Cyberzaun, Machinarium

Chapter 151: Prepare to Fire

The ship, which had been silent for a long time, finally moved. The circular shield flickered slightly, followed by a loud bang. Before Hecarim could react, a large part of the cavalry behind him was cleared out, and huge waves were stirred up on the sea. The sea water spread in all directions and hit the side of Behemoth, causing a burst of waves.

"Why is the splash so small?" Jinx asked puzzledly while fiddling with the telescope. When she knew that the artillery was about to open fire and needed to clear the deck, she excitedly left the helicopter on standby and rushed to the captain's room, which was the most suitable observation deck for her.

Enoch said nothing, and Miss Fortune didn't react. Enoch was simply curious. The high-explosive bomb shouldn't make such a small noise. Could it be that it was hard to see clearly at night? Miss Fortune simply thought the person who asked this question was an idiot. How could she complain that the splash was small?

"Report to the first mate, the main gun is using armor-piercing shells, we replaced the wrong ammunition"

You guys are really geniuses. Fortunately, I am not driving an aircraft carrier. Enoch complained a few words in his heart. The effect of firing positive kinetic energy ammunition was not good. There was no need to worry about such things. Just fire the recruited gunners afterwards.

Without radar or sonar, Enoch knew from the side that physical attacks were useless. Some of the undead dispersed and gathered again like mist. It didn't take long before the cavalry were ready for battle again.

"I say, should we just stay here and waste time? I don't want to see these dead people. How about we talk to the other side and just stay here and let him go to Bilgewater?" Miss Fortune made an uncertain suggestion.

Now the group of people visible to the naked eye were running wildly outside, bumping into the shield from time to time. At first she was worried that the barrier would break, but when the people behind reported that the shield had been recharged and repaired to 97%, she was not worried at all, and even felt pity for these dead people who usually avoided her.

It was so pathetic that the little girl even started calculating the different angles of each impact.

"Boring, so boring. Are we just going to stay here and do nothing? I might as well go to sleep." Jinx sat on the observation deck with her hands on the mast of the guardrail. She yawned, and her legs swung restlessly. It had been almost half an hour, and there had been no movement on her side. Little Finger wouldn't let her fly the plane out for a ride. She was so bored.

"It's almost there," Enoch sighed, and finally covered the girl's shoulders with his suit. "The turret has been preheated, and the drone reported that another energy source is approaching. I'm going to wait and see what happens."

………………

Hecarim now felt sick. It was hard to imagine that a crazy undead could have such rich emotions.

He was like a rat being roasted on a fire, unable to chew the turtle shell, yet unwilling to give up. After all, he was the fastest one. But what if he turned around and attacked Bilgewater now, following Thresh and Karthus to check the remaining souls?

He is the leader of the Iron Corps. How could he just follow behind others? He is the real pioneer.

But he didn't have time to worry about it. A familiar and irritable laugh came from behind him, and Thresh came over, dragging his long chain and holding the cage that he was reluctant to let go.

"It looks like you've run into some trouble." The hoarse voice was like two pieces of frosted glass rubbing against each other. The shaking lantern created ripples that made the soul tremble, and slowly floated to the side of the tall centaur monster.

"It seems that there are times when our cavalry can't charge. Maybe you can hand over your men to me for a while, and I will help you train them well." Thresh smiled cunningly and with ill intent, and from time to time he would stuff the soul that almost escaped from the lantern back again.

This was his favorite game, watching these crying little fellows self-righteously escape from their cages one after another, not knowing that it was just a prank played by the warden when he was in a good mood. What could be more interesting than hope turning into wails?

"Shut up, damn it, you should just go back to that shabby house of yours. I am the great leader of the Iron Order, how dare you laugh at me?" Hecarim stomped his hooves impatiently, splashing green will-o'-the-wisp fire.

"Really? But I only saw a barking wild dog." Thresh was not ready to give in. Normally, they all disliked each other, but because the Soul-haunting Night was too short, they put aside their fights and hunted together. But this did not mean that Thresh would not add insult to injury. This is something everyone would do, from the deepest emotions in their hearts, second only to torturing these unfortunate souls.

"In that case, it's my turn to perform." The hook in his hand swung in a circle gracefully and threw it towards the distant ship. Thresh was still muttering to himself, "Whose soul should we capture? This sweet and tragic tone, I will teach these unscrupulous sailors that flesh and blood are just a prison. When they see me, they should tremble like fish."

The chain had an infinite look in his eyes, but the hook could not break through the invisible barrier. Hecarim was very happy for a rare moment. Seeing this pretentious guy suffer a setback made him happier than catching dozens or hundreds of souls himself.

"The wild dog is barking, showing off the poor stray hair on its tail." Thresh was not embarrassed at all. He took back the thrown chain as usual and mocked the idiot around him.

………………

"Looks like all our friends are here, right?" Jinx stood up impatiently when she heard the bell to clear the deck. She had been waiting for a long time, and Enoch finally responded.

Enoch nodded and handed the screen to Jinx. "Yes, the drone detected that most of the energy was heading towards Bilgewater. There are only two energy gathering points near us, and some weaker reactions. It's time to act."

After adjusting his collar, Enoch gave a simple order, "Notify the maintenance personnel, set the shelling parameters to the front of the target point, and the entire ship is in a defensive posture. All units should pay attention to the interference effect between the barrier and the turret."

“Ready to fire”

The second turret on the front deck gradually lit up with blue light. Unlike the solid gun barrels on the other two turrets, this turret was more like two thick chimneys. As the blue light gradually filled inside, two beams of light rushed out from the short and thick gun barrels, passing through the barrier like a stone passing through water waves. The two beams of light collided with each other in front of the piles of undead. Suddenly, a dazzling light lit up, and rolled around with brilliant colors.

In an instant, all sounds around disappeared. After a few short seconds, the surging waves began to violently surge, splashing huge waves.

Chapter 152: A Night of Soul-Erosion

The high temperature and high pressure brought by live ammunition weapons caused limited damage to these dead men, because the armor damage caused by the impact was completely repaired after rolling a few times in the green smoke. Maybe there was indeed some consumption, but these undeads didn't care. With the help of the black fog that permeated the Shadow Isles, these were not a problem at all.

Even though both sides were helpless against each other, these undead souls still wailed and shouted anxiously at the ship. This was their instinct, and they were happy to share their feelings with the living.

But when the dazzling light shone into the group of undead and a huge flash of light burst out, these dead people felt the warmth they had not felt for a long time, and then a wave of hot energy swept over, like a high-speed rotating burning blade, crushing and tearing all these people into pieces, and finally turning into indescribable smoke, which slowly receded with the black fog.

"Report the situation." Enoch looked at the green smoke rising from the shield like strange tentacles. The smoke seemed to have a real entity, slowly sliding down the azure shield wall, leaving traces that refused to leave, but were unwillingly dragged back to the place they visited as the black fog shrank.

"The radar reflects that the two high-energy reaction points have disappeared, the overall energy has stabilized, and the energy group is shrinking." When the good news came, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, even if this group of people could not break through this shell, screaming outside all the time would still test people's psychological endurance.

"You killed them?" Sarah was a little bit surprised. This bedtime horror story that accompanied her childhood just disappeared like that? It took just a few seconds? No matter how she understood it, it felt unreal.

Gently shaking his head, Enoch happily looked at the surprised expression on the woman's face: "To be precise, it should be repelled... These souls are all born from the curse of the Shadow Isles. Pure brute force will not be very effective. Moreover, my main gun also simulates the energy characteristics of the holy stone weapons obtained from Demacia. It should be no problem to burn some little ghosts, but I have reservations about those two high-energy bodies. Such an intelligent character should not be stupid enough to go head-on with the main gun."

"Good news, bad news." Jinx jumped out and shook two files in her hand. "Which one do you want to hear first?"

"To put me in a good mood, here's some bad news first." Enoch reached out to hug Jinx, but the girl turned around and ran away nimbly.

The girl hummed twice with a smile. "Well, the bad news is that in order to maintain the barrier, charge the main guns, and withstand the aftermath of the explosion that was too close, three of our power reactors overheated, which is... commonly known as "explosion"? It doesn't matter what you call it. We only have 9 power reactors left to be used normally before they need to be repaired. The chief engineer suggested that we take it easy next time and remember not to fire so close again."

"If you ask me, it's stupid for your own barrier to have to withstand the aftermath of your own turret's bombing."

"I know." Gently holding the girl's slender arm, Enoch reached out and forcibly held the lively little rascal in his arms. He took a deep breath in the faint chamomile scent and asked in a sullen voice, "What's the good news?"

Jinx seemed to be tickled, and she shrank her neck slightly. She turned her head and gently brushed the side of Littlefinger's face. Her sweet voice echoed in Enoch's ears, "The good news is that your little one performed very well. According to the output calculation, the strength of the protective shield used on our ship cannot withstand the full-strength bombardment of the main gun. We have a new handy knife. By the way, the shield has 47% remaining and is being repaired. Do you need to temporarily shut down the shield?"

"No, keep the shield running normally. Provide limited energy to the shield generator to speed up the repair. The night is still long."

"But this way we will have to float on the sea forever..."

"Bilgewater isn't going to run away anyway. We'll just run into these dead guys if we go to the island now. Why not take a break?"

"As you say," Jinx nodded, and told First Mate Bona on the side, "Cancel the alarm and stay alert. You heard the captain's order. By the way, notify the action team to test the equipment of the remaining undead outside. If we're lucky, we can catch a few samples."

After confirming the shield's effectiveness, everyone on the ship breathed a sigh of relief. After all, for sailors, no matter how good the data on paper is, it is not as good as facing the baptism of wind and waves. Obviously, this novel shield has received everyone's admiration.

"I'm curious about this shield. Could you tell me about it?" Miss Fortune followed Enoch back to the captain's room in a familiar manner. Facing the two people who were hugging each other and squeezed on a chair like conjoined twins, she did not feel embarrassed. She happily opened a bottle of rum and casually poured three glasses.

"For the sake of my buying you a drink?"

"You really know how to do business," Jinx laughed, staring at the lazy lady who had regained her composure, tilted her head and thought for a moment, then asked in a serious tone, "What exactly do you want?"

Miss Fortune was silent for a moment, fiddling with her charming red hair. "You know, my hair color wasn't originally like this. My hair color is a beautiful light yellow like my mother's. She was a famous gun maker. Her works were the most sought after by merchants on this sea. Whether for decoration or self-defense, they were the best products."

"Her reputation was so great that Gangplank also heard about it. He asked my mother to work for him and make weapons worthy of the Pirate King. My mother refused, and Gangplank used my family to show the consequences of refusing."

"From that night on, I wanted to kill him with my own hands all the time, watching his dirty blood flow on the garbage at the slaughter dock. The greatest pirate king deserved the most cowardly death."

"Wow," Jinx exclaimed, "You are such a bad woman... Is the gun you are talking about the one you have in your hand?"

"Yes"

"It seems your mother isn't that great, but she's good at drawing."

Miss Fortune was obviously enraged, but then she controlled her emotions and poured the remaining rum in the bottle into her mouth. Then she looked at the two men and said, "I'm done. If you can help me kill Gangplank, I will fulfill your request."

Jinx paused and replied easily, "We don't lack hostesses. You can go to your post now, Sailor Sarah."

Watching the red-haired girl slam the door shut, Jinx leaned against Enoch and said coquettishly, "Why don't you say anything? Are you sympathizing with that woman? What else does she have besides a good figure? Oh, yes... she's also stupid as hell."

"Relax, no matter what she thinks, we will face the pirates of Bilgewater tomorrow." Enoch touched the girl's forehead. "It's up to you to decide. I don't care."

Chapter 153: Bombardment of Bilgewater

The following night was exceptionally quiet, especially compared to the scene from the drone. The port of Bilgewater was shrouded in a green mist, and far away from the coastline, huge sea beasts were tumbling their gigantic tentacles in the ocean, sweeping up large numbers of undead and dragging them out of the range of the black mist. They were squeezed and crushed by the tightening tentacles and sank to the bottom of the sea.

The riot continued until the sky cleared. As the sun rose from the sea level in the distance, the black fog shrank at an extremely fast speed and returned to the Shadow Island like a drained puddle.

After confirming again and again that the surrounding waters were quiet, the shield that had been up all night slowly disappeared, allowing several slightly overheated engines to rest, and the sailors on the ship to take turns to rest. In a few hours, the ship will officially enter the waters of Bilgewater.

Perhaps this would be a better time to attack? Sea fog does hide the movement of ships, but for artillery fire that requires precision, it is better to be clear.

After waiting for a few hours for simple maintenance, the huge ship was in motion again. Without having to run the entire engine room, the ship simply sailed towards the port at a relatively low speed.

"I'm a little curious. If you want to kill Gangplank, why do you suggest that we attack the port directly? Aren't you afraid that the pirate king will die in my hands or escape?"

Enoch watched as Miss Fortune opened the bag of money she had just borrowed from him and dumped the change inside into the sea as a tithe for the ship.

"He's not that easy to kill, and all his treasures are hidden in his ship. The largest one is parked at the port. You have to blow up his ship first. Only when he can't run away will he jump out to fight you. He's just a pirate, not a knight. He will use any means to win. That's the kind of person he is."

"Very valuable advice. I will be careful with that man." The chimney behind him discharged the exhaust gas from the engine room, and the ship finally moved forward slowly. "Maybe with luck, you will get what you want in two or three hours."

When the ship was completely within the bombardment range of Bilgewater, the ship slowed down again, and the drone flew towards Bilgewater. Enoch needed the exact coordinates and the current situation of the city.

It was obvious that a large number of pirates had returned to their base, and the tavern was crowded again, celebrating that they had survived last night's nightmare. There were also many sailors who were eager to make a fortune, carrying barrels of rum onto the ship, preparing to set sail as soon as possible.

Behemoth is far away from the port. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, even the nearest observation tower is 40 kilometers away from this steel battleship.

"When do we take action?" Jinx calculated the data and the turret turned to point to the target area.

"Quickly, let's complete some necessary procedures first." Enoch pulled the intercom mounted on the console and gathered in front of the girl. "Mind showing your cuteness?"

Judging from the smile on Jinx's face, she was happy with it.

The drone hovering over Bilgewater suddenly dropped in altitude and flew slowly over the city. At the same time, a female voice came from the speaker, which was a little distorted and sounded cute and a little naughty, like a spoiled girl who had taken a fancy to the latest doll.

"We declare that we will abide by the relevant laws and regulations and consensus, and swear to fight uprightly. We warn that because the evil pirates have caused real property damage to our country, on the principle of reciprocity, the fleet will launch attacks on ports, warships, and other military facilities. Out of humanitarian principles, we stipulate that civilians should immediately stay away from the above-mentioned strike areas, and all combatants should immediately lay down their weapons and choose to surrender. We promise to treat prisoners well."

Throwing the intercom aside, Enoch stretched his shoulders and said, "Now those congressmen won't say anything. Notify them that in 15 minutes, they will fire a salvo to destroy the port."

Just as Enoch held Jinx and returned to the screen to give commands, the pirates of Bilgewater looked at each other in confusion at the voice repeating in their heads, and then burst into laughter, "Where did this little girl come from? Are you talking nonsense because you're drunk? Oh, I'm going to poke you with a pair of scissors, who told you to touch my doll...hahahaha" The noisy laughter accompanied by the splashing foam spread wildly in the tavern. These people who were already drunk and unconscious didn't care who said these ridiculous things.

The lovely voice did not worry these people at all. For those who make a living on the ship, there are only two things in life that can move them: gold or a scimitar. Apart from that, these desperadoes don't care. Even the bearded lady will inevitably be used by these people to make some inappropriate and vulgar jokes after drinking.

Some fishermen, looking at the black spot in the sky and the sound coming from nowhere, hesitated for a moment, put down the ropes that had not been untied, and walked towards the tavern above, hoping to get some information. Some people didn't care and continued their gambling. The poker disappeared and reappeared in their hands, and their neatly trimmed mustaches twitched up and down. "Hurry up and place your bets. Are you going to hide like a little girl?"

The laughter from the casino echoed in the street. The sentry in elegant uniform had no time to deal with the chaos. He felt that nothing was right. The scale of last night's Soul-Eating Night was a little smaller than before. Most importantly, the opponent he had been thinking about did not show up. Everything was wrong. After hesitating for a while, the sentry chose to trust his intuition. After all, he was not in a hurry to go out to sea.

15 minutes passed quickly, the repetitive sound disappeared, and the drone raised its altitude again. At this time, the two turrets of Behemoth were ready. As the gunner pulled the rope, the firing pin ignited the powder bag fiercely. The huge kinetic energy pushed the high-explosive shell out of the barrel, and it slammed into the port with a whistling sound.

No one reacted to what happened. All they knew was that a sharp whistle was heard, and then the port was lifted into the air like broken debris. The small wooden warships nearby were like broken fishing rods, shattered and finally sank to the bottom of the sea.

This was like the starting gun. Roars were heard from other places as well. Even the old drunkard who was marinated in alcohol couldn't wait to get up from the ground and ran aimlessly along with the crowd. For pirates, the safest place was nothing more than their own ship.

So during the adjustments after the first round of shelling, a few people rushed onto their own ships in a panic and quickly untied the ropes. Unfortunately, before they could raise the sails, the second round of shelling came again.

The spacious galleon was originally a reliance for navigation on the sea, but under the attack of high-explosive armor-piercing shells, a large hole appeared on the deck. Then, huge sparks flew out with broken wood chips, and the whole ship was torn in half.

Chapter 154: Bilgewater Speedrun Tutorial

“That’s the ship of the Drunken Brotherhood,” Miss Fortune looked at the burning ship on the screen with a complicated expression. The deck was gone and the mast was leaning crookedly to one side. Judging from the broken hull and the thick smoke wafting out of the gap, the ship could be sent to the shipbreaking yard for scrapping and there was no need to repair it anymore.

Miss Fortune knew that the fate of each warship was similar, but the fact that the ship of the former overlord of Bilgewater was defeated in a round of attack inevitably made her feel a little complicated.

Especially when I think of my first ship which is now sunk in the deep sea, I can empathize with it.

"Are they civilians?" Enoch's concerns were obviously different from those of the bounty hunters who made a living on the ship.

"They are mainly engaged in smuggling. This kind of guy usually looks like a bootlegger, but once they go out to sea, if they meet a suitable fat sheep, they don't mind making some extra money." Miss Fortune changed her mood and answered casually. This kind of guy also has dirty hands. There is no need to have any feelings for him. He should quickly find Gangplank's "Abyss".

Jinx glanced at the redhead "So this is a pirate, then there's no problem."

"Yes, you can think so." Sarah hesitated for a moment. "Why, you are driving such a big ship. Are you doing good deeds? Will you stop if you hurt civilians?"

"Of course not. It's just that if that ship is not a pirate, this record will be deleted soon. That's all." Enoch didn't care about her ridicule. He believed in his heart that if he killed all the pirates on the island, some might be wrong, but if he killed every other pirate, there would definitely be some missed ones.

There is no need to show your already scarce sympathy to these people.

"I found it." Jinx jumped onto Enoch's back, hugged him and showed the screen to the boy. "That big ship, is this it?"

Rather than calling it a ship, it would be more accurate to say that this thing is a palace on the water. The originally broad hull is tightly surrounded by chains and wooden boards. The deck is like a banquet hall, with unfixed tables and piles of wine boxes everywhere. There are more boxes scattered on the side, and no one knows what is inside them.

"How long has this ship not been out of the dock? What... Could it be that the Pirate King has made the ship his home?" Jinx kept poking at the screen. Even she felt that Gangplank might have a problem with his brain. The Pirate King stopped wandering the seas and started collecting taxes instead? In addition, the slaughter docks were also this guy's business, so he was a complete speculator.

"Ever since he became the Pirate King," Sarah said with disdain, "this guy always acts very fierce, but he still hides under the protection of his subordinates every day, pretending to carve bone carvings. If his ship is blown up, the treasure he used to bribe his subordinates will be gone, and there will be plenty of people to challenge him."

"It doesn't matter. We're not here to make friends anyway. It doesn't matter who we fight." Enoch carried Jinx on his back. "Let's go and try out your design."

………………

"Push the cannon out for me, let me see who is looking for death. I want to chop off his head with my own hands and make it into a bone sculpture." Planck pulled the sailor who was blocking his way to the side, and shot him immediately before he could get up. The men around him were terrified and dared not speak, but just followed his orders.

Planck didn't know who did it, but even the main gun of the Abyss couldn't do this level of bombardment. Maybe he could find the right time and set the opponent's gunpowder barrel on fire with a grenade, but that would require the opponent to pile all the gunpowder together. Moreover, up to now, no one has seen where the opponent is attacking from. Only after hearing the whistling sound of the shells and the huge smoke rising from somewhere can it be said that the opponent is still aiming at this side.

This reminded him of the Leviathan he had stolen from Noxus. On that ship was a cannon powered by magic, which was said to be able to fire more than ten miles away. However, that thing was not only his trophy, but also his trump card. He hid it on the Blue Flame Island far away from Bilgewater, and it would not be useful for a while.

The ocean overlord had no choice but to return to his own ship, the Abyss. After several expansions around it, this area no longer looked like a port. Only by blasting open the surrounding wooden planks on board could he set sail smoothly.

Whether you wait and see which way the wind is blowing or kill the troublemaker, there is a way out.

He skillfully ordered his men to use grapples to move the obstructions aside. No one would try to resist the prestige he had maintained over the years. However, just as Planck climbed onto the ladder leading to the deck, he saw a glowing object in the distance, with a long tail flame, smashing heavily into his own ship, the Abyss. In a hurry, he only vaguely saw a distorted graffitied smiley face, and then lost consciousness.

"Hit it!! Haha, I'm such a genius!" Jinx swung her feet restlessly. The missile she had just controlled and developed hit the flashy ship perfectly. The rising smoke could even be seen on Behemoth's observation deck.

A large number of parts flew up and fell down, and the broken chains were like dominoes that fell backwards, smashing a large number of taverns and casinos that were built later onto the seabed. The entire port had completely lost its function, and if the accumulated debris was not cleaned up, it would be impossible to accommodate ships in and out.