BXBX NOVEL Chapter 216 - 154 Trap_2
After changing the subject and chatting for a bit, the shock brought by the sudden encounter was somewhat soothed. Lightning then asked, “Where are we going now? Are we going back down?”
Ange shook his head, “No, we’re going back to get more people.”
They returned to the Oasis, stowed the Purple Skeleton Titans away in the Resting Palace, called for the Bone Dragon, and by nightfall, they quietly flew back over Dark City, disappearing into the cloud cover.
“You think you’re the only ones who can ambush? We can too,” mumbled Negris.
Purple Corpse held two spears, riding atop the bone dragon, Rogge stood holding twin blades at the Dragon’s Head, while Ange and his four knights quietly hid in the clouds, riding on Lightning’s back.
Early the next morning, the routine patrol began again, with Goblin Marcus controlling the Goblin Airship, slowly making its way through the clouds.
The Goblin Airship was just a floating vessel, with a large balloon on its back and a cabin suspended underneath. Despite its size, its load capacity is shockingly small.
For such a fifty by thirty-foot Goblin Airship, it had a maximum passenger capacity of just twelve, with one crossbow, two Wind-type engines, a turbulence Array situated at the front, capable of reaching top speeds of three hundred kilometers per hour at full speed.
Under normal circumstances, a patrol airship would carry four Holy Spirit Angels and eight crew members. Apart from him and the vice-captain, the rest of the crew members had one sole task – to handle the Holy Spirit Angels properly.
Ah, speaking about it just brings tears. Just yesterday, he had lost a Holy Spirit Angel during the patrol. Fortunately, they had retrieved the angel’s body later, albeit a little damaged, and would require significant efforts to repair before it could be used again.
He reported the incident, expecting to be criticized, but it didn’t come. After he described the enemy’s characteristics, everything went quiet from above. There were no criticisms, no chastising, but also no rewards. It was as if nothing had happened, and they were assigned to continue patrolling the next day.
Marcus suspected that the higher-ups probably knew the origins of these enemies.
Today, none of the four Holy Spirit Angels that were supposed to be fully staffed were present, which was a relief to Marcus. He felt that these Angels weren’t of much use and were quite troublesome. Once released, they acted like a leashless stray dog and were difficult to control.
He was always on tenterhooks whenever the Holy Spirit Angels were let out. As for what they did, what purpose could they serve?
Dark City had been occupied for hundreds of years, and still, it couldn’t be totally cleared, with trade caravans going in and out from time to time. The flags they displayed bore special symbols which meant “Don’t see me”!
Marcus felt that the Silver Knights and Dark City had developed an amicable arrangement with its own set of rules, there was no need for these Holy Spirit Angels at all.
Having realised this, Marcus turned a blind eye to some irregularities, just following orders from his superiors.
Another captain who came with him at the same time didn’t. Quietly confessing some things to Marcus, he expressed righteously that he wanted to report these irregularities. Marcus ignored him, and not long after, that captain disappeared.
Currently, the Silver Knights had two Goblin Airships. But only his could ascend, and still, on the airship, there was a human vice captain who was being trained to pilot the other Goblin Airship, but he could never pass the training.
Marcus claimed that humans were not suitable for piloting Goblin Airships. Because of their physiological make-up, humans were not sensitive to air pressure and could not sense changes in altitude, thus prone to crashes. This was one reason, but more notably, Marcus had his ulterior motives.
“Only a fool would seriously train the vice captain, what do I do if he replaces me?” Marcus mumbled.
Just then, Marcus noticed a sudden change in the airflow, sharply looking up, he felt something flying over the airship.
Due to their physical structure, Goblins were sensitive to changes in air pressure and currents. With a little training, they could accurately sense changes in air pressure, as if they had a built-in altimeter and barometer.
Goblins not just piloted the Goblin Airships because they invented them, but also because 98% of airships were piloted by Goblins.
And now, he felt a change in the airflow, something was flying above the airship, and it was not small.
However, it was blocked by the large gas bag of the airship. Marcus couldn’t see what it was, but his hand was already on the accelerator. If he pushed it all the way forward, the wind engine would engage at full speed, leaving the enemy behind him.
“Hey, over here.” Marcus’s attention was concentrated on the top of the airship, but a voice came from the left side of the airship.
Turning his head, he saw the unicorn from yesterday flying at the same height as his airship, keeping pace. Aboard it were three ‘people’ and a dragon. The dragon waved its little claws at him in greeting.
“Enemy Attack!” Marcus yelled, his hand ready to push the accelerator forward. Just as he applied pressure, he felt an intense pain. The Shadow Blade was lying in front of his hand, and the harder he pushed, the deeper it cut.
Rogge slowly materialized, shadow-like face with only thin slits for eyes and mouth. His mouth slot curved upwards in a mocking smile: “I thought I could slice some Holy Spirits, but there aren’t any. Every time my men land, they’re easily chased down. Turns out you’ve been causing all this. So, do you want me to kill you directly, or are you gonna surrender first?”
Shivering, Marcus said, “Surr… surrender… and die?”
“Oh, surrendering before dying allows reincarnation. Direct killing does not, without erasing your memories, like them.” Rogge said, pointing in all directions where the sailors were slumped over, apparently killed without anyone noticing.
Frankly, it was quite demeaning for Rogge, a royal Black Warrior, to be tasked with assassinating ordinary people.
“If I die, the airship won’t be controlled. Reincarnation is impossible as I will lose my ability to sense air pressure and currents. Do you need a worthless dead goblin?” Despite trembling all over, Marcus spoke clearly and logically, leaving Rogge confused.
“My Lord!” Unable to make a decision, Rogge simply passed the buck to Negris.
Negris said to Ange, “Don’t come over,” and then fluttered over to Marcus, asking, “How do you assure us of your loyalty?”
“I can’t guarantee that. I was severely injured. After I recover, I need to take medicines supplied by the church regularly to suppress my injury. Otherwise, I will suffer from itchiness and ulceration all over my body. Just kill me,” Marcus shivered slightly, seemingly resigned to his fate as he remembered the agony of his wounds.
“Uh, the medicine you say, it’s not this, is it?” Negris pulled out medicine for treating Corrosion Scar.
All of a sudden, Rogge appeared from a crack in the deck, “Lord Nage, come down and take a look.”
Once inside the cabin, they saw a strange iron sphere with a diameter of about one meter, inscribed with complex magic patterns.
Upon seeing it, Negris felt his legs give out: “A Disintegration Formation?!”
The magic pattern inscribed on the iron sphere was a disintegration formation for demon crystal. It was a device capable of instantly shattering a demon crystal and releasing all of its energy, a Magic Crystal Bomb in simple terms.
Negris quickly jumped on the formation, operating the controls like mad, and finally disarmed the Disintegration Formation. The iron sphere clanged open to reveal a bundle of magic crystals inside that were eerily similar to the shells of the Magic Egg Cannon.
No wonder there wasn’t a single Holy Spirit on the airship. Was it a trap? Fortunately, he had taken precautions and let Rogge, the Black Warrior, go ahead to quietly eliminate everyone. If Ange and the others had boarded the airship and triggered the formation, they would’ve all died together.
Even half of Brooks’s body could probably be blown up by the power of this Disintegration Formation.
He dragged Marcus over and showed him the sphere. Marcus’s face instantly turned white: “When was this brought up? Was it when I went to report yesterday? Was it the deputy captain? No wonder he kept stalling me, not letting me check inside, no wonder not a single Holy Spirit Angel came up, no wonder ….”
Taking advantage of the situation, Negris pulled out the Corrosion Scar medicine and allowed Ange to perform some ‘miracles’. Marcus’s angry curses echoed across the airship: “Church of Light, I %#+! Silver Knights, I %#+!”
+1 Goblin Airship.
In the evening, the goblin airship swayed leisurely as it returned to the Silver Knights’ base. Everyone noticed the airship but paid it no mind, let alone intercepting it. It flew relatively high until it was directly above the high-ranking members of the Knights’ base and dropped an iron ball.