Viewed from the sky, Golden Crow City lay wrapped in silver beneath the heavy snow. Because of the weather, there were far fewer pedestrians inside and outside the city, yet the airships taking off and landing beyond Golden Crow City had only increased, bustling with activity, no fewer than they had been a few months ago.
The sudden outbreak of the Blood Men disaster across Great Xia had once again sent demand for Panacea Potions soaring everywhere. Only in true war and turmoil could the value of Panacea Potions be revealed. At a time like this, for merchants, never mind snow—though blades were falling from the sky, no one would retreat half a step in the face of such enormous demand and profit.
The Blood Men rampaging through the various provinces had cut off ground transportation in some regions. The Blood Men possessed intelligence and were exceedingly cunning. In areas occupied by them, the railway systems were the first to be destroyed. Once the railways were damaged, Great Xia's efforts to mobilize legions to eradicate the Blood Men would be hindered, while it would become even harder for locals to flee, throwing those areas into greater chaos. Naturally, Great Xia's commercial and logistics hubs linked by rail also suffered heavily. At such times, airships came into their own.
Whether they were gas airships or vacuum airships, the equipment directly powering their flight was steam-driven. Amid the howling wind and snow, these airships appeared sluggish and unsteady. The airships flying south from Golden Crow City fared somewhat better, but those flying north toward Golden Crow City from the south struggled immensely.
As soon as Zhang Tie and the others arrived at Golden Crow City, they saw that the steam-driven equipment of a large airship seemed to have malfunctioned. Plumes of black