"Splash!" Xiaobai plunged into the sea like a flying fish, landing a kilometer ahead of the fleet. Under the sunlight, the spray of water re
"Splash!" Xiaobai plunged into the sea like a flying fish, landing a kilometer ahead of the fleet.
Under the sunlight, the spray of water reflected dazzling brilliance.
"Quick, cast the nets!"
Even without the captain's command, the first mate immediately shouted to the sailors.
After the Braavos incident, the allied fleet had practiced many drills against diving dragons.
This time, the sailors did not panic. They quickly cut the ropes, and the fishing nets tied along the ship's sides tumbled into the sea with a "crash."
It was as if the sea vessels were suddenly dressed in knee-length fishing-net skirts.
More sailors stood at the railings, holding stacks of nets, their eyes wide as they fixed their gaze on the rippling surface.
"Watch out! The demon dragon is attacking!"
From the port side midship, a lookout suddenly bellowed at the top of his lungs. At the same time, he cast his fishing net toward a dark shadow.
On such a clear morning, the sailors aboard could actually see Xiaobai swimming beneath the waves.
After all, dragonfire could only penetrate seven to eight meters underwater.
In the days of the First and Second World Wars, there had even been lookouts trained to spot torpedoes with the naked eye.
And if torpedoes could be seen a few meters below the surface, then Xiaobai's massive body, swimming five or six meters beneath, was certainly visible too.
"Rip—"
The sharp blades on Xiaobai's wings scraped violently against the nets, as though he were tearing apart a piece of cloth with brute force.
In her dual-dragon spirit state, Dany knew that while Xiaobai could easily tear through the nets, strands still clung tightly around his neck and chest, even including some steel wires.
His movements became slightly sluggish.
"Swish, swish, swish—"
From the ship's sides, the ballistae and crossbowmen unleashed volleys toward the shadow.
But once the arrows hit the water, they instantly lost much of their force. No matter how sharp, they could not pierce Xiaobai's scales without power behind them.
"Boom!"
Breaking through two layers of nets, Xiaobai surged under the flagship's hull. He rolled onto his back and unleashed a torrent of dragonfire. The seawater boiled, and the planks beneath the vessel crumbled like brittle biscuits.
"Boom, boom, boom—" Under the scorching sword-like dragonfire, the flagship split in two.
Shards of wood flew, sailors screamed, smoke billowed, and waves surged.
"Swish, swish, swish—"
Even as the flagship burned apart, the other three warships in the diamond formation did not falter. Without hesitation, they hurled more nets into the sea.
Soon, layer upon layer of nets ensnared Xiaobai.
How awkward!
"Dive deeper, I'll help you," Dany urged him.
Meanwhile, six wyverns broke off, soaring over the three remaining ships and diving to drop grape-shot bombs filled with fire oil.
Because the ships had to slow almost to a halt to entangle Xiaobai, they could not maneuver.
"Boom—boom—boom—"
Fiery clusters of orange-red flame, belching black smoke, erupted on the decks, the bridges, the ballistae, and even across the sailors themselves.
"Skraaa—"
Wrapped in tatters of nets like a beggar covered in ten filthy rags, Xiaobai leapt out of the sea a kilometer away, staggering.
"Uh-oh… looks like Danchenzi's wing-sword tactic failed."
"Boom—" The great black dragon spewed flames, and under Dany's fine control, they spread into a pale red cloud of fire, engulfing Xiaobai.
"Crackle, crackle!" The nets clinging to him burned away at once.
"Skraaa!" Freed at last, Xiaobai raised his head and roared. His cry carried both exhilaration and fury.
—I will burn them all.
In dragon-spirit communion, Xiaobai sent the thought to Dany.
"Wait for the next fool to step forward," she soothed him, then merged once again with the great black dragon into the "Sacred Dragon."
Circling once over the burning ships, she roared down at the fleet below: "This is the fate of those who defy the true dragons!"
"Your fleet commander is dead. Surrender at once!"
"Ooooh—"
From a ship called the Sea Wolf, a horn sounded again. Flags signaled: Hold steady, do not panic. The Sea Wolf is the new flagship!
Crew members shouted as well: "Wyverns cannot breathe fire! Once their fire-bombs are gone, they're harmless!"
Dany's expression stiffened.
Sensing his mother's mood, Xiaobai prepared to attack.
"Wait!" Dany urgently stopped him, her tone grave.
The Sea Wolf was neither the lead ship nor the rear.
Beyond the diamond formation of three ships around it, there were multiple smaller diamond formations, combined into one large diamond.
In other words, if Xiaobai dove, he would not just face nets from four ships. The overlapping formations—over a dozen vessels—would all bring their weapons to bear on the new flagship's defense.
It was a trap.
Or rather, a tactic the allied fleet had planned all along.
"To eat a flatbread, you must nibble it from the edges," Dany sneered.
Xiaobai dove again, but this time his target was not the Sea Wolf—it was the ship at the very edge of the front line.
And this time, no wyverns dropped fire-bombs.
Xiaobai tore through two or three layers of nets, burned the vessel to ashes, and quickly retreated, bursting from the sea so Dany could clear the nets from him again.
Then, he struck the weakened diamond formation, biting off its second corner.
This time, fewer nets clung to him.
But Xiaobai had no chance to burn the remaining two ships.
From the moment he plunged into the sea, to the time he returned to Dany and burned off the nets, each exchange cost a full quarter-hour.
It was enough to allow the remaining two ships to move closer to another diamond-shaped formation.
So, Little White had no choice but to search for the next target.
"Boom—crash—"
Bursts of fire lit up the sky as ships broke apart in dragonfire, either sinking into the sea or turning into torches drifting on the waves.
It was as if someone had tossed a dozen cigarette butts onto a fine tablecloth embroidered with tulip garlands.
"Woooo—"
From ten in the morning until two-thirty in the afternoon, after more than four hours and the loss of fifteen ships, the horns once again sounded from the new flagship Sea Wolf.
"Form ranks!"
The remaining eighty-five ships did not abandon their four-ship diamond formations. Instead, they closed the smaller diamonds together, linking them into a grid.
Where the formations had once been scattered, they were now packed tightly like a net. Whenever Little White attacked a ship on the edge, he faced the counterfire of at least five or six vessels.
This formation was effective defensively, but it greatly reduced speed, leaving the fleet nearly suspended on the sea.
Dany gave a cold smile. Big Black, Little Green, Little Gold, and three other wyverns dropped their grape-shot bombs all at once.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
Another ten ships caught fire. Three were consumed by roaring flames beyond rescue, while the rest belched black smoke and suffered massive collapses across their decks.
On one ship, the mast was burned clean through, cutting off any chance of returning to New Ghis.
"What do we do now?"
Fleet Commander Aerios, hiding on an ordinary warship, stared with bloodshot eyes at the black dragon in the sky. His heart was full of hesitation and fear.
Never had he imagined that a single white dragon could drive the Allies' most elite First Fleet into such a dead end.
The fishing-net tactic was indeed effective against "snatching dragons" that lurked at sea. Dragon-slaying crossbows prevented the beasts in the sky from diving freely to breathe fire. And moving ships at sea had a fair chance of dodging fire-oil bombs raining down from above.
By reason, with defenses on both sea and sky, the fleet should not have been in danger.
Yet the three types of defense could not be organically combined into one system.
To avoid fire-oil bombs, the ships had to accelerate. But acceleration meant they could not form tight formations. Without compact ranks, the dragon-slaying crossbows—slow to reload and hard to maneuver—lost much of their power.
If a ship sailed without the cover of others, the dragon could even fix its sights on the deck-mounted crossbows, dodging bolts like Neo evading bullets.
But remaining still on the sea to form dense ranks was no solution either. Aerios was certain that the Dragon Queen's fleet was closing in rapidly.
With fire-oil bombs transported by the fleet, the six wyverns could rain grape-shot down at will.
If they engaged in boarding combat with the Dragon Queen's fleet, their sailors would be locked in knife fights while the enemy's dragons could slip beneath the waves unhindered and burn ships at their leisure.
"Ah, if only another fleet were lying in ambush beyond the dragons' sight right now!" Aerios lamented bitterly.
In fact, the Allies had foreseen this predicament.
They had even proposed a solution: two fleets would sail parallel, fifty kilometers apart.
If Fleet A was targeted by the Dragon Queen, it would immediately send a raven to Fleet B. Fleet A would hold the line while Fleet B either drove between Fleet A and the Dragon Queen's fleet or launched an ambush.
While Fleet A held the dragons at bay, Fleet B would engage the Queen's navy in open battle. The First Fleet's retreat from Tolos had been for this very plan.
When the Dragon Queen struck at New Ghis harbor, the First Fleet, waiting offshore, would fall upon her ships.
Even if the dragons could not be killed, they would seize control of the sea. The Allies had overwhelming strength, and even losses at a ratio of two to one or three to one would still be considered victory.
Even at ten to one, the Allies could endure.
But now...
Because Tolos had fallen, the Allies naturally believed: "As expected, we've been tricked again. The Dragon Queen feigned one direction, drew out the First Fleet, and easily seized Tolos, left without naval power."
Thus spoke War God Yuankai.
So the First Fleet, hidden west of Grief Bay, abandoned the ambush plan and sailed back to New Ghis.
And as a result, they met the Dragon Queen right on their doorstep.
New Ghis, inside a conference room converted from a civilian house.
The Allied leaders sat around a round table, passing a letter among them.
After reading, some hung their heads in despair, some flushed red with anger, some looked pale with fear, and some gnashed their teeth.
It was a letter from the First Fleet.
At the first sight of the dragons, Commander Aerios had immediately dispatched a raven to New Ghis.
For a long moment, War God Yuankai spoke in a weary tone. "I have said many times, do not play tricks with the Dragon Queen. Building solid defenses and fighting straightforward battles is the true way."
At this point, even the most radical of them—Prince Trigg of the Lyseni Trade—was half-convinced by the War God.
Looking at him with reverence, he asked, "What do we do now? Should we send reinforcements to the First Fleet?"
Before Grazdan could answer, Zaro shouted first: "Three hundred kilometers! How do you expect us to rescue them?"
As commander of the Third Fleet, Zaro cared even more than the cavalry commander Grazdan. If reinforcements were to be sent, he would likely be the one forced to face the Mother of Dragons head-on.
Grazdan thought aloud: "Tell Aerios to act according to the situation. If he encounters Daenerys's fleet before nightfall, engage and fight a chaotic battle. Don't worry about losses—just try to inflict damage.
If by dusk the enemy fleet hasn't appeared, then break formation, use the cover of night, and do everything possible to break through to New Ghis!"
At that, the War God gave a low, grim laugh.
"Heh heh heh. In truth, this is also an opportunity. The Dragon Queen's fleet has traveled more than a thousand kilometers. Surely she hasn't come just for the First Fleet?"
"You mean, she plans to strike New Ghis as well? Should we retreat then? Without the First Fleet, I fear we cannot hold the harbor!" the representative from Elephant Isle exclaimed in terror.
"No. We must teach the Dragon Queen a bloody lesson, make her understand that one cannot be too greedy."
The War God smiled with confidence.
(End of Chapter)
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