"So, I know what you want to do."
"Hehe."
"An." Li Ang looked at the beast-eared maiden listening intently to the conversation.
"Hmm?"
"Inspect and maintain The Howling Wolf, prepare to set off."
"Huh?"
Not only White Wolf was questioning, but also the young girls beside them.
Of course, Xiaomo and the Shadow Factory side also needed his explanation.
"The twelve selected participants from these twelve shipyards are attracting the attention of the entire City of the Ship's Rudder. Through their propaganda, I also heard from those who didn't watch airship races before, thinking these are the twelve best racers of the present day."
Li Ang thought of the fervor of the people on the way yesterday, and Andasu, her look at those people, apart from being unimpressed, there was also a hint of dissatisfaction.
It's only been a short time since Andasu left the Flashing Field to face a different fate; one could say her life has always been associated with the project of airship racing.
Although it was an event entertained by the Sand Kings led by the Platinum King, it was also the time when her soul truly burned, or rather, the thrill of speed and life-or-death moments excited this she-wolf the most; she stood in that position because she could do it.
Compared to the group in the City of the Ship's Rudder who were hyped up, the aces racing on the Platinum Field are incomparable.
Li Ang smiled and said, "If a thirteenth person appeared among the masses who were already misled, someone not belonging to the twelve selected participants, and easily crushed that group, what would people think?"
"Wow," Dorothy said with a smile of schadenfreude, "I only know that many would be devastated."
"I see. With this, the Empire and the five shipyards will be anxious. Their twelve acclaimed aces were defeated by a passerby, and everyone who knows about this will doubt them, making them worry about their conspiracy being uncovered," Loken nodded.
Li Ang continued, "Moreover, the 'passing super racer' is still a good excuse, this situation looks like a coincidence, not likely to arouse the Empire's suspicion."
"Why wouldn't they think your team member's appearance was premeditated?" Xiaomo asked.
"Rams doing his job probably did his homework. Otherwise, he couldn't have found twelve presentable guys from elsewhere to fool so many people. He must have sent people to the Flashing Field."
But a significant event happened in the Flashing Field due to the demon incident. The information there was modified by the Guild, and The Soul Apex wouldn't know about Li Ang over there, maybe not even about the details of the Platinum Racing and Flowing Silver Combat Skill.
Li Ang skipped the demon's matter and only said, "Due to the Guild's expectations, he could only find out about the racers, especially since the strongest Platinum Ace had already left."
Xiaomo slapped his palm: "So you want your team member to go and beat them, right? That's interesting, seeing you so confident, I'm not doubting you can win; what then?"
"After that, The Soul Apex might either silence her or buy her off. I think it's most likely the latter because the race is under public attention, everyone in the City of the Ship's Rudder gathered for the festival is watching. Even if they think they can silence someone, they can't handle the aftermath."
A suddenly appearing racer taking down the twelve ace invitees of the festival—if that person then vanishes, it would be a devastating blow to the celebration.
"They would come... to enlist her, right?"
Xiaomo thought of it too.
"Yes," Reed, the Huo Zui grinned and said, "They'll find a way to buy off the Platinum Ace, then publicly claim this was a surprise thirteenth entrant, and the prior was just a demonstration match, with results not counting, or something along those lines. Though it might not end exactly like I said, I've seen this maneuver many times."
"You know all this, a bit scary, I'll have to watch out for you in the future," Dorothy said.
"Ah, don't say that, it's beyond my control. Actually, you wouldn't understand, seeing the likes of the Platinum King doing evil is slightly better than being a journalist; then again, it's all bad, no need to compare."
In any case, Reed's proposed plan outline has fully surfaced.
By allowing Andasu to take the limelight, she would be recruited by the shipyards, where she could naturally enter inside, and someone could be brought in on her reputation.
Once possessing a reasonable internal identity, rescuing internal members in places would allow using legitimate reasons to hold off the Empire side, buying enough time.
After several rounds of discussion, everyone had no major objections to this plan and added many details.
The actions for the following days were also decided.
Xiaomo would contact the Sky Knight Guild of the City of the Ship's Rudder, requesting cooperation from the Order Flower Sword Corps from the perspective of the Celestial Group, to meet the few elites of the Flower Sword Group.
The Star Flower Travel Corps would work with the Shadow Factory to prepare The Howling Wolf with the help of the locals, who would provide training routes for the race pilots, developing specific plans.
The operational meeting went on until late at night, and this series of matters was finalized.
Everyone was full of fighting spirit, but Li Ang noticed Andasu didn't seem particularly excited.
The day was tiring, and everyone went to rest. Early the next morning, Li Ang retrieved The Howling Wolf from the Dimensional Rift for Andasu to inspect and proceeded to the preparation site provided by the Shadow Factory.
This matter was also entrusted to Neil, but he rushed over, first having the Star Flower Travel Corps go to their own flying airship's ship platform once first.
"Captain Li Ang, there's something unexpected, you need to come to the platform first."
Neil stepped forward first after finishing speaking, due to The Howling Wolf's ongoing preparations keeping him busy, he was constantly racing against time, working much more enthusiastically than other workshop members.
"Ah? Could it be that our ship has a problem?" Zoe was a bit anxious.
The young girls were anxious, pushing Li Ang to move forward.
But Neil didn't seem panicked, and Li Ang wasn't overly worried.
After walking a bit and getting closer to Neil, seeing the young girls' anxiety, he smiled and said, "It's not a bad thing, it's great news; you wouldn't believe how smoothly things are progressing!"
With his words, the curious young girls got even more enthusiastic, practically pushing Li Ang to run.
Upon reaching the bottom of the ship, a few couldn't help but exclaim.
On the ship's newly formed bottom, many branches have grown, while some mechanical equipment nearby is slowly trimming these branches.
"Will our ship turn into a forest? That would certainly be special," Dorothy asked.
"It won't come to that," Li Ang said, "these branches will have to be cut away."
"Indeed, you can't build a ship like this, I must say, the timber you found is amazingly unique," Neil said.
"If the branches are cut away, what does it have to do with the fast progression?" Lulu leaned her head over the edge of the platform and asked.
"Look at this."
Neil jumped down from the platform and went to some already assembled planks nearby.
His focus was not on the branches but on the seams between the timber.
"They've joined together, grown into each other," Li Ang said.
"Exactly!" Neil said excitedly, "Initially, with the machinery from the previous civilization, the City of the Ship's Rudder's shipbuilding is much more efficient than outside, but it was still hindered by the need to solidly join the ship's materials. While it's easy to place materials together, firmly bonding them is the real time-consuming bottleneck."
His explanation made the young girls nod, seemingly realizing what he wanted to reveal.
"Although the branches have to be cut down every day, compared to the time for materials to bond solidly together, that's nothing."
Neil spread out his arms, "Once your ship is formed, interconnected like a whole filled with life force, I've never seen this kind of wooden ship before, can't imagine it, now I'm eagerly anticipating its birth!"
The young engineer finished speaking, and the members of the Star Flower Travel Corps were all in high spirits, even Li Ang was.
Even if they had anticipated such things, hearing praise from a professional was another matter entirely.
After asking a few more questions, Neil explained in detail that their ship might be built much faster than usual, potentially so fast it could be measured in days.
"How many days, could it be three days?" Zoe impatiently asked.
Li Ang flicked her forehead, "How's that possible?"
"Over ten days, perhaps? Mainly because putting the materials together is all that's needed, plus the pre-civilization machines, the efficiency is really high."
Neil looked up at the mechanical arms above the platform; it compared well with the automation in Earth's shipbuilding industry.
He chuckled, "As for the remaining time, it's all about how long the outfitting takes based on your needs."
"Got it, thanks."
"No worries, next let's get busy with the small flying airship's affairs."

Comments

Loading...