Steam Tyrant, Hunting Gods

In a corner of an open-air tavern, the indistinct soprano voice from a mechanical record drifted through the noise.

In front of the rows of machine repair benches, the crisp clanging of parts being hammered, the deep rumble of steam pipes, and the rough shouts of hunters... all intertwined to create a noisy symphony.

The hunters were either drinking heartily, feasting, or continuing to supervise their work, and no one noticed the sudden, muffled thud at the back door of the tavern.

Until another sound—

boom!

As if struck by lightning, all the hunters turned their gazes toward the east.

East of the Sky Island in Sweet Wine Town.

Cliffs below ground level.

The side door of the underground hangar of the Distillery Tavern.

It was blasted open by a single shot!

A humanoid armored vehicle painted in sky blue leaped out from the huge, open iron gate.

Suddenly, the main exhaust port on its back unfolded in mid-air, spewing out a torrent of turbid white steam, instantly stabilizing the aircraft's attitude.

It then changed direction, drawing a sharp arc, and hurtled towards the backyard of the Distillery Tavern at top speed.

The backyard of the tavern.

The Mighty Gentleman's massive body was shrouded in uncontrolled gushing steam, appearing indistinct and like a grotesque corpse.

suddenly!

A dark blue phantom, accompanied by a chilling gust of wind, plummeted down a deadly arc.

However, the moment they landed, they were as light as a feather, their toes barely touching the ground without stirring up a speck of dust.

Only the suddenly erupting column of steam, like an angry giant python soaring into the sky, quickly dispersed.

The blue dragonfly landed gracefully.

The moment it landed, its cramped chest cavity opened automatically.

Without a word, the robotic arm grabbed Roya and swallowed him whole into the cockpit.

"Damn it, can't you be a little gentler?!"

Luo Ya was thoroughly exhausted and couldn't help but grumble and complain.

The weak computing power of civilian differential engines was ultimately unable to support precise movements; being able to fit Roya into the cockpit was already the limit.

After being forced into the driver's seat by his own armored vehicle, Roya grumbled as he adjusted his posture, taking several tens of seconds to finally fit himself into the driver's seat and fasten the four intersecting omnidirectional seat belts.

The Blue Dragonfly Armor is 3.3 meters tall and has the same headless design, but it is much slimmer and more agile than the Mighty Gentleman.

However, the machine body is made of spliced ​​second-hand wood grain steel, and the machine guns, steam blades and flamethrowers it carries are all common products, resulting in only average attack and defense capabilities.

The advantage is that the limbs are driven independently by multiple links, which can achieve precise movements and combat postures.

In addition, the armor is equipped with a micro differential machine with a dot matrix algorithm, which enables unmanned driving and combat.

This miniature difference engine was a defective product that Luo Ya acquired from a retired military officer who had become an airship hunter.

It is said that many years ago, this miniature difference engine was originally installed in an experimental humanoid battle suit of armor in the Empire.

Later, due to the poor yield rate of the micro differential engine, the cost remained high, and the armor project was forced to be cancelled.

Luo Ya managed to snag a great deal from the defective products that were leaked out.

Even so, the cost of this miniature difference engine still accounts for 80% of the entire Blue Dragonfly machine.

It's fair to say that all the money Luo Ya earned over the three years of his time travel using his cheat-like abilities was spent on this difference machine.

After that, he spent a lot of time secretly inspecting, testing, writing programs, training and refining... before the current intelligence was achieved, which can be described as three years of hard work.

Even so, its maximum computing power is still less than that of a random little genius watch from Luo Ya's previous life.

Especially when driving autonomously, the Blue Dragonfly can only perform simple, instantaneous actions and requires close-range voice control from Luo Ya to move freely.

Only after his body was completely secured in the driver's seat did Luo Ya finally feel a little safer.

Although he can freely control the armored vehicle in flight combat simply by making contact.

However, with the body fixed in the omnidirectional shock-absorbing driver's seat, one won't be shaken to pieces during intense combat.

"Phew... Time to go!"

Roya was about to take off—

Suddenly, a huge black shadow fell from the sky.

With a loud bang!

The earthquake trembled.

Dust surged into the sky like waves.

Five thick columns of steam shot out.

A colossal shadow, as large as a mountain, loomed between the blue dragonfly and the dying, mighty gentleman.

It was Oliver himself who piloted the Distillery Tavern's prized war machine, a five-meter-tall black armored vehicle—

Death barrel.

Upon catching a glimpse of the powerful gentleman who had caused the explosion, Oliver in the cockpit instantly lost his composure and screamed incoherently:

"Cynthia, Mr. Koch!"

However, even though he was terrified, he did not immediately offer any assistance for his own safety, his cold, sharp gaze fixed on the unfamiliar blue armored figure before him.

A familiar blue paint job...

Oliver's face suddenly crackled with shock:

"You...you're Roya!"

Faced with the overwhelming pressure of the Death Barrel, which resembled a mountain, Roya held his breath and did not make any rash moves.

He knew this steel monster all too well!

I even drove it myself once...

The Death Barrel stands over 5.2 meters tall, resembling a bloated steel giant, with a hideous giant ape skull atop its barrel-shaped torso.

The core exhaust vent is located inside the skull.

The steam emitted from the five orifices of the skull served both to intimidate enemies and to protect the exhaust vents from attack.

Its steam boiler has ten times the power of the Blue Dragonfly, and its outer shell is made of thick, refined iron. It is equipped with more than ten kinds of light and heavy weapons, including heavy cannons, fire wheel cannons, chainsaws, and harpoon cannons.

It's practically a mobile arsenal of heavy weapons!

It was thanks to the fierce protection of the Death Barrel that those unscrupulous hunters who coveted the tavern had to take a detour.

But at this moment, the blue dragonfly has no chance to go around it.

If it were ejected and tried to escape, it would be torn apart by the concentrated fire of the high-altitude beer cannons of the Death Barrel within a hundred meters, resulting in the destruction of the machine and the death of the crew!

If it were a head-on fight, Blue Dragonfly's weapons would be no match for the steel fortress of Death Barrel, only wasting time until the conscription airships arrived, at which point he would be trapped with no way to escape.

Roya sensed the murderous aura emanating from the Death Barrel.

The tone thus became more sincere:

"Mr. Oliver, the Mighty Gentleman has malfunctioned. I suggest you rescue Cynthia first. Don't worry about me. I will take the Blue Dragonfly to the conscription office myself."

Oliver, having discovered the value of the blue dragonfly's transformation and voice control, suddenly became incredibly calm, his voice becoming frighteningly deep:

"You think I'd fall for that?!"

Before the words were even finished, the steam chainsaw located on the waist of the Death Barrel suddenly started moving!

The roaring saw blades transformed into a deadly arc of light, accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air, as they were forcefully flung backward from the side of the armor.

click-

Like a hot knife cutting through butter, the upper part of the cockpit of the Mighty Gentleman was instantly sliced ​​and flattened by a high-speed rotating chainsaw.

Like lifting the lid of a boiling steamer, the rich steam carrying the aroma of cooked meat slowly spreads out.

"Oh, poor Cynthia..."

Oliver's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he let out a mournful roar like a wild beast:

"I'm going to kill you!"

"What, you're going to kill the soldiers of the First Mechanical Legion?"

Luo Ya had barely finished speaking.

Whoosh!

A sharp harpoon cannon shot out from the cannon muzzle of Death Barrel's waist, whistling as it tore through the air and hurtled straight at Blue Dragonfly!

The tip of the harpoon cannon is a trident with a hook, and the projectile behind it is a compressed golden spider web.

Once it explodes, the spider web will instantly wrap around the limbs of the armored or burning beast, binding the exhaust port or cannon barrel.

Luo Ya dared not be careless.

The blue dragonfly dodged the moment the harpoon cannon's launcher locked onto it.

With a roar of steam, the armor shot out like an arrow and landed on the side of the Death Barrel!

Roya had refrained from making any proactive move precisely because he was waiting for this moment.

Compared to the Death Barrel, the Blue Dragonfly's only advantage is its mobility.

With Roya's thoughts acting as the differential engine and control linkage, much like the spinal cord of a vertebrate is to the ganglia of a crustacean, the mobility is a devastating blow to ordinary steam-powered mechs.

Moreover, Roya's "mechanical connection" has no fixed boundaries and will only weaken rapidly as the distance or spacer increases.

Roya's body can connect to both armor and air.

When connected to the air, he can detect in advance the air ripples caused by enemy armor activating weapons and adjusting firing angles.

Blue dragonflies can therefore anticipate their opponent's moves and take evasive action in advance.

The blue dragonfly, which leaped to the side of the death barrel, had already drawn its steam blade.

chap——

A flash of light!

It precisely severed the harpoon gun's launch tube and the towing rope.

Only then did the Death Barrel slowly turn around.

The heavy chainsaw, accompanied by howling wind pressure, swept sideways and cleaved straight at the upper part of the Blue Dragonfly's cockpit!

Clearly, Oliver had realized that Roya was far more valuable than Blue Dragonfly and intended to capture him alive here.

The blue dragonfly crouched swiftly, and the chainsaw whistled past overhead.

Taking advantage of the momentum from Death Barrel's sideways swing of the chainsaw, Blue Dragonfly kicked its ankle, tripping it.

"Damn it..."

Oliver tried his best to regain his balance.

However, because the chainsaw could not be retrieved in time, it occupied 60% of the boiler's output power, making it difficult for the counterweight gyroscope to start.

Its massive body gradually lost its balance, and the Death Barrel crashed heavily to the ground like a toppled mountain!

Real mecha battles are just that simple and unpretentious.

Even so, the Blue Dragonfly's cheap weapons were still unable to break through the Death Barrel's thick armor in a short time.

At this moment, Luo Ya only wanted to escape and had no time to linger.

Blue Dragonfly, wielding a steam-powered blade, plunged it into the muzzle of the Death Barrel's shoulder-mounted cannon with a flash of cold light.

This is the rapid-fire muzzle of the beer cannon, capable of quickly unleashing a barrage of explosive projectiles.

This strike precisely destroyed the inner tube launcher of the beer cannon, rendering it unable to fire and making it difficult to pursue the blue dragonfly.

Luo Ya stopped pressing the matter.

The blue dragonfly, with its steam fully released, leaps and flies like a raptor breaking free of its cage.

He leaped off the cliff!

In mid-air, the blue dragonfly's armored form quickly switched to its flapping wing form.

Four thin, scale-like wings vibrated rapidly, and the dragonfly skimmed the water, disappearing into the blind spot below the floating island. It sped away into the depths of the vast sea of ​​clouds and vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"call……"

Oliver let out a long sigh of relief; cold sweat soaked his back.

The Blue Dragonfly armor's terrifying mobility far exceeded his expectations!

Roya was hiding his true abilities very well...

If it were a life-or-death battle where we met on a narrow path, I might very well have been defeated by Roja today.

Fortunately, the conscription office's airship was about to arrive, forcing Roya to flee.

Oliver immediately released carrier pigeons to quickly report the shape of the Blue Dragonfly flapping-wing aircraft, its flight path in the clouds, and its possible destination to the conscription office.

Then, Death Barrel ejected to its feet, and its mechanical arm reached into the Gentleman's uncovered cockpit, pulling out Cynthia and Koch's sullen bodies.

Oliver staggered out of the cockpit, his eyes vacant, as if his soul had been ripped out.

Holding his pregnant daughter, her beautiful, rosy face showed no trace of life.

"Cynthia, my Cynthia!"

Oliver's cries were heart-wrenching.

The sound resounded through the sky.

Heaven and earth were moved.

Until they were covered by intense artillery fire...

There was no more crying.

The Blue Dragonfly ornithopter, which had kindly turned back, used a precise barrage of fire to end Oliver's excruciating grief over the loss of his daughter once and for all.

Then he turned and left.

……

Ten minutes later.

After piloting the Blue Dragonfly dozens of miles away from the Sweet Wine Town Sky Island, Roya emerged from the relatively dangerous clouds.

The sea of ​​clouds in the steam age was more than just the aggregation of water vapor.

The churning gray fog was mixed with murky industrial steam, floating airship sails, feathers shed by burning beasts, fragments of burst fish bladders, and even live seaweed.

And a massive shadow lurking beneath the clouds, waiting to ambush passing airships...

The vast sea of ​​clouds was murky like ash.

It surges like a raging torrent, unpredictable and ever-changing, exuding a mysterious yet deadly aura.

The Blue Dragonfly flew high, far from the sea of ​​clouds.

It left a long trail of steam...

The Blue Dragonfly flapping-wing aircraft is four meters long, with a biomimetic four-wing structure, an open cabin, and is equipped with ejection airbags.

The exhaust port is located at the rear, the machine gun and flamethrower are integrated in the abdomen, and the steam knife is folded diagonally on the spine.

Wearing goggles and a windproof vest, Luo Ya was securely fastened to the driver's seat by an all-around seatbelt.

He doesn't have much of an adventurous spirit; as long as it's safe, that's all that matters.

Even the ornithopter's paint scheme uses blue, the color best suited for stealth in the air.

Although, deep down he preferred the fiery red.

At this moment, the Blue Dragonfly is flying at full speed to Windmill Town, three thousand kilometers to the north.

He planned to seek refuge with Ms. Aurora, who had been widowed for many years, and continue his lazy, unproductive career as a mechanic.

Sixteen months ago, Ms. Aurora, who was nearly fifty but still had a charming appearance, extended an olive branch, inviting him to be the mechanic at the Tulip Tavern.

He, however, was bewitched and chose Cynthia, a rich young girl obsessed with machines.

How foolish!

"If Oliver had disregarded Cynthia's life and tried to kill me from the start, the Death Barrel could have bombarded the area before it even hit the ground, and I might have already been killed in the crash."

Thinking about it this way, Luo Ya felt a chill run down his spine.

Checking the remaining fuel in my baggage and the ornithopter's fuel tank, I found it was over ten liters, enough to get to Windmill Town.

"Next, considering that I might be wanted by the Mayman County Recruiting Office, it would be best to have a mask made of octopus skin made, change my name, and go to the Tulip Tavern with a new identity."

For the next floating island, I still need to figure out all the armor in the tavern beforehand, and it would be best to tamper with the difference machine...

suddenly!

A long-range harpoon cannon roared through the clouds, hurtling down from below—

Shoot at Blue Dragonfly!

Then, the second, the third, the fourth...

Dense artillery barrages wove together into a net above the sea of ​​clouds.

A massive airship slowly emerged from the clouds.

It was a black-sailed airship, about 100 meters long.

It's like a floating fortress.

"Damn it...it's a conscription airship!"

The Blue Dragonfly made emergency maneuvers, rolling, turning sharply, and flying backward, dodging and weaving through a barrage of speargun fire.

Suddenly, it surged upwards, circled briefly in the sky, then turned sharply and plunged into the vast sea of ​​clouds below.

This move was precisely to evade the pursuit of the multiple high-speed ornithopters released by the airship.

Sure enough, the black sail airship's belly compartment opened.

Two pitch-black ornithopter planes and two steam-powered mechs, like venomous bees leaving their nest, followed closely behind the Blue Dragonfly and disappeared into the murky clouds.

Above the blue sky, the Blue Dragonfly's disadvantages in firepower, armor, and speed will be magnified infinitely.

But in the murky, churning sea of ​​clouds, visibility was less than 500 meters, which was Roya's home turf.

Roya's greatest skill is flying.

Or rather, his hand-crafted Blue Dragonfly, just like a real dragonfly, was born to fly.

The aircraft has four thin, scale-like wings, controlled by four independent small sub-furnaces, making it a true four-wheel drive.

It has a pair of mechanical compound eyes on its head, which integrate 24 tracking cameras and are controlled by a central differential machine to simulate the 30,000 ommatidia in the dragonfly's compound eyes.

In addition, the mechanical connection of the Roya allows for easy control.

This allows for hovering, braking, inverted flight, catapult takeoff, large-angle maneuvering, and quick turns and maneuvers, all at will.

Limited by the small output power of the steam boiler, the Blue Dragonfly's top speed is not fast, but its maneuverability is a game-changer compared to ordinary steam-powered aircraft.

In the eyes of the Blue Dragonfly, watching ordinary ornithopter planes and steam-powered flying armor is like watching a slow-motion special effect.

Deep in the clouds.

The intense artillery fire exploded like fireworks.

Like walking a dog, the Blue Dragonfly towed two black ornithopters and two black mechs, weaving and circling back and forth in the surging clouds.

Three minutes later.

The Blue Dragonfly suddenly flew backwards and plummeted.

Boom!

Two black ornithopters, flying up and chasing each other from different directions, were unable to avoid each other and collided violently in the clouds!

The two ornithopter aircraft disintegrated in mid-air.

Two spherical airbags instantly burst open, enveloping the astonished pilot, and slowly emerged from the clouds, awaiting rescue by the Black Sail airship.

Five minutes later.

The Blue Dragonfly, being pursued at high speed by a steam-powered flying machine, suddenly slowed down and made an unbelievable sharp turn and flew backwards.

The steam knife, folded on the back, popped out with a clang!

click-

A swift and deadly aerial slide tackle!

Precisely cut open the fragile wings of the steam-powered flying armor.

The steam-powered flying armor disintegrated in mid-air, scattering fragments everywhere.

The driver ejected and was trapped inside the spherical airbag.

Witnessing this horrifying scene, the pilot of the other ambushing steam-powered mech was stunned and completely abandoned the attack.

The steam boiler roared and sped away from the battlefield.

The pilot, who had returned to the Black Sail airship, was deathly pale. His eyes, hidden behind his goggles, had lost their luster due to extreme terror.

"Monster! That dragonfly-winged aircraft is a monster!"

"Idiot, only monsters are valuable... Go after them!"

Fun fact from Roya's past life: Dragonflies are the most efficient hunters, bar none.

The same applies to the Blue Dragonfly.

Luo Ya strode away, disappearing into the vast sea of ​​clouds like a blue lightning bolt.

……

"It seems that Oliver had already figured out the blue dragonfly's flight characteristics and informed the recruiting office, which is why I was caught up with."

Flying a hundred miles through the clouds, the blue dragonfly had completely shaken off the black-sailed airship and was about to emerge from the sea of ​​clouds—

suddenly!

The clouds below suddenly exploded.

Below the clouds, a giant rainbow whale, which had been lying in ambush for a long time, charged upwards, opened its blood-red maw, and swallowed the Blue Dragonfly.

A giant rainbow whale, which had been lying in wait for a long time, opened its massive jaws and tried to swallow the Blue Dragonfly.

The clouds drawn in by the whale's mouth formed a huge vortex, as if to suck all living things into the abyss.

"Damn it, how could such a fiery beast exist in shallow waters?"

Luo Ya's heart tightened, feeling that one bad thing after another was happening today, and it seemed like it would never end.

As the aircraft slid toward the center of the vortex, the tail of the Blue Dragonfly suddenly tumbled.

boom!

The steam outlet bursts forward, instantly releasing all the steam inside the furnace.

The aircraft was ejected and flew backward, somersaulting out of the whale's mouth and quickly creating a distance of 100 meters.

Just then—

A sword arc shot into the sky from the deepest part of the sea of ​​clouds!

The surge of air instantly overturned the Blue Dragonfly, which had just regained its footing.

A long, drawn-out cry of sword energy.

The clouds parted.

Before the giant rainbow whale could close its massive jaws, its body and mouth were split in two, never to be closed again.

The blue blood, like splashed ink, stained the clouds.

Golden beams of light pierced through the clouds, adding a touch of brilliance to the blue canvas.

The wind stopped.

Luo Ya felt extremely uncomfortable, and his eyes lost their sparkle.

A tall, agile woman with a sword and gun at her waist sat in the narrow co-pilot's seat of the Blue Dragonfly, her cascading silver hair fluttering in the wind.

The golden pupils reflected the blue dragonfly's dial.

"I've seen countless amazing steam-powered aircraft, but this dragonfly cobbled together from junk is the best flapping-wing aircraft I've ever seen."

North Wendell tilted her head back and took a swig of rum, then handed her rum bag to Roya, who was sitting next to her in the driver's seat.

"...We meet again, Mr. Mechanic."