Chapter 63: Magical Airship

The airflow blows head‑on, and the surrounding scenery sinks rapidly.

Lei En grips the saddle tightly, leans his upper body slightly forward, keeping himself steady against the Griffin's back, feeling the heavy G‑force of a plane's takeoff.

But this is far more thrilling than riding a plane!

After leaving the ground, the Griffin continues to ascend, the distant horizon spreading before his eyes; the higher they fly, the outline of Longshandecheng gradually comes into view.

At first, Lei En is still a bit nervous.

When they reach an altitude of two or three hundred meters, the Griffin stops climbing, maintains that height and flies forward; sitting on its back becomes very smooth, with no bump at all, and his hanging heart slowly relaxes.

Lei En looks down over Longshande, feeling the gale whip past, a indescribable exhilaration rising in his chest.

He wants to shout a few times to vent this strange feeling.

"Even if it's not that safe, not comfortable enough, riding a Griffin is indescribably better than sitting in a plane!"

When his mood settles, the Griffin has already flown several kilometers, and the Public Security Bureau building shrinks in his view to the size of a palm.

"So fast!"

Lei En activates his Soul Eye to gauge distance, quickly estimating that the Griffin's speed is about eighty kilometers per hour.

That's only a normal speed; if the Griffin flies at full power, its speed should break a hundred kilometers per hour.

Moreover, the Griffin's endurance is astonishing; as a magical beast, its stamina surpasses that of horses, allowing it to fly continuously for over three hours while bearing weight, and after a brief rest and feeding it can fly again.

It is this long‑range endurance that makes the Griffin the finest flying mount, enabling the formation of a powerful GriffinLegion.

At that moment, Lei En hears an odd sound behind him amid the gale.

Turning his head, he sees Lao Martin riding another Griffin catching up.

This Griffin is larger, roughly estimated at fifteen hundred pounds, with a wingspan over five meters, and flies even faster.

In less than two minutes, the big Griffin reaches his side.

Lao Martin sits on its back, wearing a wind‑proof visor, and shouts, "Don't fly too far; stay here to practice riding, follow the commands I just taught you."

"Got it."

Lei En steadies himself and, methodically, begins to control the Griffin's flight direction.

Turning, sprinting, climbing, hovering, diving…

The Griffin carries Lei En, performing various maneuvers in the sky.

It is well‑trained; each time it receives a command from Lei En's foot‑tap, it executes it meticulously without a single mistake.

After more than half an hour of continuous practice, Lei En has adapted to flying and syncs perfectly with the Griffin.

"All right, you've learned Griffin riding."

"If you want to go further, you can come see me more often; try flying with each Griffin a few times so they get used to your scent, and then you won't need to tie a safety rope."

Lao Martin says loudly, very pleased with Lei En's training progress.

He has been breeding Griffins for the Public Security Bureau for almost thirty years, teaching hundreds of people Griffin riding, and has never seen anyone master it so quickly.

Many super‑naturals tremble all over the first time they ride a Griffin into the sky.

To overcome the fear of altitude, they need at least three or four training sessions to get used to the foot‑free sensation, maintain balance, and grasp the basics of riding.

His riding method isn't limited to Griffins; once mastered, it can be applied to other flying mounts as long as the differences aren't too great.

Lei En thanks Lao Martin for his careful instruction.

His gaze falls on Lao Martin; during the training, wherever his Griffin flew or what maneuvers it performed, Lao Martin and his big Griffin kept perfect step with it, always staying within ten paces beside him.

This aerial riding art leaves Lei En in awe, realizing he still has much to learn.

Lao Martin intended to return and land, but seeing Lei En show no sign of stopping, he lets him move freely, circling over Longshande.

Lei En, for the first time, looks down on Longshande from high altitude, steering while identifying streets and buildings below.

Because they fly so high, the Griffin looks small from the ground, similar to an eagle, so it doesn't attract attention.

Lei En had never noticed before that someone could sit on the back of an eagle in the sky.

"Honeyton District, Li'en District, Los District, over there is the Ferregun River…"

The two continue flying, carefully avoiding crossing the Ferregun River into Silver Star District; Lao Martin had warned before takeoff that the area around the Duke's Wu Shi Ta is a no‑fly zone.

If a Griffin is spotted by the Spirit‑Demon Eye on the Wizard Tower, it will be startled and fling the rider off.

After flying for a while, a black spot appears on the eastern horizon, then quickly expands; as they draw nearer, Lei En, even from several kilometers away, discerns its shape at a glance.

"A airship!"

Lei En has heard of airships before; he's sometimes seen them pass overhead from the ground, but has never ridden one.

In this world, an airship looks much like those of the previous age: a huge oval gasbag with a suspended gondola beneath, about one‑hundred‑fifty meters long, resembling a flying ship propelled by steam‑driven screw propellers. Wing‑like sails flank the gondola, shimmering with magical energy that flutters with the wind, keeping the airship steady at high speed.

"A magical airship, its speed isn't bad at all—about the same as a Griffin."

Lei En estimates the airship's speed at nearly a hundred kilometers per hour; though not as fast as a plane, its comfort and safety are comparable.

He doesn't know how much a magical airship costs, but it must be exorbitant; few can afford to ride one.

Ordinary people of the Empire usually travel by taking the relatively cheap steam train.

Anyway, Lei En has never ridden an airship in his life.

These things are essentially exclusive to the elite, with take‑off points in the affluent Silver Star District, having little to do with common folk.

The airship's course passes right here, growing larger in view.

Using his Soul Eye, Lei En can already see silhouettes on the gondola deck; he only intended to admire the magical airship, but notices the people on deck seem to be arguing.

Two groups, armed, face each other; both sides are super‑naturals, and it looks like they're about to clash.

"What's going on?"

Lei En thinks for a moment and decides to get closer.

He is now a member of the Demon‑Clearing Squad, part of the Public Security Bureau, essentially a full‑fledged security officer; although he usually handles cases involving monsters, he has jurisdiction over any public order incident within Longshande's borders.

Even though the airship hasn't landed and is still aloft, a security officer still bears the duty of maintaining order.

Two gryphons sped toward the airship, drawing a large arc several hundred meters away, turning to fly parallel with the airship, then gradually approaching.

The people on the deck also spotted the gryphons and all stopped their argument to look.

"Lao Ma Ding, you stay with the airship and don't land; I'll go up and take a look."

Lei En noticed that these transcendants were quite powerful; Lao Ma Ding was old, and apart from his riding skill he was no different from an ordinary person, so boarding the airship was unsafe.

"You go, be careful," Lao Ma Ding instructed.

Lei En guided the gryphon to dive beneath the airship's gasbag; with a thump it landed on the deck.

After stepping onto the deck he realized there was an invisible force field blocking the airflow, sealing out the gale, making it quiet and steady; the deck resembled a spacious observation platform.

Lei En couldn't help but silently praise it; it must be another wondrous magical application.

He didn't untie the safety rope, but sat on the gryphon's back, flashed his ID card, and from above said, "I'm with the Public Security Bureau; who are you? Planning to fight on the airship?"

One side of the dispute was a lavishly dressed noble lady, an ordinary person, accompanied by four or five bodyguards, including two iron guards and a gunner;

The other side were two transcendants: the man wore leather armor, bore a longbow, had a long and a short sword at his waist, and a bundle of rope—clearly a ranger; the woman wore a magical robe, had a delicate appearance, very fair skin, long hair tied in a ponytail with the tips dyed teal.

Lei En's heart jumped; the woman was a third‑rank pastoralist, and her ranger companion was also third‑rank.

Both of them felt very dangerous to him.

When Lei En flashed his ID, they only glanced at him and remained silent. The noble lady, however, seemed to see a savior and called out, "Sir Security Officer, I am Kai Na*Huo Ji Sen, and these two…"

Lei En had never heard of the Hodgson family and had no interest in learning why they were in conflict.

From the noble lady's words and actions, it was merely a minor tiff, and she simply couldn't get along with the two foreign transcendants.

She lacked self‑awareness, but her bodyguards knew clearly that the two were not to be trifled with and could not point this out in front of their employer, so the situation stalled.

If a fight actually broke out, the two would need only a single strike to eliminate all the bodyguards.

Beside the deck, a few people looked embarrassed.

They were probably the airship's managers; among them were two transcendants in charge of safety, but because of the noble lady's background they could only verbally mediate, daring not to forcefully intervene.

Besides these people, a crowd of onlookers on the deck waited to watch the spectacle.

Lei En's gaze swept over the passengers, and he raised his hand to interject, "I don't care what you have between you; in any case you cannot fight on the airship."

"If you persist in refusing, come with me to the Public Security Bureau."

He finished speaking, stared at the noble lady, clearly directing the words at her. She trembled with anger, pointed at Lei En and shouted, "You know who I am…"

Lei En had already seen that the two sides wouldn't fight; it was just the noble lady losing her temper.

He grew tired of listening, rode the gryphon off the deck, and leapt into the air, flying away.

The people on the deck were all stunned; they hadn't expected the security officer to be so decisive—arriving quickly, leaving just as fast, staying less than half a minute.

"If I'd known it was such a trivial matter, I wouldn't have gone up."

"But it wasn't entirely without gain."

Lei En guided the gryphon to hover mid‑air, watching the airship recede, his gaze seeming to pierce the gondola and land on a passenger.

Just now, as he inadvertently swept his eyes, he spotted a follower of Luo Xi on the deck.

Fortunately, the two were far enough apart; the other didn't notice the conflict mark on his body, so he quickly withdrew to avoid exposure.

Lei En memorized the person's appearance and decided to track him after the airship landed.