Chapter 813: Cockpit

Wei Zhangle walked through the corridor with a swagger, using the "Recording Stone" newly developed by Zhuoyu to take photos along the way, capturing every nook and cranny of the cabin doors clearly.

Although there were many human crew members on the ship whose movements were not as restricted as the passengers, very few of them could openly record these details, let alone "take photos."

As he walked, he encountered Jiang Shenyi, who had come out earlier. He hesitated for a moment and did not take the initiative to greet him. He and Jiang Shenyi were on completely different paths, and now that they each had their own missions, there was no need to rashly intersect during working hours, which would only bring danger to each other for no reason.

As he walked past, he saw Jiang Shenyi walk up to a heavy door in a narrow corridor and reach out to push it. As if by a flash, a Heavenly Demon immediately darted out from the side to stop him, saying, "Don't go any further; this isn't a place you can enter."

Jiang Shenyi said nonchalantly, "Don't use a chicken feather as a token of authority; this is just the Cockpit, isn't it? Do you really think I haven't been inside before?"

That Heavenly Demon sneered, "Usually, it's free time, and you're allowed in to learn, but now it's working hours. The security clearance for this place has been greatly increased, so you aren't qualified to enter."

Jiang Shenyi raised an eyebrow and said, "It's not up to you to decide. My clearance is already Grade A, definitely above yours. You aren't even qualified to stop me."

That Heavenly Demon sneered, "What qualifications do you have? Grade A, Grade B—those are just things to fool you country bumpkins. You're nothing but a decorator; what difference is there between you and those who paint walls? Child's play. None of you humans are qualified to pry into the core of the ship. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."

Jiang Shenyi sneered back, "I return those words to you. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. A fool like you doesn't understand a damn thing. You'll never make a contribution to such a massive project in your entire life, so you just bully others by relying on your master's power, pretending everything here belongs to you, and baring your fangs at anyone who touches it, when in reality, you're just trying to show your presence. You're nothing but a lapdog who attached yourself to them."

Wei Zhangle was secretly shocked: How could a single Cockpit have so many secret doors? And there were people hidden inside every single one!

This Heavenly Demon was up to something!

Seeing the two arguing, Wei Zhangle hurriedly stepped forward. He thought that although Jiang Shixiong was very smart, he was a specialized Talisman Sword Master whose strength was still somewhat lacking, and he could not contend with truly strong opponents. If he were to suffer a loss, he would help him secretly without anyone noticing.

Wei Zhangle entered the Cockpit and saw that it was very spacious and dimly lit. He saw rows of huge instruments placed against all four walls; because they were overly complex, they looked awe-inspiring. He didn't understand any of this at all, only feeling that it was impressive without knowing why, and just held the Recording Stone, snapping photos with a click-click-click.

Although he was amazed, he had a doubt in his heart: Why was this cabin so quiet? Although mysterious-side instruments might not necessarily make a sound when activated, there was almost no one here. Could it be that this airship was fully automated and unmanned?

But he had seen so many ship workers who were all so busy; could it be that not a single one of them was a pilot?

This could also be considered a forced unification of writing.

At this moment, another door appeared on the opposite side, and another foreign Heavenly Demon poked his head out, saying, "No need to ask, those country bumpkins are looking for excuses to spy on our secrets again."

He spoke in the Heavenly Demon Common Language. Among the Tianmo Hundred Clans, there were more than a hundred languages; it would be chaotic if every clan spoke their own, so they did have a common language. However, the Heavenly Demon clans were xenophobic, requiring all visitors to speak their language in their own territories, and if one spoke the common language, they would pretend not to understand. The common language was very complex and required specialized effort to learn, so it never really caught on. It was said that it was only because of this great shipbuilding undertaking, which gathered elites from all clans, that the common language was promoted among this group of young talents.

However, it later proved that he had overthought it. Although the two were at loggerheads, trading barbs and sarcasm, neither turned their verbal sparring into a physical fight; they just argued at the cabin door, using the kind of sarcasm that didn't involve profanity.

Wei Zhangle knew some of the common language; he couldn't communicate fluently, but he could understand eight or nine out of ten.

Wei Zhangle waited for a while, determined that they wouldn't escalate, and felt that since they had long been familiar with the process and had done this many times, they probably wouldn't fight. Therefore, he didn't care anymore and went directly through the heavy cabin door.

After walking a large circle, he was about to leave when a movable door suddenly appeared on the wall. A Heavenly Demon with horns on his head popped his head out and said, "What's going on? Is there a commotion outside again?"

Thinking carefully, he understood a little:

They had set up a decent-looking cabin outside to pretend it was the Cockpit. Perhaps those machines even had some real principles that could make the ship fly—otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to fool technical personnel like Jiang Shenyi and the others—but in reality, they were all a front. The real cabin was behind it, and there were separate secret rooms where the pilots were hidden.

That Heavenly Demon was excitedly blocking Jiang Shenyi and didn't notice at all that someone had walked openly into the "classified" cabin door behind him.

Jiang Shenyi hadn't even seen this place, let alone known about it. If he only took the instruments here back to study, it would naturally be like climbing a tree to catch a fish; he could struggle for a hundred years and still not figure out a thing.

Thinking of this, Wei Zhangle was very annoyed and thought to himself: Brother Tang Zhao had previously discovered a major conspiracy of theirs, and everyone had urgently managed to contend with them and just barely managed to turn the situation around, and now there was another major conspiracy! The most terrifying thing was that I discovered a conspiracy just by walking around, and Brother Tang Zhao also discovered a conspiracy just by asking a question. Could it be that we are too lucky, or is it that they only have these two conspiracies? There must be a hundred or a thousand traps hidden!

At this moment, his scalp tingled, and he truly felt what it meant to "seek skin from a tiger."

It seemed there had always been a prejudice in the Human World that Heavenly Demons were all rude and stupid, merely born big and strong with some brute force, and actually unable to outwit humans. But they didn't stop to think: with so many races, how could they all be rude and stupid? Moreover, the war between the Hundred Races had been going on for who knows how many years, and war was the best thing to foster the growth of conspirators. They had long since accumulated an unknown amount of "talent."

Perhaps the humans' choice to cooperate with the Heavenly Demons was just throwing themselves into a bloody maw, and the ending was already doomed.

So... let me do it.

Abandon that stupid plan and find the real path to saving the world.

Wei Zhangle held his head high with some pride. He had sentenced the Relic Project to death in his heart, but he still took advantage of the two Heavenly Demons mocking Jiang Shenyi outside to sneak into the secret room the Heavenly Demon had come out of once more.

Upon entering the secret room, he was greatly shocked. He had originally thought that since the machines outside were so intimidating, the machines inside would naturally be even more high-end, and he probably wouldn't understand them at all, only serving to record them.

Who knew that wasn't the case? Upon entering, the first thing he saw was...

A pool of water.

A pool embedded in the floor, not much different from a pool in a bathhouse.

It really wasn't much different; this pool wasn't even as luxurious as a regular bathhouse pool.

Compared to a bathhouse, the water here was murky and looked suspiciously green, turbid and bottomless, reminding Wei Zhangle of the various strange materials of the Talisman Sword Masters he often saw at Zhuoyu Villa.

He wouldn't even be willing to wash his feet in this pool, let alone bathe in it.

On the ceiling above the pool hung a large lump of green stuff. Because the color was emerald green, the first time he saw it, he subconsciously thought it was a plant, but upon closer inspection, he felt something was wrong; this outline shouldn't be considered a plant at all...

It actually had no outline; it was simply like a mass of green sludge, maintaining a spread-out state, looking roughly like a claw hanging overhead.

Could this be...

Just as he was thinking, the horned Heavenly Demon from outside had already walked in and closed the door behind him. After the door closed, it blended into the wall; if one didn't know the trick, one would absolutely never be able to tell.

Only then did Wei Zhangle notice that this guy was only wearing a loose robe, tied loosely with a belt, just like a bathrobe.

Ah... was it really a swimming pool? Did these people hide in this secret cabin just to soak in a bath?

Although Wei Zhangle was not exactly experienced, he knew it couldn't be so absurd. When things were abnormal, there must be a demon, so he widened his eyes to look more closely.

Under his gaze, the horned Heavenly Demon took off his clothes without noticing anything, revealing his body.

Underneath, there were indeed no clothes.

But it wasn't that there was nothing at all.

Under his bathrobe, his bare chest was wrapped in strips of binding, which seemed to be rattan or perhaps a special metal, tied into a knot in both the front and back, reminding Wei Zhangle of the crabs eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival or the zongzi eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival.

It was becoming more and more confusing.

He saw the horned Heavenly Demon puff out his chest and walk to the edge of the pool, taking a deep breath. Although his appearance was completely different, Wei Zhangle could feel that he was somewhat resistant in his heart; he stood by the edge of the pool, swinging his arms, but was unwilling to enter the water.

However, at this moment, the mass of emerald green stuff above suddenly moved. The body, which had originally looked like a drooping claw, suddenly spread out and wrapped the horned Heavenly Demon inside.

The horned Heavenly Demon's face twitched, and for a moment, it seemed he wanted to resist, but in the end, he remained motionless, letting the green mass surround him and then drag him into the water. The water bubbled for a moment, then became calm.

Wei Zhangle, who witnessed all this, was extremely astonished and had no idea what it meant. He thought: Could this be some kind of cultivation method? Did I think wrong? They are hiding here not to keep the Cockpit's secrets, but to practice some secret art that cannot be told?

He thought about it and felt it was even more wrong. Although he was extremely puzzled, it didn't stop him from holding the Recording Stone and recording everything truthfully. He even shoved the Recording Stone toward the water's surface, but the water was too murky, and the Recording Stone's image ended up being nothing but green. It was only because Wei Zhangle was on the scene and had good eyesight that he could see that indescribably blurry outline beneath the water.

He entered the water... and then what? What would happen?

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet moved. Although Wei Zhangle didn't fall, he clearly felt a sense of weightlessness.

He immediately realized what was going on and was even more shocked:

Like this, it really flew?