Pillar of Yita

The principle is similar to that of aircraft contrails.

Although he had enough trust in the boss, he couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous. If the opponent’s Clockwork Fairy flew in this direction, they would be completely exposed. Just like Fang Hong’s position, he was also the leader of the Shield of Lufu team and similarly responsible for this operation.

But soon, the Little Fatty couldn’t help widening his eyes.

Because he saw the cloud trail in the picture coming straight in this direction. He blinked, seemingly only then remembering what this picture meant—it meant the opponent was crashing into Fang Hong’s Clockwork Fairy.

Such luck?

Wu Xiaopang couldn’t help but feel a wave of delight.

But soon, delight turned into shock.

As before, appearing in the frame were three—not four Clockwork Fairies.

Fang Hong did not wait for the opponent’s Clockwork Fairy to fly nearby before opening fire. At that moment, what extended before him seemed not a slowly advancing cloud mark, but a constantly changing three-dimensional coordinate system—the keenness towards space turned the vast Cloud Sea into a giant right-angle coordinate system.

What he saw was no longer a trajectory, but a breakdown of intuitive time and speed.

He seemed to see the position where the opponent would appear at a specific time, then raised his hand and directed the Clockwork Fairy to fire in that direction.

After modification, the Clockwork Fairy already had a certain degree of burst-fire capability, and they fired a short burst, with tracer bullets shooting into the clouds. Although the Hornet had made significant improvements in accuracy compared to the previous combat fairy model, at this distance, it still somewhat relied on faith.

The first three flashes passed by the Clockwork Fairy, and the other two bullets also fell behind. But luckily, the penultimate bullet hit the Clockwork Fairy directly, shattering the fragile construct into pieces.

The last bullet only then passed through the scattered shell of the Clockwork Fairy in mid-air.

After Fang Hong shot down one Clockwork Fairy, he did not immediately proceed with the next round of shooting.

The opponent’s use of Clockwork Fairies was different from his own; he cautiously used two Hornets in a front-and-back formation for mutual cover, so if one Clockwork Fairy was attacked, the other could respond.

The opponent perhaps also didn’t expect his Clockwork Fairy to be attacked at this distance, so his four Clockwork Fairies were parallel to each other, and their vision mainly explored downward to gain a wider scouting perspective.

Of course, after losing one Clockwork Fairy, the opponent could notice the lack of vision, but human visual abilities, after all, are different from insects and don’t possess real multi-angle capabilities. Human visual habits often prevent them from reacting immediately in such situations.

As a Combat Artisan himself, Fang Hong naturally understood this point deeply.

Indeed, after losing one Clockwork Fairy, the remaining two clearly didn’t realize this and continued flying forward. But moments later, the operator seemed to finally react, and the three Clockwork Fairies paused mid-air and began switching perspectives.

This was a normal reaction for ordinary people.

And Fang Hong was waiting for this opportunity.

He immediately ordered the Hornet to fire a second time. Because the opponent stopped, this round of shooting was more precise, with the bullets spreading into a circle and easily hitting the second Clockwork Fairy. Fang Hong silently watched the sparkling fragments scattering down in mid-air.

There’s still half a magazine left.

At this point, the opponent finally realized something was wrong, and the remaining Clockwork Fairy reacted quickly, immediately escaping downward.

Fang Hong watched the flight path of the Clockwork Fairy, with a flicker of light in his eyes.

”Boss, it’s running, chase it quickly!” Little Fatty shouted in surprise when he saw this.

At this moment, Elisa’s voice also came through: ”There’s another one above the clouds, it’s fleeing in the opposite direction.”

Fang Hong pressed his lips, and a series of commands shuttled through the theory of Ether—the Omnimeter’s magic buoys flickered in a dazzling transformation, and the scenes on the two screens immediately separated, swiftly pursuing their respective ’prey’.

Wu Xiaopang had never seen such a flexible Construct, and his eyes couldn’t help but be transfixed.

Moreover, it’s not just Fang Hong’s Construct that was agile; even the opponent’s Clockwork Fairy, drawing that arc, was something not every Combat Artisan could achieve.

That Clockwork Fairy descended straight down on the left screen, as if it was about to plunge directly below the Cloud Sea, but before reaching the shimmering Wind Elemental Layer, it suddenly pulled upward and then shot forward like an arrow.

But flying in a straight line played right into Fang Hong’s hands.

The speed of the Type II Clockwork Fairy is no match for the Hornet, let alone the Type I Clockwork Fairy. It didn’t fly very far before getting closer in the screen vision.

Half of the minute had already passed.

Fang Hong instinctively activated the Overload Mode. Generally speaking, in Overload Mode, the core heating will further increase, but the Core Crystal of the Emerald Bird Workshop is different; its heating is progressive, allowing it to sustain Overload longer than the average Main Crystal.

Moreover, the Overload State adds a comprehensive thirty percent boost to the Flexible Construct System, including the cooling function as well. Therefore, at the onset of Overload, the core temperature doesn’t rise but falls, though this is only an illusion and will soon be countered and surpassed by further heating caused by the Overload.