Several hours later, in the middle of the night.
Collins stood on the city wall, watching the black dot on the horizon grow larger and larger, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
That's too fast.
That should be a small fortress, but why was it moving so fast?
Collins had been stationed here for decades and was intimately familiar with the changes in the size of the fortresses at the edge of his field of vision.
Based on my experience, it would take at least three hours for the fortress to grow from the size of a speck of dust on the horizon to the size of a fingernail.
However, the fact that he had accomplished this in just over an hour undoubtedly deepened Collins's hesitation.
Without thinking further, he put on the helmet tucked under his armpits, and a pair of sophisticated external prosthetic eyes were attached to his eyes, beginning to adjust little by little with his subtle movements.
Soon, Collins spotted the fortress in the distance. It was indeed a small fortress of the Great Labyrinth City type, and it showed signs of some modifications.
It's almost certain to be the Antasia, but...
Why are all these Blood Corpse left outside?
Collins was puzzled because he saw a dense crowd of people on the top platform of the Antasia.
After adjusting his prosthetic eye several more times, he finally saw clearly that it was a group of Blood Corpse bound to a special pedal mechanism, currently frantically outputting power to accelerate the fortress.
No wonder it can run so fast, it's been modified.
Collins was finally relieved, while Nora, the observer in the distance, also noticed the walls of Satellite City No. 42 and began to send signals to the satellite city using command flags coated with fluorescent paint, following the navigator's rules.
Collins waved his hand, and the group immediately took orders and began their operation.
As one of the satellite cities located on the west side of the Graycast Corridor, Satellite City No. 42 is the outermost defensive line of the Graycast Corridor.
Simply by opening all the city gates on the east and west sides, a large fortress could pass through the entire city unimpeded along the central axis street.
As the city gates ahead opened, the Soul Returner atop the Antasia were suddenly struck by a strange feeling:
Just like in some RPG games, where the road ahead is automatically generated as the player moves forward, this scene appeared before their eyes.
Everyone felt a surge of excitement and decided to stand up and kick.
The Antasia's power increased again, and the entire fortress seemed to be accompanied by a mournful cry as it sped along.
The fortress sped through the first city gate, and the players watched as Collins waved to them from above the city wall.
Words of blessing traveled on the wind whipped up by the speeding car and reached everyone's ears:
" Gray Grissoe, I voted for you. Good luck."
After saying his encouragement, Collins took out an exquisite mechanical timer, looked at it in the moonlight, and then Whisper:
"Four in the morning... At this speed, it seems we still won't be able to arrive at the Great Labyrinth City on time. Hopefully, you have a backup plan."
Several miles away, the two men, each wearing a long, thick prosthetic eye resembling a telescope, exchanged a glance, then turned and got into a tiny fortress, almost the size of a car, and sped off.
The two men were spies sent from satellite cities number 20 and 21, and they had been staking out this place for a whole day.
Having finally reached their target, the two immediately returned to report to their respective city lords.
After they left, a large fortress parked in the maintenance area silently started its Blood Corpse engine and began waiting for its opportunity...
An hour later, the first rays of morning sunlight shone on the upper deck of the Antasia. The players, covered in sweat, had bloodshot eyes. If it weren't for the fact that their eyeballs still looked relatively clear, they would probably be indistinguishable from Blood Corpse.
Having finally gotten a chance to get some fresh air, Gray went up to Nora on the deck and whispered, "..."
"Are we near Satellite City No. 20 now?"
Nora nodded, Gray frowned and whispered:
"At this speed, we won't reach the Great Labyrinth City before noon, will we?"
Nora nodded emphatically, then responded in a low voice:
I know, but I dare not say it.
Gray felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced back at the group of menacing Soul Returner and couldn't help but shiver.
"I'm also a little hesitant to say it."
Nora leaned closer and asked:
"What if we don't make it in time? Will they kill us?"
"Well."
Gray fell into thought, not giving a direct answer, but that was clearly an answer in itself.
But this was certainly not the answer Nora wanted. A hint of fear appeared on her face as she said:
"Say you don't know!"
"Well..."
Gray remained silent, and Nora, seeing this, asked somewhat dejectedly:
"... So, is there no good news?"
"Have."
Gray answered immediately:
"The money received at my uncle's funeral doesn't need to be returned."
"... Hearing that makes me want to jump ship..."
Before Nora could finish criticizing Gray's rubbish, she suddenly caught something out of the corner of her eye.
"Wait, where did this reconnaissance fortress come from?"
Following Nora's gaze, the two looked at a fork in the road not far ahead, where a tiny reconnaissance fortress was accelerating toward the main road.
The reconnaissance fortress is one of the common fortress types in the Graycast Corridor. It typically integrates eight to ten Blood Corpse in a very small space, but provides enough power for only one or two people to drive it. Furthermore, its outer shell is relatively thin.
This thing often appears alongside large fortresses, and its role is similar to that of a scout in the army.
Before the two could react, a grappling hook was launched from in front of the reconnaissance fortress.
"Whoosh~ Snap!"
As the grappling hook hooked onto the side of the Antasia, the reconnaissance fortress used the tightening of the grappling hook to begin a second acceleration.
The pilot of the reconnaissance fortress was astonished at how fast this small fortress could move, but then became complacent about his own superb grappling hook launching technique.
However, he didn't forget his mission. While driving with one hand, he raised a megaphone with the other and began shouting loudly:
" Gray Griss!"
If some players were too engrossed in browsing posts to hear the grappling hook's impact earlier, then now all one hundred people on the top deck heard it.
Several people immediately got off their bicycles. Some went to report to [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] and the others, while others peeked out from the edge of the guardrail at the reconnaissance fortress that had launched the grappling hook.
The driver was still shouting:
"I am an envoy from Satellite City No. 20. Our city lord heard about your invention and is very fond of it, so he would like to invite you into the city to rest. Would you be so kind as to do us this favor?"
Gray then poked his head out from behind the railing and replied:
"Okay, but not now. I have more important things to do."
The man continued shouting:
Don't worry, it won't take up too much of your time.
"As long as you stay with the city lord until noon, you can do whatever you want afterwards."