Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 166 - 162: The Valan Airboat

Chapter 166: Chapter 162: The Valan Airboat

After assigning tasks, the people at the headquarters began to get busy as well. The members of the Hunter squad stayed in the station, after all, returning to Earth from the Otherworld Gate wasn’t an easy task. Especially recently as the Central Intelligence Agency’s activities have been increasing, they must choose an appropriate opportunity to return to Earth.

The pioneer team no longer had to assume the role of their magic instructors but rather, they had to start learning the Dwarven language. The Dwarven language is still phonetic, just like in Tasta, so learning it is not that difficult. Of course, it is nearly impossible to master the language and script in just a week, at least most of the team members won’t be able to do it.

The only hope for the whole team now is Baiyue who, as a top student, once managed to learn a language and its script in two months. A week might be short, but at the very least, she is sure to learn more than anyone else.

Hu Daoke had basically given up on the idea. He picked up the operating manual of the aircraft and read it. The manual was about an old-style High-peak aircraft. This aircraft is very stable in performance, therefore it is still widely used in the Ronisca Air Force.

"Seeing an airplane in the Otherworld gives me a weird sense of incongruity," Hu Daoke couldn’t help but sigh while looking at the aircraft in the manual.

Hearing his words, Cheng Ziang also leaned over to take a look. This type of aircraft is similar to a helicopter with a large cabin. On each side of the body are two large propellers that provide propulsion.

The lift of the aircraft doesn’t come from the design of the body, but from the anti-gravity engine within the body. Even if both propellers are broken, as long as the anti-gravity engine is not damaged, the aircraft can still hover in the air.

He turned another page, and found the layout of the cockpit and the operation manual. It was filled with slowly written Dwarven scripts. Both of them strained their eyes reading it, and couldn’t help but ask Baiyue for help.

"Yue’er, how do you translate these words?" Hu Daoke asked pointing to the scripts.

Baiyue was fully immersed in memorizing, but before she could respond, Tangmo raised her hand to stop her. She glanced at Baiyue, and then at Hu Daoke, and said: "Yue’er, you keep studying and ignore them."

Afterwards, she looked at the two of them and said: "If you guys don’t want to learn, don’t disturb Yue’er. She is our team’s only hope right now."

"Idiots," Tanmo scolded, and Cheng Ziang immediately reacted, distancing himself from Hu Daoke.

"As if you’re not!" Hu Daoke retorted angrily.

"Both of you, stop playing around. We have to rely on this stuff for our mission," Luo’er said helplessly.

"Yo, hello everyone!" The two of them were messing around when Murong walked in with his team members.

"We’re studying, don’t come and make a mess." Seeing Murong’s arrival, Hu Daoke responded rudely.

"I brought you some snacks." Murong nonchalantly waved his hand, and Shangguan Jiu, behind him, walked up carrying the snacks.

"Ah, they smell so good!" Seeing the snacks, Hu Daoke immediately changed his tune.

"Yaning, let your sister give you a hug." Tangmo held Yaning weakly, groaning. The dwarven language and text were giving her a headache.

"Luo’er, eat some snacks!" Shangguan Jiu happily offered the snacks to Luo’er.

"Thank you, I’ll pass." Luo’er waved his hand and declined the offer. Even though there were more people now, he wanted to study seriously.

"Do you want me to teach you?" Seeing how serious Luo’er was, Shangguan Jiu couldn’t help but ask.

"No need." Luo’er glanced at her and responded hesitantly.

"I took Dwarven language in the college entrance exam." Shangguan Jiu smiled sweetly.

"Oh, really?" Luo’er was taken aback, he hadn’t expected Shangguan Jiu to know Dwarven language after all.

"Of course," Murong interrupted from the side, "Jiu’er specialized in the Dwarven language and she did quite well on the college entrance exam."

"Then I’ll have to trouble you." After some hesitating, Luo’er decided to ask for her help.

"Then you’ll have to thank me." Hearing Luo’er’s reply, Shangguan Jiu’s smile grew even broader.

"Of course." Luo’er replied, his gaze hesitantly lingering on Tangmo. He was surprisingly calm as he cradled Yaning, watching Luo’er and Tangmo without a hint of jealousy. It was unusual enough to make Luo’er wonder if something had happened to Tangmo.

A week quickly passed, and though the advance team didn’t learn much, they were at least capable of simple communication. Moreover, the Headquarters had everything planned.

Tomorrow, a High-peak airboat would dock in the port and provide supplies to Helros. Headquarters had arranged their entry-- they would be transported together with the supplies into the airboat, where they would stay in the cargo hold for about ten days until they arrived at Helros.

Although it sounded miserable, it was still much better than traveling on foot. Luo’er and the others had grown weary of riding horses daily.

Meanwhile, their weapons and equipment had been maintained and updated, and were returned to them. There were no changes to the weapons, but their clothing was replaced with the latest fiber materials and engraved with a dual defense rune that could theoretically withstand close-range shots from bows or handguns.

Learning from their previous experience in Masya, their new clothes were furnished with modules that provided cold protection, so they wouldn’t have to freeze like last time.

Preparation completed, everyone went to bed early to rest for the mission on the morrow. Before their departure, Tangmo and Luo’er were summoned to Wang Xu’s office for a final briefing.

Investigate the military situation and the latest equipment of the air force in Helros, and avoid conflict as much as possible. Of course, Wang Xu was prepared for the worst. If the advance team clashed with the High-peak people resulting in casualties, he had a plan to smooth things over. After all, Headquarters was in the right in this matter.

Per their collaboration agreement with the High-peak, all their weapon equipment needed to be reported to Headquarters. Moreover, they weren’t allowed to sell their weapon equipment to third-party countries without the consent of Headquarters. The High-peak had clearly violated these terms by supplying cannons and bullets to Masya.

If they dared to provide Masya with cannons and bullets so brazenly, there was no telling what else they were hiding from the Headquarters. Wang Xu thought it was time to teach these High-peak people a lesson to curb their arrogance.

Before dawn, while the rest of the hunter squad slept, the advance team was already preparing for departure.

In the main hall, Tangmo looked at Yaning sleeping peacefully in his arms. He lowered his head and lightly kissed her forehead before reluctantly saying to Li Si, "Brother Li, please take care of her for me."

"Rest assured, this is her home," Li Si responded, waving his hand dismissively as he took Yaning from him.

"Once you’re ready, get going. They are waiting for you at the gate," Wang Xu urged.

According to their plan, the advance team would hide in crates then take advantage of their connections to bypass inspections and enter the cargo hold of the airboat. Once inside, the High-peaks seldom checked the cargo, so it was absolutely safe for them to hide there.

The High-peak people thought their compatriots were absolutely loyal and safe, little did they know that there were many informants for the Headquarters among them.

Before their departure, Wang Xu issued an all-access permit to each member of the advance team. It was a type of travel document issued by the High-peak people to other races, equivalent to a passport.

Ronisca was not a closed, homogeneous racial country. People from other races could still travel to Helros by airboat as long as they had a permit.

Headquarters prepared three large wooden crates padded with straw, spacious enough for two people to hide inside. Tangmo had initially wanted to hide with Luo’er, but in the end, she ended up hiding in a crate with Baiyue, while Hu Daoke and Cheng Ziang were together. Luo’er was the only one hiding alone.

The crates were transported by horse carriage to the port. Despite large gaps in the crates allowing for airflow, it was hardly stuffy. The thick straw almost buried them, a prudent measure to avoid detection.

Li Si was in charge of delivering the "cargo" to the port. Upon reaching the checkpoint, the High-peak inspector exchanged a glance with him, made a cursory inspection, and let them through.

These inspectors were also informants for the Headquarters. As long as they were paid off, they were more than happy to offer a little convenience to the Headquarters.

And just like that, after passing the inspection, the crates carrying the members of the advance team were smoothly transported into the High-peak airboat’s cargo hold.

The airboat was a primary commercial model of the High-peak people. It was named the Valan, after a river within the Ronisca border.

The Valan was a commercial airboat with a 4,000-ton capacity, capable of transporting over 500 tons of supplies and more than 100 passengers. It was powered by four semi-second-generation anti-gravity reactors and driven by four propeller engines. These propeller engines, powered by magic crystals, were remarkably different from those of Earth.

Driven by its powerful propeller engines, the airboat could travel hundreds of kilometers in a single day. The thousand-kilometer journey from Yazhi City to Helros would take just a week at full speed.

Luo’er recalled their horseback journey from the Ron River to Masya’s capital, Galan-- a trip that took more than a month. Compared to their means of transportation, this airboat was truly out of this world.

Now onboard, all they had to do was wait for the airboat to reach Helros and slip out unnoticed. As the cargo hold was rarely visited, everyone relaxed and settled down. Luo’er relaxed in his crate and couldn’t resist humming a tune.