Star Sand Changes Its Banner

Augustus's mind raced, but his expression remained calm and composed. Inside the council chamber, the cardinals were also discussing how to deal with this unexpected situation.

Emilio and Kalila retreated to the edge of the circular hall, where a soundproof light curtain rippled out like water, separating them from the cardinals who were engaged in a heated discussion.

Behind the two, a huge religious oil painting occupied the entire wall. The painting depicted the battle in the heavens between the Creation Golden Crow and the Venomous Serpent. In the battlefield where space was torn apart, all living beings cowered under the holy wings of the golden crow, prostrating themselves in worship in a devout posture.

"[Was this painting copied by Queen Ghostly Flower?]" Kalila asked Emilio using a telepathic spell.

A slight fluctuation of Magic Power was no big deal; as diplomatic envoys, the two had no reason to communicate privately.

Emilio glanced at the scene; all the creatures were completely naked, especially their shapely, protruding buttocks, which gave off a rather indescribable feeling.

"It's most likely the Queen's masterpiece," he asserted. "No one else could have painted it like this."

Kalila adjusted her thin-rimmed glasses, subtly channeling a wisp of Magic Power into her fingertips. The hidden runes on the inside of the temples were activated, creating a faint ripple of resonance with the magic circle hidden in the giant painting before her.

It was indeed a hidden pawn left by Queen Ghostly Flower!

"[Be careful, Yise.]" Emilio said, noticing her movements. "[I don't care, but it would be troublesome if your true identity were exposed!]"

Yise nodded and began to control the device even more carefully.

She was originally from the Temple of Light, and because of her mother, Katharine, she had entered and exited the core area of New Saint Lan Cathedral multiple times. Many people here had seen her, but no one could recognize the bespectacled woman before them.

The wrinkled, clerical-looking face is now linked to that dazzling, watchful girl.

Using the painting behind her as a springboard, Yise connected to the magic circles hidden in other works by the Queen Ghostly Flower hanging in the New Saint Lan Cathedral. With her familiarity with the interior of the New Saint Lan Cathedral, she quickly moved to Janet's location—a reception room in the side wing.

As expected, Janet was having a quick conversation with the newly arrived ambassador from the Star Empire, overlooking the enormous painting "Holy Law Shines Forever".

"Was it the Wonderland Chamber of Commerce's products that caused the communications collapse?" Janet exclaimed in surprise. "Oh no! This will make the Temple of Light suspect the Star Empire's involvement in the Sacred Mountain attack!"

"This is precisely why His Majesty Xialike sent me here urgently," Ambassador Stars explained. "But we possess crucial intelligence; if we hand it over to the Temple of Light, we can clear ourselves of suspicion!"

"What intelligence?" Janet asked in surprise.

"It concerns Queen Katharine and the commoner priests of Northern Stream," Ambassador Stars replied. "We deduce that they also participated in the Sacred Mountain attack!"

The runes on the inside of Yise's glasses shimmered slightly, allowing her to hear both of their voices clearly.

[Damn it!] Yise texted Emilio beside him, [King Xialike reacted so quickly, he's already discovered my mother's collaboration with Su Ming!]

[King Xialike wants to use this intelligence as a pledge of loyalty, to prove the Star Empire's innocence in the Sacred Mountain incident?] A cold glint flashed in Emilio's eyes. [That's quite a clever countermeasure!]

In the reception room, a priest entered and announced that the Pope would summon the Stars Ambassadors together with the cardinals in the council chamber.

Yise pressed his fingers against the temple of his glasses, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw another priest walking towards them, clearly intending to ask them to leave first so that the Star Empire's ambassador could have his place.

"King Xialike, dream on!" Yise sneered.

She took a deep breath, and just a second before the priest was about to approach, she suddenly took a step forward and passed through the soundproof light barrier!

"Your Holiness the Pope! Your Highness the Cardinal!" Yise's feigned voice was somewhat hoarse, yet carried a penetrating clarity. She bowed to everyone, "I apologize for interrupting your esteemed meetings, but my King has another matter that he has specifically instructed me to report to you all in person!"

"Speak!" Augustus didn't bother with her rudeness.

"Her Highness Queen Katharine of the Star Empire has secretly established a civilian priesthood organization called Star Sand in the Northern Lands!" Yise said. "And the Star Sand organization also participated in the Sacred Mountain attack!"

The girl's words were like the first stirrings of spring, instantly silencing the entire council hall to the point of silence, as if even breathing had been frozen. Equally stunned were the Star Empire ambassador and Janet, who were just entering; their expressions shifted from bewilderment to shock, as if they had been choked.

Their pledge of loyalty, just like that, was gone?

Moreover, Katharine's identity is that of the Empress of the Stars, which makes things even more complicated for the Star Empire!

Yise bowed gracefully, then turned and left the council hall with Emilio.

"You guys have fun now!" she thought to herself with delight.

****

The massive doors of the Azure Stone hangar slid open slowly, and the members of the Dragon Guard, their muscles bulging, struggled to propel the behemoth-like H-6 WZ out.

The massive fuselage rolled over the stone-paved ground outside the hangar, leaving shallow dents in its wake, before finally being slowly pushed down the riverbank. Accompanied by the synchronized low roars of the dragons as they exerted their strength, the behemoth finally slid heavily into the calm surface of the reservoir with a "splashing" sound.

Huge ripples spread across its body. The entire aircraft was constructed of a white skeleton that gleamed with a cold light, its surface covered with intricate rune patterns. Twelve giant propeller engines were suspended from the two massive wings.

Sunlight streamed in from directly behind the aircraft, casting a long shadow on the water's surface. The skeleton and the shimmering light blended together, creating a dazzling halo.

Su Ming rubbed his stiff neck as he walked out of the hangar, stretching out with a long yawn. Several days of high-intensity equipment debugging had left him feeling exhausted.

A shadow whizzed past him—it was the Skeleton Pig controlled by Miao Xin. Its four thin, bony legs moved swiftly, heading straight for the H-6 WZ at the water's edge.

Su Ming reacted quickly, grabbing her neck.

"Su Ming!" Miao Xin said angrily, "Don't interfere with my hands-on training of this big aircraft!"

"Jisu told me yesterday," Su Ming said lazily, lifting her up. "You failed your theory exam, and you still haven't gotten your H-6 pilot's license!"

"----What right does Earth's broken license have to govern another world?" Miao Xin said as she struggled.

Su Ming didn't speak, but the hand gripping his cervical spine remained motionless.

"Fine, fine! I'll take the retest after I finish the propulsion test today, okay?" Miao Xin reluctantly compromised.

Su Ming then let go, and the Skeleton Pig darted out with a "whoosh," leaping from the tail of the plane onto the aircraft.

He flexed his wrists, intending to jump onto the plane, when suddenly his clothes were pulled hard on his shoulder.

Su Ming turned his head and met Jielusi's unfriendly eyes.

"What are you planning to do?!" the security supervisor shouted angrily.

"------I'll just see how things go," Su Ming said with a slightly guilty laugh. "Even if something happens to the plane, I can jump out in time."

"What if you don't have time to jump?!" Jielusi's voice rose, "If a thing weighing thousands of tons comes crashing down, can your shield really withstand it?"

She gestured with her chin towards the Skeleton Pig that had already disappeared into the cabin, "Anyway, that Red Pig won't die from the fall."

"Fine, fine, I won't fly then?" Su Ming raised his hands in surrender. "Then can I go up and do the pre-flight checks?"

Jielusi then released her grip.

Su Ming took a few running steps and jumped onto the loading platform at the tail of the plane, then walked along the wide underbody passage to the cockpit at the nose. The space here was spacious, with two rows of eight seats arranged in total, but at this moment only the Skeleton Pig was sitting in the driver's seat.

Su Ming sat down in the mechanic's seat in the second row, his fingers rapidly sliding across the control panel to perform a full system self-check.

****

Two logistics support ships approached the H-6 WZ was floating in the water.

One of the ships threw out a thick cable and began to slowly tow the white behemoth toward more open water;

The other vessel was positioned near the fuel filler port under the wing, with a large fuel pipe connecting it. Kerosene loaded on the vessel began to be continuously injected into the aircraft's huge fuel tank, and a faint smell of fuel filled the air.

Some ground crew members nimbly jumped onto the wide wings and began to check the engine mounts and external equipment one by one. Two crew members also entered the cockpit; they would serve as the mechanic and engineer during the flight tests.

"For the first test, only four engines will be activated," Su Ming instructed. "Activate the innermost four engines in sequence."

Numbers 3, 10, and 9.

Although the massive bone dragon's frame has been fully fused with Magic Power, its overall structural strength has not yet been tested.

Out of caution, the testing process needs to be gradually accelerated.

Moreover, today's test only involved water taxiing; the wing and fuselage skins have not yet been installed, making it impossible to generate sufficient lift for takeoff.

"Understood, Chairman!" the two crew members replied.

"20% fuel refueling complete!" came the report from the fuel team over the communicator.

"External structure inspection complete, no abnormalities found!" The ground crew inspecting the wing surface confirmed.

"Begin clearing the area!" Su Ming commanded.

"Receive."

Soon, all ground crew slid back to the support ship along the cable and quickly retreated. Inside the cockpit of the H-6 WZ, the crew members fastened their seat belts.

"Activate the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit)!" a mechanic ordered.

A sharp starting whistle came from the auxiliary power unit located at the tail of the aircraft. A few seconds later, the whistle turned into a deep whistling sound as air was drawn in, and finally stabilized into a steady "hum-hum-" sound.

"APU is functioning normally, power supply is normal!"

"Hydraulic system pressurization, fuel pump pre-positioned!"

As the hydraulic system pressure reached its operating value, Su Ming announced, "Engine start-up checklist complete. Begin starting right wing engine number 4!"

"Okay, APU bleed air connection!" A mechanic flipped the bleed air button and put the starter in the working position.

As the bleed air diversion gate actuated, the bleed air generated by the APU entered the starter motor of engine number 4. A sharp hissing sound—the sound of compressed air hitting the starter motor—was clearly heard.

"Oil pressure is rising, engine start position!"

Driven by the starter motor, the core of Engine No. 4 began to spin, and the dull idling sound quickly rose to a low growl, with the tachometer needle steadily climbing.

"30% RPM! Inject fuel, prepare for ignition!"

The fuel injector sprays a fine mist of fuel, which mixes thoroughly with the bleed air. With the ignition device firing, a soft "poof" sound is heard, and the engine combustion chamber suddenly bursts into a bright orange-red flame!

The engine speed increased rapidly, and it entered self-sustaining operation. The starter motor disengaged, and the engine's roar instantly became deep and powerful. The green rev indicator light illuminated steadily—engine number 4 started successfully!

Both crew members breathed a sigh of relief and kept the engine at 55% idle speed.

"Not bad!" Su Ming patted their shoulders approvingly.

The crew continued to start the remaining inner engines according to procedure. After confirming that everything was in order, Su Ming jumped off the plane and returned to the shore.

Before long, the four inner engines of the H-6 WZ emitted a steady roar, and the engine start-up process was completed.

Inside the cockpit, Miao Xin excitedly pushed the throttle forward. The angle of the huge propeller blades automatically switched from a small pitch to a flight position.

The turboprop engine immediately produced a sharp tearing sound, and four violent airflows were violently thrown backward, creating four deep grooves on the water's surface! The H-6 WZ's ship-shaped fuselage immediately broke through the calm water, white waves rolled to both sides, and the fuselage began to accelerate and glide.

Su Ming stood on the shore, unfolding his tablet computer to monitor the various data streams in real time. The readings were stable, and the engine output was steady.

"Good condition, start the second group of engines, number 5 and number 2!" he ordered into the communicator.

"Receive!"

On the water, the massive H-6 WZ roared powerfully, its engines spewing out even more thrust. Its ship-shaped fuselage rose high, leaving an ever-faster white trail across the wide expanse of water, like a giant skeletal dragon speeding across the surface.

****

Bubing City, the Silent Dawn Cathedral.

Katharine receives an urgent communication from Yise, completely exposing her relationship with the Final Bone Mad Machines and the existence of the "Star Sand" organization.

No one panicked at all; this was expected, and in fact, they would have revealed it on their own in a few days anyway.

"Order all branch palaces in the Northern Lands to change their banners immediately!" Katharine's voice was clear and crisp.

"Yes!"

His deputy, Ge'enda'er, quickly made the arrangements, sending out orders via a magical communication array.

In just half an hour, from the outpost church on the edge of the permafrost to the central altar of the mining town, across the vast northern border of the Cold Mountain Kingdom, the spires and bell towers of all the Temple of Light, along with the winged emblems symbolizing the covenant with the gods, were removed.

Instead, a new totem was drawn with gold thread on a deep blue background—encircling the eternal sun.

Countless tiny, dazzling Starlight of sand.

The Northern Lands Temple of Light branch, amidst the resounding bells of the Silent Dawn Cathedral, declared its independence to the continent!

In the name of "Pale New Words," the agents of the true God on earth, we, the "Star Sand," hereby declare a holy war against the "Divine Covenant Faction," which has long usurped divine grace and corrupted the light!