Airship Hunters of the Steam Age

In a corner of the open-air tavern, a soprano voice was still singing from a mechanical record.

In front of the rows of machine repair benches, the sounds of parts being hammered, steam humming, and loud talking filled the air.

The hunters drank, ate, and supervised their work; no one heard the crackling sound from the furnace at the back door of the tavern.

Until one sound—

boom!

The hunters all turned to look east.

East of the Sky Island in Sweet Wine Town.

Cliffs below ground level.

The side door of the underground hangar of the Distillery Tavern.

It was blasted open by a single shot!

A sky-blue humanoid armored vehicle leaped out from the huge, open iron gate.

Deploy the main exhaust vent on its back in mid-air!

It quickly stabilized its armor posture, then changed direction, flying at top speed towards the back door of the tavern.

The back door of the tavern.

The powerful gentleman was shrouded in ever-spreading steam, appearing indistinct and shadowy, like a corpse monster.

suddenly!

A blue figure plummeted rapidly in an arc.

Yet it landed lightly on its feet, without stirring up a speck of dust.

Only the towering column of steam dispersed.

The blue dragonfly landed gracefully.

As soon as it landed, it automatically opened its cramped chest cavity, grabbed Luo Ya, and stuffed him whole into the cockpit.

"Damn it, can't you be a little gentler?!"

Luo Ya was thoroughly exhausted and couldn't help but grumble and complain.

The computing power of civilian differential engines is still too small to perform fine movements; the limit is that they can fit a person into the cockpit.

After being forced into the driver's seat by his own armored vehicle, Roya grumbled as he adjusted his posture, taking several tens of seconds to get into the driver's seat and secure the four intersecting omnidirectional seat belts.

The Blue Dragonfly Armor is 3.3 meters tall and has the same headless design, but it is much slimmer and more agile than the Mighty Gentleman.

However, the machine body is made of spliced ​​second-hand wood grain steel, and the machine guns, steam blades and flamethrowers it carries are all common products, resulting in only average attack and defense capabilities.

The advantage is that the limbs are driven independently by multiple links, which can achieve precise movements and combat postures.

In addition, the armor is equipped with a micro differential machine with a dot matrix algorithm, which enables unmanned driving and combat.

The cost of a miniature differential engine accounts for 80% of the entire armor.

All the money Luo Ya earned over the three years he traveled through time was invested in this difference engine.

Oliver and Cynthia, however, knew nothing of this.

Even so, the computing power of this difference machine is still less than that of a little genius watch from my previous life, and its combat power is insufficient.

Only after his body was completely secured in the driver's seat did Luo Ya feel a sense of security.

Although he can freely control the armor's flight and combat with just physical contact.

However, if you are fixed in a driver's seat with omnidirectional shock absorption, you will at least not be killed by the shock during combat.

"Phew... Time to go!"

Roya was about to take off—

Suddenly, a huge black shadow fell from the sky.

With a loud bang!

It kicked up a cloud of dust.

Five streams of steam were ejected.

It stood between the blue dragonfly and the mighty gentleman.

It was Oliver himself who piloted the Distillery Tavern's prized war machine, a five-meter-tall black armored vehicle—

Death barrel.

Upon seeing the powerful gentleman who had exploded in the oven, Oliver in the cockpit instantly lost his composure and screamed uncontrollably:

"Cynthia, Mr. Koch!"

Even so, for his own safety, he did not immediately rescue the person, but instead kept his eyes fixed on the unfamiliar armor in front of him.

A familiar blue paint job...

Oliver suddenly looked shocked:

"You...you're Roya!"

Faced with the death barrel, Roya did not make any rash moves.

He knows the Death Barrel all too well!

I even drove it myself once...

The Death Barrel is a bloated humanoid armor, 5.2 meters tall, with a giant ape skull atop its barrel-shaped torso.

The inside of the skull is the vent.

The steam emitted from the five orifices of the skull served both to intimidate enemies and to protect the exhaust vents from attack.

Its steam boiler has ten times the power of the Blue Dragonfly, and its outer shell is made of thick, refined iron. It is equipped with more than ten kinds of light and heavy weapons, including heavy cannons, fire wheel cannons, chainsaws, and harpoon cannons.

It's practically a heavily armed arsenal!

With the Death Barrel guarding the Distillery Tavern, those ill-intentioned Skyhunter squads will choose to detour.

But at this moment, the blue dragonfly has no chance to go around it.

If they try to escape by ejection, they will be hit by the anti-aircraft beer cannons of the Death Barrel within 100 meters, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft and the death of the crew!

In a head-on battle, the Blue Dragonfly would be unable to break through the Death Barrel's defenses, only wasting time. By the time the Recruiting Bureau's airship arrived, it would be even more difficult for Roya to escape.

Roya felt the intimidating power of the Death Barrel.

"Mr. Oliver, the Mighty Gentleman has malfunctioned. I suggest you rescue Cynthia first. Don't worry about me. I will take the Blue Dragonfly to the conscription office myself."

Oliver, having discovered the value of the Blue Dragonfly's transformation and voice control, suddenly became incredibly calm and said in a deep voice:

"You think I'd fall for that?!"

Immediately, the Death Barrel activated its steam chainsaw.

The roaring chainsaw swung from the side of the armored vehicle behind it, creating a deadly arc.

click-

The upper part of the cockpit of the Mighty Gentleman was instantly sliced ​​open and flattened by a high-speed chainsaw.

Like lifting a pot lid, the billowing steam slowly dissipates.

Although Cynthia and Koch in the cockpit were not quite dead yet, still clinging to life, their bodies were already emitting a savory aroma of meat.

"Oh, poor Cynthia..."

Oliver roared, his eyes red:

"I'm going to kill you!"

"What, you're going to kill the soldiers of the First Mechanical Legion?"

Luo Ya had barely finished speaking.

Whoosh!

A harpoon cannon shot out from the waist of the Death Barrel and aimed at the Blue Dragonfly.

The tip of the harpoon cannon is a trident with a hook, and the projectile behind it is a compressed golden spider web.

Once it explodes, the spider web will instantly wrap around the limbs of the armored or burning beast, binding the exhaust port or cannon barrel.

Luo Ya dared not be careless.

The blue dragonfly dodged the moment the harpoon cannon's launcher locked onto it.

He launched himself forward and landed beside the Death Barrel!

Roya had refrained from making any proactive move precisely because he was waiting for this moment.

Compared to the Death Barrel, the Blue Dragonfly's only advantage is its mobility.

With Roya's thoughts acting as the differential engine and control linkage, much like the spinal cord of a vertebrate is to the ganglia of a crustacean, the mobility is a devastating blow to ordinary steam-powered mechs.

Moreover, Roya's "mechanical connection" has no fixed boundaries and will only weaken rapidly as the distance or spacer increases.

Roya's body can connect to both armor and air.

When connected to the air, it can detect the air disturbances caused by the enemy armor activating its weapons and adjusting its firing direction at close range.

The blue dragonfly can therefore make an evasive maneuver in advance!

Blue Dragonfly leaped to the side of the Death Barrel and drew its steam blade ahead of time.

chap——

With a single stroke, he severed the harpoon cannon's firing tube and tow rope.

Death Barrel then slowly turned around.

He swung the chainsaw sideways and slashed at the upper part of the Blue Dragonfly's cockpit.

Clearly, Oliver had realized that Roya was far more valuable than Blue Dragonfly and wanted to capture him alive.

The blue dragonfly crouched down, avoiding the chainsaw.

Taking advantage of the momentum from Death Barrel swinging the chainsaw sideways, he kicked Death Barrel in the ankle, tripping him.

Oliver tried his best to pull back the center of gravity, but because the chainsaw could not be retracted in time, it occupied 60% of the boiler's output power, making it difficult for the counterweight gyroscope to start.

"Damn it..."

The Death Barrel lost its balance and crashed to the ground!

Real mecha battles are just this simple and unpretentious.

Even so, the Blue Dragonfly was still unable to break through the Death Barrel's defenses in a short time.

Luo Ya only wanted to escape and didn't have time to get entangled anymore.

Blue Dragonfly, wielding a steam-powered knife, plunged it into the muzzle of the Death Barrel's shoulder-mounted cannon.

This is the rapid-fire muzzle of the beer cannon, capable of quickly unleashing a barrage of explosive projectiles.

Blue Dragonfly's slash precisely destroyed the inner tube launcher of the beer cannon, rendering it unable to fire and making it difficult to pursue and shoot Blue Dragonfly.

Luo Ya stopped arguing, piloted the Blue Dragonfly, and leaped off the cliff.

It switched to an ornithopter mid-air and sped off into the blind spot below the sky island, disappearing into the vast sea of ​​clouds in the blink of an eye.

"call……"

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief.

The blue dragonfly's maneuverability far exceeded his expectations!

Roya was hiding his true abilities very well...

If it were a fight to the death, he would likely lose to Roya today.

Fortunately, the conscription office's airship was arriving soon, and Roya had no choice but to flee.

Seeing that he couldn't catch up with the Blue Dragonfly, Oliver immediately sent a carrier pigeon to notify the conscription office, informing them of the Blue Dragonfly's appearance, cloud trail characteristics, and possible destination.

Then, Death Barrel ejected and pulled Cynthia and Koch out of the Mighty Gentleman's open cockpit.

Oliver stepped out of the cockpit, his eyes glazed over, as if he had lost his soul.

Holding his pregnant daughter, her beautiful, rosy face showed no signs of life.

"Cynthia, my Cynthia!"

Oliver's cries were heart-wrenching, echoing through the heavens and earth, moving the very soul.

Until they were covered by intense artillery fire...

There was no more crying.

The Blue Dragonfly, returning with good intentions, helped Oliver resolve his grief over the loss of his daughter once and for all.

Then he turned and left.

……

Ten minutes later.

After piloting the Blue Dragonfly dozens of miles away from the Sweet Wine Town Sky Island, Roya emerged from the relatively dangerous clouds.

The sea of ​​clouds in the steam age consisted not only of clouds and fog, but also of accumulated polluted steam, floating airship sails, burning animal feathers, and bursting fish bladders.

There were even live cloud algae.

And the enormous black shadow lurking deep within the sea of ​​clouds, ambushing passing airships...

The vast sea of ​​clouds was like a murky gray fog.

It surged like waves, with unpredictable and ever-changing clouds, making it appear exceptionally mysterious and dangerous.

The Blue Dragonfly flew high, far from the sea of ​​clouds.

It left a long trail of steam...

The Blue Dragonfly flapping-wing aircraft is five meters long, with a four-wing biomimetic structure, an open cabin, and is equipped with ejection airbags.

The exhaust port is located at the rear, the machine gun and flamethrower are integrated in the abdomen, and the steam knife is folded diagonally on the spine.

Wearing goggles, a windproof vest and a vest with an airbag, Luo Ya was secured to the driver's seat with an all-around seatbelt.

He doesn't have much of an adventurous spirit; as long as it's safe, that's all that matters.

Even the ornithopter's paint scheme uses blue, the color best suited for stealth in the air.

Although, Roja liked bright red.

At this moment, the Blue Dragonfly is flying at full speed to Windmill Town, three thousand kilometers to the north.

He planned to seek refuge with Ms. Aurora, who had been widowed for many years, and continue his lazy, unproductive career as a mechanic.

Sixteen months ago, Ms. Aurora, who was nearly fifty but still had a charming appearance, extended an olive branch, inviting him to work as a mechanic at the Tulip Tavern.

He chose Cynthia, a wealthy young woman who loved mechanics.

How foolish!

"If Oliver had disregarded Cynthia's life and tried to kill me from the start, the Death Barrel could have bombarded the area before it even hit the ground, and I might have already been killed in the crash."

Thinking about it this way, Luo Ya felt a chill of fear.

Checking the remaining fuel in my baggage and the ornithopter's fuel tank, I found it was over ten liters, enough to get to Windmill Town.

"Next, considering that I might be wanted by the Mayman County Recruiting Office, it would be best to have a mask made of octopus skin made, change my name, and go to the Tulip Tavern with a new identity."

For the next floating island, I still need to find out all the armor in the tavern beforehand, and it would be best to tamper with the difference machine...

suddenly!

A long-range harpoon cannon shot out from the clouds.

Shoot at Blue Dragonfly!

Then, the second, the third, the fourth...

A dense barrage of artillery fire was formed high in the sky.

A massive airship slowly emerged from the clouds.

It was a black-sailed airship, about 100 meters long.

"Damn it...it's a conscription airship!"

The Blue Dragonfly made an emergency maneuver, rolling, turning sharply, and flying backward, weaving and dodging through the dense barrage of harpoon cannons.

Suddenly, it ascended sharply, circled briefly in the sky, then turned and flew downwards, disappearing into the vast sea of ​​clouds.

This move was to avoid being pursued by multiple high-speed ornithopter aircraft.

As expected, the Black Sail Airship successively released two black ornithopter aircraft and two steam-powered flying armors, chasing after the Blue Dragonfly and disappearing into the clouds.

Above the blue sky, the Blue Dragonfly's disadvantages in firepower, armor, and speed will be magnified infinitely.

But in the murky, churning sea of ​​clouds, visibility was less than 500 meters, which was Roya's home turf.

Roya is most skilled at flying.

Or rather, his hand-crafted Blue Dragonfly, just like a real dragonfly, was born to fly.

The aircraft has four thin, scale-like wings, controlled by four independent small sub-furnaces, making it a true four-wheel drive.

It has a pair of mechanical compound eyes on its head, which integrate 24 tracking cameras and are controlled by a central differential machine to simulate the 30,000 ommatidia in the dragonfly's compound eyes.

In addition, the mechanical connection of the Roya allows for easy control.

This allows for hovering, braking, inverted flight, catapult takeoff, large-angle maneuvering, and quick turns and maneuvers, all at will.

Limited by the small output power of the steam boiler, the Blue Dragonfly's top speed is not fast, but its maneuverability is a game-changer compared to ordinary steam-powered aircraft.

In the eyes of the Blue Dragonfly, watching ordinary ornithopter planes and steam-powered flying armor is like watching a slow-motion special effect.

In the clouds.

The intense artillery fire exploded like fireworks.

The Blue Dragonfly circled around like it was walking a dog, accompanied by two black ornithopters and two black mechs.

Three minutes later.

The Blue Dragonfly suddenly flew backwards and plummeted.

With a loud bang!

The black ornithopter, which was chasing the Blue Dragonfly from two directions, was unable to avoid a collision in the clouds.

The two flapping-wing aircraft quickly disintegrated.

Two spherical airbags then deployed, enveloping the two pilots and lifting them out of the clouds to await airship rescue.

Five minutes later.

The Blue Dragonfly suddenly turned sharply and flew backward, raising the steam blades folded on its back.

click-

A mid-air slide tackle!

It sliced ​​through the wing of the high-speed pursuing steam-powered flying armor.

The flying armor disintegrated in mid-air...

The driver ejected and was encased in a spherical airbag.

Upon witnessing this incredible scene up close, another ambushing steam-powered mech abandoned its attack and quickly withdrew from the battlefield.

The pilot, who had returned to the Black Sail airship, was deathly pale. His eyes, hidden behind his goggles, had lost their luster due to extreme terror.

"Monster! That dragonfly-winged aircraft is a monster!"

"Idiot, only monsters are valuable... Go after them!"

Fun fact from Roya's past life: Dragonflies are the most efficient hunters, bar none.

The same applies to the Blue Dragonfly.

Luo Ya strode away, disappearing into the vast sea of ​​clouds.

Having flown hundreds of miles, the blue dragonfly was about to emerge from the sea of ​​clouds.

suddenly!

Below the clouds, a giant rainbow whale, which had been lying in ambush for a long time, charged upwards, opened its blood-red maw, and swallowed the Blue Dragonfly.

The mist being siphoned from his mouth formed a huge vortex.

"Damn it, how could there be such a monster in the nearby airspace?"

The tail of the Blue Dragonfly glides toward the center of the vortex.

boom!

The steam outlet bursts forward, instantly releasing all the steam inside the furnace.

The aircraft was ejected and flew backward, somersaulting as it flew out of the whale's mouth, quickly creating a distance of 100 meters.

Just then—

A sword arc shot into the sky!

The resulting shockwave instantly capsized the Blue Dragonfly.

A long, drawn-out cry of sword energy.

The clouds parted.

Before the giant rainbow whale could close its massive jaws, its body and mouth were split in two, never to be closed again.

The blue blood, like splashed ink, stained the clouds.

Golden beams of light pierced through the clouds, adding a touch of brilliance to the blue canvas.

The wind stopped.

Luo Ya felt extremely uncomfortable, and his eyes lost their sparkle.

A tall, agile woman with a sword and gun at her waist sat in the narrow co-pilot's seat of the Blue Dragonfly, her cascading silver hair fluttering in the wind.

The golden pupils reflected the blue dragonfly's dial.

"I've seen countless amazing steam-powered aircraft, but this dragonfly cobbled together from junk is the best flapping-wing aircraft I've ever seen."

North Wendell tilted her head back and took a swig of rum, then handed her rum bag to Roya, who was sitting next to her in the driver's seat.

"...We meet again, Mr. Mechanic."