Chapter 145: Never Expected It, Really Never Expected It! (23)

Afternoon.

Secret Aircraft Research Bureau.

Luosen handed his improved design schematics to the artificer mages, asking them to use existing resources to explore the construction of the first finished aircraft.

He immediately returned to the communications inner chamber of his office and began replying to the cipher.

'Beep~~Beep~~Beep~~'

He skillfully transmitted the encrypted cipher at a special frequency.

After the next relay station receives this cipher, it immediately forwards it to the subsequent relay station; after propagating through roughly twenty relay stations, it can travel all the way to Kao, where the inquirer receives it.

His reply was: "It seems Your Majesty has been persistently searching for my true identity. You guessed correctly; I am indeed that person."

He felt he had nothing to worry about, because the times were different now.

Kao was still three thousand kilometers away, with Levinde and Aaron on either side, making it impossible for them to reach him.

About thirteen minutes after the message was sent, the reply arrived.

This reply speed made Luosen think: 'Something's off!'

Because the relay stations are manually operated, the normal signal time should be over fifteen minutes; it can only be slower, not faster.

After a brief thought, Luosen guessed a possibility: 'Perhaps they're pretending the reply is slow?'

When Luosen set up the relay stations, he had considered this, and immediately switched to another signal frequency to send a transmission.

'Highest authority: request verification of the relay count for the previous Kao Level‑1 cipher.'

Shortly after the signal was sent, the various relay stations successively sent self‑inspection reports.

'Relay count: 1.'

Luosen felt a sudden thump in his heart.

'I really guessed right; the Kao Queen actually sent people to White Sturgeon Island to capture me!'

A relay count of 1 indicates the two sides are roughly 200 kilometers apart.

Because the relay stations greatly boost signal strength and are assumed to be at high altitude, they can stably transmit over a 200‑kilometer distance.

One can also imagine that the Kao Queen guessed the signal transmission would take time, so she deliberately delayed the reply, but because she didn't understand the workings of the Lightning Messenger, she miscalculated the timing.

Thus, it immediately revealed a flaw to Luosen.

200 kilometers still left some distance, so Luosen went to examine the cipher's content.

The signal read: 'I am extremely shocked, to the point of disbelief, yet the facts are right before my eyes, leaving me no choice but to believe.'

'I want to say that the current Weilan situation is very severe. From my personal perspective, I truly cannot think of how you could resolve this predicament.'

'But I can help, under two conditions. First, assist my nation in researching the Lightning Messenger. Second, sell the related technology of my nation's Black Stone warship.'

Luosen chuckled as he read: 'What a lion's big demand! My domain only has a few prized treasures.'

But if Kao were willing to help, it would indeed be a huge insurance for the Weilan situation.

Unfortunately, this is a trap from the other side; the purpose is easy to guess—it's to use cipher communication to locate his exact current position.

So Luosen replied: 'Your Majesty, the cipher carries a risk of leakage. If you truly have sincere cooperation, let us agree on a location that guarantees safety for both sides, and discuss face‑to‑face.'

The other side is certainly planning a covert capture, surely sending a squad of strong warriors; Luosen also does not intend to make this a city‑wide uproar.

Thus he decided to resolve it secretly within the mountains.

But he alone would not be safe; he needed assistance.

He immediately used telepathic transmission to contact the two Harpy Queens: 'I might be in trouble; come help me quickly.'

Feeling it wasn't enough, he again telepathically reached out to Mei Er Qili Na, who hides in the mountains.

'Mistress Ancestor, I need help; come aid me.'

Mei Er Qili Na replied: 'I'm on my way, but what happened?'

'A group of strong warriors from Kao is coming, likely to capture me.'

If Kao truly captured Luosen and brought him back to Silver Moon City, it would be entirely beneficial and not harmful at all to the Kao Royal Family.

What gives Kao the confidence to think they can capture a Sage Saint?

Luosen guessed that the other side must have brought some kind of powerful secret weapon.

The Kao Royal Family has persisted for a full twelve hundred years; without some treasure, it truly would be indefensible.

Within moments of the telepathic call, Mei Er Qili Na, clad in a black leather long dress, appeared first in the stone cave.

Following closely, Nai Fei Luo Ni Ya and La Er Te Li Si, the two sisters, also arrived.

After La Er Te Li Si and Mei Er Qili Na spotted each other, they exchanged a glance and both let out a cold snort.

The former said, 'Miss Qili Na, you've hidden well on the shore.'

The latter replied, 'You're stronger than me in the sea, but so what? My descendants have now conquered you.'

The former immediately walked to Luosen's side, hugging his arm: 'It's far better than you hiding alone in solitude.'

Luosen winced and said, 'Alright, alright, these are just minor quarrels; let's just talk it out.'

He opened his weapon storage cabinet, which housed a row of specially crafted rune fire pistols, ten in total.

These were self‑defense weapons he forged after returning from Kao, merging the strengths of Kao's and Levinde's rune fire guns with his own ideas.

'I call it the Fire‑God Pistol,' he said.

He began distributing the weapons.

'Normally, never point the barrel at a person; point it at the ground!'

Luosen hurriedly corrected the three women's unsafe handling and continued, 'Look, there's a metal clasp; it's actually a manual rune lock.'

'When you need it, bend it here, then directly aim the fire pistol at the target, and press the trigger with your finger.'

While speaking, Luosen employed the Silent Crystal Wall technique in the room, then had the three women point the barrels at the wall: 'Fire a few shots at the wall to test the feel.'

The three women formed a line and fired one after another.

Boom~~

Amidst the violent roar, the walls instantly appeared terrifying large holes one after another, leaving the three women gasping.

"This power definitely exceeds Six Rings!" Merelkelina said.

"No, it's Nine Rings!" Nafeloniya corrected.

Luosen said: "Exactly, it's Nine Rings. Once fully loaded, you can pull the trigger three times in a row, i. e., fire three shots."

"Now let's just shoot them all out and reload with new warheads."

The three women immediately did as instructed.

Boom boom boom boom~~

After firing all nine guns, they almost blasted through a one-meter-thick tempered yellow clay wall.

Luosen then loaded new warheads into the three Fire God Guns, closed the rune lock, took a Fire God Gun for himself, and finally handed Merelkelina a protective talisman.

"Ice Talisman can withstand two strikes of Eight Rings strength or one strike of Nine Rings strength from a fire gun attack; wear it."

Such talismans are also possessed by the other three; they were crafted by Luosen together with Nafeloniya, incorporating the frost knowledge of the Frost Envoy Laifeng, resulting in an ultra-high-strength defensive spell.

Its defense against arcane, psychokinetic, and other exalted arts is average, only Seven Rings strength.

However, its defense against physical objects and fire is nearly perfect.

Of course, it can only block guns, not cannons.

Merelkelina immediately put it on, chuckling: "Now I don't have to worry about that Jade Battle Angel."

At this moment, the long-silent message arrived again: "Baron, you've guessed my purpose, right?"

Luosen grinned: "Your Majesty, that's rather impolite."

This time, the reply came quickly.

"It's indeed somewhat. But the fate of our Kaowangguo cannot truly be held in the hands of a small island lord; please understand."

The delay was less than half a minute, almost like a face-to-face conversation, indicating the other party is getting closer; Luosen guessed they were likely riding a very fast magical device.

What exactly is that magical device?

Luosen combined known Kaowangguo technical intelligence and inferred it should be a high-speed airship.

It is a flight tool that fills sealed gas bags with hydrogen or other gases lighter than air, then uses wind-system magic as propulsion.

Such a flying object does not require much technical sophistication, nor worry about mana depletion, because it can hover on its own.

It is a first-generation flying craft that can be achieved with money.

And the Kaowangguo royal family naturally does not lack such money.

"Your Majesty, you seem very confident."

"No doubt, after all your island is too small and lacks strong individuals, whereas our country is exactly the opposite."

"Of course, please rest assured, we mean you no harm; we simply wish to invite you to return with us to Silver Moon City."

"Once we reach Silver Moon City, I will immediately confer upon you the title of Grand Protector Sage of Kaowangguo; both status and authority will vastly surpass that of an island baron, even exceeding the Dawn Duke."

With the arrival of this message, Luosen faintly felt a barely perceptible mana fluctuation approaching.

This fluctuation indeed came from above; although extremely weak, even Nafeloniya didn't notice it, but it cannot escape Luosen's fine perception.

But Luosen was puzzled, not understanding where the other party's confidence came from.

And this doubt made him feel somewhat worried.

After all, the field of arts is vast and boundless; no one dares claim to have understood all its mysteries.

Not bothering to conceal his weakness, he focused his thoughts, consuming a full fifty percent of his mana, and cast upon himself a Ten Rings strength 'Law Interference Shield'.

Because he recently acquired a large amount of high-ring knowledge, this ultra-high-ring spell has seen significant improvement compared to before.

Although unsure if it would help, facing an unknown threat, he naturally exerted his utmost effort.

When the mana release was completed, Luosen's surroundings showed almost no visible anomaly to the naked eye; only the air around his body twisted slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

It gave the impression that he had not released any spell at all.

But his mana had been greatly depleted; Luosen immediately opened Rosen's Meditations background operation, beginning to rapidly recover mana.

Seeing his solemn expression, the three women also felt a heavy pressure, as they could not even sense the enemy's position.

"Just about above our heads."

Luosen pointed his fire gun at the ceiling: "I have a feeling the opponent will use some mysterious spell against me; this fire gun may not be useful again."

Before his words finished, he suddenly felt a sense of being watched; immediately afterward, he heard the Kaowangguo queen's voice echoing in his mind.

"Law Saint, long time no see."

It is a simple telepathic communication technique.

With this telepathic communication, Luosen also fully sensed the presence of the Kaowangguo queen, located roughly three kilometers above his head.

This truly greatly exceeded Luosen's expectations.

He replied in his mind: "Your Majesty, you actually came personally to invite me?"

He had always thought the Kaowangguo queen would send subordinates to capture him, but he didn't expect the queen herself to appear.

This queen is truly formidable; who has ever seen a queen go out adventuring?

But upon second thought, it's not so surprising; back at the Holy Varelt Grand Temple, the queen had already done exactly that once.

Now it seems she hasn't learned her lesson.

The queen's telepathic communication arrived again.

"Because you are different from others, concerning the fate of Kaowangguo, I must ensure success."

"Sorry, sir."

With those words, Luosen suddenly felt a fierce mental energy pressing down upon him.

The strength is not high, even less than one ring.

But the scale is extremely large, unimaginably large!

The absolute power of a spell depends first on the number of rings, and second on its scale.

As long as the scale is large enough, even a zero-ring spell can pierce the defense of a Ten Rings spell.

Luosen immediately felt that this massive surge of spiritual energy pressed not only on himself but also on everyone within a few hundred meters around him.

It was like a torrential waterfall falling from the sky, violently pressing down on the earth.

This spiritual surge pressed down for a full five seconds! 'Plop~plop~plop~'

The ice amulets on the three women beside him shattered instantly, they were knocked unconscious by the pressure, and even the eight-ring Nafenieloya was no exception.

Fortunately, they only fainted and suffered no greater injury.

One could also feel that the entire aircraft research institute, with hundreds of staff, had all passed out.

The only one still standing and conscious was Luosen himself.

His ice amulet also shattered, and the newly bolstered 'Law Interference Shield' had been drained of much of its power.

Upon checking, he found that about eighty percent of its power had been consumed.

If he hadn't used fifty percent of his mana, if the ice amulet hadn't provided extra resistance, and if he hadn't just recently improved this Ten Rings spell, he would have been knocked out today.

"Lucky, I almost got taken to Kao."

To avoid any further mishap, he immediately sprang into action.

He grabbed two Fire God guns, transformed into a steel dragon body, rushed out of the secret lab, then shifted into dragon wings, activating Laifu's newly trained 'Super Flight Master' ability, his body shot up into the sky like an arrow, with an absolute speed exceeding 200 kilometers per hour.

He soon spotted an aerial object in the sky.

Sure enough, it was a huge airship, its balloon enormous while the gondola underneath was tiny; judging by volume, it could hold at most twenty people.

The Ten Rings mage's sensitivity told Luosen that there were eighteen passengers inside: ten High-tier Mages, five Arcane Masters, and the remaining three were Sages.

They also noticed Luosen, and were all greatly surprised.

Luosen didn't wait for them to retaliate; he pointed his firearm at the airship's balloon and then used a mass spiritual voice:

"Don't move, or I'll blow it up!"

He could tell at a glance that the balloon was filled with hydrogen, because he spotted a device resembling a hydrogen generator beneath it.

And hydrogen, when ignited, is fiercely explosive; a balloon this size bursting into flame would be enough to kill everyone in the gondola, no spell could stop it.

Immediately, a shocked voice came from the airship's cabin: the Kao Queen.

"How are you still awake?"

Luosen thought to himself: 'I almost passed out.'

He gave a hehe laugh: "Land immediately, and don't make any sudden moves, or I'll open fire!"

"Land! Land now!"

The Kao Queen dared not gamble, and immediately complied.

The balloon slowly released gas, and its altitude began to gradually descend.

Soon, the airship landed among the mountains.

Luosen also landed on the ground, holding a Fire God gun in each hand, one aimed at the balloon, the other at the gondola.

"Your Majesty, I trust you have already experienced my combat ability. My advantage is that I am exceptionally fast."

"So, you can certainly counterattack, but I am sure I can dodge and strike back instantly."

"If you don't want to die, please have the three Sages come out in a line."

"Your Majesty the Queen, please be the first to step out!"

"Don't play any tricks; don't let me sense any minor magical movements."

"Having just been ambushed, I am extremely sensitive; even a slight mistake will trigger an overreaction!"

(End of chapter)