The airships of both sides crossed paths, the roar of their propellers quickly fading as the distance between them widened.
Many aboard the Great Shun vessels breathed a collective sigh of relief. Tense and perilous though the encounter had been, at least no stray spark had set off an armed clash.
Seeing that the Federation airships showed no sign of wheeling around, Bian Zhijie and Wang Tongshan knew the crisis had passed.
Only when the opposing airships and surface vessels dwindled into tiny dark specks did they release their grip on their weapons, feeling a mixture of relief and lingering regret.
A clash could easily have broken out just now. Neither of them had truly felt afraid. They were martial artists, after all; anyone capable of reaching this level was made of stern stuff, and for a fleeting moment, both had harbored the urge to charge forward and fight it out.
"Well," Bian Zhijie remarked, "looks like that medicine was taken for nothing."
Wang Tongshan exhaled. "It's better that we didn't fight. Forget about the medicine—the delegation provides an allowance anyway. Brother Bian, did you see that just now?"
"I did." Bian Zhijie's face filled with envy. "Magnificent!"
Clad in that external implant, commanding and utterly imposing—he desperately wanted a set of his own.
Wang Tongshan shared his longing. "Gear like that is probably only issued to fighters who have attained the Longevity View."
Bian Zhijie pressed, "Does every martial artist at the Longevity View get one?"
Wang Tongshan shook his head. "Not every one of them. From what I know, you must have performed exceptional service for the state, especially in purging foreign infiltration. At least that's how it works in the military."
The two came from different backgrounds. Bian Zhijie's family possessed wide connections across state-owned enterprises, while Wang Tongshan hailed from a military family and was always well-informed about martial artists in the armed forces.
"Is that so..."
Bian Zhijie was slightly disappointed, but his spirits soon rallied. Given his youth and natural talent, who could say he wouldn't reach those heights one day?
* * *
Aboard the lead ship ahead, Chen Chuan remained standing on the open deck. He glanced toward the distant island. Seeing that the military port remained quiet, he knew the trouble was over.
So long as the other side hadn't lost their minds, nothing unexpected would occur. And even if they had dared to strike, he would not have hesitated to retaliate.
They were an official visiting delegation dispatched by Great Shun; attacking the mission was tantamount to attacking Great Shun itself, and he would have shown no mercy. Formidable though the opposing force looked, dealing with them was merely a matter of delivering a few spiritual impacts. Even if the Federation mainland could scramble reinforcements, they would never arrive in time.
Naturally, to prevent the conflict from escalating, he would have spared them some face by refraining from annihilating the entire base or dragging the island's Center City into the destruction.
Inside another large vessel, Delegation Leader Xie relaxed slightly. He glanced back, pulled out a handkerchief, and held it out. "Old Lu, wipe your forehead."
Startled, Lu Guangde took it and mopped the sweat from his brow, speaking with some embarrassment. "I've embarrassed myself in front of you, Leader Xie."
On the other side, He Yishan fared rather better. Aside from a slightly pale complexion, he appeared to be holding up fine.
Leader Xie asked, "Old He, if I recall, you've been on a battlefield before?"
He Yishan paused briefly. "I didn't expect you to know about that, Leader Xie. It wasn't real fighting, though. I worked as a war correspondent for a time. Never held a gun, just took photographs and the like."
"That's no small feat either." Leader Xie said, "Why don't the two of you go and get some rest?"
Both understood his intent. Lu Guangde said, "Then we'll head down to sort things out. If anything comes up, just call for us, Leader Xie."
Right at that moment, a communications officer delivered a report: a message had come through from Geiserfitu Island.
The dispatch stated that the base's fleet had merely been conducting an exercise. Because a signal blackout had been imposed beforehand, they had been unable to receive outside communications; and since the diplomatic delegation happened to arrive right at that moment, they had mistakenly identified them as participating exercise units.
It was an incident caused by a "communication error," for which they expressed their deepest apologies.
Expressionless, Leader Xie contacted Chen Chuan directly. "Section Chief Chen, have you seen this?"
Chen Chuan replied, "I have. An explanation is better than none. It shows that, on the surface at least, they still have reservations and aren't ready to tear off all pretense."
Leader Xie said gravely, "Section Chief Chen, we relied on your personal might to suppress them this time. But from my past experience, their behavior was rather unusual. This is unlikely to be the end of it; there may be more trials ahead."
Chen Chuan responded, "Leader Xie, I will keep a close eye on the delegation's defense. Our personnel performed well too; they executed orders admirably back there."
Leader Xie nodded. That was a comfort to him; as long as no issues arose from within the team, he had every confidence in facing whatever external challenges came their way.
He added, "Section Chief Chen, I noticed you submitted a requisition report to the rear. I've already urged them to deliver what you requested as quickly as possible."
Chen Chuan said, "Leader Xie, thank you."
"We are one team," Leader Xie replied. "It's only right."
After ending the call, Chen Chuan fell into thought. Before departing, he had reviewed the logs; the first diplomatic delegation had encountered no such incident when passing through. On one hand, the Federation had attached great importance to that first mission, which had included not only numerous military figures but also officials from the Premier's Office.
On the other hand, the first mission had been accompanied by an exceedingly powerful martial artist, so the other side hadn't dared to act rashly.
Of course, there was another factor that could not be overlooked: the first delegation had dealt primarily with the East Coast Faction to negotiate broad national policy, whereas a portion of their current delegation would stay behind to deal with the West Coast Faction. Their remit focused mainly on internal Federation affairs—protecting the interests of Great Shun companies and citizens within the Federation, and investigating the spillover of esoteric cults. From any angle, they looked like troublemakers arriving on their doorstep.
Compounded by the fact that the earlier agreements likely squeezed the West Coast Faction's interests severely, it was hardly surprising that it provoked such a fierce reaction.
Just as Leader Xie had said, this affair would likely see further developments.
Checking their progress, he saw that at their current speed, they were less than two days away from the Federation's west coast. Barring unforeseen accidents, they would reach their first stop the morning after tomorrow.
With a thought, he retracted his field and withdrew from the external implant. Stepping outside, he communicated mentally, "Hongfu, from now on, record everything along our route as thoroughly as possible."
Hongfu replied, "Understood."
* * *
On the Federation's west coast, in Serranocha State.
Here lay a First People tribe that had been driven to the geographical margins, with barely a thousand people remaining. At this very moment, bursts of gunfire echoed outside the tribal camp. Hunters clad in blood-red cloaks and mounted on modified horses galloped back and forth around the perimeter, letting out bizarre whoops and whistles while firing off occasional shots into the air.
These warhorses were armored in scale-like exoskeletons, with extended breathing tubes running along both sides of their necks connected to venom sacs within their bodies. The mounted riders were all heavily cybernetically implanted, their large-caliber shotguns uniformly fitted with bone blades for close-quarters combat.
This was the Blood Hunt Cavalry—high-ranking bounty hunters subsidized by the Federation government and private corporations to hunt down the First People.
Inside the encampment, tribespeople armed with rifles took cover behind earthen ramparts and abatis, watching the Blood Hunt Cavalry charge and circle in high agitation. Behind them stood a handful of warriors gripping cold weapons.
At the center of the settlement, the sacrificial elders knelt in worship around an altar alongside the rest of the clan. At least a hundred cavalrymen had gathered outside, including high-tier fighters from the Federation; there was no way the tribe could hold them off.
Though they did not understand why the attackers had delayed storming the camp, under the existential threat of extinction, they had no choice but to turn to an ancient nature spirit for aid.
With their dwindled numbers and repeated migrations, the nature spirit worshipped since the era of their ancestors responded only rarely now. Even so, it was the only protection they had left to hope for.
Each summoning demanded a staggering sacrifice of livestock and even the lives of a few tribespeople, but it was a sacrifice that had to be made for the survival of their people.
Outside the settlement, two cultists clad in New Light Cult robes sat atop their mounts, watching the camp. One of them said, "Should be about time, shouldn't it?"
The other replied patiently, "No rush. Give them a little more time."
The members of the First People tribe had no idea that the nature spirit they revered had long since been secretly corrupted by New Light Cult rituals. Barely four kilometers away, cultists had already set up a massive esoteric ritual.
A towering bonfire blazed at the center, into which cultists continuously hurled ritual materials slathered in blood.
Draped from head to toe in cowled robes that exposed only their eyes and mouths, the ritualists held up torches and screamed at the top of their lungs. The surrounding worshipers were whipped into a frenzy. Faintly, amidst the madness, a glowing fissure began to shimmer into existence.
Meanwhile, in the First People's camp, as the tribe continued their prayers, an eerie mist began to billow outward from the altar. The fog grew denser, spreading farther and wider. One by one, the tribespeople collapsed without realizing what was happening, their bodies shriveling into desiccated corpses. Gradually, a silhouette tinged with blood-red hues began to coalesce within the haze.
* * *
Aboard the Great Shun visiting fleet, after another full day of sailing, the navigator gave notice before nightfall: maintaining their current speed and altitude, they would arrive in the Linax Federation before eight o'clock tomorrow morning.
Yet a mere half hour later, reconnaissance detected a vast bank of thick fog ahead.
This mist seemed unnatural. It had appeared out of nowhere, and without a local Skyline installation, there was no field network to draw upon, leaving them unable to contact the nearest Center City or ascertain the fog's precise expanse.
To prevent collisions, the fleet calibrated and exchanged coordinates, cruising speeds, and barometric readings.
With a series of sharp clunks, high-intensity searchlights illuminated across the airships. As they plunged into the dense fog, they looked like great fish gliding through the deep ocean, carrying lanterns into the abyss.
Within the Federation delegation, Prabhakar gazed out at the mist ahead. He slowly sat upright, pressed his palms together, and murmured, "The torrent has arrived. There is no dodging it, no dodging it."
Chapter 1060