Chapter 664
Chapter 664 - 644: Boarding the Plane
1,477 words
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8 min read
"...Is this the outer space of the Foreign Domain?"
Stepping onto the journey once more, the feeling this time is quite different from before.
However, the "boarding" process this time is slightly different.
"Do we not need to go to the State Government to board?"
At first, the journey to explore made many explorers think that the "Tower of Babel" in the State Government was the entrance to the Deity’s Ark.
After all, it is difficult for Deities without a deep connection to Earth to bypass Earth’s protective layer, directly raise their tentacles to the planet’s surface, and establish a stable teleportation gate.
Forcibly established gates would be regarded as malicious intruders and face the hostility of the world, bearing the significant additional consumption... In fact, the invading Evil Gods from the Exotic Realm came this way.
However, the Divine Kingdoms that have established links with the planet do have a certain teleportation ability, but their Divine Kingdom is also bound to this world.
As a result, taking "explorers" into space and leaving the planet’s protection became a prerequisite for "boarding" ... There are other methods, but this is the least consuming way to leave the planet, and the Mobile Divine Kingdom does not have to worry about causing any negative impact on the surface.
"The Ascend Tower at the State Government? Too far, very inconvenient... Xiao’an City has built one as well, we’ll go there."
"Xiao’an? That’s further away than Changping... Oh, I see."
Obviously, this is not just a simple issue of distance.
𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
You need to go through competitor’s dock, your every move is under their surveillance, and there is no way to compete.effectiveness. This isn’t even the main reason...
"What about the import and export tariffs?" It’s no secret how heavy the tariffs are for traveling to the Exotic Realm, with the central government taking part of them and local areas levying their share, it is bound to become an essential income source for local governments.
Changping built a large-scale airport, obviously ambitious, but how could its competition willingly let their explorers go there and contribute considerable land taxes,
In just a few months, Xiao’an has built a similar "boarding platform".
"I heard that it was jointly funded by four cities, so during the ten years, land taxes through transfer payments will be shared among all families..."
This is the advantage of having people in the system within the team, those "wine-classics" operations, they can see the reason at a glance, and even treat it as a laughing stock.
"...Doesn’t the Ancient City plan to build one?"
"Of course they plan to, but there’s no money, no resources... I heard that the application was even rejected by the Changping State Government, which rejected all ’Tower of Babel’ construction proposals."
"What about the one in Xiao’an?"
"I’m not sure about that, hehe, those who understand know. Probably on the newspaper, another landmark project that drains people’s budget..."
Lu Ping’an didn’t come alone this time.
When "exploration" has become the top priority for the entire ancient city, naturally, many supplementary participants join in, many them were his "classmates" that he met in previous training courses.
As for those who should come to Lu Ping’an side, they have all arrived... though with not many numbers apparently, the quota of explorers is already sufficient.
Inside the courtyard, in addition to the hidden research team, there are factory workers who are busily working, along with a dozen knights and mercenaries serving as guards.
The Knight Commanders and their core subordinates have not come; they are already in the organized "auxiliary police". Just after joining, everyone is working overtime every day. It’s not realistic to take time off at this moment... If a whole team runs away, there’s no more work to be done.
On the other hand, there are some special restrictions on these newcomers of the Exotic Races. Leaving the Exotic Realm for permission is not easy to process; hiding in the courtyard is a simple matter, but losing one’s job equals to the previous layout being fruitless.
Catherine and the members of the Royal Family have had the same experience.
The former was left behind, purely because of Lu Ping’an’s influence... As the Captain of a special service team soon to be established in the new development zone, Lu Ping’an actually has a lot of work on his hands. The local "Rebirth Commerce" has also begun operating on the surface.
Lu Ping’an needs a deputy, who can be in charge of various miscellaneous matters in his absence. Naturally, being Lu Ping’an’s secretary, she was left behind to work overtime.
Wang Yaxi and the others in the royal family... All were more reclusive than Yaxi.
But Wang Yaxi’s company has already been established, and she has her place to live. Naturally, she has moved her brothers, sisters, and servants... If they don’t take the initiative, Lu Ping’an’s people will drive them out anyway.
Lu Ping’an’s side has few people (on the surface), and there are still vacancies on one single bus. They are just taking a few colleagues along with them casually.
They are different from Lu Ping’an, who is a "political amateur". Instead of talking about the upcoming Exotic Realm, they chat about the intrigues between Ancient City and Changping... These things have seemingly become a fun topic for them to start conversations.
Along the way, they chatted casually, had nothing to say after a short while before putting on headphones to listen to music, opening books to read, and sleeping... Uh, is there something wrong with this cat? It slept all the way.
Seeing that there were outsiders, Lu Ping’an gave up on the idea of teasing the cat.
Xiao’an City is quite far from the Ancient City, and by the time they arrived, it was almost dark. But after calculating the time, it was also the moment they set off.
Unlike the Tower of Babel in Changping, this High Tower looks decent from a distance; when you get closer, you find that it’s barely held up by wires, shaking as soon as the wind blows.
Walking through it, the steel plates under their feet constantly tremble, making people wonder if they could collapse at any moment.
Lu Ping’an and his group stood below, hesitating and uneasy, but eventually sighed and boarded the "elevator cabin" that looked like a cannonball in any way.
"Does this thing really require the investment of four cities?"
"It was built in just over a month, don’t be too picky about its appearance... although the inside is even less promising."
This time, both comfort and safety are obviously much worse than last time.
And as the vehicle accelerated, attempting to break free of the planet’s gravitational pull was not as smooth as last time.
The violent shaking disturbed everything, causing people to bump up and down; the passengers who came for the first time realized why everyone besides the seat belt also got a steel rope.
The impact force of this thing is quite terrifying. If Lu Ping’an hadn’t practiced it before, he might have been embarrassed on the spot.
"...Seats, special space seats, I heard they are still being custom-made... too rushed..." A passenger complained as he vomited.
"Tsk, our current chairs... seem to be modified from Internet cafe chairs? Hey, hey, hey, at least get some bus seats with safety belts!" Someone complained about the local government’s excessive frugality.
"Dragon! There’s a dragon outside!" The people by the window exclaimed, revealing the power source for this trip leaving the planet.
Lu Ping’an leaned in, and they were indeed familiar dragons... Large red and yellow sand dragons, at least ten times bigger than the young dragon named Odom they had seen before.
These giant dragons were formed into columns, either dragging or pushing, directly hoisting the shabby space capsule into the sky. In the area that Lu Ping’an’s eyes could reach, there were already more than a dozen giant dragons escorting them, probably waiting for relay.
"Tsk, this is the result of letting a prefecture city develop aviation? They can really come up with all kinds of ideas..."
But remembering his first departure and seeing other cities also having space capsules pulled by huge dragons, is it already a mature technology? Well, it seems that feeding the dragons is much cheaper than the high consumption of fuel.
Lu Ping’an was still complaining about the unreliable rural aviation, but unconsciously entered the preset orbit. When a large space gate appeared outside the space capsule, it was time for them to board.
— End of Chapter 664 —