Under the mountain-like pressure, they instantly relaxed. Those in military uniforms were still fine, but a few people in military uniforms who looked like engineers directly felt their legs go soft. If it weren't for the people beside them supporting them, they would have fallen to the ground on their butts.
Who could imagine that Commander Cheng could make such a joke? That was really a bit terrifying.
Zhang Su let out a sigh. Although knights in Taixia Country had to pay for killing people without any reason, actually, the number of knights who killed commoners in Taixia Country was much fewer than that of shadow demons that Zhang Su had heard about. If Commander Cheng Honglie really killed all the people at present out of fury, nobody else would like to find trouble for Commander Cheng for the sake of a bunch of common fighters. Perhaps, someone would find various reasons to prove the "necessity" and "legitimacy" of Commander Cheng's action at this moment, such as finding a mole of Three-eye Association among the crowd, being disrespectful to Commander Cheng or Commander Cheng being injured by accident while chasing bloody demons. No matter where it was, as long as there were people, power and power would always have a great influence. This was determined by human nature.
After these whims flashed across Zhang Su's mind, Zhang Su took in a deep breath before saying, "I can take Commander Cheng to our master. However, our master is about 120 miles away from here. Commander Cheng, do you need me to inform the airboat of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory to pick you up here?"
Zhang Su didn't see Commander Cheng's airboat; therefore, he thought that Commander Cheng and that knight on his side directly flew here from the sky. Based on Commander Cheng's social status, he deserved such a welcome from them according to etiquette.
Cheng Honglie waved his hand and pointed to a few flashy military SUVs parked over there. "No need, we'll just take the car over there …"
"Fine, please follow me, Commander Cheng …" Zhang Su said straightforwardly. After telling a military officer on his side, he walked towards a military vehicle over there with Cheng Honglie and Gao Tianqi.
After coming to the front of that military vehicle, Zhang Su opened the trunk and took out a metal crank. After that, he came to the front of that vehicle and inserted one end of the crank into a hole in the front of the vehicle. Only after shaking it for a few times, the engine of the SUV had started to run, causing a muffled and sweet-sounding roar. At the same time, the exhaust pipe at the rear of the vehicle started to spurt out smoke.
Gao Tianqi's eyes turned bright as he asked, "A vehicle using Fiery-Oil engine?"
"Right …"
After throwing a few glances at this military vehicle, Cheng Honglie sat on the back seat of the vehicle. Zhang Su then put away the crank and sat in the front with Gao Tianqi.
"Bang …" "Bang …" The car door was closed, the handbrake was put down, and the car was in gear. As soon as he stepped on the accelerator, the whole car began to move at a high speed. Compared to an ordinary steam car, the car's starting speed, power, smoothness, maneuverability, and torque output range were all much better. Although there was noise in the car, it was much lower than that of an ordinary steam engine. Once the car window was closed, even if the car began to speed on the dirt road, the noise in the car would only be about 40 to 50 decibels.
After getting on the vehicle, Commander Cheng became silent as he just watched the scenery outside the window. By contrast, Gao Tianqi was very interested in this vehicle. Therefore, he started to chat with Zhang Su. In this way, the atmosphere in the vehicle was not too embarrassing.
"Does this vehicle use the same engine as that of the airplanes in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory?"
"No, this vehicle's engine is much smaller than that of the airplanes. Its cylinder volume is only 5 liters and it has more than 320 horsepower. By contrast, the cylinder volume of Air Cavalry I is 18.5 liters and its comprehensive horsepower output could reach over 1,500 horsepower. The two engines are a bit different in concrete structure. This is the latest engine product produced by the engine factory of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. This vehicle and those other vehicles are the first batch of trial vehicles handed to Fire-Dragon Corps. They have not been officially produced and equipped. They're used to find problems …"
"Is there any problem?"
"Yes!"
"What problem?"
"It's because this vehicle is too easy to drive. Anyone who has driven this vehicle would not like to touch those steam-driven vehicles anymore …"
Gao Tianqi watched Zhang Su who was driving the vehicle with a solemn look as he didn't know whether Zhang Su was humorous or he really felt that it was a problem.
While they were talking, the military off-road vehicle had rushed out of the mountain road in the valley and came to a wider, flat field. There were no kilometers here, but the terrain was flat and open. It was a hard land. As the gears changed and the accelerator gradually increased, the off-road vehicle's speed gradually soared to nearly 200 kilometers per hour. This speed was absolutely impossible for ordinary steam-powered vehicles. Only expensive internal combustion vehicles like the Faerie-Dragon could reach this speed on standard roads.
After driving for half an hour, they gradually arrived at a residential area from the wilderness. When they got on the official road, there were large tracts of farmland and towns on both sides of the road. The summer harvest of wheat in the farmland brought prosperity and joy to the people.
When they passed by a wheat field which was being reaped, Commander Cheng had Zhang Su park the vehicle on the roadside. Closely after that, he got off the vehicle and looked around the wheat field. After that, he picked up a handful of heavy ears of wheat and rubbed them.
After rubbing the ears of wheat, Commander Cheng revealed the plump and crystal wheat inside. It seemed to be a new breed of wheat. Besides being plump, the two ends of the wheat were a bit long and thin. Under the sunlight, the wheat gave out a shiny golden light. After taking a closer look, Zhang Tie found that the wheat was a bit red. Only by holding it, Zhang Tie could smell the natural fragrance of wheat.
Even though he didn't farm, Commander Cheng knew that he was holding a handful of good wheat. He had not seen this breed of wheat before.
"Fellow-Townsman, how's your harvest this year?"
At this moment, Commander Cheng looked kind as he was talking with a 40-odd year old farmer who was reaping wheat in the wheat field.
A steam wheat harvester was reaping wheat in the wheat field. The 40-odd year old farmer was shoveling the wheat straws left by the steam wheat harvester onto the oxcart.
Noticing Zhang Su in the military uniform of Fire-Dragon Corps and the unusual looks of Commander Cheng and Gao Tianqi, the farmer stopped his work for the time being as he pulled off the gauze and sweat towel over his mouth and nose, revealing a swarthy and honest look as he replied with a smile, "This year's harvest is even better than last year's. I'm afraid that we could get over 800 kg of wheat per mu this year …"
Of course, the farmlands in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory were not as fertile as those in Ninghe Prefecture. Even if they were well taken care of, they could only get over 700 kg of wheat per mu. Therefore, the farmer said that 800 kg of wheat was a bumper harvest.
Commander Cheng nodded as he asked, "What's your harvest per mu last year?"
"It's only about 700 kilograms!"
"How come it's so much this year?"
"Thanks to Qianji Hermit, the owner of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. Last year, the moment Qianji Hermit came to Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, he had people distribute a lot of wheat seeds. At that time, we found that the wheat seeds were more plump than those that we usually kept. I've not imagined that this kind of wheat could have such a high yield. A couple of days ago, a grain collector came here and would like to purchase them at a price 30% higher than the market price. However, I didn't sell them to him. It's my first time to see such good wheat after so many years of farming. I plan to use the wheat seeds this year as seeds …"
"Even if you want to use them as seeds, you don't need so many!"
"I still have a few relatives in Spirit Maple Prefecture. I heard that their summer grain harvest this year was also a failure. A few days ago, when they heard that my summer grain harvest was not a failure, they all came to have a look. When they saw the wheat in my wheat field, they all wanted me to leave some seeds for them to bring back in a few days. Furthermore, this kind of wheat can definitely feed people. Even if I can't use it up, I'm going to keep it for my family. I can't bear to sell it. Now that there are food disasters everywhere, it's better to prepare more grain for my family. When you're about to starve, even if you have a mountain of gold and silver, it won't be enough to eat …"
After chatting with the farmer for a short while, Commander Cheng returned to the vehicle. Gao Tianqi and Zhang Su also changed their positions. Zhang Su was the navigator while Gao Tianqi was the driver.
…
One hour later, this SUV arrived at Yangui Mountain Range over 60 miles away in the south of Xuantian City. When they entered this region, they had already seen posts and personnel on the highway. After seeing Zhang Su in the SUV, they passed two more checks before finally entering a manor on the lakeside.
This manor had beautiful scenery. It was a rare scenic spot. The moment the three people got off the vehicle, Commander Cheng and Gao Tianqi had immediately noticed that this manor was heavily guarded. The moment the three people got off the vehicle, Commander Cheng and Gao Tianqi had been gazed at by those people who were hiding in the dark. If not being knights, Commander Cheng and Gao Tianqi really couldn't sense these arrangements.
Gao Tianqi and Zhang Tie directly passed a garden and a pine wood in the manor and came to a leisure wharf on the lakeside.
There were already many people in the wharf. A group of beautiful noblewomen were standing in the pavilion on one side of the wharf and pointing at the center of the lake with a smile …
In the middle of the lake, a small steel-hulled boat was speeding across the surface of the lake at an astonishing speed. There was a white line at the back of the boat, and it was almost flying along the surface of the lake. As it sped along, a series of crystal-like water droplets splashed up from the boat. Under the sunlight, a small rainbow could be seen at the back of the boat …
Each time the boat bobbed on the lake and flew off, the kids would exclaim out of excitement and Zhang Tie's hearty laughter, "How about that? Dad is great …" (To be continued)
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