Chapter 599.1: Fucking Shameless, You Blame Thrower!

Next to the Heart of Steel, a 50 meter inflatable airship slowly drifted into the dock.

Though bigger than a Boeing in real life, beside the 500 meter Heart of Steel, it looked like a tiny sparrow.

Deck crews watched nervously as it hovered overhead, lowering ropes and a lift to deliver passengers onto the deck.

The tension came from one fact, it was hydrogen-filled. It was a damn flying bomb.

The players inside, however, weren’t fazed at all, treating the hazard like it was nothing.

After all, they had one life every three days.

If disaster struck, surely the doggy developers would compensate them in full.

Feet hitting the deck, Night Ten let out a wild yell. “Hahaha! Your granddaddy Hu Hansan is back again!”[1]

Mosquito, who had just gotten off his duty flying some people, walked over wearing a dog-skin pilot’s cap and waved his eight mechanical arms behind him. He grinned and teased, “Didn’t you call yourself ‘Girls Public Enemy Ten Times A Night’ or something? Since when are you Hu Hansan again?!”

“Fuck off!”

“Haha!” Pineapple Jiujiu, laughing so hard she crouched down, gave a thumbs up. “Uncle Mosquito, you’re hilarious!”

“Heh, of course. Hey! I ain’t that old!”

“

Pfftttt!

”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Uncle Mosquito...” Little Ghost couldn’t hold back her laughter, while Light Wind covered her mouth demurely.

The air was filled with laughter.

Though battle raged only dozens of kilometers away, only the NPCs seemed tense.

Falling Feather eyed Night Ten curiously and asked with a smile, “Didn’t you revive yesterday? Why are you only back today?”

With nightly shuttles between the Heart of Steel and Dawn City, he had expected him to return earlier.

Night Ten sighed, “Triggered a hidden quest, got delayed in Dawn City.”

Falling Feather pressed, “What kind of quest?”

Scratching his head, Night Ten hesitated before speaking. “Some girl from the Academy picked a fight, insisted I show her around Dawn City. I suspected she was a spy, so I sent her to the guards.”

It wasn’t made up. She really was suspicious.

The Academy and the New Alliance had no ties. It was publicly known. Other than defectors like Chen Yutong and Yin Fang, Researchers shouldn’t be roaming Dawn City.

He had thought she was after Old White’s sweetheart, so he played along, then dumped her at the station.

As predicted, she blew up when exposed. Strangely enough, the guards didn’t buy his story.

He would have to rant about their incompetence on the forum later!

Pineapple Jiujiu facepalmed.

Falling Feather glanced at her expression, sensing more to the story. Curious, he asked Night Ten, “And then?”

Night Ten rolled his eyes. “Then she lost it and swung at me! Damn guards just closed the door mid-report, locking us in! Later, even Mayor Luca showed up. Anyway, it was a pain in the ass! It wasted my whole day.”

Falling Feather was stunned.

So were Mosquito and the Goblin Corps pilots nearby, staring at him wide-eyed.

Little Ghost raised her hand. “One question... are you sure she was a spy?”

“Of course! What else could she be?” Night Ten shot back without hesitation.

Light Wind glanced aside at Little Ghost. “Feels like...”

Little Ghost nodded knowingly. “I feel the same!”

“...?”

Falling Feather rubbed his brow, head aching. “So... who is she, exactly? Do you know her?”

“I met her once. How else would I know she’s from the Academy?” Night Ten pointed at the airship. “There. The administrator told me to keep an eye on her.”

Falling Feather followed his finger.

On the lift stood a girl in a silver-white coat, clutching the ropes. Her face was pale and her long twin-tails whipped in the wind.

Two deckhands coaxed her down, but she clung on stubbornly.

“Jiang Xuezhou, D-class Researcher,” Pineapple Jiujiu sighed, “Don’t mind my brother’s big talk, he can be shockingly dense.”

“What, D-class?!” Mosquito gawked at Night Ten as one of his mechanical arms pat his shoulder. “Impressive, bro! She’s the same level as Yin Fang?”

“What’s it to me?” Night Ten swatted him off. “A rank is just a rank. It doesn’t mean ability.”

She didn’t strike him as smart. Smart people didn’t get nabbed by the Enlightenment Society.

Light Wind whispered to Little Ghost. “Seems the administrator isn’t simple either... Hehehehe...”

Little Ghost nodded again. “Exactly...”

Night Ten: “...”

What the hell are those two whispering about? Go move bombs if you’re that idle!

Meanwhile, deckhands kept urging Jiang Xuezhou. “Miss, the lift is down. Please disembark quickly.”

She protested. “No, there’s still a gap!”

In truth, the pilots had done their best. Civilian airships weren’t meant to dock there. It was already the limit.

Another crewman reassured her, “Before we improve the lift, this is as close as it gets. Staying there is riskier...”

“...” She bit her lip, glanced at the deck, and locked eyes with Night Ten.

Her face stiffened, glaring murderously before twisting away.

When she saw the clouds and the swaying lift on the other side, she turned back, face contorted.

Strangely enough, drones never scared her, nor her mentor’s research craft.

But since boarding the hydrogen balloon, she hadn’t felt safe for a second.

Night Ten almost burst out laughing at her expression.

Unable to stand it, Pineapple Jiujiu shoved him toward the lift. “Make way, big brother’s on a quest, out of the way!”

Stumbling forward, Night Ten glared. “What are you doing?”

“Just go! Listen to me!” Pineapple Jiujiu coaxed. “Hurry, help her down.”

He balked. “It’s just a step, why do you need me to do it? What has she got legs for?”

“Go!”

Seeing her glare, he bit his tongue. Her closeness with Teng Teng left him no room to mess around.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go.”

“Hehehehehe, good luck!” Pineapple Jiujiu beamed.

Bro, you like Teng Teng, but with your shy nature? There’s no chance for you.

Better remember that girls in games are your true love. Be happy!

She even prayed silently to the Great Stag God for him.

Facing him, Jiang Xuezhou’s lips curved faintly as she placed her hand in his. “Hmph... at least you have some conscience.”

Night Ten rolled his eyes, swallowing his retort under Pineapple Jiujiu’s glare. “Hurry and get down. Afraid of this? You might as well farm sweet potatoes.”

“You...!” She nearly stumbled in outrage, glaring daggers at him.

Night Ten was sure. If she had lasers in her eyes, he would have died tens of thousands of times.

So much for saving her before...

He ignored her glare, more conscious of the gawking eyes around.

Sensing the tension, Pineapple Jiujiu hopped between them with a weird smile on her face. “Don’t mind him, he’s just bad with words. He was worried for you.”

Jiang Xuezhou looked at her as her chest heaved. Eventually, she nodded shyly.

“Thank you... Jiujiu.” She’d already liked the bright little girl in Dawn City.

Unbelievably, such a polite kid was the sibling to such a rude guy.

Pineapple Jiujiu winked. “You’re thanking the wrong person. He saved you, you should thank him.”

“...” Jiang Xuezhou pursed her lips, turning away, whether sulking or to hide the blush.

Once the last cargo came off, deckhands hurried the airship away, as if afraid she would climb back on.

Embarrassed by the snickering stares, Night Ten dragged his sister and Jiang Xuezhou quickly down the gangway.

Inside the Heart of Steel, Jiang Xuezhou’s taut face eased. She looked around curiously, even commenting, “Why use such primitive transport? Doesn’t Boulder Town have plasma-engine aircraft?”

Night Ten retorted, “Primitive? I think it works fine.”

She shot him a look. “How was this hydrogen balloon fine?!”

“It’s stable, fast, and can carry a heavy load. What better for the wasteland?” he replied.

Seeing he’d missed the point, she snapped, “What about safety?! Don’t you care about that hazard?”

“Tsk.” Night Ten almost wanted to snap back.

I’ve got a life every three days, what’s there to fear?!

However, when he recalled the Player’s Handbook, he swallowed his thoughts and muttered with a pout, “If you can’t stand it, just copy over your anti-gravity schematics for us. You think every settlement out here is like the Academy and has your technology tree maxed out?”

“...” Jiang Xuezhou bit her lip in silence, eyes clouded with pain and sorrow.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Night Ten glanced at her, and that sadness made him uneasy. He reflexively wondered if he had been too harsh, but then again, he hadn’t said anything that out of line.

Honestly, if the Academy had developed that technology themselves, fine, it was their business.

But those technologies belonged to all of humanity, legacies of the old Federation. They should have been inherited by everyone, yet those old fossils hoarded them for themselves.

Was that something people should do?

1. Chinese humor - some quote from an old show ☜