Chương 167: Aquatic Dragons

At this moment, the flight vessel was fully loaded with personnel and supplies. In order to better explore the far side of the great river and establish a colony there, Li Qinwu brought along 10 mount spiders, 500 elite soldiers from the 1st Regiment, and vast quantities of food and weaponry, packing the vessel to its absolute limit. Li Qinwu's plan was for this initial wave of armed personnel to select a suitable location to secure a foothold and build a base of operations.

Afterward, they would transport goblin construction crews and wood-rats over, allowing them to breed, farm, and clear the land. Before long, a massive population of newborn goblins would completely occupy the northern bank, making it every bit as prosperous as the south. Inside the vessel's bridge, Captain Pusha—his face still black and blue—shouted orders at the top of his lungs, directing the mages to operate the magitech instruments and steer the craft across the great river.

The reason Li Qinwu dared to leave the controls in the hands of these mages was that they had already been converted into System Units, bound to obey his orders with 100% loyalty. Without these mages, operating the flight vessel would have been impossible. To cultivate his own aeronautical talent, Li Qinwu ordered them to pass down every detail of piloting the craft—specifically to ten accompanying Burner Goblins.

These ten Burner Goblins had fought alongside Li Qinwu through the entirety of the Poloya Campaign, accumulating massive amounts of combat experience. By now, they were all Tier 3 units: Senior Burner Goblins. The stats for a Senior Burner Goblin were impressive: Vitality 15, Control 15, Endurance 15, Cunning 15, Social 20, and Intelligence 25. Just reaching the Tier 3 rank granted them an Intelligence stat of 25, allowing them to absorb new knowledge at a remarkably fast pace.

Li Qinwu had previously assigned them to shadow Miss Hana for a period, during which they fully mastered Common Human Speech. Currently, they were learning the Elven language, and it wouldn't be long before they could begin studying magical runes. Li Qinwu placed immense hope in these Senior Burner Goblins. Whether it was high-quality food or wood-rats, he satisfied their every need to maximize their initiative, prompting each of them to study with utmost dedication.

Intrigued by the equipment aboard the vessel, Li Qinwu walked over to Pusha and asked, "What kind of systems are installed on this ship? Give me a breakdown." Pusha had suffered relentless beatings over the past few months, primarily because he was a tough nut to crack. Every time Li Qinwu asked if he was willing to become his subordinate, Pusha would feel a primal terror from the depths of his soul.

Instinct told him that the moment he agreed, his entire being would be completely dominated by this goblin leader, so he had stubbornly resisted. The consequence was a continuous rotation of non-permanent tortures. After enduring over a month of non-stop suffering, he finally broke down a few days ago, choosing submission and being formally recruited by Li Qinwu. Now, the man's attitude was impeccably disciplined, answering every question promptly and thoroughly.

"Your Majesty, among the core facilities inside this flight vessel is a compact Mana Tide Detector, used to locate mana tides within a 3-kilometer radius. Once we lock onto a mana tide with precision, we feed mana crystal cores into the mana engine. The spell matrices within the engine convert the cores into high-purity wind magic, which is then injected into the gasbag to generate lift. Whenever the vessel enters a natural mana tide, we can cease feeding cores into the engine.

The engine will automatically siphon mana directly from the tide to power the vessel. If we need to decrease altitude, we can use the switches on the console to manually vent the gasbag, allowing the concentrated wind magic to escape and slowly lowering our flight altitude." Li Qinwu rubbed his chin, lost in thought. The core principle is quite similar to the airships from my previous world, except the lifting gas is replaced by high-purity wind magic with far superior lift properties.

However, back in my world, once an airship was filled with gas, there was no need to constantly replenish it during flight. It could simply sail wherever it pleased. Why does a flight vessel in this world need to constantly follow mana tides? When Li Qinwu voiced this question, Pusha promptly provided the explanation.

"Your Majesty, we must follow the mana tides because the gasbag material has poor containment capabilities for magic. You can think of it as using a woven wicker basket to carry water. No matter how tightly woven the vines are, water will inevitably seep out through the gaps. The same applies to the flight vessel's gasbag—the high-purity wind magic inside leaks continuously, so we must constantly inject fresh magic into the envelope to compensate.

Relying solely on mana crystal cores to replenish this constant loss would be astronomically expensive; even the Mage Guild couldn't sustain such costs. Therefore, we must keep the vessel sailing along mana tides, allowing the engine to continually absorb atmospheric mana to sustain flight. Only during takeoff or emergency situations do we continuously consume mana crystal cores for power." His explanation was crystal clear, and Li Qinwu grasped it instantly. He then raised another question.

"Are there no better airtight materials available? Isn't a high-purity mana crystal core itself a form of containment material? Why use low-purity cores ground into powder to make the gasbag? If you used material derived from high-purity mana crystal cores, wouldn't that lock the magic inside the gasbag completely? That way, you'd only need to charge the gasbag once to keep it flying indefinitely."

Li Qinwu knew that high-purity mana crystal cores could lock in magic indefinitely—unless externally channelled, the stored energy would not leak into the environment. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Since high-purity cores possessed such properties, why not make the gasbag directly out of that material? Pusha explained, "Your Majesty, high-purity magic is a volatile energy.

Its natural tendency is to continuously dissipate into the surroundings until it equalizes with normal environmental mana levels. When a small amount of high-purity magic is gathered, the force it exerts is low, allowing it to be contained by the material of a high-purity crystal core. However, if you gather a vast quantity—such as the massive volume inside a flight vessel's gasbag—the outward pressure becomes immense. The material cannot withstand it and would simply be torn apart!" Li Qinwu understood completely.

High-purity magic was essentially an unruly, high-pressure gas. If one wanted to seal this high-pressure gas to utilize it, they needed a material strong enough to contain the pressure. If the material wasn't strong enough, it would be ripped to shreds by the expanding force. The Mage Guild's current limitation was that they couldn't produce a material capable of containing vast quantities of high-purity magic. Thus, they settled for a compromise: building gasbags out of permeable materials.

Although the gasbag was full of microscopic leaks, causing magic to seep out continuously, it still provided immense lift. As long as the mana engine absorbed magic from the tides to replenish the gasbag before its lift depleted, the vessel could stay airborne indefinitely. Furthermore, because this permeable gasbag constantly vented pressure, the overall structure remained relatively stable. Li Qinwu asked another question, "Is there any material strong enough to contain large quantities of high-purity magic?"

Pusha nodded.

"Yes, Mithril can do it. However, refining Mithril is astronomically expensive. The Mithril required to construct a single flight vessel gasbag would drain the entire fortune of an Earl. No one is crazy enough to waste Mithril on a gasbag." Li Qinwu conversed at length with Pusha, significantly broadening his understanding of aeronautical technology. During their discussion, the flight vessel crossed the 5-to-6-kilometer-wide river, arriving at the northern bank.

Li Qinwu ended the conversation and began observing the geography of the northern territory. Unlike the Alliance-controlled southern bank—where the shoreline was relatively even, littered with stone, and defined by a clear contour—the northern bank was a vast expanse of wetlands and swamps punctuated by isolated ponds. An intricate ecosystem unfolded below: vast stretches of reed-like vegetation, forests resembling mangroves, countless waterbirds roosting in the canopy, and a wide variety of amphibious creatures.

At a single glance, the resources of this wetland alone were enough to sustain tens of thousands of people. Li Qinwu was eager to establish a settlement here, but it seemed the local inhabitants had other ideas. Li Qinwu suddenly noticed a massive cluster of amphibious trees in the wetlands roughly 2 kilometers from the riverbank.

These trees were colossal, standing forty to fifty meters tall with hyper-developed root systems, their thick roots anchoring deep into the marshland to form a continuous, sprawling forest canopy. Upon those trunks and root networks, clear signs of intelligent activity were visible—numerous wooden, nest-like structures built high above the mud. Squinting to take a closer look, Li Qinwu saw countless figures moving within the nests, though they were too far away for even him to see clearly.

He immediately barked an order to Pusha: "Steer toward that direction, now!" Executing the command, Pusha adjusted the controls, steering the vessel toward the cluster of giant trees. Before long, the flight vessel hovered directly above the amphibious forest. Now Li Qinwu could see everything clearly.

Through the bridge's floor-to-ceiling forward window, he observed massive clusters of nest-dwellings built across the trees, alongside thousands of tall, muscular figures walking on two legs, their bodies covered in smooth, glistening scales.

"Lizardmen? Fishmen?" Li Qinwu muttered under his breath. The creatures below looked remarkably like a cross between the two. They clearly possessed high intelligence and a structured society. Li Qinwu spotted extensive public infrastructure like pontoon bridges, along with various groups collaborating to cast nets for fishing. Wisps of blue smoke drifted from several nest structures, indicating active fires.

"By the gods... there are so many Aquatic Dragons here!" Pusha gasped in astonishment as Li Qinwu pondered. Li Qinwu threw him an inquiring glance, and Pusha hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, those creatures below are Aquatic Dragons. They are a degenerate dragon sub-species born from water dragons and other beasts. They've lost most dragon-like traits and behave more like aquatic lizards. Good grief! To think there's such a massive, stable colony of Aquatic Dragons breeding here...

If properly researched, one could easily publish a academic paper that would shock the entire scholarly community!" Li Qinwu scoffed internally. You're a prisoner now, and you're still thinking about writing a damn paper? You're probably never going back in your lifetime. Now, the decision rested on him: with a native species already occupying the land, should he abort the colonization plan? Or should he take a page out of the American playbook—resort to violent colonization and scalp collection?

Looking down, Li Qinwu saw that the Aquatic Dragons had noticed the flight vessel. Thousands of them flooded out, swarming the pools and giant trees beneath the ship. They crowded together, raising their heads to gaze curiously at the flying behemoth. After a long pause, Li Qinwu decided to proceed with the colonization plan regardless. The northern continent was vast; there was bound to be unoccupied land. He would first claim an uninhabited plot to secure a foothold and develop.

Once established, he could adapt his approach toward the Aquatic Dragons based on how the situation evolved. The successful integration of the Kobolds was a prime example—applying a similar strategy to the Aquatic Dragons shouldn't be much different. One step at a time. With his mind made up, Li Qinwu instructed Pusha to navigate further north, moving away from the river to seek a landing site inland. As their name implied, Aquatic Dragons preferred staying near water.

In that case, he would avoid the riverbanks and search for an encampment deeper inland. The flight vessel slowly drifted away. Thousands of Aquatic Dragons raised their reptilian heads, tracking the vessel with their eyes as it departed. They chattered among themselves in a flurry of clicks and hisses, feeling a mix of dread and intense curiosity toward the massive object that had intruded upon their lives. A powerful Aquatic Dragon standing over two meters tall, covered in light-blue scales, withdrew his gaze.

He walked up to an elderly, frail Aquatic Dragon and asked, "Elder, what should we do? Is that thing friend or foe?" The elder Aquatic Dragon pondered for a moment before speaking in a weak voice: "Send our warriors to follow the giant creature and see where it goes. Have the Gusulas take the eggs and retreat to safety first. If that thing ignores us, then all is well, and we can recall the Gusulas.

But if it brings destruction upon us, tell the Gusulas to scatter, hide in other wetlands, and quietly hatch our eggs. Our tribe will not perish." The strong Aquatic Dragon nodded. Selecting ten warriors armed with stone weapons, he led them in pursuit of the flight vessel as it headed north. They moved with incredible speed. Though they preferred moving through water, their powerful physiques allowed them to run like the wind across land.

From time to time, they glanced up to track the vessel's movement, maintaining a dogged pursuit. However, the flight vessel maintained a steady speed of 20 kilometers per hour in a straight line. It quickly outpaced the Aquatic Dragons, finding a flat mountainous region 15 kilometers away from their settlement before beginning its descent. Due to the dense forest canopy below, the vessel vanished from the Aquatic Dragons' line of sight as it landed, though they kept running toward its last known location.

Suddenly, one of the warriors voiced a sharp warning.

"Mengli! Stop! If we go any further, we'll enter the Trolls' hunting grounds! That thing landed right inside Troll territory!" The strong Aquatic Dragon named Mengli froze in his tracks, horrified. He realized they were on the verge of stepping into the domain of their arch-enemy—the Trolls. He quickly halted, scanning the surrounding forest, which now felt unfamiliar and deadly. Should we keep pursuing? Mengli hesitated.

Suddenly, a series of thunderous booms echoed in the distance, originating precisely from where the strange object had descended. A surge of intense curiosity gripped Mengli's heart. What on earth was that flying object? What were those thunderous sounds? He desperately wanted to find out. Ultimately, he decided to press forward, warning his companions to remain on high alert.