurt his target.
All he wanted now was to use artillery fire to grind everything in front of him—trees, boats, and the town—into dust.
"All ships, listen up! Target the giant golden tree directly ahead, indiscriminate volley fire! Blow the entire Railway Valley to the heavens!!!"
The moment the order was given, the Goliath, this war behemoth, finally revealed its true fangs to the world, earning it the reputation of being a "weapon of the gods."
With a heavy mechanical hum, the cluster of turrets on the warship's underside and sides, resembling a jungle of steel thorns, all adjusted their direction, turning towards the golden giant tree five kilometers away.
For air-to-air warships, this distance is practically hand-to-hand combat, and shells are almost guaranteed to miss.
Inside the Bridge, only heavy breathing and the ticking of instruments could be heard.
The next second -
Rumble rumble rumble rumble-!!!!
Heaven and earth fell silent!
More than thirty heavy naval guns roared simultaneously, a roar that represented pure violence and destruction.
The terrifying recoil caused the Goliath to lurch backward hundreds of meters, and the thick smoke from the cannons instantly shielded half of the ship's hull. The scorching heat waves crashed against the observation windows, producing a buzzing and vibrating sound.
The barrage of high-explosive shells, like a scorching rain of iron Divine Descent, poured down on the Erdtree with an all-consuming force.
Each shell is enough to create a crater more than ten meters in diameter on the ground, and the shock wave and fragments can easily tear apart reinforced concrete fortifications.
Such a salvo was enough to completely wipe several city blocks off the surface.
Just as the shadow of death was about to touch the treetops and engulf the town, a golden light burst forth.