82: Chapter 82 Heading to Sky City

The earlier mood for moon watching and reflecting on the past had been completely ruined by this girl.

The two stayed quietly on the deck for a while.

The cold moonlight spilled over the boundless sea of clouds around them, reflecting a serene and vast luster.

"Let's talk business, Boss."

Luo Ning put away her playful expression, resting her hands on her sides, her fair legs swinging gently at the edge of the deck.

"Are we really going to join the fun at the center coordinate, that so-called Sky City?"

Zhou An looked at the night sky, and after a moment of silence, he spoke slowly: "Yes."

"Really going?"

Luo Ning turned her head, looking somewhat surprised.

"Didn't you hate the messy faction struggles of the big guilds the most? What's this? Suddenly figured it out and planning to go be a Vice President for City Lord Zhao Tianyu to experience life?"

"Vice President my foot, we are going to recruit people."

Zhou An scoffed.

"This two-and-a-half-month rainy season has eliminated too many under-resourced teams, but those who survived and made it to the center coordinate are definitely the elites left after the great waves washed away the sand. That place is now the largest super talent market in the entire district."

He paused, his tone becoming serious: "Our fortress is not lacking in anything, except for people. Especially a professional physician."

"Physician?"

Luo Ning was thoughtful.

"Yes. Lin Qing is pregnant now. Although she has Zhang Ming's high-level recipes to nourish her, dietary supplements cannot replace professional medical care. As the months progress, if any situation arises, we must find a full-time medical-type Awakened to keep an eye on her."

Zhou An counted on his fingers: "Not just a physician, it would be best to recruit another high-level combat specialist. Our current configuration is too lopsided. Muzi and Zhang Ming are both pure logistics; every time there is an encounter, only the two of us have to go out and fight for our lives. It's fine if we encounter small fleets, but if we really run into those overwhelming combat groups, the two of us couldn't protect such a large fortress even if we worked ourselves to death."

"That makes sense. It's time to find some powerful muscle to share the pressure."

Luo Ning nodded in agreement.

Afterward, she looked up at the familiar full moon overhead, a rare flash of melancholy in her eyes.

"Hey, Boss..."

Luo Ning's voice became soft: "Do you think, how is Earth doing now? We've been drifting in the sky for so long, sometimes I feel dazed, thinking the days back on Earth were like a dream. What were you doing before you were pulled into this crappy game? Looking at your proficiency in capitalist exploitation, you weren't some black-hearted corporate executive, were you?"

"Executive my leg."

Zhou An put his hands behind his head, looking at the moon, a self-deprecating smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"The day I was pulled in, I was just a miserable senior student. I was staying in the dormitory every day, pulling all-nighters until I was going bald to finish my graduation thesis, worrying so much I couldn't sleep, sending out resumes everywhere to find an internship."

Zhou An's eyes became incredibly distant, as if he had returned to that dormitory full of life: "Back then, the biggest worry wasn't monsters or life-and-death survival. What I worried about most every day was that the food in the second canteen had quietly gone up by five cents, and after graduation, how to rent a house, how to find a job..."

"At that time, my roommates and I were discussing that after the defense, we would go to the food stalls to drink to our heart's content and complain about the advisor who was always nitpicking our thesis format. As a result, one blink later, we arrived at this ghost place where we can't even step on the ground..."

Zhou An rambled on. Those extremely ordinary, even trivial college routines, recalled here on the cold deck ten thousand meters in the air, seemed incredibly precious and extravagant.

"A senior student... no wonder you're so stingy."

Luo Ning chuckled, hugging her knees with both hands and resting her chin on her arms.

"My life before was also quite boring. Born into a standard middle-class family, my parents were both rigid teachers, and since I was young, they implemented high-pressure discipline, forcing me to learn this and that every day. Back then, my biggest rebellion was secretly tinkering with small inventions, and I almost blew up my house."

At this point, Luo Ning's eyes dimmed a little: "Boss, do you think... they were pulled in too?"

Zhou An was silent for a while and shook his head: "Most likely not. During the first half-month when the game launched, I searched the regional channel for my parents' and roommates' names, but it's possible they went to other partitions."

"Me too."

Luo Ning echoed softly, her voice a bit dazed.

"I searched for the names of all the relatives and friends I knew, and there wasn't a single acquaintance. This shows that this traversal was not something all of humanity was swept into. The system might have randomly selected a portion of people."

"Yeah, they might still be on Earth."

Zhou An sighed, his gaze revealing a trace of complexity.

"I don't know how anxious they would be if they found out we suddenly disappeared..."

"Actually, sometimes I think, if we could go back..."

Zhou An was halfway through when he suddenly noticed it was strangely quiet. The girl who usually loved to interrupt and argue hadn't responded for a long time.

He tilted his head slightly and looked over by the bright moonlight.

Luo Ning had already curled up her legs at some point, hugging her knees with both hands, resting her chin on her arms.

Her big eyes, which usually always sparkled with light, were now tightly closed, and her long eyelashes cast two faint shadows under the moonlight.

She was asleep.

Her breathing was even and long, like a kitten that had finally let down all its defenses and fallen asleep soundly in a safe haven.

Zhou An looked at the trace of imperceptible fatigue at the corner of her eyes and smiled helplessly.

Zhou An sat up lightly, took the cashmere blanket Luo Ning had disliked earlier, carefully shook it out, and gently covered her thin shoulders.

Moonlight was like water, and the breeze blew gently.

Cloud Top Fortress was cruising quietly above the sea of clouds at an extremely gentle speed.

Nothing more was said that night.

The next morning, the first-floor central dining room.

Sunlight spilled onto the dining table through the panoramic portholes.

This was the first time in two months that the team members were enjoying breakfast in the bright morning light.

A bowl of staple food, accompanied by several dishes of exquisite mutant beast meat, gave off an aroma that made one's appetite soar.

Zhou An held his bowl, his eyes sweeping over the people at the table.

"Everyone, while everyone is here, I'll explain the next plan."

Zhou An knocked on the table and stated the decision he had discussed with Luo Ning last night: "We are planning to go to the center coordinate, which is that 'Sky City' created by City Lord Zhao Tianyu."

Before anyone could show a surprised expression, Zhou An immediately explained: "We aren't going to join them, but to recruit people. Our fortress isn't lacking in any supplies, but our personnel configuration is too lopsided. Lin Qing is pregnant, and as the months progress, we urgently need an Awakened with professional medical skills to be a full-time physician."

"Additionally, Luo Ning and I usually handle both combat and exploration, which is a bit stressful. We also need to recruit one or more high-level full-time combat specialists."

Hearing that Zhou An was specifically making this trip for her health, Lin Qing's eyes reddened with emotion: "Boss... I've really caused you trouble."

"We're family, don't talk like that."

Zhou An waved his hand and looked at the others.

"Does anyone have any objections?"

"No! We'll listen to whatever the Boss says!"

Li Muzi and Zhang Ming replied in unison. In this fortress, Zhou An's decision was the absolute truth.

"Since there are no objections, get ready to set off."

"However, for this trip, the main theme is 'quietly enter the village, don't shoot'. We will just recruit people in the peripheral talent market and leave after joining the fun."

Afterward, Zhou An gave instructions directly to the system controller. City Lord Zhao Tianyu had broadcast his coordinates to the whole district last night, so the location was very clear.

"EVA, engine at full load, speed up to 450 km/h!"

"Instruction confirmed. Main engine ignited, optical and radar top-level camouflage protocols initiated. Estimated arrival time: 6 hours and 12 minutes."

Six hours passed in a flash.

At noon, Zhou An, who was resting with his eyes closed, was awakened by EVA's prompt.

"Captain, we have arrived at the peripheral airspace of the center coordinate. A massive vehicle cluster has been detected ahead."

"Switch the external view over."

Zhou An sat up straight, and Luo Ning and the others also hurried to the cockpit upon hearing the news.

The moment the holographic screen fully presented the scene ahead, a uniform gasp sounded inside the cockpit.

"Oh my god..."

Li Muzi covered her mouth, her eyes wide open.

Even the usually quirky Luo Ning had her mouth hanging open in a daze at this moment.

Shock.

That was the only adjective.

Looking around, it was a steel jungle that was truly 'boundless'.

Thousands of spaceships and warships of various sizes and shapes were densely packed around the periphery of the central sea area. These were all small guilds and lone wolf teams that had responded to the call and rushed over from all directions regardless of the cost.

But this massive fleet was merely the background for this magnificent picture.

What really made Zhou An and the others feel their scalps tingle was the behemoth at the very center of this steel ocean.

It was a mountain.

A majestic, towering mountain, hanging upside down in mid-air in a posture that defied the laws of physics!

It seemed to have been forcibly pulled from the ground by the power of some high-dimensional deity that transcended understanding, and then inverted at this ten-thousand-meter altitude. The side of the Inverted Mountain facing upward had been shaved extremely flat, forming a vast, boundless plain.

Through the fortress's high-magnification optical detector, Zhou An could even clearly see that on that flat rock and soil, there were actually people walking! They weren't stepping on cold decks, but their feet were solidly treading on soil that carried the scent of the earth!

"No wonder City Lord Zhao Tianyu dared to make the wild claim of building a city..."

Zhou An looked at that Inverted Mountain, took a deep breath, and a trace of solemnity flashed in his eyes: "This must be the work of that 'Divine Right Gift' which is unique to the whole district. This foundation is indeed qualified to claim kingship in this sky."

As his line of sight moved down from the Inverted Mountain, Zhou An noticed the formation of the surrounding fleets. This formation reflected the strict class barriers of District 997 very intuitively.

Closely attached to the central area of the Inverted Mountain were five extremely large-scale super fleets with firepower configurations that made people shudder. From the totem flags raised on each of them, Zhou An recognized their affiliations—[Sky Engine], [Divine Realm], [Blood Blade], [Hongyan Pavilion], and [Four Seas Chamber of Commerce]... These were the top five hegemon guilds in the entire district.

They occupied the best positions, like feudal lords partitioning the land, guarding the central Inverted Mountain.

And in the airspace about a few kilometers outside the fleets of The Five Great Guilds, there was another equally large, but clearly much more disorganized joint fleet.

That was the [Lone Wolves Alliance] led by Alliance Leader Wu Feng.

"It seems that even after surviving to the end, the Lone Wolves Alliance is still not taken seriously by those top powers."

This was also normal.

The [Lone Wolves Alliance] was, frankly, just a group of lone wolves, weaklings, and troublemakers that no guild wanted at the beginning, pieced together temporarily to huddle for warmth to survive the rainy season. In the eyes of those five great guilds with deep foundations and strict discipline, Alliance Leader Wu Feng and his people were ultimately just a rabble, not worthy of sitting on equal footing with them to divide the core interests.

"EVA, decelerate. We won't join the fun in the inner circle."

Zhou An swiped his finger on the virtual screen, pointing to an area with relatively more space at the intersection of the [Lone Wolves Alliance] and the peripheral miscellaneous troops.

"Park the ship here. Muzi, Zhang Ming, guard the home."

Zhou An stood up, stretched his wrists and neck, and turned to look at Luo Ning, who was already unable to hold back.

"Let's go, let's get off the ship first. Go and investigate the situation here."