Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 401 Beware of Plane Crashes!

The banquet continued. Ethan, holding a wine glass, went to a corner and listened silently to the conversations between the nobles and wealthy merchants. This was the main way of gathering information in the other world—primitive and backward.

Unfortunately, this is the downside of not having internet access.

In modern society, even in fake cities like the City of Truth or the Sanctuary, there will always be heroes who step forward online. Cruel antisocial personality disorder like "The Skinner" will strip his victims naked the day after he executes them and post the photos online.

Ethan has always believed that information isolation is one of the main reasons why feudal dynasties were able to maintain themselves. Even in today's empire, in a border "advanced town" like Riverwood, the information they receive is often about a month behind and is often full of randomness.

Another day of longing for the internet.

Xiao An also misses the internet. She has taken Ethan's tablet for herself. However, after completing the space jump, the tablet gloriously completed its mission. Even if the charging problem is barely solved, almost all the software on it is no longer useful. After experiencing the convenience and fun of the internet, it is hard to tolerate the backwardness of this era.

For example, right now, Xiao An can't comfortably lie in bed in her room and watch videos. She can only come to the deck of the airship to find some fun. And this boring life will continue for two days and two nights.

For this reason, Ethan's black cat became an active promoter of the Empire's network construction. Some time ago, when he had nothing to do at home, the black cat, as an enthusiastic citizen, wrote several letters of suggestion to the new cabinet, hoping to strengthen cooperation with the residents of the shelter and promote the construction of the network.

"How boring!"

After pretending to be a feline aristocrat for nearly half an hour, the black cat finally couldn't help but complain. She was so bored that she hopped onto Ethan's table and began to savor the taste of champagne like a cat licking milk.

After trying it out, she couldn't help but look at Winter with new respect.

The fact that Winter can maintain her aloof demeanor for most of the day is truly remarkable. Moreover, according to rumors, this aloof noble image wasn't something that was cultivated overnight. Winter was once a mischievous girl in school who could drive professors to the intensive care unit.

Xiao An found it hard to imagine what kind of experiences could have turned Lin Dong into the way she is today.

But she was very dissatisfied with the nobles on the airship; they all seemed too proper.

It's no secret that the nobles of the Silver Empire are corrupt to the core. So why haven't the classic cannon fodder characters from short videos and novels appeared? Why hasn't a single arrogant noble come to cause trouble for Ethan, who has been sitting in the corner for so long?

On the contrary, after talking with Ethan, the nobles on the airship treated him with great respect, as if he were one of the nobles.

What use are you!
Who can make up for the aerial acrobatics performance she wanted to see?

Xiao An thinks Baron Flint did a great job in this regard and could be selected as the Silver Grey Empire's Outstanding Noble of the Year. He stirs up trouble when he needs to, and when it's time to die, he just collapses on the ground without any hesitation. In the end, everyone got the result they wanted.

The black cat raised its head, its beautiful heterochromatic eyes darting around mischievously.

After a long silence, she spoke, "Moriko!"

Moriko?

This unfamiliar title left Ethan stunned for a long time.

However, the internet is a double-edged sword, especially for cats like Xiao An, whose minds are not yet fully developed and who are born to have fun, it can cause endless trouble.

"Or we could deliberately pick a fight with someone!"

Black Cat suggested, "Look at that guy over there who's talking really loudly. Let's go over there, and you can pretend to accidentally spill some wine on him. I've been watching him for a while now. Those burly men over there are his henchmen. If you do that, they definitely won't let you off easily."

"What are you really thinking?!"

Ethan scooped the black cat up from the table, made her stand up, and pinched her chubby cheeks. However, this punitive action did not seem to have the desired effect. Instead, it made Xiao An squint her eyes comfortably and look like she was enjoying herself.

"Can't you?"

"no!"

"Then... Moriko, show me a backflip."

"it is good!"

Ethan was amused by the black cat and immediately agreed. Before Xiao An could react, he suddenly threw her into the air. Her feline instincts allowed her to complete a 180-degree spin in mid-air and land back on the table with a beautiful backflip.

Upon seeing this, applause immediately erupted from the surrounding audience.

In any case, the scene Xiao An had been looking forward to did not appear, and she was unable to enjoy the "rain of nobles from the sky" performance on the night she boarded the airship. Perhaps it was because the nobles and wealthy merchants subconsciously believed that there were no commoners on this journey, and the atmosphere between people was extremely harmonious.

But Xiao An did not give up; she believed that her greatest quality was perseverance.

After Ethan suddenly disappeared, she never gave up searching for him for a single day, and the same is true now. After returning to the cabin, she began her new plan—she was going to curse him!
As is common in stories, ships and airships are high-risk modes of transportation, and being attacked is the norm. They will encounter sea monsters in the ocean, and sooner or later they will be attacked by the overlords of the sky. She desperately needs a dragon friend to unleash a dragon breath on their airship in the dead of night.

This time, her curse worked.
Before dawn, a loud bang jolted the passengers awake, followed by a violent shaking.

The smell of burning quickly filled the cabin, followed by a strong feeling of weightlessness. Even Xiao An herself was startled by this sudden change, jumping three feet high from her makeshift cat bed, shouting, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me who ordered it!"

The violent impact damaged the airship, causing the entire vessel to begin its descent towards the ground.

Still half asleep, Xiao An muttered to herself, "I was wrong, meow! Xiao An will never talk nonsense online again, meow!"

In fact, her dragon friends did not heed her call. When Ethan arrived on the deck, a panicked crew member told him that the attack on the airship was some kind of magical weapon. Just as the airship was about to fly out of the forest, a magical cannon hit the tail of the airship.

This was a meticulously planned attack, deliberately timed to strike when the crew was at their most vulnerable.

At this moment, the airship has completely lost control. Under the captain's orders, the crew is distributing parachutes specially supplied by the Silver Empire to the crew. These are products of magical technology, with the main body being an energy storage crystal. When activated during the descent, wind elemental magic can temporarily lift their bodies to achieve a slow descent.

This was undoubtedly the worst time. Most of the nobles, who had just attended a banquet, had drunk quite a bit and were still not fully sober. What truly worried them was the attackers who were still lurking in the forest, using magic cannons to attack the airship.

Attacking an airship is undoubtedly a capital offense, especially since it carries many nobles and wealthy merchants.

This was by no means a kidnapping and robbery, but a meticulously planned attack. The captain suspected that the attackers might have even learned about the passengers on the airship before they set off, which meant that there was likely a mole among them.

However, he could not prevent the airship from crashing.

Before long, all the nobles on the airship had been awakened. The panicked crowd rushed onto the deck, many of them not even having time to put on their clothes properly, running up barefoot in their thin pajamas.

In the short time it took to exchange a few words, the airship plummeted back down towards the ground.

The captain urgently distributed weapons to the crew and gathered the guards brought by the nobles to ensure that muskets were distributed to everyone. He had a premonition that a fierce battle awaited them at the crash site.

About five minutes later, the captain gave the order to abandon ship to all passengers. He needed to ensure that most people landed in the same spot to guarantee they had enough fighting strength to face the impending encounter. Before dawn, a series of explosions echoed throughout the forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.

The spreading fire ironically became a source of light for the crew. Fortunately, the passengers listened to their instructions and strictly followed the landing guidelines provided by the captain, ensuring that most people landed near the wrecked airship. The nobles' faces were still showing shock, but their nightmare was far from over.

Before long, a commotion arose from the depths of the forest, and something was rapidly approaching them.

The crew and guards solemnly formed ranks, ready to meet the enemy.

This time, the number of attackers far exceeded their expectations. When the attackers bared their fangs, the captain realized that they were already heavily surrounded.

In an instant, countless gun barrels were aimed at them.

An uneasy atmosphere quickly spread through the crowd. All the ambushers were dressed in the same black night clothes and had their faces covered. They were well-trained and moved in unison, unlike highway robbers.

There were no shouts, no jeers or curses; they remained silent, allowing a suffocating silence to permeate the crowd.

Finally, it was a familiar face who couldn't hold back—the loud-voiced man who had almost been chosen by Xiao An as the "rain of nobles from the sky." Ethan, who was on the deck, had already guessed that he was someone of great importance, and the nobles and wealthy merchants around him were used to flattering him.

Faced with this sudden attack, he was the first to step forward, shouting, "You dare attack an Imperial transport ship! You're dead! The Imperial army will never let you get away with this! Grand Duke Ash has given orders; the Skinners are on their way to Gear City..."

The man was met with a gunshot.

Ethan noticed that the young hero reacted the instant the gun went off. Despite his old injuries not being fully healed, he still possessed outstanding reflexes. However, this time, the hero was unable to protect the person he wanted to protect as he had done before.

Ethan felt the main reason lay in his fighting style.

He clearly saw Solan raise his longsword high with the gesture of raising his staff, and chant a spell he had never heard before.

The wrong fighting method will naturally lead to nothing, which is as far-fetched as a squad's shield warrior suddenly having a brilliant idea to smother the boss in the face with a fireball.

The nobleman who was shot took two steps back. He clutched his chest in disbelief, wanting to shout and curse, but his mouth opened and closed without uttering a sound. He quickly collapsed to the ground, his palms stained with blood, and could only feel his life force slipping away in terror.

The crew did not retaliate immediately; everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

The one who fired the shot was not an ambush attacker, but a guard who had accompanied the nobleman onto the airship.

"The one who will truly die here is you."

The shooter laughed, a laugh that could only be described as manic, an expression that seemed to come from someone who had finally gotten their revenge.

He didn't finish the job, but instead watched the nobleman die before his eyes.

He once had a close friend.

Xiao An sneakily leaned close to Ethan's ear and began acting as a commentator. The man who fired the gun didn't seem to intend to reveal his grudge against the head of the family in front of everyone. Out of curiosity, she began to probe into the man's mind.

"They had all served this nobleman. His friend was tied up and thrown into the woods outside Gear City to be fed to monsters because he did something that displeased the nobleman. The nobleman even specially ordered him to personally send his friend on his way."

She briefly summarized the feud between the two.

"Moriko, you played an important role in this."

"I?"

Ethan pointed innocently to himself.

"You helped him make up his mind. Baron Flint was killed by the captain of his musketeers—that's the version the people of Gear City heard, and he did almost the same work in the noble household."

This is a good example.

So before the airship departed, the man revealed information to the person who contacted him, helping them plan the attack.

"Everyone, please lay down your weapons. These people are not here to kill!"

The man calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and began to persuade everyone present, "Please believe me, as long as you are willing to lay down your weapons, they will no longer make things difficult for you."

"Why should we trust you?"

The captain questioned the man.

It is hardly believable that such a statement came from the mouth of a madman who had just murdered a nobleman.

"Because they have only one goal."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the man walked straight toward Solan, who was holding a longsword with a staff in his hand.

The young hero's eyes were filled with confusion. The "magic failure" seemed to have caused his brain to shut down. He stood there, stunned, unable to understand why his spell had failed to stop the bullets for the nobleman.

"Hero, Lord Solan, they have all come for you!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes were drawn to Solan.

The Hero Solan!?

When the pretense was shattered, everyone was momentarily overwhelmed by this sudden bombshell information.

To avoid causing unnecessary trouble, Ethan and his crew "smuggled" themselves aboard, and even the captain was unaware that Solan had boarded the airship.

"Solan".

A man's rough voice came from the woods.

The man, over two meters tall and masked like a small mountain, finally spoke, "If you want to know what happened while you were gone, come with me."

The man, as large as a small mountain, waved to the ambushers, who immediately lowered their guns.

He gave Solan a meaningful look and walked into the depths of the forest.

(End of this chapter)