Chapter 493.2: Airship From Triumphant City!

If Oasis No.2 had been rich in resources, they wouldn’t have needed the Army, nor would they have resorted to expansion, unlike the Lion Kingdom.

Watching the players clad in skeletons haul out lines of machine tools and industrial gear, Darkest couldn’t help but sigh, “What a waste to blow it all up. Why not move it instead?”

According to the Lifestyle Profession players, they had gotten precision tools from some company, but heavy industry equipment was still in short supply.

There was never too much stuff like that.

Kakarot shot him a blank look. “How the hell would you move it?”

Broken Leg Kevin couldn’t help but join in. “Yeah, and where would you even put it?”

Darkest scratched his head. “Don’t we have the airship? These things shouldn’t be too hard to lift, right?”

They hadn’t brought much ammunition on the Heart of Steel to make room for gliders.

Now that the gliders had been deployed and troops were on the ground, there was some spare space for cargo.

Spring Water Commander thought for a moment and came up with a compromise. “Take whatever we can. Blow up the rest.”

Shipping it straight back to the New Alliance wouldn’t be easy, but they could transport it to the nearby Honey Badger Kingdom. Renting a patch of land shouldn’t be too hard.

If the administrator planned to keep Bist Town, then using the Honey Badger’s factories for nearby resupply would be the best choice.

With that, Spring Water Commander stepped in front of the factory director and announced his decision. "Your equipment may be a bit outdated and shabby, but it’s still barely usable. Blowing it all up would be quite a waste."

Hearing that the corps commander planned to spare the machines, the factory director's expression immediately brightened. However, before he could celebrate, the man in front of him continued, "So we’ve decided not to blow up anything we can carry. We'll only destroy what we can't move. Pick a few skilled engineers for us to help out. It should save us all some time."

The factory director looked as if he had just heard the most shameless request ever, spoken as if it were the most natural thing in the world. With a mournful face, he pleaded, "Take me with you too..."

Surprised at how cooperative he was, Spring Water Commander looked at him with a pleased smile and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Sure, no problem! Glad to see you’re choosing the right side. We’ll help you bring your family too."

"..."

Ignoring the stunned factory director, Spring Water Commander shot a glance at Darkest and deliberately switched to Federation language.

"Go with the factory director to his home. Be polite."

Darkest chuckled and adjusted the rifle on his back. "You got it!"

...

Removing the cables tangled in the propellers took longer than expected.

The Heart of Steel stayed grounded about 70 kilometers east of Falcon City for nearly 20 hours before finally arriving just before dusk the next day.

"Apologies, dear administrator. We kept you waiting." Standing in front of Chu Guang, the acting captain said awkwardly.

When the administrator had asked earlier, he had confidently said repairs would take 12 hours. But the steel cables were more stubborn than expected.

Especially since the airship had kept gliding forward under inertia, causing the propellers to spin in reverse and wind the cables even tighter. Their engineers had to suffer several extra hours in the freezing wind.

"It’s alright. It’s just a little delay." Looking at Falcon City looming ahead, Chu Guang squinted pleasantly and continued in a friendly tone, "But remember for next time... When I ask for an estimate, give me the most realistic one."

The captain snapped to attention and slammed his right fist to his chest. "Yes, sir!"

The New Alliance only had the Heart of Steel for a few months. Most of the crew had been reassigned from the army or air force, so inexperience was understandable. Chu Guang didn’t blame them for trying hard.

But the habit of exaggerating had to go. He didn’t want them making the same mistakes as the Wislanders, destroying themselves through their arrogance.

Only with accurate information could he make the most rational decisions. That was also why he chose to go to the frontlines alongside his players.

Standing nearby, McClennan felt a mix of emotions. He finally understood the New Alliance’s plans. But more than their strategic gambles, what truly unsettled him was how Heart of Steel was being used.

Especially that glider-assisted siege tactic. It had blown his mind.

Staring at the bridge just ahead, McClennan was hit with a strange feeling.

There was no doubt this was his Heart of Steel, and yet... He could no longer remember what it had originally looked like. It had become completely reshaped by the New Alliance.

While the Heart of Steel loomed over Falcon City, its citizens and nobility stared up at the massive floating vessel with awe.

Its shadow blotted out the entire district in front of the castle.

Seated on the throne inside the palace, King Morgott stared blankly out the window at the approaching airship.

It seemed to have started right after the noon hangings.

He suddenly realized... Though he still sat on the throne, he had already lost control of the capital... He no longer controlled the Falcon Kingdom.

First came the nobles. Deliberately or not, they distanced themselves from him and turned to flatter the New Alliance instead.

And not just the nobles. Even the castle’s servants, and his pet dogs, had started wagging their tails at their new masters.

The thought made Morgott's lips curl into a self-deprecating smile.

Come to think of it, things weren’t all that different when the Wislanders first arrived.

What cruel irony!

At that moment, Midal walked in slowly from outside. "Your Majesty."

Morgott looked at him and sighed softly.

Midal dropped to one knee and spoke respectfully, "You will always be my king."

Morgott nodded with some comfort. "Good. Now speak. What news do you have today?"

Midal stared at the floor with a complicated expression for a long time before speaking. "The New Alliance’s administrator will arrive at the castle in two hours. It might show more sincerity if you greeted him outside personally."

Morgott’s expression stiffened slightly. He knew Midal meant well. But his current position left him feeling a tangle of emotions.

After a long silence... He gripped the armrests and slowly rose from the throne.

The trembling motion made him look as though he had aged 10 years overnight.

From a proud and dignified monarch, to a feeble old man at the end of his days.

"I understand."

...

At the same time the Heart of Steel was entering the Falcon Kingdom, far west in the great desert, another airship the size of the Heart of Steel was slowly advancing.

Its name was Adjudicator, hailing from Triumphant City.

Compared to the Heart of Steel, its firepower was weaker. It lacked a 400mm main cannon and didn’t even have a mounting slot for forward-facing guns.

However, while its ground support ability was inferior, against other airships of the same class, it would hold its own with ease.

Mounted on its underbelly was a Phase Energy Rectifier, capable of firing Quark-Gluon Plasma encased in a gravitational field.

Though not particularly destructive and with a short lifespan, those blasts could effectively disable systems like directional shields and anti-gravity drives that relied on graviton interference.

Its effects were more direct than EMP and couldn’t be countered with simple Faraday cages.

Weapons made for ordinary air warfare were already outdated...

Especially when fighting mutants or abominations, sometimes even black powder worked better.

On the wasteland, only the Divine Shield System system of the Great Rift Valley and the Army’s airships made the Adjudicator useful.

In fact, strictly speaking, the only thing it could really threaten... Were other Army airships. After all, systems like the Divine Shield System operated on a completely different power scale. A single airship wouldn’t be useful against them even if their Phase Energy Rectifier could hurt the defensive system.

Triumphant City rarely sent Adjudicator-class airships to the front unless there was a very specific need for that phase cannon.

Like now...

Though it departed a month later than the front-line supply convoy, the Adjudicator still arrived a few days ahead of those slow trucks.

Two men stood in front of the bridge’s observation window.

The man on the left had a thick beard and a burn scar below his right eye, giving him a menacing look.

His name was Joseph, a general of the Eastern Army, sent to replace Griffin as the commander of the Sunset Province.

The man beside him held an even more important post, personally appointed by the Marshal as the governor-general of the Sunset Province.

Even though the territory under his jurisdiction was just a 70,000 square kilometers of oasis...

They spoke in casual tones, but every word was filled with veiled probing.

"I don’t oppose the expansionists of your Eastern Army. I even sympathize with them. But their foolishness is undeniable. They dragged us into a dangerous war that brought us nothing in return."

"Then what do you think should be done?" Joseph turned to the governor-general beside him and asked.

Cohen replied blandly, "They should have tightened control over their vassals and avoided direct conflict with the Enterprise until the Sunset Province was fully occupied. In fact, if they hadn’t greedily tried to swallow both the Pioneer and Shelter 0, they wouldn’t be in this mess."

Joseph’s eyebrows twitched slightly. "So we should just let the Enterprise take Shelter 0?"

Cohen didn’t answer directly, instead giving an ambiguous reply. "That depends on what they find there."

He didn’t believe in some all-solving master key. The problems of the wasteland wouldn’t be fixed with a few more black boxes.

The Marshal felt the same.

If Shelter 0 really were that important, the Marshal wouldn’t have sent him.

Joseph was slightly disappointed. He still couldn’t figure out the Marshal’s intentions through this guy. Knowing he wouldn’t get a straight answer, he cut to the chase. "Which faction do you belong to?"

Cohen answered crisply, "I don’t belong to any faction. I stand with the Marshal. Wherever the Marshal stands, that’s my stance."

Standing behind them, General Adelia awkwardly realized he had no place in this conversation. All he could do was gaze silently at the scenery outside the bridge.

Before him was a four-star general, and a five star governor-general...

No matter who they were, both men outranked him by far. He was just a lowly three-star general.

At that moment, his adjutant jogged up and whispered in his ear. "The Heart of Steel is hovering over Falcon City."

Adelia’s expression changed in surprise. "McClennan’s still alive?"

The adjutant looked grim. "Not sure. It’s flying a flag I don’t recognize."

Adelia thought for a moment and nodded. "I’ll handle it."

He walked over to the two high-ranking officers and said in a low voice, "Sir, Falcon City is just ahead. The Heart of Steel is above it, and judging by its flag, the New Alliance controls it."

Cohen frowned.

Trying to assert his presence, Adelia added respectfully, "Should we open fire?"

Joseph glanced at him and joked, "Bold idea."

Adelia blinked, confused by the general’s meaning.

Staring out the floor-length windows at the endless desert and the distant silhouette of the city, Cohen gave a flat order. "Slow down."

Whether they attacked or not, they needed to understand the situation first.

At the same time, deep in the shifting sands, a silver-gray exoframe slowly lifted its head and gazed toward the shimmer swallowed by the golden haze.

His eyes didn’t focus on the looming black clouds, but through them, at the advancing flying fortress.

A heavy look settled on Yun Song’s face. "Triumphant City has arrived."

The android soldier beside him nodded slowly. "Yeah... It’s been a century and a half."

At last, they faced each other again.