Chapter 49: 48. The Promise to Become Stronger

48. The Promise to Become Stronger

Blocking a shipping lane is a serious illegal act.

Shipping lanes are very important existences. When Li Ang first arrived in Newbis, he didn't understand: the sky should be unobstructed, so why would shipping lanes exist? What were the standards for the division of airspaces?

It wasn't until his first time taking an airship across airspaces that he understood that because this world is full of magic, there are many situations that defy common sense.

Between airspaces, there are strong vertical turbulent airflows. They are enough to blow over all airships and roll them and the passengers on board toward the Scarlet Earth.

These airflows are called "Airspace Wind Walls." Visually, they are like substantial, translucent high walls connecting the sky-blue dome to the blood-colored earth.

If the Island Core World is the ultimate manifestation of the influence of Earth Element Spirits on the material world, then the Airspace Wind Wall is the masterpiece of Wind Element Spirits.

The so-called shipping lanes are the holes in the middle of the wind walls. The airflow here passes horizontally through two airspaces, and airships can pass through by riding the wind. Many routes are also determined by the aerial airflows formed under the influence of Wind Element Spirits, which is quite similar to ocean currents on Earth.

Now, traffic between central airspaces is frequent, and blocking the shipping lane will involve many things and cause huge economic losses.

Having decided to capture the opponent's leader with Lancelot, the two had to make pre-battle preparations.

Lancelot called over the ordinary Order Sky Knights who were patrolling with him, letting the four of them take over the ship of soldiers Li Ang brought, and get ready to take them to the Order Hall together after taking down the blocking forces.

Li Ang returned to Zoe and Eden.

While chatting with Lancelot, Zoe hadn't run off. She had been listening quietly, and Li Ang had met her faint, lingering gaze several times.

She couldn't participate in what they were talking about at all. She had been tapping her feet rhythmically, much like a kitten that couldn't find a target for the moment and was lying on the ground tapping the floor with its tail.

Besides listening to all of Li Ang's words, the rest of her attention was given to the small airship Lancelot had flown over.

Its appearance was just a cockpit with glass in the front, equipped with internal combustion engine thrusters, suspension airbags, wings, and a tail rudder. Of course, its power didn't just come from the fuel engine, but also from engraved wind magic arrays. The higher the level of the airship, the better the effect of the magic array. Lancelot's ship was decent.

"Do you want to try flying it?"

Li Ang's question made Zoe's eyes light up immediately. After getting permission, she couldn't wait to enter the cabin. She pressed the mechanism to open the cabin at the first opportunity; clearly, it was an answer she had obtained after observing for a long time.

There were two seats in the small ship, which was the standard configuration. A larger one could reach up to five, but since they were already flying a small ship, people generally wouldn't go buy a large one.

Guiding Zoe to the pilot's seat, Li Ang pointed out what each place was used for.

Just like children going to an amusement park don't need to think much to understand how to drive bumper cars and go-karts, driving this interesting thing was as simple as instinct for someone who liked it.

"Actually, a small airship is simpler to fly than a car because its balance is already adjusted. You only need to understand altitude and direction control to soar freely. This is the cruise lock; align the forward direction, pull it down, and you can let it move forward at a constant speed by itself. You'll be responsible for enjoying the scenery in the sky."

"This is the air map. If you don't understand it, you can ask Ms. Eden."

The beast-eared beauty nodded from the side: "Over the years, I have learned a thing or two about the techniques of piloting airships."

Li Ang discovered that as he spoke, the young girl's attention was no longer on the driving matters, but was staring at his face.

She realized something with her keen intuition.

"The upcoming battle is very dangerous. I can't participate at all, right?"

"Yeah."

Li Ang's answer was very firm.

Facing the ordinary imperial army earlier, as long as there wasn't that kind of eerie black lightning, Zoe could handle it completely.

But the one they were about to face, although Li Ang knew his weaknesses and understood that most of this person's strength came from hardware matching, the gap in realm was like a chasm. Even though Zoe now had a Transcendent-rank material shield relying on the Earth Star Soul, it was still very dangerous to be caught in the crossfire.

"Later, the decks of nearby ships might become a battlefield, so I need you to fly this small ship and hide further away."

There were many eyes and ears around, and if Eden revealed her giant wolf form, many things would be hard to explain, so Li Ang borrowed this small ship from Lancelot.

The young girl sat very quietly: "I can tell at a glance that the bad guy leading the other side is very powerful. I really want to help you, but I know I'm not enough yet."

She looked at her palm, and golden light emerged, quickly creating a mass of earth elements.

"Look, my mastery of spells has improved again. I don't want to just watch; I really want to help, so I asked Sister Eden to teach me how to control my power again."

Li Ang smiled at her, and the young girl continued: "I have also been communicating with Xiao An, and she and I have both felt more power."

"But just this little effort isn't enough, right?"

The young girl's voice became thin and trembling at the end, and her eyes turned red all of a sudden.

Li Ang noticed that there was a hint of exhaustion hidden between the young girl's brows.

Chasing and fleeing all the way, she hadn't had a chance to sleep. Even at the most energetic age, she hadn't just spent this time; she had also been worried and afraid, so she would be very tired. But she still used the gaps in time to improve her control over earth element spells.

"No, you are progressing very fast. It won't be long before you catch up."

"But I don't want to wait," Zoe wiped her eyes, "but I have to wait."

She sobbed a few times, shook her head, took a deep breath, and met Li Ang's eyes.

"Li Ang, you go fight, and Sister Eden and I will go to Frost Sky Island first."

"This—"

"Since I can't join the battlefield, what's the point of me following? Wanting to fight side-by-side with Li Ang sooner, going to Frost Sky Island first is faster, right?"

She was right. She could understand this level. Li Ang was slightly surprised and also very gratified.

However, a hint of guilt couldn't help but rise in his heart, and he couldn't organize his words fluently for a moment.

"On your own, even with Eden, you might encounter many strangers... The matter here, actually, you don't have to wait long..."

The young girl said: "You and your friends want to capture those bad guys; that's a good thing. Otherwise, they will go and hurt more people. And they were going to capture me in the first place; if I follow, it would be even more inconvenient, right?"

Since even the shipping lane was blocked, the Ignis Airspace must have fallen into a tense atmosphere, and this had to do with the empire trying to capture Zoe, so it was indeed best not to let her get close to that side.

"It's okay; after all, I've long been used to parting."

Zoe showed Li Ang a big smile.

Li Ang took a deep breath.

"I promise I will catch up with you as soon as possible. I'll capture him and send him to the Order Hall. If it's fast, it will only take a day, and you'll be able to see me again after you sleep."

Escorting the imperial people to the Order Hall and then expressing opinions to the Order Sky Knight regiment, not letting them go soft on the empire—this also related to Zoe's safety. After finishing these, he would immediately head north to the Gorasis Airspace.

"Hee hee, I know you can't bear to part with me either, so you have to promise me one thing."

Zoe's brows and eyes turned into a little devil-like smile again.

"Okay."

Li Ang nodded without hesitation.

"First, let Xiao An follow you. Sister Eden said we have reached resonance. As long as my ability improves again, I can borrow her power no matter how far away I am. Don't worry."

Instead, it was Zoe worrying about him, but Li Ang didn't refuse. If there was an Earth Snake, the combat power would be greatly improved, and they would be far away from the empire's range in the Ignis Airspace, so it would be very safe relying on the Frost Sky Giant Wolf.

"Then, you must bring me a gift. That's what's written in Mom's book."

At this time, Li Ang didn't want to complain anymore and agreed as well.

"Finally, this time, I will become strong very quickly. After you come, let's have a fight."

These weren't one thing, but both were fine.

Zoe said very seriously: "This time it's not for fun, but to tell you that I have the strength to go on adventures. From now on, we will definitely not be separated again."

After making the promise, Li Ang accompanied her to fly the small ship for a while. Holding the steering gear and speed lever, the fun of driving the machine freely slowly washed away the young girl's depression, and an expectation of soaring freely while piloting the small airship herself quietly arose. Li Ang also bid them farewell at this time.

The small ship turned its direction, moved away from the Ignis Airspace shipping lane, and flew toward the north of Newbis. That was the Wind and Snow Airspace, but no matter how cold it was, it probably couldn't cool down the young girl's burning heart.

After watching the small ship become a small black dot in the sky, Li Ang turned the airship's power to the maximum and crashed toward the entrance of the shipping lane. ===== CHAPTER 50 =====