Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

The massive hull traced a smooth arc on the sea surface as the ship’s side armor sliced through the waves, which quickly closed up behind it.

The formation completed without any hesitation.

When the fleet finished its turn, the broadside of the three battleships was fully deployed, aiming at the incoming column of the Bone Fleet.

The heavy turrets locked on in sequence, and the gun angles were swiftly adjusted.

"All crew, load high-explosive incendiary shells! If they can regenerate, then we’ll burn them to ashes!"

The loading mechanism began to operate, sending the heavy shells into the chamber, with latches clicking shut one after another, like a series of steel joints being tightened.

The next moment, a salvo commenced.

Twenty-seven main guns roared simultaneously.

The tremendous recoil reverberated through the hull, causing the steel behemoth to visibly shift laterally on the sea, the deck vibrating slightly, with all fixed objects emitting brief metallic echoes.

"Boom—!!! Boom—!!!"

The air tore apart, and the flames from the gun barrels almost lit up the entire sea surface.

The first high-explosive incendiary shell fell into the center of the Bone Fleet.

The fireball expanded the moment it touched the sea, with the shock wave spreading in all directions, flattening the waves within a 300-meter radius, which then evaporated into a roiling white mist from the high temperature.

The so-called regenerating thorns failed to retain their form upon reaching the core blast area.

The ossified hulls were torn apart instantly, with the bonded guardians and spore launchers being swept into the flames, foregoing even the decomposition process.

The green body fluids barely splashed out before drying up rapidly in the high heat, turning to ash.

The second and third salvos followed in quick succession.

The entire charge line was repeatedly covered.

When the smoke and flames dispersed slightly, a huge gap had appeared in the once densely packed Bone Fleet.

All that remained on the sea were rolling debris and still burning fragments, resembling a violently plowed slaughterhouse.

Dozens of abnormally large Bone flagship-class ships still emerged from the edge of the blast zone.

Rough tentacles grew on their hulls, far more numerous than ordinary ships, with several bone spurs wrapped in dark red veins protruding from the bow, carrying a clear corrosive nature.

They did not slow down, instead accelerating amidst the chaos, like irrational beasts, charging straight at the side of the No. 2 ship, the Unyielding.

Their intent was clear, to board and tear open the steel plates, dragging the battlefield into melee range.

"Thud—!!!"

The collision sound was dull and piercing.

The bow of the Bone ship underwent a catastrophic fracture the moment it touched the steel.

The bone spurs snapped, and bone fragments scattered, with the entire hull bouncing back from the recoil.

The hardened steel plate of the Unyielding only bore a shallow scratch, not even damaging the structural layer.

The hull maintained its speed, and the Unyielding stayed on course, crushing forward with its massive steel body.

The rotating propeller stirred up a violent vortex underwater, dragging the Bone ship and the deformed creatures on deck under the hull.

Bones, tentacles, and still-struggling bodies were shredded, becoming a rapidly dispersing red and white mixture.

The battleship continued onward.

Just then, an abnormal vibration suddenly appeared on the hull, with alarms suddenly blaring inside the Thunderbolt’s engine room.

"Speed down!"

The voice of the chief engineer came through the internal intercom, with a clear sense of urgency.

"The propeller’s jammed!"

The sea surface churned.

Several massive shadows appeared from the depths, bringing up large splashes.

It was the deep-sea kraken parasitized by thorns.

Their size was akin to small islands, with gray-white skin surfaces covered in barbs, tentacles reaching out from the water, tightly coiling around the battleship’s hull.

The strong acid secreted by the suckers created white smoke on the armor surface, corroding the anti-rust coating.

The massive force started pulling downward.

Elwyn’s lips slightly lifted: "Do they think they’ve grabbed hold of a wooden ship? Want to drag us down? Their strength is not enough."

He raised his hand to give the order: "All ships, take note, launch Deep Water Shock Bombs, detonate!"

The moment the order was issued, the outer destroyers swiftly moved in.

Rows of deep water bombs were released, sinking into the water, trailing a series of short and sharp bubble tracks.

A few seconds later, a muffled vibration came from below.

It wasn’t the roar of an explosion but the muffled thud of being crushed by water.

"Thud—thud—thud—"

The sound waves propagated along the seafloor, continuously overlapping, resembling slow and steady drumbeats.

The body of the deep-sea kraken suddenly stiffened, their exterior still intact, the skin even unmarked.

But their internal organs, nerves, and centers turned into unstructured pulp under the squeeze of the shock wave.

The massive corpses slowly floated to the surface, suckers opening and closing but unable to exert any more force.

Green body fluid continuously seeped from cracked parts, quickly spreading in the dark red sea.

The Thunderbolt’s vibrations gradually subsided, and the propeller resumed its speed.

But the sea surface didn’t fully quiet down.

Scattered Bone ships still floated outside the burn zone, some hulls torn apart, yet dragging forward with remaining roots.

There were also sea monsters not fully dead yet, thrashing in the water, tentacles twitching, trying to approach the fleet once more.

Elwyn didn’t halt his orders: "Continue with the Magic Explosion Bullets."

The brief command was conveyed across all ships through the voice pipes.

The secondary gun chambers moved quickly, sending the alchemy shells, specially tailored for clearing abnormal targets, to the gun positions, with runes on the shell casings lighting up during loading and extinguishing upon locking.

The destroyers opened fire first.

Several Magic Explosion Bullets skimmed low over the sea, landing among the remaining Bone ships.

Magic power forcibly detonated at the impact point, forming a brief and violent vacuum area, followed by a delayed shock.

The remaining Bone hulls silently tore apart, thorny roots appearing as if ripped from the inside, their entire structure losing support, collapsing and sinking.

Several struggling sea monsters were affected.

Their shells weren’t burned away, yet imbalance was evident the next second.

Nerve signals were disrupted by magic power, tentacles stiffening, movement completely losing coordination.

Subsequently, the second wave of Magic Burst struck down.

This time, the target was closer.

The explosions were completed beneath the water, with the impact amplified by the sea.

The still-breathing creatures were ripped open instantly, disintegrating internally without even a chance to roll.

Minutes later, only scattered remnants remained on the sea surface.

No regeneration, no repair.

All moving objects had been cleared.

Elwyn adjusted his military cap, his gaze sweeping over the floating remnants on the sea.

"Clear the propellers, full speed ahead."

Pausing for a moment, he added: "Report to Lord Louis, the door has been kicked open."