Waves came surging in, sweeping away countless stones and grains of sand along the shore.
And swallowed by the sea along with them was the sea-beast Arataki Itto had gone to such lengths to hunt down.
Watching the Mora he'd just gotten his hands on vanish into thin air, Arataki Itto let out a wail that split his heart and lungs.
"Where'd that wave come from?! Where'd that wave come from?!"
Just then, one of his underlings pointed at the sea far off in the distance, his whole face frozen in a daze.
"B-boss… look, quick… what is that—"
"Hm?"
Arataki Itto followed the direction his underling was pointing and looked over. On the sea's surface, which had been utterly empty before, more than a dozen enormous iron ships had somehow appeared out of nowhere!
It was absolutely staggering!
After all, these ships had materialized from thin air!
Even Kuki Shinobu was stunned. "What huge ships! I heard that a while back a giant vessel from Liyue docked at Ritou. Could these ships be from Liyue too?!"
"Who cares where they came from!"
Arataki Itto shouldered his club and planted his hands on his hips. "It's gotta be these ships pulling some trick, sweeping away all our sea-beasts!"
"Come on, let's go have it out with 'em! This great lord's gonna get to the bottom of this!"
With that, Arataki Itto went charging off toward the ships all on his own.
"Boss!"
Kuki Shinobu was speechless. She was terrified Arataki Itto would go stir up trouble, but the rest of the Arataki Gang's underlings were still here, and she couldn't just leave.
Pulled in two directions at once, she felt a wave of chaos wash over her.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Ye Xi used the [Abyss Core] and, in one go, built ten warships.
The Forbidden Knowledge he'd absorbed from the Dendro Dragonlord Apep two days earlier, along with the Forbidden Knowledge sealed beneath the Nail of Judgment, had all been converted by him into Abyssal power.
Right now he was in a [fully charged] state, and building these ships cost him no effort at all.
Yae Miko had witnessed this kind of method back in Liyue, so she stayed relatively calm inside — only surprised that this time Ye Xi had conjured up so many cruisers in a single burst.
She'd assumed that, however formidable Ye Xi was, he could only manage to build one such ship!
Kamisato Ayato and Kokomi, standing to one side, were dumbfounded.
They gazed at the giant vessels that had appeared out of nowhere on the sea, both of them slack-jawed with astonishment.
"This… this is… what's going on?!"
Both of their minds were flooded with shock.
All they'd seen was Ye Xi suddenly summon a huge, irregular black mass, and that thing had released a black light.
The next moment, things that hadn't existed before simply appeared!
It was utterly inconceivable!
Kokomi's thoughts ground to a halt for a moment, then snapped back all at once.
Though she had no idea how Ye Xi had done it, these giant ships defied all reason!
Wooden ships weren't heavy on the water, so they could float — but how on earth could iron ships like these?
And the crucial thing was, the sheer size of these ships was preposterous!
Set against these colossal vessels, the ships of her own Watatsumi Island naval squadron were like a watermelon looking up at a mango.
What's more, these ships didn't even have a single sail. So how were they supposed to move at all?
"Come, let's head down."
Ye Xi looked at the fleet he'd forged, and a faint thrill stirred within him.
These dozen-odd ships had formed straight into a triangular fleet formation!
It was a truly magnificent sight!
Yae Miko hesitated a little, but on second thought, with over a hundred Ruin Guards stationed in the city, no trouble would break out.
So everyone spread open their Wind Gliders and flew down from the cliff onto the lead ship.
By this time, Kujou Sara had already brought the island's naval forces to the shore.
A mighty, sprawling host — their numbers were vast.
Seeing the giant ships drifting on the water, these Shogunate troops were all taken aback.
A while back they'd all seen Beidou's ship, so of course they recognized these now!
"Aren't these The Crux Fleet's ships?! Why are there so many?!"
"Good heavens — one, two, three… ten in all! Are they off to attack some nation?!"
"This fleet — it's an absolute overlord of the seas!"
Ten cruisers — in these waters they were an utterly invincible force.
Something stirred in Kujou Sara's mind.
She'd never imagined Ye Xi would build so many!
[Author's Note: …begging for flowers…]
Thanks to a tengu's eyesight, she spotted Ye Xi's figure at a single glance.
So she gave the order: "Everyone, split into ten squads and board the ships in turn — wait for my command!"
With that, her jet-black wings unfurled, and she flew toward the lead ship on the water.
The Shogunate troops who received the order were stunned.
"Huh? We're boarding the ships?!"
"These are ours?"
Startled and doubtful as they were, the Hatamoto immediately organized and arranged the men, and boarding began.
To be able to sail out and fight in ships like these — now that gave them a real sense of security!
Kujou Sara landed on the ship and came to Ye Xi's side. "Master Ye Xi, I've brought the men. They're boarding now. What do we do next?"
"Mm."
Ye Xi nodded. "Find a few sharp-witted veterans and teach them the techniques for operating the ships."
"I've installed plenty of cannons on the ships, driven by elemental power."
"We're heading to the front line to wipe out the sea-beasts!"
On several of Inazuma's islands, there were those cannons powered by Electro Elemental Power.
As long as you fed them elemental power, they could be driven.
He'd modeled his design on those cannons and mounted a good many of them on the cruisers.
And it wasn't only Electro Elemental Power — other elemental powers could drive them too.
As long as someone with an Eye of God worked the controls, they could unleash unimaginable destructive force.
As for operation — cruisers this advanced naturally weren't easy to learn to pilot.
But if it was only turning and moving forward, an experienced sailor could just barely manage it!
As for the other functions, they could develop those slowly once they had the time later.
Once Kujou Sara had learned the simple operations, she flew from ship to ship, organizing the squads that would pilot the fleet.
Just then, Kamisato Ayato and Kokomi were still aboard, peering this way and that, full of wonder.
It was their first time on a ship like this, and the astonishment in their hearts was beyond words.
Kokomi was filled with envy.
If only Watatsumi Island had ships like these too — how much more secure they would feel!
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