Chapter 1348: Where's My Airship?

Zhang Lie glanced at the caller: Hong Tianqi.

He picked up as Hong Tianqi grumbled, "Why didn't you inform me that you'd returned to the Milky Way?"

Zhang Lie replied, "You're exceptionally busy as the highest authority of the unified world federation. How could I dare to call you if it isn't exceptionally important?"

"Haha, Heavenly Monarch Zhang Lie, you truly are one to joke."

"You must be busy, Authority Hong. What's the matter? Is there something urgent at hand?"

Hong Tianqi replied, "Recently, many Milky Way settlements of the fourth realm have been attacked."

"That seems to be the case. Was it Eternal Sun at work?"

Lin Lingfeng's settlement, for instance, had been surrounded by a sea of clouds.

"You're aware?"

"The settlement I was at, before I returned to the Milky Way, was attacked by some son of Eternal Sun."

"Cthaat's son," Hong Tianqi informed him. "As far as we know, from the records that the Milky Way keeps on Eternal Sun, Cthaat is one of the top members of Eternal Sun, and his children are those that have been produced via parthenogenesis."

"Are they genderless, then?"

"That's not the priority right now."

Zhang Lie continued, "What are his children like?"

"According to the hunters who escaped from the fourth realm back to the Milky Way, what they saw was smoldering lava in the form of a gigantic beast, with thunder rumbling through the sky."

"Sounds imposing."

"In addition, the hunters who escaped from the fourth realm said that Cthaat's sons seemed to be looking for a culprit of some sort—one that looks very much like you."

"And? You're not here to castigate me or hold me responsible, are you?"

Hong Tianqi laughed. "All those hunters who reported the culprit looked like you were given a harsh scolding. It's hard enough for genetic hunters to survive in the fourth realm, and we certainly can't afford to be pointing fingers at one another."

Zhang Lie replied, "So why have you contacted me?"

Hong Tianqi's face turned serious. "The children of Cthaat are extremely powerful, and no genetic hunter in the fourth realm is a match for them. They all seem to have gone crazy—they're clearing away Milky Way settlements all over the fourth realm, specifically picking out the ones in which human hunters reside. If this is allowed to continue, the Milky Way will surely suffer—it might be wiped out of the fourth realm entirely."

Zhang Lie replied, "I understand your intention now. You want me to prevent, or even to kill, the children of Cthaat—but are you aware of an important problem?"

Hong Tianqi nodded. "Of course I understand."

"If you do, then why bring it up?"

Hong Tianqi sighed. "I don't have a better option. You're the only one I can think of who can deal with the children of Cthaat—at least in the fourth realm."

Zhang Lie replied, "But you must be aware that I'm alone. There are so many gathering points for Milky Way hunters all over the fourth realm, and I can hardly protect them all myself. I don't even know where the children of Cthaat are. What would you have me do?"

The fourth realm was exceptionally large, and it was no trivial task to identify where the children of Cthaat were located. Even with Zhang Lie's airship, he would have to know where the children of Cthaat were to take them down.

Hong Tianqi replied, "Having you guard all the gathering points is, of course, an impossible task, and one that I would never assign you. I simply want you to head to a specific one."

"Which one, and why?"

Hong Tianqi's tone turned serious. "Do you remember the gathering point I told you about, the one I constructed while in the fourth realm?"

"You did, and you even told me to have a look if I had the time."

"I was responsible for helping to construct two gathering points in the fourth realm, one by the ocean, and the other within a mountain. One of them is currently under attack by one of Cthaat's children, and the only one I can think of who can do anything about it is you. It's close to the gathering point you're at, too."

"I'm happy to go, but I don't know if your gathering point will still be around by the time I do."

Hong Tianqi smiled. "Don't worry—my gathering point won't be so easily destroyed. Even against a child of Cthaat, it would be able to hold out for a month or two. The reason I constructed that gathering point was because I knew it would be extremely defensible."

"If you're so confident, I'll head over and have a look. I hope that I won't go there just to construct graves for the fallen. Do you have an approximate set of coordinates and direction to head towards?"

"I have a map here."

Hong Tianqi sent a map over the transceiver. Zhang Lie took a look. "It really is rather close by. I'll head over now and have a look."

Zhang Lie turned off the transceiver and looked at the black screen, as well as his face reflected in it. Hong Tianqi sighed wearily. "I hope there's still time..."

Zhang Lie stepped into the teleportation apparatus and returned to the fourth realm. It had been three months since he left. Lin Lingfeng's city, which had been in ruins by the time he left, was now pristine once again.

Zhang Lie returned to where his airship had been, only to find that it had vanished.

"Where's my airship? How could it have gone missing?"

Zhang Lie immediately headed into the city proper.

He found that the hunters of the city were giving him strange looks.

He headed straight to Lin Lingfeng; no one dared to stop him.

Lin Lingfeng raised her hands in surrender. "Stay calm, Mr. Zhang! No one stole your airship. Your girlfriend flew off with it."

Only then did Zhang Lie relax. "In other words, Li Qianlin's flying around with it to relieve her boredom?"

Zhang Lie had been gone for three months, and it was unrealistic for Li Qianlin to remain in the airship patiently waiting for him all this time. It was only natural for her to take it out for a drive.

Lin Lingfeng continued, "Let me explain slowly, please. Actually, not long after you left, there were quite a few hunters in the city who were upset and angry at you."

Not only was Zhang Lie not angry, he seemed almost interested. "Who would dare? I'd like to meet them."

Lin Lingfeng replied diplomatically, "Now that you're back, they won't show themselves, of course."

Although there were quite a few upset and disgruntled hunters, they had to keep their thoughts to themselves. Many had witnessed Zhang Lie's fight against the sea of clouds. It would be trivial for him to take down a small gathering point, too.

"That sea of clouds, an alien who called himself a son of Cthaat, manifested your appearance. Everyone in the city saw it, and they believe that you were the one who roused its attention."

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"And you?"

"Well, even if it is the case, you saved our gathering point twice over during two respective beast stampedes."

Zhang Lie glanced at her thoughtfully. "Given what you've told me, it doesn't seem as though Li Qianlin's simply driving the airship around to relax."