On the elevator leading to the airship, Elf Wang waved energetically at his friends on the platform, his travel pack slung over his shoulders. “Farewell, brothers! When I become the overlord of the Southern Seas, I’ll treat you all to the best food and drink!”

He had heard that the Southern Seas hid the wreckage of a pre-war space station, so he had bought himself a full set of diving gear, hoping to get lucky and fish up a still-working suit of exoframe. That would be instant god-tier gear!

Even if it was broken, as long as 10% of the parts were usable, he could still sell it for tens of thousands of silver coins.

On the platform, Escaping Mole grinned and waved back. “No worries. I’ve got a feeling I’ll see you again in a few days.”

He wasn’t interested in joining expedition events like that. As long as the money came in, that was enough. Besides, he would be flying to Ideal City soon to check on how his gaming company was doing.

His studio’s new battle-royale game had gone viral on the Endpoint Cloud, and he was planning to import more skins to milk Ideal City’s player base while the hype lasted.

Elf Wang snapped, “Damn it! What kind of brother curses me like that?!”

Next to him, Irene laughed. “Why not? At least it saves you the return ticket.”

“Irena?” said Me Quiet, blinking in surprise. “What the hell? You came too?”

Irene grinned. “Just tagging along for fun, don’t mind me. Heard there are all kinds of new mutant species down there, I mainly just want to see what they look like.”

Escaping Mole grinned. “Try not to make any of those mutants extinct while you’re at it.”

“Get lost! You think I’m that kind of person?”

While they joked, the elevator rose slowly, carrying the last group of players aboard.

Once the loading was complete, the airship began to ascend. The rotors under its hull and tail spun up, and the vessel bearing dreams and hopes drifted toward the distant horizon.

“Damn it, I’m jealous!” Watching the ship shrink into the sky, Eye Owe Money on the platform wore an expression full of envy and resentment.

He wanted to go too, but he had a whole brood of sub-entities to feed now.

He suspected the Baiyue Province would be full of opportunities for them to make a mark, but transport costs were still too high.

He would have to wait until the Bull and Horse Squad added more flights and lowered ticket prices before he could go.

“Alright, that’s that.” After watching his friends leave, Escaping Mole lowered his hand and turned to go. Just then, another airship descended, dropping its mooring lines and elevator.

Standing on it was a man in ornate clothes, his expression proud, his mustache curling upward like the portrait of the king in a deck of cards.

Escaping Mole, Eye Owe Money, and all the veteran players on the platform stopped dead, they could smell a plot in the air. All eyes turned toward the descending elevator.

When it came to a stop, a group of people disembarked. When they saw a certain familiar face among them, everyone all gaped at once.

“HOLY SHIT!”

Basking in the upturned gazes, Banteno’s face radiated pride and satisfaction. He was quite pleased by the look of admiration those barbarians gave him.

Now he finally understood, at least a little, why those zealots among the Expansionists were so obsessed with their grand expeditions. Dawn City might lack Triumphant City’s prosperity, but being surrounded by looks of awe felt rather good.

Only a little understanding, though, there was no more than that.

To spend vast manpower and resources for the sake of such petty vanity, waging a pointless campaign with no visible benefit...

That was simply too selfish.

Griffin’s death might have been surrounded by suspicion, but it wasn’t undeserved.

Lost in his thoughts, Banteno heard someone yell and lazily turned an ear toward Pangolin at his side. “What does ‘holy shit’ mean?”

Battlefield Cheerleader, caught mid-wink with his buddies, nearly choked on his own saliva. He stammered, “It means... astonishment and respect! You can think of it as a polite greeting!”

“Ah, I see.” Banteno squinted slightly, curling his lips in satisfaction.

Battlefield Cheerleader felt his scalp crawl and silently prayed the man wouldn’t try to blend in by greeting the administrator that way later. Embarrassment was one thing, blowing his cover would be a disaster.

...

“Mr. Banteno, welcome to Dawn City. I am Cheng Yan, delegate of the New Alliance. The administrator instructed me personally to ensure you are well received. Though our nations have had... disagreements, the war is over. A guest is still a guest.”

“I’m pleased to meet you as well, Mr. Cheng Yan,” Banteno replied with formulaic courtesy, glancing around. “Where is your administrator? I would like to speak with him directly.”

“The administrator has entrusted all diplomatic matters to me,” Cheng Yan replied politely. “Discussing them with me is the same.”

Banteno’s expression cooled as Cheng Yan went on smoothly, “As for our administrator, he is currently in conference with representatives from the Academy and the Enterprise, discussing the charter of the Mutant Slime Mold Research Committee. If you wish to meet him, you’ll need to schedule an appointment, just as the Academy and Enterprise must.”

Banteno’s brow twitched. An envoy of the Army had never been treated so lightly. Irritation flared in his chest.

Still, hearing that the Academy and Enterprise were held to the same rule soothed his ego somewhat.

“Our delegation numbers over a hundred,” he said curtly. “We need land to camp.”

Cheng Yan replied evenly, “We’ve prepared accommodations for you at a hotel.”

“No need.” Banteno lifted his chin. “As I stated in the written correspondence, we Wislander people only stay in our own homes.”

Cheng Yan gave a helpless smile. “Please don’t misunderstand, it was only a suggestion. If you insist, do as you wish.”

Banteno’s brows relaxed slightly. With a nod, he led his entourage off the platform.

The elevator rose again as more groups were still waiting to disembark. There were around 90 in total, a mix of Wislanders and their servants.

Behind Cheng Yan, someone muttered under his breath, “These savages are insane, we gave them houses and they would rather pitch tents.”

Others nodded in agreement.

Cheng Yan shot him a sidelong look. “Out here, every community has different customs. Learn to understand them if you want to get along. Just do your job well.”

In truth, the Wislander weren’t the only odd ones.

Academy researchers were just as eccentric, refusing proper housing, insisting on sleeping inside their transport crafts, always parked in hidden corners. The people from the Enterprise were relatively normal, though their obsession with tall buildings bordered on pathological.

That 100-story Ideal Grand Hotel of theirs... Rumor had it that the lower 50 floors were completely vacant, since Ideal City travelers refused to stay below the 50th story.

...

The second Banteno arrived, Chu Guang had already learned of it through Little Seven.

During the break in the conference, he sat in the lounge, pulled out his holographic stylus, and brought up Cheng Yan’s live report.

“The Wislander envoy requested to camp near Dawn City,” Cheng Yan said. “As per your instruction, I approved their request and assigned them the open field beside the First Army’s camp.”

Chu Guang nodded. “Any reaction from them?”

“None. They didn’t seem to care about the location. The one named Banteno is leading the group in setting up camp.” Cheng Yan paused before adding, “However, I noticed some of their attendants appear to be slaves. That violates our laws. I fear this could become an issue.”

Long ago, when the New Alliance was weak, they had tolerated such things, allowing merchants with slaves to pass through Dawn City, so long as they refrained from abuse and lodged their captives in segregated dorms. As the New Alliance’s strength grew, the semi-official Hose of Refugees began buying slaves at market price to free them, helping them reintegrate into society.

Now, the New Alliance was powerful enough to say no, to treat slaver owners the same as marauders and intercept them on sight. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Out of fear of the New Alliance’s army, or desire for its silver coins, passing merchants now emptied their caravans of slaves before entering its lands.

After all, most merchants chased profit, not bloodshed. There was no sense sacrificing the forest for a single rotten tree.

Order, like chaos, radiated outward.

But the Army’s envoy was no mere merchant, and rules that applied to merchants would not apply to them.

Chu Guang frowned thoughtfully, then said, “Send them a copy of our laws along with supplies. Gently remind them to respect our rules. The land we gave them isn’t sovereign territory. We don’t recognize ownership of people, nor protect illegal rights. Their diplomatic immunity covers their lives, not their behavior.”

Cheng Yan nodded. “Understood.”

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, there was nothing wrong with this approach, but he had no idea how to phrase such a blunt warning politely.

Chu Guang checked the time. His break was nearly over. “Anything else?”

“Yes,” Cheng Yan said. “Something about the Xilande Empire.”