Chapter 415: Light Outside the Sheep Dung Ball

But the next moment Ji Ming realized that if he actually said it out loud, it would really be pointless.

Because he had already seen that at the window of the airship, there was a man so tall that he needed to bend down to barely see outside through the glass.

And he, perhaps thinking no one could see him, was excited like a child, pressing his face against the window and straining to look down—the Giant Pope.

Ji Ming couldn't help laughing at the sight.

"Heh, this old geezer."

"Ah?"

Fiya beside him heard him speaking, but didn't catch what he said.

"Oh, I say what a splendid creation; being able to ride it today is truly my honor."

"I think, when I next hear a request from you all, I probably won't hesitate like this again."

By rights Ji Ming shouldn't have said such a thing, but who made one of his lifelong dreams be to ride an airship once?

He had originally thought that this balloon in the real world, for various reasons, had almost been completely eliminated by other types of aircraft; at least given his former finances and current time, it was hard to find a chance to ride one.

But before boarding the airship cabin, seeing the narrow door, the courteous attendant handed each of them a pair of earplugs and instructed that if they needed service later, they should press the magic lamp switch instead of shouting.

Ji Ming instantly recalled when trains were first invented, the wealthy who could afford this new transport liked nothing more than to excitedly shout in the face of the blowing coal smoke.

And no wonder the Giant Pope had a 1/100 scale model just now, yet it was forcibly placed in a 1/144 scale scene, creating a suffocating feeling.

——The airship cabin was almost as cramped as the hard sleeper on a green-skinned train; for this big guy it was practically torture.

Well, judging from the Pope's excited expression, it must actually be a kind of enjoyment.

After removing the earplugs, he still looked full of vigor, and he lavished praise on Fiya.

"Your Highness Prince's new mode of transport is awesome! Though it's noisy and cramped…… but for me personally, it's still more comfortable than riding a heavenly horse!"

At least I don't have to listen to its panting, as if it might run out of breath any moment and die on the spot……

The Pope's importance needs no elaboration; Fiya naturally nodded in agreement, thinking that their money and effort, their overtime, had not been wasted—this airship was a winning bet.

But after only exchanging a couple of pleasantries, the topic swung back, and the Pope pulled Ji Ming aside and spoke softly.

"Since Divine Chosen Sir intends to leave the Holy Mountain, I certainly won't stop him, and to be frank, you've really been suffering these past days—you should go out and relax a bit."

Faced with the concern of his theoretical superior, what could Ji Ming say? He could only keep up the pleasantries.

"Not a hardship; I'm just anxious like everyone else, doing my part for the Church."

"Ah, you've already done enough on your end, but just talking without practice is useless; the rest depends on how they implement it."

"Hmm, I believe everyone in the Church are reliable good people; they will certainly not let the followers of Holy Light continue to suffer!"

Pope: "Damn, how can you talk like that?"

And the next sentence from the Divine Chosen is this.

"Your Holiness Pope, forgive my frankness, but I feel you have something on your mind, as if you still want to say something to me."

"Uh, cough, haha, indeed there is!"

Just a slight sway of this towering figure, who could be called sky‑covering if he came a bit closer, made Ji Ming feel his vision shift between light and dark for a while.

"Well…… you should be able to understand, lately everyone loves listening to your lectures, and I've also received letters from various dioceses hoping I can let them send people over to organize study, or see when you have time to go there for a study trip……"

Understood, of course understood; all I can say is that our beloved Holy Light Church actually has royal wisdom too—it truly knows what "use people until they're worn out" means.

Fortunately, even though this Hui Guang Kingdom is like that, it's more like the royal court's old rival across the border, Gaul, so the Pope still speaks to Ji Ming in a negotiating tone, not directly forcing him to start a nationwide tour.

Moreover, Ji Ming thought it over and realized he really couldn't say for sure what the coming period would hold.

First, in just a week's time, that bunch of vermin and waste evil gods in the south will band together to counter‑attack the players' main base; this matter I definitely can't avoid, as the leader I must bring them well into the pit.

After that's over it'll be April, and looking ahead, May is when the princes and princesses have their annual royal assessment; if I want a win‑win I also have to join in, so I'm still somewhat tied down.

As for this April in between, without discussing whether the preceding and following events will encroach on it, how could it be that after finally making it to the Royal Capital once, I'd not just stroll around a bit, then rush off to travel all over Hui Guang, or simply go hide in seclusion on the Holy Mountain?

So Ji Ming's answer can only be.

"Let's strive for it; once I get past this busy spell, June…… or July? Sigh, rest assured—this year I'll definitely be able to come again."

June…… July……

Damn, what's the difference between this and a pigeon's coo!?

But the steps were his own idea to thrust upon Ji Ming; now that they're up there frantically sliding, the Pope can't do anything about it.

All I can do is repeat like a broken record, stressing that everyone wants to improve, they're going crazy, so the Divine Chosen's next lecture must definitely be as fast as possible.

"Hmm, okay, I guess."

Pope: ……

"Ah!"

After this life‑or‑death‑uncertain conversation ended, the Pope, feeling somewhat defeated, turned back and happened to see Fiya and the staff also gazing hopefully in this direction.

He thought it over, took it to heart, and decided to fully exploit the wisdom of the archbishop.

So, on his way back, he stopped beside Fiya, lowered his voice, and spoke sincerely.

"Then, Miss Princess, I entrust our Divine Chosen to you; please make sure he doesn't get lost in the Royal Capital!"

Fiya: "Ah?"

Exactly, it's about not losing to people in argument!

But what kind of ears does Ji Ming have? He raised his head, glanced at the slyness flashing in the Pope's eyes, and for the first time discovered that this big guy actually has a fair share of goofy humor.

"You."

He shook his head with a sigh, hands behind his back, and walked onto the airship.

It was precisely upon taking that step that Ji Ming realized what the Pope's sense of relief, mixed with excitement, meant as he twisted his body to squeeze out of the narrow door.

Ji Ming really wants to know whether the dwarves that Prince Philip found came over from Rossia.

Although the whole airship can operate normally, it seems no one ever considered the feelings of the crew and passengers.

First, the division of the cabin areas is a complete mess; various functional rooms are scattered haphazardly, and following normal operational logic to look for them, you might never find the room you want.

Moreover, the place was already cramped, and because of this chaotic design, a lot of space was simply wasted, leaving only a tiny low and short area for passengers to sit—at most a small square table could fit between two people, giving the feeling of being on a kang.

What's even more deadly is.

"Please sit tight and hold on, we're about to take off."

"Sit tight and hold on……where?"

Hearing the polite attendant's gentle reminder, Ji Ming searched the low small chair for a while but found no trace of a seatbelt or armrest.

Upon looking up, he saw Fiya gripping the nearby iron rod that should serve as a support, like a mouse clinging to a bed leg during a flood.

"Awesome!"

Since both passengers were seated, the cabin crew stopped wasting time in the Holy Light Mountains; the complex magic array in the power cabin was activated, bricks flying with tremendous force, pushing the huge airship into the sky.

Then Ji Ming realized that, for him, the biggest problem was probably not any of the above, but that his ears were overly sensitive.

Even with earplugs stuffed in, the buzzing sound that made the entire airship vibrate wildly made him feel as if he were being tortured.

However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing; at least he could use it as an excuse, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep as soon as he boarded the airship to avoid the awkwardness of sitting opposite Fiya.

He feigned sleep for several hours, and with the boss's reminder, Ji Ming, who could already control his sleep at will, woke up again.

The incessant buzzing in his ears continued, and Fiya, lacking much flight experience and being of low level, now had a face as white as if powdered.

Seeing Ji Ming wake up, she seemed to sigh in relief, glanced out the window, tore off a sheet from the notepad hanging nearby, and began to write.

When it was pushed in front of Ji Ming, there was now an extra line on it.

【Please don't rest anymore, we're already almost at the Royal Capital】

Ji Ming calculated the time and found the speed was not bad—no wonder it's magical machinery.

Looking out through the glass, Qixia City, which had previously been just a faint sketch in Ji Ming's memory, had now become a vast blanket spread across the horizon.

Unlike typical metropolises in magical otherworlds, Qixia City is not a circle divided by canals; rather, it is a massive architectural marvel winding back and forth across six waterways, and if you add all the tributaries and ponds, it is practically a city of water.

But don't think that because of the abundant water Qixia City could have the grandeur of Chang'an with its 'Eight Waters Surrounding Chang'an'; aside from the palace on high ground and the important buildings around it, which are somewhat orderly and show some defensive wisdom and regional planning, the rest of the place is simply a mess of mud.

In short, if a zombie outbreak occurred in Qixia City, Ji Ming wouldn't know how humanity could achieve victory in this enormous slum.

Not every place is a complete mess; those few neat, bright districts are clearly noble or wealthy residential areas, and even the most delicate radish flower placed on top of Indian paste wouldn't look good.

Especially since this wall is discontinuous, sometimes high, sometimes low, with many places having no connection at all...

All we can say is that the Royal Capital is just the Royal Capital; it's probably been several hundred years since any foreign barbarians have ravaged it, giving off a relaxed vibe of people sitting on the curb eating.

After all, even Sunshine City's pathetic layout, reliant on excuses, at least has its inner and outer walls still standing, right?

The architecture enthusiast furrowed his brows: "Eh..."

Even so, despite the laxness, when elementary schoolers see a Kilov flying over, they know to quickly deploy coal-ball vehicles for anti-air defense, so soon a squadron of knights took to the skies and flew toward us.

The so-called heavenly horses are not exclusive to the Holy Light Church; they are actually a specialty of this plain, so these knights' mounts are also heavenly horses, only their armor style and the banners they hold differ.

Moreover, Philip is a marketing expert; having poured so much manpower and material into finally seeing results, he wouldn't pass up such a great opportunity, so he also painted a large personal emblem on the airship.

Thus, when the townspeople saw a mysterious giant cucumber painted with Prince Philip's emblem, escorted by a squadron of heavenly horse knights slowly drifting overhead, they all erupted, craning their necks to stare intently at it.

Gazing at their curious or astonished looks, as well as panicked elders and wailing children, Ji Ming suddenly realized something seemed off.

He then glanced farther away and also grabbed the notepad to start writing.

【Is Qixia City this lively every day? I see especially many people on the streets】

Fiya took a look, looked up and smiled, then wrote a sentence underneath.

【These past few days are National Day holidays; those are people out celebrating because they have time off】

Tsk, no wonder I saw players on the forum this morning discussing forming some anti-pickpocket alliance; turns out it's the traditional art of alternate-world Paris...

Under the guidance of that knight squadron, the airship arrived at a military platform near the palace, the only place capable of accommodating such huge machinery for landing.

After landing, Ji Ming didn't rush out; instead, he first checked his appearance, making sure he didn't look like he'd just endured several hours of torture before stepping out of the cabin.

Gazing at the distant beautiful white palace, Ji Ming finally felt a bit better and drew a faint breath...

Great! It's the long-missed taste of Ke Li Si Ting!

— There are far too many horses here; the smell of horses fills my nostrils.

Moreover, as soon as he appeared, a suit of armor that was clearly clad in heavy plates yet always gave off a fragile feeling came up beside him.

Lifting the visor studded with gems and crystals revealed a man so handsome it was almost as if the word 'knight' were written on his face.

"Divine Chosen One, I am McKenning, the palace guard officer; His Majesty the King awaits you in the inner chambers!"

Walking up to Fiya, he said:

"Princess, Prince Philip is also waiting for you in the palace; please come with us!"

Following him into a carriage bearing the royal crest, Ji Ming lifted the curtain and glanced at the surrounding palace knights, only able to say that the king's men were indeed quite capable.

No wonder, in a country that claims to be the inheritor of elven aesthetics, this bunch of tin cans' gear is practically devoid of utility, with floral motifs truly carved into them.

(End of chapter)