You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

The feeling of weightlessness lasted for less than two breaths.

Soon, Huanhuan expressionlessly reached out and touched a brass knob on the control panel, then twisted it forcefully.

Karaara!

A series of dense and precise mechanical sounds came from the bottom of the carriage.

Immediately afterwards, the violently falling steam engine jolted violently, as if supported by an invisible giant hand, and its downward momentum abruptly stopped, turning into a slightly tilted and steady gliding.

Still shaken, Baili Jie quickly leaned to the car window, took a closer look, and couldn't help but gasp:

"A hang glider! A pair of huge hang gliders have deployed on both sides of the vehicle!"

Yes, a pair of wide wings popped out from the sides of the vehicle. They were made of black canvas and lightweight steel frame, and with the help of the night wind, they carried the heavy steel steam car and glided smoothly in mid-air.

"Xiao Jie, what's going on outside?" Bai Lijing struggled to lift his head, but could only see the metal roof of the car.

"It's too dark... I can't see anything, I can only hear the wind and the waves." Baili Jie tried to open his eyes wide, answering with some difficulty.

Hua Xiangrong remained quite calm.

She sat back down, crossed her legs, and even had the leisure to light the second batch of tobacco using the small valve on the robotic arm.

She took a sip and said slowly:

"Don't panic. If I'm not mistaken... we should already be at sea."

"At sea?" Baili Jing was taken aback.

Hua Xiangrong nodded, her eyes appearing somewhat profound in the smoke:

"There are still Wugendu's spies scattered throughout Shanghai. Although there aren't many of them, our Second Master doesn't want to alert them. After all... Chaosheng Society and Wugendu are currently locked in a life-or-death struggle. The fact that the Cao Gang has sided with Chaosheng Society is still a closely guarded secret that must not be exposed at the moment."

"We need to ask the Chao Sheng Association for help. The best meeting place is in the open sea, far from the land."

Baili Jing rolled his eyes and quickly figured out the key point:

"I get it! We deliberately drove the car to some remote sea cliff, then sped off the cliff and used these huge wings to glide out to sea... So the Chao Sheng Society had already sent a ship to pick us up on the sea? This is practically an aircraft carrier!"

The words "aircraft carrier" were too strange for anyone in the cabin to understand.

But before anyone could ask a question, Baili Jie had already shouted:

"There's a boat! There really is a boat! It's huge!"

Hearing his shout, Hua Xiangrong couldn't help but stand up and go to the window to look into the distance together.

Where the sea and sky met in complete darkness, a patch of orange lights could indeed be faintly seen.

As the gliding altitude decreased, the lights gradually outlined the silhouette of a huge ship. It was a large, entirely black ship with a thick smokestack standing on the deck, but it was not emitting billowing steam at the moment, obviously deliberately suppressing the noise of the propulsion system and maintaining silence.

After all, this place isn't too far from Shanghai. If we make too much of a fuss, it will attract the attention of Wugendu.

The steam engine swayed and circled in the air for a while before landing on the wide deck of the large ship.

With precise maneuvering, it landed steadily on the deck.

After the car came to a complete stop, Huanhuan didn't turn off the engine. She turned around and gave the instructions:

"Keep an eye on him, don't let him come out of the furnace, and don't let anyone touch the black gold slag on his body. I'm going to make an appearance on the ship first."

After saying that, she pushed open the iron gate, jumped down nimbly, and then closed the gate behind her.

She didn't stay away for long.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the iron gate was opened again, and Huanhuan reappeared. This time, there were three more people behind her.

The three men were dressed in extremely strange attire, all wearing black night clothes and their faces covered with black cloth, revealing only their eyes. Even more bizarrely, each of them had different characters embroidered in silver thread on the forehead of their black cloth: A, B, and C.

At first glance, they look like three notorious bandits.

As soon as they entered, Huanhuan turned to the side and introduced them briefly: "These three are mechanical masters specially sent by the Chaosheng Association."

Baili Jing looked the three of them up and down curiously: "Wow, what kind of quirk do you three masters have? Why are you dressed like thieves?"

The leader, "A," let out a strange chuckle. Judging from his voice, he sounded like an old man in his sixties or seventies. He twirled a corner of his mask and said in a gruff voice:

"Our three identities are special, and it's inconvenient for us to show our true faces. Please forgive us, young man."

"B" spoke next, the voice belonging to a young woman, her tone filled with barely suppressed, fervent excitement. Her gaze was fixed on Baili Jing, and she rubbed her hands together.

"That's Baili Jing in the furnace?! He has a completely new Qi and Blood physique?! Hahaha! This is great! This time I've really gotten a bargain, my thesis this year..."

"Sis, stop talking, it'll expose our identities."

"Bing" spoke last, slowly. It was a boy, but his voice sounded soft and effeminate. He looked at Baili Jing, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons with laughter.

"And you're focusing on the wrong thing... Look at this guy, he's so handsome, and he's got a strong build, he must feel really nice to touch..."

Upon hearing this, Baili Jing shivered violently, and several grains of black gold dust fell from his body.

He suddenly realized that even if he managed to save his life tonight, the process would probably not be easy.

But reality didn't give him much of a chance to fight back.

The three masters in black didn't care whether he agreed or not. They simply waved their hands, and several burly boatmen rushed over and dug him out of the furnace.

The moment he was removed from the furnace, the terrifying heat that had been suppressed for so long swept over Baili Jing's entire body once again!

He felt as if a ladle of boiling oil had been poured over his internal organs, burning him so badly that he couldn't even scream. He could only curl up in agony, his muscles convulsing all over.

But the three black-clad mechanics seemed completely unconcerned. They simply ordered the shipwrights to carry over a heavy iron bed, toss Baili Jing onto it, and then carried him deeper into the cabin.

"Ouch, it hurts so much! It's so hot, I'm dying of heat!!!"

Baili Jing cried out in pain.

Bing smiled and patted his shoulder: "Hey buddy, don't worry, I'll make you feel good in a bit."

"Help! Help me!!" Baili Jing shouted in a different way.

B quickly let out a sinister laugh: "Go ahead and scream, scream your lungs out, no one will come to save you. Tonight... hehehe..."

Stop laughing.

A couldn't stand it anymore and interrupted her in a hoarse voice: "Be normal. If others hear us, they'll say we're weirdos. Even if you want to laugh, wait until the door is closed."

"Senior brother, there's nothing to worry about."

Bing made a delicate gesture with her fingers: "They don't even know who we are. We can't afford to lose face like this."

The three mechanics simultaneously let out a strange laugh and followed Baili Jing into the cabin.

Hua Xiangrong and Baili Jie instinctively tried to follow, but Huanhuan stretched out her arm and blocked them at the cabin door.

"You cannot go in to see or hear what is about to happen; this is a rule established by the Chaosheng Association."

Her tone was firm and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.

Baili Jie's face turned pale instantly, his eyes filled with tension and worry.

Hua Xiangrong's smile froze slightly, but being a seasoned woman, she took a deep breath and patted Baili Jie's shoulder, gently comforting him:

"Little brother, don't worry. Since Chaosheng Association has sent a boat and hired people, it means they care about this matter. Your brother's life... should be saved."