Chapter 296: Magic Crystal Cannon Bombards the City

"Aoooh!" Baihou was restrained and struggled uncomfortably, but the little angel jumped up and slapped him across the forehead.

"Aoooh!" The little angel roared at it.

"Aoooh…" Baihou whimpered pitifully.

Ang gripped Baihou's spectral form and squeezed it for a while, then suddenly asked: "How do you hammer?"

Negril said: "Fix the egg-stuck problem. Some young dragons develop consciousness inside the egg and can communicate with their parents, yet die because they're stuck—this is heartbreaking and unreasonable. Can you modify it so the young dragon's nerves don't connect to the eggshell? Then even if stuck, they could break the shell by kicking."

Ang gestured for a while but didn't strike, instead releasing his control over Baihou: "I don't know where to hit. Find a stuck egg."

Negril translated: "So you mean you can't fix this flaw through Baihou because you don't know which specific flaw causes the egg-sticking? You need to find a stuck egg?"

Ang nodded.

"Alright then, Baihou, call Brucek." Negril said.

Baihou shook his head: "Aoooh!"

"Damn it! I told you to learn dragon speech, and all you do is 'aoooh'—you can't even speak dragon tongue!" Negril was furious.

Baihou actually understood dragon speech but rarely spoke it; bloodline calls couldn't convey complex messages.

No choice—they had to find Nai'ai to contact Brucek. The reply came: "There are a few stuck eggs, but they're unstable. Moving them lightly could kill them. Why don't you and Lord Ang come to Dragon Island? I'll meet you near the coast—how's that?"

…

Rex is an island at sea, only four or five kilometers from the mainland—you can see the opposite shore from the coast. It's the nearest human city with a teleportation array to Dragon Island.

Ang stepped out of the teleportation array with the little angel, the little zombie, Lightning, Big Cat, and Lu Se.

Teleportation arrays charge both ways. Ang used his own array to teleport from Meishencheng, so he paid nothing to send, but upon arrival, he had to pay the receiving end.

The receiving end consumes little energy: one person pays a fixed five gold coins or half a magic crystal.

The sending end's cost varies—usually two or three magic crystals; cross-plane teleportation can require ten or twenty.

The trade between the Danhai Plane and Andong—grain for people—consumed Andong two million magic crystals. In other words, for these 150, 00 tons of grain, Andong paid twelve times the normal price.

Yet no one complained about Andong's move: in a famine, grain prices rising seven or eight times was normal; just getting grain was already lucky.

Besides, expelling heretics was something many extreme believers loved to do—they eagerly donated, raising the funds in half a month.

They wouldn't donate to buy grain, but they gladly donated to expel heretics, believing Danhai was a barren, cruel land and sending heretics there to suffer was worthwhile.

But Andong knew that with Ang present, Danhai would surely have enough food—hardship was only temporary.

The Harvest Goddess priests' reconnaissance confirmed this, so everyone was pleased.

"One, two, three, four—add a horse, exactly five magic crystals," the collector counted and said.

Lu Se shouted: "Isn't it half a crystal per person? Why five?"

"You've got a horse. One horse equals six people," the collector explained.

Lu Se glanced at Lightning, then reluctantly pulled out five magic crystals, and glared at Lightning: "You're expensive."

Lightning glared at the collector: "You're the horse. Your whole family are horses."

The four people and one horse walked away. Only then did the collector realize: "That horse… can talk? Hallucination? But its fur hat looks nice—where can I buy one?"

Ang's group left the teleportation area and entered a bustling world.

After arriving in the human world, Ang had wandered only deserts and rarely visited human cities. Even the ones he'd seen weren't as lively as this—this place was packed with people, everywhere you looked, just people.

Drake was a thriving commercial hub—merchants, sailors, pirates, mercenaries—all kinds of people, some even from the distant Star Republic.

Meishencheng was only half a desert away from the Star Republic, but by sea, you had to circle half the continent—over ten thousand kilometers.

Without magic and storage artifacts, ships couldn't sail so far—crew members would fall ill and die.

With everyone converging here, all kinds of attire appeared: people wrapped head to toe in cloaks, desert dwellers in mere strips of cloth, barefoot pirates.

Of course, anyone could tell they were pirates—but they'd never admit it unless caught out at sea.

And thieves were everywhere. Lu Se reached behind him and instantly grabbed a thin wrist.

He turned—ordinary-looking boy, no magical or martial energy detectable, yet his hand was as soft as rope, slipping into Lu Se's robe hem where his storage bag hung.

The thief grinned awkwardly—he realized not only Lu Se had spotted him, but also Ang, the little angel, and even the horse and its fur hat were all tilting their heads at him, clearly aware of his theft.

Impossible! He was the legendary Spring Noodle Hand—fast as lightning, supple as rope, swift as wind—even great swordmasters rarely caught him. Could all these people have saint-level perception?

"Kid, what are you doing?" Lu Se was surprised, yet excited—thief! He'd never seen one in his life, and one had stolen from him! Amazing!

"Sorry, sorry, just wanted to steal something, missed my mark. Apologies. Can you let me go?" The thief smiled, but his face showed no shame.

Lu Se was puzzled: "Just let you go? Aren't you a thief? Why let you go? Shouldn't I take you to the constable?"

The thief grinned: "Constable? I know him. I visit him often. But if you don't let go, you won't see him."

Lu Se immediately noticed several strangers quietly surrounding them. He chuckled, then squeezed hard.

The thief screamed—his wrist crushed into real noodles, bones likely pulverized.

"Great! No constable? Then I'll handle it myself." Lu Se sneered, grabbed the other hand, and squeezed again—now the thief had two real noodle arms.

Lu Se didn't just attack—he was cunning. He used only brute force, no martial energy detectable. To observers, it looked like he'd simply squeezed the thief twice.

Why not use martial energy? Of course—to avoid scaring others.

Several surrounding strangers changed expression, hands darting into their robes—sharp stilettos appeared in their palms as they rushed closer.

If unprepared, a stab to the ribs or belly would incapacitate many.

One muscular giant darted behind Lu Se and lunged with his stiletto.

A tiny, pale fist smashed into his outer thigh—the little angel's height meant he could only reach here unless jumping.

But where he hit didn't matter—the giant flew sideways as if struck by a giant bear, bones cracking, his whole body crashing into a nearby stall.

He smashed the table, shattered the earthen wall behind it, and got stuck in the hole—unconscious, silent.

The little angel raised his tiny fist excitedly and roared: "Aoooh!"

The little angel's intervention didn't cheer Lu Se—he yelled like a child whose toy was taken: "I didn't need help—I've got this!"

Before he finished speaking, a figure slammed into another approaching thug, knocking him flying.

A glance confirmed it was the little zombie—he hadn't armored up to stay inconspicuous, but his tough, living hide and muscle made him charge like a war cart.

Lu Se stayed silent—if he spoke more, he'd lose all his hair.

Crash, bang, thud—they pounded the seven or eight thieves into the ground with clumsy, chaotic blows. Even though they held back, three against seven or eight thieves meant holding back achieved nothing.

Lu Se finally stopped using force entirely—he just tapped the thief weakly, and the thief punched back, no blocking, letting the thief land hits, encouraging him to think he could win. They brawled for minutes until the thief collapsed from exhaustion, and only then did Lu Se knock him out.

Heaven help him—he was forced into this. Following a master who only wanted to farm, finding a real fight was damn hard.

Their brawl drew attention. Unlike elsewhere, people didn't flee—they eagerly cleared a central space, forming a large circle, arms crossed, watching with interest. Some even pulled out snacks and dried fruits, eating and chatting.

"Heh, beating up a few thieves is this hard? These outsiders are in trouble."

"Those are Noodle Brotherhood thieves, right? Heard their boss has ties to the Canglong Pirates?"

"Secretly, the Canglong Pirates' captain is the younger brother of the Noodle Brotherhood's boss—one robs at sea, the other fences stolen goods on land—a perfect division of labor."

"Really? Then what's up with these thieves?"

"Fencing is fencing—stolen or robbed, what's the difference? So they keep extra thieves for side income."

"What about the constables? Don't they care?"

"Care? Of course they care—when someone catches a thief, they arrest the catcher. They'll drag you to the station, verify your status. If you're a powerless mercenary or petty merchant, they'll ruin you before letting you go."

"Wait—I meant, don't they care about the thieves themselves?"

"Heh. Each thief's take: 40% to the Brotherhood, 40% to the constabulary, only 20% to the thief. Why would the constabulary care? As long as they don't steal from nobles, high officials, or big merchants, they won't lift a finger. But now that these guys got beaten, the constabulary will show up soon."

No sooner had he finished than a squad of fully armed soldiers, led by the constable, pushed through the crowd and surrounded Lu Se, the little angel, and the little zombie: "Who's causing a riot here? All of you—arrested! Take them back!"

"Yes, yes, arrest them! These thieves stole my money—wait, no, they stole my money, why arrest me?" Lu Se exclaimed.

"Rioting. Come back for investigation. If what you say is true, we'll release you later," the constable explained pleasantly.

Lu Se smiled pleasantly: I believe you, you liar.

He subtly glanced at Ang—Ang showed no reaction. Time was early; he'd see what they were up to. If they didn't handle this properly, he'd tear down their constabulary.

Lu Se led the little angel and the little zombie, following them to the constabulary—had to hold them, or the little angel would've started fighting immediately, and there'd be no fun left.

He had to whisper: "Don't fight—wait till we get there."

They arrived at the constabulary. The fake prisoners were dragged off to another room and locked up.

The constable smiled at Lu Se: "Where are you from? Why are you in Rex? How many of you? "

Lu Se answered truthfully.

When he learned Ang's group came from the desert, were tourists, and consisted of only four people and one horse, the constable's expression darkened—he sneered: "You caused a riot, violating local law. You must choose: jail or pay a fine."

Lu Se said: "It wasn't a riot—they stole from me."

"Theft? Bring in the injured." The constable ordered.

Soon, seven or eight thieves were dragged in, kneeling and wailing, all saying the same thing: "Your Excellency, we're innocent! We were just walking when they attacked us and beat us all!"

"Yes, yes! He called us thieves, said we were a gang! Oh my god, I was just buying vegetables—I don't know any of them!"

"Yes, yes! We didn't know each other—they came out and attacked us all!"

The thieves all spoke in unison.

The constable turned back: "So it's not rioting—it's you assaulting others. Punishable by flogging, but you may pay a fine instead. Choose: flogging or fine?"

Lu Se laughed bitterly: "I'll flog your ass!"

The little angel charged forward, swinging his tiny fist.

A string of screams echoed through the constabulary. Half an hour later, soldiers and the constable lay sprawled everywhere—even outside the door.

Those outside had giant hoofprints on their faces—Lightning blocked the exit, none could escape.

They'd held back as much as possible, yet only lasted half an hour. Lu Se wasn't satisfied—he grabbed the bruised constable, shoved him into a chair, and interrogated: "Do you always collude like this?"

The swollen constable wept: "Sorry, my lord, I didn't know, I won't dare again!"

Seeing him like this, Lu Se felt bored—bullying ordinary people gave zero satisfaction.

"Luckily, you've fallen into our hands—if you'd landed with any other law-abiding citizen, wouldn't you have been bankrupted by now? Give up being a garrison commander and go home as a cripple." Lu Se shattered one of the garrison commander's legs and one arm, then kicked him aside.

At that moment, a meteor streaked across the sky and struck not far away, unleashing a thunderous explosion, violent tremors, a rising mushroom cloud, and intense elemental fluctuations.

"What's happening?" Everyone turned toward the source of the explosion.

Nage Lisi stared at the massive mushroom cloud and said: "That looks like a magic crystal cannon? Did a magic crystal cannon blast into the city?"

Lu Se grabbed the garrison commander he'd just kicked aside and pointed toward the smoke: "What's over there? Who's firing magic crystal cannons?"

The garrison commander, face pale from pain, struggled to lift his head toward the rising mushroom cloud—and turned even paler.

"T-that's the governor's mansion! Someone's shelling the governor's mansion—it must be pirates! I know! It's the Black Cloud Pirates, the archenemies of the Azure Dragon Pirates! Last month, the Azure Dragons raided the Black Clouds' stronghold. They've come for revenge!"

"Black Cloud? Who came up with such a lazy name?" Lu Se muttered weakly, then suddenly sensed a bright glow—he looked up, and his face went instantly white.

A magic crystal cannonball was arcing through the sky along a parabolic trajectory, hurtling straight toward their position—the exact spot where the garrison office stood. When a city was shelled, the garrison office was always among the first targets to be obliterated.

The magic crystal cannon was the most powerful magical weapon ever created by humans. Its power was beyond any human's capacity to resist—not even a high-rank Sword Saint could stand against it. Even a Truth Mage, caught unprepared, would be reduced to ash by a direct hit.

The only option was to run. Magic crystal cannons weren't especially fast, and their impact points were predictable; most strong cultivators could dodge them. That's why magic crystal cannons were typically used only against fixed targets.

Lu Se instinctively moved to dodge—but turned his head and saw the little angel, the little zombie, Lei Ting, and the big cat, all frozen in place, staring dumbly at the glowing magic crystal cannonball.

The only one moving was Ang. He stepped upward into the air, walking on nothingness toward the cannonball, his body covered in dragon scales.

Nage Lisi, projected onto Ang's body, screamed in panic: "Are you insane? Why are you transforming into the Dragon God? Time stop and spatial stasis won't work—when time runs out, it'll still explode! You'll die! You'd be better off turning into the Bone Lord!"

Ang had no time to answer him. He thrust out both hands and activated spatial stasis just before the magic crystal cannonball touched his palms.