Chapter 241 (1/2)
The levitating, magic-guided vehicle, manufactured by Aerymian elves carried everyone towards the floating Dawnbreak Island. The levitating vehicle was gliding through the air several hundred metres above ground. Although it was a premium item in Aerym and was of a higher technology than anything on Earth, it was bland. It had no designs in and out, unlike private vehicles on Earth. It was built with a type of greyish-white synthetic material, pretty much monotoned in coloured. The vehicle had no ornamental patterns, no soft upholstery, and no special covering on its handles or window frames.
It was like a mass-produced, mold-injected product. While it was technologically advanced, anyone who had experienced it could tell that it was made to meet the minimum requirements to function.
Aerymian elves were slender and taller thans human but the difference was not big—at least, they were closer in height to humans than Y’zaks was. For this reason, Hao Ren and the like felt relatively comfortable inside the vehicle. Even though Y’zaks felt a bit cramped in there, it was still bearable. On both sides of the vehicle were narrow rows of window, which stretched below the seats. From them, one could see the city scenery moving past below.
At first glance, the city’s buildings looked beautiful; they had long arched lines, and were of simple but elegant structure, mimicking trees and buds in design. The architecture in Aerym was dominated by towers and various oval-shaped buildings with sleek lines, making Aerym look like a city of a thousand towers—though it was just an impression. At the same time, these elegant-looking architecture had also revealed the fact of the depletion of resources. All buildings were built from a greyish-white synthetic material—from the walls to the roofs, and even the spaces as well as roads in between these buildings were all of the same colour and dullness. They must have exhausted all their natural construction materials many years ago. Additionally, it was also not possible to mine natural materials from the foundation of the floating isle. So, Aerymian elves could only recycle materials from rubble and use it to build their homes. However, a grey city looked very depressing. To work around the problem, plants were planted in the spaces between the elven buildings, but not in large quantity. Apparently, most plants were in the eco-dome or some similar special location in order to maintain an efficient urban function. Apart from that, not much could be seen in the city.
No monuments, no street sculptures, no parks, and no other wasteful objects that were unrelated to basic survival. The whole city was built using low grade materials, and landscape details were omittted, like they were trying to lower the graphic resolution to reduce the load on their graphics card. No matter where one looked, there were only monochromatic buildings as well as straight and simple streets. The elves were living in this lifeless city like a faded slideshow.
Y’zaks stared down at the city’s landscape, in deep thought. “They’re still maintaining an orderly state of living. No matter how bad things are, they’re working hard to ensure social order, and… at least, things looks ‘normal’ from the outside.”
Hilda’s attention was not on the city below her instead, she had noticed the unconcealable anxiety in her son. “How bad is it? Is it unsustainable?”
“To live, it is still sustainable.” Vimm was a young man but his voice was deep. He fully inherited—probably every elf did—his mom’s perfect look. He was handsome yet manly. “Astrologers and magic-guidance scholars at the scene suffered serious casualty, but the test site was pretty remote, away from the major island chain. Material damage is still within an acceptable level, and supplies for the major residential zone and eco-dome are fine. We can still maintain the same living standard for quite a long period.”
“So, the problem is about faith… is it not?” Hilda knew the situation of Aerym well and that was why she had figured out the crux of the problem pretty quick. “At least you have restored social order for now. Anyway, I can still sense the lifelessness in the atmosphere.”
“The incident hit the public’s faith pretty hard, including some of the members of the assembly,” Vimm said, nodding. “The space-time accelerator is the last large-scale project of its kind that we could afford, which even with the constraint of resources, would have enabled us to find a way to travel to the deep space. But the explosion ripped the faith of many people into pieces. We still have supplies left, but they are only good for survival needs.”
While Vimm was talking, he glanced at the otherworldly visitors sitting at the back of the vehicle. His report was about the social status quo before Hilda returned. However, the appearance of these incredible visitors from outside their planet… or rather, outside their universe had totally messed with his worldview, and also his grasp on the current state of affairs. His first thought was of a new dawn, after the Aerymian elves had suffered thousands of years of embarassment. The arrival of visitors from a highly advanced civilisation, who could do interstellar travel may just be a game-changer. But at the same time, he was worried about another problem.
Would it be in time? Would they agree to help? Would they be of help at all?
Hilda’s eyes glanced at them, but she said nothing. She then turned her eyes back to Vimm. “Firstly, announce that there are otherworldly visitors, and that we have mastered the key to interstellar travel. Although the space-time accelerator failed, it is still a success in terms of our technological progression. Make the announcement; our priority is to inspire the people and restore their faith.”
Hao Ren nodded slightly but he did not make himself clear; he was still pondering about the best option and did not want to make any hasty promises. Nevertheless, he knew what Hilda said was totally within his ability. Hao Ren’s nod gave Vimm a confidence boost, and Vimm’s face began to soften up.