Otaku Witch

Chapter 48 44. I think we should still try to rescue it a bit.

Dorothy's clown act didn't last long, and she soon turned her head and forgot about it; such was the carefree nature of a born homebody.

After all, the past can't be changed, and now, no amount of regret will do any good apart from upsetting oneself, so why torment oneself? Instead of that, it would be better to spend time reviewing the knowledge in her head, aiming to perform a bit better when it came time for promotions.

She turned her head and took a glance out of the window.

By now, the Magical Beast Carriage had officially arrived at the port, and the teleportation hub that she had seen from afar was now right before her eyes.

Although she knew from a distance that the teleportation channel was enormous, the shock was more memorable when she actually arrived in front of the teleportation channel and looked up at the giant circular vortex with a diameter of a kilometer.

Compared to this gigantic teleportation channel, the Magical Beast Carriage that Dorothy and the others were riding in was like an ant, and the other passersby witches who were flying around on brooms without a carriage were even less significant than ants.

Hmm, with a teleportation channel of such specifications, there's definitely no need to worry about congestion in teleportation.

A thought like this suddenly popped into Dorothy's head, and then she even laughed at herself for having such an undignified idea.

At first glance, building such an enormous teleportation hub might seem wasteful, like building a super-sized highway with twenty lanes just for ants.

But in fact, the current size of the teleportation channel is just the effect of the hub operating at its lowest power. If the power was turned all the way up, the channel could expand several times over, as it was never intended for civil use from the outset but for military purposes.

In the Witch World, all long-distance teleportation hubs have a strict requirement in their construction goals, that is, they must be able to accommodate the teleportation needs of a fully staffed Witch Fleet.

And the normal size of a fully staffed Witch Fleet would be...

A 10,000-meter class main battleship equipped with a World-Exterminating Main Cannon, three to five 5,000-meter class escort battleships equipped with Star Annihilator Cannons, ten to twenty 1,000-meter class assault ships equipped with Submerging Cannons, and several other integrated supply ships...

Yeah, this is also the reason why few other races dare cause turmoil or rebel in Witch Territories, because if things escalate, the Lord just shakes people up and a Witch Fleet will be right in your face asking if you're scared.

Thanks to the teleportation network that spans the entire world, all Witch Fleets can reach the battlefield at the fastest speed. Therefore, without first severing the teleportation hub, there is no possibility of a surprise attack on Witch Territories. Enjoy new stories from empire

But each Witch Territory's teleportation hub is protected at the core location of the territory, and the giant teleportation channel outside is merely the manifestation of the hub's power. Even if it's destroyed, it can be quickly restarted; the real hub is located at the center of the floating islands of the Witch Territory, guarded personally by the Witch Lord.

But then again, although a fully-formed Witch Fleet is terrifying, the reality is that very few Witch Territories can afford such a fleet. A normal Witch Territory would be bankrupt after constructing just one or two kilometer-long Assault Ships. After all, Witch Warships are the ultimate weapons of war in the Witch World, embodying the world's most advanced Magic Engineering.

Each one is worth a fortune.

Therefore, most Witch Fleets are actually assembled in a patchwork fashion. A Great Lord would contribute a flagship, some Minor Lords would supply Escort Battleships, and the Minor Lords might gather some Assault Ships. New Lords would be in charge of logistics.

A Witch Fleet like that could easily conquer the majority of another world, and once the world was annexed, everyone would divide the spoils based on their contributions.

However, for a little witch like Dorothy, those cutting-edge weapons of war were even further out of reach. She's never even seen a real Witch Warship in her life.

Sea Moon Island does have a kilometer-long Assault Ship passed down from ancestors, but it's the Sea Moon Witch's prized treasure and is never shown to the public.

Moreover, for the past decade or so, the Sea Moon Witch has been addicted to economic development, focused on recuperation and growth, and hasn't recruited anyone for front-line expansion of new territories, so of course Dorothy never had the chance to witness the legendary Witch Warships in action.

But you can find quite a few games about Witch Fleets on the Magic Network, and Dorothy has played these types of games before, acting as a Witch Captain for a time.

Ah, leading a Witch Fleet full of Psychic Ship-girls who can transform into sexy Big Sisters is really fabulous.

Unfortunately, games can't be taken seriously. In reality, only Legendary Battleships might undergo Necromancy, but there are only a handful of such ships in the entire Witch World. As for an entire fleet composed of Psychic Ship-girls, that sort of thing could only happen in dreams.

If you want to see such a Dream Fleet, you'd have to wait until the Council of Sages orders a major military exercise or something.

As a result, that Witch Warship game has always been criticized for being unrealistic, pandering to homebodies, and being a rubbish game.

That said, criticism aside, it actually is a good game. Although it only recreates 99% of reality, the levels set against the backdrop of various classic battles from Witch History are thrilling, and the strategy is solid. It's rumored that the game company has the military involved behind the scenes.

So if a little witch wants to experience what it's like to command warships on the battlefield and hear the roar of a thousand cannons firing, then that game really shouldn't be missed.

Anyway, an ordinary witch like Dorothy really enjoyed playing the game back then, but just when she was happily blowing away the competition with her painstakingly cultivated all-Psychic Ship-girl Dream Fleet, she suddenly faced a real powerhouse in a random match, rediscovering the terror and humiliation of being dominated by a pro.

Her max-level account was completely wiped out by an ordinary fleet through micro-management. Even with a nearly fifty-fold advantage in military equipment, she suffered a crushing defeat, with her entire fleet being severely damaged. After that battle, even an optimist like Dorothy was so angry that she couldn't sleep for weeks.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, until she finally went on a gaming forum and ranted about the rubbish game, the awful balance, asking if they even understood what a real battlefield was, if they knew what equipment overpowering meant, and a series of other high-strung statements like "refund my money," before uninstalling the game and quitting for good.

Yeah, exchanging fire with fleet cannons is what wusses do. Real men go for Witch Duels, fist to flesh.

But as Dorothy reminisced about her glorious, youthful, and passionate days, she suddenly remembered something very important.

That was, in fifty years, her own mother was going to challenge her to a Lordship Duel, a special mode of duel that Witch Lords typically engage in during the Witch Lord rankings.

A Lordship Duel isn't just a match of the Witch Lord's own strength, but also involves the number of powerhouses within the territory, the equipment of the army, the economic future of the territory, and the level of support the lord has from their citizens, along with various other aspects of comprehensive strength.

Of course, as mystical as it might sound, it all boils down to a war between two Witch Territories.

However, real wars naturally result in casualties, and such infighting among kin has always been prevented by the Wizard Association. But sometimes a battle is necessary to determine rankings, thus giving rise to the once-in-a-millennium Witch Lord Ranking Battle.

It's a grand festival for the entire Witch World, where all competing Witch Lords can revel to their heart's content, unleashing their desire for destruction on the battlefield, because this grand occasion is personally arranged by the Mother of the World.

All competing Witch Lords will be replicated by the Mother of the World into a mirror world, where even if the world is destroyed, it won't affect reality in the slightest. So, they can play and build anything they want without worrying about the losses caused by internal strife.

However, even for the Mother of the World, such a miraculous event is an enormous drain, which is why there's a thousand-year interval, needing to accumulate energy for a thousand years to have this playtime.

A normal witch's lifespan is about a thousand years, so this event is also known as a once-in-a-lifetime indulgence.

And now, calculating the time, the next Lord Battle...

Damn, it's just fifty years away.

Ah, this...

Dorothy was dumbfounded.

Under normal circumstances, Euphilia wouldn't go all out in the Lord Battle she'd initiate fifty years later; after all, she is a mother, not an enemy. A mere formality, a test, would do.

But what if it's during this consequence-free Lord's Frenzy? Do you think the Dragon Witch would go easy just because Dorothy is her own daughter?

A Lord's Battle is war, and on the battlefield, it's not about some naive one-on-one duel; there, everyone's unleashing massive cannons, boom, on your feline behind. So the question arises.

"Mom, may I ask if you have any Witch Warships?"

Dorothy squeezed out a cautious smile and asked the Dragon Witch sitting opposite her.

"Warship? What do you need that for?"

Euphilia, in a good mood after being affectionately called 'Mom' by her daughter, relaxed her brows. She was a bit puzzled as to why her daughter suddenly asked this question, but feeling quite amiable at the moment, she didn't see the need to conceal anything and casually extended one hand.

"Five warships."

Looking at the five fingers her mother stretched out, Dorothy's brows lifted, her expression troubled.

True to the Witch Lord of the Dragon Kingdom, so bold and generous, flinging out a small fleet just like that. It's just unknown whether they're five one-kilometer Assault Ships or five five-kilometer Battleships.

But it's not a big problem; it seems she could put up resistance if she sold everything she had over the next fifty years.

Dorothy calculated the difference and felt it might be acceptable.

"They're five fully-staffed Witch Fleets, miss,"

The Angel Witch mercilessly interjected. Sophia cleared her throat and formally began to enlighten this big sister who knew almost nothing about her own mother.

"You seem to have some misconceptions about your mother, so let me give you a brief introduction.

What stands before you now is the representative of the rising power of the Dragon Kingdom, the Noble Blood Heir of the Dragon King, Lord of the Shining Territory, the newly-appointed Prince of Dragons, the current Legion Commander of the Legion of Destruction, holder of the title 'Dragon Queen Proclaiming Destruction,' the Peak Witch, Lady Euphilia."

"Well, that's pretty much it. We'll leave out some minor achievements for now; you can learn more about them gradually, miss,"

Dorothy: "...."

Actually, Dorothy missed all those titles Sophia listed afterward. Her mind was completely filled with the thought of five fully-staffed Witch Fleets.

What kind of joke is this? I've never been this opulent in any game; how can someone be even more exaggerated in real life than in games?

Excuse me, but in fifty years I'll be facing a situation where five fleets unleash a barrage on my face. Is there any way I can still salvage this?

I'm online and waiting, quite urgently.

Dorothy lay down on the sofa like a limp salted fish, the light in her eyes faded.

I'll lie down for now, mom, do as you please.