Chapter 603 - 600: Returning to the Fortress

Chapter 603: Chapter 600: Returning to the Fortress

It’s better to leave with a smile than with tears.

The airship glided slowly over the Red Spirit Flower Valley, heading for the edge of the Sky Island.

Its eight pairs of wings beat slowly as the airship became a fish swimming through the clouds, diving into the turbulent currents of the Void Sea.

Once the clouds enveloped the airship again, Li Luo knew she had well and truly left the Hua Sheng Islands.

She slowly sat down in the gondola, the smile on her face gradually fading.

No matter where she ended up in the Abyss, the clamor of the Red Spirit Flowers would always stay with her.

’Maybe we’ll meet again someday?’

Li Luo wasn’t sure. She had chosen an unknown path, one where she didn’t even know where the road was, let alone what lay ahead.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the airship suddenly flew out of its current and jumped into another. The instruments in the gondola blared a sharp warning.

"Commencing forward acceleration."

"Commencing forward acceleration."

Upon reaching the center of the current, the airship’s wings suddenly retracted, folding against the balloon. The vessel’s speed surged, and it shot forward with the current.

The sudden acceleration shattered Li Luo’s train of thought. If Xiaozhi hadn’t been holding her in place, the inertia would have sent her tumbling to the back of the gondola.

’Did we jump into a more violent current?’

Li Luo looked out the window and saw that the surrounding clouds were churning violently.

’Just as I thought. The current here is stronger and more chaotic.’

The airship’s wings lifted periodically to adjust its orientation, but the gondola below was still tossed about by the turbulent air.

On top of that, Li Luo heard a series of CLACKING sounds.

"Warning. Beware of Sky Island debris."

"Warning. Beware of Sky Island debris."

The alarm from the instrument panel sounded right on cue.

It seemed the currents were full of debris. As the airship moved through them, collisions with these obstacles were inevitable.

However, the clacking sounds soon faded. Curious, Li Luo walked to the front of the gondola and peered through the porthole. She saw that the debris was being annihilated by an invisible attack just before it could strike the airship.

And within the clouds, a series of cube-shaped voids appeared.

Li Luo understood at once. It was Block, protecting the airship.

"Thank you," Li Luo said, turning her head toward Block.

Block trembled in response.

In truth, Mo Ling knew that the small bits of debris couldn’t possibly damage the specially-made airship. His reason for acting was simply to test something...

He was sitting inside, watching a black rabbit on the metal floor as it scurried about, pushing the scattered debris back to the center and piling it up.

The once-cluttered metal space quickly became neat and tidy under the black rabbit’s diligent work. Not only did the rabbit collect the trash, but it also sorted it.

A pile of stone fragments, a pile of wrappers, a pile of cans...

Seeing the different-colored trash sorted into categories was surprisingly satisfying for Mo Ling.

And once the trash was sorted, Mo Ling could easily get rid of it.

Mo Ling tried tossing the pile of stones out behind the airship.

When the pile of stones vanished, the rabbit froze for a moment, its simple programming seemingly unable to process what had happened. After a short while, however, it returned to normal and resumed collecting debris, placing it back in the original spot.

’This is fun.’

And so, a playful Mo Ling began to continuously teleport stones from in front of the airship, tossing them to different spots just to watch the rabbit hop around searching for them.

The Mo Ling of before would never have been engrossed in such a simple game. But after being trapped in Block and bored for so long, the rabbit truly brought him a great deal of amusement.

After half a day drifting through the chaotic current, the airship finally stabilized. It continued to fly at high speed, but the debris in the current was gone, and the surrounding clouds grew calm.

To be safe, Li Luo still didn’t recall Xiaozhi.

She had thought it would take another three days to return to the Pipe Fortress, but unexpectedly, a massive pipe appeared before the airship on the very next day.

The pipe extended directly into the current, ensnared the airship, and began pulling it downward.

A few moments later, the airship landed at a familiar dock.

The cabin door opened. A staff member was waiting outside, holding a datapad, and it was the same one who had guided Li Luo before.

Li Luo recalled Xiaozhi and walked slowly out of the cabin.

"Lady Li Luo, welcome back." The staff member was all smiles, extending a hand to guide Li Luo away from the dock.

Li Luo nodded and followed the staff member to a lounge beside the dock.

"The Pipe Fortress has already received the beacon’s signal, but we still need you to give a personal account of your experience."

The staff member had Li Luo sit on a sofa and handed her a datapad. Then she walked to the side and poured Li Luo a glass of water.

"You’ve been through a lot. Just transfer your data onto this, and you can add any supplementary information directly."

The datapad the staff member brought was rather peculiar. Its back was covered in many fine pipes, wrapped together layer upon layer. Li Luo stared at it for a long time without starting.

"Why do these datapads look like this?" Li Luo finally couldn’t help but ask, pointing to the back of the device.

"Are you referring to these pipes?"

"Yes."

"These datapads have been modified by the Pipe Fortress. The modifications accelerate data transfer and increase storage capacity while on the fortress. Besides, unmodified electronic devices will fail in certain parts of the Pipe Fortress," the staff member explained patiently.

"Why would they fail?" Li Luo pressed.

At this, the staff member shook her head. "I don’t know. The Pipe Fortress was built from a relic, so it’s normal for some areas to have strange properties. I don’t have enough clearance to find out more."

Li Luo nodded. She transferred the data she had already compiled on the airship, then handed Elder Ladi’s letter to the staff member.

"I have a few questions."

"Please, go ahead."

"Why couldn’t I find any records for the Pain Transfer Pills in the database?"

The staff member paused, then began searching on her own datapad.

A moment later, a confused expression appeared on her face as well.

"You’re right, there’s nothing... How can that be? Is it a classified relic?" she muttered to herself as she began looking up the Pipe Fortress’s relic warehouse records.

Strangely, this relic had no exact date of acquisition. There was only a single entry: "Donated by a Hunter."

The staff member looked on, just as puzzled. "Items without a recorded date are all relics donated by Hunters back when the Pipe Fortress was first established. That means it’s been in the warehouse for a very long time..."

"Then why did you recommend this relic to me?" Li Luo pressed.

"Because it was a good fit. I only search for relics based on function, not their origin. I just thought that since you were going to the Hua Sheng Islands, a healing-type relic might help you build a good relationship with the healing race there..." the staff member said helplessly, scratching her head.

"Every new Danger Island that appears means the environment on the fourth level of the Abyss is getting worse. That’s why the Pipe Fortress spares no effort to support every brave warrior who sets out to explore them."

"I was just trying to help..."