On the open sea, a three-masted ship was breaking through the wind and waves, sailing at a speed clearly beyond the norm.

At the bow, a beautifully mysterious goddess statue with graceful form spread her arms, casting an extraordinary spiritual light that gave this battleship speed and stability unattainable by ordinary ships.

Since everyone was on the same ship, the abnormal speed of the battleship could not be hidden from the crew for long. At this time, the captain officers who were qualified to approach the extraordinary world had already learned from Aiven about the magical abilities of this new ship's figurehead.

Presently, the off-duty officers were all gathered at the ship's bow, examining this treasure.

After all, being on the Level 6 Battleship at the bottom of the Kingdom Fleet's hierarchy, when had they ever seen such magical things?!

Each of them exclaimed in wonder.

"Is this wondrous power sorcery?" The First Mate Borg, in charge of logistics and a professional insider, casually revealed the essence of this "ship's figurehead."

"Shh! What sorcery, this is power bestowed by the gods!" A cautious colleague quickly stopped the big-mouthed one.

"Heh, what's there to hide, this is the sea! Why, even if it's a sorcery item or a wizard, so what? Do you think the alchemy weapons issued on the battleships are made by ordinary people in military factories?"

Having served for many years as First Mate, even if Borg couldn't access higher levels, he wasn't deceived by inner secrets within the Navy!

However, though everyone chatted away with mixed truths, no one dared to touch it personally.

The fear of unknown sorcery was just one reason; more importantly, it was the Captain's private possession. If they were to damage it, they couldn't afford the consequences.

Among the crowd chatting around the ship's figurehead, the sailor Vid seemed especially enthusiastic.

At just twenty-two years old, Vid had become the sailor due to his excellent sail handling skills and professional capability, making him the youngest captain officer on the "Conch" before Aiven's arrival.

Unlike Aiven, who came from a fallen noble family with some family advantage, Vid, a commoner, relied entirely on his dedication to professional skills.

In fact, when Aiven described the effects of the "Ship's Figurehead: Monsoon Goddess," Vid was the only one daring enough to ask questions, attempting to discuss the working principles of this magical object with Aiven...

Although Aiven, after a brief check, unfortunately told Vid that he lacked the necessary qualifications (wizard qualifications) to study this magical power.

Vid nevertheless successfully caught Aiven's attention.

Besides rank, Captain Vid was one of the few on the "Conch" with potential to progress further on the extraordinary path.

After requesting the officers temporarily restrict the spread of information about the "ship's figurehead," Aiven returned alone to the captain's cabin.

Hoo hoo hoo...

Of course, he was accompanied by the Captain's "pet," Owl Bass.

Reclining casually in the captain's chair, Aiven closed his eyes, and his vision automatically connected to the bird surveillance network.

In the months following the conclusion of the Evil God incident, Aiven finally perfected his "Galliot Bird Transformation Technique 2.0."

Focusing on transforming Black Feathered Frigatebirds and Great Albatrosses, two sea birds of sufficient size, more accurately inducing a certain degree of demonization in them.

After transformation, the wingspan of Black Feathered Frigatebirds had increased dramatically from an average of three meters to five meters. Their feathers, tough and iron-colored, could now withstand close-range firearms shots.

With sharp, cold beaks and claws, even a wild boar's hard head couldn't block a dive attack from the sky.

Even with no current magic-like ability, just by size and defense, they were already comparable to Peak Level apprentice knights. With three birds coordinated flawlessly under Bass's direction, they could easily overwhelm ordinary officers like the "Shark Tooth Pirate Gang."

Compared to the success of the Black Feathered Frigatebirds, the transformation of the Great Albatross was less successful.

Inspired by its huge size, Aiven initially intended to modify it for carrying people into the sky, forming a "Sky Knight" unit of avian mounts from battleships.

But the end result was unsatisfactory.

During the final test, the greatly enlarged Great Albatross with a wingspan of seven meters successfully took off with his assistant Angie, yet wasn't able to carry Aiven, a knight with increased muscle and bone density from extraordinary transformation.

Aiven guessed that reaching such size and strength might be the limit of a mortal creature. To truly break this limit, his witchcraft level needed to be elevated further, helping them achieve complete demonization.

Analogous to humans, it amounted to completing an extraordinary transformation into physical ferocity!

However, at that point, it would be uncertain how many of the initial ten Great Albatrosses would survive. Human extraordinary transformation comes with significant risks—how much more so for mere birds?

In the outside world, many seemingly stable demonized creature populations had survived "ferocity" transformations, but that was only due to nature's large foundation—not that they endure better than humans!

Except for the Black Feathered Frigatebird and the Great Albatross.

The most common White Seagull, as the main force of reconnaissance soldiers, hasn't undergone an external transformation. Its job nature is of course better the less conspicuous it is. Instead, its senses and environmental resilience have been further strengthened, with a relatively minor transformation.

The Needle-tailed Swift, small in size and swift in flight, has been modified to emphasize the strengthening of its wings and bones, making its body lighter and able to fly faster while maintaining overall coordination!

In fact, given Aiven's current knowledge base, a higher-intensity transformation can be applied to seabirds, but he intends to leave the greatest room for them to improve. When his own witchcraft level increases, they can continue to follow in his footsteps.

Now, Aiven's bird flock, after several reconstructions and supplements, has formed a reconnaissance team led by Needle-tailed Swifts and White Seagulls, an aerial combat squad led by Black Feathered Frigatebirds, and a somewhat unsatisfactory provisional mount, the Great Albatross.

However, Aiven doesn't plan to leave them idle. For the time being, he intends to use these large birds, with wingspans reaching seven meters and possessing all-weather flight capabilities, as large early-warning aircraft.

As a relay for Owl Bass, the existing reconnaissance radius can be greatly expanded.

After a series of updates and replacements, the reconnaissance radius of the seabirds has increased from an initial ten kilometers straight up to beyond fifty kilometers. As long as it's within this range, the reconnaissance network can ensure real-time transmission of pictures with no delay.

At this point, Aiven's seabird force has taken initial shape, using the battleship as a maritime platform, primarily for reconnaissance, and assisting in combat.

But just like a newly equipped unit, it requires subsequent training and integration to truly exert its combat power.

After returning to Gabred, this is exactly the work Aiven has been engaged in.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Steel" wingspan, already reaching five meters, easily maneuvered the turbulent air currents over the sea, as the three Black Feathered Frigatebirds formed a flight formation and flew over the Conch, shooting towards the distant sea.

Relying on the signal relay and augmentation from "Base Station" Bass and the "Early Warning Aircraft" Great Albatross, Aiven can not only passively receive the signals from the seabirds at the terminal, but also project a portion of his spiritual power in reverse to accurately control the seabirds' actions.

However, for a creature the size of the Black Feathered Frigatebird, three is already the limit. Any more would cause chaos, reducing rather than enhancing fighting strength.

Now, Aiven is ready to continue the training subject he has failed at many times: consciousness descent, controlling the enhanced body of the frigatebird with human consciousness to perform Extraordinary Swordsmanship!

This is also a reluctant alternative due to the lag in developing magic-like abilities.

Whoosh—

A frigatebird awkwardly flapped its wings, accelerating to the limit before diving towards the sea, its sharp beak piercing through the air like a sword, emitting a piercing screech.

But... it still failed.

If not for the timely reaction, quickly controlling it to climb, this poor "test subject" might have plunged into the sea.

It should be known that although the frigatebird is a seabird, its feathers are not waterproof and it completely can't swim, relying solely on robbing other birds for survival. If it had plunged into the sea just now, it would never have resurfaced.

"It seems that this vision is hard to realize. The foundation of Knight Swordsmanship lies in breathing techniques, but the body structure and breathing style of birds differ too greatly from humans. I was indeed somewhat unrealistic before.

To achieve that effect is tantamount to establishing a new cultivation system for bird creatures, already far beyond my ability.

In the end, it still falls on developing the magic-like abilities?"

Prepared psychologically for another experiment failure, Aiven wasn't particularly discouraged at this moment. Instead, he recorded the process of each of his experiments, temporarily archived them, and explored possibilities in another direction.

The consciousness guided the frigatebird flight formation, now somewhat distant from the Conch.

"Oh, there's a ship here? That emblem is... the White Egret Commerce Association?!"

From the frigatebird's aerial perspective, looking through clouds and smoke, two ships were sailing side by side on the blue sea. Yet clearly, they were not companions.

An armed merchant ship was flying sails bearing the emblem of the White Egret Commerce Association, while the other three-masted schooner flew the black sails exclusive to pirates.

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

From the high altitude, the continuous roar of gunfire could be heard, as the two parallel ships fired at each other while drawing closer, the sailors on both vessels sharpening their blades, preparing for the inevitable boarding fight.

However, seeing the armed merchant ship being plundered by pirates, Aiven had not the slightest thought of going up to help.

Because the "White Egret Commerce Association" is precisely the property of his enemy Earl Wright from the Ilya Kingdom!!!

Enemies cross paths!