Sky-cracking Rider

Just as Her Highness Princess Lin Ziyu · Slan of the Slan Dynasty was conveying her personal will to the provincial governors of the Cloud Heaven Continent, the Light Wing Fleet of the Fourth Legion had already moved far away from the coastline.

Standing on the balcony and looking into the distance, where vision reached its farthest, the sky was blue, the sea was blue, and they merged at the horizon.

Some birds with stronger flying abilities even accompanied the flight of the Light Wing Ships nearby, occasionally emitting crisp chirps.

Deeper into the open sea, below the glittering surface, loomed some vast and indistinct shapes, provoking fear.

Occasionally, some massive creatures would burst out of the water, roaring with bared fangs and claws, and the more audacious ones would even initiate attacks—most were Water-type Spells, with a powerful presence, as thick water spears shot up into the sky, eventually exhausting their force at a height of three to five hundred meters and falling back as countless drops, causing a sudden torrential downpour over a small area of the ocean.

Whenever a Magic Beast capable of threatening the Light Wing Fleet appeared, the Fourth Legion would not hesitate to strike with Spells, Railguns, Missiles, and Depth Charges, followed by warriors on Sky Falcons equipped with large-capacity Space System Alchemy Storage Devices collecting the carcasses, earning some funds to supplement military expenses.

Not all Magical Beasts possess the rational intelligence to communicate with other intelligent species, especially when the current definition of Magical Beast also encompasses the former Demon Beasts—any humanoid or non-humanoid creature that can use Elemental Energy is broadly termed as a Magical Beast.

However, in the Biological Encyclopedia of Cangqiong Star, the introductions to various Magical Beasts still specifically note the distinction between rational and feral. The Fourth Legion specifically targets these feral Magical Beasts for their biological materials.

Daring to attack a Light Wing Fleet carrying a royal princess, wiping out their lineage would not be considered excessive, thus the slain Magical Beasts naturally have no cause to complain of injustice.

"Lili..."

A giant bird with white feathers approached the "Black Cloud," issuing a series of pleasant chirps.

The Fourth Legion did not react.

Before it even entered the visual field, they had already identified the species of the large bird.

"It's a Sun-Transforming Skylark!"

The Princess's maid, Fei Dani, exclaimed in surprise.

The leg of the white-feathered giant bird was empty, without the Leg Ring that would identify its status—a wild Light-element Magical Beast, the "Sun-Transforming Skylark," was not commonly seen.

An adult Sun-Transforming Skylark starts at the Earth Order First Rank at least, not something a Rookie-level Pure Light Sparrow could even compare with.

As if to compensate for the lack of offensive Spells at low ranks for Light-element Magical Beasts, starting from the Human Order Seventh Rank, the Light Series gains offensive Spells. As the Rank increases, the power of the Spells becomes even sharper, and in many cases, they are more fierce and vicious compared to other Elemental Magic.

"Adam" opened up the encyclopedia entry for the giant white-feathered bird in the visual interface, making Chen Fei's mouth water with envy. He muttered to himself, "The feathers of the Sun-Transforming Skylark are very valuable!"

He even waved his hand at the large bird.

"Come here, I'll give you some cookies."

"Chirp!"

Xiao Jiu flew over at this moment, perching on Chen Fei's hand, chirping threateningly at the Sun-Transforming Skylark several meters away.

"Lili..."

This large Light-element Magical Beast did not take the tiny Pure Light Sparrow seriously at all and continued to curiously observe the people on the Light Wing Ship.

When it noticed Chen Xiao'er's ill-intentioned gaze, it shook its feathers and swiftly moved away from the fleet, quickly disappearing from everyone's view.

After all, it was an intelligent Magical Beast, not actually foolish—it wouldn't be deceived by a cookie, which might only fool a chirper. Recently, Butler Mars lured down a few hundred, if not a thousand, with just a few large bags of bird food.

"Chirp!"

The Pure Light Sparrow persisted in chirping in the direction where the Sun-Transforming Skylark disappeared.

The probable meaning was: if you dare come over, you'll be knocked down immediately!

Well, that was purely relying on the power of humans.

Xiao Jiu's signature laser might catch Magical Beasts of various ranks off guard, but for a Light-element Magical Beast of the same Earth Order like the Sun-Transforming Skylark, it might not pose a threat.

"Is this little guy threatening the Sun-Transforming Skylark?"

Princess Lin Ziyu happened to have just finished her call with the provincial civil affairs governor of the Cloud Heaven Continent and saw Xiao Jiu being brought back in by Chen Fei from the balcony, couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.

This Pure Light Sparrow was incredibly bold, daring to challenge a Magical Beast of a higher Rank than itself.

"You little troublemaker, behave yourself!"

Chen Fei was genuinely worried that the little troublemaker would chase after it. Catching Xiao Jiu, he skillfully flipped it so its claws pointed upwards; now without a way to fly off, it lay obediently in the palm of his hand.

Magical Beasts born and bred in the wild would not be so cautious. With a small frame like Xiao Jiu's, they could gobble them up one after another, so there was no need to be so eager to offer themselves!

Princess Lin Ziyu curiously asked, "Are Magical Beasts born on Blue Star all like this?"

On Cangqiong Star, the crushing hierarchy was a tangible reality. Low-Rank Magical Beasts didn't even have time to hide from High-Rank Magical Beasts, and only those who had lost their minds would dare to provoke them. Fools who were blind to this did not last long—they were either devoured alive or annihilated on the spot.

A weakest of creatures like the Pure Light Sparrow wouldn't dare to provoke other Magical Beasts, let alone the slightly larger common wild animals, which they also avoided.

Xiao Jiu was truly an unusual exception.

"I really haven't looked into this!"

Apart from Xiao Jiu, the other Magical Beasts Chen Fei had encountered were either ferocious creatures discovered and exterminated during the routine patrols of the 911 Aircrew Base, or rational Magical Beasts that had immigrated to Blue Star for employment.

As for other species of Magical Beasts born and raised on Blue Star, he truly hadn't seen any.

After all, the diplomatic relations between Blue Star and Cangqiong Star had been established for barely more than thirty years. Even for Magical Beast immigrants, it was a matter of the last decade or so. The establishment of related legislation and management departments, as well as the acceptance of human citizens, were not simple matters.

-

The Fourth Legion of the Feathered Tribe's Light Wing Fleet flew over the vast ocean, continuously, after departing from the coastline of the Cloud Heaven Continent.

There were hardly any other ships visible on the sea surface. Ferocious Magical Beasts and the large, fierce creatures lurking beneath actively hunted sea vessels, effectively severing intercontinental sea travel to a certain extent. Only large Assembled Combat Aircraft with sufficient armament could safely travel between continents.

Even so, there were still ferocious Flying Creatures that would attack Constructed Aircraft.

The sky and the ocean of Cangqiong Star were much more dangerous than those of Blue Star. Every intercontinental journey was almost a journey with an unpredictable fate.

At sunset, the Light Wing Fleet had just killed several Strange Fish that broke through the water, attempting to attack the Light Wing Ships, officially entering the more perilous night navigation.

The twin moons, Qingpo and White Dew, hung high in the sky, with clouds scattered about, but there was no romance exclaiming the beauty of the night. The Fourth Legion of the Feathered Tribe raised their alert level and stood guard in shifts.

Almost every hour, fierce birds and strange marine creatures would try to attack the Light Wing Fleet flying at an altitude of 5000 meters. Despite their rapid interception capabilities with onboard weaponry and Constructed Combat Aircraft, the Fourth Legion unavoidably suffered some casualties.

One could imagine that for civilian Assembled Aircraft attempting to traverse the ocean and reach another continent, the process was incredibly dangerous and difficult.

Although Cangqiong Star didn't suffer from the troubles of Mutants, how much better could these raging creatures be?!

The twin moons were obscured by the thick black clouds.

Boom, rumble, rumble...

Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky. The "Black Cloud" Light Wing Ship trembled slightly, and an obvious rocking sensation occurred in the internal cabins.

"What's happening?"

Princess Lin Ziyu, who was preparing to wash up and go to bed, noticed the abnormality of the ship's body.

Housekeeper Mars said from outside the washroom, "Your Highness, the fleet is about to enter the storm cloud area. Please rest assured, the Light Wing Ship will not have any problems."

The marine weather was fickle and changeable: one moment, the sea was calm and quiet; the next, mighty waves towered.

Even with outer-space weather satellites constantly monitoring, when the storm cloud vortex that could cover heights of ten thousand meters formed, the Fourth Legion's Light Wing Fleet simply could not avoid it. The flying altitude limit of the Light Wing Ships was barely ten kilometers, so they couldn't fly out of the clouds and over the storm from a higher altitude.

Before entering the storm cloud area, the fleet had already issued a warning announcement.

The escorting "Sky Falcons," Constructed Combat Aircraft, were all retracted, and even the main deck was left with few people. The ferocious creatures trying to attack the fleet were also affected by the storm, and accordingly, their attack frequency significantly decreased.

The auxiliary power sails, filled and ready to burst with wind energy, were retracted, and each Light Wing Ship in the flying formation ejected bright blue light from the rear, maintaining speed without slowing.

The backup power turbojet engines started successfully; the air intakes embedded on both sides of the ship didn't care about the quail-egg-sized raindrops pouring into them. The rain was completely turned to steam in the combustion chambers, which unexpectedly enhanced propulsion power to some extent.

The incessantly flapping Light Wings, however, were unaffected by the storm. They treated the frenzied storm as nothing, whether it was Wind Elemental Energy in the chaotic airflow, Water Elemental Energy in the torrential moisture, or the aggressive and sharp Lightning wrapped with Thunder Elemental Energy—all were absorbed by the Light Wings.

Besides the main keel, the sturdiest Constructed Parts on the Light Wing Ship were undoubtedly these Light Wings radiating with the glow of Elemental Energy.

Chen Fei stood at the window, looking outside.

Wild winds howled outside the Light Wing Ship, and the downpour was relentless, the ferocity of which far surpassed the inland downpours.

The artificial intelligence AI "Adam" was yet again running design simulations.

Having encountered attacks from ferocious creatures along the way, and now facing the sudden violent storm, the Light Wing Ship was like a small boat caught in a terrifying tempest, leaving Chen Fei without much of a sense of security.

A wise man does not stand under a collapsing wall; he had to be prepared for every eventuality, just in case.

"Everything will be alright."

Housekeeper Mars came up behind Chen Fei, noticing his worries.

No sooner had the butler's voice fallen than the cabin suddenly shook violently. They could even hear the screeching and groaning noises.

Some inadequately secured items clattered to the floor in a loud commotion.