Airship Hunters of the Steam Age

Gazing at the sea of ​​clouds, its surface a vibrant blue like an oil painting, the words "extraordinary" took on a concrete form before Luo Ya's eyes for the first time.

A triangular hyacinth whale, over fifty meters long and with a mouth diameter exceeding ten meters, was cleaved in two by a single sword strike...

The power of the extraordinary beings far exceeded Roya's imagination.

So much so that he instantly lost the will to escape.

Based on the sword energy just now, combined with the unique wind-controlling design of the steam-powered flying armor, it can be almost confirmed that the woman beside him is a superhuman who can control wind or air.

The instant his fingertips touched the wine bag, his consciousness instantly enveloped the entire bag via the mechanical connection.

This time, the Blood Spirit Essence of extraordinary talent was not tested.

It's just regular rum, not even worthy of being called craft beer.

Roya took the brown leather wine bag, but didn't drink any; his expression was quite arrogant.

"Even without your help, I could have escaped on my own."

Rather than feigning composure, it's more like a dead pig not afraid of boiling water; as long as the other party needs his abilities, he has room to bargain.

"The sky is right here, where can you run to?"

Wendell spoke calmly, his golden pupils, which had been churning like a furnace, gradually dimmed, turning into the golden hue of autumn wheat fields swaying in the wind.

The ground was occupied by gray fog and ferocious beasts. The sky islands were just isolated islands barely surviving. Larger sky islands even had conscription offices stationed there.

Except for the sky... Roya has nowhere to escape.

Wendell, however, was waiting for him in the sky.

"Your abilities are sufficient to rule the skies and hunt all spirits, so why wait for me?"

Wendell glanced at Roya and suddenly realized he might have scared him.

She swept her silver hair upwards, revealing a smooth, moon-like forehead and a neat hairline, with a faint dark red burn mark visible on her forehead.

"You're too weak, you see everyone as a god. The truth is quite the opposite, my supernatural abilities are very weak, and this is my first time being a hunter, which is why I need your mechanical talent."

Luo Ya then realized that he had been being watched all along.

"So, you brought the brindle whale here?"

Her silver eyebrows furrowed slightly, like frost on a mountain ridge.

Wendell doesn't remember having the ability to control beasts.

The original plan was to rescue Roya from the black sail of the conscription office, but Roya escaped.

Having finally caught a baleen whale, they quickly made their move to prevent Roya from escaping its jaws again.

As a result, her sword was two seconds too slow... and failed to save the person in time.

She regretted not being able to be Roya's savior, yet was also excited about underestimating Roya.

"You are more patient and decisive than you appear. In order to avoid killing me in the future, I should give you the power of choice."

Luo Ya was startled, thinking that the other party was testing him.

"Do I even have a choice?"

"No, but I can grant you one request."

"Any conditions are acceptable?"

"As long as it can be done, try to satisfy."

Luo Ya decided to first propose a condition that the other party was unlikely to agree to. After the other party refused, they would feel guilty. Then, he would propose the condition he really wanted, and the other party would most likely agree.

"Marry me... Can you do it? Considering the extremely high mortality rate of airship hunters, I don't want to end this miserable life as a virgin with regret."

Wendell stared at Roya, his golden pupils frozen, his silver brows furrowed, lost in thought for a long while.

"Change to another one."

The hesitation lasted so long that Roja almost thought Wendell was going to agree to marry him.

That's it.

If he had to be a dog, he would rather be a dog for his female boss who pays him a regular salary than a dog for his lover.

One can endure humiliation for money, but one cannot degrade oneself for love.

So he quickly proposed another condition:

"In that case, can you promise to save me immediately no matter what happens and ensure my safety?"

Wendell had already witnessed Roya's ability to escape and did not think Roya needed her protection.

"If you can stay on an island as a mechanic and ensure your safety, you won't run away."

If you are in real danger, I will do my best to save you, but I cannot guarantee your safety 100%.

You can change your terms.

Roya thought that made sense; if Wendell hadn't warned him in advance, he would have had a hard time escaping the conscription office's ground encirclement today.

Having been rejected twice in a row, Luo Ya revealed his true intentions and casually said:

"You keep promising to grant me a request, but then you refuse to do this or that. How can you manage a team like that? A man's word is his bond."

"Why don't you just let me be the captain!"

Wendell took a sip of his wine, his gaze unfocused, his posture relaxed, seemingly completely unconcerned.

"As long as you share the same goal as me, you are the captain."

Roya guessed that Wendell had a goal he was determined to achieve no matter what, so much so that he didn't care how to achieve it.

"Your goal is to reach the Eastern Dragon Kingdom?"

Wendell said calmly:

"That's right. But before that, we need to form a hunter team, join the Hunter Association, and head east to catch up with the Hunter Association's Dragon Seeker airship mothership."

Roya had heard of the Hunter Association, the organization that stood at the pinnacle of hunters, but he didn't know that there was also an airship mothership specifically for searching for dragons.

He suddenly felt a surge of anticipation for the so-called Eastern Dragon Kingdom.

"The goal and route are fine, but the title 'team leader' means you must always follow my orders... Can you do that?"

Wendell thought about it carefully and nodded with absolute certainty:

"Of course, you're from the East, so you must also want to go home."

Luo Ya turned his head to look at the profile of the man with stunning features, a cool and languid demeanor, and occasional scars.

I could vaguely sense a trace of a corrupted sacred aura.

He never expected that the woman, who was so powerful that she could cleave a triangular rainbow whale in two with a single sword strike, would be so easy to talk to.

With things having come to this point, Roya had no way out. He tilted his head back, took a sip of rum, and returned the rum bag.

"It's a pleasure working with you!"

Reaching out to grasp Wendell's armored right hand, he feigned transforming the unequal relationship between prisoner and captive into a equitable cooperation:

The instant Roya's palm touched Wendell's right hand armor, his consciousness instantly overwhelmed the details of the mechanisms inside the armor.

His eyes flickered.

This was actually a limiter that had been fused with Wendell's injured right hand, suppressing his extraordinary abilities!

In other words, Wendell's true hidden power far exceeds what he has actually seen.

Such a powerful individual easily relinquished command of the team...

It must be a test for him!

Luo Ya suddenly became serious, his tone extremely sincere:

"I, Luo, have wandered for half my life, only regretting that I have not met a wise ruler. Since we cannot be husband and wife, if you do not mind, I am willing to become your godmother!"

"ha?"

Wendell tilted his head.

Even though she was usually aloof, her extraordinary energy was burned out by Luo Ya.

She can't stop talking about women...

Wendell suddenly realized that the desire for intimacy might be a lingering effect of being betrayed by a woman, and comforted her:

Forget that woman. When you have the sky, your pain will turn into a gentle breeze.

Which woman?

Roya now only has Wendell in his eyes.

It took him a while to realize that Wendell was referring to his rumored ex-girlfriend, Cynthia.

"I can't forget how fragrant she was when she was ripe."

……

The Blue Dragonfly slowly emerged from the clouds.

Wendell's steam-powered flying armor followed closely behind, carrying the Triceratops whale's burning crystal, with two huge whale carcasses hanging from its feet.

It gives one a bewildering feeling, like a small horse pulling a large cart...

Roya glanced down.

I always felt that this silver steam-powered flying armor was too rudimentary.

With limited power and fuel, a semi-empty shell, and no differential engine control, how does it achieve unmanned heavy-duty transport?

Looking at Wendell's posture and expression, he did not use any extraordinary abilities in his starting stance, but maintained a cool and elegant demeanor throughout.

That's amazing!

Luo Ya thought to himself, even if he didn't manage to hook up with a rich woman, hooking up with a powerful goddess would be great too.

He suddenly felt that with the goddess's protection, being an airship hunter wasn't so bad.

Moreover, after witnessing Wendell's extraordinary power firsthand, Roya's extraordinary spirit was already burning fiercely.

He couldn't wait for his extraordinary talent to fully develop, and he was eager to awaken and become an extraordinary being!

If you want to awaken early, you can only use pheromone resources.

Thinking about it this way, he gradually became full of anticipation for Wendell's airship and hunter team.

After flying in the clouds for quite a while, Roya still hadn't seen Wendell's airship, and couldn't help but speak:

Where is your airship?

At that moment, Wendell was asleep in the passenger seat, his eyes slightly closed, and he only responded faintly:

"I'm waiting for you to assemble it."

Wait for me to assemble it...

Roya thought Wendell was dreaming.

"Wake up!"

Wendell fell silent, his face, white, delicate yet scarred, now radiant with a sacred and serene sleep.

Roya had a bad feeling.

Could this woman really be a hunter for the first time?

How can two people with zero experience form an aerial hunter team?

Fortunately, the burning crystals and carcass of the Triceratops can provide the new team with a considerable amount of start-up capital.

The issue is……

"The nearest sky island is a thousand kilometers away. Aren't you tired of controlling your flying mech to drag a whale carcass?"

"Roya muttered to himself."

I was startled awake from my deathbed dream!

Wendell suddenly opened his eyes wide, bloodshot, and spat out a mouthful of blood—

After vomiting, she fainted again.

No matter how much Roya pushed him, he wouldn't wake up.

Luo Ya was dumbfounded.

Is this woman putting on a brave face even when she's not?

Or is it that you're short on chakra like Itachi Uchiha?

Or is he suffering from a serious illness?

Very strong.

However, the battery life is poor, resulting in severe backlash.

Like strong.

No wonder she said she wasn't strong before and easily gave up the captain's position.

Luo Ya glanced at the steam-powered flying armor below.

Losing Wendell's control, it is in free fall...

"It's over."

Luo Ya regretted agreeing too soon.

He nudged Wendell's shoulder again, but there was no reaction.

Are we going to run away?

If I leave her behind... will she be eliminated immediately upon landing?

If I'm not dead, will they hunt me down?

Watching the slowly falling whale carcass and burning crystals, Luo Ya suddenly realized that it was a huge sum of money.

"Because I'm the captain!"

After a brief internal struggle, Roya decided to clean up Wendell's mess.

Piloting the Blue Dragonfly, they swooped down and quickly caught up with the steam-powered flying armor.

"Activate autopilot and follow the silver steam-powered flying armor below in parallel, maintaining a distance of one meter."

After giving the voice control command to the Blue Dragonfly, Luo Ya unbuckled the omnidirectional seatbelt.

He stood up and jumped from the cockpit of the ornithopter onto the shoulder of the flying armor!

"call……"

Overcoming his fear of heights and securing his footing, Luo Ya quickly gained control of the flying armor.

He immediately took the dark blue burning crystal from Fei Jia's hand and put it back into his arms.

This was the first time Luo Ya had ever seen such a huge burning crystal.

It is similar in size and shape to a watermelon, but is significantly heavier.

The surface is covered with fascia, and blood and qi are dissipating, making it somewhat hot to the touch.

"This thing is a treasure!"

Burning Crystals are highly concentrated pools of the blood and energy of Burning Beasts, and their value exceeds that of the rest of the Burning Beasts combined.

Luo Ya immediately put the burning crystal into his backpack to reduce the loss of surface blood vapor.

Then, he climbed into the open cockpit of the flying mech.

With the armor in a stable flying posture, attempt to take flight.

In an instant, steam roared and thick smoke billowed...

It significantly reduced the speed at which the flying armor was falling.

But it didn't take off completely.

Theoretically, a steam-powered flying armor is a large wearable device with its own auxiliary power and weapons. It is highly mobile, adept at combat and high-speed flight, but not good at carrying heavy loads.

Previously, the flying armor was able to lift the heavy whale carcass entirely thanks to Wendell's extraordinary abilities.

"The Triangular Rainbow Whale is a flying beast. Its body was cleaved in two by a single sword strike, causing its blood and energy to leak out, which is why it is so heavy. If the sword energy pierces through the whale's head, the flying armor can easily handle it."

From this, Roya deduced that Wendell was not a qualified hunter and was likely an amateur.

Since things had come to this, Roya had no choice but to collect the whale's corpse because of Wendell's pretentious behavior.

"If the two pieces of whale carcass are sewn together with a rope, the stench from the carcass blood will be trapped inside the carcass, generating buoyancy as much as possible and reducing the load on the ornithopter."

With a burst of inspiration, Roya immediately took action.

He controlled the steam-powered flying armor, attaching the two heavy iron hooks from which the whale carcass was hanging at his feet to the underside of the Blue Dragonfly.

Then, the Blue Dragonfly was slowed down, its torque was increased, and the vertical load-bearing mode was activated.

He then controlled the flying armor to use the steam sword to hook a rein, attempting to sew the two pieces of whale carcass back together...

The difficulty of sewing the corpse with flying armor exceeded Roya's expectations.

At the same time, he also had to constantly deal with attacks from birds.

After half an hour.

Luo Ya wiped the sweat from his forehead that hadn't had time to dry.

The Blue Dragonfly emerged from the sea of ​​clouds once more and soared into the blue sky.

Wendell was fast asleep in the passenger seat.

The tail of the aircraft used an iron hook to drag the stitched-up giant whale carcass.

The simply stitched-up whale carcass was still leaking air.

Its size has shrunk by half.

However, the blood and qi inside the corpse continued to evaporate, forming a delicate balance, which caused the whale carcass to swell up.

The bloated whale carcass not only provides sufficient buoyancy, but also generates additional lift during high-speed flight.

So much so that when Roya piloted his steam-powered flying armor and followed behind the whale carcass, he did not provide any thrust to help him fly.

Luo Ya breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking at the whale carcass conquered by the ornithopter and the reins, a sense of accomplishment he had never imagined welled up within him.

That's when I realized that maybe...

I truly belong to the sky.

Roya checked the standard fuel crystal reserves in his baggage. With the current energy consumption of the Blue Dragonfly and the steam-powered flying armor, it was enough to reach five or six floating islands within a range of two thousand kilometers.

So they immediately changed course and flew towards the Burning Spirit Market, located 1,600 kilometers to the east.

Blue Mist Town.

……

In Wendell's dream.

The silvery holy light enveloped the boundless sea, but was blocked by the mist rising from the surface.

A dark, alluring female voice came from the depths of my heart:

"The legendary North Wind Saintess has fallen so low. Take off your armor, Wendell, and you will regain your former glory."

Immediately, a tall woman with a naked deer's body, entangled by black mist, red snakes, and purple flowers, gradually materialized from the depths of the nightmare into a bewitching figure.

Her features were blurry, but one could see a pair of beautiful eyes that were like deep pools, unfathomable, with flowers of intricate beauty, ever-changing and stained with blood gathered in the center of her pupils.

It makes one feel as if they've fallen into an abyss at first glance, suddenly losing their soul, yet becoming so engrossed that they can't extricate themselves.

Wendell was indifferent.

Even in his dreams, his tone remained aloof.

"I am a woman; seduction is useless against me."

"As powerful as you are, can you remain mediocre forever? Every time you use your power, your sacred body slides one step closer to the abyss, until it falls into the abyss, is possessed by my demonic soul, and transforms into a demon. A saintess fallen into demonhood, what a beautiful sight..."

I will conquer everything again with your body!

"I'll say the same to you: your demonic body is being purified and possessed by my holy soul. A witch purified by holy light will only become more sacred, and I will use your body to purify the world."

Besides, you've already lost your freedom while trapped in the Saintess Palace.

And I possess the sky.

The witch's phantom gradually twisted, laughing uncontrollably.

"Hahaha, don't forget, this body of yours now belongs to me, and I am the one who owns the sky!"

You alone can never suppress me.

The mechanic you sought help from is just a lonely young man; a man who craves intimacy will only push you into the abyss.

Wendell floated on the edge of the whirlpool, murmuring as he drifted off to sleep.

"He's different."