stonecrandall 20 I, the God of Connection, begin to awaken [3-in-1]
20 I, the God of Connection, begin to awaken [3-in-1]
To avoid being pursued, the Wide-Range Silent Ship did not approach Merlin Passage again.
Instead, it took a large detour through the air and arrived at the other side of the Merlin Passage.
Maintaining a parallel distance of 200 kilometers, it disappeared into the sea of clouds and cruised eastward.
Wendell was still sleeping in the passenger seat of the Blue Dragonfly.
Thanks to Ishtar's devouring of two superhumans, her heart injury has completely healed, and she is sleeping even more soundly than before, showing no signs of waking up.
Roya didn't intend to wake her; instead, he and Emil jumped out of the cockpit one after the other.
At this moment, the vast deck was piled high with spoils of war, looming majestically like mountains in the dark clouds.
Luo Ya was in a great mood and patted Emil, who had landed and transformed into a girl in a blue dress.
"I never imagined that our first collaboration would be counting the spoils of war."
When Roya gently patted Emil's shoulder, it swayed like jelly.
She looked bewildered, trying to adapt to the hunter's style and mindset.
But deep down, I was still shocked by Roya's act of massacring the island with just a single ornithopter and a steam-powered flying machine.
This was not the behavior of a hunter skilled in exploration and calculation, but rather a complete act of venting anger and suicide.
"Captain, do you know that before the Beastmaster sent me to capture you, he had already figured out your identity and sent a mechanical pigeon to notify the First Mechanical Regiment of Mevin County."
If the Black Sails arrive early, and Miss Wendell is still asleep...wouldn't you be in great danger?
Luo Ya was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said:
"The First Mechanical Regiment of Meiwen County? I destroyed one of their Black Sails just three days ago, otherwise why would they have a bounty on my head?"
Actually, I'm not good at killing. This is my first time committing murder and robbery, and I'm not very skilled at it.
But nobody's better at running away than me!
Thanks to the Blue Dragonfly's incredible maneuverability, Roya was already adept at escaping.
With Wendell's wind-riding ability, the speed is even greater!
Now there is Emile...
In fact, it was precisely because Emile was present while Wendell was in a coma that Roja risked massacring the island.
When faced with real danger, Emil's physique can even envelop the entire team within her body, then disguise herself as an enemy ship, a giant beast, or a cloud, and escape in the chaos.
Moreover, Emile's flight speed was also quite impressive, and its maneuverability even surpassed that of the Blue Dragonfly!
The three were not only fast and highly mobile in their escape, but their spiritual detection abilities also far surpassed those of ordinary people.
Roya's air connection, Wendell's wind-based spiritual sense, and Emil's innate sensitivity to phlogiston as a ghost.
It can be said that this is a hunter team composed of three different races of skilled scouts and escape artists.
Even if two people are unconscious or offline, the third person can still escape with the two burdens.
Moreover, it's rare to encounter a supernatural ability that can simultaneously wipe out a mechanical genius, a fallen wind-type supernatural being, and a shapeshifting ghost.
Emil felt that Roya was trying to comfort her.
"If it were just to help me get revenge, the captain wouldn't have taken such a risk. I have endless grudges to settle. If I couldn't let go of my hatred, I would have died of worry long ago and wouldn't be alive today."
"Don't worry, it's not just about revenge. Aren't these all spoils of war? I'm short of money right now... I'm desperately short of money."
"These spoils look like a lot, but very little of them are actually valuable... Captain, is it really worth it?"
Roya smiled and patted Emil's little head, just in time to touch the dragon horn tucked into the left bun.
Startled, he immediately stopped!
"Don't forget, Emil, you're part of the spoils too... You're a hunter now, and hunters are supposed to be open-minded. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to stay on the Sky Island, get married, and have children?"
Emily huddled up, her thin body trembling, her eyes blurry with tears.
"Actually, I knew from the beginning that you guys were very capable."
Later, while you were using the airship to spray mica corpses to attract the mica swarm, I took advantage of the beast tamer's distraction and secretly escaped from the hunting grounds.
I had just escaped to Merlin Passage when the Beastmaster personally captured me and brought me back. He used a trick against me, sending me to detonate the poisonous sting bombs to blow you up.
Roya used the airship to spray mica corpse fluid, intending to disrupt the situation, make the Beastmasters struggle, and lure the mica dragon to ambush the blue dragonfly. Unexpectedly, it frightened Emil.
On the contrary, the beast tamer made a foolish mistake.
"That beast tamer seems cunning and calculating, why would he take such a risk?"
"When a person is about to die, they will eventually take risks in order to save their life."
"If you're about to die, what chance of survival is there?"
"Beastmasters spend their entire lives studying dragon crystals, and Miss Wendell's breath carries the scent of dragon scales."
What? Wendell is a dragon girl too?
wrong!
Luo Ya realized what was going on.
Dragon scales or dragon blood are said to have a strong effect in suppressing demons.
Therefore, it is impossible for the Dragon Girl to fall into demonic possession.
Roya speculated that the blood energy valve inside the Wendell armor was likely made of dragon scales.
In this way, Roya roughly guessed Wendell's purpose in wanting to go to the Eastern Dragon Kingdom.
He simply doubted whether, given the fluctuating mental states of Wendell and Ishtar, she could really hold out until the East.
Regardless, in this hunting adventure, Wendell first saved his life, then lured the beastmaster into making a move, and ultimately obtained Emil.
Even though it was mostly asleep, it still did a great job, and we can't ask for more!
While his spraying of mica corpse fluid to create chaos frightened Emil, it led the Beastmaster to take a fatal step, ultimately winning everything.
Chaos, indeed, is a ladder!
Of course, even if Emile didn't defect to the enemy, when faced with the exploding poison darts, his nerves would be paralyzed and his body unable to move, but he could still use the mechanical connection to control the iron wire to kill Emile.
With Wendell's body and nerves paralyzed, Ishtar will only appear sooner and use her demonic energy to retaliate.
Having reviewed the situation to this point, Luo Ya couldn't help but sigh:
Unlike a mechanic, a hunter cannot accurately predict everything or prepare contingency plans for all possible accidents, but you must always keep your trump cards up your sleeve and wait for the right opportunity to strike!
Roya and Emil quickly tallied up the spoils of war.
Cash, more than five hundred gold kyats!
The combined value of the fuel, crystal, gold, and silver jewelry is estimated to be no less than three hundred gold coins.
Mechanical parts such as steam-powered flying armor, differential engines, and boilers are worth no less than two hundred taels of gold.
There were also five corpses of superhumans and a small amount of live mica...
And, a priceless dragon crystal.
The total value of the spoils exceeded one thousand gold coins!
This was the first time Luo Ya had ever earned so much money.
The money I earned over the past three years combined doesn't even come close to what I made on this one adventure!
High risk, high reward – this is evident.
However, compared to his massacre of the island, this amount of wealth was still far too little.
There are three reasons:
First, the world has banks, and most people still keep their money in banks.
Secondly, the Beast Tamers appear to be merely hunting ground managers; the real boss is someone else, not on the eight floating islands.
Third, the total population of the eight islands is too small; even combined, they don't have as much population as Sweet Wine Town.
Luo Ya briefly divided the three people's personal belongings.
"These fresh jellyfish are for you, the five superhuman corpses belong to Wendell, and I want this dragon crystal to awaken my power!"
"Okay."
Emil's blue eyes rippled slightly, flattered and surprised.
She then realized that she had been setting her happiness threshold far too low all along.
So much so that after latching onto Roya's coattails, he easily achieved the freedom to eat mica, and his body was secreting large amounts of happy hormones, which were about to explode.
She didn't touch the mica; she just left it there, secretly glancing at it a few times, and was content.
"Thank you, Captain. When do you plan to awaken? If one dragon crystal isn't enough for you to awaken, you can absorb more of my blood; it might be of some use."
"Yes, I will."
However, Roya did not intend to awaken immediately.
He wanted to buy a latest guide to awakening, prepare emergency medicine, and, when Wendell was awake and Emile was in good condition, choose an auspicious day with favorable weather to bathe and burn incense.
Before that, he needed to quickly convert his spoils into cash, repair the Blue Dragonfly, and upgrade and modify the Wide Area Silent Ship.
……
dawn.
The rising sun illuminates the Meilin Channel like a red river hanging in the sky, rolling eastward in a magnificent sight.
Wendell woke up in the light and jumped off the armor.
Upon seeing the unfamiliar girl in the blue dress, he suddenly tilted his head, trying hard to remember...
Unable to recall, she quickly retrieved the rolled-up diary from her ample bosom.
There is no record of the hunting battle or the girl in the diary.
"So much has happened in ten minutes?"
"Will it be dawn in ten minutes?"
Roya patiently explained the ins and outs of the battle at the hunting grounds to Wendell.
Wendell listened attentively, his golden eyes as bright and captivating as the morning sun.
Halfway through the conversation, she suddenly frowned and reached out to grab Emil's thin, soft hand.
The dragon scale valve was activated in reverse, forcibly absorbing a trace of Emil's blood essence.
A moment later, her silver eyebrows relaxed, and she smiled.
"You are not a dragonborn, but a spirit of another race fused with dragon blood... Welcome, Emil, you will surely be a reliable partner for Roya!"
Emil, who had been so frightened that she collapsed into a puddle of mud, slowly regained her girlish figure and mustered all her strength.
Only then did I realize how beautiful the woman in front of me was…
"Hello, Miss Wendell, even by my superhuman standards of beauty, you're one of the top ten most beautiful women I've ever seen!"
"You're cute too."
"You mean, my original body that was just there?"
"..."
Roya immediately interrupted their mutual flattery, staring at Wendell with a serious expression.
"Now, for the safety of the entire team, you should confess the secret between you and Ishtar."
Ishtar...
Wendell almost forgot the Demon Queen's name.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember that very well. I only remember that I used to be a trainee saintess of the Holy Spirit Church. In a certain battle, I encountered the Demon Queen Ishtar. When I was on the verge of death, someone in the church used supernatural abilities to swap my body and soul with Ishtar's... I used my holy soul to save Ishtar's demonic body, and at the same time, I used my holy body to imprison Ishtar's demonic soul."
Emil's eyes widened and her mouth gaped open, never expecting such extraordinary abilities to exist in the world.
Luo Ya was also astonished.
Wendell was actually a saint; no wonder she always had such a holy and compassionate look on her face.
He had only seen similar tactics in Japanese family dramas in his previous life...
If that's the case, wouldn't it mean that there's another Wendell purifying a demonic body inside the Church's St. Mary's Palace?
"With both ends sealed, doesn't that mean the Holy Maiden Palace gets all the good things?"
Ishtar's demonic soul corrupts your body, and as you fall into demonic possession, a remnant of her soul is born to resist.
"Is this remnant soul you now?"
Wendell thought about it carefully, then nodded slightly and said:
"I'm not sure, but that's the theoretical idea."
"Tell me Ishtar's abilities, quirks, and whether she poses a danger to our team?"
"All I remember is that Ishtar is the latest rising genius in the demon world, a demon lord who nearly wiped out the church, and seems to have some charm abilities. As for the rest..."
I don't remember very clearly.
Emile listened intently, seemingly lost in thought:
"This is a really interesting experiment. We can get a close look and see whether it is the body that changes the soul, or the soul that changes the body."
Luo Ya speculated that after Emil devoured the dragon girl, she must have suffered from similar troubles.
As for whether the body or the soul changes the other...
Roya hoped it was the former.
In this way, his mechanical connection ability will one day be able to connect with living beings, and he will be invincible.
Wendell continued:
"Because the seal within my Holy Body is too powerful, and I have exerted all my strength, Ishtar can only start from scratch if she wants to fall into demonic possession."
The fifth-tier extraordinary ability that I can currently use is my own, but the fifth-tier level was cultivated step by step by Ishtar using my body.
I can only use it by controlling the Dragon Scale Valve to transform demonic energy into ordinary wind energy.
Having only cultivated to the fifth rank, my remnant soul is already on the verge of dissipation. If Ishtar were to cultivate any stronger, the Dragonscale Clan would become useless.
Luo Ya suddenly frowned and said:
"You mean you want me to restrain your cultivation and stop advancing in rank?"
Wendell shook his head.
"That was my original thought. If you also wanted to do that, Ishtar would have killed you... Do what you believe is right."
Roya nodded. Even though he had kissed Wendell, which was a huge offense to the saint's status, Ishtar had every reason to kill him.
"It is better to guide than to block. Forcibly banning will only give rise to a more powerful, more resilient, and more invincible demon king."
"Perhaps your Eastern mechanic mindset can purify Ishtar's demonic soul, making her reflect on her doomed path in the past... After my remnant soul dissipates, you will control her."
"I will miss you as much as I can, Wendell."
"I'm still here. I'll accompany you as you grow until you have complete control over Ishtar. Now, you must awaken!"
"Hmm, this time the expenditure was too great. I'll rest for three days, convert the spoils into cash, and once everything is fully prepared, I will awaken."
……
Three days later.
A long, drawn-out whistle drowned out the roar of steam.
After being refurbished and modified, the Wide-Range Silent Ship slowly set sail from Hongji Town, once again leaving the Meilin Channel and cruising eastward parallel to the outside world, about 200 miles away.
As Roya stood on the brand-new deck, the formaldehyde and woody scents from the paint wafted in the wind, surprisingly refreshing.
He discarded the brown-yellow hunting outfit that had been scorched and burned by the exploding crystal, and instead put on a blue work uniform with a robe-like design and Eastern aesthetics.
Over the next three days, Roya traveled to more than a dozen sky islands, allowing Emil to change her form and sell the spoils of war in batches.
Purchase equipment, replenish resources, complete the design... and finally complete the final modification work in the town of Ledkill.
The Wide-Area Silent has replaced its entire power system.
The original three-stage boiler with four furnaces in parallel was upgraded to a six-stage boiler with two furnaces in parallel.
Even a used boiler represents a major upgrade!
The airship's buoyancy chamber, ropes, central reinforcing column, and keel have all been structurally reinforced. Materials have been upgraded to match the more powerful engine and accommodate faster acceleration.
Below the keel, various load-bearing hooks have been added to match Roya's formidable robbery abilities.
The entire airship has been renovated and repainted, and looks brand new.
Sky blue buoyancy capsule.
Yellowish-brown floating wood.
The small garden by the fence is now planted with flowers, fruits, and vegetables...
However, to avoid suspicion, no group logos were painted on the buoys and gondolas.
The interior of the gondola has been renovated, including the wheelhouse, conference room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and three bedrooms.
Separately, the following was created:
An armored compartment was built to house the blue dragonflies.
A forging workshop equipped with small steam-powered machines.
The rest of the cabin was converted into storage compartments!
The modification of the Wide-Area Silent Ship alone cost Roya 800 gold coins!
Among them, the price of two second-hand boilers of the sixth grade exceeded four hundred gold coins.
Even a secondhand small steam tool costs close to two hundred gold coins...
Eight hundred gold coins are enough to buy a brand new, high-spec Cameron Tier III airship.
However, Roya still opted for a vehicle with superior power, loading capacity, and load-bearing capacity.
In addition to the airship, Roya also repaired the damaged blue dragonfly.
Replace the phlogiston tank with a new one.
Pigment was extracted from the Blue Dream Purple Nightmare Fungus, which barely managed to repair the Blue Dragonfly's miniature differential engine.
Unfortunately, the Blue Dream Purple Nightmare Bacteria has run out, and there won't be a next time.
Luo Ya also wants to replace the Blue Dragonfly's boiler with one with a higher power output!
Unfortunately, the high-power boilers were either too large, too expensive, or unsuitable for the repositioning of the armor during transformation, so Roya had to give up.
This also proves that the Blue Dragonfly is a perfect design at its current size, and there is no room for upgrades unless the body size is changed.
Besides, with a high bounty on the Blue Dragonfly, it wouldn't be appropriate for Roya to carry out large-scale modifications at someone else's repair shop...
Roya also significantly upgraded Wendell's steam-powered flying armor!
Two new pairs of wings of different lengths have been added.
Replace the auxiliary boiler with a third-stage one, add a backpack-style external mechanical differential engine, and upgrade the steam sword to be sharper, and the cannons and missiles to be more powerful.
Roya named the new flying armor—
A six-winged silver angel.
As a scout, Emil didn't need armor, but forward reconnaissance was a rare occurrence, and he spent most of his time undertaking various logistical tasks.
To this end, Roya modified a second-hand armored vehicle into a new logistics armored vehicle.
It is in the form of cubic mica, with a front compartment measuring 3.8 meters on each side, and has four parallel first-stage boilers, a rarity among small armored vehicles.
With its super-strong main body defense, twelve flexible tentacles containing distributed neural connections, Emile can control it freely.
Its extra-large storage cavity and built-in large differential engine can automatically collect Emile's remains when it is torn to pieces.
Primarily used for logistical support, emergency rescue, and looting, Roya named it—
Scavenger Armor.
Whether it's the six-winged silver angel or the scavenger armor, Roya has set up basic voice control, which can be started remotely and automatically handle some simple tasks.
After the modifications, Roya also prepared a sufficient amount of fuel, water, food, materials, spare parts, and changes of clothes...
And, the potions and awakening guide prepared for awakening.
He even prepared ten kilometers of ordinary iron wire to disguise and conceal his real tentacles.
When Luo Ya looked at his wallet, he only had a few dozen taels of gold left.
When it comes to spending money, Luo Ya does not have a typical Eastern mindset.
In his view, as a hunter who risks his life, only the money he spends is real money.
The right way is to convert money into team strength in a timely manner.
These three days.
While Wendell was asleep, Ishtar's dissipating demonic energy devoured the frozen corpses of several extraordinary beings in the cabin.
Emile also ate all the fresh luminescent mica.
Only then did their physical strength and vitality return to their peak.
Consuming spirits, crystals, or other extraordinary beings below one's own extraordinary level is primarily for self-healing, strengthening the body, and restoring and stabilizing blood and energy. It is difficult to advance one's extraordinary level.
Luo Ya did not readily consume the Burning Crystal.
His first time was with Long Jing.
Just then, a newspaper pigeon slowly flew across the sky, emitting a continuous, extremely penetrating cooing sound!
"It's finally here..."
Roya immediately responded with a whistle and waved to the sky.
Soon, a rusty, plump newspaper pigeon slowly landed on the deck, collected two silver rings, popped a copy of the Merlin Hunting Daily out of its abdomen, spread its wings and flew away, making a dull, mechanical sound.
Luo Ya opened the newspaper and went straight to the headline in the news section.
It didn't make the headlines!
In a corner, I saw a small news item about the Mica Hunting Grounds:
"The Seventh Mica Hunting Ground in Batai Town is currently closed for upgrades. Hunters who need it can go to the nearby Fifth or Sixth Mica Hunting Ground."
Luo Ya, who disliked having too much fame, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Emile frowned slightly, and said indignantly:
"Forget headlines, there's not even a single decent news story!"
Luo Ya shrugged, not caring.
"They probably think I'm part of the revolutionary army. The media is typically suppressing the news, only reporting good news and not bad."
Wendell, however, found a brand new bounty on the bounty board for the Blue Dragonfly—
"A blue, dragonfly-shaped, biomimetic flapping-wing aircraft that can transform into an armored mode, equipped with external wire tentacles, is offered a bounty of five hundred gold coins by the Arden Extraordinary Factory, with no regard for its life!"
Emil looked somewhat disappointed, as if she was afraid that Roya had taken a risk for nothing.
"What's going on? Such a huge crime as massacring an island, and the bounty is only five hundred gold coins..."
Having seen it all, Roya laughed and explained:
"This is standard practice in the news industry. The focus is on the reward for the Blue Dragonfly while downplaying the pilot. This shows that the military really sees me as a revolutionary and is afraid of promoting me as an idol for the common people."
Strangely, the bounty was offered by Arden's extraordinary factory?
Emile quickly explained:
"Captain, don't you know? Arden's Extraordinary Factory is the major shareholder of all the Mica Hunting Grounds!"
"Really? Then I'll have to go."
Luo Ya immediately opened the "Guide to Awakening the Extraordinary" published by Arden Extraordinary Factory, and then took out the living red dragon crystal from the fan-shaped shell in his arms.
"It's time to wake up."
With the mechanical connection ability that comes with time travel as a foundation, what kind of extraordinary ability will awaken?
Luo Ya was very much looking forward to it.