Chapter 329: Imperial Sky‑Travel Agency

An opulent automobile passed through the Hexagonal Deep Commercial District of the Earl of Glamorgan's territory.

Lei En sat in the car, his gaze passing through the glass at the bustling streets outside, skyscrapers lining both sides, traffic flowing like a river of carts, and he felt a certain sense of satisfaction.

From time to time, someone roared past on a steam motorcycle, drawing the attention of passersby.

Under Akaland's tireless promotion, in less than two months, the novel "Benz" motorcycle had already made a name for itself in Mo Du.

The reasonable price, convenient speed, and simple riding technique made the motorcycles beloved by the middle class; sharp dealers sniffed a huge business opportunity, waved golden tickets to crowd the "Benz" factory, its production line running twenty‑four hours nonstop, yet it still could not meet demand.

Lei En sought out Akaland, asking him about the source of Source Crystals, but received no satisfactory answer.

The vice‑president of the Mechanical Guild was now wholly focused on steam motorcycles, intent only on scaling up, pushing the bikes nationwide to seize this brand‑new market; after a few hurried words to Lei En, he returned to his busyness.

Akaland knew something about "Heavy Silver", but not as much as Chairman Da Lande; he owned several mines yet seldom extracted Source Crystals.

The ore had too few uses; though rare, it wasn't precious enough, its market nowhere near that of mithril‑gold.

Thus Heavy Silver received insufficient attention.

Most Heavy Silver ore was treated as an accidental find, casually sold to alchemy material shops, never forming a complete industry chain, and no one dealt specifically in Heavy Silver trade.

However, Akaland promised Lei En that, in his capacity as vice‑president of the Mechanical Guild, he would purchase any amount of Heavy Silver ore externally, and would send people to scout producing mines.

In the past half month, Lei En had already gathered a batch of ore.

After refining, he obtained roughly thirty pounds of Source Crystals, still far short of the amount he desired; this was nearly all the Source Crystal ore available on the Mo Du market.

Lei En also commissioned Mrs. Xia Lanwei, an alchemy‑jewelry‑enchantment and real‑estate magnate; all her shops opened a program to purchase Heavy Silver ore, buying any that appeared on Mo Du's market at once and delivering them to her castle.

As for news of the mines, none had been obtained yet.

Lei En could do nothing about it, but he was mentally prepared; if Source Crystals were that easy to obtain, a demigod Titan elder wouldn't be so troubled.

It was a long‑term task; trying to finish it in one go was essentially impossible.

Yet he could not passively wait for Source Crystals; he had to accelerate, not limit himself to Mo Du—no major city within the Empire could be ignored.

Beyond Mo Du lay the capital Nuosiruier and Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng.

Nuosiruier was the Naiser faction's stronghold; Lei En had few contacts there, so he dared not act overtly, only sending a trustworthy local official to discreetly visit alchemy material shops one by one, buying as much as possible.

In contrast, Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng was much safer.

This city, the Empire's second‑largest trade hub after Mo Du, lacked a Floating City or Holy Soul wizard in residence; it was the capital of the Tuld Trade City‑State, nominally an Empire vassal but highly autonomous, enforcing laws different from the Empire's, with a tangled web of city‑state power relations, thus fewer constraints.

It so happened that Lei En was preparing to purchase a batch of slaves, so he decided to go himself.

For most people traveling from Mo Du to Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng, there is no direct steam train; the first choice is a ship, the second is an expensive magical airship.

The last resort is teleportation.

Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng has a company called the Imperial Sky‑Travel Agency, which has built public teleportation arrays between several major Imperial cities; anyone can use them for a fee.

The mastermind behind this teleportation firm is actually Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng's ruler, Heistav Oro‑san.

He is a Legendary High‑rank wizard; years ago his professional rank was already nineteen, just one step from a Holy Soul wizard. Heistav's wife, Laila Oro‑san, is also a nineteen‑level wizard, reportedly stronger than her husband.

The two Legendary High‑rank wizards and ten masked lords jointly govern Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng.

Their Imperial Teleportation Travel Agency is not the only company with public teleportation arrays, but it is the most famous and covers the most cities.

In fact, within Weizelan's Floating City there are also teleportation arrays leading to other Floating Cities.

However, due to safety concerns, the Floating City is rarely opened to outsiders, and not every Holy Soul wizard is willing to let strangers easily enter their own Floating City.

So Floating City teleportation is seldom activated, and the selectable destinations are extremely limited.

Lei En rode in a car, escorted by Extreme Warriors on Kodo Beasts, traversing the Yero River to the old district opposite, and soon arrived outside the public teleportation array building.

The Earl of Glamorgan's arrival instantly drew a crowd of onlookers.

Lei En stepped out, scanned the surrounding crowd, and said, "Xikalius, you and the half‑squad with you come with me; the others take the Kodo Beasts back."

Mo Du is essentially half his own territory, protected by a Floating City overhead, so even a big commotion is no problem.

But in Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng, it's better to stay low‑key.

"Alright, boss." Xikalius immediately selected five Extreme Warriors to accompany Lei En, while the others returned the way they came, taking the Kodo Beasts with them.

The public teleportation array charges per head; a Kodo Beast counts as one, and it's not cheap.

This can save a bit of money.

Lei En entered the teleportation firm with six Extreme Warriors; its manager, already informed, greeted him with a beaming smile, speaking Imperial language with a southern accent, "Welcome, my lord; Imperial Sky‑Travel at your service. Where would you like to go, my lord?"

"Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng," Lei En replied, eyeing the other, a High‑rank wizard.

"One hundred twenty Gold Shields per person," the High‑rank wizard quoted swiftly, "My lord, shall all your subordinates be teleported as well?"

Lei En's eyelids twitched; the teleportation fee was indeed steep.

Even nobles rarely pay such a high price merely to save travel time. No wonder the teleportation business faces little competition; in such a narrow market, a single company has already gobbled up most of the share.

"All teleport."

Lei En paid with a pang of regret, thinking that next time he wouldn't pretend generosity; a magical airship would be more practical.

After collecting the money, the High‑rank wizard led the way through a corridor into a massive teleportation hall, the floor divided into a nine‑grid, each cell spanning several hundred square meters, each housing a teleportation array.

Lei En made a quick identification; each array led to a different destination.

"My lord, please step here," the wizard said.

The High‑rank wizard pointed to the central array; when Lei En and the six Extreme Warriors stepped onto it, he activated the runes, and after a whirl of sky and earth, the scene shifted to another teleportation hall.

"Welcome to Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng!" another wizard greeted with a smile.

Lei En surveyed the surroundings, noting that here there were many more arrays—twenty in total—and he had no idea where they led.

Moreover, within half a minute of his arrival, two of the arrays had already brought people over; judging by their appearance, they seemed to have come from outside the Empire.

The wizard didn't recognize Lei En, but it didn't dampen his enthusiasm: "Honored guest, if this is your first visit to Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng, we can provide corresponding services—accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, or other special requests. Whatever we can do, we guarantee your satisfaction."

His Imperial accent was not very standard, sounding a bit awkward.

Lei En shook his head, "No, thank you."

"Very well. Honored guest, should you need anything, you may return to the travel agency at any time; we will serve you wholeheartedly." The wizard escorted Lei En and his party out.

The Chuan Kong Travel Agency is situated on the flank of a modest mountain peak; standing on the steps at the entrance of the teleportation hall, what lies before the eyes is a vast and bustling city, with the commercial district at the foot of the mountain, densely populated, its crowded streets crisscrossing, and all manner of vehicles—horse‑drawn carriages and automobiles—traveling on the roads.

Looking southward, the city's buildings stretch for dozens of li until the seaside dock, where the busy port constantly sees ships coming and going, and thousands of workers unload cargo like ants.

In the sky, gryphon riders patrol.

Turning back toward the mountain summit, a palace‑sized castle spreads over a vast area, within which a tower pierces the sky; that is the castle district, the seat of the city's ruler.

A gust of sea wind blows in, the air carrying a salty, damp scent.

Lei En lets out a light breath.

This is Thus: Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng; its permanent population exceeds three million, divided into seven districts. To the north it borders the Empire's vast hinterland, to the south it faces the Golden Sea Route, and its natural advantages have made it a world‑renowned trade city.

Walking the streets of Thus: Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng, Lei En senses the city's varied character.

First, the races are mixed; although humans remain the majority, non‑human races are numerous, approaching twenty percent, including dwarves, elves, barbarians, trolls, goblins, and many rare, remote peoples, each riding a magical beast, fully armed, racing along the roads, with no one intervening.

Even among humans, appearances and skin tones differ; they are clearly not Aurien, speaking unfamiliar languages.

From Lei En's knowledge, he only recognizes the relatively common human sub‑groups: the Saref, Moro, Kapito, Jawa Sea, and Parshu peoples.

In Mo Du, many foreigners can also be seen, but only near the arena where the extraordinary gather.

And Thus: Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng as a whole is like that, resembling a great racial melting pot.

It seems that most of Ai Lun E Si's races can be found here; people are always hurrying, busy with their own affairs, and many things that would be exotic to outsiders have long ceased to surprise them.

Someone like Lei En, traveling with six towering Extreme Warriors, draws little attention.

"Boss, this city looks even livelier than Mo Du."

Xi Ka Lius said in surprise.

"That's not necessarily so," Lei En smiled dismissively.

Mo Du's population and economy are clearly a notch above, already an industrial city; its productivity considers itself second in the world, and no one dares claim to be first.

Thus: Thus: Thus: Shengangcheng is exceptionally bustling, but largely due to its geographic advantage, serving as the Empire's external trade and showcase window; however, its productivity still follows a traditional labor model. The city's area is only one‑third that of Mo Du, and with its racial diversity it appears even more prosperous.

Lei En was about to explain the productivity gap to Xi Ka Lius when he suddenly noticed several strange gazes.

At the same time a voice reached his ears, mentioning his name.

Obviously, someone recognized him.

Lei En stopped wandering, led the Extreme Warriors into an alley, used an Arcane Torrent staff to open a portal, and stepped through.

(End of Chapter)