Free Web NovelChapter 787: Chapter 380: Elaphia’s Whereabouts
As they neared the trading route, everyone on deck immediately sensed the heavy atmosphere.
Since departing from Satus Island, entering the entrance to the Ignis Sky Realm had been anything but peaceful.
Armed flying airships with battle scars lined up at the entrance, guiding visitors to lower their altitude along the predetermined route, and by the looks of it, the direction was towards Spark Port.
As the Eternal Summer approached, a member of the Order Flame Corps conducting guidance work steered a small airship over, momentarily surprised by the garden-like appearance of the Eternal Summer.
Li Ang stepped forward to negotiate, confirming that they indeed needed to proceed to Spark Port.
After engaging in battles with the Empire’s regular forces, their defensive lines retreated beyond several main islands, including the Makena Island Country and the capital fortress of Chalkhaven, among others.
Meanwhile, some islands that did not side with the Empire or had been recaptured by the Guild and reestablished order were reopened because many aspects of the islanders’ livelihoods relied heavily on aerial trade.
Since then, the Ignis Sky Realm gradually resumed passage, but due to the critical situation, ships entering and exiting not only required travel documents but also thorough registration and awareness of danger zones to be allowed passage. Moreover, they had to follow the planned routes strictly, with Guild checkpoints along the way to ensure no disguise by the Imperial influence and to protect civilian commerce.
"Are we landing on Spark Island?" Dorothy’s expression was somewhat unnatural.
Li Ang discerned that it wasn’t the Feinat Clan or her family she feared—they couldn’t possibly be on that island anymore—but rather the familiar faces from the island in the past.
Though, in the present circumstances, publicly breaking ties with her family and the Feinat Family made her actions seem justified, many former colleagues and acquaintances probably still lived on the island, and they might say something that made her uneasy.
"You should stay in the cabin." Li Ang said.
"Hmph, I’m not afraid of anything. I’m the Vice-Captain, I have to show up, of course." Golden Canary put her hands on her hips.
"It’s acting, temporary!" Zoe corrected her effortfully, yet the half-elf acted as if she hadn’t heard.
The Eternal Summer navigated according to the route, and a familiar figure riding the Wind God Winged Dragon swiftly approached, arriving overhead on the deck.
"Ah, I thought you looked familiar from a distance; it’s really you, kid, Li Ang!"
"Oh, long time no see, Lanslow."
The arriving Order Knight was Lanslow DuBois, who had once escaped Spark Island with Li Ang’s help. He was still in the standard armor, but several details had changed, indicating the Guild had enhanced his gear.
Li Ang waved him down onto the deck. Once the young man landed, he signaled to his colleagues not to follow, and the Eternal Summer didn’t need to land on Spark Island.
"If you’re entering the Ignis Sky Realm, you must have a travel document." The young man said as he reached out to Li Ang.
Li Ang handed over the travel document given by Melegon, which the young man opened to review.
"Wow, issued by the Flower Sword Group, with the Captain’s seal too. You’ve got some strong connections there."
He returned the travel document and opened the registration book to write.
He didn’t ask much about Li Ang’s group; he observed the ship type and size of the Eternal Summer and the number of passengers, speaking aloud, "You’ve made the young lady angry, and since she’s deep within the Ignis Sky Realm, I’d say you wouldn’t have a way to get the travel document from her."
With the young man’s words, different voices appeared behind Li Ang, most of them teasing, some questioning.
The soft inquiry came from Meimei, with Farina beside her engaging in conversation.
"What kind of magic does this guy have? Why does he attract girls wherever he goes? And who exactly is this young lady?"
Farina laughed softly, covering her mouth: "This one might not have been him causing trouble, but she certainly comes from a notable background."
"What kind of background?"
"You might even know her."
"There’s no way I know her... Oh, are you saying I know her through Nebis? Then, is she high up in the Guild?"
Meimei paused, thinking it over: "Let me see, among the high-ups I know, Sister Lisya... No! That’s absolutely impossible!"
The white-haired girl panicked: "She’s so dashing and upright, there’s no way this guy fooled her! Absolutely impossible!"
Farina watched her with a smile, shaking her head.
"Exactly, I told you, with Lisya’s character, she would definitely be in the Demon Disaster Realm and wouldn’t leave the Order Investigation Corps, so there’s no way she could know this guy!"
Actually, I do know her, and she even invited me to the Demon Disaster Realm. Li Ang sighed lightly in his heart.
"If it’s not Lisya, then among the other high-ups, could it be Aira... No, that’s even more impossible! She’s wholly devoted to work, a true Weapon Goddess, how could she possibly be in a questionable relationship with him! She’s so aloof, and she’s also incredibly kind to me, she..."
Meimei spoke while watching Farina’s expression.
The Dragon Witch didn’t need to respond directly with words, but her expression conveyed information. Meimei examined her closely, but didn’t get a denial.
Her eyes widened, trying to remind Farina to confirm again, eyes filled with anticipation, hoping for a denial.
"I don’t know how things are on your side, but currently, Elaphia is indeed the Captain of the Order Flame Corps." Farina said.
Meimei’s eyes rolled back, her head spun dizzily, and she toppled backward.
Having anticipated it, Li Ang reached out to catch her, chuckling inwardly. It was worth it to use spiritual manipulation to enhance his hearing—it led to some interesting reactions.
He let Farina support Meimei, as up ahead, Lanslow also finished writing the registration and closed the book.
"Well, you could be right, don’t tell me all these unbelievably beautiful girls on this ship were found by accident, now I really have to arrest you." The young man said angrily.
"You can’t catch me now," Li Ang said.
Lanslow examined his entire outfit, the high-tier magic power softly emanating, the magic robe with mysterious patterns, and the magic staff behind him which could only be a treasure artifact... He indeed was no match.
"Heh, hehehe!" The young man laughed dryly.
"I thought you’d either marvel at my new ship, reminisce about the Spark Port incident, or talk more about your leader, but I didn’t expect your first reaction to be wanting to arrest me."
"What else? What else?!" Lanslow gnashed his teeth in anger: "You have no idea how angry the young lady was after returning from the Holy City, and... I’ve never seen that expression on her face before."
Li Ang fell silent for a moment and said, "I want to apologize to her as well."
"You better."
Lanslow shook his head helplessly: "As for the situation at Spark Port, well, there’s not much to say..."
At that time, before Li Ang sailed Dorothy’s small boat toward the Salem Sky Realm, the deputy leader of the Order Flame Corps, Drost, had already arrived at Spark Port.
Because of the commotion caused by Li Ang, Lanslow, and Dorothy’s escape, some perceptive nobles had already left by ship, like Dorothy’s second brother, Elton, who still didn’t know if he left on his own or followed the Oracle envoy through the teleportation gate.
The Order Flame Corps arrested most of the Feinat Clan, not even Count Feinat managed to escape, while some were unaware of the Empire’s affairs and were not punished afterward, but the various businesses and influence of the Feinat Family were controlled.
Lanslow glanced at Dorothy: "We also have to thank Miss Campbell for helping to expose the flow of funds, Makena Island Country was revealed early on, and their warships couldn’t launch on a large scale."
Then came the disaster at the City of the Ship’s Rudder.
Those around the Order Knights showed changes in expression.
"According to investigations on Makena Island, many forces that sided with the Empire were exposed and difficult to hide, but some islands began disguising themselves, after all, the Ignis Sky Realm is the largest aerial realm outside the Demon Calamity Domain, the investigation and blockade would take a long time, the young lady brought in other Order Knights to help, and only then did they start seeing results, afterward, it’s all about fighting."
Lanslow pointed to some colleagues in the distance, some also wearing the Order Investigation Corps or other aerial realm uniforms of the Order Knights.
"Well, then, they unexpectedly hid teleportation abilities, I heard Mengze Island was attacked, and there are traces of imperial activity on other islands, such as Rainbow Crystal Island. Of course, there’s also the City of the Ship’s Rudder."
"So you heard about it?"
"Of course, such news would definitely be announced here, yeah, now I know you’re here too, a lot of us Order Knights can’t believe how there could be an entire group of girls besides the leader participating in those battles, ah, now I believe it, you scoundrel."
"My team is called the Star Flower Travel Corps, just so you know."
"Haha, how smug of you."
Lanslow grinded his teeth in anger but obeyed politeness and did not dare to look much at the girls’ side.
How would Elaphia react upon hearing this? Li Ang suddenly felt uncertain about asking.
"You’re lucky, the young lady has been busy with family affairs these days and hasn’t heard the rumors, otherwise, hehe..."
Li Ang understood why Lanslow hadn’t mentioned anything about Elaphia; she hasn’t been with the Flame Corps lately.
"What did she go to do?"
"Family affairs, it seems crucial, so crucial that once the battle stabilized, she hurriedly left."
Li Ang noticed Lanslow hesitating to speak and asked, "If there was something particularly important, she would have made arrangements in advance, entrusting the Ignis Aerial Realm’s battle situation to others, right? At least calling in another leader to help."
"Heh, you noticed as well. We all feel like it’s not her style."
Lanslow smiled wryly: "But, working with her for so long, it’s hard not to hear some rumors. In short, someone in her family is targeting her, and she’s under pressure."
Li Ang nodded: "I will go to her specifically later."
"It would be great if you could help her."
Li Ang continued to share with Lanslow some empire intelligence he knew, like the Divine Eye related to demons, unsure if frontline members like Lanslow were already aware of the situation.
Surely Melegon would report to the Guild, but internally they might assess and review this information, and as a friend, Li Ang felt it necessary to warn Lanslow to prevent them from inadvertently falling into a trap.
"What?! Demons?! Star Soul?!" Lanslow was indeed shocked.
This showed that the backstage events of Elaphia’s trip to the Holy City were completely unknown to him as well.
"So there’s that connection, those troublesome Annihilation Knights rely on what’s called Star Soul powers, thankfully you guys took it down, if Annihilation Knights can no longer be produced it’s a great thing."
"Haven’t you noticed these days?"
Lanslow chuckled awkwardly: "Not great to admit, we haven’t found where the empire’s real core is yet."
Li Ang was somewhat surprised they hadn’t found the imperial center after all the fighting.
"Isn’t it the capital fortress of Chalkhaven?"
"No, that’s just a decoy. Hmm, that’s not entirely accurate, it’s indeed a symbol of spirit. There are many imperial propagandists there advocating so-called heritage and glory, which is also their claim to conquest."
