System S.E.X. (Seduction, Expansion, eXecution)

Chapter 764: Chapter 764: Deadly Coordinates

The White-Sea Dragon violently emerged from the spatial rift, wobbling out of control in the sky of an unfamiliar territory. Several runic panels spewed smoke, and the ship descended at an alarming speed. The pilots on the command bridge worked frantically until, at the very last second, they managed to stabilize the vessel and execute a hard yet controlled crash landing onto a vast plain of golden grass.

As the ship came to a complete halt, King Alaric stood up, his eyes sparking with rage as an oppressive aura made the bridge’s floor tremble.

"Bring me the navigator who plotted this route immediately!" the monarch roared his voice echoing through the bridge.

A few seconds later, an old man in blue robes was escorted onto the bridge, trembling from head to toe as he fell to his knees before the king.

"M-My Lord!" the old man stammered, holding up a metallic plate engraved with glowing runes. "It was the exact route sent to us from the capital of the Golden Dragon Empire! See for yourself, I did not alter a single parameter."

Alaric snatched the runic chart from his hands and projected the holographic map before everyone. The coordinates and the spatial jump path matched the official message received flawlessly.

The king’s face darkened completely, and the pressure of his Spiritual Transcendence Realm threatened to shatter the bridge’s main window.

"If I find out who sent this, I will tear their head off with my own bare hands..." Alaric muttered with suppressed fury. He then turned his gaze toward the old man beside him. "What do you think of this situation, Great General?"

Vaelen, who was wiping a trace of dark fluid from his sleeves, let out a heavy hmph.

"We were sent directly to pass through the middle of a Void Worm nest," Vaelen explained coldly. "Those beasts are extremely rare and almost never leave their territory; however, if provoked, they won’t allow anyone to escape alive. A real pain in the ass. I am in complete agreement with your evaluation, Your Majesty: this was a deliberate trap. If I hadn’t been aboard, no one on this ship would have survived that place."

Isabella stared at the runic chart and clenched her fists, grasping the gravity of the situation. The tournament hadn’t even begun, and the Empire’s dirty tactics were already trying to wipe them off the map.

"Where are we?" the king asked in a somber tone, trying to maintain his composure.

"Your Majesty, we are in the Beauko Plains," the ship’s captain immediately replied, hastily consulting the backup control panel.

"Is that not the territory of the Silver Dragon Kingdom?" Alaric inquired, scowling menacingly.

"It is, Your Majesty. And we are very close to their capital, so they should be able to locate us quickly."

"Tch... this is absolute shit," the king muttered.

Hardly anyone in the room understood why this was the worst possible scenario. To most of the crew, landing in this territory seemed like the best outcome, since the Silver Dragon Kingdom was their marriage ally. However, Ethan understood the political trap and implicit threat perfectly well. His battle aura flared silently; the thought of that nation’s crown prince making a move while they were vulnerable on his own turf irritated him to his core, and he wouldn’t mind castrating the little prince if he stepped out of line.

"Repair the thrusters," Alaric ordered the technicians sternly. "We need to leave this place immediately."

The mechanics and runic experts immediately set to work at high speed, rushing back and forth with tools and energy crystals. Ethan observed the chaos and communicated internally.

(Crul, can we do something to speed this up?) Ethan asked in his mind.

[Touch the central console, Master, and I will take control of the ship’s system,] Crul instructed in his consciousness.

Ethan walked over to the console with a relaxed smile, feigning curiosity as he inspected the touchscreens and platform levers until resting his hand directly on the central console crystal.

"What are you trying to do, brat?" the king warned, eyeing him with skepticism. "No matter how much you touch the panels, the ship won’t move until the mechanics repair the main circuits."

"I’ve always been a lover of these massive ships," Ethan replied with a relaxed smile, without removing his hand. "I just wanted to take a close look at the controls that operated it."

[The damage is greater than it looks, Master,] Crul’s voice chimed in his mind. [I can fix the core, but if I do it now, they’ll suspect us. I will let the mechanics work on the surface while I repair the core structural damage and main circuits through the internal system. That way, they will believe it was merely minor damage.]

(Understood, do that,) Ethan replied mentally.

An hour passed in tense silence as technicians rushed through the corridors with runic tools. Ethan remained by the console, maintaining discrete contact with the central crystal. Suddenly, Crul’s alert echoed directly within his consciousness.

[Master, we have trouble,] Crul warned. [A full fleet of warships is heading toward our position at high speed.]

"Damn it..." Ethan muttered under his breath involuntarily.

King Alaric and Vaelen snapped their heads toward him.

"What’s wrong, brat?" Alaric asked in a suspicious tone.

However, before Ethan could answer, the Great General’s eyes narrowed sharply as his gaze locked onto the sky outside.

"They found us," Vaelen declared in a grave voice, sensing the spatial fluctuations in the distance. He immediately turned to Ethan with a mix of surprise and suspicion on his face. "How the hell did you know before the sensors did?"

"I’m sensitive to the auras of idiots," Ethan replied adjusting the sheath of his black sword at his hip with calm.

Alaric couldn’t contain himself and let out a hearty laugh that echoed across the command bridge, while Isabella could only shake her head, resting a hand on her temple at Ethan’s sheer nerve.

"Don’t do anything stupid, brat," Vaelen warned him in a grave voice, though his eyes showed no anger, but rather alertness as the sky began to darken under the shadow of dozens of approaching warships.

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