Chapter 1128: Confrontation
“No, it’s my fleet, it’s about to be destroyed!” At this moment, Delano no longer seemed as arrogant as when he was facing the outsiders just now. He was just like a child who had had his candy s.n.a.t.c.hed away from him.
As an elite who had been highly respected in the Gilded Kingdom ever since he was a child, he had really never been mistreated this way before. Even the king of the Gilded Kingdom had to show him some respect. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given him the authority to command the Fifth Fleet. Hence, when he saw Delano’s behavior, High Priest Poer was a little surprised, and could not think of anything that could make his son so aggrieved.
“What exactly happened? Explain properly, what are you crying for!?” High Priest Poer frowned. Although his tone was stern, his gaze was full of concern.
“Father, it’s those people from the Breezy Plains. A few days ago, I chanced upon their ship being attacked by pirates when I was out on patrol with my fleet, and so I helped them drive the pirates away. However, during a routine inspection, they refused to cooperate, and the captain of that ship, the president of the Tower of Dusk who is named Felic, even tried to chase us away.”
Delano changed some facts with ease, and he mainly wanted to himself look as innocent as possible. Others who knew Delano definitely wouldn’t believe him. After all, they were very clear about what he was like.
However, although Poer was Delano’s father, and he should understand his son well, the issue was that what he knew about his son was just the side that Delano had been showing him. Since Poer had his son at an older age, he naturally thought well of his precious son.
Seeing that his father did not seem to doubt what he said, Delano gradually stopped feeling fearful, and he continued, “Later on, Forcus arrived, and said that the people of the Breezy Plains are guests who have been invited by His Majesty. Hence, on his account, I decided not to bother with those people. However, at that time I was a little suspicious about their refusal because if they had nothing to hide, why were they so vehement about declining the inspection?
“So, after their ship entered the port, I sent my subordinates to keep an eye on their ship. Two days ago, I received a report from my subordinates that a suspicious person who was most likely to be the fugitive with a bounty that we were searching for was found on their ship. I led my subordinates over, and I initially wanted to negotiate with them to get them to hand over the fugitive or let us onto the ship and arrest him personally.
“However, they vehemently refused to let us go in and arrest the fugitive, and even wanted to resist forcefully. I had no choice but to have them brought under control, and I soon got to search the ship, and finally caught the fugitive. In order to investigate the fugitive’s relationship with them, I took over their ship temporarily. However, when I was about to speak to President Felic, the owner of the ship, regarding this matter, he didn’t want to hear my explanation at all. He simply released a monster which went to the port to try and take their ship back.
“Later on, the people of the other forces from the Breezy Plains heard about it, and all ran to the port and claimed that they wanted to show the Gilded Kingdom how powerful they were. Now, my fleet has been defeated by them, and it seems that they’re going to be beaten up soon. Father, that’s why I came to you and asked you to do me justice!”
The highest level of lying was to mix in some truths with one’s lies. Delano was obviously an expert at lying. Although he had only made some changes in the details to cover up for his mistake, he managed to make himself and his people seem like they were right. Besides, High Priest Poer didn’t believe that his son would do anything outrageous. Hence, he naturally believed him without any doubts.
Hence, after hearing what his son said, High Priest Poer flew into a rage, and hollered, “Outrageous, we treated them with courtesy, and they thought that we were really scared of them!”
“Father, please save my subordinates!” Seeing this, Delano immediately begged his father, pretending to be miserable.
“Hmph, I will see what gives them the guts to create trouble here in the Gilded Kingdom!” High Priest Poer humphed coldly, and then reached out to grab his son Delano before flying straight out the door towards Helena Port.
At this moment, only the flagship and four or five giant alchemical battleships of the Fifth Fleet remained on the surface of Helena Port’s harbor. The iron ships had long been sunk into the sea or blown to pieces. As for the remaining giant alchemical battleships, their hulls were also wrecked, and it was as if they would fall apart at any time.
It was a completely one-sided battle, and although there were also a few Legendary powerhouses among the Fifth Fleet, their manpower and strength were worlds apart from the Breezy Plains’ side’s. Even without the addition of these people from the Breezy Plains, the strength of the Lord Devourer Garl alone would be enough to destroy the entire Fifth Fleet.
At this point, the people of the Fifth Fleet were desperate and hopeless. All they could do was watch their battleships get destroyed and their peers die or weep on the surface of the sea. Besides, they could not even escape, and it was impossible to leave the port too. If they left the fleet, death would await them.
The weapons that they had used on the battleships to shoot at the people of the Breezy Plains were gone in vain, but those Legendary powerhouses of the Breezy Plains were not the default targets—sea beasts were. The ships’ cannons which were invincible at sea could not even strike the Legendary powerhouses that were like insignificant mosquitoes. Although there was a great target in the sky, they had completely given up from the beginning of the incessant bombardment because regardless of what they did and how powerful their weapons were, they were merely feeding that monster.
However, just when the people of the Fifth Fleet were already desperate to surrender, an extremely ma.s.sive pressure came from the sky, as if the entire sky had sunk and the air in the s.p.a.ce had frozen. Immediately afterwards, two figures that seemed familiar to the crowd appeared in the sky. One was Delano, the commander of the Fifth Fleet, while the other was the respectable High Priest Poer of the kingdom.
As soon as High Priest Poer appeared on the battlefield, he immediately released the ma.s.sive pressure of a Sanctuary powerhouse, instantly making everyone on the battlefield stop subconsciously. There wasn’t even a single ripple on the sea, as if time had stopped.
The ones who were the most affected were naturally the Legendary powerhouses of the Breezy Plains. Although they could easily abuse the Fifth Fleet, they were just like ants in the face of Sanctuary powerhouses. Even Cardson who was a pseudo-Sanctuary powerhouse did not have any intention to resist Poer, let alone the others.
If they were in the Well of the Sun, the Lord Devourer Garl might still be able to fight against High Priest Poer, a Sanctuary powerhouse. However, its body that had been nurtured for thousands of years and devoured countless demons and treasures from the Well of the Sun had long been destroyed by Lin Li.
Its current body wasn’t weak. Unfortunately, it had only been nurtured for a short period of time, and it wasn’t strong enough to contend with a true Sanctuary powerhouse like Poer yet.
Looking at the scene on the sea, Delano felt an urge to cry out loud. His fleet had not been completely destroyed, but it would be difficult to repair it. The casualties of the naval troops were fine, but the loss of the giant alchemical battleships could not be made up for easily. Each giant alchemical battleship cost a bomb, and it would probably take the Gilded Kingdom decades to recoup the losses.
High Priest Poer’s expression was even worse at this juncture. Although he had heard about the situation from his son, the scene in front of him was still beyond his expectations. The most powerful fleet of the Gilded Kingdom was almost wiped out by the people from the Breezy Plains in the port. It was just like a slap in their faces.
As a Sanctuary powerhouse and a high priest, Poer had to care about his and the Gilded Kingdom’s pride even if he ignored the death of the warriors or the huge loss of the fleet. If that matter wasn’t handled properly, he and the Gilded Kingdom would become a laughingstock.
Hence, after shocking everyone with a huge pressure, High Priest Poer immediately raised the staff in his hand, and a Domain World immediately engulfed the s.p.a.ce. Next, countless magic runes emerged from the s.p.a.ce like dazzling silver sand, and surged towards the people of the Breezy Plains. It was actually trying to seal everyone’s power.
At this moment, Lin Li was chatting with several guests who had heard of the event in the emba.s.sy of the capital of the Gilded Kingdom. The guests were Prince Johnathan of the Felan Kingdom and Prince Jeremiah of the Ledin Kingdom, as well as Archbishop Englos of the Brilliance Shrine and High Priest Sendros of the Darkness Shrine.
The few representatives of the top forces of Anril were also alarmed by the commotion caused by those Legendary powerhouses from the Breezy Plains. They finally went to ask Lin Li about the situation. After all, a group of Legendary powerhouses was flying towards Helena Port ferociously; anyone would know that something major had happened.
Bombarded with questions, Lin Li did not hide it at all, and instead told them about everything that happened very briefly, as if he was talking about something that he wasn’t involved in. In fact, to a high-ranking Sanctuary powerhouse like him, it was indeed not that big of a deal.
“Master Felic, should we also put pressure on the Gilded Kingdom through some diplomatic means, and urge them to release The Star as well as the crew as soon as possible?” Prince Jonathan took the initiative to express his willingness to help Lin Li with this matter. He couldn’t imagine the seriousness of the situation at Helena Port now, so he wanted to take the chance to show Lin Li his goodwill.
“Yes, Master Felic, the Ledin Kingdom can also interact with the Gilded Kingdom on your behalf. I believe that with our intervention, the Gilded Kingdom will have to compromise with us even if they’re stubborn.” With the same thoughts in mind as Johnathan, Prince Johnathan followed suit and expressed his willingness to help. The experience in the Sky Castle had made him completely convinced of Lin Li’s abilities. Hence, he wasn’t out to make a fool out of himself at this time, and was instead just trying to repair their relationship.
However, deep down, Prince Johnathan and Jeremiah were actually secretly glad about the situation. Considering the interests of the Ledin Kingdom and Felan Kingdom, they were not willing to see the Gilded Kingdom getting too close to the forces of the Breezy Plains.
The Felan Kingdom was still the sovereign of the territory of the Breezy Plains, even though the latter was almost always autonomous. It was acceptable for the Gilded Kingdom to do business with the Breezy Plains, but if the Gilded Kingdom really expanded into the Breezy Plains, it would be akin to invading the Felan Kingdom.
However, the Felan Kingdom had almost no control over the Breezy Plains, so it was impossible to stop the Gilded Kingdom from doing anything in the Breezy Plains. If they wanted to drive the Gilded Kingdom back to the sea, the Felan Kingdom could only pin their hopes on the Tower of Dusk and the forces of the Breezy Plains.
On the other hand, the Ledin Kingdom also wished that the Gilded Kingdom wouldn’t gain a footing in the Breezy Plains, as the previous two nations had been able to live together peacefully for so many years largely because of the fact that the Breezy Plains had been autonomous. Be it the army of the Ledin Kingdom or the Felan Kingdom, they could not easily step into the Breezy Plains.
Hence, the last thing that the two nations wanted was for the forces of the Breezy Plains to get too close to the Gilded Kingdom. The Tower of Dusk’s att.i.tude was the most important here, so Jonathan and Jeremiah put in all their efforts to express their goodwill to Lin Li in a bid to make the latter stand on their side.
While Jonathan and Jeremiah were expressing their goodwill to Lin Li, Englos and Sendros were seated at the side and smiling silently. They had interacted with Lin Li often, and were well aware that he was not the type to let himself suffer any losses. Given his status as a Sanctuary powerhouse, the Gilded Kingdom would probably have to succ.u.mb.
However, at this moment, there was a playful smile on Lin Li’s face as he said to the few of them, “After I hit the son, the father is indeed here. I’m sorry, everyone, it seems I have to excuse myself for a while.”