However... Those anti-air balloons he was referring to was much larger than whatever they ran into earlier, and they were connected by sturdier steel wires.
That was probably why they missed the balloon in the first place.
"Are there similar things nearby?" McClennan looked at the navigator and growled.
The navigator quickly shook his head and said, "No more, I had the spotters check carefully, this is the only one in the nearby airspace!"
Hearing this, McClennan's face couldn't help but turn a little unsightly.
There was only a balloon nearby, and it happened to hit the engine of his airship.
He didn't know whether to complain about the accuracy of the balloon release or praise the precision of his airship into running into a trap.
"Either way, this trap appeared on our way. The person who set this trap not only knew we were coming, but also predicted our route..." The staff officer, with his finger on his chin, spoke with a serious look and a slow tone.
"Although the trap itself is not sophisticated, being able to cause us such a big trouble with such a low-cost trick... We shouldn't underestimate the capabilities of those people."
McClennan asked in a deep voice, "Who do you think did it?"
The staff officer pondered for a moment and frowned. "The Great Rift Valley is too far from here, the Bugra Free State has our men... The only power nearby capable of doing this is Boulder Town. But I can't make a definitive statement, after all, the Enterprise’s reinforcements have also arrived, maybe it's them."
As for the survivor forces of Sunset Province, they were completely overlooked.
Those desert dwellers... Although they didn’t see eye to eye with them, were all talk and no action. They didn’t have the abilities to do something like that either.
After all, analyzing air routes was too advanced for them.
Constant real-time monitoring of their position, also monitoring atmospheric currents, and other things... Even so, they would only be able to predict a few possible routes.
He had also doubted whether it was a coincidence.
However, if explained as a coincidence, it didn’t make sense why there would be such a string of meaningless hydrogen balloons on a barren mountain.
"Boulder Town... I remember it's the remnants of civilization." The aide pulled a notebook from his chest, flipped through a few pages, and continued muttering, "According to reliable records, the Post-War Reconstruction Committee helped them build a wall and gave them some weapons to fight against the Tide... They said there are tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people living there. Their settlement is not far from here, only 150 kilometers... What I don’t understand is why they would target us.”
"Maybe they want to warn us to stay away from them? But that's very unlikely." The staff officer proposed a possibility, though he himself found it unlikely.
Such foolish behavior was more like provocation than a warning. It wasn’t at all intimidating and would only serve to irritate them.
"These rats that only dare hide in the gutter." McClennan scoffed. "Whoever did this had better pray I don't find out... I swear, I'll make that guy regret being born into this world."
If he caught them, he would strip the culprit naked and hang him under the airship until they froze into an icicle.
With his harsh remark, McClennan turned to the trembling engineer standing by.
"How long will the repair take?"
"One week... No, 3 days, give me 3 days, and it should be no problem!" the engineer said, sweating profusely.
Hearing it would take 3 days, impatience immediately filled McClennan's face, but he knew rushing was useless.
There wasn’t a mid-air airfield they could use to quickly replace the damaged parts.
In order to make the repair they would need to lower their altitude and throw down the anchor.
Once the ship was stuck in place, they would need to extend a support from the hatch like a fishing rod to hoist the engineer to carefully dismantle the broken parts and replace them with new ones.
Well, they could choose not to make the repair and simply turn off the engine and switch off another engine in a symmetrical location on the left wing.
The remaining propellers could still propel the airship, but missing 2 engines would decrease its speed by a full 20%. Their maneuverability and stability would suffer.
The reduction in maneuverability was acceptable, since such a massive object couldn't rely on agility to dodge attacks anyway.
However, traveling in turbulence was something McClennan could not stand. Especially since he could imagine that if he returned dangling a broken propeller, that old fox Griffin would definitely laugh at him.
Even though it wasn't a serious loss, it was enough to embarrass him!
Standing by, the staff officer quietly offered a suggestion. "All the intelligence we have is from several years ago, it's probably outdated."
"Since we have to repair the engine anyway, I suggest we camp here and send out a ground force to scout the nearby area. After gathering more information, we can make the next decision."
The aide also followed up with a comment of his own. "I think so too, I suggest capturing a few of the local natives and interrogating them. Maybe we can find out who's behind this!"
McClennan nodded slowly, his face stern. "Let's do that."
As soon as his words fell, the crewman sitting at the bridge console suddenly spoke. "I have a report! An unidentified flying object has entered our radar detection zone!"
"What is it?" Just having had a propeller damaged, McClennan was somewhat jumpy. He yelled instinctively.
"It seems... to be a propeller plane." the crewman replied hesitantly.
Hearing it was a propeller plane, McClennan relaxed, impatiently dismissing it. "Get them to leave."
"The other party hasn't responded!"
"Then shoot it down."
"Yes!" A crewman immediately picked up the phone on the console, reporting the firing parameters to the weapons control room operator.
Soon, a cannon shot rang out from above.
The thick cannon barrel spewed flames, accompanied by a slight vibration of the airship, and a burst of fire exploded in the distance.
"Confirmed destruction! The target is falling!"
The crewmen at the console reported one after another, although shooting down a propeller plane was hardly something to celebrate.
Holding a telescope, McClennan quickly saw a plane with broken wings burst into flames below the clouds, plunging straight into the city below.
Although unsure if that plane had anything to do with the balloon, the fireball still gave him some satisfaction.
"Send a few people over to check it out later," McClennan said expressionlessly.
The aide standing by saluted. "Yes!"
Then, he turned to the staff officer. "You're in charge of anchoring and deploying the ground camp."
"And, keep me updated on any news from the 29th Assault Force searching for the employee of the Enterprise."
The staff officer responded crisply, "Understood."
Putting away the telescope, McClennan turned and left the bridge.
At this moment, he did not know that the pilot of the plane he had just ordered to be shot down had already gone to another world. In his excitement, he uploaded his photos of the Heart of Steel to an official game forum.
Falling Feather: Guys! Look what I found!!!
- (Picture), (Picture), (Picture)
The photos he had taken almost subconsciously just before being shot down.
Luckily, before the onboard communication equipment was destroyed, the data was transmitted back to the signal tower north of Dawn City, successfully syncing to his album.
Although at this point, the majority of players were in the game, the cloud players' enthusiasm for discussing the new version was in no way inferior to those who had obtained testing qualifications.
The comments under the post quickly filled the screen.
- Holy shit? Did they release another expansion pack?! (Shocked)
- Steel airship! That cannon is freaking awesome!
- I'm crying... Damn, those dog planners, they haven't even started internal testing, and they're releasing a freaking expansion pack!
- Bro, you don't want your Beta access anymore, huh? (Funny)
- The development daddys are awesome! (Crackling)
In less than a minute, the post was covered with over a hundred comments, and the entire forum erupted.
From the airship's insignia and the size of the cannon, many cloud players guessed that the airship might be the Army’s handiwork.
As for how the metal ball could float... The forum was abuzz with various theories.
Some said it was anti-gravity technology while others thought it might be some special lightweight material. Others even guessed it might be based on some unknown technology manipulating gas molecules, like the administrator's hammer.
Whatever it was, one thing was certain. It was some kind of black technology that didn’t exist in reality.
Nearly everyone was looking forward to the brand new version and what new antics the damn developers had up their sleeves.
Well... That was other than the ‘developer’ himself.
On level B4 of Shelter 404, Chu Guang had a deep frown on his face as he looked at the photos on his laptop. Instead, a look of confusion filled his face.
"... What the hell is this?!"