The military parade had reached its climax. The appetizers had been served, and it was time for the main course.
As the dragonbone airship slowly sailed through the sea of clouds, it was followed by pitch-black clouds and everyone's shock and disbelief.
The gigantic bone airship wasn't surrounded by dark clouds, but by pure death magic. It was completely different from the Borealis, which had a mechanical appearance. The black mist and bones condensed by the power of death were doubtlessly proof that it was an undead airship.
The skeletal airship's hull and pitch-black magical sails were both important characteristics of undead airships and ghost ships.
Unlike the Borealis, which had already been completed and only used the undead system to strengthen and control the airship, the Mizar used similar design and technology to the Borealis. But if there was a lack of industrial or technological level, undead magic would be used instead.
Were there any special alloys suitable for airships? Then let's use dragonbone. It was sturdy and durable, as well as an excellent source of undead magic. Although it looked a little frightening, didn't the eerie white dragonbone have a special sense of beauty … although most mortals wouldn't appreciate it.
The airship's mana pool and mage tower couldn't be built? Actually, the Serene Spirit Tower and Soul Tower weren't bad either. It was just that there were too many ghosts, and the mana generated was specifically for undead magic, which was a fatal negative energy attack to the living … But the Mizar was powered by undead magic, and since living crew members couldn't use it, then let's use undead crew members.
The flames and smoke coming out of the airship's engine were black? Even the sky had been dyed black? Then that was right. How could an airship powered by undead magic have any other color? As for the ghost sails on the deck and the spirits blowing at it … it was all too normal. It was just a routine for ghost ships to increase their speed.
It had its own Corrosion Domain and Aura of Fear? It was already an undead airship, and it was made of dragonbone. It was normal for it to have two natural abilities. It would be great if it didn't have dragon's might, but at least it was a positive effect and would be a bonus on the battlefield.
Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, the only difference between the Mizar and the legendary ghost ship was that this airship was made of higher quality materials and could fly.
Due to a certain person's bad taste, the completed Mizar looked like a giant flying bone dragon. He especially emphasized the feeling of a vicious beast, afraid that it wouldn't look like a demon king's airship.
At this moment, the several-hundred-meter-long Bone Dragon Battleship covered the sky. Dark clouds covered the sky. When this giant beast truly appeared in front of the world, it brought not only shock, but also fear and astonishment.
The Holy Church's guests had the most intense reactions. They had long viewed the undead as their mortal enemy. Those with swords immediately unsheathed them, while those who prepared Divine Arts raised their staffs. Even Estrada himself touched his battle hammer thoughtfully.
"This is the second ship of the Big Dipper fleet, the Mizar. I'm sure all of you recognize its companion ship, the Borealis. However, Donglan's industrial base is relatively weak, so we used some tricks to make up for it."
"… You evil necromancers …"
A Holy Knight who was unable to restrain himself roared angrily, but his companions stopped him. Obviously, this wasn't the time to turn on the undead. However, all the priests and Holy Knights had ashen expressions. This incredibly evil undead creature had obviously crossed their bottom line.
Actually, if it wasn't for the fact that the Crimeless City kept "emphasizing" how harmless these high-level undead were, and if it wasn't for the Cardinals repeatedly emphasizing the importance of this mission, a conflict or even a battle would have occurred long ago.
"Hmph."
However, this was exactly the effect I wanted. I had long since disliked the Holy Church. Since it wasn't a good time to openly turn on them, I might as well ignore them for the time being.
If there was only a single Borealis, especially since there were rumors that this airship came from an illegitimate source, it would be impossible for the various countries to do business with me while they hesitated. But after I displayed the Mizar, even though these people seemed to be disgusted, as long as we truly proved that we had the ability to create mid-sized airships, there would be countless orders.
"Although we still haven't mastered the technology to create large-scale airships, and will need to use some substitutes, we've already mastered the technology to create small-scale airships. Everyone, look, those snow-white airships are our most advanced 'Snow Eagle' model airships."
The Mizar's cabin door opened, and numerous new Snow Eagle airships flew out and began to circle in the sky, causing many exclamations of surprise.
Their bodies were painted snow-white, and only their heads were painted with the symbol of a white eagle.
There was far too little time, and we didn't have enough technicians, so it was impossible for us to completely digest the technology we had. The only difference between these Snow Eagle airships and the Ottoman Vulture airships would be their outer shells and paint. But for me, the most regrettable part was that my proposal to name these Snow Eagle airships "sounds like they're cursed with bad luck."
"Snow Eagle airships typically have a crew of four: the pilot, the cannoneer, the commander, and the radio operator. We can make adjustments based on the actual situation, such as adding a cannoneer or a mage. These airships can fight for 16 hours at a time. At the auction, we'll be auctioning off two Snow Eagle airships. After that, we'll also be accepting orders, but since we need to purchase all sorts of rare ores, not only will we need to pay a 70% deposit, we'll also need to delay the delivery based on the actual situation. "
Not only would it be delayed, after all the materials, production techniques, and so on were taken care of, we would also need to prioritize the orders from our own country and the Mist Alliance countries. Even if everything went smoothly, it would take at least one or two years before the first batch of airships could be sold. And by that time, my Big Dipper airship fleet would have already been prepared.
As for the 70% deposit … 70% of the final auction price as a deposit was quite a large amount. If we simultaneously accepted orders from several dozen countries, even if we didn't do anything next year, we wouldn't need to worry about Donglan's food shortage for the next few years.
But while everyone seemed to be getting more and more enthusiastic, someone surprisingly directly expressed her dissatisfaction.
"Hmph, what's so amazing about that? Isn't it just the ability to fly? Those airships are nothing in front of us, the Holy Light Blade. "
Aivla had an expression of displeasure as she spoke, as if airships were nothing in front of her. However, I knew that she was telling the truth. The Holy Light Blade had a special team that consisted entirely of Holy Knight with angel bloodlines.
In front of a high-level Holy Knight who had the ability to fly, these airships were nothing. Even taking a step back, in front of a Holy Knight who was at least at the Saint-rank, these small airships would be nothing more than punching bags.
However, showing off at an inappropriate time would easily attract hostile glares. I didn't even bother replying as everyone else rolled their eyes at this silly girl. The meaning behind their unspoken words was quite obvious: "The Holy Church is incredibly powerful and has as many powerful individuals as the clouds in the sky. You don't care about airships, but others aren't as capable as you are."
Aivla seemed like she still wanted to say something, but a large shadow suddenly descended from the sky, causing her to immediately shut up. Or, perhaps I should say that she was so frightened that she couldn't even close her mouth.
There were thirteen dragons, eight of which were red dragons and five of which were black dragons. Although most of them were young dragons with relatively little experience, dragon Knight had already become a super-rare job class in modern times. It had been several hundred years since dragons had appeared in such a large group, which was more than enough to shock the world.
"I have a pretty good relationship with the new Dragon Queen of the Underground. She rented my dragons. Although the rental fee is inconceivably high, it's a good match for our airships, isn't it?"
This was a blatant display of strength and flaunting. No matter how strong your angel team is, can you even compare to Dragons? Only with the protection of an adult dragon would an enormous airship be able to display its full potential. Conversely, with an enormous airship as an excellent combat platform, the Dragons would also be able to display their full combat strength.
Most of the Gem Dragons and Color Dragons on the surface had their own territories, and their relationships with each other were quite loose. They didn't have any natural enemies, and the "Dragonslayer Heroes" were no different from idiots most of the time. Only the Underground's Dragon City, which had become the home and pillar of support for the Dragons in the Underground where powerful individuals were everywhere, still had such powerful charisma.
Unlike the Underground World where flying ability was limited, the giant dragons on the surface came and went without a trace. If they didn't want their capital to be attacked by terrorists every two or three days, even the super empires wouldn't dare to offend the dragon race.
Of course, making Dragons, or even just young dragons, listen to humans would doubtlessly damage the "dignity" of the Dragons. Even Little Red, who currently had great authority, had to put in a lot of effort and even make many concessions in other areas in order to make "renting" the airships possible.
And it was precisely because of the appearance of the Dragons that all the representatives of the Underground Dragon Alliance gave up on the idea of using other methods to obtain airship technology.
"… So this is the legendary Roland? He's actually connected to the Dragon Queen, and he's even able to make the Dragons work for him. It would seem that threatening and pressuring him won't have a good result. "
In order to become a high-quality arms dealer, apart from being able to obtain high-quality goods, the most important thing would probably be to have a background and power level that wouldn't be afraid of betrayal.
But now, since using military force was no longer an option, the only option was to purchase the airships with real money.
Perhaps it was only a single airship. Even if it was impossible to analyze the technology to make it practical, long term scouting, escorting important personnel, and other strategic abilities would still be difficult to buy.
The background was still the airship performance, but everyone's faces had paled. The arrogant and unruly dragons weren't very obedient even under the Dragon Queen's command. They were quite displeased at being stared at by mortals who were making a fuss about nothing. After circling around the airship twice, they left first.
But the atmosphere was already heated up.
"Just how long did you say you'd need to delay the order? Will it be delivered within three years? Can we accept a deposit?"
"Considering the relationship between our countries, can we increase the order? We can provide all the materials your country needs at the best price. "
"Your Highness, this seems to be in conflict with our private agreement. If you need gold coins, our Ottoman Empire … "
So many favorable conditions were offered. This bait was sufficient. They were willing to pay anything in order to purchase an airship.
"… May I ask if it's possible to accept higher-level orders? For example, the Mizar above. Our San Antonio is willing to use technology of the same level in exchange … "
In fact, some people even had their eyes on the Mizar. But obviously, this directly touched a certain person's bottom line.
"Asolde! You actually dare to touch the undead's domain! "
This time, it was Cardinal Soros' turn to shout in anger. But San Antonio had already obtained firsthand combat information on the Borealis from Red Maple City. How could they possibly give up on such a powerful national weapon just because of pressure from a cardinal?
"Cardinal Soros, you misunderstand. What we're looking for is only a large-scale airship. Since you have an objection, let's give up for now. "
Even though they verbally said that they were giving up, it didn't seem like they were going to openly oppose each other. But judging from their fiery gazes, they had no intention of giving up. They were probably just temporarily refusing to give up on the other party's face, and moving from being in front of the public to behind the scenes.
The higher-ups of the Holy Church could naturally tell that the representatives of the Holy Church didn't mean what they said, but what could they do? Not interfering with other countries' internal affairs was a basic rule of the Holy Church. But if they allowed undead technology to spread like this, it would doubtlessly be blasphemy against the teachings of the Holy Light.
But since even the True God Wumianzhe had admitted that there were undead here, it would be impossible to use this as an excuse to cause trouble.
"Roland! You lied to me two days ago, which is doubtlessly a type of humiliation. In order to protect my personal honor, I challenge you to a duel! If you lose, give up on spreading such evil technology to the outside world. "
The white-winged angel half-blood stepped forward, intending to use this as an excuse to challenge me. Amongst nobles, it was common for such inexplicable conflicts to occur for the sake of honor and trivial matters. Those who didn't accept it would be looked down upon by the world. However, I only shrugged and smiled as I looked below the stage.
Perhaps this action didn't contain any anger, but it was probably even more insulting than looking down on others. My unspoken meaning was quite obvious, and the surrounding audience was even beginning to snicker.
"Who are you? Do you think you're worthy? "
"I …"
Aivla's face was completely red with anger. She was about to immediately attack Estrada, but he stopped her. The strongest Holy Knight had a bitter smile on his face as he raised his battle hammer, which was surrounded by Holy Light.
"Roland, I should be qualified enough. Perhaps it's time for us to settle our old scores today. However, this is only a duel between master and disciple, so don't overdo it. If you lose, please promise to give up on selling the undead airship. This is far too evil. "
Aivla had imperceptibly helped him out greatly. Roland had been hiding from him for the past few days, and today was the first time they met. There were many things that they could discuss.
If it wasn't for this female Knight who seemed to be the vanguard, it wouldn't have been appropriate for Estrada to ask for such a duel. For Estrada, spreading undead technology was only a small matter. Protecting the Holy Church's honor was only something he could do in passing. The most important thing was to use this opportunity to figure out Roland's hidden cards and motives.
"The undead are evil? Who made this rule? The God of Holy Light? Or the Holy Church itself?! "
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