Chapter 976

“I’m going to crush the Flier Empire and kidnap the Flier Empress!” shouted Ji, a border sentinel of the Divine Light Alliance, pointing at the void outside the cabin window.

Nearby, the veteran sentinel officer John, his face covered with a towel, spoke slowly: “It takes eight months to reach the Flier Empire by airship.”

Although Bess Homan and the others reached the Flier Empire in just four months, they traveled on a high-end luxury airship, which was much faster.

If it were a standard troop transport airship, the speed would be far slower—typically seven or eight months. Hearing this number, Ji immediately changed his mind: “I’m getting married—I’m going to marry Village Mary, the wife of the butcher.”

Bess and the others, having spent only four months aboard the airship, had already rushed to land the moment they spotted the plane, unable to endure another moment inside.

Even this luxury airship, carrying only four people and two Deathless Undead soldiers, had ample space, giving everyone their own private quarters.

In a cramped, shabby troop transport, twenty men crammed together for eight months would be a death sentence—easily driving them mad or sick.

Thus, for long-distance military campaigns, armies always establish forward outposts or transit stations along the way, allowing soldiers on the verge of breakdown to step out, breathe, and rest before continuing.

But traveling eight months straight is no different from taking four separate two-month journeys—equally terrifying.

Even if you rest every two months, the thought of repeating this ordeal seven more times made many men begin crying and begging to go home at the very first transit station.

Some new recruits, never having boarded an airship before, climbed aboard full of excitement, only to find it impossible to get off again.

Ji, having spent too much time aboard airships, found himself as miserable as old John—both needed a rest every week. Hearing they’d have to ride for eight months, he immediately abandoned the idea of kidnapping the Flier Empress; Village Mary, the butcher’s wife, suddenly seemed far more appealing.

John pulled the towel from his face and stared at Ji in surprise: “So you like Mary? Good taste—she’s hardworking, nimble, strong enough to carry a whole boar, and runs her household like a pro. A fine girl. Too bad her husband died early. But can your puny frame handle her…?”

Just then, the airship’s detection array flickered violently, and red lights along both sides of the hull flashed rapidly. Ji and John looked out—and saw a pitch-black airship flash past ahead with a swift “whoosh.”

“Did… did something just fly by?” Ji and John exchanged glances. The void was silent. Had the red lights not been flashing, they’d have thought they’d imagined it.

Confirming in each other’s eyes that they hadn’t hallucinated, they sprang into action. Ji activated the airship and chased after the intruder, flashing warning lights as he went.

Meanwhile, John swiftly activated the communication array to report the incident to the rear and request backup interception.

Before John could finish his report, Ji was already shouting: “Too fast! Too fast! What kind of airship is that? Did it swallow spring pills? How is it this fast? I can barely see its tail lights!”

“Accelerate! Accelerate! Don’t let it get away!” John yelled. “There’s a border patrol air-car squadron nearby—it may be fast, but it won’t outrun patrol cars.”

“Got it! Catch them, collect the bounty, and marry Mary! Commander, can you tell whose airship that is?” Ji shouted excitedly.

John declared confidently: “Only the Grand Councilor’s territory and the Flier Empire lie in this direction. The Grand Councilor doesn’t have any airship this fast—not even the whole Alliance does. It’s definitely the Flier Empire’s. Capture it, and strip its propulsion array.”

The black airship stopped. A squadron of patrol air-cars surged around it, then quickly bowed and scattered, summoning John and Ji over to scold them, ordering them to treat the noble guests with proper respect, then leaving without even a farewell.

John’s heart sank into ice. The patrol squadron’s reaction confirmed one thing: this airship had terrifyingly powerful backing—hence their hasty retreat. Damn it—had he just intercepted someone he shouldn’t have?

Trembling, John crossed over to the other airship. He saw a small yellow dragon holding a badge, studying it intently. Only when John approached did the dragon wave him over: “Is it really that scary? Do you know what this badge is?”

John’s legs buckled. He collapsed to his knees, voice trembling: “D-Divine Light Alliance… Good Friend… badge… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, noble guest! I didn’t know you were Alliance Good Friends! I didn’t mean to block you! I didn’t mean to!”

“Don’t panic, don’t panic,” Nagelis said kindly. “You were just doing your duty. We entered Alliance territory without notification—your interception was perfectly normal. What’s there to apologize for? Stand up and speak.”

John rose shakily, hunched over, hands flailing uselessly. He’d never in his life met anyone so exalted. Alliance Good Friends? He’d only heard rumors—he’d never seen one.

Nagelis asked curiously: “You can identify this badge? Aren’t you afraid I’m faking it to fool you?”

Nagelis’s tone eased John slightly. He whispered weakly: “The badge’s material is purple-gold bone—nearly impossible to counterfeit. If it’s fake, I’d be even more terrified—it means you’ve killed a Deathless Undead soldier… and wouldn’t mind killing another veteran.”

Purple-gold bone is hard to fake? Nagelis’s eyes flickered. He considered pulling out a complete Deathless skeleton to scare him—but then thought better of it, abandoning the cruel impulse, and asked instead:

“Is this badge really that powerful? You look terrified. Even those patrol car drivers didn’t even stop—they just fled.” Nagelis asked, puzzled.

It truly felt the badge had frightened them. Wasn’t this the “Alliance Good Friend” badge? If so, why were they so afraid?

John glanced at Nagelis, thinking he was pretending ignorance—but Nagelis’s expression was utterly innocent, not mocking.

After a pause, John said: “Only the Grand Councilor can issue the Good Friend badge. With this badge, you can demand protection from Deathless Undead soldiers… who aren’t… easy to talk to.”

“Not easy to talk to? You mean ‘no humanity,’ right? Are they violent? Do they kill people?”

John nodded rapidly.

Behind him, Anthony leaned in and whispered a few words.

Nagelis quickly changed the subject: “Forget it. Where’s your base? Take us there to rest.”

“Ah? No, no! Our base is just a tiny village—too humble to host noble guests like you! I’ll take you straight to the nearest major plane: Star Fall!”

What nonsense! A group of guests bearing the Alliance Good Friend badge going to their pitiful little village? One unsatisfactory service, and the whole village might lose their heads. Now you understand why the border patrol fled so fast.

Nagelis frowned: “Hmph. Do you know why our airship flies so fast? Brite pushed it. You stopped us—now to regain speed, we’ll need him to push again. Take us to your base right now, or I’ll call Brite back to push us again.”

Brite? That name sounded familiar. John blinked. When he finally recalled whose name that was, his face turned white.

“Please, please, noble guests, this way! No need for Lord Brite—I’ll summon every border patrol car to drag you! Faster, steadier—I beg you, don’t call Lord Brite!”

If Deathless Undead soldiers were terrifying, then Brite—the pure-blooded Lord of the Dead—was far worse. What kind of people were these, to have the Lord of the Dead push their airship?