Chapter 435: Suspension

Alliance Wing Fleet, armed merchant ship Black Ant.

In the captain's quarters, the owner of the Black Ant, Dre, squinted through the porthole at the destroyer 'First Dawn' sailing nine hundred meters away. At this moment, behind the bulwark of his ship, not only were all his best men gathered—nearly twenty outlaws—but also three other shipowners, totaling over sixty people.

They had all boarded recently, either under the pretext of gambling and card games or by swimming underwater under cover of night, and every one of them was fully armed with loaded weapons.

They were only waiting for the agreed time to strike immediately.

"They've been vigilant all along, with no slack in their defenses. Our chances of capturing this destroyer are very slim. At best, we can only pin them down and prevent them from loading cruise missiles."

As the agreed nine o'clock drew nearer, Dre's guard captain couldn't help but voice his opinion: "But this situation doesn't feel right, boss. Are you sure you made the agreement with them?"

"Why do you say that?"

Dre asked, puzzled: "Is there something unusual?"

"The Crella and the Koop have just pulled back, too far from the First Dawn. Attacking from there would be very disadvantageous."

The guard captain frowned deeply: "To me, it looks more like they're avoiding suspicion, actively disengaging."

Dre couldn't help but exchange glances with the other three shipowners present, then his face turned livid as he cursed: "Shit! Tell the men below, unless Candela and Bren's people make a move first, we don't fire a shot! Are they trying to put us in front to take the bullets for them?"

But just then, a man in a black magic robe and glasses hurried into the cabin.

Dre recognized him—Dread, the magic advisor for another shipowner, Nate, a fifteenth-level mana mage. He whispered a few words in Nate's ear, and the latter, initially startled, turned pale, his lips purple, and stood up from his seat.

"Gentlemen, it's late. I'll go back to sleep now. Today's card game was great, and I had a lot of fun. I advise you all to get some sleep too—"

Then Mr. Nate pushed open the door and hurriedly left, followed by his large group of subordinates outside, quickly descending the gangway. They needed to return to their cargo ship via the communication boat parked below.

Dre was stunned by this, but then his eyes narrowed, and he ordered his men: "Find a way to check what's going on. Has something happened?"

Just as he finished speaking, another shipowner across from him, looking dazed, took an earpiece from his left ear: "Dre, I think we'd better just go to bed. Those guys are doing something stupid, utterly stupid. And me too, I'm an idiot for actually agreeing. Tonight was a mistake!"

The man staggered away, leaving the few people in the captain's room staring at each other.

By now, even an idiot could guess that something unfavorable had happened to them.

And Dre learned the situation only moments later. Just three seconds after, his assistant, who had left not long ago, hurriedly pushed open the door.

"Boss, I bought information from Mage Dread for five hundred thousand gold shields. Something happened with the Battle Axe Pirate Fleet. Before he came to inform Mr. Nate, eight legends had already been sniped! Our fleet leader likely has a high-ranking legend with divine authority, or even a demigod-level sniper!"

In the next instant, the remaining few in the room lost all color from their faces.

Dre felt as if struck by lightning, then unconsciously bit through the pipe in his mouth: "My god! Shit! That lucky bastard Andre, is he serious?"

...

At Li Mochen's sniper position, the pseudo 'Dragon's Might' had already fired its twenty-seventh shot.

During this time, Li Mochen had changed the magazine once. With the help of the high-tech 'speed loader' provided by the great alchemists of Light Magic Industries, reloading the pseudo Dragon's Might was very fast, only slightly slower than a box magazine.

By now, not only had the thirteen legends all died by his gun, but also several quasi-legendary experts from the Battle Axe Fleet had not survived.

During this period, only the legendary fourth-level shield warrior Garcia and a legendary second-level mana swordsman gave Li Mochen some trouble, requiring an extra bullet each.

The former possessed a holy-level shield with extremely strong defensive power. The legendary mana swordsman tried to escape from this space, fleeing into the dark world or the astral plane.

The holy artifact this person held was also oriented toward space. Even the 'Dimensional Lock' that Anthony had cast using his magic tower could not fully restrain him.

Dimensional Lock—a spatial confinement spell more powerful than Dimensional Anchor, capable of preventing even demigod-level experts from easily leaving the current space. And Anthony, though only a sixteenth-level mana mage, his true strength was not inferior to that of a legend.

Yet this legendary mana swordsman still barely escaped death under Li Mochen's gun.

Now Li Mochen aimed the muzzle at the three legendary 'Chain Devils' in midair. These three devils had long sensed the situation was bad; their lantern-sized eyes blinked, filled with vigilance, bewilderment, and helplessness as they looked toward the southern sky.

Li Mochen believed that if they could escape, they would have fled long ago, or returned directly to hell. But due to some contractual restriction, they still stood there, holding the pseudo Chains of Heaven and magic chains, dazed. They neither tried to dodge nor took any action against Li Mochen.

This situation was unexpected for Li Mochen, but he still unceremoniously locked onto these three legendary fourth-level 'Chain Devils' as his next targets.

But before firing, he first sensed the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Tower'. He found that the merit energy on the tower was still about thirteen hundred strands. The consumption was less than he had anticipated; perhaps he had even gained merit during the process, as a lot of merit had been returned. He just hadn't noticed because he was fully focused.

If the rumors were true, then these legends mixed in the pirate fleets of the Antoria Continent were all stained with sin, none of them good people.

"Bang!"

Li Mochen decisively pulled the trigger. As two bullets fired from thirty-five kilometers away successively shattered the heart and magic core of one Chain Devil, the seven-colored spiritual light on the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Tower' instantly consumed another hundred strands! The hellish devil's flesh and blood and magic source were all absorbed by the six-pointed star array on the deck of the 'Aglaia'.

These three Chain Devils didn't cost Li Mochen much time. But after he had shattered their projections one by one, Roberta Yvonne completely lost control. As the magic chains and Chains of Heaven detached, the 'meatball' inside began to extend countless tendrils in all directions, and thousands of wind blades started to coalesce around it.

But what burst out first was her 'Divine Might'. The vast spiritual pressure swept across the sea again, knocking out all sailors on every ship. Only those outlaws above level fifteen could barely stay conscious, clinging to life.