Three days later, Huaiyuantang's airship landed at the airship base in a strange city in the desert, carrying out the second supply of the journey and the first repair after being attacked by the Iron-billed Ibis. Literature Museum
The attack by the Iron-billed Ibis that time only caused one airbag in the airbag compartment of the airship to completely lose its ability to float. However, in order to maintain the balance and stability of the airship's flight, the airship with twelve airbag compartments was Later during the flight, he actively released a lot of helium from the other airbag compartment opposite the one that was attacked, and also adjusted the air pressure of the other three airbag compartments. , the speed of the airship suddenly dropped by one-third, from over a hundred kilometers per hour to a level of about seventy or eighty kilometers per hour.
Airship flight is a complex technical task, and Zhang Tie only learned from others' words how many adjustments were needed to allow the airship to continue flying smoothly after being attacked by an iron-beaked ibis.
That is to say, during these three days, because of the battle with the Iron-beaked Ibis, Zhang Tie's identity on the airship changed slightly. Although he was still a special guest living in the passenger cabin, the identity of Zhang Tie on the airship Most of the crew members knew him.
When the airship was preparing to land at the airship base in this city, Zhang Tie, like other passengers, walked out of the cabin and came to the vast airship deck, looking at the strange city below. .
What impressed Zhang Tie deeply was the terrifying cacti that often reached forty or fifty meters high surrounding the city. Those cacti formed the walls of the city. Looking from the air, the entire shape of the city looked like A piece of green clover, in the middle of this piece of clover. There are buildings with strange domes everywhere. In the middle of this city, there is also a large lake.
The airship base that can accommodate the landing of Huaiyuantang's airship is right next to the lake.
The biting cold wind that arrived in winter when leaving Karur has turned into a warm sun hanging in the sky. The passengers standing on the deck have already taken off all kinds of warm clothes that were obstructive and bulky. And dress lightly.
"This is the desert city of Loulan. The total population of the entire city and its surroundings is 4.1 million people!" Just as Zhang Tie was looking at the city below, Zhang Zhitian had already appeared beside Zhang Tie. Introducing the city below the airship to Zhang Tie.
After Zhang Tie saved his life that day, Zhang Zhitian, who was two years older than Zhang Tie, had already become friends with Zhang Tie.
"How's it going? Is your injury better?" Zhang Tie looked at the young crewman whose face was bronzed by the sun. Zhang Zhitian's eyes were narrow and long. Perhaps it was due to the same bloodline. There are actually two similarities with my brother. This guy looks gentle on the outside, but underneath the gentleness, he has a strong temperament that ordinary people can't imagine.
Thinking of the way this guy and the iron-beaked ibis fought hard on the airbag of the airship that day, Zhang Tie shook his head quietly in his heart. It turns out that people are not what they look like.
Hearing Zhang Tie's inquiry, a smile appeared on Zhang Zhitian's face, and he raised his arm slightly, "After using a low-level recovery potion and applying some wound gel, I rested for two days. It's much better! "
"By the way, have you often encountered this kind of situation before?" Zhang Tie asked casually.
"How can we encounter this situation so often? If it is so dangerous every time, wouldn't all cargo airships become targets for those high-level mutant creatures that can fly?"
"You mean this situation is very uncommon?" Zhang Tie was stunned for a moment.
"It's not uncommon. It's rare to encounter it. I have been on this airship for three years. But this is the first time I have encountered such a dangerous situation as the past few days, although I have encountered some capable ones before.
The flying mutant creatures and monsters harassing the airship are not as dangerous as this time..." Zhang Zhitian patiently explained to Zhang Tie, "Although it seems that this airship can fly everywhere in the sky, in fact, like us
The routes of such large cargo airships are relatively fixed. On these routes, there are basically no high-level creatures that can directly threaten the safety of the airship. This is an important consideration in the selection and exploration of airship routes. If
There are many mutant creatures or monsters in a certain airspace that can threaten the safety of the airship route. Under normal circumstances, the airship route will choose to bypass this area. This is similar to a ship sailing on the sea. Although the sea is vast, it is also
You can’t go anywhere.”
Zhang Tie suddenly realized, "I also find it strange. I feel that those iron-beaked ibises seem to be a little too smart. They seem to know how to avoid the shooting area on the deck, and specifically choose the most dangerous places on the airship that cannot be reached by everyone's weapons to attack."
?”
Zhang Zhitian looked both ways and saw that not many people were paying attention to him and Zhang Tie. Then he lowered his voice and told Zhang Tie the news, "I heard the discussion between the captain and the first mate. They also felt that this encounter with iron
The attack of the billed ibis is a little strange. In the past few years of sailing, no trace of the iron-billed ibis has been found on this route, but this time there were a lot of them, and things are a little abnormal!"
"Is there someone behind this that is manipulating it?" Zhang Tie also felt a little surprised.
At this time, after receiving confirmation from the ground signal, the airship had slowly lowered its height above the airship landing position vacated by the ground base. When it was still a few hundred meters away from the ground, the airship had already dropped several
A huge rope, the vehicles and people on the ground became busy after receiving the rope thrown by the airship. The airship, which was still swaying in the sky due to the wind direction, suddenly stabilized and descended at a rapid speed
It's also accelerating.
Zhang Zhitian only glanced down slightly, then withdrew his gaze, "The iron-beaked ibis, a level five creature, because of its sharp and long beak, poses the greatest threat to airships in the air to all creatures below level six."
Among the top three, these creatures that can threaten the safety of airship airways suddenly appeared in large numbers in the originally safe airship lanes without any warning. The officers on the airship all judged that someone was operating behind the scenes. This time, if our airship is not
It is a rigid airship that adopts an advanced airbag compartment design instead of other soft airships. Everyone on the airship may not be able to come back this time!"
Zhang Tie took a breath of air. Although he had a certain degree of suspicion beforehand, when this suspicion was confirmed by more experienced people, he still felt a little frightened. "Could someone be targeting Huaiyuantang?"
"I don't know!" Zhang Zhitian shook his head, "But we will know soon. The desert city of Loulan is the most important air transportation hub within two thousand kilometers nearby. After landing in Loulan City, just ask if there are other
When an airship encounters something like this, the officers can probably make a judgment?"
"What if someone really targets Huaiyuantang?"
A proud smile appeared on Zhang Zhitian's face, "Then as long as we return to the Huaiyuantang clan, someone will naturally come to settle the score with those guys! No one can avoid paying the price after scheming against Huaiyuantang!"
Zhang Zhitian's self-confidence beyond his age also infected Zhang Tie. Zhang Tie also had a smile on his face. This is the confidence of having a powerful family behind him. Such confidence allowed the business group affiliated to Huaiyuantang to board the airship.
A young man in China seemed to have the same heroic spirit as Reinhardt when facing dangers and difficulties. Thinking of the Zhang family in Huaiyuantang, and thinking about his father and the current situation at home, Zhang Tie quietly
He sighed inwardly.
"Speaking of Huaiyuantang, I am not very clear about many things about Huaiyuantang. Can you tell me about it?"
"Okay, I estimate that it will take at least one day to complete the supply and airship repairs in the desert city of Loulan. Anyway, I am also recovering from my injuries at this time. There is nothing wrong. I will give you a good talk when I have this time.
Huaiyuantang!" Hearing Zhang Tie take the initiative to ask him about Huaiyuantang, a smile appeared on Zhang Zhitian's bronze face.
"Jinyun Kingdom is a human nation with the Chinese as the main body. We, Huaiyuantang, are one of the six aristocratic families in Jinyun Kingdom. We have eight cities under our command, a clan territory of more than a thousand miles, and occupy one county of Jinyun Kingdom.
The name of the county is the name of the Huaiyuantang of our Zhang family. Every generation of the head of the Huaiyuantang who inherits the title of Earl Feng, the leader of the human clan, is respected by everyone in the family. The position of the head of the family is elected by the family elders, but in the past two hundred years,
Later, the position of the head of the Zhang family in Huaiyuantang was inherited by the Donghai City lineage and has been inherited to this day..."
As Zhang Zhitian spoke eloquently, the impression of Huaiyuantang in Zhang Tie's mind gradually became clear.
…
After the airship landed, many people on the airship became busy. Because the desert city of Loulan lacked mineral resources, many of the high-end alloys and ordnance brought by the airship from Karur City were sold here. This gave the Changfeng Merchant Group
Huge profits came.
After selling the goods brought from Karur, Zhang Tie saw that the airship purchased a lot of things from the desert city of Loulan. Under Zhang Zhitian's introduction, Zhang Tie knew that there were three main types of things that the airship purchased here.
The first is ruby, the second is something in the body of a mutated lizard in the desert, which is said to be a material for making bows and arrows, and the third is said to be the secretion of a special cactus, then
This secretion can directly adhere to wounds on the human body.
While various goods are coming in and out of the cargo hold below the airship, the water, coal, and food needed by the airship are also replenished here.
After landing, repairs to the airship's airbag compartment were also carried out in an intense and orderly manner.
After flying in the sky for many days, Zhang Tie's feet were a little shaky. After landing, Zhang Tie, led by a group of familiar airship crewmen, walked around the desert city of Loulan. Loulan City's grilled scorpion meat
Zhang Tie was deeply impressed by the mutated cacti that protected the city.
At night, the temperature in Loulan City suddenly dropped, and it suddenly became even colder than in Karur City. The passengers on the airship suddenly felt the taste of ice and fire.
That is to say, at night, the captain, first mate, and several other major figures of this airship all sat in the control room of the airship with frowns on their faces.
"Did you get any information?" the captain of the airship asked a man sitting next to the table.
"I have inquired clearly. Apart from us, five of the airships that have come to Loulan for supply and rest in the past three days have encountered the same situation as us. They have all been attacked by a large number of iron-beaked ibises. Those five airships have all
It was a rigid airship equipped with protective armor. After paying a huge price, it reluctantly arrived in Loulan. In addition, there were several airships that had agreed delivery times with several business groups in Loulan City but arrived.
They haven't reached it yet, they have been missing for several days, and all the missing airships are relatively backward single-airbag soft airships!"
The airship captain, who was smoking a pipe, narrowed his eyes and asked after a long time, "Is there any news about the destruction of the elder family of the Carlo Federation Alchemist Union?"
"No, although the reward notices from the Carlo Federation and the Alchemist Guild have now spread throughout the Hawaiian subcontinent, the murderers seem to have disappeared out of thin air!" The man who spoke glanced at the captain of the airship, "Between the two,
Is there any relationship between them?"
"I don't know if it has anything to do with it. What I know is that the world and the airship route seem to have become dangerous overnight!" The airship captain's eyes flashed with a calm and serious light, "Repair the airship as soon as possible.
, and then go contact the business group airships whose next stop is the same as ours and have been attacked by dangerous creatures, and let's form a team and leave Loulan!"