Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 511 - 7 Steam and Magic (Part 2)

Li Yan listened intently, fixing his gaze on the speaker for a long while, until the latter unconsciously swallowed his saliva. Only then did Li Yan let out a sigh, "You must believe me, if it weren’t for the fact that I still have friends here, I would definitely go with you."

"I advise you to consider it carefully."

These people began to close in, but they did not reflect on the underlying meaning of Li Yan’s words.

The other tea customers, unfazed, lowered their heads and walked out. In a corner, the elderly tea house owner curled up, drawing a heavy breath from his smoke pipe, waiting for these people to finish their business before he’d go and tidy up the tables and chairs.

Li Yan’s eyes swept over the room full of short axes and daggers, genuinely uncertain how to respond.

The words of these people just now mentioned the "Taiping Heavenly Father," likely referring to members of the Taiping Song Society. Just like the Red Lantern Association and the Seagull Cross Flag, they are products of the chaotic mix in San Francisco. Both the Taiping Song Society and the Red Lantern Association recruit Chinese people, and their frictions are quite severe.

Regrettably, this "Taiping Heavenly Father" was truly too stingy.

The followers of the Taiping Song Society before him had not an ounce of magic, talismans or spells or any such special abilities, nor any semblance of commanding power. They were nothing more than street brawlers.

As these people pressed closer, Chang Yu discreetly shook his sleeve, revealing a segment of black metal underneath. He signaled Cha Xiaodao with his eyes, but the latter completely missed it, just staring blankly at the table.

It was Li Yan who caught every detail of Chang Yu’s movement.

He pushed his tea cup forward, a full cup of strong tea sliding towards Chang Yu, reflecting his features in the liquid’s surface. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Don’t be nervous, Chang, I invited you and Xiaodao for tea, and I won’t cause you trouble," Li Yan said, raising his cup to Chang Yu.

Suddenly, the rumbling sound of wheels could be heard, as hexapodal mechanical legs pulled a long metal carriage, brazenly rolling down the middle of the road.

White policemen with flying saucer hats and metal armbands emerged one after another. Their right arms were sheathed in steam-powered armors extending one and a half meters long, fashioned like chainsaws or spouts. Trailing behind them were steam hounds, their robust mechanical steel claws almost taking up 90% of their bodies.

Without a word, the armors of the response team fired metal nets, ensnaring all the Taiping Song Society followers in one sweep. Some tried to run, only to be struck down by the steel claws of the steam hounds, howling in agony as they fell.

Effortlessly, like rooting out dried weeds, the squadron from outside the city subdued dozens of thugs in the blink of an eye.

Liang Hui, his black hair tufted, strutted down from the police carriage, leaning on a Civilized Stick, energized as he communicated with the leading white policeman.

After a while, the response team took away the prisoners. Liang Hui watched them leave, then approached Li Yan’s table.

He tipped his hat to Li Yan, "Sir, I apologize for the disturbance caused by these thugs. I assure you they won’t trouble you again; they’ll spend the rest of their lives in an American prison."

"Thank you for your trouble."

"The police have long been looking to deal with the heretics lurking on the residential streets. I’m just going with the flow."

"Care for a cup?"

Liang Hui accepted Li Yan’s tea cup, visibly honored, holding it in his hands without drinking.

"Well, I won’t bother you any longer."

Li Yan nodded. Without further ado, Liang Hui bowed again and turned to leave.

"They are from Hesheng."

Chang Yu hesitated slightly.

"You’ve heard about them too."

"Of course, their reputation around here is well known," Chang Yu said to Cha Xiaodao. "Is your friend the leader of Hesheng?"

Li Yan interjected, "Certainly not, this time yesterday, I was hiding in a foul-smelling ship cabin, promised a life of riches by unscrupulous merchants, crossing the ocean to reach this fervent land. Who could have imagined the strangeness of the world’s affairs?"

"How did you...?"

"The man just now was Liang Hui, the Dragon Head of Hesheng. I happened to learn by chance that he is a distant relative of mine, so as soon as I got off the ship, I came to seek his support."

Li Yan poured a cup of tea for Chang Yu and Cha Xiaodao.

"Relative?"

"Though I’m younger, I happen to be his senior uncle."

Chang Yu lowered his head and said, "I may be a bit dull normally, but that does not mean I’m a fool."

Li Yan burst out laughing: "Just joking with you. Forget about what just happened, I’ll treat you two to a drink."

Chang seemed tempted but still hesitated, "I have plans tonight, I can’t drink too much."

Li Yan replied without a second thought: "We’ll just have a little."

Li Yan was talking about the locally brewed yellow wine in a nearby shop. In the city of San Francisco, three Chinese people with black hair naturally felt a kinship, especially for Chang. Particularly because Li Yan knew a bit about Magic Motion Technology, this excited Chang Yu even more.

Somewhere in their conversation, they found themselves discussing the subject of steam-powered individual soldiers.

"Western science and technology are indeed unparalleled. Sometimes I draw my own schematics, measure dimensions, grind parts, and assemble mechanical creatures with lifelike precision. The moment I place a Tri-Orb Device inside and activate it, I feel like an omnipotent Creator."

Li Yan shook his head, "Impossible, mechanical creatures can never be like living beings."

Perhaps a bit drunk, Chang said, "Of course it’s possible. People eat and drink, while machines need to burn coal and dispel waste. Steam is like blood, metal is the skeleton. With a well-designed structure, machines can live just like organisms."

"But humans have corpses. Maybe all their organs are intact, but they’re dead. How do you explain that in terms of machinery?"

"A human’s heart stops beating, so they die. When the Tri-Orb Device in a machine ceases to function, its life also comes to an end."

The two seemed to start arguing.

Li Yan asked, "What’s the working principle of the Tri-Orb Device then? Surely someone can answer that? If not, what’s the difference between your so-called science and witchcraft?"

"The Tri-Orb Device is applied technology. As long as I have enough materials and tools, I can make one for you to see. Its principle is like the boiling of water, the lightning in the sky, objective laws of nature that are visible to the naked eye, facts that can be summarized and utilized. As for more abstract things, I don’t know how to describe them to you."

"Diviners use the patterns produced by burning turtle shells to predict good or bad fortune, which are also visible facts. Does that make them credible as well?"

"Talking about the problem like this is meaningless. If since ancient times, ripe apples flew around erratically instead of falling down, flames produced oxygen when burning, and iron melted in ice, those would still be natural laws. People would have nothing to question. In other words, if divination worked every single time, it would be considered science."

"Is that what you think?"

Li Yan asked.

Chang spread his hands, "Since the Industrial Age, that’s been everyone’s way of thinking."

Although they argued intensely over drinks, Chang Yu felt a connection with Li Yan from the moment they met. Even though Li Yan’s questions were far-fetched, they never talked at cross purposes.

As dusk fell, a flushed Chang Yu hurriedly rushed off to say goodbye to Cha and Li.

Watching Chang’s retreating figure, Li Yan suddenly remembered the roaring proclamation of the one who claimed to be the Great Yog: "This world is already in the palm of the black-robed emperor, who uses steel and machinery to erode the human heart. And you, you too shall utterly fail!"

Narrowing his eyes, Li Yan suddenly thought of a witty remark, "Picking up a dog to cut bricks, only for the brick to bite back..."

Cha Xiaodao, sitting nearby, wasn’t interested in their debate and suddenly sneezed without any apparent reason.

It took a while before Li Yan could dismiss these thoughts, which were probably unrelated to his current predicament. His chat with Chang Yu had, however, inspired him with a special idea: in this world, to craft a body of steel for the Black Rider Ghost using Magic Motion Technology...