62: Aerial combat! Dwarf helicopters vs. flying motorcycles!

"Holy crap! Look at the sky! There's something in the sky!"

A player who had just rushed into the city and was about to lay waste to a tin mailbox on the side of the road suddenly pointed at the sky and let out a terrified scream.

Accompanying his shrill cry, a series of "buzzing" sounds, like the wing-flapping of a massive swarm of hornets, drifted down from above the city.

Li Qiang (Also a Ruthless Person) had just clutched the golden [Six-Barreled Blazing Dragon Revolver Musket] in his arms. Before he could even appreciate its cold texture, he heard Wang Wei's (Luban No. 7) anxious voice ringing out in the communication channel.

"Brother Qiang! Watch out! It's the Dwarves' aerial units! There are a lot of them! They're heading straight for us!"

Before his voice had even faded...

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!"

Dense gunfire, sounding like beans popping in a hot pan, descended from the heavens.

In the sky, hundreds of simple yet exceptionally agile single-person aircraft made of brass and tin plates emerged from between the city's high-rise buildings. They were topped with a massive, rapidly spinning rotor, with goggled Dwarven pilots sitting in the cockpits and small-caliber steam-powered rotary machine guns mounted on both sides.

Dwarven Gyrocopters!

"Holy shit! These shorties have an air force too?"

"Who's shooting at me?!"

"Ah! My motorcycle blew up! These bastards have no sense of honor, launching a sneak attack!"

The players' charging formation was instantly thrown into chaos by this sudden aerial strike. These Dwarven Gyrocopters were incredibly nimble; they specifically targeted the players' motorcycles or dived from high altitudes to strafe the giant mechanical dragon joints of the pangu vessel.

Sparks flew and clattered against the dragon scales. Although they couldn't cause substantial damage, the dense firepower successfully drew the attention of the pangu vessel, preventing it from continuing to provide effective artillery support for the ground troops.

"Old Wang! Blast these flies out of the sky for me!" Li Qiang roared into the communicator while clutching his new treasure.

"I can't! They're too small! And they're too fast! Our main cannon can't calibrate in time!" Wang Wei's voice carried a hint of helplessness. "Locking on takes time, and by the time we do, they've already flown out of sight!"

Just as Wang Wei said, the pangu vessel's world-destroying main cannon was like using an anti-aircraft gun to hit mosquitoes; there was simply no way to strike.

Meanwhile, the players on the ground were being beaten passively. Their muskets and Fireball Spells had limited range and couldn't reach the enemies circling dozens of meters in the air.

"Dammit!"

Li Qiang watched as a Dwarven pilot flew arrogantly over his head, even giving him the middle finger. His temper flared instantly.

He glanced at the gyrocopters flying wildly in the sky, then at a Mage player nearby who was clumsily sticking Explosive Runes onto himself, preparing for a suicide attack.

A crazy idea instantly formed in his mind.

"Stop sticking those! You won't even be able to run over there to blow anyone up!" Li Qiang kicked the Mage player aside.

"All Mages! Those who know Burst Fireball, Chain Lightning, or Self-Destruct! Get your asses over here!"

Li Qiang's roar was exceptionally loud amidst the chaotic battlefield.

Before long, dozens of players with the Mage class gathered around, their faces filled with eager anticipation.

"Brother Qiang! What's the pro move? Do you want us to focus fire?"

"No!" Li Qiang grinned, a smile that made the surrounding players feel uneasy. "Focusing fire is too slow! I'm going to send you guys into the sky to fight them face-to-face!"

"Send us into the sky?"

Everyone was stunned.

Li Qiang pointed at a pile of destroyed Dwarven vehicle wreckage nearby, then at the Dwarven Gyrocopters still flying everywhere.

"See those fuel barrels? See those tin flies in the sky?"

"If Engineer Wang can't handle it, it's our turn to find a way!"

"We're going to create... disposable 'Human Anti-Aircraft Missiles'!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire area fell silent.

A few seconds later, the eyes of all the Mage players lit up with a light more fervent than when they had seen Li Qiang snatch the new weapon.

"Holy crap! Brother Qiang, you're a Genius!"

"Human missiles? I like that! That's so damn rock and roll!"

"Count me in! I've always wanted to try the 'Palm Technique from the Heavens'! This time we'll do one 'Rising from the Earth'!"

"Dying once only costs a hundred Contribution Points! If we crash a gyrocopter, the parts it drops will be worth more than that! Pure profit!"

In the players' dictionary, the word "fear" had never existed.

Under Li Qiang's command, what could be called the most ridiculous anti-aircraft position in the history of warfare was quickly set up.

The players gathered all the fuel tanks they could find, discarded motorcycle engines, and even gas canisters tied with gunpowder, turning them into crude launch pads.

Then, those volunteering as "cannonballs" clutched the most powerful explosives in their arms, or simply began chanting high-power spells that required long casting times, and climbed onto the pads with faces ready for certain death.

"Brother! Give me a clean shot! Remember to aim straight!" The first player tied to a rocket shouted at the teammate responsible for ignition.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure you're fired high and far!"

"Ready—"

Li Qiang held his brand-new six-barreled musket high.

"Fire!"

"Swoosh—Boom!"

With a loud bang, the first "human missile," trailing long black smoke and unstable firelight, wobbled and shot into the sky.

"Aaaaaah—For the Horde—!!!"

The shrill scream echoed throughout the entire underworld.

In the sky, a Dwarven pilot on a strafing mission suddenly heard a strange sound. He turned his head in confusion, and then he saw a scene he would never be able to understand for the rest of his life.

A "Long-Legged Goblin" was screaming and flying toward him at extreme speed.

In that "Goblin's" arms, he clutched something flashing with a dangerous red light, similar to a Dwarven explosive pack.

"What... what is that?"

The Dwarven pilot's brain stalled.

Before he could figure it out...

The flying "Goblin" had already slammed headfirst into his cockpit glass.

"Boom—!!!"

A massive fireball erupted in mid-air.

Searing airwaves and shattered parts scattered in all directions.

The entire battlefield fell eerily silent for a second.

Immediately after, the player position on the ground erupted in a mountain-shaking, ocean-roaring cheer!

"It worked! It worked!"

"Holy shit! It actually works!"

"Next! Quick! It's my turn! I'm gonna take down two!"

With the first successful case, the remaining players went completely wild.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

One "human missile" after another was launched into the sky in quick succession.

For a time, an incredibly spectacular yet ridiculous scene played out above Black Iron City.

Countless screaming players, like free fireworks trailing multicolored exhaust (various magical glows), played "bumper cars" in the air with those agile Dwarven Gyrocopters.

"Don't come over here! Stay away from me!" a Dwarven pilot let out a desperate cry, frantically pulling the control stick to avoid a player flying toward him while clutching a block of ice (the prelude to a Frost Bolt).

"Behold my Great Lightning!!" Another player had already begun conjuring Chain Lightning while in the air. Countless electric snakes spread out from him, directly shorting out the engines of several gyrocopters.

The Dwarven aerial forces completely collapsed.

They had experienced the cruelest air battles and faced the fiercest flying Demonic Beasts.

But they had never seen this kind of... lunatic who didn't even value their own life, just to rush up and take you down with them!

This wasn't war!

This was a one-sided, asymmetrical terrorist attack!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly! These Long-Legged Goblins are monsters!" The Dwarven air force captain's voice cracked with fear over the communication channel.

He was piloting a command craft that was plated in gold, clearly an elite unit. He was the first to turn his craft around, preparing to flee this Hell.

However, he had long since been targeted.

Inside the cockpit of the pangu vessel, Wang Wei calmly watched that most prominent golden target on the light screen.

"Trying to run?"

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Lock-on complete. Shoulder-Mounted Tracking Missile, fire."

On the shoulder of the mechanical dragon, an inconspicuous launch port opened. A missile only as thick as an arm, but trailing a brilliant magical exhaust, shot out silently. It carved a graceful arc in the sky and accurately caught up with the golden gyrocopter.

"Boom!"

The tail of the golden gyrocopter erupted in fire. Trailing billowing thick smoke, it began to spiral down toward the inner city.

Just before it was about to crash, the cockpit canopy popped open. The Dwarven air force captain, clutching a similarly golden box, decisively chose to parachute out.

All of this was seen by Li Qiang, who was watching the battle from the ground with binoculars.

The moment that Dwarven captain jumped out with the box, Li Qiang's eyes lit up instantly. Their brightness was even more piercing than the firelight of the explosions just now.

His "Treasure Hunting Radar" issued a maximum-level alert!

"Attention everyone!" Li Qiang threw away his binoculars, jumped onto his modified motorcycle, and issued an unquestionable command over the communicator. "That shorty parachuting! Nobody touch him! The box in his hands is mine!"

The engine let out a massive roar.

Li Qiang glanced back at the player army that had already gone into a killing frenzy, then at the slowly descending parachute in the distance. A greedy smile, as if he were about to strike it rich, appeared on his face.

"There's definitely good stuff in that box! Maybe it's the Dwarven King's private vault!"

"Old Wang! I'm leaving ground command to you! Hold the line!"

"I'm going to go snatch a treasure and I'll be right back!"

Before his voice had even faded, that modified motorcycle, with blue flames spitting from its tail, shot out like a black arrow released from a bow. It pulled a blurry afterimage through the chaotic streets, madly chasing the direction where the parachute was falling!