"City Lord, wipe your hands."
Qi Honglang pulled out two rough napkins and handed them to Jiang Zhixu.
He could tell the other was a bit disgusted by the greasy hand.
Jiang Zhixu didn't refuse, took the napkins, and wiped his hands. "How are the arrangements with the helmsmen?"
Qi Honglang replied, "The chief helmsman is one of our people, and the deputy helmsman is the original chief helmsman."
In a mobile city, the helmsman is of utmost importance.
Movement, direction, attack, evasion... a series of operations all require the helmsman to complete.
An excellent helmsman can even control the mobile city to dance gracefully amidst a barrage of artillery, untouched by a single leaf!
Of course, such a level of helmsman is not something Level 1 or 2 cities can possess.
And beyond that, as cities grow larger, even the best helmsmen can't perform such maneuvers, so it remains a legend.
The person Jiang Zhixu appointed was just an apprentice helmsman, with experience as a deputy helmsman in other cities.
There was no choice; the "Deep Blue" was only so big, and talents had already been sifted through by the previous city lord. It was impossible to find someone both trustworthy and skilled in a short time!
...
Jiang Zhixu's final stop was the driver's cabin.
As soon as he reached the door, he heard intense arguing inside.
He frowned and pushed the door open.
But before he could speak, Qi Honglang loudly reprimanded the two helmsmen on his behalf, "What are you doing! The enemy is at hand, and you're still arguing here?!"
Both the chief and deputy helmsmen were young men.
The chief helmsman, Wei Ran, was arranged by Qi Honglang, while Sun Cheng was the former chief helmsman.
Seeing the city lord personally arrive, Wei Ran, being one of their own, took the lead to explain:
"Brother Jiang, I suggested turning to face the battle, actively shortening the distance between us and the raider city, but Sun Cheng disagreed, so we started arguing!"
Sun Cheng hurriedly spoke up, "Nonsense! If we continue in our current direction and slightly reduce speed, we can shorten the distance without taking risks! Actively engaging will only arouse their suspicion!"
The two cities were moving towards each other. Although neither had a frontal cannon, if the opposing helmsman was experienced and quickly maneuvered to fire, the "Deep Blue" charging straight ahead would find it hard to react!
Jiang Zhixu understood.
There was a walkie-talkie for communication between the driver's cabin and the gunners, so they already knew they were about to engage.
But how to engage was where the chief and deputy helmsmen disagreed.
Jiang Zhixu looked at Wei Ran, who immediately said, "Brother Jiang, Sun Cheng isn't entirely wrong."
The sudden agreement made Sun Cheng's eyes widen.
But then Wei Ran continued, "But he overlooked two things.
"First, in nature, the weaker party bluffs to scare off predators, but in the eyes of the raiders, they are the predators, and we are the prey. They won't retreat out of suspicion!
"Second, we can't be sure only one raider city received that old man's broadcast, or if they have allies rushing to intercept us.
"If we are to engage, it must be swift and decisive. Otherwise, if a second raider city appears, no matter how many shells we have, it will be disastrous!"
A Level 1 city can hardly fight against two, let alone simultaneously battle two raider cities.
Even with plenty of shells, they must be used in time. If caught in a pincer attack, the "Deep Blue" would be breached within five minutes.
This was Wei Ran's concern.
Jiang Zhixu quickly glanced at Sun Cheng, seeing his hesitant expression, seemingly unable to provide further rebuttal, he nodded and said, "Do as you see fit, I trust you."
Sun Cheng's face turned ashen. This one sentence meant he had completely lost the new city lord's trust, and his heart was filled with bitterness.
He thought to himself, indeed, a new king brings new ministers.
Although the new city lord hadn't dealt with him, an old minister, he probably wouldn't be used much either.
With a sigh, he was about to sensibly leave the driver's cabin when Wei Ran spoke:
"Brother Sun, you're an experienced helmsman. We'll need your help with steering next. Let's work together to quickly take down this raider city!"
Sun Cheng was stunned, instinctively looking at Jiang Zhixu, who nodded slightly, and he immediately brightened up, enthusiastically saying:
"Absolutely! Absolutely! We'll work well together!"
His tone already acknowledged Wei Ran as the lead.
Jiang Zhixu walked to the porthole, a slight smile on his lips.
The group of confidants he personally gathered each had their abilities.
Though they temporarily lacked professional skills, it was precisely because of this that they hadn't been utilized by the previous city lord, allowing him to pick them up now.
Thinking carefully, he was indeed quite lucky.
Suddenly, a flash of fire appeared in the distance.
Wei Ran immediately reacted, "They've fired!"
With that, he immediately turned the helm for tactical evasion!
Five seconds later, a "boom" came belatedly, followed by a violent explosion.
The enemy missed.
The shell landed more than forty meters away from the "Deep Blue."
This was normal, given the current distance of over a thousand meters between them, and Wei Ran's timely evasion made it nearly impossible for the enemy to hit.
This shell was merely the enemy announcing their arrival, and—
The hunt had begun!
At the same time, the "Deep Blue" turned its helm, heading straight for the raider city!
The distance between them rapidly closed!
...
"Are they crazy?"
In the raider city's driver's cabin, a burly man, shirtless and holding a telescope, was somewhat shocked.
The helmsman beside him, a middle-aged man, said indifferently:
"Just bluffing."
The burly man shook his head, "I don't think so."
Pausing, he said, "They might have realized we're driving them away. This new city lord has some skill. I'll send a broadcast to Old Wu later, telling them not to come this way. We can handle this prey ourselves."
Thanks to the broadcast from the "Deep Blue's" previous city lord, they naturally knew the opponent only had two shells left and was now at the end of their strength.
So, they never considered the opponent would engage them head-on.
The burly man chuckled, "Just watch, when they get within a thousand meters, they'll turn in another direction to keep running... Have the gunners predict the turning position and fire a Thunder Cannon!"
The helmsman glanced sideways, "Are you sure? We only have three Thunder Cannon shells."
The burly man confidently said, "No mistake!"
...
In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two sides shortened to a thousand meters.
Boom!
Boom!
Two flashes of fire passed by.
Only one left a normal trajectory trail, while the other carried a lightning-like phantom!
"What are they shooting at?"
This was Jiang Zhixu's puzzled voice.
Because in their nearly straight course, the enemy's maneuver caused the shell to miss by over a hundred meters!
"No wonder it's a Level 1 Cannon, the power is immense."
Qi Honglang looked at the thunderous net and large crater spanning dozens of meters, feeling a sense of awe.
"Not only did they not turn, but they dared to counterattack us?!"
This was the angry voice of the burly man in the raider city.
A Level 1 Shell, wasted!
He roared, "Alright, alright, you want to die, huh? Have the gunners prepare to fire ordinary shells in retaliation!"
But compared to retaliation, the helmsman beside him was full of seriousness, sharply turning the helm to the left.
Because the enemy's shells were coming!
Boom!
The "Deep Blue's" shell narrowly grazed the city, exploding ten meters away.
The violent fire wave ultimately affected the raider city, causing their speed to slow momentarily.
Bang!
Bang!
Two more sounds.
Again, the "Deep Blue's" cannon fire.
"Retaliate!" the burly man shouted angrily, "Don't wait to close the distance, retaliate! Hurry and retaliate!"
He was furious.
But suddenly, he froze.
"Wait, they fired two more?"
1+2 equals what?
Weren't they supposed to only have two shells left?
But there was no need to calculate anymore, because everyone saw, after two shots, the "Deep Blue" fired two more shells.
The burly man's expression began to change.
Because the four shells completely blocked their turning path.
Having just finished the side-firing operation and made an emergency turn to evade, they had no time to reorient and accelerate!