CHAPTER 170 - AIR-RIFIC HIGH-FLYING ADVEN-TOUR
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[Witness an Era-defining Event:
Go to Samsara's End Peak of the Great Western Mountain to observe the descent of the Demon Monarch.
Reward: Attack Exp]
The Attack skill was the “aiming” or “accuracy” stat that determined whether the player could hit something while the Strength skill determined how much damage the player dealt. Obviously, players were absolutely addicted to hitting big numbers and preferred to level Strength over Attack, but I wasn’t going to complain if the quest gave me exp just for watching something happen, even if it wasn’t my preferred stat.
In the game, this "descent of the Demon Monarch" event was a simple cutscene, and I thought it would be amazing to view it for real.
I quickly went to the main house and sent off letters to Shuye, Prince Baiyu, and the Commander inviting them to join me for a “viewing party recommended by my bloodline inheritance.” Then, after some thought, I also invited Lady Hoshi.
“You all should come with me!” I said to Fengying. “I mean the whole household. You wouldn’t want to miss this; it will be the show of the century, or maybe even the millennium!”
Fengying gave me a thoughtful look. “My lady, what will happen?”
“An earth-shattering event.” I gave her my best mysterious smile, but she just shook her head and left, presumably to inform the others.
Prince Baiyu arrived shortly, which was a surprise since he didn’t normally visit during the early afternoon since he had a lot of work to do.
“I need more details. What do you mean ‘bring your parents’? What should I tell them?” He sat down beside me on the loveseat I had placed in the reception room.
“Tell them my bloodline inheritance alerted me to an important event.” I used a finger to smooth out the frown lines on his forehead.
He took my hand and kissed it. “It’s not dangerous?”
“If it was dangerous, my bloodline inheritance would tell me to flee, not go and watch it.”
We held hands as we talked. He kept on asking me for additional details. I was tempted to tell him more, but I didn’t even know if the information I had from the game was accurate.
Finally, I got tired of going over the same thing over and over again.
“Just inform your parents of what I said. It’s up to them whether they want to go with us or not,” I said. “By the way, I’m bringing my whole household with me. Come, let’s pick which ship we’ll use.”
“Oh? You’re not using your regular flying ship?”
“That’s too small. I’ll be bringing all the staff, plus guests.”
We stopped at the outer courtyard where I asked Fengying to help me choose, too. She asked Deming to come with us, and when the others found out we were going to try out new ships, they asked to come, too.
“Sure, sure, let’s all go,” I said good-naturedly. There weren’t any easy entertainment options here like televisions, radio, or internet, so the natives of this world were always on the lookout for something new and exciting to experience.
The kids were extremely excited.
“Something bigger than the ship? But the ship is already huge!” said Kharli.
“Teacher, you said the Lady of the West could be coming with us? You should pick the most luxurious one,” said Lari.
“No, it should be the most comfortable one,” said Mo.
Though I knew the transportation options from Adventure Incarnate, apart from the few ships that featured in quests, players could only see the outside of the vehicles, so I didn’t know which one to use for the [Witness an Era-defining Event] quest.
Once we arrived at the wide spot on the river where we usually started our travels, I said, “Okay, let’s try this one.”
Without further ado, I took out the [Skywhale] from the Cash Shop.
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“What is that?” Lari stared up at the enormous wooden gray whale floating three feet above the water.
“It’s a [Skywhale]. Shall we go inside and check it out?” I mentally clicked on the [Board] button and a door opened on the side of the wooden whale and a gangplank with rails was automatically deployed. “I’ll go first!”
Inside, the [Skywhale] was Roman-themed and the unfurnished rooms were small but plentiful, the walls decorated with Roman frescoes of mythological scenes and pastoral landscapes. Kharli covered Mo’s eyes when we saw a forest scene of scantily clad nymphs and fauns.
“It’s spacious enough,” said Fengying. “We could add furniture and cover the more… risque decorations with curtains and it would look decent.”
“Teacher, it’s big, but I don’t think a big gray blob would impress anyone,” said Lari.
“I’m not trying to impress anyone though.” I looked up at Prince Baiyu, wordlessly asking for his opinion.
He shrugged, but I could tell from his expression that he agreed with Lari.
Scholar Wu sidled closer to me and whispered, “Are you sure you don’t want to make a great first impression on Prince Baiyu’s parents?”
“What? You guys don’t like it?” I was astonished that they seemed to dislike the [Skywhale].
“Teacher, it’s a viewing party, and there aren’t many windows,” said Kharli.
“Good point.” A lot of the rooms were windowless and there was no side deck for us to use since the [Skywhale’s] only openings were the door on its side and the eyeholes that were covered in a glass-like transparent material. “Okay, that’s fine. I have others.”
We all exited the ship and I took out the [Auspicious Elephant].
This one was a lot smaller than the [Skywhale], but it was much more flashy. Inspired by the elephant from the Moulin Rouge movie, the wooden elephant was three stories tall and was covered in bright yellow LED lights, lacy gold accents, large white pearls, and scarlet crystals. A door opened in one of its legs and we went up the gangplank. There was a lovely staircase inside the leg which we ascended while admiring the wooden elephant's intricate woodwork.
“Now this is something!” said Lari.
Prince Baiyu used his sleeve to cover his mouth when he saw the interior of the [Auspicious Elephant]. The upholstered walls were covered in rich cream leather, crimson velvet, and cloth-of-gold. Rooms were divided by bead curtains and the main bedroom looked like a messy lady-of-the-night’s boudoir.
The bedroom's centerpiece was an imposing four-poster bed, its canopy dripping with heavy silk curtains in a deep crimson hue. The sheets lay in a rumpled mess, pillows scattered carelessly across the plush duvet. Against the far wall stood an antique vanity, its polished surface a chaotic display of crystal perfume bottles, compacts adorned with precious gems, and ornate silver-backed hair brushes.
Scholar Wu said, with a wink at me and Prince Baiyu, “This flying vehicle is rather romantic, isn’t it? More fit for a wedding trip than a group outing.”
I giggled. “Maybe…”
Prince Baiyu blushed. While he was always acting flirtatious towards me when we were alone, he tended to keep his mouth shut around Scholar Wu. I suspect she sent regular reports to Prince Baiyu’s parents about us.
I pretended not to see Lari pocketing a few of the gem-encrusted compacts. His efforts were doomed since items taken out of the house or ship always disappeared after a time.
Our tour was short since the place was smaller than I expected.
“Well, this one does have a good viewing platform,” I said when we climbed up to the gold howdah on top of the elephant. “But there are too few rooms.”
Mo seated herself on the howdah’s silk cushions. “It’s so comfortable here though. The view would be great.”
“I’m afraid it wouldn’t be so comfortable with everyone in here,” said Fengying.
“Yeah, this one’s a bust again. Let’s try something else,” I said.
We descended and I once again summoned a flying vessel, the [Floating Solarium].
There were gasps all around me when they saw the floating rock topped by a giant maple tree whose roots were enclosed by a crystal dome.
“I didn’t know it would be this big,” I said.
“I have a feeling this one will do nicely,” said Prince Baiyu.
“Me, too.”
The tree in the game was only regular tree-sized, small enough for the player’s head to almost touch its lowest branches, and the solarium bit was just a glass-walled room beside the tree. The ship that I summoned, on the other hand, had a gigantic tree on top of a large floating rock and the glass-walled structure was two stories tall.
Since the vehicle was so big, instead of a gangplank the [Floating Solarium] disgorged two escalators, one going down and another going up.
“Let’s gooooooo!” I grabbed Prince Baiyu and pulled him up beside me though I was careful not to pull him onto the escalator itself. Safety was important.
We held on to the rails as we ascended with the others right behind us. The escalator brought us to a foyer that featured a grand double staircase. We discovered that the glass dome of the [Floating Solarium] had two levels. The ground floor was full of bedrooms, each with its own tiny shower and lavatory, while the level above was a large, airy open space full of hanging pots of plants and vines. There was lots of natural light since the walls and dome ceiling were made of plate glass and cast iron, though the harshness of the sunlight was filtered by the leaves of the large red maple tree.
I made a soft sound of satisfaction as we wandered around the central area around the giant red maple.
The moment Deming laid eyes on the small open-plan kitchen, he and his assistants started rummaging through the kitchen shelves and storage areas, checking for supplies.
Several areas seemed to be designed for various activities. There were small and large dining tables with chairs, assorted seating areas, a children’s playground full of toys, a library nook, and a party or picnic spot with colorful blankets spread out on the floor with plenty of cushions to sit on. I checked the library’s shelves but, alas, as usual, they only had books with blank pages.
One part of the dome was slightly elevated and when we climbed up the steps, we found ourselves in a viewing platform protected by a huge expanse of seamless glass. Sofas and chairs were grouped together, facing the view.
“Magnificent!” said Lari.
“This is the one,” said Kharli.
“I liked the elephant a lot, but this is better,” said Mo.
“This one suits you best.” Prince Baiyu squeezed my hand slightly.
“We’ll use this one then,” I said.
The [Floating Solarium’s] decor was very simple and soothing, which would help in case the Demon Monarch was scarier than I expected.