The Arrival of an Airship from Beyond the Domain

In order to counter Canossa's "Black Gold Merchant Guild", both the Sid and Omar Empires established their own official merchant guilds.

However, in less than two years, the "Sunflower Merchant Guild" and the "Sid Merchant Alliance," which were established by those Established Nobles with a lot of resources, have long since become defunct in name only.

With the Oma Empire splitting apart and the Established Nobles groups fighting their own battles, the "Sunflower Merchant Guild" naturally collapsed.

Although the Sid imperial family tried their best to preserve the "Sid Merchant Alliance," internal corruption and exploitation in the external market directly led to the alliance becoming an empty shell that did not make any money.

It's not entirely the fault of the corrupt system and the incompetence of those Established Nobles, but rather that the opponents were too strong!

From a business perspective, there is currently no one in the Ice Ridge Wasteland who can rival the Black Gold Merchant Guild.

Previously, Black Gold's headquarters were in Sid, and even though Canossa had made some arrangements in advance, they were still more or less constrained by the Sid nobles.

After all, Sid was an ancient country with centralized feudal power, where the status of nobles was far above all else.

But the sudden emergence of Black Dragon City broke this constraint.

Putting aside the private relationship between Canossa and Rein, the vice president of Black Gold's business acumen is also quite ruthless.

Back when Black Dragon City was still a shadow of its own, she relied entirely on a little information from Rein to bet all of the Black Gold Merchant Guild's chips on the future of Black Dragon City.

However, she made the right bet!

After Black Dragon City opened to the outside world, the Black Gold Merchant Guild of Commerce's business grew exponentially.

The Black Gold Merchant Guild is now like a giant whale without restraints, frantically devouring the wealth of various territories and converging on Black Dragon City.

There are no precise statistics in this era to prove exactly how much money black gold has made, but Rein knows for sure that it is no exaggeration to say that Canossa is "the Number One Rich Woman Under Heaven".

No one can stop Black Dragon City's current rise.

Even though information was scarce in this era, and even though the two great empires of Sid and Omar joined forces to block the border, the pursuit of profit still drove countless people to take risks.

Wandering poets, war refugees, hunters, and merchants spread the word about Black Dragon City, this "city of miracles," throughout the territories of the Ice Ridge Wasteland.

In just a few years, Black Dragon City will truly transform into an invincible, soaring dragon.

While Black Dragon City was developing steadily, no one knew that a strange visitor from beyond the realm had suddenly descended from the cliff in the endless wasteland in eastern Omar, a place that wasn't even marked on the map.

This is a Steam Machinery Airship with thick black smoke billowing from its chimney!

"Captain Jimmy, this place is really weird. The only way in is by following the route on this 'Treasure Map,' but the 'Explorer Two' airship went the wrong way and just disappeared."

"I really didn't expect that there would still be human heritage remaining in the 'God-forsaken Ruins'. The Treasure Map we stole from the [Steam Brotherhood] might actually lead us to some incredible treasure."

"Who exactly is this 'Black Emperor'? He sounds like an emperor from an ancient civilization?"

"It's probably a civilization that disappeared over time, who knows? It looks like a civilization destroyed in the 'War of a Hundred Races' tens of thousands of years ago. Dozens of civilizations were destroyed in that war, and this Monkell Civilization was probably one of them."

"."

This Steam Airship is not very large, about the size of two football fields.

There were several hundred people on the deck of the airship, the highest level of cultivation being the Fifth-tier Extraordinary, and most of them were at least at the Third Tier. They all wore gas masks and carried firearms and swords, looking rather thuggish.

His attire doesn't look like that of a proper adventurer; he looks more like a phantom thief.

These outsiders looked at this secret forbidden place that had never been discovered by the outside world, and they were all filled with curiosity.

The airship was very fast, traveling westward from the uninhabited area east of Omar, and soon encountered the first human territory.

However, they only sent Perception Extraordinary to sense the situation briefly, and did not choose to make contact with these "natives".

Instead, they continued westward in the direction indicated on the "Treasure Map".

After sensing that the highest level of Transcendent in the human territory was only the fifth rank, and that the number of high-end combatants was scarce, these outsiders completely relaxed.

"Captain Jimmy, these natives are really weak. That was the largest human settlement we encountered, and the strongest Transcendent there was only at level five. Moreover, the number of Transcendent above Third Tier was one in ten thousand."

"Hmm, I was a little confused when I saw the high-level Treasure Map before, but now that I see these natives, I am certain that there are ancient powerful beings who have set up laws and restrictions in this world. Laws above the Fifth-tier Extraordinary are restricted."

"Hehe, then our treasure hunt this time should be relatively safe. Since the strongest of these natives and magical beasts is no higher than the fifth rank, we don't need to worry about encountering High-tier Demonic Beast of the seventh or eighth rank attacking our Fifth-tier Magical Beast just by sailing a short distance. Not to mention that we have more than twenty fifth-rank Transcendent, and with the mechanical airship, we can easily kill them with a few simple means."

"Don't underestimate these natives. Their ability to survive in such harsh conditions suggests they may have awakened some unexpected Transcendent abilities due to their environment."

"But speaking of which, the toxins in the fog of this forbidden area are really potent. I wonder how the creatures here can survive in such a harsh environment."

"Exactly, even through the gas mask, this awful black fog makes my throat burn. It's a miracle those natives survived."

"."

"These primitive people's technology is really backward. Those clumsy Mechanical City can only run on the ground, and they're so slow. Besides, those large-caliber cannons only add unnecessary burden to the Mechanical City."

"You forgot, there are no magic cannons here. We can only use gunpowder, so naturally the larger the caliber, the better."

"Hehe, that's true. But no matter how big such a backward Mechanical City, it can only be beaten under the air superiority of our airships."

"Forget about those natives. Let's just find the location on the 'Treasure Map' and see what treasure is there. The battle situation outside is chaotic right now, and those guys from the 'Holy Light Alliance' could attack at any moment. We can't stay in this 'God-forsaken Ruins' any longer."

"I don't know what's gotten into those guys in the 'Holy Light Alliance,' suddenly declaring war on our 'Mapson Empire.' This place is so remote, with hardly any high-level resources; what could they possibly want from us?"

"Who cares? For us phantom thieves, the more chaotic the situation, the better. If this war hadn't destroyed the 'Iron Brotherhood,' our 'Red Shark Group' wouldn't have gotten this Treasure Map."

"."

These outsiders looked at the Mechanical City they encountered along the way with undisguised sneers.

In their view, this Mechanical City that could only run on the ground was simply too crude.

The "Red Shark Phantom Thief Group" traveled westward, traversing the entire Oma Empire, and soon arrived at the Alkolon Mountain Range.

In this era, there were no satellite positioning systems; direction was entirely determined by perception.

As luck would have it, the group of guys were blocked by the towering Alkolon Mountain Range as they walked.

Treasure Map are, after all, hand-drawn. They know they are close to the location of the treasure, but they don't know exactly where the treasure is.

Just like the airship that crashed before, they began searching around the Alkolon Mountain Range.

Then, they traveled west along the mountain range and happened to find the "Black Dragon Pass".

To this day, for the sake of caravans, Black Dragon City has extended the road all the way outside the pass.

The group of foreign thieves were quite surprised when they discovered a human city near the location marked on the "Treasure Map".

"There are actually human settlements in this basin? Could it be that the 'Tomb of the Black Emperor' has already been discovered by these natives?"

"Who knows? Let's grab a few people and interrogate them mentally to see if they know the location on the Treasure Map. If it's discovered, we can search the surrounding area and maybe find the treasure. If not, we can go look for it again."

"Um."

These extraterrestrial thieves were also quite shrewd. Although they couldn't communicate in the same language, they had maps, so extracting this simple information through mental interrogation wasn't difficult.

Just as the thieves were about to capture a few "natives" for interrogation, they discovered a caravan on the road.

The caravan was small, and it carried a flag with Black Iron Bird printed on it, which clearly marked it as the "Black Gold Merchant Guild" team!

The mechanical airship made quite a commotion.

As it descended rapidly toward the caravan, Canossa, who was in the caravan, had already spotted the uninvited guests.

If it were anyone else, seeing this steel monster flying in the sky, they would surely be terrified.

As one of the few people in the Ice Ridge Wasteland who knew the truth about the mechanical airship, she felt no panic, only solemnity.

She watched the menacing figures leaping down from the sky and murmured, "They've finally come."

In fact, she knew she might encounter this situation from the moment she first saw the Airship Wreckage.

If those Beyond the Mist can enter this place the first time, then they can also enter a second and a third time.

Canossa used to be surrounded by high-ranking guards at all times because she needed to hide the fact that she was a Transcendent from outsiders.

Now, everyone in the entire Ice Ridge Wasteland knows that she is not only Transcendent, but also a "legend." Naturally, there's no need to hide her anymore, and her team no longer needs to have too many guards.

Therefore, she only had a Third Tier guard captain with her on this trip.

When the extraterrestrial thieves of the "Red Shark Group" saw that the strongest member of the group was only a Third Tier Extraordinary, they jumped down without hesitation and surrounded Canossa and the others.

The other members of the Black Gold Merchant Guild were all horrified when they saw a flying mechanical airship for the first time.

Mechanical City. It can even fly?

This was something beyond their comprehension.

They had no idea where these guys had come from.

However, despite their shock, the well-trained guards of the Chamber of Commerce sprang into action and protected Canossa.

The Third Tier guard captain's trembling voice betrayed his unease as he asked Canossa, "Guild Master, this..."

"Send a signal to Black Dragon City."

Canossa remained calm and simply replied, "Leave those guys to me."

She knew that this group of people came from Beyond the Mist.

As she spoke, Canossa glanced at the group of phantom thieves, muttering to herself, "Just as Dr. Ilubeck analyzed, these guys are really weak. Is this all the battle qi they're supposed to be at the Fifth-tier Extraordinary level of the extraterrestrial realm?"

When Ilubeck analyzed the remains on the Airship Wreckage, he had already come to this conclusion: the physical condition of the people outside the Ice Ridge Wasteland was far inferior to that of those who had multiplied under the black mist in this era.

Although two of the people who jumped off the airship were fifth-tier Transcendent, in Canossa's eyes, their fighting spirit and aura were only at the level of ordinary Fourth Tier Transcendent in the Spine Wasteland.

Such a guy was utterly insignificant in the eyes of this legend.

The group of thieves, who clearly had ill intentions, jumped off the airship and surrounded Canossa and her companions.

They were muttering something in a language I couldn't understand.

Seeing the stunning Canossa, these guys also had other ideas.

"Haha, there's actually such a beautiful and succulent girl among these natives? Don't kill her yet, leave her for the brothers to have some fun with first!"

"These natives are strangely strong. One of them, a Third Tier Extraordinary, possesses such a massive amount of battle qi, almost equivalent to our Fourth Tier."

"Who cares? Even if they're strong, they're only at the Third Tier. Let's kill those guards first, but spare the women and get them onto the airship."

"."

These guys naturally didn't sense that Canossa had completely concealed her presence.

They just thought she was an ordinary person.

Although Canossa didn't understand what these guys were talking about, she could tell what those lewd looks meant.

At that moment, as these extraterrestrial thieves looked at the Black Crystal Merchant Guild with the same disdainful gaze one would show to slaughter livestock, a cold snort rang out.

"Snort!"

Immediately, an overwhelming killing intent that sent chills down one's spine suddenly enveloped the entire scene.

Before these guys could make a move, Canossa's graceful figure suddenly transformed into a phantom.

Just as no one could see what was happening, the heads of the two fifth-tier Transcendent were standing by suddenly exploded!

After a moment, everyone present finally processed what they had just seen into their minds.

Those extraterrestrial thieves who were about to make their move froze on the spot, holding their weapons and at a loss.

They were all shocked, their faces filled with a mixture of fear and dread.

What did I just see?

That woman

He blasted the head of a fifth-tier Transcendent being with a single punch?

He unleashed two punches in quick succession, killing two captain-level experts.

At this moment, Canossa's aura was not concealed in the slightest. Her skin shone with golden light, revealing her golden body, which was at the peak of the "Divine Steel Realm".

Behind her, the Deity Phantom in its demonic state also exuded a chilling pressure that made one's soul tremble.

At that moment, the group of phantom thieves from the "Red Shark Group" finally understood what was going on.

Although he couldn't understand why a native they thought was an "ordinary person" would suddenly unleash such strong combat power, the powerful aura, like that of a sixth or seventh-tier magical beast, truly made them feel suffocated.

The palpable killing intent emanating from Canossa was like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the arrogant superiority of this group of extraterrestrial thieves.

Just as these dozens of phantom thieves jumped down, Captain Jimmy was watching the spectacle from the mechanical airship.

Although the Third Tier "native" guard captain seemed very strong, he was only equivalent to the level of a Fourth Tier member of their group.

The entire caravan posed no threat whatsoever in their eyes.

However, this contempt didn't last even a minute.

They witnessed a scene that shocked them.

That woman, radiating golden light, killed two of his fifth-tier squad leaders in a single exchange.

Moreover, behind her, a "Deity Phantom" appeared, a skill that only High-tier Extraordinary could comprehend!

Upon seeing this, Captain Jimmy looked as if he had witnessed some unbelievable and horrifying scene, and his face turned deathly pale.

He broke out in a cold sweat, muttering to himself as if possessed, "Demonic Dissolution Technique. What kind of terrifying monsters are these natives? They can master 'Demonic Dissolution' at the fifth rank?!"