Chapter 159 - 141: The Anomaly of the Storm Eagles and Gray Bean Doves
Chapter 159: Chapter 141: The Anomaly of the Storm Eagles and Gray Bean Doves
From Li Qian’s position, he had a crystal-clear view. The small flying robots released by the Flying Ship were spitting tongues of fire and unleashing a hail of bullets, driving them toward the flock of Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles.
Li Qian found it a bit strange.
Logically, the Flying Ship was soaring at an altitude of ten thousand meters. Normally, not even Storm Eagles could reach such a height, let alone Gray Bean Doves.
But now, the Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles gathered here numbered in the high hundreds.
This was highly unusual.
An abnormal situation like this spelled trouble. Li Qian couldn’t help but frown.
However, he had no intention of asking questions, much less getting involved.
"Why are there so many Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles here?"
"This won’t be a problem, will it?"
"It’s just a flock of Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles. There’s no way they can pose a threat to this Cloud Swallow-class Flying Ship."
"I’ve run into this before. It’s nothing to worry about."
"..."
Inside the Flying Ship, the passengers began to chatter amongst themselves.
Thanks to the reassurances from several veteran passengers, most of the people inside the cabin had calmed down.
Many were even in the mood to watch the battle outside, doing so with great interest.
Outside the cabin, as the swarms of small, locust-like flying robots spat fire and began their herding maneuvers, the flock of Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles was scattered, just as the passengers had predicted.
"COO COO..."
"CHIRP CHIRP..."
"..."
The cries of the Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles could be heard from time to time, but thankfully, the passengers were inside the Flying Ship, shielded from the sound.
Li Qian watched the Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles that were being driven away, his frown deepening. The state of this flock was very strange.
’Something’s not right!’
The dispersal efforts seemed to have some effect, but the results weren’t significant. The moment the mechanical locusts showed any sign of retreating, the birds would dive in again, showing a relentless determination to not stop until their goal was met.
Logically, a situation like this shouldn’t be happening.
It was also highly unlikely for Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles to display such aggression, as if they wanted to devour them whole.
Just as Li Qian was frowning in thought, a skirmish inevitably broke out.
A few Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles suddenly took the initiative, using their Skills to attack.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two of the small flying robots—the mechanical locusts—were struck simultaneously by several Wind Blades and exploded in midair.
The sight made both Li Qian and the passengers in the cabin jump.
’Weren’t they saying this would be an easy dispersal? Why does it feel like things are going sideways?’
But it wasn’t just the passengers who realized the situation had changed. In the cockpit of the Flying Ship, the captain and a pilot were also frowning deeply.
"Captain, something’s not right..." the pilot said, his expression grim as he looked out at the scene.
The man addressed as "Captain" was a middle-aged man of about forty, with a square jaw and a resolute expression.
Without a moment’s hesitation or answering the pilot, he issued a command directly to the screen in front of him: "Yunyan 97, activate the defense barrier. Enter combat mode."
The captain had a wealth of piloting experience, having flown thousands of missions. He had seen it all. In fact, he had even encountered a situation like this before.
And precisely because he had encountered and dealt with it before, a bad feeling was already rising in his gut.
The last time a similar incident occurred, he lost a colleague.
He didn’t want something like that to happen again, not to himself, and not to the young colleague beside him.
The moment he finished speaking, a familiar mechanical voice sounded from the Flying Ship’s central control screen.
"Yunyan 97 received. Defense barrier activated. Combat mode engaged."
Beside him, the young pilot’s face showed his astonishment at this scene.
Activating the defense barrier while simultaneously entering a combat state was considered a response to a very serious situation for Yunyan 97.
The young pilot was confused and subconsciously began to ask, "Captain, isn’t this a bit of an over..."
He wanted to say "overreaction," but considering the difference in their ranks, he forced himself to stop.
The captain knew what the young pilot wanted to say. His brow showed no sign of un-furrowing. "I hope I’m overreacting too, but this situation is giving me a very bad feeling. It reminds me of a dangerous incident I handled before."
He didn’t specify what kind of dangerous incident, but the very use of the word "dangerous" was enough to convey the severity of that event.
"Captain, what should we do now?" the young pilot asked, his expression also turning very serious upon hearing this.
The captain gave his orders directly: "Contact the base immediately. Report the current situation and maintain contact. If things go south, call for backup right away!"
"Yes, Captain. Understood," the young pilot replied, nodding solemnly as he received his orders.
The young pilot immediately began contacting the airship base. At the same time, the captain continued giving orders: "Yunyan 97, command the Flying Locusts to emit the bird-repelling sound waves."
"Roger!" Yunyan 97 received the command, once again responding in its emotionless, mechanical voice.
At that same moment, outside the Flying Ship, the mechanical Flying Locusts received their orders and immediately took action.
"BZZZZZZ..."
A strange, high-frequency sound wave was suddenly emitted. If not for the hull of the Flying Ship blocking it, the bizarre sound would have certainly been painful to human eardrums.
The instant the strange sound wave began, many of the Gray Bean Doves were immediately affected. They began to wobble as if they were drunk.
A large flock of Gray Bean Doves all started to sway.
A moment later, they began to fall like raindrops.
From such a height, if they were to hit the ground, these Gray Bean Doves would be severely injured, if not killed.
But just a moment before they hit the ground, they all seemed to regain their senses.
Of course, after such a delay, these Gray Bean Doves had lost any chance of continuing their attack on Yunyan 97.
As the strange sound wave continued, growing ever sharper, it wasn’t long before not only the Gray Bean Doves, but also many of the Storm Eagles began to follow suit, teetering unsteadily.
"Is it over?" Inside the Flying Ship, everyone breathed a long sigh of relief as they watched the Gray Bean Doves and Storm Eagles plummet.
Knowing there was no real problem was one thing; seeing the crisis actually pass was another entirely.