As winter approaches, the sky over Huanlong Port is always gloomy, as if the year-round snow storm on the main peak is about to come down and cover the fjord below.
At Huanlonggang Wharf, the Edelweiss is undergoing its third reconstruction.
With the strong support of personnel and materials provided by Starwind City, this sailing warship was quickly completed.
The only difference is that in order to carry out the next stage of test sailing, at Li Ran's request, the Caravel ship was installed with thick steel plates.
Although the speed has been greatly reduced, this test will provide valuable data for the final product of the "Breakthrough" project, the "Buran".
On the dock, Li Ran looked at the keel of the Snowstorm and fell into deep thought.
Can a ship's hull equipped with steel plates be able to defend itself against underwater attacks from the mechanical race?
Jamil stood at the bow of the ship and waved and shouted: "Sir Li Ran, the crew members are all in place and ready to go at any time!"
Li Ran stepped onto the boarding ladder and walked to the deck.
The crew members on this voyage included skeleton soldiers who controlled oars and ballistae, as well as two gryphons that provided high-altitude reconnaissance.
Yibes stood in the middle of the ship with a graceful figure. When she saw Li Ran boarding the ship, she nodded slightly in greeting, and the sea dragon orb she held in her chest shimmered.
call--
A pair of white wings fell from the sky, blocking Li Ran's sight.
The gentle voice of the angel then sounded: "Lord, please forgive me, Tia must fulfill the duties of a guardian angel. Please always be vigilant against the servants of the Faceless Men. They specialize in temptation and mental control, but they often retaliate.
Deception and betrayal."
Li Ran said easily: "Don't worry, she has already betrayed you once, and she won't have another chance in the future."
The Archangel did not let down his guard, and looked at the Shadow Witch with undisguised hostility.
Ibeth's response was more simple and direct.
She ignored the Archangel's provocation, and instead spent her spare time controlling the Sea Dragon Orb, communicating with Li Ran through the air with a warm, sincere look that contained some special emotion.
The breeze blew away Yibesi's clothes and skirt, and her light and mature style gave people a strong visual impact.
Such deviant and shameless behavior irritated the archangel even more.
"She... dared to be so rude to the Lord of Elrath, she must have an ulterior conspiracy!"
Li Ran reluctantly left. This struggle between light and darkness seemed to be impossible to end in the short term.
He passed through the skeleton soldiers standing by the ballista and came to Jamil's side.
This is the beginning of the fourth test voyage of the Edelweiss.
The warship moved forward in the vast fjord lake, the skeleton soldiers paddling rhythmically, and the Sea Dragon Orb, with Ibeth's increasingly sophisticated water control skills, controlled the wind and waves, injecting power into the steel hull.
The Edelweiss sailed through the mouth of the narrow and rapid canyon. With the help of the Sea Dragon Orb, it passed through the maelstrom battlefield where the Sea Dragon had been defeated, and sailed towards new waters on the increasingly open river.
Here, to the north is the Whitewater River leading to Talengard, and to the south is the Green River leading to the Falcon Principality.
If you sail eastward towards the upper reaches of the Ila River, you will eventually reach the rolling mountains in the Wolf Principality.
According to previous experience, there were fewer mechanical tribes in the Whitewater River Basin, so the Edelweiss changed direction and headed north.
Soon, as the ship entered the main stream of the White Water River, the underwater attack from the mechanical tribe began.
Huge waves rippled in the water around the ship. The originally clear water gradually darkened, and a thick shadow floated under the water——
Those are the machines that floated up.
Li Ran looked at the river nervously. As the rolling waves got closer and closer, he immediately shouted: "Yibeisi, use the Sea Dragon Orb to intercept the attack!"
The shadow witch chanted an obscure spell and used all her strength to cast water-bending magic. Under the amplification of the Sea Dragon Orb, a fierce current formed at the bottom of the hull.
This water flow forms a flowing barrier, blocking out a large number of mechanical creations.
"We succeeded!" Li Ran shouted loudly, "The Sea Dragon Orb can block the underwater attacks of the mechanical tribe!"
Boom
The ship shuddered.
dong dong
Dong dong dong dong dong…
Something was gathering momentum underwater, breaking through the turbulence shield like a siege crossbow breaking through heavy armor, and hit the bottom of the ship's hull heavily.
Next, Li Ran made every effort he could.
He ordered the crossbow to fire at the water surface, but the explosive crossbow bolts could only set off bursts of explosions on the surface of the river, but could not attack the machines at the bottom of the hull.
He asked Yibes to use area magic to attack the monsters at the bottom of the hull, but the monsters were all over the river, almost inexhaustible, and it was impossible to kill them all.
Amidst the constant tremors, the Edelweiss groaned in pain as it was on the verge of disintegration. The steel hull was penetrated layer by layer and fell off. Li Ran had no choice but to order the ship to return at full speed.
Before the Edelweiss broke away from pursuit, Li Ran ordered the griffons on board to capture the samples.
The gryphon flew across the water, and its sharp claws fished out the mechanical race without any delay, and threw it onto the deck.
This is the first time that people have seen these underwater demons with their own eyes.
According to the information investigated and released by the Genkai Guild, the Machine Race seems to be a group of exiles. They were driven out of their original world and wandered aimlessly among the stars.
After they met the Starbreaker and made some kind of deal with him, the Machine Tribe began their invasion of Ashan.
They descended from the sky, destroyed the elven kingdom of Irollan, and in accordance with the will of the Starbreaker, formed an alliance with the demons of Shelgo and the undead of Hellesh, intending to capture the entire territory of Ashan.
The Machine Tribe built the powerful Heavenly Foundry in Irollan, and built secondary mechanical foundries in the occupied towns.
They tore apart mountains and rivers, mined countless resources, and created a steady stream of mechanical armies. As the most loyal servants of the Starbreakers, they fulfilled their only purpose—to crush the planet beneath their feet.
In the vast waters of Yashan, releasing mechanical creations to block waterways is only a small part of this huge conspiracy.
Now, on the deck of the Edelweiss are placed the weakest but also the most powerful combat unit of the Machinery Army - all kinds of strange underwater creations.
These bionic machines have a similar appearance to aquatic animals, twisting and turning in a disturbing way.
It is difficult to say whether they have life in the traditional sense, but there is no doubt that in their insignificant bodies, there is a strong sense of attack that threatens ships.
Some of them are like piranhas with sharp teeth that can bite, and some are like octopuses with wriggling mechanical tentacles.
But what broke through the turbulence shield of the Sea Dragon Orb was undoubtedly another kind.
It is like a swordfish, with a streamlined mechanical body. It can make explosive movements in a short period of time underwater and transform into a sharp siege crossbow, posing a huge threat to passing ships.
Archangel Tia sighed: "The only purpose of their creation is to kill and destroy."
Jamil was surprised: "Is this what attacks the hull of the ship underwater?"
"Yes," Li Ran walked closer and tried to observe the details of these machines, "We must find a way to deal with underwater attacks."
Suddenly, the swordfish-shaped mechanical creature shrank, used the deck as its base to accumulate power, and suddenly ejected towards Li Ran's face!
Ding!
The archangel drew his sword in time to block the attack.
The holy flame on the long sword that expelled evil had no effect on it. The fish-shaped creature that fell on the deck and twisted on its own seemed to be taunting: There is nothing you can do against me!
Li Ran picked up the hand ax next to the sail rope and chopped it into two halves with a clang.
A small psychic explosion mixed with mechanical sparks forced the simple killing machine to shut down.
He said with a cold face: "Yibes, give them to the Dark Alchemist Association. Those researchers should be very interested in how these machines operate."
"As you wish, Lord."
"We're heading back at full speed."
The Edelweiss, which had just been completed, suffered heavy damage again, and water had begun to enter the lower cabin. Li Ran only hoped that he could return to Huanlong Port smoothly before the ship sank.
Are the underwater attacks of the Machine Tribe really invincible?
Li Ran had read through the public information released by major guilds. They spent huge sums of money in coastal areas to build larger and heavier armored test ships, but in the end they could not escape the fate of being sunk.
In this struggle between blockade and anti-blockade, no guild in the pioneer area has been able to turn the situation around.
Li Ran couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Is there no other way besides handing over the machine race to the dark alchemists for research?
The Edelweiss staggered into the mouth of the fjord. The water in the canyon was fast, which was a difficult challenge for the damaged hull.
In the end, the Edelweiss crashed into a rock and ran aground due to a water leak that caused the course to go erratically.
In order to prevent the ship from sinking suddenly, everyone had to temporarily evacuate to the rocks on the side of the canyon.
Archangel Tia has already gone to Dragon Calling Port to call for rescue ships. Soon a fishing boat with shipbuilders will arrive at the accident site carrying supplies. After rescuing the trapped people, the stranded Edelweiss will also be repaired.
Strange, metallic black plants grow on the rugged rocks, looking like layers of smooth seaweed.
They climb and grow on the wet rock surface, just like Li Ran's bad mood.
Li Ran asked casually: "Yibeisi, do you know what this plant is?"
The Shadow Witch sat gracefully on a rock, seemingly unaffected by the stranding incident. This trip, which was full of dangers and not smooth, made her feel good.
From Yibesi's point of view, it was just like going on an autumn outing with the lord.
The cold wind blew her silver hair, and Yibei looked at Li Ran calmly.
The shadow witch's voice sounded.
"Lord Li Ran, do you still remember Shadow Fern?"
Li Ran replied: "I know, the kind of underground crops grown in Heiya?"
"Iron Maiden, the plant under your feet is called Iron Maiden."
Yibesi showed a look of reminiscence: "This plant is rarely known by its name. Although it can be seen everywhere in Longlong Fjord, it is very rare in other areas of the mainland. It is a plant that existed in ancient times.
Aquatic ferns, in addition to growing in qualified water bodies, can also survive on moist rocks."
Li Ran nodded and said, "That's it."
Yibesi continued to explain: "The shadow fern grows in the dark underground or between rock crevices, absorbing the rich shadow magic power and converting it into the energy needed for survival, so it gradually transforms into a shadow-enriched form."
"The iron maiden is a fern that grows on moist rocks in a special environment. Similar to the shadow fern, the iron maiden absorbs the magic power of the earth element in the rock and converts it into the energy needed for survival. Ultimately, in the soil
With the enrichment of elements day and night, the Iron Maiden becomes as hard as steel, but without losing its toughness, like a gentle girl who guards her body like jade."
"By the way, this name was given by a master of dark alchemy in history. He was the master who cultivated the shadow fern and improved it into high-quality emergency rations. In the process, he conducted in-depth research on similar
Plant populations, and recorded relevant information in the "Dark Secret Book"."
Li Ran suddenly realized that he didn't expect that a small nameless plant had so many details, and that Yibei was so familiar with the knowledge related to dark alchemy.
Wait a moment……
toughness?
toughness!
A flash of light burst from Li Ran's mind!
He had seen this kind of plant countless times in the Dragon Calling Gorge, but he had passed it by every time.
But after Yibeisi introduced him to the characteristics of the Iron Maiden in depth, Li Ran's imagination was opened up!
Li Ran hurriedly confirmed: "Yibeisi, you just said that in addition to being as hard as iron, the iron maiden also has good toughness?"
Yibes showed a confused expression: "Yes, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just...may have found a way to the pioneer area!"
"Is that so...what did you say!?"
At this moment, Li Ran just wanted to confirm his idea in the experiment as soon as possible.
Facing the mechanical blockade, all guilds are thinking about building larger ships and installing thicker steel plates!
However, steel also suffers from metal fatigue, and Yashan's shipbuilding technology and industrial environment are immature. Steel hulls built by humans will also be seriously damaged if they are continuously impacted.
What's more, the underwater machinery is cast from a certain alloy and has good penetration into the steel hull.
No one has ever thought of building a soft hull!
Just as an armored tank faces the physical impact of an armor-piercing projectile, in addition to increasing the thickness of the steel plate, more tilt angles can be added to make it difficult for the metal cone and jet to penetrate the armor frontally.
At the same time, reactive armor can also be installed to use the powerful explosion to "buffer" the impact of the weapon the moment the armor-piercing projectile hits the armor!
Li Ran looked at Iron Maiden's layers of irregular plants, which were like layers of thick seaweed. If used as armor, they would be easily deflected by external attacks.
He squeezed it and found it was slippery. It not only had the strength of metal, but also had good toughness.
Li Ran turned around and asked: "Yibei Si, have you ever heard of biological armor?"
"This kind of technology has never been born on the mainland..."
She immediately understood Li Ran's thoughts and couldn't help but exclaimed:
"You mean to transplant the iron maiden to the hull of the ship so that the biological armor can slow down and deflect the impact of the mechanical clan?"
Yibesi immediately extended her thoughts: "It seems that it can grow and repair itself after being damaged!"