Chapter 714: Home (1/2)

[V7C031– In Life and In Eternal Rest]

After several days of flying through the void, the seemingly constant starry skies finally saw some changes—a continent appeared vaguely in the distance.

During his first long-distance flight, Qianye finally realized just how terrifying the void was. The space here seemed completely empty, but void storms would occur at any time and without warning. Airships without special reinforcement might very well be torn apart if they were swept into the center.

Additionally, there were small floating meteorites in the void and some of them were as fast as bullets. Once struck, they would leave deep pits on the plated armor.

The biggest threat in the void wasn’t pirates but void beasts. A chance encounter wasn’t so bad, but death was almost certain for those who accidentally charged into a nest. Red Pipe, however, was highly capable. Although the route he had picked was curved and roundabout, the ship never encountered a single void beast along the way and managed to arrive safely in the neutral lands.

The neutral lands sounded like a continent, but in fact, it was made up of many small landmasses. The largest one among them was merely the size of the floating continent on which Qianye had been fighting.

This place was a fair distance away from the other continents, almost like an abandoned corner of the world. Countless small landmasses were moving around the sun in extremely complicated orbits. Someone had once speculated that the neutral lands weren’t formed naturally; instead, they came from the breaking down of a certain planet or continent during an era preceding the fall of the Void Star. However, this speculation remained an unproven theory.

This place was far from the layered continents at the center, and hence the intense temperature fluctuations. Disaster-level storms would sweep through often, and many of the landmasses could not support any vegetation. Not to mention human habitation, even the most adaptive arachne couldn’t live very long there.

It was precisely because it was difficult to survive that neither the empire nor Evernight were interested in this place. To those who couldn’t live in either faction, however, this place was their only haven. In the very beginning, those who could arrive in this place were the most powerful people, and it just so happened that they were also the most ferocious of men. As time passed, the place became a mixture of various characters whose only purpose was to survive in the neutral lands.

Due to the rampaging storms and the complexity of the landmass orbits, traveling between the islands here was a dangerous business. Only veteran captains could complete such trips by virtue of their deep experience, and Red Pipe was one such captain. His choice was a medium-sized landmass on which existed the largest port in the neutral lands and also the first transit point for newcomers—human newcomers, that is.

As the old airship slowly approached the dock, a group of well-built men in shabby clothes swarmed over and surrounded the exit.

Red Pipe appeared at the cabin doors and waved his hand. “Go, there aren’t any goods this time. I only need a couple of people.”

The people at the docks dispersed immediately after hearing this. Only then did those standing at the back get the chance to come forward. Most of them were old people and children. There were a few middle-aged men, but they were thin, emaciated, and looked rather sickly.

Qianye and Nighteye had no luggage, and the only crate they had was packed full of frozen beast meat. On the contrary, it was the old “Great Master” who had an entire five boxes with him, all of them extremely heavy. Qianye tied three of the containers together and carried them himself, while five other people were chosen to move the rest.

Walking past the long dock, Red Pipe brought Qianye to a certain three-storeyed brick building. This was the most magnificent structure in the airship port. Its main hall was fairly wide but currently packed full of people. Clamor and chaos rushed at one’s face along with the smell of sweat and body odor, causing Qianye to frown somewhat. Nighteye, with great foresight, had long since shut off her perception.

The bearded captain took the lead and headed to the counter at the end of the hall. Whoever blocked his way he would lash at them with his whip or simply kick them out of the way. Those who were attacked would mostly scuttle to the side after seeing that red pipe in the captain’s mouth, not even daring to utter a word. Only a fierce-looking man with a face full of knife scars glared back at the captain.

Red Pipe smiled coldly and performed a cut-throat gesture at the scarred man. Those in the vicinity began crying out in excitement while the scarred man’s expression became rather unsightly.

“What does that mean?” Qianye asked someone nearby.

That person shot a glance at Qianye and said disdainfully, “You must be new? You’ll know after a while. This is a showdown challenge—those who are dissatisfied will fight to the death, and those who don’t dare can scram to the side and shut up.”

Qianye quickly realized what it was. Who would’ve thought the neutral lands pursued such an undisguised law where the strong reigned supreme.

Not daring to engage in a battle with Red Pipe, the scarred man turned and left. Those in the vicinity sighed in regret.

With the scarred man gone, those left in the hall quickly opened up a path. Countless eyes fell upon Qianye’s group, and all of them were unfriendly.

After arriving at the counter, Red Pipe tossed a gold coin onto the counter and said, “Help my friends here register.”

The man behind the counter was an elegant looking young man. He put away the money swiftly and picked up his pen, inquiring Qianye, Nighteye, and the old man about their identities. Qianye stated a random name, but the old man said his name was Cui Yuanhai. Qianye was somewhat surprised that he would use his real name.

As though he understood Qianye’s thoughts, the old man said, “I’m too old to keep running. I don’t want to go anywhere else after arriving here.”

The young man produced three bronze tokens with their names carved upon them and tossed them to Qianye. “This is your proof of identity. Naturally, it has no other major use. If you’re not willing to reveal your real identities, you can also rob a couple of tokens, no one will care. In this accursed place, anything in your hands is yours.”