Chapter 65 Declare War

Bai Xue left.

Rikoer now stood on the deck, with Gru behind her.

She was gazing at the transparent barrier ahead, her eyes unfocused, clearly deep in thought.

She was considering how she should interact with Gu Ning in the future—especially after this incident, where she had concealed the identity of an ally and caused a rift between them.

Her expression changed—hesitation, fear, resolve—finally transforming into determination.

She wanted to take a gamble. And she believed it was one worth taking.

But all that would have to wait until after this battle!

Gu Ning returned to the deck. Windsor approached immediately, anxiously scanning him up and down. When she saw he wasn't injured, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Seeing Windsor so worried warmed Gu Ning's heart.

It felt good to be cared for—really good.

"I'm fine. Get ready—we're likely about to engage in battle soon," Gu Ning instructed calmly.

He then walked casually toward the bow, his gaze locked on the barrier ahead.

Windsor stood beside him, while Huohuo and Xia Rui perched on his shoulders.

Time passed.

The transparent barrier began to ripple and gradually thinned, until it vanished completely.

Gu Ning's eyes sharpened.

The enemy fleet—ships from the Demon Domain—began to move. Their hulls were black with red patterns, lined up in rows, emanating an oppressive aura.

As they drew closer, Gu Ning could even hear the distant shouts.

At the same time, the Spirit Domain leaders began shouting too, their voices echoing like thunder.

Rikoer led the charge. Her ship surged forward.

Gu Ning and Bai Xue followed closely behind.

The entire Spirit Domain fleet began to move—ten thousand ships advancing in unison.

On the ocean's surface, a black-and-red line and a white-and-blue line rapidly approached each other.

An arrow was fired.

Two volleys of arrows flew across the sea.

Magic of all colors collided.

Long lines of warships crashed together.

Gu Ning had layered on multiple shields: Light Shield, Flame Shield, Golden Shield, and his own personal shield—four layers of defense in total.

Windsor, Huohuo, and Xia Rui were similarly protected.

In chaotic warfare, there was no such thing as being too cautious.

Gu Ning cast Water Arrow—one shot, one kill—taking out an enemy soldier aboard a wooden ship.

Windsor's Light Arrow, Huohuo's Fireball, Xia Rui's Piercing Arrow, and volleys of arrows from civilian archers rained down together.

The ship opposite Gu Ning was overwhelmed by their sheer destructive force.

Its enemy leader was killed by Windsor in the opening exchange.

As the enemy fell, Gu Ning heard a notification from the Heavenly Mother.

But he had no time to pay attention—he quickly chose the "destroy" option.

The wooden ship burst into white light and vanished without a trace, leaving only a few corpses floating on the water.

Gu Ning then turned to attack the next ship.

Almost every enemy vessel fell shortly after being targeted by Gu Ning and his team.

Gradually, more and more people began to take notice of them.

In fact, Gu Ning's ship had caught some attention from the start—after all, it was the only tower ship in the entire battle. But most people had been too focused on their own fights to worry about it.

Now, however, his overwhelming display was impossible to ignore.

Watching Gu Ning rampage through the fleet, a white man with brown hair and blue eyes aboard a Level-6 Demon Domain wooden ship scowled.

His name was Kaiginel.

Frowning, he knew his side's losses were mounting. While they hadn't directly affected him yet, as one of the top newcomers in the Demon Domain, he understood what this meant: excessive losses now would weaken the Domain's future strength—and that would affect his future when establishing his own territory.

After all, your environment and resources ultimately determine how far you can go.

"Target that tower ship!" he ordered, pointing.

"Yes, my lord," came the reply.

The wooden ship began turning toward Gu Ning's direction.

Kaiginel had, of course, noticed that Gu Ning's ship was higher-level than his. But he wasn't too worried—having a better ship didn't necessarily mean stronger power.

He believed he could handle Gu Ning's group. Besides, he had a trump card.

After Gu Ning destroyed another ship, he noticed Kaiginel's vessel approaching.

Despite the opponent only having a Level-6 wooden ship, Gu Ning didn't take it lightly.

Level-6 ships were likely top-tier among Demon Domain players—perhaps even flagship-level. Who knew what rare tricks they might carry? He couldn't afford to be careless.

"Xiao Lan, sneak over and attack from beneath their ship!" Gu Ning ordered.

Xiao Lan, the massive sea beast, was almost the same size as the enemy ship. A surprise assault could definitely cause major damage.

Xiao Lan dove and began swimming stealthily toward the target.

Kaiginel, unaware of Xiao Lan's existence, handed a small object to a short, gaunt man beside him.

Then he gave instructions: "When the time comes, strike at their leader—make sure it's a one-hit kill. Understand?"

"Rest assured, my lord. I won't miss."

This was Kaiginel's hero—Moka, an Infiltration Hunter specialized in assassination.

Kaiginel nodded. He had full confidence in this hero.

Watching Moka fade into invisibility, and knowing he still had a short-range flight item at the ready, Kaiginel looked toward Gu Ning's ship and smiled coldly.

Gu Ning, of course, knew none of this.

But not far away, Bai Xue had seen Moka vanish.

Watching their ship advance toward Gu Ning, Bai Xue instantly understood Kaiginel's plan.

She immediately started sailing in Gu Ning's direction to warn him.

By this point, Gu Ning and Kaiginel's ships were already close.

Huohuo noticed first and immediately launched a Fireball toward Kaiginel.

But the attack was blocked by another of Kaiginel's heroes.

This hero, named Stoneplate, belonged to the Rockkin race and had extremely high defense. Wielding a massive silver shield, he blocked the Fireball head-on.

Gu Ning's eyes lit up slightly. Unless this Rockkin hero was of legendary rank, there was no way he could tank that attack without moving.

But Gu Ning figured it wasn't the hero's rank—it must've been the shield's power.

Even so, the hero himself must be no weakling.

Gu Ning's gaze shifted thoughtfully. His own team was full of offensive power, but lacked someone with high defense. If he could somehow recruit this Rockkin, he'd fill that gap.

No one had ever succeeded in recruiting an enemy hero before—but maybe it was possible.

It was worth a try.

Gu Ning gave an order: "As long as your safety isn't compromised, try not to kill that one."

Windsor and the others didn't understand his intentions, but that didn't stop them from following his command.