Chapter 43: Chaos, Section 3

Fused Ships!?
Black Hair’s mouth slightly opened—he was truly astonished this time. If earlier he had only been pretending to cooperate with the Emperor, now he was genuinely shocked. He had just witnessed the energy absorption capabilities of those dark small warships, and soon they delivered another surprise to Black Hair.
Black Hair surely understood very well what fused ships meant. It was just like Miss Wei Li’s Swan Warship—classic example of a fused ship design. Three small ships combined into one large warship, with effects far beyond simple addition. Moreover, after fusion, both firepower and armor would see dramatic improvements. It was an ideal ship design.
However, such ships required extremely advanced technology and often suffered from unstable joints, so they were never mainstream in ship design. Even Miss Wei Li’s Swan Warship, despite being a successful design, was merely a simple stack of three willow-leaf shaped hulls. Apart from its relatively sturdy joints, it fell short of the ideal standards for fused ships.
But the dark small warships before Black Hair now were clearly no ordinary vessels. Not to mention their terrifying energy absorption capabilities, even their fusion method was entirely different from anything he had seen before.
As they charged at high speed, their armor plates seemed to come alive, forming fish-scale-like ripples. Beneath their dark, cold luster were pulsating streams of pure white energy. Ten ships grouped together, tightly fused together with no gaps at all. Once fully combined, they formed enormous prismatic hulls. Their armor was as smooth as a mirror, appearing like perfectly polished black crystal from afar!!
What kind of technology was this!?
In an instant, Black Hair was utterly speechless. If this was the true power of Emperor Moore, what could humanity’s forces possibly stand against? Ships like these were likely the most terrifying forces in the universe.
Looking at the starry sky beyond the barrier, those guarding around them could no longer be called small warships—they were all giant black crystals. Their mirror-smooth hulls and sharp edges highlighted their eerie nature. Tens of thousands of ships were reduced to just a few thousand in the blink of an eye, yet their overall strength had skyrocketed.

Just as all the ships completed their merger, combat with the Rebel fleet officially began.
The Black Crystal Giants also had a very unique way of attacking. These creatures, exuding a psychedelic aura, had no obvious gun turrets on their surfaces, so they couldn’t fire dense barrages like Imperial giants. But that didn’t mean they lacked long-range attack capabilities. On the contrary, their long-range attacks were just as astonishing as their appearance.
Amidst the intense gunfire, red light orbs appeared simultaneously at the edges of the tails of the leading Black Crystal Giants. At first, they were only the size of a fingernail, but in an instant they turned into red rings that seemed alive, spreading from the tail and sliding rapidly along the ships’ mirror-like hulls toward the front edges. The areas they passed through instantly changed from pitch black to a somewhat transparent gray. In a flash, these rings covered the entire ship, converging at the sharp bow before erupting violently!
“Hiss…” The deep rumble of the energy explosion still echoed in Black Hair’s ears. The attack of the Black Crystal Giants was now visible to everyone. In an instant, it was like a suddenly blooming firework—countless fiery rays burst forth from their bows, tracing graceful arcs across the starry sky as if alive, rushing toward the Rebel fleet from all directions!
Seeing this, Black Hair’s expression changed drastically.
Was this even considered a ray attack?
After all, according to the universal physical laws of the universe, rays should always be straight with no room for deviation. This applied equally to human ships and Moor giant ships—there were no exceptions. The difference lay only in the amount of energy contained and the form of the attack. Generally, the more powerful the ship, the thicker its rays and the greater the destructive energy they carried. For example, when a Moor giant ship fired its main cannon, it could produce massive energy columns hundreds or even thousands of meters in diameter, enough to erase hundreds of kilometers of terrain in a single attack.
Yet even so, the Moor giant ships’ rays remained straight. All aiming had to be completed before firing, and once the main cannon fired, the trajectory of the rays was fixed—no one could change it.

But the colossal black crystal warships before him shattered this common sense. The fiery red rays before his black hair could actually trace curved paths. Even mid-launch, these rays could easily change their trajectory and automatically seek their targets!! How was this possible?? For a moment, the man with black hair thought he was dreaming. But the scenes behind him reminded him that this was no dream—it was a terrifying reality. He had roughly estimated that a single black crystal warship could emit over 300 rays. And now, there were not just hundreds attacking? In an instant, the entire starry sky seemed filled with fiery red rays. These swirling rays resembled countless dancing sprites, rushing toward their targets from all directions. In no time, the rebel fleet across from them was enveloped in layers of bright red light. “Boom, boom, boom…” Intense explosions rang out one after another. Even from behind the battlefield, the man with black hair could feel the violent shaking of the floor beneath his feet. The outer starry sky had completely turned red. Even the barriers of the Emperor’s Garden had been dyed red. Huge fireballs exploded one after another in the distance. Visibly, more than thirty imperial warships had already been split in two by the flames!! Was this… the result of just one attack? Gazing quietly at the battlefield beyond the barriers, the man with black hair suddenly felt his hands and feet turn icy cold. Warships were not small ships; in a sense, from the moment they were created, they already possessed facilities comparable to those of a city. In space, battles between warships often took a long time. It was easy to damage a warship, but destroying it was difficult. After all, given their enormous size, even severe damage would only affect parts of it. Truly killing it was no easy task. A Moor warship the size of a planet would still take time to explode and disintegrate, right? Yet here, more than thirty of the once invincible imperial warships had been destroyed in the first wave of attacks. Looking at those broken hulls split in two and continuously emitting flames, the man with black hair suddenly remembered the Emperor’s proud words earlier. Absolute power!! These black crystal warships were absolute power!! The air was somewhat oppressive. The Emperor’s Garden was breezy, with dense clusters of plants swaying in the dim light, making a rustling sound. The man with black hair slowly turned away, sighing. His voice sounded hoarse. “Absolute power. Is this also what Duke Deathdust has always feared?”

“Hmm. They have been lurking in the Empire for years just to obtain this power. But sadly, even though they have become leaders, they would never imagine that such power could never exist within the Empire’s structure—their efforts were completely pointless.” The Emperor smiled faintly, his voice carrying a hint of melancholy.
“As smart as you are, you must have already figured out what’s special about these warships.”
“Mm.” The black-haired man nodded. “They were created specifically for rebellion. Every aspect of their design is aimed at countering the Empire’s military forces.”
“That’s right. One ‘leech’ ship can entangle a giant warship, and ten of them won’t be at a disadvantage even against an entire fleet. Their existence is the foundation of the Empire. With them, the Empire will never fall.” The Emperor replied calmly, walking back to the pavilion to pour himself a glass of red wine.
“In your eyes, I am the Emperor of the Empire and the ruler of this universe. Wherever the Moor Empire’s fleet goes, it is considered Empire territory. Year after year, conquests make the Empire larger and stronger. But who can know the enormous crises hidden within?”
Taking a gentle sip of red wine, the Emperor smirked at the starry sky outside.
“As you can see, if I didn’t have my own sources of information, the Moor Empire would have lost its Emperor by now. And such things could happen every day.”
“Yes. But this is a reality that every emperor must accept. You are no exception.” The black-haired man frowned, not understanding the meaning behind the Emperor’s sudden words. That tone seemed rather weak, didn’t it?
But the Emperor’s next words nearly made the black-haired man jump.
“I know. Every emperor faces such troubles. But equally, every emperor has someone to handle these troubles for them. I used to have someone too. But today, he no longer meets the requirements. So, the Empire’s new rising star, the lucky Lord Beck, can you take on this responsibility for me?”
What? The black-haired man’s heart clenched suddenly, his eyes flashing with cold light.
What did the Emperor mean by that?
The garden pavilion remained silent. It seemed the Emperor wasn’t aware of the black-haired man’s tension as he continued speaking on his own.
“You’ve seen those ships outside. I know you’re an expert fleet commander. How about this: if you’re willing to relieve my troubles, I’ll share some of this power with you. What do you think?”
“Ding!” A crack appeared in the wine glass in the black-haired man’s hand.