I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

The atmosphere was a bit awkward for a moment.

Before Han Zhan on the Garuda could say anything, the second warship had already come forward, lining up beside the first one and stopping right in front of the Garuda.

"Paying respects to Your Majesty!"

"Lord Beifang, a hundred years have passed, you really didn’t die!"

"Lord Beifang not only didn’t die, you even changed to a warship with more presence!"

"As expected, only a warship this overwhelming can be worthy of Lord Beifang’s status!"

Flattering words rang out from all the warships, adding a faint taste of rainbow farts to the otherwise epic scene of a thousand sails racing.

So the Northern King’s faction’s corporate culture is like this... Thinking of that, Han Zhan looked down at Jian Beifang from above.

It wasn’t that he deliberately wanted to look down on them; it was just the natural height difference between the Garuda and the Gray Sparrow.

In front of the Garuda, the Gray Sparrow beside it lived up to its name, like a little gray sparrow.

On the sea, all kinds of flowery flattery were still going.

They were too excited. A hundred years, a full hundred years—who knew what those hundred years had been like for them?

If no one came out to stop them, they could probably keep buttering him up for a whole day.

At this moment, the Gray Sparrow slowly sailed out from an inconspicuous little corner on the side.

Jian Beifang was standing at the bow, his face dark as iron.

Everyone: "..."

This... was really awkward.

Worshiping the wrong temple, and doing it right in front of the actual god—was there anything more toe-curlingly embarrassing?

Suddenly, the warship at the very front turned its bow, and from the ship came another round of respectful, sycophantic voices:

"Lord Beifang, please forgive your subordinate’s poor eyesight."

"We never expected Lord Beifang to be so true to himself—despite taming such a colossal beast, you still remain devoted to the Gray Sparrow."

"Isn’t this spirit of not abandoning, not giving up, exactly why we follow you!"

That little round of ass-kissing was textbook-level, like they were prepping for grad school... Han Zhan clicked his tongue in amazement, thinking.

The guy on that ship was clearly a master of reading the room and going with the wind.

Sure enough, of all things you can poke holes in, flattery is bulletproof; Jian Beifang’s expression did ease up a bit under the praise.

He waved his hand magnanimously.

"It’s fine, you just mistook the ship, not a big deal."

"I’m not the petty type."

Just as everyone heaved a sigh of relief, they heard Jian Beifang’s calm voice again:

"Head back the way you came, then redo the entrance from the start, and I’ll forgive you."

"..."

Back to business.

The reason these Northern King’s Old Forces arrived slower than expected was that they’d met some resistance when trying to leave.

The resistance mostly came from the East King and West King’s factions; the South King’s side had no movement at all, and none of their old forces had made it here.

"But that also means they can use these fleets’ movements to pinpoint this place."

"Given how insidious and vicious they are, there’s a good chance they’ll take this opportunity to launch a nasty sneak attack."

Just as Jian Beifang’s voice fell, dense black dots once again appeared on the sea in the distance!

This time, there were even more dots.

If before it could still be called a thousand sails racing, now it was definitely ten thousand ships surging.

On these warships, the banners of the East King and West King were raised high, surrounding them from almost every direction.

They really came!

The East King and West King weren’t idiots. Why would Jian Beifang’s old forces still be alive? Sparing them was exactly to wait for a day like this.

From a single Cloud-Piercing Arrow, to the old forces gathering, then to wiping them all out in one go.

This plan had been set in motion long ago.

Not only that, during this hundred years they’d grown and expanded in the Central Sea Area, their power now far more terrifying than back then.

Tens of thousands of warships appearing in this sea at once made Jian Beifang’s mere thousand-plus ships look totally insignificant.

"Lord Beifang... what... what do we do next?"

A subordinate swallowed and asked.

He hadn’t expected Jian Beifang’s answer to shock him even more.

"What do we do? Lie flat."

Jian Beifang’s words stunned everyone.

Lie flat? As in, you’re telling us not to resist?

So in the end, the former Northern King—the rebellious one who chose to defy the heavens—still had to bow his head to the tyranny of the other three Kings?

Just as they were thinking this,

Jian Beifang really did lie down on the deck, just as he’d said.

At the same time, his hands glowed a pale cyan.

Wind Element gathered above this stretch of sea.

And then the next second, everyone heard a buzzing "whum" by their ears.

As if something had flashed past them in an instant.

What was that?

By the time they processed it and looked ahead again, they finally realized what had disappeared.

—It was that impossibly gigantic sea fortress, the Garuda!

The Garuda’s seventh Talent, Divine Bird: when Wind Element exists in the current sea area, sailing speed is increased by 1000%!

So, on the raging, surging sea, a platinum-white bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky!

"Ah Zhan, how are we fighting this?"

On the Garuda, the Contracted Spirit Girls were already itching to go.

This felt like finally getting a pro to power level your account to full level with complete endgame gear, and now you’re headed to the Newbie Village to stomp noobs.

As a Sea Tyrant Overlord Level unit, the Garuda facing these warships only had one outcome: total crush.

"However you want."

"Anything you can break by ramming, don’t waste shells on—save the Special Shells."

"They can’t break the Garuda’s Defense anyway, and even if they do some damage, it’ll just regenerate."

"Go all out."

"Open a Musou mode first to calm the nerves!"

Though she didn’t really understand what this "Musou" was that Han Zhan mentioned, his tone and movements already said it all.

Gongyang Jin nodded, then steadied herself and put her whole heart into piloting and navigation.

The Unparalleled Cannon Princesses were ready as well, and in the blink of an eye the Garuda appeared before the East King and West King’s fleets.

Like a tiger into a flock of sheep.

Boom!

One of the Empire’s Dawn cannons, with the magic patterns on its barrel fully charged, let out a thunderous roar.

Across the whole sea, a straight trajectory line appeared; even the seawater below was briefly split apart!

The ships along that line of fire didn’t even have time to realize what was happening before they were wiped out into powder.

Immediately after, that platinum lightning didn’t stop for even a moment, slamming straight into another cluster of warships and brutally grinding the unprepared ships into scrap.

Seeing this, Jian Beifang’s old forces all gaped in shock, their expressions identical to Jian Beifang’s when he first saw the Garuda.

"My lord, th-this... what is going on..." a subordinate stammered.

Jian Beifang’s lips curled as he let out a soft laugh.

"This is the rising Eastern dawn, shattering the darkness!"