In the hold, over a hundred people were as silent as cicadas in winter. Many who frequently traveled between the two continents had heard tales of the captain known as “Old Blade with a Beard.”
It was said that before he began to run official imperial routes, this man had been a pirate for a long time. Even without mentioning his past, Old Blade with a Beard could handle the entire hold with just his strength alone.
“Who fired the shot?” Old Blade with a Beard asked again.
“It was me,” Qian Ye replied calmly, cleaning the Butcher with a handkerchief and then putting it back at his waist.
Old Blade with a Beard glanced at Qian Ye, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly. He walked over to the two fallen men, flipped them over with his foot, bent down to look, and said, “They’re not dead yet.”
“Take these troublemakers to the fuel hold,” Old Blade with a Beard ordered, pointing at the four standing members of the thug’s group, and waving his hand to include the ones on the ground. After saying this, he turned and left.
Even the crew members were a bit stunned. One of them pointed at Qian Ye and asked, “What about him?”
Old Blade with a Beard looked at Qian Ye and said, “He’s not involved. Do as I say!”
Old Blade with a Beard pushed the door open and left, followed by a lieutenant. Halfway down the gangplank, he made sure no one was around and then whispered, “Boss, that kid broke your rules!”
Old Blade with a Beard snorted, “If you can fire a burst shot like that with the Butcher, you wouldn’t need to follow my rules either.”
The lieutenant was taken aback, understanding the implications, and his face gradually changed.
The Butcher was powerful but notoriously difficult to control. Qian Ye had fired two burst shots without harming anyone nearby, and the two unlucky ones were only injured, not killed. This was far more challenging than blasting them to pieces.
In such a case, either the Butcher was a high-grade force gun in disguise, or Qian Ye had mastered the manipulation of force to an extraordinary degree. Either way, they couldn’t afford to offend someone like him.
As for why someone like Qian Ye was staying in the hold, the lieutenant had no interest in investigating. In their line of work, knowing too much meant dying faster.
From then on, the airship journeyed peacefully to Qinland.
Old Blade with a Beard stood at the hatch, watching the passengers leave. As usual, the people from the hold were the last to disembark, but this time, there were a few extra people who stayed in the fuel hold with the black stone.
When Qian Ye was leaving, Old Blade with a Beard suddenly threw him a dagger, saying, “If you come back on my ship, I’ll halve the fare.”
Qian Ye caught the dagger, looked at it, and smiled at Old Blade with a Beard, “Besides this, what other benefits are there?”
“I can transport anything,” Old Blade with a Beard said.
“Sounds good. What about the route?”
“You set the starting point and destination; I’ll choose the route.”
Qian Ye took out a box of cigarettes and threw it to Old Blade with a Beard, saying, “Alright, if I need it, I’ll come find you.”
After Qian Ye left, Old Blade with a Beard opened the cigarette box, took one out, and sniffed it, his expression changing slightly.
The lieutenant next to him sniffed deeply with his unusually large nose, staring at the cigarette and unable to look away. “Boss, there’s something strange about this smoke!”
“No kidding, it’s a good one with military stimulants.”
The lieutenant’s eyes lit up, rubbing his hands, but then said, “No, the smell is a bit different.”
Old Blade with a Beard quickly put the cigarette box into his innermost pocket, then glared at the lieutenant and, with reluctance, threw the cigarette over.
The lieutenant put the cigarette under his nose, took a deep breath, and said, “This smell is different from those stimulants.”
Old Blade with a Beard’s eyes widened, “Of course, it’s a special supply for the elite corps.”
The lieutenant was shocked, almost dropping the cigarette, “Boss, are you saying he’s from there?”
Old Blade with a Beard snorted again, not saying anything.
The lieutenant’s eyes narrowed, lost in thought.
Qian Ye didn’t stay long in the port city. The next day, he boarded another airship, heading for Westland.
Not long after this airship left the edge of Qinland, the passengers didn’t notice that it had subtly deviated from its course. After a day of flying, it met another airship in the void. The two ships docked, and a batch of guests and cargo transferred to the latter airship, the process swift and secret.
The two airships separated, each heading towards Westland.
Qian Ye was now aboard the latter airship. This airship was covered in rust and repair marks, looking at least fifty years old, if not a century. Its advantage was that it had no records in the imperial official registry, and its destination was a small port not marked on the official map.
After a full day of flying, the airship finally landed with a heavy sigh.
Qian Ye jumped out of the cabin, landing heavily on the ground. His military boots kicked up two puffs of red dust, making him cough a few times.
The sun shone down like a torrent of fire. As soon as Qian Ye stepped out of the airship, he felt his skin burning, and the air was hot enough to sear. The ground temperature was close to sixty degrees, and a normal person could hardly move in such an environment. Even Qian Ye felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Shielding his eyes from the sun, he looked around. The airship had landed on a flat piece of land. The so-called landing field was just a cleared area in the wilderness.
As far as the eye could see, the land was covered in red soil, and the air was extremely dry. When the wind blew, fine dust flew like jumping flames. This place was aptly named Silent Flame Plain.
Not far away, there was a small town where most of the houses were made of wood and mud, all with flat roofs, indicating a dry climate with rare rain. In the distant wilderness, there were hardly any plants, and the most noticeable feature was a few tall trees standing alone. These trees, each over a hundred meters tall but spaced far apart, seemed like independent kingdoms.
A gust of wind blew, and the red dust enveloped the entire landing field. After the wind passed, Qian Ye frowned, spat out a mouthful of sand, and shook his head, shedding a shower of red dust.
“Young man, wear this. It’s essential equipment for this godforsaken place.”
Qian Ye turned to see the airship’s captain, who handed him a hat with a mask.
“Thanks!” Qian Ye, having experienced the harshness of the sand, put on the hat.
The captain added, “The vehicle and items you requested are ready. Let me show you.”
Qian Ye followed the captain towards the town.
The town looked small from the outside, but inside, it was surprisingly bustling. Most of the people walking on the streets were young and strong men, looking like desperate outlaws. Their aura of death and cold eyes indicated that they had already shed much blood.
Seeing Qian Ye’s unfamiliar face, many immediately showed the hunger of a wolf spotting prey. But when their gaze fell on the dagger at Qian Ye’s waist, their eyes softened. Carrying Old Blade with a Beard’s dagger, he was clearly one of them.
In a small warehouse, Qian Ye saw a two-wheeled motorcycle of unknown vintage. This nearly one-ton behemoth looked old and battered, but Qian Ye noticed that the engine and key components were well-maintained, and the engine even had an interface for a force array.
The captain patted the three-meter-long bike, saying, “Leihu, this is a good brand! Of course, that was a hundred and fifty years ago. Young people nowadays don’t like these tough guys’ toys. Look, I even got it modified. It runs better than it looks!”
Qian Ye looked around. The small warehouse was filled with scrap parts, and there was no second motorcycle. It seemed this was the only option. But looking at this ancient machine, Qian Ye couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t worth fifty gold coins.
The captain, however, didn’t care and threw the keys over.
He then leaned closer to Qian Ye, whispering mysteriously, “As for the other thing you want, I must say you are in luck! A true master is in town recently, and he should have what you need. Of course, good things come with a price.”
The captain waved, “Come with me, lucky one!”
After seeing the Leihu, Qian Ye didn’t feel very lucky. But people in the gray area were often like this, seemingly capable of anything, but if they could get truly good stuff, they wouldn’t be in this place.
Moreover, Qian Ye had few choices. If he took the imperial public route, entered the human port city in the southeast of Westland, and then headed north to the Zhao territory, it would take a long time and be easy for someone to track him.
Though he didn’t know the situation with Song Zining, it was always better to be cautious. Thus, he had to use these underground channels. But since he knew nothing about Westland, Old Blade with a Beard was an unexpected gain, better than finding someone on the spot.
However, as Qian Ye examined the low, dark, half-ruined mud hut before him, he couldn’t imagine what kind of “master” would live here.
The captain squeezed his bear-like body into the hut. Qian Ye had no choice but to follow.
The hut was cramped, filled with shelves holding all sorts of strange things. Most were disassembled or scrapped parts, some familiar, others completely unknown to Qian Ye.
In a corner of the room, a few animal skins and a roll laid on the ground, apparently the “master’s” bed.
By the wall, there was a table cluttered with tools and materials, where a thin, dried-up old man, barely 1.6 meters tall, was busy. That was his workbench.
A crystal lamp hung on the wall, casting a cold beam of light onto the workbench. In the entire room, it was the only thing that matched the times.
The old man raised his head, revealing a face like old tree bark. Glancing at the dagger at Qian Ye’s waist, he said, “You carry Old Blade with a Beard’s dagger, so you’re one of us. Since you’re family, everything’s easier.”
“Show me your gun, the one you use often.”
Qian Ye thought for a moment, took out one of the Twin Flowers’ revolvers from his tactical jacket, and placed it on the table.
Seeing the Twin Flowers, the old man’s eyes sparkled, and he stared at Qian Ye, “Not many use vampire weapons!”
“Some do,” Qian Ye replied flatly.
Next to them, the captain, seemingly unconsciously, slowly reached into his pants pocket.
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