The City That Took Flight

"What... is happening?!"

The boy was utterly stunned. The city blotted out the sky.

Figures kept being hurled out of it.

"Tsk, tsk."

"How pitiful. Homeless now?"

A voice abruptly sounded beside him.

The boy turned and saw a man in a long robe standing beside him. He was scrawny, with a drooping mustache and a sleazy face.

"Who are you?"

The boy asked in bewilderment.

"I am Metaverse Know-It-All. I make my living selling information."

The sleazy man studied the boy for a moment. The high-tech sphere on his shoulder performed a quick scan, and he said, "A Fusion Rate of zero? A once-in-a-millennium loser."

The boy froze, unsure how to answer.

But the sleazy man paused, and a hint of encouragement suddenly appeared in his eyes. "I'm not some brainless snob. A Fusion Rate of zero is fine. It's not as though losers have never turned their fortunes around."

"How does that saying go again?"

"Don't look down on a boy just because he's poor. Fortune may favor the other side for thirty years, but it can turn your way in minutes!"

The boy nodded blankly. "Thank you... for the encouragement."

Metaverse Know-It-All smiled. "You look pretty lost. Just arrived, haven't you? In the interest of cultivating a potential customer, I'll give you a few bits of information for free today. What do you want to know? Ask away."

"Thank you very much."

The boy asked, "Is this the Metaverse Experimental Zone?"

Metaverse Know-It-All lifted his head. "Yes."

The boy pointed toward the distant city in the sky and asked solemnly, "What is that?"

Know-It-All replied calmly, "The second-largest city in the Echo Hill region of the Metaverse Experimental Zone: the Snow City of Heavenly Light."

"What?!"

The boy was dumbstruck. "That's actually the Snow City of Heavenly Light?"

"But..."

Disbelief covered his face. "Why is it in the air?!"

A strange look appeared in Baixiaosheng's eyes. "Kid, did the fall knock you silly? That city only took off three minutes ago. Weren't you thrown out with the other residents?"

"The city took off?"

"And threw its residents out?"

The boy turned to stare at Know-It-All in disbelief.

If Hala and the others had gotten a little greedier and stayed another half hour, wouldn't they have been thrown down from midair too?

Everyone said logic was a mess in the Experimental Zone, but he hadn't expected anything this insane.

"There's nothing strange about a city taking flight."

Envy filled Baixiaosheng's eyes. "Taking off, flying, landing somewhere else—it all depends on the city lord's mood."

That's allowed too?

The boy gained a little more understanding of the Experimental Zone.

"Not every city lord can show off like that."

Know-It-All said with rapt admiration, "The lord of the Snow City of Heavenly Light has a Fusion Rate of ninety-three percent. Only five people in the entire China Mega-Sector have reached that level!"

"It's precisely that incredibly high Fusion Rate..."

"That lets him merge almost perfectly with the Experimental Zone."

"He's already reached a level we can't comprehend."

"As for how he controls the city..."

"The true elite don't reveal their secrets to ordinary people like us."

"In short, his city can fly."

Unable to comprehend it, the boy stared dazedly into the sky. "Then why is he flying his city away? Why abandon his citizens?"

Metaverse Know-It-All paused, his expression turning wistful. "He's going to fight a duel, commanding that immense city, six hundred and thirty kilometers across."

"His opponent is very powerful."

"And the Snow City of Heavenly Light might descend upon them, or perhaps... crash into them."

The boy's eyes widened as his entire worldview crumbled. "Crash into them?!"

"Yes."

Know-It-All sighed. "I can't imagine what sort of life-form could survive something on that scale."

The immense city hovered in the sky like a miracle.

A thunderous rumble rang out.

The city tilted slightly eastward, seemingly preparing to accelerate.

The boy suddenly narrowed his eyes. At the center of the city, atop a spire at least three hundred meters tall, stood an indistinct figure.

The figure stood proudly against the raging wind, radiating overwhelming authority.

He could just make out a fitted blue suit and one hand tucked into a pocket.

The boy frowned, straining his eyes for a closer look. "Why does that figure look a little familiar?"

"The lord of the Snow City of Heavenly Light is known as the Light Emperor. His full name is Mu Qingkuang!"

At this point, Know-It-All puffed out his chest with immense pride, as though speaking of his idol. "As for his real identity, don't bother asking. Out of respect for the Light Emperor, I won't disclose it."

Mu Qingkuang.

Qing...

Teacher Qing.

The boy looked up at the sky, the man's face flashing through his mind.

Rumble.

Sonic booms rang out overhead.

The immense city moved.

It thundered over the boy's head with magnificent force and vanished into the distant sky.

Faint traces of hearty, unrestrained laughter lingered in the air.

The boy was utterly dazed.

Know-It-All let out a long sigh. "I hope the Light Emperor returns victorious and adds another glorious achievement to his record. Then the Snow City of Heavenly Light can return safely to its place and become everyone's home again, just like... the dozen or so times before."

The boy stood still.

He stared at the flat, empty expanse before him.

The Snow City of Heavenly Light should have towered there.

With the city gone, the place resembled a plain, its fresh soil exposed.

In the end, he still hadn't seen the sights inside the city.

"Such an enormous city, and it didn't seem to have any thrusters..."

"It just flew away like that?"

"And the city lord is..."

The boy still found it unbelievable.

Teacher Qing's words in class flashed through his mind: "Don't worry, everyone. I've already made arrangements. Once you enter the Experimental Zone, I can guarantee your safety..."

Then Hali's words flashed through his mind: "Teacher Qing stayed in the Experimental Zone. He said something big was happening tonight!"

The boy felt numb.

On Earth, the core of the Metaverse, Teacher Qing was merely a high school teacher. He was warm, upright, and admittedly a little brash.

But the boy had never imagined that upon entering the Experimental Zone, he would become the lord of a city.

The gulf between his two identities was immense.

No wonder Hali and the others could do whatever they pleased in the Snow City of Heavenly Light.

A Fusion Rate of ninety-three percent.

Qin Yiguan didn't quite understand the concept.

But Qin Yiguan knew Teacher Qing was only seven percentage points away from one hundred percent.

Any value that reached absolute completion would undergo a qualitative change.

When that happened, would Teacher Qing merge perfectly with the Metaverse and control all its rules with a human consciousness?

The boy suddenly asked Know-It-All, "Has anyone in the Experimental Zone reached one hundred percent fusion?"

"No."

Know-It-All shook his head. "That's a legendary value. No one knows what a Fusion Rate of one hundred percent would look like."

Just then, a deafening noise came from the horizon, shattering the silence.

Qin Yiguan turned to look.

But it wasn't the Snow City of Heavenly Light returning. Countless large aircraft had appeared on the horizon, packed so densely that there might have been over ten thousand.

Boom!

A large aircraft reached the plain and dropped an enormous steel pillar several hundred meters away.

The pitch-black pillar was hundreds of meters long. It plunged into the soil, pointing straight at the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within mere dozens of seconds, steel pillars kept striking the ground, turning the area ahead into a black forest.

Then countless compact flying robots, each equipped with two mechanical arms, flew out of the enormous aircraft like swarms of mosquitoes and flies.

An incredible scene unfolded.

Using the black steel pillars as a framework, the robots rapidly assembled sections of wall, as though building with Lego bricks.

In the blink of an eye, countless towers of varying heights and numerous oddly shaped buildings took form.

More robots flew into the buildings carrying construction materials, circuitry, furniture, and other supplies, rapidly completing the interiors.

Thump, thump, thump.

A large aircraft moved along the city's streets, inserting a black pipe into the ground. Faint popping sounds came from inside it.

When the pipe withdrew, beautifully shaped trees had been planted in the ground, lush and green, as though they had always grown there.

Other robots evenly distributed numerous cubic boxes about three meters tall throughout the city.

The boxes opened on all four sides. Floor tiles made of a stone-like material unfurled and actually began paving the ground on their own.

Click, click!

The tiles snapped together, extending from the distance until they reached the boy. Seemingly detecting an obstacle, they hung in midair like a venomous snake raising its head.

Qin Yiguan froze, then silently moved a few steps to the left.

Click, click!

The stone tiles passed unhindered, paving thousands of meters of ground behind him in an instant.

Not far away.

A ground robot held a precision tube, looking as though it were blowing an enormous bubble of gum.

A moment later, the bubble took shape and cooled, its material transforming.

It actually solidified into a statue of the Venus de Milo, becoming a decorative feature beside the road.

"Holy... shit."

The boy stared blankly. In just ten minutes.

An entirely new city had appeared.

The boy turned his head. "If I remember correctly, land ownership still exists even in the Experimental Zone?"

Know-It-All rubbed his chin. "That's right. This may be a major transportation hub, but they know perfectly well this is the Light Emperor's territory, yet they're still doing this out in the open. There's more going on here... Looks like I've got some new information to gather."

The boy frowned.

He was certain that the Light Emperor was his Teacher Qing. Now it felt as though someone had broken into Teacher Qing's home to steal while he was away.

"Kid."

"Why do you look like you're about to stick your nose where it doesn't belong?"

Know-It-All sized him up again and clicked his tongue. "Here's some advice. Since you've only just arrived, get your basic gear together first."

Qin Yiguan knew that despite Baixiaosheng's sleazy appearance, he wasn't a spiteful or mean-spirited man.

He was probably giving him a deliberate warning.

The boy asked, "What do you mean?"

Just then, a metal sphere slowly rose above Baixiaosheng's shoulder. A green light shone at its center, making it seem almost sentient.

Know-It-All pointed at the mechanical sphere. "An Electronic Assistant. You can also think of it as a Personal Brain. It helps you store and record information, call people, make payments, and so on... Basically, you can't get by in the Experimental Zone without one!"

The boy stared at the little robot.

Boss Meng's secretary, the beautiful Rong Qian, had also had one of these on her shoulder.

He remembered Rong Qian using it to check his Fusion Rate.

Seeing the confusion on the boy's face, Know-It-All sighed. "Go to the Virtual Government and have them verify your identity and Nutrient Pod number. Then you can get a basic Electronic Assistant for free."

Know-It-All patted the boy's shoulder, then headed into the new city.

At that moment.

The boy scanned the pedestrians around him and finally noticed that a small metal sphere floated above everyone's shoulder.

He frowned.

Those little spheres were probably quite useful. At the very least, they served as survival guides for the Experimental Zone.

Apply at the Metaverse government?

All I need to do is give them my identity and Nutrient Pod number?

Sounds pretty simple.

But I'm unregistered.

Not only do I have no legal identity, I don't even have a Nutrient Pod!