The ceiling above their heads was creaking, and the floor beneath their feet was trembling. Everything in sight was shaking and breaking. Through the cracked walls, they could even see a huge beam that ran through the hull of the ship had bent to a visible angle. When that beam could no longer bear the weight, it would be the moment the ship was completely destroyed.
The camouflaged passenger ship had been besieged by three pirate ships for two hours. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for a few pirate ships to defeat such a large ship equipped with super-standard defensive firepower. But Charlemagne Izzo, who had received comprehensive education since childhood, could tell at a glance that the three gray airships outside were just wearing the shells of pirate ships. The magic light that erupted from under the black iron deck was a dazzling golden-red. It was the light that could only be produced by the purest magic-focused crystals, which could be used to make cannons. That was a privilege that even the regular army did not necessarily enjoy.
It was a trap, or rather, a deep conspiracy had accompanied this trip from the beginning.
However, it was meaningless to think about traps and conspiracies at this time. Even the most sensitive political nerves could not stop the engine from stopping and the hull from breaking. The most important thing now was to think of a way to save the people on this ship. If they could not save them, they had to at least ensure that one of them could safely reach the Empire's borders and report what happened today to His Majesty the Emperor who had dragon blood.
"Boom!"
A flaming crystal shell penetrated the White Pearl's magic shield, which was already riddled with holes, and exploded outside the VIP cabin. The cabin wall could not withstand such an explosion and was directly smashed into pieces. The powerful shock wave rushed into the cabin, and a guard standing near the window was blown away before he could react. He lost his life in mid-air. Charlemagne activated the pendant on his chest at the critical moment, and a translucent barrier stood between him and the shock wave.
Several guards dressed as ordinary passengers, who had stayed outside the room, rushed in. Their foreheads were bleeding, and they looked like ghosts from Gorgon's Abyss. Apparently, the explosion had also affected them.
"Your Royal Highness!" One of the guards shouted nervously. The smoke and sawdust in the room prevented them from seeing Charlemagne's condition. They could only see a crumbling magic barrier flickering in the middle of the room. "Are you all right?"
A breeze blew away the smoke in the room, and Charlemagne, covered in dust, came out. "I'm fine. Where is Awenna?"
"Her Royal Highness is still in the magic control center," one of the guards shouted. The continuous gunfire outside forced him to shout at the prince to understand. "All three power columns have stopped, and Her Royal Highness is trying to restart the center, or the entire ship will lose power …"
As if in response to the guard's words, a strange whistling sound came from inside the airship again. Everyone felt their feet sway, and the entire airship tilted in a certain direction. The main support beam, which was already unable to bear the heavy load, let out a terrible crackling sound from the depths of the hull.
Charlemagne knew what had happened: the output of the magic control center had seriously declined, and its weak magic output was not even enough to keep one-third of the airship's floating engines running. After losing most of the floating engines, the ones that were still running became the fatal point that tore the entire airship apart.
Charlemagne glanced at the guards around him. These brave warriors were seasoned fighters who could fight ten ordinary soldiers under any circumstances. But on a crumbling airship, no matter how good their swordsmanship and magic were, they would not be of any use.
At the beginning of the attack, Charlemagne thought that it was just an ordinary pirate incident, so he had his sword and magic stone ready. If the pirates dared to jump on the airship and loot it, he was confident that he could kill all of them. The royal family of the Ancient Kingdom of Izzo had never relied on dining etiquette and waltzes to govern the kingdom. But what happened later was different from what he had imagined.
The pirates continued to bombard and chase the airship with firepower that exceeded that of the regular army. They had no intention of looting the airship, and this revealed a lot of information.
Charlemagne and his valiant bodyguards had lost their usefulness.
The prince gritted his teeth. "Go to each cabin and gather those who can still be saved. Women and children first. Bring them all to the dining hall. You, inform Awenna to give up on the magic control center and bring all the usable power columns to the dining hall. Tell the captain to give up the counterattack and focus the energy on the engines. Get as close to the imperial border as possible before the airship disintegrates. Once the airship disintegrates, activate the escape array under the dining hall. "
One of the guards hesitated. "But Your Highness, we are above the World Scar, far away from any magic nodes. We may be teleported directly to the Core of the World."
"But there is also a 50% chance that we will be sent to the surface safely." Charlemagne waved his hand. "Don't ask so many questions. This is an order!"
The guards nodded and turned to leave. But at this moment, a sharp-eyed guard suddenly noticed something above the clouds.
As the walls of the cabin had been completely blown away, they could see the sky outside as soon as they looked up.
"Look over there! There is another airship! It's a very strange airship! "
Charlemagne looked in the direction where the guard was pointing in amazement. He had already seen the airship. It was a large airship hundreds of meters long, about the same size as the Galo-Class battleship of the Ancient Kingdom of Izzo. It shone with a silver-white brilliance under the sun, exuding a majestic and inexplicable aura. However, it did not have magic sails or elemental trails, and the shape of the hull was a cuboid that he had never seen before. It looked like a simple palace in the sky that had fallen from the clouds.
Considering that it had neither magic sails nor elemental trails, it did not look like something that could fly. Charlemagne thought that it might have fallen from the sky.
Then, the strange airship that "fell" smashed straight into the most ferocious of the three pirate ships, and directly smashed the latter into fireworks that filled the sky.
Charlemagne's eyebrows twitched. He felt that the airship had fallen precisely.
But soon, the strange silver-white airship stopped falling, raised its bow, and slowly adjusted its course to aim at the next pirate ship.
Charlemagne blinked. "Well, it seems that it did not fall from the sky."
Of the three pirate ships, one was smashed to smithereens, while the other two were stunned. After the last volley of pyrocrystal cannonballs landed on the White Pearl, the two pirate ships fell into a strange silence. The pirates, who had always lacked discipline, were at a loss after losing their leader in such a manner.
The White Pearl was also silent because it no longer had any extra power to take action. It was the greatest miracle that the ship could remain afloat.
It was an awkward situation.
But when the Petrachelys completed the ascent and slowly adjusted its angle to aim at the next pirate ship, the awkwardness was finally broken.
The two pirate ships adjusted their course and the angle of their cannons at the same time. As fugitives, they chose the most instinctive response: kill this uninvited guest who suddenly barged in.
The ship may be large, but it did not have magic sails or elemental trajectories. It did not look like it could fly well, and it might be easy to bully. It just fell at the right angle and smashed their leader's ship.
Moreover, the fact that it had fallen from the sky was a clear indication of the problem. The ship was indeed unable to fly properly. Although it had managed to raise its altitude again, it might break down after a few hits. That would be an additional source of income.
Anyway, the White Pearl was hopeless, and the airship without power was just meat on the chopping board.
After the great pirate Kant cured his headache, the average IQ of the pirates under him was obviously not enough.
In short, dozens of bright lines of fire quickly cut through the sky and fell toward the Petrachelys.
A series of explosions erupted on the energy shield of the interstellar battleship, but the shield did not even shake.
It then adjusted its angle and crashed straight into the second pirate ship.
Incessant pyrocrystal cannons rained down on the strange 'airship', but the massive explosions did nothing to stop the massive warship. In fact, it was getting faster and faster, and by the time the second pirate ship realized something was wrong and tried to evade, the collision was already unavoidable.
A loud bang even scattered the clouds in the sky. Charlemagne and his guards watched as the pirate ship crashed into the bow of the silver-white ship and shattered into pieces. After a few bursts of fire, the once proud pirate ship was completely destroyed, and the wreckage fell into the World Scar below.
What happened next sent a chill down everyone's spine. The silver-white ship adjusted its direction again and began to accelerate toward the third pirate ship.
The bombardment of the pyrocrystal shells did not even leave a trace on the silver-white armor of the ship.
The remaining pirate ships finally realized that they were in trouble. The frightened pirates frantically adjusted their course to avoid the "barbaric monster", but it was too late. Or rather, the speed of the pirate ships was too slow in front of the strange airship. Charlemagne saw that the "silver-white airship" quickly caught up with the fleeing pirates and stubbornly chased them for a short distance before finally smashing them into pieces.
On the bridge of the Petrachelys, Nolan's holographic image clapped her hands. "It's done. Done by hand."
"Hanging a bunch of heads on the side of the ship, they must be up to no good." Vivian remembered the appearance of the three pirate ships and could not help but frown. "But then again, why did they have to crash into them?"
"What choice do I have? I can't use the cannons," Nolan spread out her hands. "Besides, I've been a pirate ship for so long, and I have never tried a collision. It's just fun."
"Are you feeling dizzy?" Hao Ren looked at the shipgirl with concern.
"I'm fine. It's just a spacecraft in the atmosphere. It's fragile." Nolan waved her hand. "My head is made of iron!"
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