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

Huanhuan and Bailijie ran one after the other toward the depths of the cabin.

After running a short distance, Baili Jie suddenly stopped and turned around abruptly.

Hua Xiangrong had disappeared from their sight.

Huanhuan stopped when she heard the footsteps behind her, then frowned and sighed.

"She... still went to her death."

Baili Jie slowly shook his head and said softly:

"Sister Huanhuan, this pretty lady isn't necessarily going to her death."

"What do you mean?" Huanhuan was taken aback.

Bailijie turned around and looked out at the sea through a porthole on his side.

The rising sun had already risen above the horizon, illuminating the black fleet of ships at Wugen Ferry in the distance with every detail.

Baili Jie looked at the warships and said:

"Wugen Ferry has sent so many ships this time. Whether they surround us and bombard us with steam ballistae, or launch rockets all over the sky, or even ram us with big ships... they can easily kill us."

"But they didn't do that. Instead of boarding and encircling us, they jumped onto our deck from a great distance and engaged in hand-to-hand combat. What's even stranger is that the first thing Wu Yan'an did after boarding the ship was to destroy those steam crossbows. This just doesn't make sense."

Baili Jie said earnestly:

"Unless... those steam ballistae can pose a threat to them, in other words, the other ship is hiding some secret that makes them dare not allow their ship to suffer any damage."

Huanhuan frowned:

"Thinking about these things now is useless. Come with me quickly. Only if we survive will things take a turn for the better."

After saying that, she turned her head and strode forward, continuing to walk quickly towards the deepest part of the cabin.

Baili Jie smiled slightly, said nothing more, and followed.

……

On the deck, Hua Xiangrong had already rushed out.

She didn't think that much about it. She just intuitively determined that those steam ballistae were useful. Since the other side was going to destroy these cannons right away, she just needed to do the opposite and bombard the enemy fleet with a few shots. The battle would definitely turn around!

She no longer had the magnet, but she was still in the steam state. More than a dozen steam valves all over her body operated simultaneously, and she turned into a blur, pushing her speed to the limit as she rushed toward the nearest intact steam crossbow!

As she ran, she glanced to the side, a hint of pity flashing in her eyes.

The deck was littered with corpses. Apart from the three Pei brothers, the rest of the Chaosheng Society guards were dead. The three Pei brothers were surrounded by dozens of red-clad enemies, their bodies already covered in wounds.

Surrounded by dozens of experts at the Forging Realm, even if they were experts at the Qi Heart Realm, there was absolutely no way any more miracles could happen.

Wu Yan'an no longer even takes action personally.

He sat on one side of the ship's railing, the mechanical components between his legs glowing red and smoking, as he dripped oil into the gaps between the gears, performing wartime maintenance.

Until he noticed Hua Xiangrong.

Looking at that familiar figure, Wu Yan'an narrowed his eyes:

"Hua Xiangrong..."

Without any hesitation, he casually threw down the oil can and rushed over!

His first three steps were within a normal range, but by the time he took the fourth step, he had become a blur, and by the sixth step, he had already drawn a line of wind through the air!

At this moment, Hua Xiangrong had already rushed to the steam crossbow. She lifted the crossbow, adjusted the angle, and then...

A pair of iron claws descended from the sky!

Wu Yan'an has arrived!

He pressed his palm down on the ballista, forcibly pushing the muzzle down!

Hua Xiangrong suddenly looked up and saw the skeletal ghost face right in front of her. Wu Yan'an grinned, revealing a row of gleaming white teeth, his smile terrifying:

"You can't believe you've already gotten involved with the Chaosheng Society."

Hua Xiangrong's pupils contracted sharply, and she didn't waste any words.

She suddenly raised her right mechanical arm, and a small hidden box suddenly popped open at her wrist, releasing three poisoned steel needles that shot out towards Wu Yan'an's eye sockets!

But Wu Yan'an easily dodged it, and then he smiled coldly and raised his hand.

He was too fast for Hua Xiangrong to see clearly, but she had fought him in her early years and knew him well. She knew that Wu Yan'an preferred to strike the throat and cut off the head of an opponent of similar height.

Instead of retreating, she advanced, raised the mechanical arm, and held it horizontally in front of her throat!

clang!

With a muffled thud, countless sparks flew wildly between the two.

Hua Xiangrong's gamble paid off; that claw was indeed aimed at her throat!

However, although the claw attack was not completely successful, it was still incredibly powerful. Hua Xiangrong did not intend to take it head-on. She used the force to throw herself to the side and landed on the tail of the steam crossbow with her back.

Click!

The crossbows that had been suppressed by Wu Yan'an suddenly rose again, their muzzles aimed at the black ship fleet!

A fierce glint flashed in Hua Xiangrong's eyes as she stretched out her left hand and grabbed at the firing lever on the side of the crossbow!

However, just as her hand was half an inch away from the lever, a foot slammed heavily into her lower abdomen!

"act recklessly."

As she was kicked away, she heard Wu Yan'an's voice.

"puff!!"

Hua Xiangrong spat out a mouthful of blood, flew backward several feet, and crashed heavily to the ground, her face as pale as paper.

As she struggled to lift her head, she heard the sound of metal exploding in front of her.

Wu Yan'an brutally slammed down with his claw, severing the steam valve pipe of the steam crossbow and turning it into a pile of scrap metal.

Hua Xiangrong gritted her teeth, glanced across the deck, and found that only six or seven steam crossbows remained intact.

Wu Yan'an, with a cat-and-mouse smile on his face, turned his gaze to the next table.

"Brother Pei!! Help me hold him off!! We absolutely can't let him destroy all the cannons!!"

Hua Xiangrong, ignoring the blood at the corner of her mouth, screamed in a hoarse voice.

Wu Yan'an sneered, his figure transforming into a blurry black line once again as he charged forward.

But this time his target wasn't Hua Xiangrong, but the other two crossbows closest to him!

Hua Xiangrong vaguely understood his intention.

This skeleton ghost didn't seem to be in a hurry to kill anyone. He just wanted to destroy all the threatening steam crossbows. Once those things were gone, he could do whatever he wanted on the Chaosheng Society's big ship. As for what he wanted to do, no one knew.

Within a few breaths, there were two more sounds of metal exploding.

The third and fourth crossbows were successively reduced to scrap metal by Wu Yan'an.

Without pausing, Wu Yan'an charged straight toward the fifth crossbow cannon. Just then, a furious roar exploded!

"You bastard!! Taste your grandpa Iron Bull's flesh-ball impact!!"

Suddenly, the iron ox, covered in blood, burst through the air!

He charged straight at Wu Yan'an. Judging from his posture and trajectory, Tie Niu didn't seem to have charged at him on his own; rather, he was thrown at him.

But when faced with a suicidal attack from a master of mental fortitude, Wu Yan'an would never foolishly take it head-on.

His eyes sharpened, his body twisted, and he drew an arc, turning to the other side, abandoning the destruction of the ballista in front of him.

However, Tie Niu didn't seem to be there to deal with Wu Yan'an.

After landing, he leaped up and threw himself onto the intact ballista, shielding it with his back!

"Offer flowers! Come quick!! I'll protect it!!"

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Hua Xiangrong seemed to understand something and looked towards the other side of the battlefield.

Song Tonghu used some secret technique to forcefully suppress his internal injuries and stood up again.

With a single breath, he unleashed a torrent of flames, forcing the surrounding red-clad enemies back several feet.

The one who just threw the iron ox was naturally Pei Qigeng.

He glanced at Hua Xiangrong, said nothing, simply nodded, then shouldered his iron-slaying sword again and charged into the crowd of red-clad people.

Hua Xiangrong's eyes felt a little hot.

She mustered all her strength to stand up and charged toward the steam crossbow that Tie Niu was protecting.

As for Wu Yan'an...

In a very short time, he had dismantled all the other ballistae and returned.

He appeared before Tie Niu like a ghost, his five iron claws raised high, their cold light cascading down like a waterfall:

"die!!"

"Come on!!"

Tie Niu spread his arms wide to block the cannon, laughing loudly, "Don't even think about getting past me until you've broken every single bone in my body!"

At this moment, Hua Xiangrong had already rushed to the crossbow.

She found the scope and the high-pressure gas valve and began to adjust the firing angle.

……

Meanwhile, inside the ship's cabin.

Huanhuan and Bailijie continued their journey, passing by the shipwrights' dormitory, the boiler room in the lower deck, and the warehouse...

As he walked, Baili Jie suddenly slowed down.

He called out softly:

"Sister Huanhuan."

"Hmm? What is it now?"

Huanhuan didn't even turn her head: "Hurry up and leave, there's no time, we can't hold out outside for much longer."

Baili Jie stopped at a corner, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and asked calmly:

"Where...are you taking me?"

Huanhuan paused slightly, turned around, and said coldly:

"I'll take you to those three mechanical masters. They have a lot of tools and methods. Only when we get there will we have a chance to escape."

"Yeah?"

Baili Jie stood in the shadows, his handsome face half-lit and half-shadowed, making it impossible to discern his expression.

He suddenly smiled:

"Sister Huanhuan, could it be... that you were planning to use me and the pretty lady to gain the trust of my brother and those three masters? The pretty lady isn't here anymore, can I handle it all by myself? What if your plan goes wrong?"

Huanhuan was startled.

She turned around, looking at Baili Jie coldly, her face expressionless:

"Little brother, you... suspect I'm the mole?"

Baili Jie shrugged innocently:

"Sister Huanhuan, it's really easy to guess. Not many people know that the leader of the Canal Gang made arrangements, and even fewer know that we'll be on this ship. But just now, I still had some doubts. After all, this is a very serious accusation, and we have to be careful."

"But when I passed by the boiler room just now, I glanced inside. Although I don't know much about mechanics, I could tell that the boiler showed no signs of being disassembled or modified. So... why do you say it can't start? Or did you really tamper with it to make it unusable?"

He blinked:

"Or, let me ask you another question, Sister Huanhuan, could you tell me what exactly is hidden in the Wugen Ferry fleet that makes them so afraid of steam ballistae?"

After the words were spoken, neither of them spoke, and they looked at each other in silence.

After a moment, Huanhuan sighed.

"Young scholar, you are very clever, but this matter is not as simple as you think."

She lowered her eyes and said softly, "This matter concerns the survival of the Canal Gang. Your brother will definitely be one of the leaders of the Canal Gang in the future, and your status will naturally rise accordingly. In that case, I have a secret letter here. Please read it..."

As Huanhuan spoke, she reached her hand into her sleeve.

Then, she pulled out a steam crossbow.

However, when she looked up, she found that Baili Jie was holding the same crossbow, which was already aimed at her.