Pillar of Yita

This was also a matter of necessity; while Luo Yu and Tianlan had some combat capabilities, Gita’s abilities were almost entirely unrelated to combat. Yet the girl was insistent on taking part in battle along with everyone else, so Fang Hong had originally planned to have her help with operating Mr. Greyrock’s Crossbow Cannon—yes, he intended to install one on each side of the platform. Of course, during the actual combat training, she would have to make do with a Magic Guided Gun for now.

Generally speaking, it was Fang Hong’s responsibility to teach Gita how to use firearms. He had gained some relevant experience with firearms during his studies with Kapuka and had personally seen action with a seven-shot rifle.

Occasionally, Hilveld and Xiesta would also take up the mantle of teacher—being professional Gunslingers, the latter was certainly more professional than Fang Hong, although the Lady Noble usually didn’t spend much time in the activity room.

The conditions aboard the ship weren’t ideal for experimenting with β-Crystal, but Fang Hong wasn’t too bothered by that; he had plenty of other things to do, from finalizing the Crossbow Cannon on Mr. Greyrock’s platform to designing Reinforced Gloves.

While the Reinforced Gloves skill itself provided a sample, that sample was ultimately intended for Combat Artisans who pursued the path of the Supreme Choice and was not suitable for everyone.

Fang Hong had started by crafting a prototype—since it had armor plates added to almost all critical areas and had undergone a complete redesign, the item was more than half again as heavy as the original Control Gauntlets.

His first attempt at wearing the gloves was somewhat unsuccessful. Although his strength increased, providing an extra kilogram of Combat Bearing, the change in the gloves’ center of gravity felt extremely awkward, causing him so much trouble that he nearly had issues with operating the Flexible Construct, let alone combat.

This was clearly at odds with his design philosophy, so for the second iteration, he significantly reduced the defense provided by the gloves, keeping only the armor on the front side. He then added a small-scale Galleon floating device as a Plugin to address the increased weight of the gloves.

The trade-off was a thirty percent decrease in Block Value and an additional 10 Magic Power energy consumption, but overall, the design met Fang Hong’s original expectations.

The main event was yet to come.

He added a small winch device to the gloves, powered by the built-in Magic Guided Reactor of the Magic Buoy, followed by an air compression furnace—the same one Xiesta had on her arm armor, though Fang Hong mounted it in reverse.

Xiesta’s arm armor weighed a total of twenty-nine kilograms. For Fang Hong to wear such a thing would be more shackles than a Weapon; given his slight build, he naturally didn’t dare go that route. Thus, he opted for a much smaller compression device, which would definitely not be enough to create Wind Walls or Wind Blades.

However, there was no doubt that it could achieve his intended purpose.

Since he had the original blueprints, Fang Hong managed to finish the device before the Berio reached the anchorage—the miniaturized compressor wasn’t too complex, and all the necessary Construct Knowledge was readily available, which he had acquired back in Elpaxin.

The small winch was taken directly from a Claw Hook, which Fang Hong had bought from Parker; the latter tried to claim that the Claw Hook was a precious heirloom passed down in his family, but after Atira thumped him hard, he quickly became more cooperative.

He picked up the gloves just as a cheer came from above on the deck.

Tianlan excitedly ran over to inform him that the Berio had entered the anchorage. Fang Hong promptly donned the gloves and went up on deck with the French girl.

After putting on the gloves, they were still significantly heavier than the original Control Gloves; the Omnimeter was already no lightweight object, more than half again as heavy as the old hoop-style gloves, but these Reinforced Gloves were even heavier, weighing more than five kilograms in total.

Before his upgrade, he would have been hard-pressed to wear such an accessory.

The Reinforced Gloves looked much bulkier than the original Omnimeter, with metal shells on the back of the hand and the dial area, which reduced heat dissipation but greatly increased their defensive capabilities.

But Fang Hong had modified their appearance so they wouldn’t look too cumbersome; worn on the hand, they resembled a somewhat hefty metal Arm Armor. The Victorian Era reliefs on the brass shell beneath added a level of refinement and beauty.

He then rolled up his sleeves, leaving only the shining metallic gloves. Fang Hong clenched his fists, finding them quite comfortable to the touch.

The deck still suffered from unrelenting rainy weather, the sky dark and leaden as if painted with a heavy brush, storm clouds still hovering on the ship’s left side, seemingly close enough to touch.

The massive cloud formation appeared to move slowly, inching forward but actually sweeping across the north of the Cloud Sea at a speed of hundreds of miles.

From afar, occasional flashes of lightning could be seen between the clouds.

Fang Hong followed Tianlan through the crowd on the deck, looking towards the other side. The Berio had lowered its altitude to come below the clouds, and the towering peaks on the starboard side were now clearly visible, even the lush vegetation atop them.

A herd of mountain sheep was crossing below the cliffs, seemingly attracted by the loud noise of the Berio’s Floating engine, looking up at these unexpected visitors.

But they soon scattered and fled, disappearing into the forest on the other side.

When the two found the Noble young lady after passing by Xiesta, the Miss Maid glanced coldly at Fang Hong’s Reinforced Gloves and said unusually, ”Sneaky, suspicious.”

Fang Hong looked at the set of arm armor hanging at Xiesta’s waist and felt a bit sheepish; indeed, he had secretly borrowed from her design—although, compared to the original in terms of scale, it was like comparing a dwarf to a giant.

Tianlan seemed to notice Fang Hong’s new gloves for the first time and exclaimed in surprise, ”Ah, Brother Ade, you finished your new gloves!? Why didn’t you tell me, have you given them a name?”

Hilveld, who had just turned around and put down her sextant, watched the two of them with an amused expression.

Fang Hong scratched his head, thought for a moment, and decided to give the gloves a resounding name in line with their function:

”Uh, it’s called...”

”Well, Rocket Fist.”

”That’s the name.”

...