Chapter 312 – Trap

The goblin airship “Luxury Carnival” set sail, carrying two Master-Level powerhouses—Punk and Ben Lajie—along with the utterly disheartened and helpless Aidadada.

Operating a goblin airship required a large crew, but Aidadada, with years of experience managing airships, had no trouble finding staff and beautiful attendants. Moreover, the unusual situation involving Monbay Windbeak, the Master-Level “underworld figure,” was tightly kept under wraps by the “Aerial Trade Association.” The crew remained completely unaware that they were accompanying two dangerous individuals on a one-way journey to their doom.

To maintain their disguise, Punk and Ben Lajie used methods to conceal their Master-Level auras, posing as ordinary commoners. Their identities on the airship were simply those of unremarkable Nobles. This way, even if the airship had no other passengers, it wouldn’t raise suspicions. All the service staff believed they were merely attending to two extravagant Nobles.

The incorrigible old Ben Lajie made a beeline for the dining hall as soon as he boarded the airship. Ignoring Punk’s astonished gaze, he casually wrapped an arm around a beautiful maid and settled into a luxurious sofa, indulging in food and drink. Not forgetting to use Mage Hand to gently push two equally attractive maids toward Punk, he winked and said:

“Brother Cyan, come on! The beauties on Aidadada’s luxury airship are top-tier—you won’t find them in many high-end clubs. You’ve got to try them!”

Faced with Ben Lajie’s “every man understands” expression, Punk merely pushed away the two seductive young women without a change in expression:

“Alright, you go ahead and enjoy yourself. I have many things to attend to. I just hope you won’t hold me back when the fighting starts.”

With that, Punk strode out of the cabin without even acknowledging the resentful glances from the maids—he still had to set up a powerful trap. As a cautious mage, Punk would never underestimate any enemy.

In truth, a mage like Ben Lajie, who could still eat, drink, and make merry with a formidable enemy looming, was truly an oddity. At the very least, Punk found it hard to comprehend how this guy had become a Master-Level powerhouse. It couldn’t have been by simply indulging his way to a breakthrough, could it?

However, Punk had no doubts about Ben Lajie’s combat prowess. He could sense the immense power hidden within the soul of this seemingly foolish old man. Combined with the devastating destructive force from his specialization in evocation magic and his bizarrely higher spellcasting level—one tier above Punk’s—Punk estimated that even if he used some of his “trump cards,” their chances in a real fight would be about fifty-fifty. So, even if he couldn’t rely on this unreliable old man for useful intelligence, at least using him as a turret seemed reasonably dependable… right?

“No, I shouldn’t jinx it. I’d better place more hope in the trap array.”

Suddenly recalling Ben Lajie’s tendency to “fail at critical moments” during the “Black Market Plan,” Punk shook his head helplessly. He decided it was better to focus on meticulously setting up the trap and not place too much expectation on a clown.Thinking this, Punk had already arrived at the airship’s power core hall. Thanks to the effects of Mass Suggestion, he walked all the way into the Luxury Carnival’s most crucial “Power Core Hall” without attracting anyone’s attention.

After lightly stepping over a low-level alert formation on the ground and swaggering past three or four orc guards, Punk laid eyes on the goblin airship’s power core.

This wasn’t a warship—its power core only needed to ensure the airship’s flight and speed, with no requirement to output energy for defense or attack. Thus, Punk discovered the Luxury Carnival’s power core was merely a low-power elemental reactor, fueled by low-energy etherium crystals.

Seeing this scene, Punk couldn’t help but frown slightly.

His plan was to inscribe enchantment runes on the elemental reactor of the power core, then use alchemical spells to super-compress the stored elemental crystals until the elemental energy became volatile and concealed before sealing it inside the reactor.

To enhance the destructive power, Punk also intended to add some precious Master-Level materials as catalysts and reactants to this “Elemental Bomb,” ultimately turning the entire airship into a concealed flying bomb. When Monbay Windbeak mistook it for an ordinary airship and charged headlong into it, he’d blow the enemy away with complete surprise.

However, the goblin Aidadada’s emphasis on and protection of the power core exceeded Punk’s expectations. Unlike most goblins who blindly pursued efficiency while neglecting safety, Aidadada hadn’t used volatile fire elemental crystals as fuel, let alone employed the most bomb-suitable “High-Energy Fusion Reactor” as the power core.

“What a hassle. This means I’ll have to strengthen the enchantment array’s intensity, but… that would increase the airship’s energy fluctuations. There’s a risk that Monbay Windbeak might detect it…”

After considering Ben Lajie’s description that “Monbay Windbeak is a savage storm eagle with no ‘profession’ and no knowledge,” Punk gritted his teeth and began inscribing additional enchantment runes on the elemental reactor:

“I hope that troublesome Monbay Windbeak is mad enough. Otherwise, if it isn’t severely injured and escapes, it’ll be a real problem. Chasing a speed-specialized storm eagle through the skies would be unimaginably troublesome.”

Muttering to himself, Punk continuously channeled vast amounts of mana into the rune-covered elemental reactor, then carefully sealed the ultra-high-pressure compressed mixed energy inside. He had no desire to attempt chasing a Master-Level storm eagle through the air—especially when the Hoth Mountains were its familiar home turf. Punk felt his chances of catching up were slim at best. If he made an enemy but let it escape, things would truly spiral out of control!

Punk’s alchemical skills were quite proficient. The construction of the “Reactor Bomb” didn’t take too long—just half an hour. The originally calm reactor had transformed into a “remote-controlled bomb” glowing red-hot with thousands of degrees of scorching heat, its entire structure humming intensely.

“Mission accomplished!”Punk stood up after inspecting the sealing array. The enchantment runes on the elemental reactor were now connected to his mental energy. With a single command from him, the seal would vanish instantly, causing all external enchantments to collide with the internal energy. In less than a hundredth of a second, the entire elemental reactor would detonate.

According to Punk’s calculations, with Master-Level magical materials serving as reagents, this explosion’s power would rival that of a Master-Level “Kinetic Blast” enhanced by “Mana Compression”. If that Stormhawk could still escape after being caught off guard by such an attack, Punk might as well retire!

(End of Chapter)