85: Aerial combat upgraded! Not only knights ride griffins, but also players!

The foul-smelling shockwave, condensed from countless sins and filth, possessed a lethality that far exceeded the estimates of all strategic weapons in the Celestial Realm.

Behind the gate, the golden-armored angel garrison, which should have purified the invaders with thunderous force, was now in an extremely pathetic state, their proud and holy formation completely disintegrated.

"Blergh—!"

A tall, handsome angel warrior was the first who couldn't hold it back; he dropped the light spear in his hand and bent over, retching violently. His stomach, composed of pure energy, was empty, but the nausea surging from the depths of his Soul made his handsome face contort like a demon from the abyss.

His reaction was like toppling the first domino.

"It's poison gas! It's a Soul plague from the depths of Hell!"

"My Holy Light power... has been contaminated! I feel like my wings are about to grow mold!"

"Quick! Activate the Air Purification Array! Hurry—!!!"

The commander's screams sounded so powerless amidst the chaos. Across the entire square, the angels, once holy and unified, were now stumbling; some clutched their noses and retreated repeatedly, while others, due to extreme mental fastidiousness, were so overwhelmed by the stench that they fainted on the spot, falling straight down from mid-air.

Their proud holy armor seemed to lose all defensive capability at this moment.

Li Qiang kicked open the Gate of Purity, which had lost its barrier protection and was covered in unspeakable things, and strolled out casually. He took a deep breath of this "familiar scent," a satisfied expression appearing on his face.

"See that? This is what you call professional," he bragged to the stunned players behind him. "To deal with these clean-freaks, you've got to use our hometown's traditional remedies!"

"Brother Qiang is awesome! This smell is really potent!"

"Hahaha! Look at those birdmen, their faces have turned green!"

The players erupted into thunderous laughter. Carrying all sorts of weapons, they swarmed out from behind the gate that had been turned into a "public latrine" and stepped into the new square behind it—the Courtyard of Glory.

However, their laughter did not last long.

Just as the angel garrison temporarily lost their combat effectiveness due to the "biochemical attack," a sharp, high-pitched cry suddenly came from the higher skies.

The sound pierced through the clouds, carrying an innate arrogance and majesty, instantly drowning out all the noise on the square.

All the players instinctively looked up.

Beneath the brilliant dome of the Celestial Realm, hundreds of golden spots of light were diving down at an incredible speed.

They were not cold machines, but living, mythical creatures.

They had the athletic bodies of lions, with knotted muscles full of explosive power, and the sharp heads and broad, powerful wings of giant eagles. Every feather seemed cast from gold, reflecting dazzling light under the sun.

[Royal Griffin LV.40 (Elite Mount)]

On the backs of these extraordinary griffins sat warriors clad in silver-white flowing armor, holding Knight's Light Spears over three meters long. Their helmets were closed-faced, leaving only a T-shaped golden eye slit that revealed cold and focused gazes. Their movements were perfectly synchronized; though hundreds were diving down, they moved as one, forming an impeccable cone-shaped attack array in the air.

[Griffin Knight LV.45 (Elite Unit)]

"Holy crap! It's the air force! A regular air force!" a player cried out in shock.

"These mounts are way too cool! They're ten thousand times cooler than the jetpacks we cobbled together from scrap metal!"

"Stop fangirling! They're charging!"

Retired Soldier King's roar snapped everyone back to reality. Experienced as he was, he saw at a glance that this unit was on a completely different level from the chaotic ground guards just now.

"All anti-air fire! Open fire! Shoot them down!"

The players hurriedly raised their weapons. Magic-modified Gatling guns, homemade rocket launchers, and fireballs and ice arrows conjured by mages were fired messily toward the sky.

However, the response of the Griffin Knights was textbook.

Faced with the incoming barrage, they did not dodge. The leading knight pointed his spear, and a pale golden energy shield lit up on all the knights simultaneously.

"Hum—"

Countless bullets and spells struck the shields, merely causing a ripple before being entirely absorbed and neutralized.

Meanwhile, the griffins, under the knights' guidance, nimbly tilted their bodies, dodging those high-powered rockets.

Their formation remained perfectly intact, and in an instant, they had descended to a height of less than a hundred meters above the players' heads.

"For the glory of the God King! Purify!"

At the knight commander's order, all knights simultaneously raised their light spears and leveled them forward.

The energy at the spear tips was instantly excited to the extreme, turning into lethal golden beams of light that poured down like a torrential rain.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The ground was instantly covered by dense explosions.

A player who had just set up a heavy machine gun didn't even have time to fire before being accurately hit by a light spear falling from the sky, blown into a cloud of data fragments along with his gun.

Several warrior players tried to raise the massive tower shields captured from the Icon Guards for defense, but those seemingly solid alloy shields were like paper before the light spears, easily pierced through, pinning the players behind them to the ground.

"No! The damage is too high! We're sitting ducks!"

"Find cover! Quick, find cover!"

The players were beaten into a scurrying mess, fleeing behind the ruins of buildings they had just demolished.

And those players with crude flight packs fared even worse.

One player had just wobbled into the air with his jetpack and hadn't even aimed at a target before three griffins closed in like lightning from three directions. Their movements were elegant yet deadly, and the gale stirred by their wings caused the player to lose his balance.

The next second, three light spears crossed paths, and the player instantly disintegrated in mid-air.

"Air superiority! Air superiority is being completely suppressed!" Wang Wei hid behind a massive wall, his analysis glasses flashing wildly, the lenses reflecting the scenes of slaughter in the sky. His tone was more grave than ever before. "Their mobility, defense, and attack power are all far beyond our estimates! Our aircraft are just toys in front of them!"

In an instant, the morale that had soared from "polluting" the Gate of Purity plummeted to freezing point.

For the first time on the front lines, the players felt the frustration of being completely crushed in every aspect.

Amidst this gloom and despair, Li Qiang hid behind a broken pillar, staring intently at a griffin gliding at low altitude, hunting down a player.

There was no fear in his eyes, nor any frustration, only a primitive and burning desire for possession, like a hungry wolf spotting a fat sheep.

"Old Wang!" Li Qiang grabbed Wang Wei, who was nearby mumbling "insufficient data, model cannot be established."

"What is it, Brother Qiang! Can't you see I'm busy!"

"Stop being busy!" Li Qiang pointed at the griffins in the sky, his eyes shining terrifyingly bright. "I'm asking you, we can't beat them because we can't fly, right?"

"Duh! That's the core issue!"

"Then what if we could fly too?"

"What do you mean?" Wang Wei was stunned.

Li Qiang grinned, revealing his signature smile—a mix of madness and greed.

"I mean, since the planes we build don't work, why... don't we steal theirs?"

Wang Wei's mechanical eye instantly widened, and the data stream began to scroll at an unprecedented speed. In his mind, an absurd yet highly feasible combat plan was established, simulated, and finally confirmed within a mere tenth of a second.

"It's feasible!" Wang Wei slapped his thigh excitedly. "Griffins are biological, not pure machinery! Their intelligence is limited! As long as we can take out the knights on their backs, we have a chance to seize control! I get it! Brother Qiang, you need a more powerful 'fishhook'!"

Without a word, Wang Wei pulled out the [High-Intensity Grappling Hook Gun] he had captured from the dwarves and modified. He then quickly stripped the toughest Energy Conduction Cable from the wreckage of an Icon Guard and replaced the original steel cable.

"Range increased to one hundred and fifty meters! Tenacity increased by three hundred percent! Theoretically, it can lift an adult giant elephant!" Wang Wei stuffed the modified grappling hook gun into Li Qiang's hand. "Brother Qiang, it's up to you!"

"You got it!"

Li Qiang took the grappling hook gun, weighed it in his hand, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He looked up, searching the sky, and soon locked onto a Griffin Knight who was circling at low altitude with the most arrogant posture.

"It's you!"

Li Qiang suddenly rushed out from behind cover, and under the astonished gazes of countless players, he boldly pulled the trigger toward the sky!

"Whoosh—!"

The grappling hook, trailing blue electric arcs like a venomous snake, accurately struck the thick hind leg of that griffon.

"Screee—!"

The griffon cried out in pain and let out an angry shriek. The knight on its back was startled; looking down, he saw the cable connecting to that tiny figure on the ground, and a disdainful sneer appeared on his face.

"Stupid ant, you want to wrestle with a mount of the gods?"

He yanked the reins hard, commanding the griffon to climb rapidly into the high sky, attempting to tear this reckless Mortal to pieces.

"Aaaaaah—!"

Li Qiang was instantly yanked off the ground by a massive force, flying into the sky like a kite with a broken string.

"Brother Qiang!"

The players on the ground let out cries of alarm.

However, suspended in mid-air, Li Qiang didn't panic; instead, he began to laugh loudly.

"Perfect!"

The muscles in his arms bulged as he gripped the handle of the grappling hook gun tightly, letting the gale whip the flesh on his face into a tremble. Using the force of the griffon's ascent, he kicked out violently in the air and, like a rock climber, actually began to climb rapidly up the taut cable!

The griffon knight was completely stunned.

He had never seen such a fierce creature. How could such a tiny body contain enough strength to contend with a griffon?

In the moment he was dazed, Li Qiang had already climbed to the griffon's underbelly. He gripped the cable with one hand and drew the power hammer from his waist with the other, delivering a heavy blow to the griffon's soft belly!

Thump!

"Screee—!!!"

The griffon let out a cry of extreme agony, its flight path instantly becoming unstable as it began to roll violently in the air.

The knight on its back was nearly thrown off by the sudden turbulence. In a mixture of shock and rage, he leaned down, attempting to use the light spear in his hand to assassinate Li Qiang beneath the belly.

But Li Qiang was faster!

Using the momentum of the griffon's roll, he swung himself up and nimbly flipped onto the griffon's broad back, landing right behind the knight.

Their eyes met.

The knight's golden eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.

In Li Qiang's eyes, there was nothing but undisguised, naked killing intent.

"Down you go!"

Li Qiang didn't give his opponent any chance to react, raising a foot and kicking the knight's back with all his might.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, that noble griffon knight fell from hundreds of meters up like a discarded trash bag, screaming as he plummeted toward the ground.

"Done!"

Li Qiang sat down on the griffon's saddle and tried to grab the reins.

However, having lost its knight, the griffon became even more violent. It twisted and rolled frantically in the air, trying to throw off this strange intruder on its back.

"Damn it! Still won't behave?"

Li Qiang's ruthlessness was triggered. He abandoned the reins, reached out with both arms to tightly choke the griffon's thick neck, and then raised a fist the size of a clay pot, smashing it down again and again onto the griffon's proud, hawk-like head!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The dull sounds of the strikes echoed in the sky.

"Do you submit?!"

Thump!

"I'll ask you one more time, do you submit?!"

Thump! Thump!

"Not submitting, huh? I'll beat you into a vulture today!"

Under Li Qiang's unreasonable and purely physical 'persuasion,' the proud royal griffon's gaze finally shifted from anger and struggle to confusion, then fear, and finally... grievance?

It finally stopped struggling and let out a low, kitten-like whimper, submissively steadying itself in the air.

Li Qiang finally let go and patted its neck with satisfaction.

"Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd done this earlier? You just had to get a beating to feel comfortable."

He looked around and saw countless eyes on the ground looking up at him, filled with shock and adoration, as well as the griffon knights in the sky who were somewhat at a loss because their companion had been hijacked.

Li Qiang cleared his throat, maneuvering the majestic mount beneath him in a circle in the sky. Then, using all his strength, he let out a roar that shook the heavens:

"Brothers! Did you all see that?!"

"These things can be stolen!"

"Kick those bird-men off! These big birds are yours!!"

This shout was like dropping a lit match into a calm vat of oil.

After a brief silence, the tens of thousands of players on the ground collectively erupted into the most insane and greedy howls since they created their characters!

"Holy crap! You can play like that?"

"Rob the mounts! I want to ride a big bird too!"

"grappling hook guns! Who has a grappling hook gun! Let me use it! I'll pay in Contribution Points!"

The nature of the battle completely changed in that instant.

If it was a passive defensive battle before, it had now turned into a carnival feast called 'Mass Robbery'!

The sky instantly fell into unprecedented chaos.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Hundreds and thousands of grappling hooks were shot into the sky from every corner.

One unlucky griffon knight happened to fly a bit lower and was instantly hooked by over a dozen grappling hooks at once. Over a dozen massive forces pulled from all directions; before the griffon could even let out a shriek, it was forcibly yanked from the sky, slamming heavily onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. Countless players swarmed forward like piranhas smelling blood.

"Mine! This bird is mine!"

"Don't push! The wing is mine! Nobody take it from me!"

A mage player, thinking quickly, continuously cast [Mage Hand] on the ground, using dozens of giant magical palms to build a temporary 'human ladder.' A warrior player stepped on the palms and leaped into the air with a roar, tightly grabbing the talons of a passing griffon.

Even more extreme, several desperate players directly activated suicide jetpacks. They didn't seek to kill the enemy, only to rush next to a griffon and, in the instant before the pack exploded, use their bodies to tightly entangle the griffon's neck, creating an opportunity for their teammates below.

"For the Horde—!!!"

Accompanied by tragic (and excited) shouts, brilliant fireworks constantly exploded in the sky.

The Griffon Knight Order was completely dumbfounded.

Their training manuals had instructions on how to deal with dragons, how to fight demons, and how to raid a Mage Tower, but not a single line was written for: [What to do when your mount is entangled by a group of lunatics using ropes, human ladders, and even their own lives to rob you?]

"Help! They... they're clinging to me like leeches!"

"My griffon! It's been stolen! Ah—!"

In the sky, noble griffon knights were falling like dumplings, letting out desperate screams as they were kicked, dragged, and pushed off their mounts.

In just a few short minutes, the battlefield situation underwent a world-shaking reversal.

A crooked, strangely-styled 'Griffon Bandit Brigade' composed of players had begun to take shape.

They might not yet be able to perform various high-difficulty tactical maneuvers like real knights, but they won by being unreasonable.

One player maneuvering a griffon found he couldn't beat the knight opposite him, so he simply ordered the griffon to open its mouth and use its sharp beak to peck at the opponent's griffon's eyes.

Another player was struggling with an enemy in the air; unable to match the light spear, he simply pulled a handful of sand from his inventory and threw it directly in the opponent's face.

The noble aerial combat instantly turned into a street brawl without any bottom line.

Li Qiang rode that most majestic golden griffon he had 'physically subdued,' looking at the chaotic and victorious scene in the sky that belonged to them, a very comfortable smile appearing on his face.

He had captured the knight captain's light spear and was currently carrying it majestically on his shoulder.

He took a headcount of their 'air force'; though they were a ragtag bunch, there were at least over two hundred riders, enough to contend with the remaining enemies.

He didn't order them to hunt down the remaining knights fleeing in panic.

His gaze passed over this chaotic battlefield and cast toward the distance, toward that most luxurious and massive floating island drifting at the end of the sea of clouds. The buildings there shimmered with the brilliance of gold and gems—clearly a place where big shots lived.

Li Qiang licked his dry lips and pointed the light spear in his hand forward violently, like a true general, issuing a new command to all the players who had just acquired new mounts and were in a state of extreme excitement:

"Boys! Don't worry about those paupers! See that biggest golden nest?"

"All units! Follow me!"

"—Let's go raid their house!!!"