Chapter 800: Chapter 24: Dragons and Airships

Bursts of firelight came from the town behind, rain poured on it, stirring up waves of black smoke.

Losa gazed into the distance, feeling a complex array of emotions.

Robust and docile black slaves were specially selected as farm tools, but now it seems the tools were not as submissive as the slave masters imagined.

In the darkness, a pair of crimson eyes lit up.

Losa could see it was a large cat similar to a saber-toothed tiger of ancient times.

This is what the colonists often refer to as "wilderness fierce beasts." Unlike ordinary beasts, their destructiveness and regenerative abilities are far superior, often regarded as dark creatures like werewolves or vampires.

However, in truth, they are merely spiritual beings of the New Continent, widely distributed due to the sparse population, including many ancient dragons already extinct in Europe.

This is also why the American continent is considered a wilderness; the biggest issue faced during the westward expansion of the North American colonies is the wilderness fierce beasts, with the natives only playing second fiddle.

In novels describing monster siege events, the further into the interior, the less surprising they become.

Losa merely displayed a hint of Dragon Mighty, and the fierce beast, which could casually dine in an ordinary human town, fluffed up its fur, whimpered, and turned tail to run.

The drizzle gradually turned into a downpour, soaking Losa completely. He whistled, and a jovial unicorn, a black-scaled giant horse, darted from the woods, splashing water and stirring up smoke.

When it reached Losa, it was like an exuberant puppy, opening its mouth full of fine sharp teeth to lick Losa’s palm.

"I only left you here for an hour."

Losa shook off the slobber on his hand, leaping onto the horse’s back: "Let’s continue along the coast, our target is the main force of the British, according to the newspaper intelligence, they are nearing Florida."

"What, where is Florida?"

Losa patted the big head of the Eclipse, speaking mockingly: "If North America is compared to a giant, Florida is his ding-dong, understand?"

...

The roar of steam airship engines was loud in the ears, a dozen bare-chested boilermen continuously shoveling high-quality white coal mixed with magic stone powder into the roaring machines.

Furthest from the power cabin, on the other end of the steam airship, is the command center of the Expedition Army.

A young colonel captain shook the bottle containing magic stone powder: "Did we really come to subdue the Wolf Race in Texas just for this stuff? I really thought it was to eradicate evil."

"Don’t underestimate that bottle of magic stone powder in your hand. Be it your flagship or the Land Cruiser, the steel fleet the Empire takes pride in can’t operate without this little thing. Any magic stone ore is immensely valuable to the British Empire."

Admiral George, dressed in impeccable uniform, white-haired, carrying a ceremonial sword and bearing the medallion of the Knight Order of the Garter pinned to his chest, spoke thus.

He was the commander-in-chief of the Texas Expedition Army, the highest commander in this battle, discounting the royal member Princess Louise.

The colonel shrugged, as captain of a steam airship, how could he not know the importance of magic stones: "Of course I know magic stones are valuable, but I wonder how long it will take to recoup the war expenses after this expedition?"

The frighteningly high cost of modern warfare is daunting, his father, the Finance Minister, has complained more than once about those war machines, all of which are gold-eating beasts.

He sighed: "We already control plenty of magic stone veins, let the Texans extract them for us and trade over with British Pounds, isn’t that cheaper?"

"This is not your concern, a soldier only needs to think about how to win a war, or are you in a hurry to take over your father’s position?"

Admiral George paused before continuing: "The magic stone vein in Texas is of exceptionally high quality, unlike these inferior products which can only be ground into powder to be used as one-time catalysts, many precision machines and demon arrays can utilize them."

"Moreover, Colonel Brown, we performed poorly in the Boer War, which has given the Empire’s challengers quite a bit of confidence."

"We often say: South America is our pasture, North America is our cotton plantation, India is our tea plantation, South Africa and Australia are our mines."

"Every Briton prides themselves on this saying, yet rarely considers why we own them?"

"The French ousted our protégé Napoleon III, clamoring time and again to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine, reshape European dominance. The Germans believe they deserve a share matching their national power in the colonial world, and Tsarist Russia covets Central Asia, always ready to move south into India, using their endless gray livestock to seize Britain’s brightest jewel."

The admiral inquired: "Isn’t the expenditure for subduing Texas far lesser than escalating war with any of these three major powers?"

Colonel Brown noticeably disagrees with this opinion, but it’s apparent he wouldn’t go against his superior, even if his father is the Empire’s Finance Minister, Lloyd George.

"I understand your point, this war is not only for profit but also to showcase the Empire’s power, so those eager challengers eyeing the Empire’s throne will retreat?"

"Precisely."

Admiral George sighed: "The world is so vast, yet the Empire occupies too much. During the Boer War, almost every European major power, including Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Russia, France, Denmark, sent volunteers to join, making it seem the Empire was still strong, but we couldn’t stand against the world. Choosing Texas, an outcast in Europe with a terrible reputation, is the best option."

Apart from Texas, any nation Britain intends to intimidate would likely provoke intervention from other countries. Replicating the Boer War’s pyrrhic victory results in reputational damage.

Neither mentioned the slave rebellion in Louisiana; in their view, it’s a trifling matter, even if Louisiana were destroyed, the Empire’s loss would be negligible. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

At this moment, Colonel Brown suddenly saw a huge shadow flash past outside the airship porthole.

The shadow moved swiftly, the porthole view was restricted, thus he couldn’t clearly discern its true form.

"There’s something outside, convey my orders, full ship alert!"

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