Pretalin Naval Base, outside the command post of the main fortification.

This is the highest point in the entire naval base, offering a commanding view of the entire port and the bay, with most of the defensive positions of the garrison visible at a glance.

"General Kes!"

Major Leo, the adjutant, briskly climbed the stairs to the outside passageway and approached the commander who was gazing out to sea.

Major General Remington Kes, commander of the Kingdom Navy's Third Fleet, captain of the flagship "Castle" of the Third Fleet, and also the commander of this defensive battle.

The general, with a large beard, stared at the calm sea for a long time. The waves were not strong today, so the formation of ships arranged in a "one" formation near the shore appeared particularly stable.

"Report."

"Yes!" Leo saluted and reported loudly, "At ten thirty-two this morning, reconnaissance Magic puppets detected a fleet assembling sixty nautical miles southwest of Pretalin Port! By eleven twenty, the scale had reached the level described in the intelligence report, confirming it is the enemy's main fleet."

"They have indeed arrived... the second war."

Remington clenched his fist against the wall behind him, then turned and strode into the command post. Inside the bustling command post, staff officers had marked on the map intelligence collected by multiple Magic puppets, finally pinpointing the enemy's assembly point.

Unfortunately, even with this information on the assembly point, the naval forces of Milanía were not strong enough to launch a preemptive strike. All they could do was to prepare as much as possible before the enemy landed.

After all, the Milanía Navy was merely a coastal defense force, while their opponent was the Gréus Federation, known for their shipbuilding technology as the premier naval power on the Western Continent.

Gréus Federation's declaration of war had caught Milanía off guard. They had always considered Marston Kingdom in the east their only foe, but now in retrospect, those unidentified ships that had supplied the capital during Brad's siege seemed quite suspicious.

True to its name, the Gréus Federation was a federation made up of dozens of smaller island nations on two main islands and hundreds of smaller islands surrounding them.

This nation was a unique presence on the Western Continent.

Following the establishment of the Gréus Federation, the population of the dispersed islands gradually migrated towards the two main islands where development was concentrated. Strangely, these two main islands that drove the federation's development were located at the opposite ends of the Western Continent's west coast, with a distance between them larger than the north-south span of the continent itself.

Yet, in a certain sense, the northern and southern islands complemented each other significantly during development. The southern island of Gréus was a geographical wonder, resembling the gold and silver islands depicted in Gulliver's Travels, with a massive dormant volcano in the center that had erupted in an unrecorded past and scattered the island with incredibly rich mineral deposits. These resources included not only gold and silver but also various rare metals needed for the development of magitech technology.

In the initial decade of its founding, the Gréus Federation was primarily an exporter of raw materials, with nearly half of its adult male population engaged in mining-related work, and the rare metals brought immense wealth to the southern island.

Subsequently, the decision-makers of Gréus realized something crucial: the abundant minerals on the southern island were a unique fortune, why limit the exploitation of this wealth to simply selling them for money?

Thus, research into magitech technology was put on the agenda, with a focus on the northern island that had become barren and desolate due to the previous decade's development and population migration from the south.

The abundant mineral resources were used for exchanging money, with more used to acquire magitech technology and devices from various channels. Over the following decades, the Greiwus Federation made rapid advancements in magitech technology research, even catching up with the leading magitech kingdom in West Land in some aspects of The Realm.

"In the end, the Greiwus Federation formed a development model where the south is driven by resources and the north is technology-driven. The Southern Island also began to utilize the fame of 'Gold Silver Island' to transform previously depleted mining sites and develop tourism and service industries. Some progress has been made so far... of course, this is not the important part... Your Highness, are you listening?"

"I'm listening... just feeling a bit sleepy."

Inside the swaying cabin, the Princess, who was already feeling a bit dizzy due to the rough seas, felt even more dizzy after listening to Shuma's detailed briefing on the intelligence of the new enemy country, almost like she was back in middle school geography class in her dream.

The group heading to East Land finally boarded the returning ship three days after the end of the Lojing political turmoil. Unfortunately, due to the sudden nature of the incident, there was no chance of enjoying the luxurious experience like they had with the Fareast Star on the way here. Instead, they were on a small magitech sail-powered fast ship provided by Prime Minister Wu Shengchen's contact in the North Wind. The speed was not slower than the Eastern Star, but the experience of traveling on it was worlds apart.

Although there was the option to directly ride Aya back, flying between continents would entail considerable physical exertion, and they would also need to be ready to receive orders from Granzon to change their destination at any time—so far, the intended destination had already changed several times, hopping between the three main large military ports of the kingdom. Considering her poor sense of direction, taking the ship was indeed the better choice.

Originally, she had planned to wait for Xiang Ling to clean up the aftermath and bring back the promised reinforcements to Milanía, with the idea of freeload riding back on the Eastern Star again—a ship ticket costing tens of thousands of gold coins was far too extravagant for Princess Tiran, who relied on her father's pension. But the sudden declaration of war by the Greiwus Federation caught her completely off guard.

Tiran decided to return home early. At least now both she and Aya were of Holy Rank caliber, and when the two of them were together with the soul amplification of the Dragon Knight covenant, they felt confident about facing three against two, or even four. With the two of them, even if the situation worsened, they could still stabilize the situation in Milanía.

"Why would they suddenly declare war on us in the end?" Tiran yawned.

"Over the years, Greiwus has made rapid progress in terms of resources and technology, creating a dual prosperity. But due to the geographical location, they have always been isolated from the mainland's political and commercial systems. I suppose the alliance with Maston is probably for the sake of profit? As long as they can get control of several port cities along our west coast, they will have a foothold for expansion from the sea to land, and may seek to enhance their international status in the future... or even further expand. Since our goals have some commonalities, there is naturally room for cooperation."

Mimi chimed in casually.

"Oh, I didn't expect you, Mimi, to have such insights."

"Your Highness, you flatter me..." Mimi put on a resigned smile, leaning back on the couch in the cabin like a dried fish. She couldn't help but feel a bit melancholic, being the first to accompany the Princess and the one who had followed her the longest—what had gone wrong to the point where she had to resort to chiming in to increase her presence? It was really disheartening, considering she had originally set out with determination to uphold the honor of Head Maid Gilliast and help the Princess, only to find herself riding all the way to the fight between the Princess and the enemy inside Lojing. It was truly frustrating!

"Next time, I won't let His Highness out of my sight…” Mimi murmured softly.

And there was something strange.

The head maid suddenly turned her head towards Aya, startling her, “Wh-What’s wrong, Miss Mimi?”

“What exactly happened in Lokein?! Tell me the truth!”

“Uh… well, don’t you already know?” Aya nervously touched her nose, avoiding eye contact.

“You must be hiding something from me!” Mimi stood up and pressed down on Aya's shoulders with both hands.

Mimi was certain, absolutely certain, that something had happened in Lokein that she was not aware of! When she, along with Mo Yi and the others, saw His Highness Tiran in Lokein, she noticed Aya's strange gaze. Although nothing was obvious on the surface, with her years of experience caring for His Highness, Mimi swore there was something fishy going on.

“No, I really haven’t, Mimi, you’re just overthinking it.”

After confirming multiple times with Tiran, Mimi reluctantly let go of Aya, still filled with suspicion. Don’t get it wrong, Miss Mimi had zero trust in this philandering cat, but purely out of Tiran's persuasion, she reluctantly let him off the hook.

Shuma waited silently for the three of them to finish their playful banter before adding the final point, “According to His Majesty, Granzon, we will first head to the naval base at Beilgen where the Second Fleet is stationed, and await further instructions.”

"Ey, ey, using your daughter as a weapon of war, what a great dad~" Tiran joked, tilting his head, then suddenly looking surprised, "Oh, is Beilgen naval base the one near Gilliast?"

After receiving confirmation, Tiran couldn’t help but whistle... well, the princess wouldn’t actually whistle, but she was genuinely happy. Not to mention being away from Gilliast for so long, what’s more important is that there should be quite a few new goods waiting for her at the hands of a certain doujin artist and merchandise middleman in the Signal City.

I wonder if the few items I ordered from him last time have arrived yet…

In the vast sea, a small sailing ship with billowing sails sailed westward, cutting through waves one after another.

...

The Preterline Defense Line.

On the horizon where the sky meets the sea, the silhouette of a ship appeared.

At first, they were just tiny black dots like ants, but they quickly enlarged, and their outlines became clearer. They were ships of varying sizes, with the Gralwus Federation's purple primrose flag hanging from the mast tops and bows, clearly visible through the eagle eyes and telescopes.

"Send the order, let the fleet open fire."

As they closed in to a sufficient distance, the warships on both sides almost simultaneously unleashed their firepower towards each other.

Despite the fact that the magitech technology of the Gralwus Federation was second only to the Magitech Kingdom, even now, the issue of the massive energy consumption of magitech cannons remained unresolved. If not for the fact that land-based magitech cannons were equipped with corresponding magic gathering arrays, the magic crystal energy consumption required for continuous firing could be measured in tons. This meant that on vehicles like ships that needed to consider payload, it was simply impossible to equip them on a large scale.

In long-range dueling, the naval fleet equipped with the improved Italian cannons designed by a certain princess actually took some initiative.