The new fleet immediately sent the strongest ironclad ship back.
After all, even iron plating couldn't withstand a single direct hit.
Tests confirmed that standard magic crystal cannons were more powerful than World War II era artillery of the same caliber. Their rate of fire and accuracy were lacking, but that wasn't because the cannons themselves couldn't reach that level; it was because the old cannons imported by the Kingdom were simply too poor.
After mounting the enemy's cannons on her own ship for a test, she found their accuracy was higher than those from the Kingdom.
The most exasperating part was that, after interrogation, the opponents were confirmed to be a group of pirates.
“Ridiculous. Even pirates have better equipment than the Kingdom.”
These cannons were also relatively outdated, averaging one shot every twenty seconds, and originated from a country called Kelu.
“The Dawn Empire is to the south of our country. They have very strict weapon controls, so cannons are hard to come by.”
These pirates lived on another giant island in the sea about two thousand kilometers away. It had been discovered after the Empire began its Great Navigation era and had not yet become a full colony.
The people on the island weren't strong themselves, but the magic beasts they trained were terrifying. There were countless Tier 8 and Tier 9 creatures, and rumors of Tier 10 existences.
“Even the Empire doesn't have that many powerhouses above Tier 8,” the captain revealed truthfully.
“In other words, the strength of the people in the Empire isn't that overwhelming?” Hearing this, Xia Jin felt a sense of relief.
It felt like this Empire wasn't impossible to deal with.
“That is how it seems on the surface. However, in the last two years, a special magic development potion was researched. Even ordinary civilians can reach Tier 3 strength after drinking it. Many people who had no hope of ever breaking through have been achieving it one after another by drinking it daily. More importantly, the Empire realized that individual strength has hit a bottleneck, so they have started popularizing magic equipment to build a true magic legion. They have built magic aircraft and individual magic gear, attempting to use those to defeat the natives on the giant island.”
“Oh?”
Xia Jin was somewhat speechless upon hearing the man's words.
This Empire was truly going down the path of magic technology.
Indeed, if one relied purely on individual cultivation, the Kingdom had done quite well.
Despite how prestigious Star Rain Academy was, there were actually countless magic and warrior academies throughout the Kingdom. Education was very widespread, and many scholars were researching ways to enhance individual strength.
In fact, over five hundred years ago on this continent, a Tier 6 warrior was already considered top tier.
But with a thousand years of development and the evolution of cultivation systems, they could now produce a large number of powerhouses at Tier 7 or above. This was the benefit brought by the progress of civilization.
Of course, these were just rumors; it was hard for anyone to say for sure what things were like back then, and Xia Jin had no intention of focusing on the history of this world.
After obtaining this intelligence, Xia Jin received a map from the other side.
The map included the eastern part of Clearwillow Lake, the city states region, Kelu, and a portion of the sea. On the far side, there was an island even larger than the city states region called Haipuai Island.
This was likely the island the captain mentioned with many Tier 8 and 9 creatures.
“The people of the Empire actually believe they have the strength to conquer it. And since the pirates were able to settle there, they have likely already developed residential cities.”
This map also included a southern portion of the Dawn Empire, but unfortunately, only the border was marked. Its exact size remained unclear.
Xia Jin was certain that it was wise not to provoke the Dawn Empire for now, and she hoped the other side wouldn't come to attack her too soon. After all, no matter how fast magic technology developed, it could never compare to the Zerg.
Even with a technological explosion, could it really keep exploding indefinitely?
The speed at which the Zerg unlocked genes was far faster than a technological explosion. It had only been a little over a month since she started with a single larva.
“Let’s head to Kelu first.”
Traveling there under the guise of the Kingdom to conduct trade was a viable option. It would be best if she could import a batch of weapons from Kelu. Although it was just a glimpse of a larger picture and wouldn't reveal the Empire's true strength, it could still provide a certain level of reference value.
She didn't believe that mere pirates—and low level ones at that—could get their hands on any decent weaponry.
Thinking back to the great war with the Kingdom, they had relied on the density of hundreds of cannons to inflict heavy losses on the Swarm.
...
The fleet began sailing toward the target area.
At this time, on the West Coast, Xia Jin's projection finally saw her Swarm push the enemies back to the shore.
The shrimp soldiers and crab generals were, after all, just cannon fodder.
When it came to cannon fodder, the Swarm had never lost.
Despite the enemy having seventy or eighty thousand troops, their defensive line collapsed instantly after she casually deployed a few thousand Tier 6 zerglings and several waves of penetrating attacks from tens of thousands of locusts. These creatures were generally Tier 1 to 3, with hardly any Tier 4s among them. Faced with Tier 6 zerglings, wasn't it just a death sentence?
Not to mention that aside from the Tier 4 crabs, other creatures couldn't even break through the chitinous shells.
As for so called weak point attacks, they were trivial to the zerglings.
When the enemies were pushed into the sea, Xia Jin gave them no further chances, immediately ordering ten thousand locusts to dive in after them.
As soon as they entered the water, they sprayed weak toxins.
Banelings also fired off some shots to increase the toxin concentration.
Suddenly, many Tier 1 and Tier 2 shrimp and crab soldiers with poor poison resistance couldn't hold on.
They either died or fled. For a time, countless corpses floated to the surface.
Rate on N.U.
