One Day Later (Y1010年 06月 28日)
Julius groaned a little from the pain next to his right rib. He was about to finish his review of the surplus gained from the payment the twenty states owed. It was around $480 Million Thalers ($768,000,000 USD) which was an insane amount to compute. All the debt and expenses were already paid. Hence, the surplus stationed in the treasury was waiting for Julius’ order on how to proceed with it. He stood from his seat in his public office, the Emperor’s Compound. Earlier, there were a couple of people from each department attending the meeting, and they had left minutes before. The pain was a little distracting, and he hadn’t told anyone about this symptom. Julius wasn’t sure if it was related to following his departure from Level Three.
After finishing reading the last line, he put the paper in his executive folder and strolled out of his public office. His right rib felt like someone, or something, had continuously stabbed him by the nerves. Normally, that shouldn’t be a big deal because he has a high pain tolerance, but this was something off guard. When he exited the matte black, one-story building. He stood underneath the shade of the awning. Next to him was a constructed sign, facing towards the outside. Julius briefly glared at the surface while he exited, reading in character the building’s name: “Office of the Emperor.”
He put his executive folder in his virtual inventory and leaped up into the air. Doctor or Han. Screw it, Han it is. Julius flew in the direction leading to District One. He descended and away from the plateau. Everything in the air smelled more smoke than ever before. It was still morning, as lunch hadn’t begun yet. Yinhai, they cook hella a lot. Julius went for the landing, dropping slowly as his nose braced through the smokey mist floating in the air. A gentle thump on the roof, and Julius stood upright and looked up into the air, finding this area had been covered. The source came from a few restaurants on the main street. Its chimneys exerted loads of white smoke into the sky. Strangely, it wasn’t toxic or enough to trigger a pop-up warning of counteracting negative ailments. Hence, he then dropped off from the roof, and down to the narrow pathway.
Julius was confronted by many ordinary citizens walking through the alley. They paused upon his arrival and partially bowed at him. In response, Julius bowed back before heading into Han’s office. Much to his surprise, they reacted that way. He leaned right next to the door, which was on the rightmost side of the building. Only then did he find a concrete bench, so he sat down briefly. His mind carefully listened and read everyone’s minds as they traveled through the narrow pathway as he read through some documents. Some were taken into account:
“That’s the emperor? Why does he look handsome now?”
“That can’t be. I remembered he had a rough face. Burns and a hell monster all over him.”
“Look at his clothes. No one else wears that other than him.”
“Maybe he got them fixed. I liked his old face better.”
“That’s rude. Let him choose his looks, but who knows, he could switch faces if he wanted to.”
Julius then looked up, revealing the latter’s saying to be true. He stood and showed half of his face before the transformation. They quieted but didn’t run away. Julius reverted to his present look, followed by a greeting nod, acknowledging their comments. “Take it as a gift. You are the first three strangers to know in advance, as I would tell everyone in the coming days.” He put away his documents, and the three young adults came up to him like a celebrity fan. Unfortunately, Julius was on a busy schedule, so he took three miscellaneous items from his virtual inventory, handing them three as souvenirs. All three got an expensive book and inside was hidden with a small envelope containing a day’s worth of pay. They understood without saying a word. Hence, they bowed and departed. That should do it. Julius reflected, seeing them off before turning back to Han’s building entrance.
He gently pulled the door open, causing a bell ding. It took a long while because the time stayed at Level Three. He only stepped foot into Han’s office once before entering the realm. Based on the first visit, the small lobby was under renovation, and it looked like a hoarder’s private space. Today, a cozy presentation. Julius felt like he was at an outdoor resort. A wondrous nature took its place, swarming all the natural elements in a whiff. The hard wooden floor was matched. Looking to the left, Julius noticed an expansion, appearing Han had bought the neighboring buildings on the pathway. As he toured around the new lobby, he was met by a young lady clerk. Her hair was traditionally tied, and she wore a brown cultivator robe. It was comfortable as it appeared loose and flexible around the arms and legs.
“Hello, sir. May I help you?”
“Hello, I have a meeting with your boss,” Julius said, handing out a folded paper slip. “It is supposed to be in a few minutes, if I recall correctly.”
“Great…one moment,” the lady clerk said and departed into the door behind her.
Not too long after, Julius heard rapid footsteps from behind the door and walls stumbling towards the lobby. “Julius?!”
“Yes.” Julius turned, only to find his face toasted. “You are a mess, and did you smoke something because you sounded congested?”
Han nodded, much to his displeasure. Julius grimaced at the burns he got, and the clerk came out with loads of water.
“You two come in,” Han said, directing them to follow. Hence, they marched in, arriving at a huge workshop. Then, the clerk sped up to his side and began pouring water over his head like a shower. “Thank you.” He wiped his face, groaning at the skin laceration. He coughed twice, exhaling a few smokes out of his mouth. The young lady clerk handed a cup of water, which he gulped down immediately. “Thanks again, Jing.”
Julius was amazed by the contents of the mechanical workshop, especially in this world, where technological advancements are widely inconsistent in different places. Other than the screen-only computers at the Moon Palace, this spot was the most advanced they had ever seen.
“You’ve been in that realm for a long time. Either way, how’s the place now?” Han asked, sounding better and more coherent compared to only a moment ago.
“I’m impressed. It feels close to my old place. I wondered how you even got this knowledge because I’m certain I hadn’t given you anything other than the vehicle blueprints.”
Han handed the cup to Jing after taking a second gulp of water, followed by a refill. “I’ve been around beyond two decades as an engineer. There is a lot of stuff here that the rest of the world might never have heard of before. I’m sure there are plenty you will find familiar.”
“Well, I appreciate the thought,” Julius said. His attention turned towards an empty body chassis. It was held by a mechanical chain system, keeping it stable and 180 degrees in the air. When he walked up to it, the top of the hood was right on level with his head. He raised his arm over and tapped it, hearing the sturdy steel. “So, this is the one I’ll be working on…it fits my height.”
“Yeah, I figured even the warnings you described on the blueprint weren’t enough…so I added an extra meter to it,” Han said, walking right underneath the chassis. Julius followed him, witnessing some further adjustments. “This right here next to the headlights will be where the qi water will disperse. Same with the back. There will be a whole circulation of energy from the engine and a whole parallel system of metal pipes to transfer the waste through both side ends.”
Julius’ finger gestured towards the chassis’ center. “Since this is a coupe, it will be easier to add an extra mechanical device to make it more powerful. Have you figured out the emissions that would go by each unit?”
Han bobbed his head. “Well…Safe to assume about 80 grams of carbon per kilometer.”
“That’s pretty low, and that is without the device?”
“Yep. I don’t know how your vehicles work, but this world’s qi is special. The right ones fight every negativity in sight. Here, the carbon and any potential toxic exhaust effects that are generated by the vehicle. That will take care of most things.”
“After hearing all of that, I’m surprised that technology hasn’t advanced further yet,” Julius commented before going out of the chassis. He took off his outer robe, transforming it into a basic outfit similar to his old home. A black T-shirt and loose pants with tennis shoes. “Alright, let's get this thing built.”
“How long are you going to stay here?”
“Well, how long did it take you to build your vehicle over there?”
“Uh…two weeks.”
“Then I’ll try to cut it in half,” Julius said. “Give or take, we have, like, two months before we go into a full global war. Empress Cai and Father Kang are entrusted to handle the remaining ten states, so I’ll take my productivity into building this and help you. Is that fine?”
Han looked at Jing, who silently nodded. “Alright, well, my ego just died…I’ll be happy to take your thoughts.”
Engineer’s pride. Like the old marine days. Julius smiled. “Your suggestions will also be the same.” He summoned a piece of metal and put it in his mouth, triggering a reaction. A metal mask with a mouthplate formed around his lower face, reminiscent of his old and first version. Jing came out with a spare large toolbox for Julius, who recognized her arm strength. He thanked her and went back underneath the chassis, reviewing various points. The other two departed for their duties as the day went on.
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Five Days Later (Y1010年 07月 03日)
Julius summoned a tiny cloud from his qi above his head, showering water at a consistent and slow rate. It was already past midnight, entering the third day of July. He was the only person awake as the other two were already off because, unlike him, they still needed sleep.
The construction of a custom, hand-built vehicle was such a tremendous heat. It was fortunate to have ice abilities because he would’ve been toasted again. He had commented on Han’s meeting five days ago and got a taste of it two days after. Julius didn’t react violently to it thanks to his resistance ailments. This was the third time he got hit with the combustion dilemma ever since, wondering whether it would happen again. He hoped not, because he was about to complete the key component of the engine system. Next to the unpainted chassis were the four sets of tires, one remaining piston, and various interior compartments. The internal combustion engine was also there, sitting on a comfortable platform. Because of the differences in the material here compared to Earth, the flexibility was less limited. Hence, along with Han’s suggestions, Julius could reconfigure the original engine he drafted into the blueprint into sixteen valves instead of eight. The main frame and the materials were constructed by Han many days before Julius stepped in, so there were a couple of tons of them in the storage room.
Thank the Yinhai for this metal. Julius mentally repeated. He squirted a little oil around the cylinder wall, grabbed the pliers installed with a compressor, and let it grip carefully around the piston and its rings. Gently, he lowered it into the 16th cylinder. The compressor eventually unlatches, and the piston is inserted. He aligned the connecting rod with the crankshaft journal and installed the rod cap, torquing the bolts. Once that was done, Julius tested the movement by using his kinesis, giving it a test. He rotated the crankshaft for a minute and made sure the piston moved freely without binding. When no issues erupted, he tried again, but for all sixteen. Much to his relief, no issues this time, too. He stopped and breathed a sigh of accomplishment. His fingers flicked the trailed cloud above his head away.
A valve cover was built in advance. Julius had it placed on a spare shelf, which he went right towards and grabbed. Afterward, he set it aside and installed the gasket and then moved on to the former. Next, he torqued all the bolts in and used a trace of qi to tighten it further and proceeded to do another check but for the entire engine. He used kinesis again, articulating his qi to make sure everything was secure.
Julius then took a sip of water and headed to the four stacked tires. He had the axles, driveshafts and most of the linings done. Hence, he installed each tire to the brand new rims and tightened it with new lug nuts. Before leveling the vehicle down, he pushed the moving platform with the engine directly underneath the full body. The qi raised the whole engine until it was aligned with the transmission, and quickly, Julius set up the engine mounts and bolted it right in. A different check was to make sure the transmission and various other components were all connected. The fuel lines, cords, the thin but lengthy pipes that transport the qi waste to the rear and front end of the vehicle, and all the electricals. Patching it up, he installed all the plating, shield coatings, undertray, and cradle.
Finally, Julius exited from the undercarriage and viewed his future daily driver on Planet Raal. Also, it was intended to be compatible with war settings. The exterior was complete, except for the painting. Hence, he lowered the vehicle down, hearing it landing on the ground with its new wheels. One of a kind.
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Two Hours later
“Done,” Julius muttered, exiting the driver's seat. He closed both doors and walked back to the front, admiring the complete vehicle. No secondary colors and full matte black. Two layered coatings formed into metallic armor. The icing on the cake was a thin layer of matte black paint mixed with material made by Han’s hired chemists for qi resistance and absorption, indirectly giving the vehicle more energy and fuel. The material cuts the time duration needed for it to dry.
In his pocket was a hand-crafted key Julius carved. Hence, after admiring the finished product, he returned to the vehicle. Julius inserted it into the keyhole and gave a clockwise turn. On the control panel at the center console, there were three gauge meters, various buttons, and switches. One dominant and square red button was right beneath the three gauge meters. Julius pressed it, igniting the vehicle on. The engine at the rear revved its mighty roar. In the rearview mirror, he could see a little emission exerted. The three gauge meters, along with the driver’s speedometers in front of the steering wheel, started up. One tap on the gas pedal, revving the engine. It was so loud that the whole workshop echoed, amplifying the noise. The space vibrated like a rumble.
Julius hopped out of the vehicle and went right to the garage switch, and it turned out the expansion of the lobby from the renovation was for this reason. The wall section of the lobby was a garage in disguise. Pretty clever. He thought. There were two buttons, and Julius clicked the first one. He tried clicking the second one, resulting in the lobby's section that viewed the main street opening. That was when it got strange because out of everything in Han’s place, it felt modern. Moreso, all technology in this building was more up-to-date, reminiscent of the 21st century.
Once it opened to the view of the main street of District One, Julius jogged back into his vehicle and shut the driver’s door. All three gauges displayed optimal capacity. Oil, fuel, and necessary fluids were all in. Next to the ignition button was a toggle switch. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to turn this on. Julius almost ignored it. Hence, he pushed it down, triggering another emission, pouring out plumes of clean, white smoke. When a trace of the smoke came out from the vehicle’s front, it confirmed Julius the motor was working as it intended. He took influence from one of the wheeled generators during the day he first stepped foot at Longyue. He looked at the separate gauge meter on the dashboard near the driver’s door. The meter instantly shot up to max from zero. Hence, Julius pulled the gear stick to drive, and the vehicle moved the moment his foot tapped the gas pedal.
The vehicle, well Julius’ interpretation of a supercar, exited the workshop. One tight turn to the right, and the car departed from Han’s office. Another turn to the right, which was directed to the south, away from Longyue, and headed to the roundabout. The terrain wasn’t bumpy yet, but it was going on a partial decline before arriving. Julius was going absolutely fast; about a hundred-twenty miles per hour. Hence, he arrived at the roundabout in only a minute. One heavy stomp on the brake pedal. A loud screech from the tires roared around the car. Smoke was generated from the traction as the speed abruptly went down. In two seconds, it went to a complete stop with the rearview mirror, revealing a trail the tires left behind. Bold black parallel lines are drawn across the pavement.
Julius turned back to the windshield, confronting the roundabout, so he steered the wheel to the right and drove down to the second exit, heading further south. He was heading to Longyue Central Park, and to get there, the road that passed through District Three, Four and Five was uneven. In fact, it was pretty bumpy, but an opportunity to test the suspension. Julius flicked on the high beams, accelerating the car down the way.
Thump! Thump!
He felt the continuous bumps vibrating on his feet but remained comfortable in his seat. The rest of his body was silent. It was calm and relaxing. Hence, his focus was still on track of what was ahead of him, and the car’s speed maintained a constant of over a hundred miles per hour, which was bizarre for a supercar. The suspension achieved such a result. He couldn’t hear it but could tell the springs were doing the job.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
A minute passed by, and Julius passed through District Four’s borders. Skoltor System’s numbers were popping off.
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124 MPH ↑↑↑↑
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“Oh, shit!”
Slam!
Screech!
The supercar came at an abrupt stop, much to his relief. He shallowly breathed like a maniac as his heart punched his chest. That was close. Julius muttered his thoughts while seeing two people walking across a small intersection. There was a delayed reaction because it took them a second to notice the car was a few feet away from sending them to cease. No surprise, the older girl yelped and crashed her bottom to the floor, causing the young boy behind her to check on her after he facially expressed his shock at the supercar’s presence.
Julius changed into his original scarred face and pushed the gear stick into park, getting out of the car. “What are you two doing out here this late?”
“Emperor?! No, sir. I was going to my job.”
“Ah, so you’re opening a business in the early mornings, I assume.”
The older lady nodded as the young boy helped her up.
“Who’s this guy?”
“He’s my son.”
“Great…Well, I’m sorry for that confrontation. I was testing my project for the war.”
The young boy’s eyes were staring at his supercar. Julius then opened his door and turned the headlights down to a low beam. “You like it?”
“I don’t know. It looks strange but cool,” the young boy muttered; he couldn’t get every thought out at once. “Is that a carriage with a machine?”
Julius shook his head. “No. But you are right that it is a machine. A carriage needs a horse and a driver…While this, only one driver is needed to transport wherever you need to be.”
“Will we see this soon? In the public?”
“Hmm…One day. It will happen, but I think only some will be qualified to drive one. If it gets into the wrong hands, it becomes a perfect weapon of destruction.”
“I see…Well, I hope we meet again,” the older lady said, waving.
“What’s your business name?”
“Niu’s (牛) Transport.”
“I’ll visit one day,” Julius said, waving them goodbye. He entered back into the car, closing the door. That was close. Damn, the brakes are extraordinary. What a piece of engineering. He slightly smiled, tapping on the dashboard. His face reverted to his present, and he pulled the gear stick down to drive and steered the car to the left. The supercar swarmed past the two and headed directly to Longyue Central Park.
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Four Hours Later
Vroom! Vroom!
Julius turned left into Han’s lobby as the walls lifted. The loud vroom from the engine roared the entire space, echoing the mighty power of the V16. He steered the steering wheel to the hard left, put it in park, and exited the vehicle. Unfortunately, there was no portable remote for this. Hence, he went right to the hidden three buttons that were disguised under the lobby’s nature-themed paint. One pressured click at the top button triggered the gears to lift it up.
He drove the supercar in and parked right at the empty spot. Coincidentally, Han appeared from his residence a couple of stairs above. Julius could hear him despite the loud engine.
“What the fuck?!”
Julius turned off the supercar and exited the vehicle, laughing. “Impressed?”
“Are you serious?” Han was flabbergasted. “All of this in five days?!”
“Yes…Because of the blueprints, I got it down quick, and I had experience fixing and building cars before. It was so long back, but all the wonderful memories came back,” Julius said, then gesturing to the car. “And this was the result.”
He knew that Han’s ego shattered further, much to the latter’s frustration, but he refused not to ask for help. “In that case, I need a bit of your guidance.”
“Sure. I don’t mind.”
“But first I need you to explain to me all the configurations and details about this vehicle of yours before we move on to mine.”
“So, I drove this for the past four hours down to Longyue Central Park and did all the crazy tests there. This is a hypercar, a type of supercar. It is a high-performance vehicle, and when I tested this, it went above 400 kilometers per hour. That was without the qi motor’s assistance.”
Han appeared as if his brain wanted to explode. His eyes targeted right at Julius. “That’s unbelievable!”
“Do you want me to prove it to you? I could show you around the city while in the car.”
“I’m joking…I’m joking. But seriously, that much speed within that one engine is unheard of,” Hu said while eyeing Julius’ hypercar. “And when I made you the chassis, I thought you wanted the box, sedan type you wrote on the blueprint. Right before I made one, you called with a change of mind. Why? I thought it looked unique.”
“Well, I was being too creative, thinking anything is possible…That last statement is kind of true, but anyway, I had a second thought about maybe keeping the aerodynamics in check, so I went with the curve approach at the rear. Less air resistance and less weight. Also, if you look back here…” Julius and Han went to the rear of the vehicle. “You could see how it blends well with the dual large exhaust pipes near the center.”
Han looked back and forth between the one he was building and Julius’. It won’t change his mind to make any sudden changes, but likely the next project he was going to take these factors into consideration. “Fair point. At least the front wasn’t changed.”
The two then walked to the front of the hypercar.
“I mean…I made some changes, but that wasn’t the chassis. It’s an exterior extension if I’m making sense here. I kept as much as I could from the Dodge Charger’s influence that I wrote on the blueprint’s side note, but the headlight shape had to be changed. One square into a rectangle instead. It looked more aggressive, and the lighting was better when I test-drove it hours ago.”
Han pointed to the new flat horizontal surface right at the bottom end of the car. “Is that your shield?”
“It’s not only a shield. In fact, that is also a battering ram, so in theory, you can drive this on the battlefield and ram your enemies like a bull. And the vehicle would be scattered free thanks to this piece.” Julius gave his knuckle a couple of hard taps, creating a heavy and low thud sound. “This is pretty heavy. One hit and can knock the shit out of its way in a blink.”
“Ok…ok. So, your vehicle is a V16, above 400 kph in speed, with a strange but strong structure, and can kill people. Am I missing anything?”
Julius shook his head. “Nope…One more thing is that now I know what minerals and materials exist here and what was needed to build this, so I can make more at a faster pace.”
“Faster?!” Han yelled with a slight grimace. “Come on?! Don’t do that to me.”
“What? It’s literally an engineering dream…wait. Are you being like this because I finished before you at such an incomprehensible rate? Oh, I understand now.”
Han’s grimace swiped away. “No…no…no I don’t mean it like that.”
“No, you did. It’s okay, that’s normal…Since you are an engineer, I’ll tell you. Have you tried using qi to build your projects?”
“Never.”
Julius crossed his arms. “Ok…Then how well can you control your qi?.”
“Decent.”
“What I did to finish quickly is I used qi on everything…From the chassis to the painting. Even screwing all the required bolts in gets saved a bunch of time due to implementing qi usage. You’re a cultivator now too, so you should try doing this. I can guarantee you’ll be making a lot of stuff once you implement that skill.”
“But I have never done that before.”
“That’s why I’m here. You got all the materials ready when I got here. You helped and gave me advice when I asked for these past five days. Since I’m finished, I’ll do the same. I’ll help you finish the last quarter of your vehicle and teach you qi implementation in daily life. With all of that, I think you might finish this afternoon.”
“Sure, thank you.”
Julius pulled a moving chair right under him. He sat down and rolled to Hu’s concept of a pickup truck.
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Eight Hours Later.
Vroom! Vroom vrooom!
Han sat in the driver’s seat, overjoyed by the sound of his first pickup truck running. He banged the steering wheel on the edge of his palm, expressing happiness.
“Give a couple presses on the gas pedal,” Julius said through the loud engine.
Plumes of white smoke were exerted from the pickup truck’s exhaust. It was comparatively less than Julius’ hypercar, which was probably better because the truck was a twin-turbo V8. The qi motor was implemented but at a smaller capacity. Unlike the hypercar, the truck was more focused on longer distances, transporting heavy cargo, and various other activities. It was qualified to be in war zones, but for different reasons. Hence, the goal was towards higher mileage, co-aligned with strength.
“Congratulations! See I told you.”
Han shook Julius’ hand. “Thank you.”
“Shall we both drive out?”
“Let’s do it!” Han exclaimed, then called Jing to join him. She was coming back into the workshop with more drinks. Julius told her to put one in the truck’s cup holder and saw her reaction to a cup holder was hilariously splendid. He then entered into his hypercar, leading the way out through the garage.
Sunlight seeped into the lobby as the lobby’s wall lifted. Outside, many civilians were walking on the pavement and suddenly an alien-like transportation appeared right next to them. Everyone in the vicinity stopped to witness the two vehicles exiting. Julius steered all the way to the right. He was thinking of heading back to Longyue Central Park to do more tests that now Han’s pickup truck joined. Julius reverted to his old face while gestured to anyone ahead to move out of the way. All the attention was on him and Han, more on the hypercar, because a few at least should’ve seen or heard about the truck before. Julius’ former F-150 was a restrictive tourist attraction, so it wasn’t entirely alien.
Julius doesn’t want to honk at the crowd, but they are moving extremely slowly. Yinhai. Why now?! He hovered his palm over the steering wheel’s center.
Beep!!!
“Move out of the way, lads!” Julius politely exclaimed. He gestured to others to spread out. Some were reluctant to but immediately did as he told them when they saw him through the door, realizing who it was. A few in the crowd exchanged the ones down ahead to space out.
Julius’s foot slowly pressed onto the gas pedal, accelerating the vehicle. Han did the same, maintaining a close distance. I wonder if he’s going to rear-end the car. His one eye was focused on the rearview mirror. He only told him how to articulate and drive the car, so this was his first experience. It appeared he was doing fine. To be safe, Julius didn’t want his vehicle to come to a complete stop in case things went south so that he could steer the car away. Hence, he ordered everyone to step away from the vehicle.
Fortunately, that didn’t take too much time, despite it being ten minutes. Once that was dealt with, Julius sped up and drove at a moderate speed of fifty miles per hour. Han’s pickup truck followed, and the two drove through bumpy District Three.
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Two Hours Later → Sunset
Julius took out a YYG and exhaled a mini volcano. The first one in a long time. He was standing on elevation with Jing while watching Han drive up his pickup truck after performing multiple bizarre drifts.
“I never see him having so much fun for this long,” Jing said.
“You told me that never a full day he had this much excitement.”
“Always working and working. Even when I told him multiple times to take a break, he refused to.”
“Privileges don’t deter him one bit since he stepped foot for the first time in Longyue.”
Jing grabbed Julius’ right hand and kissed it. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Not a problem, and you’ve been a ‘sister’ to him as you could. I can’t imagine if he was alone all these years.”
“He would’ve got insane sooner and it’ll be a horrific scenario to get him back…We need to keep doing stuff like this to get his mind off the rails that were placed by his traumatized youth and Emperor Cai V.”
Julius put the YYG metal pipe away. “It’s already heading in that direction, and thankfully, the world is changing together. No matter who or what lives here.”
“Are you going to put him on the battlefield?”
“I don’t know, but he’ll definitely be in more crowds than ever before. He will get used to talking to more people…And one more thing. Are you joining this war?”
Jing turned directly back at him, as if her reasoning wasn’t clear. “I told you. I’m not a cultivator.”
“You’re always welcome to join. When Empress Cai and Father Kang return from their mission, they should have new loads of men and women coming, and they’ll do the two levels of training at the Merit Universe before entering the battlefield.” Julius saw Jing’s facial expression conflicted. He didn’t want to read her mind, but he knew she had a decision to make.
“I can’t fight like you or anybody here. I’m so used to doing analysis jobs and housekeeping.”
Julius shrugged. “That doesn't matter. Take the people from South Cai Fishing Village. Most of them are only villagers living through their daily lives and fishing for the economy. Now, they want to join the war against the Renos and Kriegshan because their home was decimated by them…Like I said, the world is changing.” He summoned a paper that showed the tally marks, handing it to her. “Even here and in nearby states. The morale to join is at an all-time high.”
Jing didn’t take it but glanced over it before nudging her hand up. She sighed in a low tone. “You don’t want me to have a choice?”
“No, I’m giving you a choice to protect yourself and your ‘brother’. Embrace teamwork. At the end of the day, you and he can still stay here, and you’ll be grateful for having a degree of cultivation in your soul.”
“Can you give me a day or so to think about this?”
“Sure, take your time.”
Han parked the truck nearby, turning it off. He exited the vehicle and walked up to the two. Julius asked how it went, and Han felt more satisfied that he never felt before. “You got it down?”
“Yes, I’ll send you the performance numbers in the coming days.”
“What’s the top speed again?”
“356.7 kph.”
“Good god. Yinhai, what the hell did we build?” Han muttered. “I need a celebratory break. This was something I never thought could work.” He then immediately walked back to his pickup truck, giving a wave.
“You know the way back home, right?”
“Yeah, I know!”
Jing, perplexed, quickly bowed and ran up next to Han. Hence, Julius went into his hypercar, not fully certain if they were going to drive back without causing some collateral damage. When Han’s pickup truck drove off, he followed. On the way back, Julius prayed nothing wild happened with both grips held firmly on the steering wheel.
Even by sunset, Longyue was still busy, so there were plenty of moments of slowdown. A lot of pedestrians did free-for-all routes and directions. If Julius was considering having more vehicles on the road, that would have to mean stricter layouts of where to walk. But it was too early to decide. He will consider it if people demand it. A few of those thoughts helped him with passing time because the three were already back in District One. Finally, Han turned a hard left to his place, and Julius steered to the right, putting his hypercar to a stop. He rolled down the window and watched Han’s pickup truck entering the lobby. Jing exited the passenger’s door and waved at him before the lobby wall lowered down.
His window rolled up, and Julius drove away, heading back to the Moon Palace. The Moon Plateau Stairway went under significant modifications, forcing another name change, much to the annoyance of the mapmakers and travelers. The stairway has been wiped in preference to a flat pavement like a highway. It was three cars wide, a six-feet barrier on the exterior, and structural support changes. The binding to the plateau for support was removed, switching to tall columns.
Julius arrived at the entrance, confronted with a new sign change now called the Moon Plateau Highway. He then aggressively accelerated up the highway, letting the tires feel the new pavement. It was at least a few miles stretch since this was going up and around the plateau until a hard turn to the right. Afterward, Julius stopped the car once it touched into the region. He was confronted by pedestrians walking by with mixed reactions. On the one hand, some were like Han, amazed by another vehicle. While the rest were a little annoyed and traumatized from the day when the F-150 first arrived. Unlike in the rest of Longyue, everybody on the plateau knew what Julius was about to do, so they opened up the space of the main road leading to the Moon Palace entrance ahead.
The hypercar’s engine revved and roared, launching off. It absurdly jolted up to 150 mph. In the rearview mirror, there was huge leftovers from the smoke generated from the V16 engine. Julius had flicked on the qi motor switch, allowing the vehicle to amped up its bizarre speed. It reached over 300 mph in two seconds. The rapid excitement was short-lived because once Julius passed over the tiny stream of water that powered the rotative generator, he pressed on the brakes. The qi motor turned off, and the tire screeching noises swam along the way.
Julius involuntarily cringed at the tire screeches, wondering how severe the tiled road's cosmetic damage would be. The Moon Palace Complex’s dual door opened as the hypercar slowed down, but it entered. He gave a hard turn into a drift and shot out traces of qi, putting it to a complete stop. Smoke covered all windows, blocking all view. He exited the vehicle, exerting his qi to disperse it. His eyes saw the bold skid marks that only came from the palace’s entrance up to his spot. The guards were staring at the main road.
“Anything?!”
“Nothing, all clean!”
Julius gave a thumbs up, ordering them to close the palace’s doors. He then turned the hypercar off and closed the driver’s door. As he was about to lift it, he was met by Daiyu and Mother Elaine, who definitely saw the entire ordeal. “They haven’t returned yet?”
“No, but this is what you’ve been doing these past five days?” Mother Elaine asked.
“You like it?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to drive it.”
“Understandable.” Julius then lifted the hypercar over his shoulder as if he was holding a bag of rice. “What’s for dinner?”
“Plain Congee (白粥), Longyue Sausage Rice (龙月肠饭), roast duck (烤鸭), and there’s a couple more that I can’t get out the top of my head.”
“How many are eating with us?”
“Ten,” Daiyu said.
“Ok, great. You two go ahead while I put my vehicle parked somewhere.”