Illustrious slightly opened her right hand, and a slender silver sword manifested in her palm. The silver sword was inlaid with seven gemstones: silver, blue, red, purple, green, gold, and black—each a different color. Then, she gripped it tightly and raised it into the air, the blade erupting with a blinding light.
Three hundred meters high in the sky, countless silver lightning bolts condensed, and a massive silver rock immediately formed. Finally, it shattered bit by bit, and a hundred-meter-long silver sword slowly revealed itself.
The body of the silver sword and the seven gemstones upon it emitted a brilliant light. That piercing radiance was like a sun in the sky, making it impossible to look at directly.
Illustrious's clothing also followed suit, erupting with silver light. Wrapped in the radiance, her original white off-the-shoulder dress was decomposed by holy light from top to bottom and gradually transformed into a white, form-fitting, high-slit cheongsam. Deep blue gradient hair ornaments were tied to the hair at her temples, and white lace garter stockings wrapped around her elegantly curved long legs.
A thumb-sized silver energy ball erupted from the tip of the silver sword, hovering twenty meters in the air. As Illustrious continuously added energy to it, the silver energy ball grew larger and larger, until finally, it turned into a silver energy ball that was a full three zhang wide.
The power contained within the silver energy ball was somewhat terrifying. Just by staying in mid-air, the energy it emitted caused the Space to vibrate slightly.
Illustrious's expression was solemn as she gave a low shout and slashed fiercely at the incoming fire energy ball.
"Great Radiant Silver Emperor!"
The massive silver energy ball tore through the sky. Under everyone's Gaze, it collided with the flaming red energy ball. In an instant, a thunderous roar erupted from the point of impact, and a terrifying energy shockwave exploded outward. The originally calm sea suddenly churned with waves, and the immense pressure forced the two ships anchored on the surface to retreat continuously.
When the terrifying energy shockwave spread to Hood's and Illustrious's main body ships, energy shields were automatically triggered to protect the hulls from damage. However, because the force within the shockwave was so terrifying, even with the protection of the energy shields, a small portion of the shockwave still seeped through.
This small portion of the energy shockwave was not too strong. Even for Gold-Plated Ship Girls, being caught in it would only push them back a certain distance. Therefore, Azuma, Shokaku, and Zuikaku were not greatly affected.
As for Lin Zhentian's Son, he was perfectly fine because he had hidden behind Hood beforehand, so this small portion of the shockwave was entirely absorbed by Hood.
But Chen Xiaoqiang was miserable. He was hit directly by this small portion of the shockwave, taking the full force of it. It caused him to fly backward three meters from where he stood. Finally, with a thud, he slammed onto the ground. This fall left him seeing stars, his face turning pale, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Ow! Why am I so unlucky! I should have known better than to follow along." Chen Xiaoqiang slowly crawled up, rubbing his buttocks. He looked toward Illustrious and was stunned by what he saw. It looked as if she had undergone a transformation—not just in terms of her clothes, but her temperament.
If she had been like a harmless little lamb before the transformation, then at this moment, Illustrious was like a ferocious tiger.
"Admiral, what happened to you! And why do I feel like you've become stronger, so strong that I can't even probe your depth?" Azuma said in shock as she looked at Illustrious.
"I'll explain to you later. I'm going to go meet that Hood." After Illustrious finished speaking, she stepped through the air and flew into the sky, distancing herself from Azuma and the others so they wouldn't be caught in the upcoming battle.
"Admiral, wait..." Before Azuma could finish, she saw Illustrious fly away.
"Stay here; I'll be back in a moment." After watching Illustrious fly into the air and saying this to the Son of Lin Zhentian, six purple wings of light sprouted from Hood's back, and she flew toward Illustrious.
"Alright, good luck, Hood! Remember to catch them all for me! Especially that Illustrious, hehe!" The Son of Lin Zhentian waved at Hood in the sky and chuckled wickedly.
"A Ruler! And the strongest Ruler, the Silver King. I see, no wonder she's so fearless. But isn't it only humans who can become Rulers? How can she, a Ship Girl, become a Ruler?" Zuikaku murmured, gazing at the giant silver sword floating above Illustrious's head.
"What's a Ruler? Can you tell me about it?" Seeing that Zuikaku seemed to know, Azuma asked her.
"Um, I want to know too. Tell me about it." Chen Xiaoqiang said, raising his hand.
Zuikaku, being a Ship Girl who had wandered far and wide, certainly knew more than the newly born Azuma. She coughed, cleared her throat, and said, "When it comes to Rulers, we have to talk about the eisnor great diamond that humans excavated five hundred years ago from the Ancient Island of Kex, a gold-rank Azure Island. This mysterious great diamond is enormous, about two cubic meters in size, and was codenamed Daybreak."
"After it was transported back to the Pacific Governors Mansion and placed in the Governor-Generals Mansion's underground research lab, Governor Lilith went to see it. She established a connection with the great diamond and successfully condensed a Gold Core within her consciousness, becoming a Ruler—the King of Gold."
"Every Ruler gains immortality upon their ascension. The King of Gold's authority is Solid Rock. The strength of every Ruler is on par with a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl. After becoming a Ruler, Lilith learned the secrets of this mysterious great diamond from the information it transmitted."
"It turns out this mysterious great diamond is called Eisnor. It is a physical manifestation formed by the prayers of all humanity since the dawn of man; that manifestation is the eisnor great diamond."
"The duty of the eisnor great diamond is to select seven Rulers for humanity, so they may lead mankind to victory over the Abyss."
"As if by a chain reaction, five more Rulers were born within a year, but the Silver King never appeared. All the Rulers were very concerned with the Silver King, because the Silver King is the strongest among all Rulers."
"Although the silver sword is initially not as powerful as the other Rulers due to three layers of seals, it will absolutely become the strongest existence among them once those seals are released. Because of this, the leaders of every faction want to recruit such a person to their side."
"The Silver King is like the favored son of the eisnor great diamond. The Silver King possesses the authorities of all Rulers—meaning their own authority plus those of the others. And their innate authority is the one the other Rulers fear most: Space."
"Space! That's a very troublesome and annoying authority. After all, no one wants to fight someone who flashes around in the air while launching powerful attacks."
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