Surrounded

Successfully determining their position was good news for Su Ming and Zijin, but it also brought bad news-they didn't have enough fuel to reach Agate Main Island for resupply.

Based on their consumption so far, Su Ming reckoned that, at best, their remaining fuel would take them about 150 kilometers, or seven hours at an economical cruising speed.

The problem wasn't hard to solve. Although the Zhiyuan was steam-powered, that didn't mean it could only use steam and couldn't have sails. During the transition period when steamships appeared on Earth, steam sailing ships had also been widely used.

A hybrid was nothing to be ashamed of.

He opened the software and processed the detailed data imported from the radar, particularly the data on several ships.

The portable computer was slow at processing it and would take several hours. Su Ming was exhausted and could barely stay awake.

He checked the time. It was already one in the morning.

"We need to rest," Su Ming said to Zijin. He set an alarm. "We need to release the balloon and run another scan before dawn."

The scholar nodded and closed the book in her hands. They each went to bed and fell asleep.

At five in the morning, Su Ming woke up with his head hurting less than before.

Zijin had gotten up a little earlier than he had. She was already on deck, washed and dressed, watching the dawn on the horizon in the strong wind.

After starting the cable release to send up the balloon, Su Ming and Zijin went to the control room to check the processed results of the first radar scan.

The processed scan was clearer, revealing many details of the terrain.

Su Ming had digitally enhanced the images of those ships in particular, and now their general shapes were discernible.

The scholar studied them closely and pointed out that three were rather suspicious: their designs were unfamiliar to her. The rest were fishing boats.

Su Ming made a maritime sand table out of bone, placed a piece of bone representing the Zhiyuan in the center, drew the outline of the Agate Archipelago in the southeast corner, and then planted markers at the positions of the three ships.

None of the three ships was large, with an estimated displacement of around 300 tons each. They were arrayed in a column about ten kilometers apart, southwest of the Zhiyuan on the side closer to the mainland, roughly 140 kilometers away.

Su Ming then added the dozen or so other vessels that could be identified as fishing boats. These were scattered irregularly. Most were on the landward side, with a few over by the Agate Archipelago, a standard pattern of fishing activity.

By the time he finished, the sounding balloon's cable still hadn't been fully released. Su Ming asked Zijin to keep an eye on it and connected to Little Spiky Head.

Little Spiky Head was still on the roof of the balloon supplier's warehouse. Su Ming guided him back inside, first swiped a battery and a directional antenna, then searched the product list for a data-processing unit.

The portable computer was too slow at processing radar data. He hadn't understood before, but now he knew why they made dedicated data-processing equipment and sold it for more than the radar itself.

Next came a marine X-band radar, a digital wind speed and direction gauge, and infrared night-vision binoculars.

The previous night, he had wanted to do this but lacked the strength. Now that he had rested, Su Ming used his recovered Magic Power to complete the transfer of this batch of equipment.

Aboard the Zhiyuan, the balloon had reached its designated altitude. Su Ming assembled the enhancement equipment and began the second scan.

With the gain antenna, the signal strength from the balloon increased dramatically, and data transmission was much faster. Su Ming connected the dedicated data-processing unit to the radar terminal and began importing the new radar data.

The speed of data processing made a qualitative leap this time. Su Ming could see clearly that there were more ships around them.

Over the course of five hours, the currents had carried the Zhiyuan about seven kilometers north, shifting the area covered by the radar scan somewhat.

He first located the mysterious flotilla. It was still about 140 kilometers away, having moved some 40 kilometers south along an arc centered on the Zhiyuan, while maintaining its single-file column.

"We're being watched," Zijin said.

There was no need to know why or to worry about whether it was merely a coincidence.

This was war!

The thing he had feared most all along had happened, but Su Ming instead grew calm. He quickly marked the newly detected ships and enhanced the data.

There were four fewer fishing boats, but six new ships had appeared in total. A more detailed scan came up, and Su Ming enlarged it.

"The Temple Directly Affiliated Fleet. Its flagship, the Jade Sea and Tang Valley." Zijin pointed to one of the ships, then pointed to two others. "I can't determine these two ships' exact names, but they're Songstress Class."

"Their tonnage and combat capabilities?"

"The Jade Sea and Tang Valley is around 4,500 tons. It's a seagoing carrier with no offensive power of its own, but it can carry Sea Eagle Beasts, which can carry mages," Zijin replied. "The Songstress Class ships are high-speed cruisers of around 1,200 tons, armed primarily with cannons."

The Jade Sea and Tang Valley had entered the battlefield from the southeast, where the Agate Archipelago lay, and was currently about 120 kilometers away from them. The two Songstress Class ships ahead of it formed an inverted triangle with it and were about 110 kilometers from the Zhiyuan.

"What about the other three?" Su Ming asked. These three had entered the battlefield from the northeast in a spread-out formation. They were farther away and had only just come within 130 kilometers.

"I don't recognize them. They should be medium-sized naval warships, but I don't know the details."

Su Ming estimated their tonnage from their hull dimensions. At around 1,500 tons, they were three times the size of the Pearl Duchy Navy warship they had encountered before.

So they were the main cruisers of this world's navies. What a warm welcome.

"It's not surprising that there are enemies to the southeast." Zijin pointed to the lower right of the map. "The Agate Archipelago is the nearest place to resupply. So it makes sense that our pursuers would head there immediately and then spread out to search."

"Those are the problem." Su Ming circled the three mysterious ships that had appeared first, at the lower left of the battlefield.

An even more finely enhanced image appeared, and this time Zijin recognized them. "They're reconnaissance ships. That raised structure amidships is a rune amplification tower. It can double the range of Magic Power detection at sea."

"Even doubled, that shouldn't be enough!" Su Ming remembered that even on the open sea, and even for a target like the White Bone Fortress with its distinct undead fluctuations, the detection range should have been around 35 kilometers.

Doubled, that should have been 70 kilometers, but the enemy was now 140 kilometers away!

"It must be a new technique of some kind. The three reconnaissance ships are in that formation, so there must be something going on," Zijin reasoned. "Normally, a rune amplification array capable of detecting something that far away would need to be 100 meters across."

So is it a technique like synthetic aperture? Su Ming thought. If only we could take out one of them.

Su Ming continued studying the battle situation. "Zijin, there's something I don't understand." He chose his words carefully. "First we were pursued by the College of Bishops, and now we're being surrounded and attacked by two main fleets." He pointed again to the reconnaissance ships hiding on the mainland side. "Those ships are doing everything they can to avoid getting caught up in the battle. They're more valuable than warships, aren't they? So what exactly did you do?"