He opened his eyes, and what he saw was the wooden ceiling of the Blizzard's cabin.
This is a single cabin with not much space, located in the middle of the corridor of the lower cabin.
In order to facilitate combat, the upper cabin with more open space was divided into military and combat preparation areas.
The lower cabin where Li Ran was located was not the bottom.
At Li Ran's feet, there is also a cabin used as a storage space and an emergency seepage tank.
Therefore, although there was only a small porthole at the head of Li Ran's bed, he could still see the scenery outside.
As late autumn arrives, winter is gradually approaching.
A faint layer of mist appeared on the portholes.
At dawn, there was not enough sunlight outside the window, and the cabin seemed a little dark.
Li Ran turned on the magic crystal lamp on his desk, and a warm yellow light immediately filled every corner of the room.
A parchment lay quietly on the desk.
Li Ran wanted to pick it up and read it again, but he retracted it as soon as his hand touched it.
He put on a light outfit, took out the camouflage mask and put it on his face, with a dark cloak and hood extending behind him.
There were some shadow ferns and fish eyeballs in the space ring. Li Ran randomly took out some of them and stuffed them into his mouth to replenish his slightly reduced hunger and thirst level.
After doing all this, he stood up, opened the cabin door, and came to the corridor of the cabin.
Click——
The door to the cabin next door happened to open, and Eureka came out.
The girl knight's long sandy-blond hair was slightly curled and rested on her fair shoulders and neck.
On the warship, Eureka also did not wear heavy and dangerous plate armor, but instead put on a blue tunica-style short robe.
Ever since she transformed from undead to human, Li Ran often couldn't tell her age.
Eureka looks much younger than her actual age.
Because she had existed in the form of an undead for a long time in the past, even after her resurrection, her body remained at the moment she was cursed to die.
This also caused this powerful knight to sometimes fall into some sudden sleepiness.
Li Ran speculated that it might be a sequelae of Eureka's spirit in undead form not matching her current living body.
This made the originally strong and brave Inspector of Starwind City sometimes look like a weak and sleepy golden cat in front of Li Ran.
This is what Eureka is like now.
The girl's lips and teeth were slightly open, she breathed out gently, and her eyes were half-closed.
She didn't see the road ahead clearly and bumped into Li Ran as soon as she took a step forward.
"Eh? Master Li Ran!"
Looking at the slightly embarrassed female knight, Li Ran couldn't help but pat her head and said softly: "If you're not full, go back and take a nap."
Eureka said with some worry: "I want to find the Blue Spirit. It just flew back yesterday and brought back the message from Starwind City, but now it has disappeared..."
"Don't worry. Although that blue bird looks unattractive, it's actually very smart and won't hurt itself. You can definitely sleep for a while."
Li Ran said as he opened the door of Eureka's room and invited the confused female knight in.
After arranging Eureka, Li Ran walked through the narrow passage, passed the upper cabin, and stepped onto the deck of the Snowstorm.
On the wide deck, the crew and soldiers performed their duties to ensure the operation of this three-masted warship.
Twelve enhanced shipborne explosive ballistae are arranged on both sides of the ship.
The members of the expedition team from Hammerfell are at work. They will return home aboard the Snowstorm and are recruited by Li Ran as the crew, responsible for maneuvering the ship and firing explosive ballistae.
"Lord Li Ran!"
A Hammerfell soldier who was packing up ammunition boxes immediately saluted when he saw Li Ran coming to the deck.
Li Ran nodded to the soldiers and walked towards the front of the deck.
Suddenly, a sharp scream came from the air.
A griffon is flying around, slowly lowering its altitude.
The warm morning sun illuminates the brown gryphon's wings and fur golden.
It came to the sky above the deck, flapped its wings and landed slowly.
Jamil jumped off the back of the gryphon and walked over immediately after seeing Li Ran.
In the fleet, there are twenty griffons flying with the ship. After completing reconnaissance and combat missions, they can rest on the wide deck.
These strong flying creatures possess considerable intelligence and are the emblem and symbol of the Griffin Principality.
The strong griffin can carry people in flight, but due to various reasons, the combat effectiveness of the griffin in carrying people in close combat is low, and it is not as good as the gryphon itself that can fully exert the destructive power of its sharp claws and strong muscles.
Therefore, most of the time, the gryphon knights carrying humans will only undertake some reconnaissance and transportation work.
Jamil fiddled with his hair that was blown by the wind and said with a smile: "Master Li Ran, the Edelweiss reported that the water conditions ahead are good. Please sail south at the next river mouth and do not enter the northern river bend. There is
The passage to the Principality of Crow."
Li Ran smiled and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."
Starwind Leader's first fleet voyage consisted of two warships.
The light and fast Edelweiss guided the voyage ahead and formed a reconnaissance formation with the accompanying Griffin.
After the reconnaissance formation detects any danger, it can issue a timely warning, and the Buran located at the rear can make timely avoidance and fire preparations.
On the other hand, while opening up the route, the old sailors from the fjords on the Edelweiss, Mr. Burton and Uncle David, will also record navigation charts and evaluate the safety of the route.
All this is preparation for the next step of establishing stable trade and transportation channels with the development zone.
After Jamil left, a cold yet seductive voice suddenly sounded.
"Master Li Ran, is there no one to accompany you now?"
Sitting on the roof of the boat building, Yibesi asked playfully.
The shadow witch only wore a thin silk dress, and her arms and legs were exposed to the cool morning breeze.
Because the ship building was not far above Li Ran's head, Yibei's beautiful body and elegant posture formed a graceful picture.
Li Ran joked: "It's really a good idea to bask in the sun in the Starbreaker's control area."
"It's been a long time since I stayed on the surface for such a long time," Yibes said with a smile. "After leaving the management of Black Cliff to An Ke, I feel much more relaxed, just like when I left the Yigchiwo Dungeon.
It’s like venturing to the surface for the first time, even the air is fresh.”
Yibes adjusted her posture, and the shoulder straps of her long skirt accidentally slipped down with the shaking.
A warm breath appeared next to Li Ran.
Archangel Tia's pretty face was filled with anger: "Miko who serves the darkness, don't try to seduce the Lord again, I will keep an eye on you."
Ibeth did not take Tia's words to heart, but sarcastically said: "Although you don't understand the true history of the long war between the Faceless Men and the Angels, you have inherited the ideological dogma of those die-hards."
Tia saw that she could not gain the advantage in words and skills, so she ignored the Shadow Witch.
She turned to Li Ran and said:
"Lord Li Ran, I want to confirm whether the Shantiri treasure on the ship is under proper protection. Can you come with me to take a look?"
Li Ran nodded helplessly.
This kind angel always seems to have misunderstandings about his relationship with Ibeth.
This proactive invitation was just to take him away from Yibes.
Li Ran and Tiya entered the upper cabin.
This is the military and war preparation area.
Several rooms near the entrance exude the atmosphere of death and shadow. They are the Dark Knight's lounge.
Six powerful Dark Knights went on the expedition with the ship. Hart did not come with them because he continued to be responsible for the recruitment and construction of the Shadow Rangers and the Dark Knights.
These six dark knights are the current top combat force of the Star Wind Territory. They will be led by Eureka and become a powerful ship-based land combat force.
Li Ran and Tia took a few steps forward and passed by a room that exuded fluctuations in the magic power of the water element.
Installed here is the "wave shield generator" that allows the Sea Dragon Orb to function stably.
Under the leadership of Yibesi, the dark alchemists developed a self-stimulating device for magical energy.
Just place the Sea Dragon Orb on the device and consume specific magic materials to continuously release the powerful ability of the water element lord.
The Sea Dragon Orb will create a stable turbulence shield at the bottom of the hull, blocking direct attacks from most underwater mechanical creations.
Li Ran and Tiya walked to the end of the cabin.
Tia opened the last room at the stern of the ship, and Shantiri's ancient relics were quietly placed inside.
This is what the expedition led by Tia wants to bring back to Hammerfell at the expense of their lives.
It is a magic device that is as tall as one person. Even if it is not powered by energy, it still exudes obscure magic fluctuations.
This weird rectangular device contains a sophisticated magic energy conversion system, magic circuits and magic energy transmission mechanisms. In the complex structure, the magic energy lines all over have a streamlined beauty.
But these simple lines are definitely not something that current mages can read and understand.
They came from the lost Shantiri Empire in ancient times. That powerful kingdom created an unprecedented magical civilization, but was destroyed by a sudden civil war.
There are some remnants of the Shantiri civilization all over the world, but no matter how hard they try, the people of Ashan cannot recreate those glories.
Even, I can't even understand any small magic lines.
Tia looked at the Shantiri device with a complicated look on her face.
"If we find a powerful enough Shantiri device, we may be able to repel the Starshattering Legion."
"The bloodsmiths in Hammerfell are nothing more than that, so save it." Ibeth followed her at some point and appeared outside the door, "What makes Shantiri powerful is not these relics, but their magic technology.
If we only rely on powerful devices to win, what will we do if the device breaks?"
Tia sighed slightly and said calmly: "The blood blacksmiths in Hammerfell have been studying the secrets of Shantiri technology generation after generation, but so far, the scattered knowledge obtained has not been able to form a system at all for further research and development.
application."
She looked at the devices in the room with a lonely expression: "All we can do is use the discovered knowledge as much as possible to maintain and slow down the damage of these precious relics."
Facing the two people's opinions, Li Ran was thoughtful.
Shantiri's relics are undoubtedly powerful and precious, but each of these items is worn out and cannot be regenerated.
In Li Ran's view, if these ancient devices are "instruments", then Shantiri's knowledge of magic technology is the "path".
If you only pursue the temporary use of "tools" and fail to make progress in exploring the principles of "Tao", that is indeed a very tragic thing.
From this perspective, Ibeth's point of view is undoubtedly valuable.
But Tia and the bloodsmiths of Hammerfell also have their helplessness.
That is, these long-lost ancient technologies cannot be restored by the magic knowledge mastered in the current era.
Even trying to infer knowledge backwards from the relics is impossible.
The knowledge contained in these ancient heritages has become a "technical black box" that cannot be broken by outsiders at all.
For some reason, Li Ran thought of the Dark Alchemist Association.
Although dark alchemy is regarded as an unpopular heretic in the continent of Saran, judging from their application achievements, it seems to be completely different from that in Hammerfell.
These low-level masters of dark alchemy have continuously accumulated knowledge and experience over the long years.
The superficial gradually turns into the profound, and the thin gradually accumulates into the profound.
The master who wrote the "Dark Codex" not only improved the ordinary shadow fern and solved the ration problem of the dark elves in the harsh environment, but even his research results hundreds of years ago can inspire Li Ran to create iron.
Virgin bio armor.
It is precisely because of the years of accumulation of alchemical materials by the masters that the shadow bomb can be quickly developed.
Compared with the achievements of dark alchemy and Shantiri magic technology, there is undoubtedly a gap between a beggar and a king.
However, it is this single technological line that shines with its own unique light around the survival and war needs of the dark elves.
Li Ran secretly made up his mind to continue to strengthen his support for the Dark Alchemist Association.
boom!
Suddenly there was an explosion outside, and the ship shook violently.
The three of them immediately returned to the deck.
The explosive ballistae is firing at the water in the distance.
In front of the splash of water, the Edelweiss was running at full speed.
On the bow of the Edelweiss, the severed-fingered Bolton waved his hands and shouted loudly:
"Octopus! What a big octopus!"
The Edelweiss has already rushed into the 200-meter shooting range of the Blizzard's ship-borne ballistae.
Amidst the bombardment of exploding crossbow bolts, huge mechanical tentacles stretched out from under the water and rolled up the Edelweiss.
Danger!
Li Ran had already recognized that the one attacking underwater was the mechanical octopus, the underwater creation of the mechanical tribe!
Although this kind of mechanical creation is not of high level, it is huge and can easily overturn light ships when attacking underwater.
The soldiers in Hammerfell put the explosive crossbow bolts into orbit, but they never fired.
A middle-aged sergeant with gray hair shouted loudly: "Master Li Ran, we can't shoot! The Edelweiss is blocking our trajectory!"
It turned out that the Edelweiss traveling in front was rolled up by the mechanical octopus, blocking it like a shield between the monster and the Blizzard.
Shooting at this time is extremely easy to cause accidental injuries.
The people on the deck looked nervously at the rolled-up Edelweiss, and the figure with the severed finger of Bolton had disappeared.
Jamil ran over from the stern of the ship and immediately jumped onto the back of the griffon with several other trained soldiers.
Li Ran immediately shouted: "The Griffin deep-water bombing formation will take off immediately! Attack from behind the mechanical octopus, be careful not to hit the Edelweiss!"
Jamil nodded heavily.
If it were the past, people could only watch the Edelweiss being swallowed up.
But now, with the efforts of the dark alchemists led by Li Ran and Yibeisi, a new water warfare method has been developed.
While the explosive ballistae could only linearly attack targets above the water, Li Ran came up with the idea of using gryphon knights to grab depth bombs and drop them into the target waters from a long distance to conduct anti-submarine warfare, targeting the ubiquitous and elusive targets.
Mechanical clan.
The four gryphon knights on the deck quickly took off.