r18novel Chapter 95 Shrimp Catchers
Chapter 95 Shrimp Catchers
Chapter 97 Shrimp Catchers
Outside the village of Limestone, a gravel path stretches into the distance.
Several heavily weathered gray boulders stand by the roadside, next to an abandoned mining crane covered in thick rust.
Rom and Rolan stopped here, quietly waiting for the goblin merchant who only came once every two months.
While waiting, Luo Lan casually took Emily, who was fast asleep and had been hanging on her shoulder armor, and gently placed her on the back of the plush kitten next to her.
Ah Mao stood firmly on the somewhat dry and hard soil, letting the little sleeping fairy lie on his skeletal back.
Using his expertise in precision manipulation, Victor subtly adjusted the biomimetic structure of the cat's "dead skeleton construct," using the skeleton as much as possible to simulate the unique flexibility of a cat.
As the sun began to set in the west, the heat in the air of the limestone canyon subsided slightly.
Rom leaned casually against a large gray rock, his eyes fixed on the end of the path.
"Something's not right. Why are they taking so long today? Those green goblin steam rune wagons are notoriously fast—or are they not coming today?"
Luo Lan asked, "Normally, when should we arrive?"
"It should be noon by now, but the afternoon is almost over—"
Before Rom could finish speaking, a cloud of murky sand suddenly rose from the horizon in the distance.
Rom's spirits lifted, and he straightened up from the giant rock, slapping his thigh: "Hey! What I told you! That commotion, it's definitely the goblin's steam rune wagon, no doubt about it!"
Luo Lan also perked up, fixing her gaze on the approaching sandstorm in the distance.
Dust billowed, a yellow-gray storm, advancing towards the village entrance at an astonishing speed.
Getting closer.
Getting closer and closer —
That's a bit too close!
Luo Lan turned to look at Rom beside her: "Hey, do goblins like to race? If we don't slow down, we're going to crash into the village."
As soon as Luo Lan finished speaking, Rom's expression froze, looking completely bewildered.
It seems that this seasoned soldier was also seeing such a scene for the first time.
A sharp, piercing scream rang out from the cloud of dust: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! The brakes are broken! Get out of the way—"
Luo Lan reacted extremely quickly, bending down to pick up the little white cat from the ground, and nimbly took two large steps to the side, clearing the way for the center of the path.
Rom, standing nearby, leaped onto the half-person-high gray boulder he had just been leaning against.
In the blink of an eye, a whistling sound of mechanical friction, mixed with dust, swept past the spot where the two had just stood.
In that fleeting moment, Luo Lan caught a glimpse of what was at the center of the dust storm.
It was a ruggedly designed runic steam vehicle, its frame somewhat resembling a three-wheeled motorcycle on Earth, but much larger and bulkier.
Three wide-body off-road tires with anti-slip treads were frantically digging into the ground.
The back seat and side racks of the vehicle were laden with large and small bundles of burlap goods, and seven or eight heavy wooden crates.
Several wooden crates even had their lids pop open due to the bumps, and gold coins sprayed out of the crates like rain during the high-speed journey.
The goblin driving this steel monster was both a merchant and a driver. He wore simple leather clothing and had a pair of scratched goggles hanging on his head that he hadn't had time to pull down.
At this moment, the goblin merchant's green face was covered with large beads of sweat, and his expression was extremely panicked.
He gripped the handlebars tightly with one hand, while the other hand yanked on the malfunctioning brake lever, praying to stop the car.
In the instant the rune-powered steam wagon sped past, the goblin merchant only had time to glance at Luo Lan, his face covered in sweat.
The moment their eyes met Luo Lan's, they vanished into the sandstorm, continuing their mad dash toward the village entrance, car and all.
The main power source of the rune steam vehicle comes from a faintly glowing rune battery that lies flat on the back of the vehicle.
Through the runic technology of goblin engineers, this runic battery can draw water elemental energy from the air.
The water element is heated directly inside the vehicle's pipes, generating a continuous stream of high-pressure steam that drives the axles and tires to rotate.
This powerful driving force ensures that the goblin merchants can complete their "goods delivery" tasks efficiently and quickly.
But with the brakes failing, this powerful engine suddenly became a deadly threat.
"Bang!!!"
A deafening explosion rang out at the village entrance.
The entire runic steam vehicle crashed solidly into the wooden protective fence surrounding Grayrock Village.
The enormous impact snapped three or four thick wooden stakes in half, sending splinters and debris flying everywhere.
In an instant, people and vehicles overturned.
The steam engine rolled twice in the mud, scattering its parts all over the ground.
The car overturned, and one of its wheels was still spinning wildly in mid-air, making a "buzzing" sound.
Thankfully, this thing's power core uses rune batteries to heat water vapor. If it were a new energy electric vehicle from Earth, such a violent sudden stop impact might have caused an explosion right at the entrance of Gray Rock Village.
This violent impact also triggered the druid amulet on the village's protective fence.
On the wooden watchtower at the village entrance, the half-elf Willard, who was left behind, suddenly poked his head out, clutching a wooden staff wrapped in green vines tightly in his hand: "An enemy attack?!"
He looked down and the first thing that caught his eye was the village fence with a large hole in it.
Looking through the hole, you can see the rune-powered steam carriage, still hissing and emitting high-pressure white steam, lying on its side on the ground.
Within a radius of about ten meters, there were all sorts of wooden boxes, colorful props, rolled-down potion bottles, and gold coins scattered everywhere.
Rom stood atop the giant rock and waved vigorously toward the watchtower: "Not the enemy, Willard! Sound the horn! Call the villagers for help!"
Although Willard hadn't figured out the whole story, listening to Rom was always the right thing to do.
He immediately picked up a huge ivory horn that had been hanging on the watchtower, puffed out his cheeks, and blew it loudly.
Amplified by low-level natural magic, the deep and desolate horn sound instantly spread to every corner of Grayrock Village.
"Waaah"
Accompanied by the sound of horns, a large group of villagers who had just been drunk in the tavern staggered and made a ruckus as they poured out of the street.
Upon seeing the wealth and goods scattered on the ground, they immediately rushed over in a flurry, stuffing the various items scattered on the ground into the broken wooden crates.
The scene was chaotic, but no one took advantage of the confusion.
This is not only because the villagers of Grayrock Village are mostly simple and honest, but also because all the goods and gold coins from the Goblin Merchant Guild are marked.
This mark can only be removed through trade transactions approved by goblin merchants.
If anyone dares to embezzle funds at this time, the entire Grayrock Village will be blacklisted by the Goblin Merchant Guild afterward.
The goblin merchants will no longer visit this remote village, which will undoubtedly do more harm than good to the villagers who have lived here for a long time.
Those who steal will also be subject to a high bounty from the Goblin Merchant Guild. The goblins, who are meticulous about every pound, hate nothing more than someone stealing from them.
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