Chapter 251: The Voss Family Superiority
The silver vertical eye hovering above the clouds slowly rotated.
The moment its gaze fell upon the Locke Family’s fleet, piercing alarms simultaneously sounded inside all thirteen warships.
[Warning!]
[High intensity mental domain intrusion detected.]
[Warship control cores are under external suppression.]
[Abnormalities detected within energy transmission circuits.]
[Mana cannon charging interrupted.]
[Spatial jump devices temporarily disabled.]
[Defensive formation operating efficiency is continuously declining.]
Every mana cannon that had been on standby went dark at the same time.
Three escort warships that had been adjusting their positions suddenly lost power. Their massive hulls plummeted dozens of meters before their backup energy systems activated, barely allowing them to regain stability.
The expressions of the Locke Family members changed simultaneously.
The man in dark gold armor spun around.
"What happened to the control cores?"
The elderly man responsible for controlling the warship formation pressed both hands firmly against the control console, veins bulging across his forehead.
"The mental domain is severing the connection between us and the warships! The main energy circuits have been completely locked!"
"If we forcefully activate the weapon systems, the magic may flow backward inside the hulls. The cores of all three capital warships could even explode!"
The expression of the man in dark gold armor finally turned completely grim.
The Locke Family possessed thirteen warships.
The Voss Family had only three.
But the warships of the two sides were not on the same level at all.
The Voss Family had not even truly opened fire. Merely releasing their mental domain had been enough to suppress the entire Locke Family fleet.
This was the foundation possessed by a family whose influence had extended into the Third Layer.
The rules of the First Layer could restrict player levels, but they could not erase the technology and inheritances controlled by families from the higher layers. They certainly could not forcibly transform a weapon of war enhanced with Third Layer technology into an ordinary First Layer warship.
The armored old man slowly lowered his hand.
However, the enormous vertical eye in the sky did not close.
"The Voss Family did not come here to wage war against you. However, if the Locke Family insists on keeping its cannons aimed at our warships, I will regard that action as a formal declaration of war against the Voss Family. Can you make that decision on behalf of the entire Locke Family?"
The man in dark gold armor did not answer.
He was the chief overseer of the Locke Family’s First Layer branch and had the authority to decide most of the branch’s actions.
However, he was not qualified to declare war on behalf of the entire Locke Family against a force that had already established a firm foothold on the Third Layer.
Once the two sides truly went to war, the conflict would never remain confined to the First Layer.
The Locke Family’s newly established forces on the Second Layer would immediately suffer a comprehensive assault from the Voss Family.
Their trade routes, resource channels, allied forces, and the foothold they had struggled so hard to establish could all be destroyed within an extremely short period.
This was no longer a contest between thirteen warships and three warships.
It was a collision between the entire foundations of two families.
And in that collision, the Locke Family was clearly at an absolute disadvantage.
The man in dark gold armor took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his anger.
"All warships, deactivate your weapon systems."
The order was transmitted. One after another, the cannon ports on the Locke Family’s warships closed.
Only after the final mana cannon had gone completely dark did the silver vertical eye in the sky slightly restrain its power.
However, it still did not disappear.
The old man clearly did not fully trust the Locke Family.
The man in dark gold armor turned around once again.
"For the Voss Family to suddenly dispatch a force of this level to Myriad Beast Mountain, you cannot have come merely to retrieve Miss Nadia."
The old man did not deny it.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Did Miss Nadia perhaps mention anything about Zich Grave?"
The gazes of several Voss Family members shifted slightly.
That subtle reaction alone was enough to confirm the man’s speculation.
The Locke Family also possessed some intelligence regarding the events inside Myriad Beast Mountain.
Although they did not know exactly what had happened within the Myriad Beast Burial Ground, they already knew from the teleportation station that Zich had been one of the people who had entered the Myriad Beast mountain.
More importantly, the staff there had said there had been a brief verbal confrontation at the station between Zich and kane
Now, Kane’s life lamp had suddenly shattered. It was impossible for the Locke Family to completely ignore the possible connection between the two events.
The man in dark gold armor continued, "We will not prevent the Voss Family from carrying out any of their actions, but Zich Grave must submit to an investigation by the Locke Family. He may know the true reason behind Master Kane’s disappearance."
The old Voss Family representative looked at him calmly.
"An investigation? How do you intend to investigate him?"
The man in dark gold armor did not answer directly.
However, the appearance of several mental type players aboard the Locke Family’s rear warships had already made it clear that this so called investigation would involve far more than ordinary questioning.
The elder’s gaze gradually turned cold.
"Nadia’s report described the events very clearly. Kane Locke lost to Zich during the competition for the third beast altar, but he was still alive. Before Zich entered the Myriad Beast Burial Ground, Kane had already been transported out of the final region by another spatial force."
"If you want to know where Kane was sent, get a token, enter the mountain yourself, and find the answers. Do not abduct a player who has no relationship with your family and forcibly search his memories."
The man in dark gold armor said solemnly, "Miss Nadia was also unable to confirm what happened to Young Master Kane afterward."
"Then you may ask Zich. Whether he is willing to answer is his decision. And if the Locke Family insists on taking him away?"
The silver vertical eye in the sky suddenly contracted.
Boom!
An even more terrifying mental pressure instantly enveloped all thirteen warships.
The energy circuits that had only just partially recovered went dark once again.
The eight Silver Eye Guards simultaneously stepped forward.
Their silver armor erupted with light. Eight streams of power rapidly connected, and an enormous silver phantom holding a greatsword slowly took shape behind the Voss Family’s warships.
The sword had not even fallen, yet the defensive barrier around the Locke Family’s foremost capital warship was already trembling violently.
Cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the golden barrier.
For the first time, the calm expression disappeared from the man in dark gold armor’s face.
"Go ahead and try it."
Every member of the Locke Family simultaneously felt the undisguised killing intent behind those words