Chapter 286

Chapter 286: Wind King Cruiser

With an experimental attitude, Midi placed his hand on the unmanned aircraft.

As the golden-red glow around him strengthened, the frost on the drone’s surface rapidly faded. Soon, the disc-shaped craft broke free from its restraints.

The unmanned aircraft immediately buzzed to life, its sensors reactivating with an ominous crimson glow that swept the surroundings like a predator’s searching gaze.

But Emil quickly moved in.

While Midi held the drone steady with both hands, the alchemist deftly attached a massive mechanical arm to her hand. Channeling her magic, she spread the arm’s mechanical fingers and pressed them against the aircraft.

Thin, razor-sharp blades shot from the mechanical arm, peeling open a section of the drone’s hull. Through this gap, Emil’s glowing eyes studied the magic array’s patterns and energy flow inside. She fired a precise burst of magic from her free hand, striking the internal array.

The drone emitted a clear hum as its sensors shifted from red to soothing green.

"What did you do?" Wiseman leaned in curiously.

"Disabled its IFF system." Emil wiped her damp forehead, adding uncertainly, "Probably succeeded."

Hearing "probably," Midi and Avril exchanged knowing smiles. For adventurers, theories meant nothing – only testing revealed truth.

The four Vanguard ships formed a square formation, dragging the netted drone around the silver warship. When they reached the vessel’s underbelly, the drone’s green sensors narrowed from fan-shape to thin beam, connecting with the warship’s hull.

The green beam stirred the ancient warship from its ten-thousand-year slumber. A deep metallic roar shook its eighty-meter frame as steel locks disengaged. White steam hissed from the flank, veiling the area in fog until a massive door groaned open before Midi.

"Avril…" Midi turned to the dark elf assassin.

"I’ll keep half outside." Avril anticipated his request. With only two veteran adventurers present, splitting the team prevented total annihilation if disaster struck – basic leadership protocol.

Though longing to explore with Midi, Avril knew better than to cling like needy girl. To impress such a man required demonstrating competence.

Her lips curved in a confident smile. *I’ll guard your back properly.*

"If the door seals or communications fail…" Midi warned.

"Understood." Avril’s expression turned serious. She glanced at her sister. "Watch over Emil."

"I swear it." Midi landed lightly on the warship.

If the "white swan" warship appeared majestic outside, its interior dwarfed modern intelligent races with sheer scale. Reinhardt remarked it could host royal balls without crowding.

As Midi advanced, celestial inscriptions revealed its nature – a sky warship bearing heavenly script, utterly devoid of Demon Realm taint.

Yet the true mystery lay in its complete absence of crew.

Most of the room doors stood open—dormitories, dining hall, hangar packed with unmanned aircraft, emptied arsenal and materials storage, even the lavish captain’s quarters and the massive bridge at the front…

Not a soul remained.

The clues were everywhere: scattered sea charts, spilled ink bottles, chaotic footprints, discarded high-quality weapons, and empty spaces where lifeboats should have been. One conclusion became clear—

The crew had abandoned ship in desperate haste.

Midi’s group spent hours searching the semicircular bridge, but all equipment lay dead. No amount of tinkering brought any response. The captain’s seat yielded no logbook, leaving them without leads.

Their only discovery was a plaque detailing the warship:

Length: 84.63 meters

Wingspan: 105.70 meters

Class: Cruiser

Name: Wind King

Cross-referencing ancient texts from the Sea of Clouds and the People of the Heavens’ terminology, Midi realized this was their faction’s flagship in the Dusk Graveyard battlefield. Its majestic size and flawless design made sense now—but this historical tidbit meant little to salvagers.

The real problem was practical. The Narwhal waiting outside measured only 65 meters with inferior engines. While capable of hauling ordinary wreckage or even damaged warship husks, towing this fully intact Wind King cruiser? Impossible. They needed a recovery solution, fast.

"Night’s length breeds many dreams"—even if only Emil knew this location, Midi refused to linger near such treasure.

Three thorough bridge searches later, Emil, Reinhardt and Wiseman turned to Midi as one. A week’s training had taught these former rivals the value of a high-level adventurer. In Arad, Awakened Ones were rare; here in the Sea of Clouds, competent adventurers like Midi were the scarcity.

Midi smirked at their expectant faces. After a deliberate throat-clearing, he declared: "With the bridge inoperable, we head for the power system. The core propulsion should be mid-rear."

No objections. The group moved aft—only to hit an obstacle.

The main passageway to engineering overflowed with shelf-stacked magic crystals—an entire corridor converted into a bomb. A faulty timer had stalled the detonator for millennia. Had it worked, the keel blast would’ve snapped even this sky warship in two.

Pale-faced, they worked for hours. Midi disarmed the ancient detonator first, then the team dispersed crystals into separate chambers, defusing the crew’s parting gift.

The engine room revealed why they’d tried to scuttle their ship.

All systems—power, suspension, weapons—remained functional. Only the magic circuits lay charred and dead, like a healthy body with severed nerves. Records showed the cause: an experimental weapon called Solar Flare had unleashed energy beyond the ship’s capacity.

The result? A paralyzed flagship awaiting salvage.