"Dawn Era, 3rd November 579. Sunny, this is the Challenger. All departments of the ship are operating normally, and the airspace is in good condition, except for the damned thundercloud below. This is a good day to clear out the pests. Fifteen minutes to enter the target area, and the clean-up mission in area 318 is expected to be carried out in half an hour. Special investigation headquarters have received your message. Over。”
Among the many inconveniences brought about by the thunderstorm season, the only convenience was that it dispelled the most annoying communication interference from the magical fog.
Many tasks became more convenient during the thunderstorm season, especially when it came to long-distance commands via radio and communication magic.
"Headquarters have received your message. The situation has not changed. Please continue with the clean-up mission as planned. Operation code: Pests must be cleaned up. "
For the heavy battleship Challenger, which had six heavy magic howitzers and a miniature mage tower, it was a good day to clear out the pests.
As long as you see one evil god believer, it means that there is a whole nest of them … For many people, the only difference between them and those annoying cockroaches in the city is that they are less scary when they walk on their feet.
Although it wasn't good news to see these black, inexhaustible, and tenacious fellows, if they appeared outside one's home, it would still make one feel a little better.
At the very least, for some paranoid people, their houses wouldn't have to be burned down.
Did it sound exaggerated? Compared to cockroaches, the Evil Gods' believers were even more hopeless. Many extremists would actually burn down the entire city along with all its residents. And when considering the final development of many historical events related to the Evil Gods, objectively speaking, I would praise these butchers for making the correct choice and decisiveness in dealing with the matter.
And this time, since they had appeared outside the city, the ruling coalition and investigation headquarters of Vila Nova Dônia naturally adopted the most direct method — burning down the entire mine.
Yes, burning it down, turning everything into ruins and a sea of fire.
Together with the challengers were the magic armor transport ship Leviathan and the propeller-class battleship Raging Elephant. The former was fully loaded with two squadrons' worth of magic armors, while the latter was basically a mobile fortress and super-sized cannon tower. Raging Elephant was a slaughter at close range.
The challenger's gunship was fully loaded with rock piercing missiles designed to penetrate underground bunkers, and the warheads they carried were even more deadly. Liquid incendiary warheads could turn a tunnel into a tunnel of death, and the high heat produced by the lava warhead's chemical reaction was enough to create a fake volcano, causing boiling magma to flow in the tunnel. Among the warheads that were already overboard, there were clearly illegal gas and radiation warheads, but in terms of lethality, they were surprisingly 'safe'.
The so-called 318 Pest Extermination Mission was probably a mobile fortress to block the entrance. According to the blueprint of the mine, all kinds of extraordinary weapons would be smashed into the mine. If the pests did not die out first, or if there were still survivors after the mine was blown into a deep pit, it would be the time for the combat experts equipped with Thunderbolt Magic Armor to take action.
At this moment, on the bridge of the Leviathan, a black-skinned elf who was the temporary captain of one of the squadrons was looking at the world under the lightning.
"… If everything goes smoothly, we won't even have a chance to fight."
Even though Su Nanna was in the safety of the battleship, she still didn't like the feeling of not being able to touch the ground. This damned feeling of floating made her feel nervous, and the resulting dizziness made her want to vomit.
This tall dark ranger actually had a weakness that nobody knew about. She abnormally hated and even feared flying, especially when she couldn't rely on her own sense of space to fly.
And as a commander, she shouldn't be shaken at this time. She couldn't help but lick her lips. This was a habitual action that she used to relieve tension during her apprenticeship days. She just couldn't get rid of it.
Fortunately, considering the possibility of a battle like this, she wasn't alone.
"Of course, we're just insurance. We're just exterminating a group of pests. We're just a safety valve to prevent the pests from escaping."
Adeline had once been the ace of the Cloud Tower's Witches aerial combat squadron. Since the Game Church's higher-ups were indeed lacking (reliable) people, she had been roped in as Su Nanna's assistant.
Considering that this was the first time the Game Church's headquarters was participating in a joint operation, they had already sent more combat strength than expected. This was more like a political show than a real battle, and there would definitely be cooperation with other Churches in the process. Naturally, sending out the reliable Teacher Adeline would be the priority.
As the ace of aerial combat aces, Adeline had taught countless aerial combat elites. Of course she knew what Su Nanna's restless expression and small movements meant.
"I didn't expect you to be afraid of heights. I mean, it's rare to see you in an airship. I originally thought that you were a dark ranger who only believed in your own feet …"
Su Nanna instantly fell silent. With her dark skin tone, it was probably impossible to tell that she was blushing.
As a descender who frequently rode airships for transportation, this was indeed a rather puzzling problem. Su Nanna hesitated for a moment before finally squeezing out a sentence that might or might not count as an explanation.
"Believing in your own feet means you don't need to use any means of transportation? That's ridiculous … Actually, I'm not afraid of heights. I'm only afraid of airships. I don't know if it's my bad luck, but all the airships I've ridden in the past have all met their end prematurely."
"Met their end prematurely?!"
"'In this world, only death is equal — Dark Ranger Queen Mai Lin.'"
What did that mean? All the airships had perished? Adeline paused in surprise for a moment before she realized.
"All the airships sank?!"
"… Yeah."
Su Nanna's expression darkened even more as if she recalled some unpleasant memories.
But suddenly, Adeline chuckled out loud.
"Ha, falling really is the common end for all flying airships. Still, such superstition is a bit too much. As a former professional air force pilot, I've seen plenty of such people. I had a few colleagues who had a 60% crash rate, and his wingman's death rate was also frighteningly high. He was given the nickname of 'Death God of Teammates.' But after some investigation, I discovered that his combat style was too extreme, and he always dragged his teammates down with him. That's understandable."
"60%? If only it was 60% … "
Su Nana's low murmur made Adeline a little uneasy.
"… What's your percentage? Is there an even more ridiculous crash rate? 70%? 80%? "
"Didn't I tell you? They've all sunk. The 13 airships that we rode in all sunk. The last two airships were the silver elves', as well as the airships that we stole. They all sunk. At the time, I thought that there would be an exception, but in the end, we were still ambushed … "
The moment Adeline finished speaking, the atmosphere instantly became quite awkward.
Adeline finally understood why Su Nanna was always on guard, and why she always leaned against the window to look outside. She was prepared to escape at any moment.
"Haha, superstition, it's all just superstition."
Adeline laughed dryly as she silently reached for the pouch on her vest. That pouch contained the dwarven foldable parachute.
"Okay, it's fine. Luckily, I have good professional habits … Cough, cough, Su Nanna, as an aerial combat instructor, I'm going to criticize you right now. This is just an accident. Everything you've experienced before is an accident because you're in a high-risk environment. This mindset must be corrected. Otherwise, it'll affect your ability to perform normally in such an environment …"
* Boom! *
The sudden explosion and the ringing of the alarm interrupted Adeline's lecture.
Adeline and Su Nanna exchanged glances. Adeline was speechless, while Su Nanna paused with strange expressions. Finally, they both simultaneously looked outside the window.
There, a gigantic eye that was clearly visible in the clouds occupied the entire surface of the mine. This gigantic eye that was several hundred meters wide was staring in their direction.
The next instant, a silver-white ray of light that represented death tore through the clouds and directly pierced through the Volga Whale.
* Boom! *
This time, it wasn't just the ship's hull that was struck. The deck that was currently being torn apart, along with the frantic alarm that was ringing loudly, explained everything.
20 minutes later, Rorschach, who was still in Vila Nova Dônia, received the latest notification.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
