Chapter 594 - 365: Los Santos Changes Owners, Maiden Voyage of the Aerospace Carrier

Chapter 594: Chapter 365: Los Santos Changes Owners, Maiden Voyage of the Aerospace Carrier

There were even a few actors who were Extraordinary Beings. When an Extraordinary actor filmed a blockbuster, they didn’t need any special effects—they could create them for real.

The journey from the South Asian Subcontinent to the North American Continent was far greater than the one from Country C. This was especially true because the majority of these wanderers were ordinary people, including a large number of the old, weak, sick, and disabled. They were nothing like the three thousand special forces soldiers from City No. 03, all of whom were Extraordinary Beings who could ride snowmobiles.

Even someone as powerful as Li Xiang found the situation to be a massive headache. After leading the group for some time, they had already suffered considerable losses along the way.

"This still isn’t working."

Fortunately, after about half a month of travel, Jiang Cai’Er delivered some good news. City No. 03’s Aerospace Carrier project had made tremendous progress. The first-generation prototype, the "Cloud Whale," had been successfully developed and test-flown. It could be used to transport the wanderers, but as a first-generation model, it came with potentially significant risks.

Li Xiang waved his hand dismissively. "It’s fine. Even if something happens, I can protect these people."

Jiang Cai’Er replied, "It’s not a guaranteed risk. I just wanted to give you a heads-up."

The Cloud Whale was immense, capable of transporting three hundred thousand people at once. It was also incredibly fast, able to travel from India to the skies above Los Santos in just ten to twenty minutes.

When the Cloud Whale, as vast as a small town, appeared in the sky above the procession, a wave of astonished cries erupted from the ragged crowd.

A white-haired elder trembled as he prostrated himself on the ground, pressing his forehead to the ice and crying out, "Garuda! It is the reincarnation of the great golden-winged bird from the Mahabharata, come to deliver us!" Hundreds of people behind him immediately followed suit, kowtowing as a chorus of devout prayers rose over the frozen plains.

A few Dalit youths excitedly scrambled onto a block of shattered concrete, pointing at the streamlined hull, barely visible through the black fog high above. "Look at those anti-gravity engines!" they yelled. "The blue light is brighter than the moon on the Ganges River!"

The intense blue light from the Aerospace Carrier’s engines was so powerful that it pierced and dispersed the black fog, making the ship strikingly visible high in the sky.

The youths had once secretly passed around tech magazines from City No. 03 at a wasteland market. Now, witnessing the legendary Aerospace Carrier with their own eyes, their grimy little faces flushed red with excitement.

Mothers clutching infants huddled together, weeping as they watched twelve columns of light slowly extend from the vessel’s underbelly. "Shiva be praised," they sobbed. "Our children will finally not have to cross the Khyber Pass over a path of bones." They pulled their faded saris tighter, stuffing their last, treasured chickpeas into their toddlers’ mouths—rations they had been saving to survive, which they no longer needed to conserve.

"Attention, everyone! Form columns of one hundred! Those with electronic nameplates will board first!" A synthesized, mechanical voice cut through the howling wind, yet the crowd grew uncharacteristically quiet.

Having been under Li Xiang’s guidance for the past several days, the tattered wanderers knew what to do. They spontaneously made way for the pregnant and the wounded.

As the first column of light enveloped a section of the crowd, an off-key rendition of the "Song of Raga" suddenly started up. It quickly swelled into a chorus of several thousand voices, the ancient melody resonating against the Cloud Whale’s silver-gray nano-armor.

To prevent Exotic Beasts from attacking the Aerospace Carrier, Li Xiang had requisitioned a dozen or so Saint Tier Spirit Beasts from his home country to serve as an escort. Nevertheless, one foolish Space Exotic Beast that didn’t know any better launched a sneak attack.

Li Xiang didn’t order the Spirit Beasts to attack. He had them guard the Aerospace Carrier, using the moment as an opportunity to test the ship’s built-in High-Energy Ion Cannon.

BOOM— A massive beam of light shot out. The attacking Saint Tier Exotic Beast, a creature of the twenty-seventh rank, was instantly pierced through and plummeted to the ground.

Even Li Xiang couldn’t help but cheer, "You’re incredible, Cai’Er!"

Finally, humanity possessed a high-tech weapon capable of annihilating a Saint Tier Space Exotic Beast outright!

In fact, research on this project had begun back in the era of peace, but it had never achieved a major breakthrough. Progress only truly began after Jiang Cai’Er joined the team.

And now, it was mounted directly onto the Aerospace Carrier itself.

’I wonder if it could handle a Divine Tier being, or even something stronger?’ Li Xiang asked himself, but he quickly shook his head. ’Probably not. Not yet.’ He ordered a few more shots to be fired. From up close, he carefully assessed the power of the High-Energy Ion Cannon, evaluating it against himself. The High-Energy Particle Cannon probably couldn’t even seriously injure him.

And his current combat strength was only equivalent to a low-to-mid-level Divine Tier.

After that demonstration of power, no more Space Exotic Beasts came looking for a death wish. The transportation of the population proceeded smoothly.

The South Asian Subcontinent contributed about eight to nine million people. Combined with the existing populace, Los Santos once again became a megacity in terms of population alone. The total population now exceeded 16.3 million.