Chapter 162 - 115: Nobility 2
The blue beams possessed an extremely low temperature. Wherever they struck, the ground instantly froze over, emitting plumes of frigid air. The spot where Lin Yan stood was shrouded in an icy mist under the soldiers’ siege.
"Hahaha! See that? This is what happens when you make an enemy of me!!"
"These Frozen Guns are newly developed weapons, designed specifically to deal with those Aituo Beasts."
"Even those Aituo Beasts would be frozen solid."
"Quick, help me get rid of these vines."
The Haiqiu People gathered around the City Lord attacked the vines once again. Even those who had been standing idle now rushed to his side to help.
"My Lord, we can’t break them."
"Impossible. They should have been..."
The icy mist in the center of the passage dissipated, revealing a shield.
It was Niu Armor, who had placed himself in front of Lin Yan, blocking all the attacks with his greatshield.
Although the Frozen Guns were powerful, possessing extremely low temperatures and a small amount of ice-elemental energy, it was still practically impossible to break through Niu Armor’s defense.
After his experience of being turned into an ice sculpture in the Mushroom Forest, Niu Armor now constantly maintained a spell in the Ice and Snow Jungle to enhance his ice-elemental resistance. It was impossible for these Frozen Guns to harm him.
"Hahaha, you think you can hurt us with those little squirt guns? Dream on!"
Niu Armor roared with laughter. He then unleashed a "Group Pull," yanking all the firing soldiers toward him. Next came a "Groundshake," which sent all the pulled soldiers flying again. They splattered against the walls like pancakes, then slowly slid to the floor.
All the Haiqiu Clan People froze, staring dumbfounded at the scene. They couldn’t believe a living creature could unleash such an attack.
"What happened? Why did all the soldiers fly into the walls?" someone asked in confusion.
"H-h-how did he do that?" someone stammered, completely bewildered.
"M-monster..." another person whispered, trembling in fear.
As far as they knew, even the most powerful Aituo Beast was just stronger, with more potent attributes, and could spit a more powerful, colder icy mist.
The ability to take down all the soldiers in an instant was simply inconceivable. Coupled with Lin Yan’s power to control plants, it was a severe shock to their worldview.
"I mean, you people can’t even beat those mutated creatures. What makes you think you can beat us?" Yuan Xiaobo said, exasperated.
"Lin Yan, heal them. These might be some of the last Haiqiu People left in this world. It would be a waste to just let them die."
Green light shone from Lin Yan’s hands, showering the soldiers who lay limply by the walls.
Under the green light’s influence, their bleeding stopped, their wounds healed, and they rapidly returned to normal.
The soldiers, waking from unconsciousness and not yet grasping the situation, immediately grabbed their Frozen Guns to attack again. But when Niu Armor postured to retaliate, they flinched. The memory of what had just happened flooded their minds, and they instantly dropped their guns, not daring to move.
After being reminded by the others, the soldiers realized their injuries had been healed by the very enemies before them. They stood obediently by the wall, not daring to make a move, terrified of angering the three "monsters." All of their lives were now in their hands.
"What are you doing? Attack!"
"They’re just trying to scare you."
"We’ve run experiments! Even an Aituo Beast can’t withstand repeated hits from the Frozen Guns."
"If you just keep attacking, you can freeze them solid!"
The bound City Lord was still clamoring, trying to make the soldiers kill Lin Yan so he could get free.
A few soldiers actually looked tempted to act, but seeing that no one around them moved, they held back as well.
Of course, these subtle movements did not escape the notice of Lin Yan and her group.
So Lin Yan called out, "Anyone else want to prove their loyalty to your City Lord? Now’s the time. Once we take him away, you won’t get another chance..."
"No one? Then we’ll just be taking him with us!"
"Go! What are you waiting for? Go! I’m a member of the Alfaux Clan! If I die, you’ll all be buried with me!!!"
The City Lord’s voice echoed through the passage, and the faces of all the Haiqiu Clan People turned deathly pale, as if they had recalled something terrifying.
They wanted to step forward and help the City Lord, but they were also afraid of the three terrifying beings before them. This internal conflict made their expressions shift through a veritable rainbow of colors.
"Everyone else is dead. What’s left of the Alfaux Clan?"
It wasn’t clear who in the crowd had spoken, but everyone instantly came to a realization: not only the Alfaux Clan, but all the other noble families were dead.
This Floating City was the very first one built, so its defenses were poor and its flight speed was slow.
As a result, only an out-of-favor member of the Alfaux Clan had been sent to act as its City Lord. The other nobles were all on larger Floating Cities with much stronger defenses.
This time, the flotilla of Floating Cities had confidently launched an attack on the Aituo Beasts. The other cities had arrived on the scene much earlier and had been brought down just as quickly under the Aituo Beasts’ siege.
It was only because this particular Floating City was so slow that it arrived at the battlefield during the latter half of the battle. That was why it was the last one to fall.
The Haiqiu People in this city had been lucky enough to survive with the help of Yuan Xiaobo’s group, but the inhabitants of the other Floating Cities had all perished before they could arrive.
"All dead? That’s right, they’re all dead!"
"I can’t die!"
"I’m the last member of the Alfaux Clan!"
"That makes me the patriarch of the Alfaux Clan!"
"I command you, rescue me!!"
Once the City Lord processed this, he became even more frenzied.
Lin Yan shook her head, wanting nothing to do with the madman.
She said to Niu Armor, "Go take him away. Bring him to the residential district and see what the Haiqiu People there do."
Niu Armor thought for a moment and agreed. He stepped forward, grabbed the City Lord, and walked out of the welcome passage.
A little while later, Lin Kong and the others came down as well, while Rose and Dong Lin remained above on guard duty.
The arrival of Aburara put everyone present at ease.
Having one of their own among the group was a sign that these outsiders wouldn’t just kill them all. It meant they needed the Haiqiu People for something.
After Lin Kong arrived, he looked for someone to take the lead. "Who’s in charge here now?"
None of the Haiqiu People dared to speak. They were afraid of suffering the same fate as the former City Lord. From their perspective, mobilizing the army to protect a noble was a perfectly reasonable action. To avoid accidentally angering these terrifying beings, inaction was the safest course.
"Fine, you then," Lin Kong said when no one spoke up, pointing to a Haiqiu person who looked to be of a relatively high rank. "You’re in charge here now."
The adjutant pointed to himself. "Me?"
"Yes, you. Get a headcount of how many people are left in the Floating City and gather them. You’ll be coming with us shortly. This place may not be safe for much longer."
The adjutant quickly ordered the command room staff to work, using the Floating City’s internal broadcast system to summon the surviving Haiqiu People.
After a little while, Niu Armor returned with a large group of Haiqiu Clan People.
"You’re back?"
"What about the City Lord?"
"Haha, you all missed a great show!" Niu Armor seemed delighted as he excitedly described what had happened.
"At first, these Haiqiu People didn’t dare do anything to that crazed City Lord. I had to talk to them for a while and reassure them before they finally let go of their fears."
"And as a result... they beat the City Lord to death."
"He’s dead just like that? What a shame. I was hoping to ask him if this Floating City had any scientific data archives..." Yuan Xiaobo said regretfully.
"Sir, I know where the data is stored."
"I know, too!"
Hearing Yuan Xiaobo’s words, several Haiqiu People in the crowd immediately vied with one another to lead the way.
Because this was the first Floating City, its technology was inferior to those built later. As such, in recent years it had been repurposed as a logistics hub, and all sorts of records were stored on board.
Led by the Haiqiu People, the expedition team arrived at the data archive.
"What a massive archive!"
Hearing Mirus’s exclamation, the Haiqiu person leading the way said with great pride, "Of course. All the knowledge of the Haiqiu People is stored here."
Lin Yan was also moved. "Knowledge is the vessel of a civilization. As long as this knowledge is passed on, the Haiqiu People will not truly be extinct."
"Alright, let’s pack up the important data to take back. We’ll seal up whatever we can’t carry."
The members of the expedition team immediately got busy. Guided by the locals, they packed up all the important technical data to take with them.
Finally, after all the data was sealed, Lin Yan cast a Protective Magic outside the archive room, hoping it would remain undamaged until the next team from their territory arrived.