Haili Fenny let down her long, wavy hair that fell to her shoulders, her face as delicate as jade, adorned with a faint but warmly comforting smile.
When the shot directly switched to her face, many in the audience below, who had been laughing and chatting about the earlier footage, were once again drawn to this exquisite visage that took up nearly the entire screen.
In another part of the city.
The three elders of the Hellfire Sect, including Da·Jayer, who were stirred awake by the sounds of soldiers passing by with their tools on the street outside and tonight’s special invitation from the general, rose from their positions in the courtyard to gaze at the image on the distant airship. Although they could not make out her face, they could faintly hear the voice blaring from the speakers.
“Friends from around the world, I am a founding member of the World Ark’s Cross-Border Aid Committee… Haili… Connor.“
Standing on the second stone step of the courtyard, the old woman draped in a thin gauze shawl said to Da·Jayer in an aged voice:
“Now, what is this young lady talking about?“
“Those broadcasts seem a bit out of control tonight; I suspect she’s going to give an explanation.“
Then, the wiser man saw a spark of joy flit across his gaze as he looked toward a small campfire flickering among the copse outside the courtyard’s edge. “Ah, the general has accepted our Hellfire Sect’s suggestion.“
“Yes,” the elder, who had just entered the courtyard with barely suppressed glee across his fifty-something face, affirmed with a joyful crunch.
“Come out and watch, you two! My god, I’m sure people all over the city are lighting campfires now. Ah, at long last, the sect’s experience is finally being respected again. “
“Is that true?! ” Following this man, who was younger than them and also more physically robust, the two older men made their way toward the iron gate of the courtyard, which had walls two meters high.
As soon as they stepped outside, they could see further into the distance—small clusters of people huddled in the early hours of this summer night, gathered around a few modest bonfires engaged in hushed discussions, punctuated by occasional laughter as friends chatted.
— “Right now, I am above Krўяη, giving you a wave from the Stedefen Lion Empire. “
The airship’s loudspeaker continued.
— “Lately, our World Ark has received a great deal of attention from many friends. These friends, from all over the world, are seeking our non-governmental rescue committee to provide more film, television, and broadcasting features to their cities…“
— “On behalf of the committee, I hereby extend my gratitude. I also feel the tremendous expectations and pressure that have thus fallen on our non-governmental rescue committee.“
Just behind this lovely girl on the curtain, someone appeared to try and step forward, but was stopped by another drawing near. The beautiful girl herself also seemed a little tense.
Hearing the broadcast and the reaction from the airship, many people underground broke into wry smiles.
“Broadcasting overhead in Krun… It’s still quite a risk for us rough-and-tumble gents, eh? “
People across different corners exchanged murmured conversations.
“So much attention and pressure from friends? Who could it be? “
“It should be that many cities want exclusive columns. “
“Let alone cities, just like that night we saw the opposite coastline, how many presidents, kings, and heirs from countries around the world made brief declarations up there? “
The excitement of that night was still being enthusiastically discussed among the public. Many citizens who hadn’t witnessed the cross-sea spectacle firsthand learned from others’ conversations and reread the news reports, regretting they missed the screen on the airship due to other commitments that night.
After that night, the value of this airship broadcast system had long been understood by the public through widespread discussion.
Hearing this lady named “Hailikoni ” speak with that slow tone punctuated by “uhs ” and “ums, ” combined with the earlier noise, anyone could tell she was referring to some forces pressuring the World Ark.
Several people in the city, recognizing the flash of the Steffin officer’s image that was briefly shown before the screen went black, along with the two words of introduction, seemed to understand something and let out low chuckles.
……
At the Haili family residence in Tarko…
Hailikoni, clutching her chest, watched the maiden on the screen speaking her own name, her face showing a mix of slight nervousness, confidence, and a smile.
The woman beside her slowly lowered her telescope, letting it rest by her side as she shifted her arm down.
Haili Koni, dressed in a skirt, glanced at her mother’s pensive profile.
“What’s wrong with my sister? “
“There has never been anything like this before, ” her mother said. “Whenever someone appears on that screen to broadcast, it’s almost always the Fogfolk themselves. “
Haili Koni’s heart tightened, her disappointment hard to conceal. “I suppose this should put your mind at ease. Sister… has probably already gained Chairman Yang’s full trust. “
“This… ” The arm beside her passed the telescope to the hand in front of Koni. Its tone grew complex. “I’m going to find Mr. Lanni. Perhaps… perhaps the plan has changed. “
Haili Koni’s jade-like face settled back into calm.
With her mother’s steps shifting, she turned slightly, bent her leg lightly, and sat on the edge of the bed to place the telescope at the headboard. Her back faced the window, and beyond it, the airship floating over the city.
Suddenly, the low broadcast boomed again.
— “Tonight, our Chairman Yang and the warriors are working through the night towards the kindling of the bonfire… Transmissions like for the World Ark—while they value them—in the face of the steel-vine situation across the lands, our Chairman and his teams hold the people’s personal safety closer to heart. “
The woman abruptly stopped in her tracks, turned her head in disbelief, and stared straight at the flaring, faint, and hazy viewing cloth in the distance.
……
Far away, at the southwestern border of the Kingdom of Heivenzike.
Already on a bus that had arrived at a border town just before midnight, Jiang Tao, who was dozing off, heard some sounds coming from the sky.
He raised his hand to cover his mouth with a weary groan, and opened his eyes to look up at the sky above the small town, which was now packed with a massive number of refugees.
The shabby tent area here, due to the influx of people, had expanded to several times the original size of the small town.
“Is that a clerk from the World Ark on the screen? “
Jiang Tao clicked his tongue in slight satisfaction, glancing at the sky outside the car. “It’s quite beautiful. Fitting for a member at Chairman Yang’s side, ” he murmured. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the evil-minded guy across the aisle wasn’t asleep either, currently looking at the crowd outside with a steady gaze.
Below the airship hovering about three to five hundred meters away within the borders of Avenzig, someone among the noisy crowd in the tent area was trying to climb up the mooring cable that connected the airship to the ground.
“What’s going on? ” Jiang Tao, who had just woken up, asked with some confusion.
On the bus, parked outside the congested road and waiting for dawn to process formalities to enter Avenzig, some passengers were also awake. The person in front of Jiang Tao said, “Someone was shouting from up there just now about something related to control, or something like that. “
“Looks like someone is trying to seize control of the airship. “
“No way. ” Jiang Tao raised his voice slightly as he looked out at the massive hovering object. His exclamation was loud enough to stir awake the girl sleeping across the aisle, who began to blink open her hazy eyes.
Suddenly, the crowd of refugees gathered around the border line stirred up in an uproar.
A figure dropped down from the darkness in the sky almost level with the airship, whether from the gondola or having previously climbed up along the mooring rope was unclear.
“Oh my~ ” This commotion made even more of the onlookers in the carriages lean out in alarm.
Then Jiang Tao and Sha’er saw this restrained-minded figure beside the aisle, decent in both physique and temperament, stand up, lifting from beside the seat a long, palm-wide object wrapped in cloth.
“Where are you going? “
“Going to help. “
“Help? ” Jiang Tao’s mind quickly processed this— “Help? Hey, weren’t you just saying this morning before we left that the Guild Leader was…cough ahem… “
Jiang Tao, seated, twisted around and slapped the back of the girl Sha’er’s hand heavily, causing Sha’er to yank her hand back as if shocked by electricity, just as Evil Blade Liuyun was bowing to step out through the open door of the bus.
“What are you looking at? Hurry up and follow us, my god, ” he whispered lowly at the side of the girl’s slightly dazed face, “This is someone’s attempt to snatch the World Ark. Let’s go throw some stones at those guys on the ropes. “
“Eh, huh? “
“What are you ‘eh-ing’ for? Glorious light and radiant light will both be there! ” Jiang Tao muttered excitedly in his hometown dialect as he quickly grabbed his backpack. “Hey, ” he patted a middle-aged man beside him who was moving his luggage to grab the empty seat that had just been vacated, “Brother, let me through, we’re in a hurry. “
……
On the sea surface, a little away from the ghost ship, Little Ma Chao floated on the dark, undulating water.
It turned its locomotive head to glance at its fully restored long carriage, which had been complete for a few days now, then the locomotive, its lights dimly glowing, turned back with its lights extinguished.
The half-ancient ship moved even faster across the water.
After silently watching for a while, the evil dream train thought to itself and spun around 180 degrees to look at the carriages in front of it, inspecting the interior where its train conductor often stayed.
Over there, the sky had already dawned earlier. Thankfully, before the sunlight came out, the conductor had ordered it to continue into the night; otherwise, it would have had to float on the seawater for yet another whole day. So boring.
{I wonder if I still need to run this trip to deliver the data today. }
It muttered the sentence quietly like a whisper to itself.
How rare, during the night with no one on board, the train silently gazed at the vast ocean where it could roam freely.
{Train conductor… }
It thought quietly, again reminding itself not to talk about his matter.
It seemed Ma Chao had also said a few years ago not to tell anyone about what happened to him.
And recently, Deputy Mayor Zhuyin had also said every single day not to leak his whereabouts… I naturally haven’t said a word about that myself.
So I’ve stored a lot of time fractions (Sequential Energy).
The train slid forward a little bit with smugness… Seawater rippled around; as a floating starfish tried to cling to the undercarriage. Sensing the aura of the Misty-Sea Starfish, the Demon Train suddenly lurched forward a far distance. Then it paused and came to a halt in hesitation.
{Captain? (Train Captain) }
It turned its head, peering towards a slight anomaly on the sea surface behind them.
It glided back over inch by inch, and then shot forward abruptly to engulf the starfish in a single gulp. Few seconds later headlights illuminated brightly with a flash.
Already drained of its Psychic-Energy Body, the starfish landed withered inside the cabin. Shift’s Little Machao turned his head to glance towards the Ghost Ship, setting his gaze onto the three figures emerging from the cabins.
{Can’t tell…? }
Yang Zicang was standing on the deck and waving them over.
Like a flying vehicle, the train sped off swiftly.
“So, you mean,” Cheng Yunze spoke in deep thought:
“The Jinberi Legacy Action Group, who was covering for our Airship ’cause we lack marine signal stations at the time— ended up being exploited by that enemy as well?“
“Exactly.“
Folded arms across his chest, waiting for train to slowly approach in front Cheng Yunze and bewildered Li Aimin who listening dumbfounded aside Yang Zen Zhang spoke:
“I think it was precisely because our actions tonight reversed Jājiā’s crisis that the enemy, who would have otherwise exploited the opportunity of the station’s annihilation to help provide signal transmission, assist with broadcasts aboard the World Ark airship, and help countries relay disaster response messages, instead chose an early course of action. They opted to apply pressure through Schiffin prematurely, and thus did not hesitate to…“
“…and thus did not hesitate to expose early that the Jinbei Heritage Action Group has their people planted within.” Cheng Yunze said these words while pondering, for although the World Ark could not cover the entire world, it served as a quick source and window for transnational information dissemination—especially when it came to apocalyptic response messages that had already gained authoritative trust among the public.
“Because they had to suppress the effectiveness of your artillery fire in repelling the Nightmares?“
“Yes.” Yang Zicang nodded. “And also because the proof I provided in repelling the Ironvine with cannon fodder, coupled with the identity and credibility of that lady in her calls to the air forces of various nations, enabled the mobilization of many unarmed planes to take flight. Because time-critical usage under an apocalyptic-level disaster is a must. And the Air Command understood that.“
Yang Zicang added:
“Of course, the main factor was the endorsement of the Waldestadt air force and military movements.“
Cheng Yunze had pretty much figured it out already. Because the once-rebellious force in Waldestadt—now serving as rescue teams—along with the unhesitating departure from entire cities across the nation with military firepower to pressure the Nightmares back beyond the sea waters, had already shocked many countries and left them disbelieving the truth of such news.
At this moment, the blaring sound of the loudspeaker competing for broadcast rights only added to the uncertainty surrounding this piece of news.
Yet, incredibly, this very person had actually managed to pull it off.
Having just escaped danger not long ago, Cheng Yunze couldn’t help but heave another sigh of relief. Too many things had happened tonight.
Cheng Yunze couldn’t help but ask, “According to what you said, was the Campfire always destined to be lit? That mysterious enemy originally planned to seize control of the airship’s broadcasting rights. But now, because you exposed the effect of thermal strikes on the nightmare vines, they’re desperately suppressing any signal transmission. “
A look of confusion filled Cheng Yunze’s eyes. “Yet you’re letting Jin Bei’s legacy spread a rumor that the Empire is seizing control of the airship. That would both hide Jin Bei’s nuclear legacy’s intended move and its connection to the Campfire plan, while also exposing that your enemy has a spy high up in the action group? “
“Because you haven’t lived through what happened in this world today… the Key… If I were to explain it to you… Ah, I don’t know just how powerful the Track of Fate has become in this era. Anyway, sorry about this, Old Cheng, ” Yang Zicang slapped Cheng Yunze on the shoulder, “If the rival had made a move earlier, maybe I could have told you by noon. “
As the train’s headlights dragged an arc of passenger carriages across the surface of the sea, appearing beside them, Yang Zicang cast it a glance.
“So what do we do now? ” Cheng Yunze asked.
Yang Zicang rubbed his chin, glanced at Li Aimin, and then spoke to Cheng Yunze:
“I plan to take you all back to the hotel. Then, if there’s time, Yunze, you can still go back and carry out that operation for me. But now I have some new information that needs to be obtained. I’m asking you to bring this information back to our people over there. If we are truly lucky enough to solve it, it will be a key point in hindering the appearance of the Golden Path. “
The headlights of the demon train revealed a hint of concerned astonishment. The enemies that had appeared out of nowhere even instilled fear in it.
“Really, that’s great. What information is it? “
“Mist Maiden and the Colored Glaze Cup. “
This news caused the lives present to pause in confused contemplation.
Yang Zicang said, “Also, I need to find He Yishu and Wang Zhi to gather information on this matter together. Because this issue is very important to us, you should all understand what this implies. “
“Alright, you guys go back first. When the train comes later, it’ll be my turn, ” Cheng Yunze said in a calm tone. “By the way, now that the Empire wants the World Ark, what should we do? “
Yang Zicang sighed upon hearing this. “The enemy’s move truly struck right at our jugular and Jinbei’s legacy. There’s no time to deal with that now; can only let nature take its course. “
“What a pity, ” Cheng Yunze sighed regretfully as he watched Yang Zicang and Li Aimin board the train, disappearing into the fog of the sea as it surged forward.
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