Chương 165: Redeeming the Artifact?

Over the past few months, as the Crimson Queen continued to spawn offspring, Gob-Run's cavalry unit had expanded to 300 men. Although still a long way off from a full regiment, the sight of more than 300 mount spiders galloping in unison was terrifying—terrifying enough to strike absolute panic into the hearts of those aboard the flight vessel.

"L-Lord Pusha... should we attack with the magitech weapon?" A mage asked Captain Pusha in a trembling voice. Their flight vessel was equipped with an offensive magitech construct—the barrel-shaped object Li Qinwu had spotted earlier. That device could only fire downward; each shot consumed 5 high-purity mana crystal cores to launch a massive Fireball spell, dealing devastating destruction. Pusha was still dazed from the sudden attack.

He could never have imagined that the sovereign of the skies could actually be shot down by goblins! Just moments ago, his vessel had been hit by a specialized ground weapon. Great holes had been ripped into the hull and the gasbag, and one projectile had even torn a mage's body apart from below, splattering blood and organs everywhere, thoroughly horrifying the crew. Now that the gasbag was leaking, the magitech vessel had lost its structural integrity.

Vast quantities of mana were venting from the envelope, causing the vessel to lose all lift—a crash landing was now inevitable.

"No... do NOT attack! Everyone, calm down! No one is to make any hostile moves without my order! Wait for the vessel to land, and I will negotiate with them!" Pusha shouted at the top of his lungs, ensuring every single person heard his command. He didn't want some idiot launching an attack that would end up getting everyone killed. Powerful as the onboard magitech weapon was, a single shot could at most blow up three to five giant spiders.

It would then require at least a minute to cool down and recharge, solving nothing while doing everything to provoke the enemy into a frenzy. Though panicked, Pusha's mind raced quickly. He recalled that the Guild had previously conducted a prisoner exchange with these monsters. Although the returned hostage back then had been in a pathetic state, the subsequent investigation report indicated that the monsters had only harmed him because he had provoked them first by injuring a goblin.

In other words, as long as they surrendered obediently, there was a chance to wait for the Guild to ransom them. In an atmosphere of sheer panic, the flight vessel continuously lost lift, gliding lower and lower until it gently touched down in a field of sugar beets, crushing a vast swath of crops. Gob-Run led his cavalry surging forward, surrounding the flight vessel so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through in an instant.

Gazing at this flight vessel—a machine that belonged exclusively to mages—and remembering the body parts he had lost to mage torture, intense hatred erupted in his eyes.

"Raise weapons!!" At his command, 300 cavalrymen leveled their muskets in unison.

"Take aim!!" The cavalry pointed their muzzles directly at the flight vessel. The hatred in Gob-Run's eyes turned into madness. Just as he was about to roar "FIRE!", a loud shout echoed from behind.

"CANCEL AIM!! CANCEL AIM!!" Gob-Run was furious—who dared stop him from taking his revenge?! He turned around, only for his entire body to go limp, his posture instantly slumping. Li Qinwu was charging over like a whirlwind, his plate armor boots trampling the sugar beets on the ground. As he ran, he repeatedly shouted for them to cancel their aim, prompting all the cavalrymen to lower their firearms in obedience to the order.

Rushing to Gob-Run's side, Li Qinwu caught his breath slightly before staring dead into Gob-Run's eyes. The intense glare made the goblin captain feel thoroughly guilty, wishing he could jump off his mount spider and dig a hole in the dirt to bury himself. Li Qinwu took a deep breath and said coldly: "This is the last time. If I catch you letting hatred control you again, you will be kicked out of the military! I will not allow officers who are ruled by their emotions to lead my troops!"

Without waiting to look at Gob-Run's ashamed expression, he turned his attention back to the flight vessel. There was no glaring structural damage on the outside, but Li Qinwu still spotted a small puncture on the gasbag—the hole punched out by the anti-aircraft cannon. Li Qinwu shouted loudly toward the vessel: "Armed personnel inside, listen up! You have illegally brought weapons into Alliance territory, violating the Alliance's national security!

Disarm and surrender immediately, or I will order your instant execution!" After a dozen seconds of silence, a small circular viewport on the vessel's gondola opened. A mage peeked his face out and shouted in a trembling voice: "We... we are diplomatic personnel from the Mage Guild! We came for a friendly visit! Your attack was unethical, irrational, and..." Li Qinwu cut him off with a cold sneer.

"The Alliance has never granted permission for foreign personnel to enter our airspace via aircraft, and you are carrying contraband weapons. Final ultimatum: drop all weapons and step out of the vessel, or face total annihilation!" Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The mage still tried to argue: "A flight vessel is major property of the Mage Guild! Unauthorized entry by anyone will be deemed a provocation against the Mage Guild!

Do you truly wish to declare war on the Mage Guild?!" Li Qinwu didn't bother wasting another word with him. He pulled out a musket enhanced with +10 accuracy from his inventory, raised it, and fired without even taking formal aim. BANG! The projectile struck the speaking mage squarely in the head, scattering brain tissue everywhere and triggering a chorus of terrified shrieks inside the vessel. Ignoring the chaos within, Li Qinwu barked loudly to the surrounding cavalry: "Fix bayonets!

Do not shoot or damage the vessel! Charge in with me and slaughter everyone inside with cold weapons!" With that, he drew two hand axes, ready to breach the craft himself. However, he didn't get the chance. Following Li Qinwu's shot, the doors on the flight vessel burst open. First, a flurry of staves, swords, and daggers were thrown out, followed by a large group of empty-handed mages filing out with their arms raised.

Pusha was decisive enough when it counted; knowing the difference between voluntary surrender and being captured by force, he made the call before losing the chance to surrender, ordering everyone out. Seeing the mages surrender, Li Qinwu stowed his hand axes back into inventory and waved his hand. The cavalry surged forward, securing all the mages. The mages were shoved together, forced to kneel in the dirt.

Naturally, some grumbled, but the goblin cavalry were far from gentle—they served them with rifle butts, slamming them hard against their knees until every mage fell to the ground wailing in pain. Pusha, beaten down onto his knees, yelled to the surrounding goblins: "We came to do business! We came to do business! You can't treat us like this!" Nobody paid him any mind as they were roughly rounded up into a tight group. Li Qinwu issued an order to Gob-Run: "Take them all down and beat them—just don't kill them.

Wait for me to come perform the interrogation." A cruel grin instantly surfaced on Gob-Run's face. With a flick of his hand, the cavalrymen immediately swung their rifle butts in a relentless beating, sending screams of agony echoing from the captives. Li Qinwu scanned the crowd. Most were mages, as evident from their robes, but a few wore the vestments of the Church of the Goddess of Life. Six of them even wore full plate armor—the attire of Paladins.

Li Qinwu found this intriguing: why were members of the Church of the Goddess of Life traveling alongside mages into his territory? Still, there was no rush to address this. He would let Gob-Run give them a thorough beating first so they understood their place; for now, his primary interest was the flight vessel itself. Li Qinwu stepped aboard the craft. The very next moment, his jaw dropped in sheer disbelief—luxurious! The interior decor was beyond lavish! It felt as though he had stepped inside a grand palace!

The walls and floors were made of fine polished wood, meticulously carved with intricate patterns. Exquisite paintings hung everywhere, beautiful red embroidered curtains framed the windows, gleaming gold chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, and sculpted statues graced several corners. Such excessive decoration revealed only one truth: the flight vessel's performance was extraordinarily superior! They possessed so much surplus payload capacity that they could afford to waste it on heavy ornaments.

His subsequent inspection confirmed Li Qinwu's hypothesis. The flight vessel had three decks. The top deck—the main gasbag—occupied roughly half of the vessel's total volume. The middle deck served as the control and living area. Here, Li Qinwu found extensive crew quarters; after counting, he realized there was enough space for over 180 people. This craft could carry 180 passengers!!

Li Qinwu recalled that the largest flight vessel built by humanity in his previous world was the Hindenburg, which had twice the volume of this craft yet could only carry a crew and passenger complement of around 100 people! In other words, this fantasy vessel's lift capability was absurdly strong! This fact became even more undeniable when Li Qinwu made his way down to the bottom deck and saw the colossal cargo bay. Although currently empty, the sheer size of the cargo bay proved its terrifying carrying capacity!

Taking the Hindenburg as a comparison again, that massive airship had a payload capacity of only about 10 tons. But this flight vessel, with a cargo bay of this scale, likely had a payload capacity well exceeding a hundred tons! Li Qinwu spent over an hour exploring every corner of the flight vessel. He located the breach left by the anti-aircraft shell, as well as the shredded remains of the mage struck by the projectile.

Reluctantly stepping off the craft, he walked up to the captives, who had been beaten within an inch of their lives.

"Who's in charge here? Step forward." Pusha, swollen and bruised black and blue, stood up shakily.

"Hello, Officer... I am a law-abiding citizen. Please don't beat me anymore." Li Qinwu pulled out a map he had just searched from the flight vessel and held it in front of his face.

"Come on, 'law-abiding citizen', tell me what this is." Pusha squinted through his heavily swollen eyelids at the topographical map covered in contour lines, saying guiltily: "Uh... that... that is a type of donut from our Mage Guild." Li Qinwu delivered a swift kick, sending the guy flying four or five meters back.

"Dammit, do you take me for an idiot?! Drag him down and keep beating him!" As Pusha endured another round of fists and boots, screaming in agony, Li Qinwu walked over to the Church of the Goddess of Life personnel. The identities of these seven were easy to distinguish: six were tall and muscular—clearly bodyguards—while the other was thin and frail, evidently a clerical official. Li Qinwu questioned the clerical official: "What's your name? What's your position? What are you here for?"

The officiant glanced at Pusha, who was receiving brutal "affection" from the goblins, and swallowed hard.

"This... my Lord, could we speak in private?" Noticing the guy's darting eyes, Li Qinwu figured he had something specific to say, so he grabbed him by the collar and hauled him directly into the flight vessel.

"Speak." Li Qinwu casually tossed the officiant onto the floor, nearly breaking the man's tailbone. Stumbling up from the ground, the officiant shot a momentary look of resentment toward Li Qinwu before bowing his head and speaking: "My Lord, my name is Tork, an officiant of the Church of the Goddess of Life. I came this time hoping to redeem the Purity Pendant." Li Qinwu's heart stirred as he recalled the divine artifact seized from the Saintess earlier, a smile breaking across his face.

"Oh~ that matter. The Purity Pendant is indeed with us. If you want it back, sure—what are you offering in exchange?" The officiant put on an act, clasping his hands together over his chest.

"By the Goddess of Life above... my Lord, the Purity Pendant is a sacred treasure of our Church, a token left in the mortal realm by the Goddess Herself. How could its value ever be defined by worldly items?" Li Qinwu's face darkened with annoyance. He grabbed the officiant by the collar and raised a clenched fist.

"Do you need me to correct your perspective with the iron fist of reality?" The officiant's expression changed instantly, and he declared with utmost solemnity: "My Lord, whatever you require, simply name it! As long as the Church can afford it, we will pay!" Now that was the proper attitude for a negotiation. Li Qinwu was thoroughly satisfied, though he wasn't entirely clear on what kind of compensation would be worth trading a divine artifact away for—he needed to consult a professional.

Li Qinwu instructed the cavalry to march all the captives back to Iron-City and lock them up. He then went straight to find West-Hayden to ask what they should demand for the artifact so they wouldn't lose out. West-Hayden likewise considered a divine artifact to be a priceless treasure, but noted that history offered precedents. This world had a history spanning over 4, 000 years, during which divine artifacts had changed hands multiple times due to war.

Naturally, there had been instances where immense compensation was offered to redeem a captured artifact. Among them, an event occurring 3, 000 years ago saw a human king exchange an entire earldom just to recover a divine artifact captured by his enemies.