Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'

During the previous battle with the Straw Moth Lady, the Tang Sword made three slashes before darting into Li Banfeng's pocket.

After returning to the Portable Residence, the Tang Sword hid in the second son's room and fell into a deep sleep.

This sleep caused it to miss such an important meal.

The Tang Sword, not yet fully recovered, jumped out of Li Banfeng's pocket. It transformed into a dagger and began to hack at the Blood-Thirsty Pendulum. "You all ate meat, at least let me drink some soup! You're satiated with blood; at least share a drop with me!"

"I won't! I just won't!" The Blood-Thirsty Pendulum resisted fiercely, and the two started fighting tooth and nail in the main room.

The Blood-Thirsty Pendulum, having drunk the blood of the Ninth Layer, held its own against the Tang Sword.

Li Banfeng was completely oblivious to the fight between the Clock Pendulum and the Tang Sword. Lu Dongliang was dead. Lu Dongliang was already dead, a sentence echoed over and over in his mind.

Actually, he didn't know much about Lu Dongliang; today was the first time he had seen him. He didn't know why Lu Dongliang was face down in the mud, but that seemed unimportant now. He was dead. The head of the Lu Family was dead. That powerful person, who had been hunting Li Banfeng all over, was dead!

Li Banfeng stepped out of the Portable Residence and dashed towards Blue Poplar Village under the cover of night.

Upon reaching the village and entering the wooden house, Ma Wu finally let his guard down. "Brother Li, you're finally back! Did you buy the phonograph?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "Bought it. Didn't like it, so I tossed it by the roadside."

"Tossed it? Risking so much to enter the city, buy a phonograph, and then throw it away?" Ma Wu was thoroughly impressed. "Brother Li, you really are something..."

「The next day at dawn」

Ma Wu took two pieces of game hunted in New Land and prepared to go to the village entrance to sell them. Li Banfeng was in high spirits and went along with him.

The steamroller had just started up; workers were laying stones and spreading asphalt, beginning to pave the road.

Having traded his goods, Ma Wu was about to leave when Li Banfeng climbed onto the steamroller and discussed with Chuanzi, "Could you let me drive it for a bit?"

In his childhood memories, Li Banfeng initially believed excavators were the most powerful of all construction vehicles. That was until he saw a steamroller for the first time. Then, Li Banfeng changed his mind; he thought the steamroller was the ultimate machine.

Chuanzi looked at Li Banfeng, troubled. "Sir, I've told you, this really isn't possible!"

Li Banfeng took out a stack of banknotes. "I'll pay!"

"It's not about money..." Chuanzi became even more troubled.

Ma Wu gave Xiao Chuanzi a meaningful look, and Xiao Chuan, frowning, said, "What if the foreman sees?"

"What time is it now? The foreman won't be here this early, don't worry!"

Xiao Chuan accepted Li Banfeng's money, letting Li Banfeng sit in the driver's seat.

There was no gas pedal, no brakes; the driver's seat only had a steering wheel, a large lever, and several air valves.

Under Xiao Chuan's guidance, Li Banfeng pulled the lever, engaged the forward gear, and the steamroller began to move forward slowly.

All the workers stopped their tasks and stepped aside, watching Li Banfeng excitedly maneuver the steering wheel.

Xiao Chuan directed cautiously, "Good, you're driving pretty steadily. You can speed up a bit, Sir. Yes, open the air valve wider."

Li Banfeng opened the air valve wider.

Who would have thought? The steam-driven roller could actually move fairly fast! With the air valve opened all the way, it could probably hit thirty miles an hour!

HUFF! HUFF!

Li Banfeng felt as though he was driving both a train and a steamroller. That sense of joy surged from the tips of his toes to the top of his skull.

Xiao Chuan panicked. "No, you can't open the valve that much! You—you—you slow down! You can't drive like this! Sir, what did you just say? Brakes? What are brakes? This doesn't have brakes! Quickly, release the steam—open the exhaust valve! Quickly, open the other air valve and disengage the lever! No, it's no good! We're going to fall into the ditch!"

CLANG!

The steamroller fell into a ditch.

Li Banfeng got out of the driver's seat and looked at Ma Wu. "Hire a few people. Hurry and pull the steamroller out."

Xiao Chuan sat on the steamroller, crying, "What are we going to do? The foreman will be here soon!"

The foreman arrived. Ma Wu greeted him and slipped him some money. Just then, they heard someone shout, "There's a wild fight at Clear Sky Arena! Let's go watch the commotion!"

Li Banfeng was exhilarated. "Let's go, Brother Ma, to watch the commotion!"

Ma Wu frowned. "You better not go."

"I can go now! I think I'm ready!" Li Banfeng's face was all smiles.

PS: Wild fights are separated into the Clear Sky Arena and Huntian Venue. Clear Sky Arena is to decide the winner, Huntian Venue to decide life and death, but there's more than meets the eye here!