Chapter 976: The Lord of the Dead Pushes Their Airship for Them

"I will flatten the Feilie Empire and snatch back Empress Feilie!" Aji, a small border sentinel of the Shenguangtong Alliance, pointed at the void outside the porthole and shouted loudly.

Nearby, the veteran sentinel officer John covered his face with a Mao Jin and said leisurely, "It takes eight months by airship to reach the Feilie Empire."

Although Beth, Homan, and the others reached the Feilie Empire after only four months on an airship, they had traveled on a very high-end luxury airship, which was faster.

If it were an ordinary troop transport airship, the speed would be much slower, taking basically seven or eight months. Hearing this number, Aji immediately changed his tune: "I want to get a wife. I want to marry Sister Mary from the village."

Beth and the others, having only spent four months on an airship, were eager to land as soon as they saw the plane, not wanting to stay on the airship for even a moment.

This was a luxury airship, carrying only four people plus two Mourning Undead Soldiers, with extremely spacious quarters; everyone had their own independent space.

If it were a narrow and shabby troop transport airship, cramming ten or twenty men into the cabin for eight months would be a life-threatening ordeal, very likely to make people sick from suffocation.

Therefore, when a large army undertakes a long-distance expedition, they establish bridgeheads or transit stations along the way, allowing soldiers who are nearly driven mad by confinement to get off, breathe some fresh air, and rest for a while before continuing.

However, there is no very obvious difference between taking an airship for eight months straight and taking it for four two-month segments; both are equally daunting.

Even if one rests for a month every two months of travel, the mere thought of repeating the same experience seven times makes many people start crying for their mothers and fathers and begging to go home at the very first transit station.

Some new recruits, having never been on an airship, boarded with great enthusiasm, but once they wanted to get off, it became difficult.

Aji had ridden airships so often that even he and old John couldn't stand staying on one; they needed a rest stop every week. Hearing that it would take eight months to arrive, he immediately tossed Empress Feilie aside; Sister Mary from the village was far more attractive.

Old John pulled down the Mao Jin, looked at Aji in surprise, and said, "So you like Mary? You have good taste. Mary is diligent, capable, and strong; she can lift a pig and is very skilled at managing household affairs. She is a good Miss. It's a pity her husband died early, but can your small frame handle it..."

Just as he spoke, the airship's detection array suddenly flickered, causing the red lights on both sides of the airship to flash rapidly. Aji and old John looked out and saw a pitch-black airship 'whoosh' past in the void ahead.

"Just now... did something fly past?" Aji and old John exchanged glances. There was no sound in the void; if not for the constantly flashing red lights, they would have doubted whether their eyes were deceiving them.

Confirming in each other's eyes that they were not seeing things, the two moved quickly. Aji started the airship and chased after the object ahead, flashing lights as he pursued.

Meanwhile, old John quickly activated the communication array to report the situation to the rear and request assistance in intercepting the target.

Before old John could finish his report, Aji couldn't help but shout excitedly, "Too fast, too fast! What kind of airship is this? Did it take aphrodisiacs? So fast? I can barely see its taillights."

"Accelerate, accelerate! Don't let it escape," old John shouted. "There happens to be a border patrol air vehicle squadron nearby. No matter how fast it is, it can't outrun the patrol air vehicles."

"Good! Catch them, go back to claim the reward and marry the sister!" Aji shouted excitedly. "Captain, do you recognize which airship that is?"

Old John said with great confidence, "In this direction, there are only the Grand Chairman's territory and the Feilie Empire. Where would the Grand Chairman get an airship with such speed? The entire Alliance doesn't have one. It must be from the Feilie Empire. Catch it and dismantle the airship's propulsion array."

The airship ahead stopped. A group of patrol air vehicles surrounded it with great momentum, but soon bowed and scraped and scattered. They even called old John and Aji over to scold them, ordering them to treat the distinguished guests properly, then slipped away without even saying goodbye.

Old John's heart plummeted into an ice cave. The reaction of the border patrol team confirmed one thing: this airship had an incredibly powerful background. That was why they slipped away without even saying hello. Damn it, had they intercepted someone they shouldn't have?

Trembling, he crossed over to the opposite airship. He saw a small yellow dragon holding a badge and examining it repeatedly. Seeing him approach, the dragon waved: "Is it really that scary? Do you know what this is?"

Old John's legs went weak, and he fell to his knees with a thud. In a trembling voice, he said, "The... the Shenguangtong Alliance's Good... Good Friend Badge. Forgive me, forgive me, distinguished guest. I didn't know you were friends of the Alliance. Forgive me. I didn't mean to intercept you. It wasn't intentional."

"Don't panic, don't panic. You were just fulfilling your duty. We entered the Alliance's territory without announcing ourselves; your interception was perfectly normal. What is there to forgive? Stand up and speak," Nai Ge Li Si said kindly.

Old John stood up trembling, cowering with his head down, at a loss for what to do. He had never in his life seen such a distinguished figure. A friend of the Alliance? He had only heard of them before; he had never actually seen one.

Nai Ge Li Si asked curiously, "You can identify this badge? Aren't you afraid I might be using a fake to trick you?"

Nai Ge Li Si's tone made old John feel a bit more relaxed. He replied weakly, "The badge is made of purple-gold bone, which is very hard to fake. If it were a fake, I would be even more afraid. That would mean you killed a Mourning Undead Soldier, and you wouldn't mind killing another old soldier."

Purple-gold bone is hard to forge? Nai Ge Li Si's eyes darted, thinking about whether to pull out a complete Mourning skeleton to scare him, but after a moment's thought, he abandoned this mischievous idea and instead asked:

"Is this badge very powerful? You seem very afraid. Those who drove the air vehicles just now were the same; they didn't even dare to stop before running away," Nai Ge Li Si asked, puzzled.

He indeed felt that the badge had scared people. Wasn't this the Alliance Good Friend Badge? Since they are good friends, why is everyone so afraid?

Old John glanced at Nai Ge Li Si, thinking he was asking a question he already knew the answer to, but seeing Nai Ge Li Si's innocent expression, it didn't seem like he was feigning ignorance.

After a moment of hesitation, old John said, "Only the Grand Chairman can issue the Good Friend Badge. With this badge, one can request the protection of Mourning Undead Soldiers. Those Mourning Undead Soldiers are... not very easy to communicate with."

"Not very easy to communicate? Do you mean 'inhumane'? Are they very fierce? Will they kill people?" Nai Ge Li Si asked.

Old John nodded quickly.

Anthony, who was behind, leaned over and whispered a few words.

Nai Ge Li Si quickly changed the subject: "Forget it, let's not talk about that. Where is your base? Take us there to rest."

"Ah? No, no. Our base is just a small village, too shabby to host such distinguished guests. I will immediately take you to the nearest major plane, Star Fall Land," old John said urgently.

What a joke! A group of distinguished guests holding Alliance Good Friend Badges going to their tiny, broken village? If even one guest was dissatisfied, the entire village might lose their heads. Now he understood why those border patrol teams slipped away so quickly.

Nai Ge Li Si said displeasedly, "Hmph, do you know why our airship can fly so fast? Brit pushed it. You stopped us. To accelerate back to our original speed, he will have to push again. Hurry and take me to your base, or I'll call Brit over to push again."

Brit? That name sounds so familiar. Old John blinked. By the time he remembered who that name belonged to, his face turned pale in an instant.

"Please, please, please, distinguished guests, this way. No need for Lord Brit. I will call back the entire border patrol team to tow you. I promise they will tow you faster and more steadily. Please, please, do not call Lord Brit," old John said frantically.

If the Mourning Undead Soldiers are fierce, then Brit, the pure-blooded Lord of the Dead, is even more fierce. What kind of people are these? They actually have the Lord of the Dead pushing their airship for them?