Seeing

Once the violent shaking, the roar of taxiing, and the inertia of deceleration had completely subsided, bright lights illuminated the slightly dim cabin.

Like the silence after a commotion, like the breeze after a downpour, like the slow curtain falling on a lively stage play, the passengers in the cabin remained seated, unaware that it was all over—but soon, a calm voice rang out from inside the cabin.

I am Kang De.

The Bridge of the Starry Sky Project was a success.

Outside the porthole was a flat meadow, and in the distance, undulating, dark mountains.

That wasn't a dream, but rather the landscape across the Broken Isles, on the other side of the sea, a landscape known as Goth.

In just one hour, they traversed thousands of miles, from a perilous, desolate island to a peaceful and stable continent. The wondrous, magnificent, and awe-inspiring giant aircraft, like the giant birds of ancient mythology, carried the surviving people from a desolate place ravaged by floods and with the collapse of the world to a distant oasis.

This is definitely not an illusion.

Their peaceful life was shattered when man-eating monsters appeared everywhere. Forced to leave their tranquil home, they were rescued by a strange soldier and their "enemy," Kang De.

Transported by hot air balloon to the heavily fortified steel fortress, escorted by guards to Happy Valley, which had been converted into an airport, they then took off from the belly of a giant bird, soaring into the sky and leaping into the boundless sea of clouds.

There were no gods there, only a dark blue sky.

A moment later, sobbing could be heard from inside the cabin.

I don't know why, but I just want to cry.

Laisalin gripped Xuelier's arm tightly, her eyes brimming with tears. "Is it true, Xuelier? Are we dreaming? We flew into the sky, we landed on land, it wasn't cold up there, and there was delicious food. We got from the Broken Isles to Distant Harbor in just one hour..."

"It's real, not a dream." Xuelier glared at her. "Because my brain is reminding me that the violent pressure from your hand—the same hand that roughly and violently pulled vegetables from the soil in my childhood—is causing my slender arm to rupture extensively—let go!"

"Ahhh, I'm so sorry!"

Laisalin hurriedly let go, then carefully and gently rubbed Xuelier's arm. The gray-haired girl stared blankly out the window; in the distance, lights were flashing, and crowds of people were running—many, many people.

She glanced at it briefly before looking away.

She looked around, examining the table and chairs beneath her, the wings behind her outside the window, and the crystal panel in front of her that had briefly lit up, displaying inexplicable words, sounds, and images.

The small grille windows overhead can spray out warm and cold air.

These things...

"Xuelier, what are you thinking about?"

The girl with chestnut hair asked curiously.

"This aircraft..." Xuelier murmured, "Was it really created by the wisdom of one person?"

Her voice was too muffled, and at the same time, the crying and prayers from the rear cabin grew louder, so Laisalin didn't hear her friend's words clearly. "What?"

The gray-haired girl snapped out of her reverie and gently shook her head, "It's nothing."

"Attention passengers, the cabin door is about to open. Please line up in order when disembarking, and refrain from pushing or making a scene. Kang De Highness has instructed the Distant Harbor authorities to make preparations regarding your subsequent accommodations and destinations. You may feel uncertain and uneasy, or you may have your own ideas, but before that, please enjoy a delicious dinner and soothe your fear and fatigue with the warm hospitality of Distant Harbor."

The voice claiming to be Horus rang out coldly. "Congratulations, everyone, you are now safe."

The outer escalator has been moved and is ready to be secured.

The elven soldier serving as a flight attendant shouted, "Please disembark one group at a time as instructed! His Highness Kang De has ordered that all passengers from the Broken Isles remain where they are for the time being; the gloriously wounded and combat heroes go first!"

"Song of Evergreen crew, stand up! Prepare to disembark!"

"Passengers of the Gliding Light and Flying Shadow, stand up! Prepare to disembark!"

"Azure Fury!"

"Snowy Peak!"

"Knight Astolfo!"

The wounded in business class were helped to their feet, and the soldiers in the front of economy class followed suit. The two girls sitting in their seats turned to look, and the wounded and the "combat heroes" all blushed. Even the few elf soldiers who had been indifferent and aloof all the time had shattered their cool masks, and some were at a loss, their bodies even trembling with excitement.

The heavy cabin door slid to the side, connecting the outside world to the cabin. The sound of wind rushed in, followed by a deafening roar of cheers and applause that filled the cabin.

The volunteer team that had been waiting, the spellcaster team that was focused on their work, the patrol team, the medical team, and the logistics support team—all these teams gathered here and now came to the side of the passenger plane, facing the cabin door.

They clapped and cheered enthusiastically.

No rehearsal or applause is needed; some emotions are universal.

After the passenger plane, named "Homecoming," landed safely, the cabin door opened, and the steel bird that had been soaring through the sky was finally connected with the Mortal World. At that moment, all the preparations, the busy work, the mobilization, and the expectations all came to fruition, and the people inside and outside the plane had the same thought.

Together, they accomplished something remarkable.

This may be the first time in their lives they have experienced such a sense of accomplishment.

Before this, legends and epics belonged only to legendary kings and demigod-like heroes.

The people from the Broken Isles, still aboard the plane, looked out the windows at the crowds gathering outside, at everyone's heartfelt cheers and laughter, and a strange emotion welled up in their hearts.

Developing a liking for a person, a city, or even a country may only require a single sight, a smile, or a fleeting moment.

"Guests, you may disembark now."

After the soldiers of the Combined Fleet left the cabin, the passengers stood up in rows and, guided and directed, walked out of the cabin. The outside wind blew in their faces, and the airport was noisy. Faced with unfamiliar crowds, the guests from a foreign land showed timidity. Laisalin subconsciously grabbed her companion's hand.

She saw a huge vehicle flashing red and blue lights, its massive body, like a war beast, quietly parked not far away, its eyes shining with an awe-inspiring light. The priests carried the wounded onto trolleys that resembled food carts and pushed them toward the huge vehicle, the wounded seeming to be struggling shyly.

She saw a group of dusty, hurried monks and gentlemen carrying instruments of various sizes running towards the left tail of the plane, and she could vaguely hear their urgent shouts.

"Check the runway condition..."

"Pay attention to the landing point... is there any tearing..."

"Preparing for plastic reinforcement..."

A row of young girls were already waiting at the bottom of the escalator. They looked up at this side, their smiles showing a hint of restraint but full of goodwill. At the bottom exit on the other side, a group of men were standing.

Good afternoon, beautiful ladies.

After they carefully descended the steps, a young girl walked briskly towards them. She lifted her skirt and bowed, her left armband draped with a red armband—the same one worn by everyone waiting below.

The girl's hair was tied in a neat bun, her smile was lively, she had a few freckles on her face, and it seemed like she had applied a little pearl powder to her cheeks, making her look bright and charming.

"You can call me Airuina. I am a proud volunteer from Distant Harbor, responsible for arranging your accommodations at the temporary camp for the next few days. By order of His Highness Kang De, the Distant Harbor authorities will provide you with basic necessities free of charge for the next seven days. If you have any requests, please let me know."

She blinked. "Only reasonable requests will be fulfilled."

The two professors looked at each other, then realized what was happening and nodded in agreement.

The girl with chestnut hair was quite lively; coming from a farming family, it was in her nature. "Laisalin! You can call me Laisa, and as for this one, you can call her Xue Lily! Let me tell you beforehand, she's a weirdo, but not a bad one; she just uses her awful personality and tone to hurt people!"

"..."

The gray-haired girl glared at her companion, then nodded to her and said, "Xueli'er Cooper, former professor of theoretical magic at the Sky Academy, is a strictly self-disciplined sage who confronts this cruel and absurd world with a remarkable sense of humor. And as you can see, the one beside me is someone who occasionally reveals the pathetic and ugly jealousy inherent in being human, but isn't bad, just a bit stupid, and her figure isn't up to par, yet she's thinking of marrying..."

"--Okay, that's enough!"

Laisalin interrupted the other person with a fierce gesture.

"... Hahaha."

Airuina's smile became somewhat subtle, then she said warmly, "Shall we go then?"

Laisalin looked around. These girls, who called themselves "volunteers," were greeting passengers in batches. She could count clearly that each volunteer was responsible for twelve people, but there were only her and Xue Lily here.

"Don't worry, the two are different. I was informed in advance that because of my excellent interview performance, I'll be responsible for entertaining these two renowned scholars who will soon be working for His Highness Kang De. Hehe, what a great deal!"

She pointed into the distance. "We can still take a car, a really fast one that doesn't need oxen or horses, it's over there—let's go!"

Laisalin and Xuelier, completely bewildered by the unfamiliar surroundings, exchanged a glance and followed the lovely volunteer across the long track.

This place was newly built, everything is still very new. Shouts can be heard in the distance. Everyone is busy, busy evacuating and settling passengers, busy checking the road. The scenery around is familiar and unfamiliar. The familiar are the people, the unfamiliar are the alchemical tools. It is said that the unparalleled alchemical skills of the Dragon of Cathay are vividly displayed in this so-called airport. There are more than a dozen vehicles here with different shapes, sizes and functions.

Oh, right!

Airuina, who was skipping and hopping ahead leading the way, suddenly turned around, held up one finger, and emphasized, "There's something I need to tell you two!"

Laisalin laughed and said, "What?"

She really liked the volunteer's personality.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun and the surrounding streetlights, this lively and clean-cut girl, who clearly came from a humble background, spoke with a serious expression and solemn tone.

"I'm not a maid, I'm a volunteer, I'm a person of equal dignity, personality, and soul with the two of you—this is also what His Highness Kang De said we should emphasize to the passengers from the very beginning."

Based on the two professors' extensive teaching experience, it's clear that the girl was simply memorizing a passage, to the point that she herself didn't fully understand its meaning.

But she continued to memorize diligently.

"I am a volunteer. I voluntarily offer help to those in need to the best of my ability, giving my kindness and reaping inner satisfaction, peace of conscience, and the approval of the gods. I will also defend my dignity and not allow my noble holy deeds to be humiliated by narrow-minded prejudice. I vow to treat those I help with kindness and equality, neither disrespecting nor flattering them. His Highness Kang De will also ensure that I am treated equally with fire and sword. This agreement will be made until everyone treats each other with such kindness. This is the world we want."

She hadn't memorized it very well, spoke too quickly, and was a little nervous. After she finished, she breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously smiled. Then she noticed that the two beautiful ladies were staring at her without moving.

"W-what's wrong?"

Airuina's expression was a mixture of unease and tension, then she cautiously asked, "Do you have any objections to these words? It's best not to, okay?"

"N-nothing..."

Laisalin said softly, "I just think it's very good... very good."

"... Hmm." Airuina smiled, walking backwards to signal the two to follow, and then said, "It's a declaration we have to memorize after being chosen. I can't quite explain why it's good, but I think it's really good. The world we want is one where everyone treats each other kindly..."

She seemed to be imagining that world, a look of envy on her face, and whispered, "It's so nice."

After a moment, Xuelier, who had remained silent, said calmly, "Such a naive delusion. This is something even the gods couldn't do. The Cathayan is oversimplifying things—is he living in a honey pot? Or does he find his life too boring and want to do something challenging?"

Airuina's expression darkened. "How could you say that?"

Xuelier asked calmly, "Was there something wrong with what I said?"

Airuina thought for a moment. She wasn't sharp-tongued or eloquent enough, but she still said angrily, "It's just... it's just that I feel you're mocking Prince Kang De! You can't do that! Because you were saved by Prince Kang De! How could you mock him?"

Xuelier shook her head and said, "It's precisely because Kang De saved me that I care about his affairs and express my opinions. And this isn't an attack or ridicule of Kang De. With your intelligence, you probably don't understand that this world is a selfish, evil, stupid, and disgusting world."

She gave a mocking look and looked to the other side. "The cities and countries we live in are no different from the forest a dozen miles away. Suppose there are a hundred people in the world and a total of eighty grains of rice. If each person gets only one grain, they won't get any, while the king and nobles take sixty grains and are full, because there are only five of them."

"The remaining ninety-five people were to divide the remaining twenty grains of rice. Some people could manage to grab enough to eat to their hearts' content, some could barely eat their fill, but some would not eat enough, and some would have nothing to eat."

"Eighty percent of the evil deeds and negative emotions in this world—robbery, theft, deception, murder, greed, jealousy, selfishness, hatred—are because ninety-five people are dividing up twenty grains of food. There will always be someone who goes hungry, and someone who has to find a way to eat their fill, so they resort to robbing like wild animals."

"But the intelligence of these intelligent beings led them to devise methods more effective than force, thus giving rise to evils far more disgusting than mere plunder and robbery."

"By the way, the remaining 20% came from the five people who were already full wanting more."

Airuina was completely stunned.

Xuelier looked at the ordinary girl with a hint of pity in her eyes. "You see, this is the difference between you and me. You feel that life is hard, that mortals suffer throughout their lives, that they are born to be tortured, that something is wrong with this world, but you can't put your finger on it, and you can only be born and die in ignorance."

"But I'm much smarter than you. My intelligence is naturally far superior to yours, so I understand things better than you. Don't be angry, this isn't bragging. I don't even know if I should envy someone as foolish and confused as you, because I see the true nature of the world. This world is disgusting, twisted, and corrupt to the point of being nauseating. It's full of greed and evil, and those who hold power are morally corrupt and greedy, not righteous kings and leaders. The whole world is chaotic and disorderly. I know where the problem lies, but I'm powerless to solve it."

I'm more pitiful than you.

She walked on without stopping, passing by Airuina, and continued forward, casually saying, "As long as there are only eighty grains of food left in the world, and as long as a small group of people take the vast majority of the food, then the beautiful world that Your Highness Kang De wants to build will never be realized. Not only will it be impossible to realize, but in the process of trying to realize it, it will be torn to pieces by all the disgusting scum and degenerates in this world united together."

"Because he dared to take fifty-five grains of rice from the mouths of these five men."

"Do you know how those shining heroes and saints in the epics and plays you've heard and seen died? Some of them were greedy people who disguised their greed with lies and conspiracies, like those five, while others were fools who truly wanted to get those fifty-five grains of rice back for the ninety-five people—now you know how they died?"

As she said this, she let out a barely perceptible sigh.

Laisalin was at a loss. She glanced at her friend's retreating figure, then looked at the bewildered little girl Airuina, and stamped her foot. "Sigh! I knew it, you..."

Before she could finish speaking, Airuina turned and jogged a few steps to catch up with Xuelier, standing in front of her.

The words spoken by this scholar from the Broken Isles Sky Academy were beyond the comprehension of a mere fishing village girl from a Distant Harbor. This had nothing to do with equality; it was a crushing gap in knowledge and experience. Yet, this young woman, who had just joined the volunteer team that day, still managed to offer a counter-argument with simple wisdom.

Breathless with excitement, she asked earnestly, "Before today, did you believe that Kang De Highness Kant could use a massive alchemical flying machine to transport hundreds of people from the Broken Isles to Distant Harbor in just one hour?"

Xuelier paused for a moment, then honestly shook her head. "I do have an instinctive suspicion."

Airuina exclaimed, "And before that, His Highness Kang De single-handedly repelled the elves and ended the war. He opened the gates of the valley in the sky, letting forth waves of fragrant wheat. He made massive warships forged from steel float on the sea. If you told us these things a few months ago, none of us would have believed you, but we've seen them all, one by one!"

"I don't understand what you're saying, and I don't know if what you're saying is right, but I just feel that if His Highness Kang De decides to do something, then he will definitely succeed!"

"It's that simple!"

Xuelier stopped and stared blankly at the excited girl. She was uneducated, naive, and logically stupid—a typical ordinary person. From childhood to adulthood, she had always resisted communicating with such people, because after just three sentences, she would inevitably feel extremely uncomfortable.

But when the girl in front of me spoke these words earnestly, there was no annoying ignorance on her face.

He is completely different from those ignorant, apathetic, submissive fools I've seen before, who think they don't deserve to eat a single grain of rice.

The expression on her face was a different kind of wonderful and beautiful emotion.

Although it is still just a tender sprout.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"Alright, it seems I have another reason to stay here."

The girl said, "Let me take a look too."

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PS1: Update... Damn, I'll try again in a couple of days. This time I'll write more and save some drafts.