The Synthesis Wizard

"They're coming right for us."

Corey squinted his eyes.

Andrea, with a grim expression, said, "Both the deep-sea Nagas and the sirens consider the deep sea their territory and won't allow outsiders to enter. Attacking ships is common, and our three artificial islands under construction are frequently harassed by them."

"I see," Sheman said with a wry smile. "It seems our neighbors aren't fond of us."

Corey, with a cold demeanor, stated, "Hit them hard enough a few times, and they'll understand who not to provoke."

Tagana and Flaming were already visibly eager to fight.

Seeing this, Sheman smiled and said, "In that case, let's give it our all and gather some intelligence on the sirens' strength."

The team subtly looked to Sheman as their leader, so when he spoke, the others naturally had no objections and began preparing for battle.

Andrea hesitated about whether to bring out the adamantine golems from below deck, but seeing Sheman and his group unfazed, she kept silent.

The hammerhead sharks moved swiftly through the water, soon reaching the ship.

Over a dozen sirens began to sing, their beautiful voices spreading across the sea, enveloping the ship in a strange wave.

The remaining sirens quickly clambered up the ship's sides.

Their hands and snake-like tails seemed to have suction abilities like octopus tentacles, allowing them to climb with remarkable agility.

This was a common tactic used by sirens against ships.

They would first use their songs to ensnare the crew in illusions, rendering them immobile, then board the ship to easily deal with the crew.

They had used this tactic countless times, always with great success.

But this time, things went differently.

When the sirens leapt onto the deck, instead of the dazed prey they expected, they found humans observing them with keen interest.

The looks in the humans' eyes made it seem like the sirens were the ones trapped.

Before the sirens could react, the humans raised their hands, and the next second, a barrage of spell missiles rained down.

The sirens at the front were instantly turned into pincushions!

Strange incantations followed from the mouths of the humans.

Finally realizing the danger, the sirens shrieked and charged at their enemies.

The sirens' illusions had no effect on third-level wizard apprentices.

Adil, Flaming, and Tagana had also taken clarity potions beforehand, allowing them to completely ignore the songs and shrieks.

With their illusions nullified, the sirens' combat effectiveness plummeted, unable to even get close to Sheman and his companions before being knocked down.

In just a few breaths, nearly half of the hundred sirens on the deck were wiped out.

A siren who appeared to be the leader let out a fierce cry, leaping high to dodge the incoming spell missiles and thrusting a trident at Sheman.

The sharp tip tore through the air with an ear-splitting screech, the attack's power astonishing.

But in the next moment, a giant gray claw appeared out of nowhere, ghostly passing through the siren's body. She fell to the deck without a sound, lifeless.

Seeing their leader fall, the sirens were finally afraid and leapt back into the sea, mounting the hammerhead sharks to flee with their companions.

However, to their horror, the wizard apprentices pursued them.

Using levitation spells or activating magical items, Sheman and his team flew high above, relentlessly casting spells to cut down the sirens.

Only when just five sirens remained did Sheman signal for the group to halt, casting a sleep spell to knock them out and using Mage Hand to bring them back aboard.

"Lock them up. We'll interrogate them once we return to the bay," Sheman instructed.

"Yes, sir."

Andrea bowed her head in admiration.

Today, she had truly witnessed the power of wizard apprentices.

Just five of them had routed over a hundred sirens, leaving them nearly annihilated.

Such power was terrifying!

No wonder Lady Carolina held that man in such high regard.

If wizard apprentices were this formidable, how powerful must the formal wizards, said to be much stronger, be?

With the battle over, Sheman and his group decided to conclude their field observation and turned the ship around to head back.

The Star Alliance had established five city-states in Rainbow Bay, arranged in an arc along the bay's edge, facing the sea.

In the center, White Bay City served as the command center for coordinating the exploration of the Rainbow Sea and was governed by Andrea.

Upon returning to White Bay City, Sheman and his group immediately began interrogating the sirens.

Sirens were adept at illusions, possessing high resistance to charm and hypnosis.

It took Andrea personally torturing the sirens to the brink of collapse before Corey and Sheman could extract the desired information.

"Did you find out anything?"

As soon as Sheman and Corey returned to the council chamber, Adil eagerly asked.

"We managed to get some information," Sheman replied with a peculiar expression. "Those sirens said they learned their combat skills and enhanced their illusion powers through divine revelation?"

Divine revelation?

Adil and Flaming exchanged puzzled glances.

Tagana's expression shifted, recalling events in Spider City.

"So, the sirens received divine favor?" Adil pondered, frowning.

Sheman shook his head, "I think there's more to it."

"Although they claimed it was divine revelation, none of the sirens had ever witnessed divine miracles or received direct orders from a deity."

"Their entire tribe's only recipient of so-called divine revelation was their chieftain, who relayed all combat and illusion training methods to the tribe."

"That's indeed strange," Adil agreed, her brow furrowing.

Typically, the more devout and fervent a believer's faith, the greater the benefits a deity can derive.

And the best way to enhance believers' faith is to display miracles and bestow power.

Yet the sirens hadn't seen any miracles, and the so-called power-bestowing involved merely teaching combat and illusion training methods for them to learn on their own.

This method of empowerment seemed remarkably simple.

"If it's not a true deity, then someone might be impersonating one," Corey suddenly suggested.

The others were taken aback.

Impersonating a deity?

What would be the purpose?

Just to control the sirens?

Tagana suddenly asked Andrea, "Why are the sirens attacking the deep-sea Nagas? Is it over territory?"

Andrea paused, then shook her head, "The Rainbow Sea is vast and resource-rich, so there's no need to fight over territory. What they're truly vying for is the Heart of the Sea."

"The Heart of the Sea?" Sheman tried to recall but couldn't remember hearing of such an item.

Andrea explained, "The Heart of the Sea is the sea's essence, embodying its tranquil side. It has the power to repel sea monsters and calm storms and tsunamis. Placing one at the center of a sea area turns it into a safe haven, free from monster attacks and disasters."

"Generally, the more Hearts of the Sea a marine tribe possesses, the larger their territory and the easier it is for the tribe to grow. That's why the deep-sea Nagas and sirens often fight over each other's Hearts of the Sea."

After Andrea's explanation, the group marveled at the concept.

"Who would have thought such a wondrous thing exists," Flaming mused, his expression shifting.

"If we could get a Heart of the Sea on board, we wouldn't have to worry about storms or sea monster attacks!"

Andrea smiled wryly, "In theory, yes. But doing so would cause every marine tribe to desperately attack the ship to seize it. All marine tribes can sense the Heart of the Sea."

"Don't underestimate the Heart of the Sea's allure to marine tribes."

Flaming smiled sheepishly.

After some discussion, no one could devise a satisfactory plan.

Seeing this, Sheman decided, "I'll compile the information on the divine revelation and report it to the teacher. How to handle this will be up to them. Our priority is to help City Lord Andrea establish the three artificial islands and gain a foothold in the Rainbow Sea."

The group exchanged glances and agreed.

Half a month later.

The support ships and puppets finally arrived at White Bay City.

Accompanying the supplies were not only the golem legion but also the runic knight corps.

To Sheman's surprise, leading the force was Sean, the current commander of the runic knight corps.

"Sean, why did you personally escort them?"

"Lord Sheman, it's been a while."

Sean bowed to Sheman before smiling and explaining, "There's a special unit in this support team, so I came to oversee the situation."

Sheman's interest was piqued, "What kind of unit requires the commander's personal attention?"

Sean issued a command, and a knight quickly ran off.

Soon, a squad of knights marched up to Sean and Sheman, awaiting orders.

To Sheman's astonishment, these knights weren't mounted on black rock leopards or dragon antelopes, but on a subspecies of dragon with bright blue scales.

"Is this... a Water Dragonkin?" Sheman asked, surprised.

"Indeed," Sean replied with a smile. "By Lord Sunan's order, Dragon Forest has established pastures for water dragons, pterosaurs, and storm drakes. These water dragons are the latest batch, assigned to form a naval unit for the runic knight corps—this water dragon knight unit."

"However, as it's newly formed, the water dragon knight unit currently numbers just over a hundred."

"That's impressive," Sheman remarked.

Like the dragon antelope knights, the water dragon knight unit was clearly an elite force with individual legendary combat power!

Over a hundred legendary combatants!

Such a force would significantly bolster the Star Alliance's combat capabilities in the Rainbow Sea, arriving just in time.

What was there to be dissatisfied with?

Sheman then proceeded to the port to inspect the support ships.

Adil, Tagana, and the others were already at the port, curiously examining the vessels.

Contrary to Sheman's expectations, he thought the magical ships developed by Starlight Academy would be exceptionally large, but upon seeing them, he found they were only slightly bigger than ordinary ships.

They were comparable to some large sea vessels.

However, the ships were entirely made of metal, their surfaces covered in intricate enchantment runes, gleaming with a cold, metallic luster in the sunlight, resembling steel behemoths at the harbor.

Andrea was awestruck.

It was her first time seeing ships made entirely of metal.

Sheman and the others were less surprised, having seen the grandeur of structures like Dragon Skeleton Tower, making them more accepting of magical ships.

The group boarded the ships.

Inside, they discovered the ship's interior was surprisingly spacious, much larger than it appeared from the outside.

"So that's it, using spatial expansion technology," Flaming marveled. "How much gold must it take to build such a magic ship?"

Sean grinned, "The student who delivered the ships from Starlight Academy said these are Class 2 Type C magic ships, each costing about 150,000 gold."

"150,000 gold!" Flaming gasped.

Sheman, Corey, and Adil remained unfazed.

Having participated in the war to unify the underground world, they had seen countless high-cost puppets and were long accustomed to it.

150,000 gold was roughly equivalent to three adamantine golems, less than a third of a secret puppet's cost.

Sean added, "The student mentioned this magic ship is equipped with ten magical cannons, powerful enough to obliterate first-ring legendary creatures, and a spell turret as the main cannon, capable of killing third-ring legendary creatures with one shot."

"Amazing!" Flaming was awestruck. "No wonder it costs 150,000 gold."

Adil laughed, "Sounds like it consumes a lot of magic stones."

Tagana suddenly asked, "You mentioned this is a Class 2 Type C magic ship. Does that mean there are higher-level magic ships?"

Sean nodded, "Yes, magic ships are divided into three levels."

"The lowest level, Class 1 magic ships, are small vessels focusing on mobility, prioritizing agility and speed."

"Next are Class 2 magic ships, medium-sized vessels with powerful long-range offensive capabilities, capable of transporting a certain number of troops."

"The highest level is Class 3 magic ships. Well, Starlight Academy hasn't built any yet, but according to them, these ships' most notable feature is their ability to fly."

Flight capability!

The eyes of the wizard apprentices present lit up.

With flight capability, ships would have far more freedom at sea, with little fear of sea monster attacks.

Coupled with powerful long-range strikes, they'd be virtually invincible sea fortresses!

"What a pity. If we had three Class 3 magic ships stationed above the artificial islands, we wouldn't fear the deep-sea Nagas or sirens. We could kill them all!" Flaming lamented.

The group agreed wholeheartedly.

Sheman asked, "How many magic ships are in this support?"

"Twelve Class 1 magic ships, three Class 2 magic ships."

Sheman nodded approvingly.

With this fleet's support, guarding the artificial islands and exploring the sea would be much easier, no longer as passive as before.

As they toured and conversed, they unknowingly arrived at a cabin door.

Sean pointed to the cabin, "The new puppets are inside."

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