The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 262

Chapter 262: The Queen’s Proclamation

 

The elves of Aerym had not seen such a strange announcement for a long time. They were familiar with the emergency calls for various disasters however, they had not received word of good news behind the order of emergency mobilisation for thousands of years. The sudden, strange news confused the one billion elves. Some of the more sensitive ones could vaguely guess that something was happening. An unknown anxiety and excitement pervaded the society of Aerym and spread to each elf. The more attentive citizens also noticed another thing: the royal area had been cordoned off and during the last few hours, the material dispatch as well as management personnel of the floating isles had been summoned to Dawnbreak Island. This had not occurred since the previous disaster mobilisation.

There was no doubt that an earth-shattering event was about to happen.

Excluding the elves in key positions, who had to work overtime, more and more elves went back home to count their personal belongings as per the bulletin’s instruction. They made contact with their friends as well as relatives and waited for further news in front of the many media terminals that could receive the royal broadcast. All the media terminals, including the screens along the city street, were rarely activated and only lit up to release important information. They were now all broadcasting the same waiting screen. The display on the screen was simple, there was only a clock, counting down time: The concept of “time” was something very vital to the society of Aerym. Any meeting had a fixed time limit. All participants, including members of the Royal Family had to make a decision within the time limit. At the end of the countdown, whether the outcome of the conference had been met or not, the results had to be publicized at the last minute of the conference. It was their unique way of doing things. The clock was timing the meeting that was being held by the Assembly of Elders. At the end of the countdown, Hilda would announce the results in person.

Finally, the countdown came to an end. A ripple flashed across the bulletin board and Hilda’s figure appeared before all the elves of Aerym.

“My people, I am your queen. I am sure that you have received an advanced notice hours ago and communicated the message to everyone in accordance with the announcement. I hope that now, every elf in Aerym is waiting in front of the information screen as required because I will now publish an extremely important message that involves each and every one of us,” said Hilda with a solemn expression. “We are going to a new home, a new world of rich resources.”

Hilda paused for a while, as if she sensed the strong anxiety and shock from every city on the floating isles; a total of one billion elves. She gave her people time to react and p repare for the next bit of information. Then, she went on, “The space-time accelerator experiment was not a complete failure. It succeeded in sending at least one person to the distant new world and that person was me. Everyone probably knows about the explosion, which happened a month ago and that I have been missing for a while. Now, I will tell you…”

Hilda’s calm and dignified voice resonated throughout the whole island chain of Aerym. All kinds of noises under each dome were hushed at this moment. Levitating cars stopped at the top of the nearest tower, and engineering machines, which were running everywhere slowly shut down. Some of the elves came out of their homes, looking puzzled and shocked. They all listened to the queen’s voice, which echoed through the dome. They looked around with a confused expression and saw that their neighbors had a similar look on their faces. The elves could not believe that the news they witnessed on their information screens at home was true so, they went outside to verify. They saw the same image on every giant display screen along the streets, with the same audio everywhere.

This was an overwhelming fact.

There was nothing superior in the “Queen’s Proclamation” or any complicated, official rhetoric. She was the ruler of her people. As such, she was now telling them about what she had experienced during her time in another world. Her delivery was calm as if she was telling a story:

“…I was sent to a new world with rich resources, and I have also met some creatures with noble souls as well as strong powers. I have been rescued by some of their members and I came back here with the help of their advanced technology to bring you this exciting news…”

More and more elves came out of their homes to listen to this incredible story on the streets. It seemed like that was the only way they could confirm with each other that what they were hearing was real. The same occurred on Dawnbreak Island, but more elves chose to gather in the open space outside the Royal Zone: the city had yet to recover from the previous disaster, and things were only beginning to return to normal. The area outside the Royal Zone was just an empty space. Some of the collapsed buildings had been cleared. At that point, these empty spaces were crowded with elves. The crowd gathered in a strange silence and whispered to each other about what was going on.

“…We have been allowed to start a new life in a new, resource-rich planet. The master of the planet has generously lent us the whole planet until we can find other new homes with our own technology. The Assembly of Elders and the representative of the Royal Political Council have just reached a consensus that the great migration of Aerym will commence in three days. The transportation fleet from higher civilisation will come to us. My dear people, you can rest assured of this great migration. It is absolutely safe and reliable. It is also the last chance for our entire race. The next step will be for each dome city to declare their independent materials and publicise a personnel registration program. The entire migration process will be carried out in batches and continue until the last elf arrives safely in our new home.”

After the announcement, Hilda handed the rest over to her son and the venerable elves from the Assembly of Elders. This highly efficient society was beginning to operate at full capacity to prepare for the upcoming great migration.

There was still much to be done. The first announcement was just a small mobilisation for the residents. The next stage was the work on the government-level: to build an inventory and integrate the resources of the whole of Aerym, then choose and classify various materials for situations they may face after the great migration. A series of temporary working groups would be formed to deal with problems faced during the great migration. There were, of course, temporary situations that needed to be addressed such as allowing the elves, who were overwhelmed by the breaking news to calm down, letting everyone believe that everything was real, and letting the confused departments heads, who were not much stronger than ordinary elves to start working as soon as possible. These were the most important things at the moment.

The Kingdom of Aerym also planned to build a team that specialized in negotiating with alien civilisations. Those long-distance drivers would be the first ever in history to have official contact with the elves of Aerym. The elves attached great importance to this matter.

Despite that, Hao Ren still felt they were just a bunch of common drivers…

After returning to the Royal Tower, Hilda soon appeared before Hao Ren. He was feeling quite awkward. “I heard your speech—that made me feel kinda awkward, what do you mean noble soul?”

Vivian was behind Hao Ren, poking his waist and saying, “Stop pretending. Just now, you were laughing like a husky.”

“There is nothing to be awkward about,” said Hilda with a smile. “I know I was exaggerating but, it will enhance the people’s confidence in this matter. You must not take it seriously.”

Hao Ren’s smiling face immediately turned into a poker face. He felt that one needed to have a strong psychological endurance when communicating with the queen. She was too frank and open.

“After this, we just have to wait for the great migration, which will happen in three days,” Hao Ren said as he rubbed his face. “Have you sent the migration documents that I gave you to the Assembly of Elders and Royal Political Council? The documents were prepared by the goddess herself. They contain all the previous accounts of the ancient species.”

“Of course. We could see the value of those documents at first glance,” said Hilda as she smiled and nodded. “Vimm almost takes it as a divine revelation. Umm, well, that is actually a divine revelation. In short, we are now organizing the material inventory committee and the medical preparation group. We are also ensuring that each group of elves will have enough health care personnel and material dispatchers during the migration, and we will get the survival system ready.”

“Well, yes, the last one is very important. Although the environment in Peatopia is very good, your people may still be unable to adapt to it, especially when it comes to diseases. This problem has taught a lot of careless races a lesson.”

“Have faith that the elves of Aerym possess miraculous medical skills, and we have very powerful life magic even without our equipment,” Hilda said and smiled proudly. “We have exceptional confidence in it.”

“Don’t be so confident,” the MDT whispered. “There were lots of races, more advanced than you, who used to explore foreign planets, and they were very well-prepared as well. They had hundreds of inspection and quarantine procedures, but in the end, they could not cope with the alien flu virus and they learned the hard way.”

“You can rest assured that I will take this matter seriously,” said Hilda solemnly.

Hao Ren nodded, but as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by a man who rushed in: It was Vimm.

“Mother,” said the young prince regent hastily, “the Lotto Group and part of the dissident groups are taking action!”

Chapter 263: Let’s Go

 

Vimm ran in hurriedly, bringing bad news. Hilda furrowed her eyebrows, but she was not surprised. “Is that so? As expected, they have finally made their move.”

“You expected it?” Hao Ren glanced at her, perplexed.

“There is bound to be differences in opinion.” Hilda shrugged. “I have the majority support from the Assembly of Elders. That is the will of the people. Some may have a different opinion and I knew that they would be opposed to this. It was just a matter of how many. What did they say, Vimm?”

“Looks like members of the Lotto Group are spreading rumours that the migration is a scam. Other dissident groups are also actively inciting the people through various channels to question the truth of the migration,” said Vimm as he glanced at Hao Ren in embarrassment. “Simply put, they do not trust the strangers, especially when things appear too good to be true—nobody is going to believe someone could be so generous that they would give out an entire planet to help a bunch of strangers.”

Hao Ren thought things would be straightforward after a decision on the migration was reached. Lotto and other dissident groups would lose influence and dissipate as the source of their crisis was solved. There would be no reason for them to linger on. However, he now realised that he was too young and too naive. Just like humans, elves were complicated, intelligent beings—they would overthink things most of the time too. The conspiracy theory spread right after the queen made her announcement. It showed how a religion could set something back. It was a silent cult among the people; even if the world fell apart, they would still be able to stir the pot some more.

But, it was not hard to understand the mind of these dissidents. Who would not question something that was too good to be true, especially if it came from a bunch of unknown alien species. While the struggling, ordinary elves were used to following the queen’s orders without question, the same could not be said of the conspiracy theorist groups—it was as though it went against their code of conduct to not bark.

Apparently, Hilda was prepared. “How much intel have you obtained on these groups?”

“Seventy percent.” Vimm nodded and said, “They have been maintaining a high-profile for the past month, so we have collected a sizeable intel. Mother, shall we issue an order of arrest?”

“No, a drastic measure will only cause more choas. They may even cook up an absurd story like ‘the queen is being mentally controlled’.” Hilda shook her head. “Leave it to Felton, it is his job to deal with such situations.”

After Vimm left, Hao Ren could not help but look at Hilda. “Need help? Looks like things have turned nasty.”

“Thank you, but it is alright. This is an internal affair, I will handle it. If my political consulting team cannot even handle a problem like this, the kingdom would be doomed.” Hilda politely declined his gesture of good will.

Vivian walked towards the window and looked down at the crowd in the square. “The impact on these people will be unspeakable. But, only three days, can you make it? For a migration of one billion people, I think more time is needed.”

Nonetheless. Hilda was confident as she said, “The Kingdom of Aerym is used to such large scale mobilisation. Three days is more than enough. Many emergency measures and departments have long been in place. As you can see, there is already instability in the society—the longer we wait, the more serious the situation will become. Hence, I need to make sure that the first batch of people arrive in the new home before more dissidents incite more people. If the first batch of migrants arrive safely, things will be easier to handle.”

Hao Ren listened and nodded inadvertently, amazed at Hilda’s resolution as well as far sight, not to mention her governing body. And honestly, what other preparations did the elves need more of? They were practically as poor as a church mouse, the amounts material and equipment they could keep were limited. They had been living on the breadline all this time. Wherever they went, they went with nothing but a carry-on-bag.

Hilda did not stay in the Royal Steeple for long. She was called to the council and went from meeting to meeting. Hilda and her council would be working the longest overtime in Aerym’s history. The entire government shifted into overdrive—there was to be no rest for the next three days, not even a minute.

In the following three days, Hao Ren witnessed the mind-blowing efficiency of the elves.

It was a unique civilisation where even three-year-olds were required to join the constant disaster drill. The word “emergency” was hard-coded into their minds. Just as Hilda said, they kept stock of their materials down to the last three decimals; they managed their equipment by dividing them into different priorities and categories without needing to take stock. Their warehouses were divided into different levels of importance, and their citizens were accustomed to keeping their stuff according to categories of “living necessity”, “emergency portability” and “disposability”. Such a race did not need another special drill.

Thanks to the expired equipment on the floating isles, Aerymian elves had been on constant “emergency evacuation mode” for the past 1,000 years. When a floating isle gave way, they had no time for preparation. The millions of elves living under the dome had to evacuate to another isle within 24 hours. In this case, Hilda was giving them three days. It was a leniency for the Aerymians and city government.

On day one, reports on material stock and the population were received from all the domed cities. On day two, a temporary migration committee under the Assembly of Logisticians was tasked to determine the total resources of all domed cities and redistribute them to the entire population. All factories on the floating isles began to work overtime to dismantle their plant and machinery as they were going to transfer a sizable amount of equipment to their new home. This was to ensure that they could gain a footing as quickly as possble. Also taken into consideration, was the susceptibility of a social meltdown after the migration. The first thing that needed to be done was to restore governance. Thus, they would need to bring enough telecommunications equipment and ensure enough government personnel were present in every batch of migrants. Hao Ren had passed on the migration experiences he received from Raven 12345 to Hilda and her Assembly of Elders. The experiences were essential, and the migration was not just a rescue operation but, a test for the Aerymian civilisation.

If the government was not capable enough, the one billion migrants would become refugees. Their social order and ability to redevelop had to stand the test or else, chaos would ensue for several years or even decades. Raven 12345 told Hao Ren about one particular case in point: a particular race broke up into 18 factions as unrest bugged their society after migration. The situation was as explosive as it could get. It was said that the inspector-in-charge was slapped with a two-month incentive forfeiture.

Hao Ren was feeling lucky; he was not worried about having his bonus forfeited because he had not received a dime so far.

When would he grow wiser?

Nevertheless, Hilda and her council should be more than capable in handling the situation, Hao Ren thought.

Hao Ren had contacted the captain of 883 the day Hilda made her announcement. The 883 captain assured him that there was nothing to be worried about as everything was going smoothly. According to him, a group of honest and reliable veteran captains, who were acquaintances of his had volunteered immediately after they heard somebody needed help; they were inspired and excited. They were so passionate that they almost threw their cargo out into space to go over there at once. In all honesty, Hao Ren believed what the 883 captain said—almost.

Three days had passed as everyone busily prepared. The big day finally arrived.

The Aerymian island chain was still orbiting the lonely star. A strange sense of nervousness had filled the city under the dome. The migration fleet was scheduled to arrive today. But they were not sure if it was an incredible reality or just a hoax. However, they would soon find out.

Countless elves gathered in the Royal District square on Dawnbreak Island, waiting eagerly. Hilda and her officials were standing on the platform outside the wall. There was no need for any motivational speech. Everyone was holding their breath. Hao Ren stood beside Hilda, looking down at the crowd beneath his feet, sweating; he could feel that their stares were not directed at Hilda, but him. He forced himself to act natural. “They should be here any moment.”

“They will be visible when they arrive above the dome,” Hilda said expectantly. “It will be breathtaking.”

“That I’m not sure but, it will certainly be multifarious,” said Hao Ren, twitching his mouth. “They’re just an eclectic bunch, who make up a loosely organised fleet. They are the first private transportation and illegal fleet deployed under my approval. Oh wait, let me call them.”

Hao Ren had the MDT contact the 883 captain. “Are you here yet?” asked Hao Ren.

The 883 captain replied with a loud and coarse voice, “Almost there. We ran into a little issue with the customs just now; some retarded newbie left behind a piece of military equipment during unloading. We were almost detained by the automatic warning aircraft. We’re almost there. One minute before escape from hyperspace. I got to go, there’s interference.”

Hao Ren turned to Hilda, shrugging as he said, “Almost here.”

A moment later, the cruiser fleet outside the dome dialed in. The message was broadcasted all over the city—purportedly to cause excitement. “An unknown energy field has been detected at the edge of the island chain. It’s an incredible spatial phenomenon! The fleet is coming! The fleet is indeed coming!”

The square fell into a deafening silence for a few seconds. Then, excitement. It was almost hysterical.

Commissioned by Hao Ren, formed by the 883 captain, the migration fleet of sixes and sevens constituted an army of privately-owned, long-distance, charter transport. They were arriving at the destitute region of the universe. The approaching signal guided the first spacecraft outside Dawnbreak Island while patrol vessels transmitted images throughout the city. The image of the majestic spaceship appeared in the jumbo-sized displays all over the domed city. Emotions in the square almost reached a boiling point.

The first spacecraft that appeared was not 883; it was a large, privately-owned, bright yellow, triangular-shaped passenger spaceship from an unknown civilisation sphere. Hao Ren could see newly-painted Aerymian words at the side of the ship. The words read: “Welcome onboard, Aerymian elves! Star Voyager is the ultimate choice for your holiday travel!”

A second spacecraft appeared above the island chain as a patrol vessel streamed the image unto the ground. The spacecraft had an even bigger line of slogan: “Interstellar Cargo Delivery Service. Fast and Efficient. The Supreme Choice.”

A third spacecraft followed closely behind the second one as it emerged amid a flash of light from the hyperspace. This one had the most outrageous paint job. It covered both sides of the fuselage: “Moving? Call Xunda! Xunda Interstellar Travel. Elite Class at an Affordable Price! A New Generation of Hyperdrive, Eco-Technology from the Empire, the f*cking ‘Professionally-Trained’ phrase was too big to fit in here.”

Watching the live broadcast, cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Hao Ren gave Hilda a little nudge. “Could you stop the live streaming?”

Hilda was no less embarrassed. “It is too late. A billion people are watching now!”

Meanwhile, the 883 vessel finally arrived. As it appeared on the screen, Hao Ren almost fainted; the entire fuselage of 883 was covered with advertisement slogans in illuminative banners, which read, “883, An Expert and Household Name in Transportation. Dual-Use, Fast and Professional, Imperial Business Partner. Your Forever First-Choice! We Look Forward to Your Second Visit and Serve You The Best As We Can!”

Four faceted, each line was three kilometres long and illuminated; the blinking slogan words were blindingly bright in space. You would not have found any vessel advertisement bigger than this in the entire solar system…

Hao Ren turned his head around. There was a group of uniformed elves behind Hao Ren and Hilda. They were Hilda’s most trusted officials. These “diplomats”, who had been preparing themselves mentally for the past three days, now possessed an almost epic sense of pride. These diligent and respectable elves were in full anticipation, prepared to usher in close encounters of the third kind. But, little did they expect to see a bunch of unscrupulous illegal tranporters…

Probably not entirely illegal, after all, this was approved by Hao Ren—sanctioned illegal tranporters, perhaps.

“This is exactly why I said such a reception ceremony was not necessary.” Hao Ren sighed. “These are not the serious bunch of guys you’ve been expecting. Even people like me and the one (Lily) squatting on the floor could be commander chief secretary of the migration operation respectively. So, do you think this diplomatic convoy here is neccesary?”

However, Vimm was the one who formed the diplomatic convoy—he was a diehard supporter. He glanced at Hao Ren and his mother strangely before he turned away and said, “Although I have heard of it, I never expected this…”

Hao Ren glanced at the competing advertisement slogans on the spacecrafts. He wished he had done the same too by projecting the name of his spacecraft on all the Aerymian domes. He twitched his mouth and said, “We’re rivals after all…”

Suddenly, the voice of the 883 captain sounded through the MDT. “We’re here! Do you see us? We’re the pilot and lead vessels. The rest have stopped at the asteriod belt outside the island chain. Please ask them if they’re done with the boarding procedures. Where should we go from here? Is there any transfer channel on the floating islands for the spacecrafts to dock?”

A series of questions struck Hilda’s officials as they began to snap out of their daze and work on what they had prepared for the past three days. Immediately, someone rose to give the orders.

“Telecommunications, get ready!

“Transmit the guiding code!

“Logistics! Prepare to open Gate 14 to 26…”

It seemed like there should have been as little formalities as possible; the Aerymian elves were not used to it while the veteran pilots could not tolerate any delay in flight. They immediately swung into action, approaching the floating islands, initiating boarding and loading procedures according to plan.

However, there were some inevitable problems: most spacecrafts could not dock themselves directly on the Aerymian floating islands.

These spacecrafts were gigantic and their loading and docking mechanisms were vastly different. The only standardised docking interface was that of the Xi Ling Empire, which Aerym was certainly lacking of. Hence, loading became a problem. They had to despatch smaller vessels to the gate at the edge of each floating isle, loading into and unloading from the mother ships.

It was estimated that it would take at least two days to load up the first batch of people and cargo; considering the highly efficient Aerymian elves and the skilled, veteran pilots of the fleet.

Some of the spacecrafts were equipped with teleportation facilities where the stability of teleportation was within the acceptable range of an elven body. So, the boarding and loading process was much faster for these type of spacecrafts.

Anyway, these problems were not unexpected—both parties had forseen this. The small transport vessels were ready and the logistics department of the domed-city had beefed up their efforts. Despite being the first encounter for both parties, things went pretty smoothly as prior preparation and professional assistance helped.

The captains of the fleet did not just sit by and watch. They knew it was important to engage their clients. Under the lead of the 883 captain, the veteran interstellar pilots arrived on Dawnbreak Island with a variety of space shuttles.

And as they disembarked, they started to give away flyers to anyone they saw.

Chapter 264: Plantal Captain

 

Since the moment the large fleet of spacecrafts arrived, Hilda and her officials had been thrown into a state of confusion. Thanks to Hao Ren and 883, they assembled a group of like-minded captains, whose style caught the elves by surprise; the elves had planned for a high-profile diplomatic reception ceremony, but things did not turn out as they had expected. Before they managed to read out their script, the speech was scrapped and the group of elven diplomats were left in the cold on the platform. The captains of the fleet hit the ground running from the moment they arrived, surpassing Hilda in their commitment to their work.

But it was not a surprise. Most private fleet captains worked for the same cause, they were here for business. For these captains, it was just another day at work, they did not give a sh*t.

Fortunately, Hilda had somewhat expected this. Her subordinates possessed all the required training. Though the various departments of Aerym were confused initially, they quickly got up to speed. The transfering of people and materials went according to plan.

Hao Ren and Hilda stood on the high platform in the Royal District, looking down at the nervous, expectant and confused faces on the street. The elves had clearly been caught by surprise. Although they had been preparing for the past three days, once the giant fleet of spacecrafts appeared above the islands, a sense of surrealism overwhelmed them. Vimm could not help but pinch his ears and murmur, “Is this a dream?”

Vivian looked at Hilda and said, “Do you think it’s okay for you to just sit by and watch? I guess you should be on the ground, giving orders and instructions?”

“Not really. There is a specific department for every kind of work. In this large scale operation, a large number of professional personnel are required and a strict set of systems need to be followed. There’ is no place for VIP showmanship. My job as well as Vimm’s is done. It is now time to see that everything goes according to plan,” said Hilda as she stared at the giant spacecrafts, flying past the dome above, casting a shadow on the ground. “At last… it begins. Our hardwork for the past three days has paid off.”

She glanced at at her glowing body and said, “I have suddenly discovered that there is an advatange to being a so-called ‘living holy spirit’; I never felt tired plus, I have not slept for the past three days and I still feel energetic.”

Lily looked at Hilda’s glowing body, carefully observing it. She found that the glow was clearly dimmer than before. “The effect remains. Don’t you realise that you are losing your soul?”

Hao Ren said, “…Girl, you’re probably imagining things. Would you be happy if I give you a large bone so you can shut the f*ck up?”

Lily was instantly elated. “Yes, please!”

Meanwhile, a group of spaceshuttles of different colours, shapes and sizes flew from the northeast towards the Royal District. They were not stopped by anyone as they had obtained permission in advance to fly in the dome’s airspace. They were captains of the migration fleet. As the spaceshuttles landed on the Royal Platform, a muscular man with a square face disembarked from the leading, triangular flying craft—it was 883, whom Hao Ren had not seen for quite a while. Behind him, there were other captains; most were humanoids while some were odd-looking alien species. They had gone to the other city gates, saying hi to their passengers and giving out leaflets before coming to Hao Ren.

The captain was overwhelmingly zealous; it is uncertain if this was because he genuinely missed Hao Ren, or he was simply excited to strike a profitable deal. Nonetheless, his hug was powerful. “Hey man, long time no see. Why the heck are you so nervous?”

Light danced across Hao Ren’s body. “Shouldn’t I be? Look at your size. I couldn’t help it, my shield just deployed on its own.”

Seeing the arrival of the main characters, the officials standing behind Hilda shoved themselves to the front to greet the captains. The veteran pilots reciprocated enthusiastically with insterstellar style. ” Hi, my name’s Kepala, the commander of the Star Voyager, this is my business card…”

“I’m the captain of White Mountain, this is my business card…”

“883, we’re a dual-use spaceship, let’s keep in touch.”

“Shining Dragon. We specialise in mass transit, this is our promotion leaftlet…”

Hao Ren broke them up and said, “That’s enough! You guys don’t have to be so aggressive. When they arrive in their new home, it will take them at least a few years to settle down before they can even think about interstellar travel.”

A group of old captains exchanged looks with each other. Then somebody yelled, “It’s a front-end investment. Don’t underestimate these bastards, they may steal the deal before you know it!”

“What kind of people do you have here?” Hao Ren pulled the Captain 883 aside and mumbled. The latter laughed. “Business acquaintances. I’ve known them for decades. No worries, they’re good men. It’s the trick of the trade, we give out flyers to anyone we meet as long as it’s an intelligent life. And who knows if they might be our clients after a few years?”

Hilda stared in awe at the rough yet warmhearted captains. She then bowed and said, “Thank you for coming for us.”

“No. Please don’t. You’ll make me feel guilty for charging you for our service if you do.” The captain quickly took a step back and looked at Hao Ren. “She’s the queen?”

Hao Ren nodded. Hilda was immediately rounded up by the group of men, who tried to give her their flyers…

It took quite a while for the elves to get used to the veteran pilots’ enthusiasm. Everyone was ushered into a reception room at the corner of the platform, where they could rest or get some shut-eye. Meanwhile, reports of loading and boarding progress were sent in from time to time by the crew. A large number of elves had boarded safely and they had no problems adapting to the spacecraft’s ecological environment. The task handover between the Aerymian crew leader and the spacecrafts’ crew went smoothly. Suddenly, something came to Hao Ren’s mind. “Oh ya, Hilda, how did you solve the Lotto Group problem?”

“Those who are still skeptical are on the Darklight Isle.” Hilda continued, “It is the base of the Lotto Group and other dissidents. I was able to let the skeptical dissidents occupy Darklight Isle after days of inducements and campaigns. As the isle has been moved to the other end of the island chain, the people who refuse to believe in the migration will not be able to influence the migration operation even if they stay uncooperative.”

“So, you coaxed them into isolation?” Hao Ren nodded in comprehension. “Hmm, I see, that’s how you did it. But, you can’t just isolate them forever.”

“Of course not. It is just a tactic of compromise and delay. When most of the elves have settled down in our new home, there would be no reason for Lotto Group to remain defiant. They will give in and cooperate.”

Hilda’s tactic was mild but effective. Apparently, she had planted her own centre of influence inside Lotto and other dissident groups much earlier. For the sake of her kingdom’s stability, or the possibilty that the Lotto Group would not cause any trouble that warranted total elimination, Hilda did not activate her insiders. But now, it warranted the move and the moles she had planted earlier came in handy—coaxing the opposition into occupying the island. The Lotto Group was probably still celebrating its occupation. Little did the members realise, they were being isolated.

The 883 captain listened to the conversation between Hao Ren and Hilda. He then asked curiously, “What the heck? Some kind of trick going on here?”

Hao Ren gave a brief explanation about the Lotto Group and other skeptics. He waved his hand and dismissed it. “Don’t worry, this won’t change a thing.”

The 883 captain thought for a while. “All you want is for them to migrate, isn’t it? I’ve got an idea.”

Hao Ren was currious. “What idea do you have in mind? First thing’s first, we’re not into kidnapping. We’re doing this for a good cause, no violence. The opposition have not committed any heinous crimes, they’re just skeptics.”

The captain laughed. “No worries, no violence will be used.” Then, he looked at Kayber across the table. “Are your three spaceships fully charged?”

Hao Ren looked towards the captain’s line of sight; an incredible creature was sort of squating on the table—it looked like a plant. Its upper body had leaves of mimosa while its lower body was of a robot. Its roots were joined with a series of robotic arms, which looked freaky and weird. The plant was small, so it squatted on the table. No one had noticed it as it had been squatting there quietly by itself the entire time, stretching out its root and drinking the water from a pot nearby.

It did not give out flyers like the other pilots did. It was low-profile, kind of easily forgotten.

“Twenty minutes. It’s not easy to activate the energy field generator.” The robotic lower part of the plant creature emitted a slightly high-pitched, synthesised voice. “The air quality here isn’t good, I feel like my leaves are withering… Hey, Popas! How many times do I have to tell you, don’t smoke in front of me!”

The smoking captain sitting next to the plant creature quickly extinguished his half-finished cigarette as he smiled. “Forgive me. Bad habits die hard.”

Hao Ren’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. He wondered what else he had yet to see. A plantal captain of a spacecraft, seriously?

Chapter 265: Simple and Crude Yet, Effective

 

With the exception of totalitarian civilisations, all societies—Aerymian included—had opposition and dissidents. These dissidents were not necessarily extremists or evil. They had good intentions but, due to certain realities, their ideologies were not compatible with their rulers. The situation in Aerym was better. They were much more united than most mortal civilisations; although there were people of different political ideologies, they had the same zeal in protecting the Aerymian Civilisation. With this premise, the Lotto Group garnered the support of a large elven following, which consisted of those who opposed the migration decision.

To put it plainly, they were just being overly sensitive and skeptical about things that sounded too good to be true. It was totally understandable. There were bound to be some who would insist on not taking the elixir even if it was given to them for free. So, Hilda did not force her will on the dissidents. She instead mobilised her covert agents, public opinion and political clout to gather all the opposition on Darklight Isle.

It was sort of like the “gazetted venue for political protest” on Earth. Just that it was in a larger scale in Aerym.

Hilda’s plan was to leave the opposition in the cold temporarily while she completed the migration. Only then would she convince the opposition with facts to do the same. The blunt 883 captain felt that the queen’s move was a waste of time. He pointed at Kayber, a humanoid looking plant and said, “This is Kayber, a sylph. We’ve known each other for 30 years. It can help you with the holdout.”

“A sylph? Hao Ren looked at Kayber in bewilderment. “A humanoid plant? Err… I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend you. I just didn’t know plants could evolve into intelligent beings.”

“Most people have the exact reaction as you the first time they see a sylph.” Kayber waved its leaves at Hao Ren. “As far as I know, intelligent plants capable of thinking in the Macroworld form only five percent of all intelligent life forms. And only one percent of these intelligent plant races have evolved into the Interstellar Age. Our basic life form isn’t built for evolution of the brain but, with the assistance of these equipment, sylphs have become the best transporters in the Macroworld.”

Kayber showcased its lower body where its roots were fused with the machine. The machine was not just helping with its mobility but also amplifying its senses and speed of response. As amazing as this life form was, Hao Ren was more interested in how it would solve the houldout problem.

“It’s simple. Follow me and you’ll understand.” 883 invited everyone out of the spacecraft. “I’m not used to staying on land. The spacecraft feels more like home. Now, the first batch of migrants have almost finished boarding. Let’s go the ‘site’, shall we?”

There were not many elves in the first boarding site. Excluding the required personnel, the spaceships were mostly loaded with various materials and large equipment. They needed these things to first establish a base in their new home. Then, the subsequent migrants would be able to adapt to their new life on the new planet. The loading of materials and equipment was a lot faster than boarding elves, not to mention, there were teleportation devices on some of the spacecrafts. As such, most spacecrafts were already loaded up when they got there. Hilda understood this. She rose to her feet and said, “I’ll go with you. Vimm, you stay.”

According to the plan, Hilda would go with the first batch of personnel to the new planet. She would be the spiritual support and play the role of a supreme commander in case of an emergency situation. She would helm the outpost in the new planet until the migration was completed. While Vimm would be stationed on the Aerymian island chain to ensure that the whole migration process ended smoothly. The first batch of spacecrafts were ready to leave and it was time for Hilda and Vimm to say goodbye to each other. The young prince regent got to his feet and bowed before his mother. “Mother, safe travels. Do not forget to send back the first image of our new home when you get there. I will be waiting.”

Hilda only had one thing to say. “Look after our home.”

As everyone left the royal platform, Hilda looked at the dome above the city: the dome had protected the Aerymian elves for thousands of years; it was a sanctuary as well as a jail, which was slowly decaying. A never-before seen scenario was unfolding in Aerym as gigantic, interstellar spacecrafts hovered above the dome while transport vessels, fully-loaded with personnel and materials left the city in a hurry; the city streets were filled with elves—busy yet orderly, as the city was in its last moments of hustle and bustle. The queen could not help but lament. “I never expected things to end this way.”

“Hmm, at least it’s a happy ending.” Hao Ren smiled. “Let’s take my spaceship. The Petrachelys is loaded with people too.”

The Petrachelys was docked on the platform at the edge of the isle. It was not a cargo ship, but it had the most advanced cargo expansion space, which other spacecrafts lacked. So, it could move a considerable amount of materials and people at the same time. Hao Ren decided to join the migration fleet, thinking that he should not let what he had go to waste, and also because he could. The MDT connected to the main computer and autonomous robots in the Petrachelys. From the very beginning, tonnes of cargo had been loaded into the spacecraft and it was almost filled to the brim at this point.

Hao Ren did not need to get his hands dirty—and he also did not know how to.

The 883 captain came up together with his group of veteran pilots. They became excited and surrounded Hao Ren when they heard what he said. “We’d like to go onboard too…”

A female captain said with a broad grin across her face, “We never had the chance to visit the inspector’s spacecraft. The imperial spacecraft is one of the four mysteries of the Macroworld. We’re gonna have a look today!”

“It’s not as mysterious as you think.” Hao Ren laughed, and did not refuse them entry. The spacecraft had different levels of locking protocol—no one could access the highly classified zone of the spacecraft. Everyone finally arrived at the platform, where the Petrachelys was docked. The last batch of passengers were boarding: elven kids and women were queuing up with luggages while robotic squids were standing at the side to maintain order.

Even though the autonomous robots were gentle, their appearances were not particularly pleasing. When it came to the aesthetic views of most intelligent beings, the consensus was a cold, mechanical monster look and tentacles were not the good kind. Under the instruction of the autonomous robots, the elves boarded without a hitch however, the flying, robotic monsters had frightened the wits out of many children and women. It looked as if they would pounce on them at any moment. Hilda’s appearance caused a ruckus among the elves but the good thing was, they became less nervous. Hao Ren could even hear kids shouting, “The queen has arrived!”

“I will board with everyone.” Hilda waved to the elves. “Let us move. Follow the robots’ instructions.”

The elves finally calmed down as they lined up and entered the spacecraft. The 883 captain and his friends were at the rear of the line. They mumbled among themselves as they pointed at the autonomous robots. “Do you think we can buy one in the black market?”

“Are you dreaming? It’s military! Anyone who gets caught selling this stuff would be shot first and questioned later.”

“But, I’ve heard that they’re selling it in the black market…”

“That’s a modified version of the retired version. It’s inferior to the original.”

“What if we steal one from here…”

“I think that’s a little impractical.”

“Why do you say so?”

“Because there are two robotic squids pointing their cutting blades at the back of your head right now.”

“Oh f*ck, do they understand our language?”

Hao Ren shook his head, lamenting; he found that he had to be really careful with these unscrupulous profiteers a.k.a illegal pilots.

The Petrachelys finally lifted off and left Dawnbreak Island. Smaller transportation ships and utility vessels were traversing to and fro, in and around the Aerymian island chain, which looked a little busier than usual. Meanwhile, a few fully-loaded spacecrafts were flashing their lights, ready to accelerate and take off. Hao Ren flew his spacecraft over the space above Darklight Isle. It was extremely quiet.

The holdouts occupying the floating isle were indeed in an awkward position; they were unwilling to board the spacecrafts or negotiate with Hilda.

“They are stubborn.” Hilda stood next to Hao Ren, visibly embarrased. “Some of them have actually softened upon seeing the migration fleet. But, people at the upper cadres of Lotto are guarding the entrances and exits of the isle. I am not sure if I should send an army in there to get those people out.”

The spacecraft’s main computer intercepted some of the telecommunications in Darklight Isle, mostly of Lotto’s propaganda. The stubborn skeptics were urging people on the isle not to board the spacecrafts, and not to believe in the unknown, extraterrestrial civilisation. There was even a loud voice shouting, “We will not leave this city. We will stay here until the very end…”

Hao Ren turned to Kayber. “How are you going to convince these holdouts to get onboard?”

Wielding its leaves, Kayber contacted its subordinates as it yelled, “Vessel One, Two and Three, it’s showtime! Let us first work on the isle that I’ve earmarked!”

Everyone was curious as three strange-looking, sylphic spaceships suddenly appeared from afar. The three spaceships were not like any other cargo ship; each one had a narrow and curvy shape very much like an elegant crescent. So, these were obviously not cargo ships. As the three spaceships approached Darklight Isle, they formed a triangular formation and rounded up the isle. Suddenly, a burst of light from the three spacecrafts formed a giant ring of light.

Then, a transmission from one of the sylpic spaceships said, “Energy field has been activated. We’ll proceed first!”

Meanwhile, some leaders of the Lotto Group could still be heard shouting, “Don’t abandon our city, the queen has been blinded…”

Before their voices trailed off, the giant ring of light flashed. Soon after, the three spaceships together with Darklight Isle disappeared.

The houldouts did not need to get out of the buildings.

Because, the mad, veteran pilots had moved the entire isle.

883 guffawed. “That’s the way to solve a problem in the Interstellar Era—simple and crude.

Hao Ren was left speechless.

This was moving house at its best!

Chapter 266: The Progress Bar Is Stuck

 

Hilda stared at the spot where Darklight Isle once stood, stupefied. The place was now empty. All that was left was a faint glow, which resulted from the energy-field ships as they accelerated away. The trail of screams from the holdout leader could still heard in the broadcast—righteous and soul-stirring. Nonetheless, the staunchest spirit of the holdout had no match for the moving experts who transported the isle.

Hao Ren sighed in silence. “Nothing like seeing it in real life. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Haven’t I told you, I’ve got many energy-field ships?” 883 shrugged. “This service isn’t cheap. Now that we’ve moved one isle, we still have 10 teams of spacecrafts nearby. Please earmark the floating isles you woud like to retain. I’ll get them hauled to the World Gate. Then, the remaining isles will be ours.”

After a moment of stupor, Hilda pulled out a small gadget. “Wait a minute, I will get Vimm to send us the identification codes. A few eco-domes need to be retained.”

“Eco-domes?” Hao Ren looked at Hilda in surprise. “You’re not keeping Dawnbreak Island? That’s where your palace is!”

“A palace can be rebuilt, but things in the eco-domes are the foundations built by our ancestors. We will not be able to retain many things in Aerym as it is, we cannot lose what has been passed down to us.” Hilda smiled then continued, “We have been keeping complete ecological samples ever since we broke up the planet in hopes that one day, when we find a new home we would be able to reproduce the entire forest and grassland of our hometown. So, the domes must go with us.”

“I do not understand your thinking,” the MDT chimed in. “Bear in mind that the new planet has its own ecosystem. You can only keep your own ecosystem inside the dome, separate from the new environment. It’s going to take you decades, if not centuries to modify the dome so that the ecosystem can be fully compatible with the new home. It’s no child’s play.”

Hilda looked firm as she nodded. “I am aware of that, but still, the dome must come with us. It may be a burden now but, I do not want our ancestors to blame us for allowing our children to lose their historical roots.”

It was an Aerymian internal affair. If Hilda insisted for it to be that way, Hao Ren and the captains were in no position to object. So, as temporary commander-in-chief, 883 ordered the isles to be moved. As soon as the order was issued, a group of strange-looking spacecrafts broke off from the migration fleet; these were the energy-field ships with narrow hulls and a petite size, which did not fit into the cargo ship category. These expensive barges went on to encircle the Aerymian domes. A few strong flashes later, the ships and the isles were gone before their eyes.

“We should go now.” Hao Ren glanced at Hilda. “The earlier we depart, the faster I can come back for a second trip.”

Hilda gazed at the hologram in the cockpit, trying to etch the last images of the floating isles into her memory. She then nodded firmly and decisively.

A warped image materialised across the display monitor. The glow of the Aerymian star turned into a band of light and disappeared before their eyes. The Petrachelys left the remote and desolute place. It moved through deep space towards the World Gate at hyperspeed.

In hyperspace, the scene outside the spacecraft was pitch black. Holograms of dull and boring flight data as well as charts were being displayed in the cockpit. Hilda exhaled and spoke to Hao Ren softly, “I would like to take a look in the cargo bay.”

“Okay. I’ll let Lily accompany you. She’ll show you the way.”

Lily was almost bored to death. She was more than happy to take up the job as she and Hilda left the cockpit.

The Petrachelys was not a specialised passenger vessel; it had a container expansion bay, that was it. It was meant for holding cargo but now, it was packed with nervous elves. Needless to say, conditions were not ideal; it had no seating and it was cramped with the sheer number of elves. The elves were packed like sardines in a can. Some leaned against their luggage, some sat back-to-back for support as they murmured to each other in nervousness and anticipation of what was to come; it was also a means to pass the time.

The journey would not be long. The Aerymian elves were not particular about the cabin’s condition and they did not complain.

That was what Hilda and Lily witnessed when they were at the cargo bay.

“Your Majesty!”

“The queen has arrived!”

“Her Majesty is here!”

The coming of Hilda had again caused a commotion in the otherwise boring cargo bay. The elves rose to their feet, greeting and saluting as Hilda walked towards them. Hilda was very down to earth; she walked into the crowd and sat among them—being with her people again had lessened her homesick feeling. “At ease. Now, I am just like you—a passenger. What are all of you chatting about?”

“We are curious about how our new home will look like,” a middle-aged elf spoke as he edged back, trying to keep an appropriate distance from Hilda. “Your Majesty, are we really going to a place rich in natural resources?”

Hilda grinned as she nodded. “Yes, we are.”

A little girl squeezed herself through the crowd, asking abruptly, “I heard the new home has a super-duper big dome, so large that we can’t see the end. Is it true? What kind of dome is it? Who made it?”

“That is the sky. It is not a man-made dome.” Hilda smiled at the little girl and explained to her what it was going to be like; the breeze and the land of nature. Hilda was almost tearful but she kept her emotions unnoticed: it had been generations since the elves last saw the sky. Not only the child, even the existing elderly Aerymians just saw glimpses of how the sky in their planet once looked like from the archive disk. She could still vividly recall her awe and shock the moment she saw true sky for the first time, when she was thrown into The Plane of Dreams by the huge explosion. Today, she knew the elves would experience the same awe and shock she had. The days were going to end, and as she thought of this, she became emotional again.

Outside, the Petrachelys had left hyperspace and stopped before a magnificent light curtain at the World Gate.

Stopping at the light curtain along with the Petrachelys were other spacecrafts of the migration fleet. The whole armada jammed to a halt at the gate.

Staring at the progress bar on the monitor, Hao Ren asked in astonishment, “What is it? Do we have to queue up at the World Gate? The gate’s big enough for us to get through as far as I can see.”

“It’s the conversion process,” the MDT said lazily. It was still in the card slot. “It’s the first time the elves and their materials are making the cross to another universe. A conversion is needed before they can pass through.”

Hao Ren was confused. “Conversion? What conversion?”

“The law of adaptation.” The MDT was also bored from all the waiting. “Think about this: different universes have different sets of physical laws and constants. Some places have differences in the definition of their basic force, some places have differences in lightspeed while some places have materials of non-molecular structure—all these differences could be fatal to space travellers. Astral travel would be no problem but, not physical travel; when a physical body passes through the gate, the body will be rearranged into elementary particles by the cosmic force on the other side. So, it’s important that developed, trans-universe nagivation tech always carry a procedure for conversion. The conversion could also be performed when the spacecraft’s void engine is activated, or when crossing the World Gate. This is all for the sake of safety. Hence, we’ve got to wait. We still need to pass through the void quadrant to get to their new home on the other side so, it’s going to take a while.”

Hao Ren was a little confused. “Okay, I understand about the conversion but, the last time we brought Hilda along, we didn’t have this problem.”

“Too many people this time,” the MDT explained. “Last time, we only had a few but now, it’s one billion. What’s more, we’re hauling millions of square kilometres of land and a mountain of materials along. This World Gate is in the backwater. It’s only a lite version. Its sovereign hub is still stuck at version 1.0…”

Hao Ren nodded but, he did understand a thing. His eyes were on the holograhic progress bar. He waited and waited however, the bar looked like it had froze. He released a long sigh and lamented. “Dang it, I finally have a chance to do something big, now what? The progress bar is stuck…”