Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton Chapter 1422

Chapter 1422: Chapter 983: Capture Them

In the boundless Void, suddenly there appeared hundreds of Airships, scattered haphazardly over a vast area, chaotically surging forward with no discernible formation to speak of.

This scene resembled more a group of people coincidentally heading to the same destination and thus simply going with the flow and clustering together, categorizable as the disorganized and undisciplined sort.

Ange and his party easily blended in with their Airship, observing the spectacle before them, Negris incredulously remarked, “Have they gone mad? Don't they know how dangerous this is? To flock here for the excitement?”

Anthony also found it comedic yet distressing, “Among hundreds of millions, there are always a few hundred or thousand reckless lunatics. When I was recruiting people on the Master Plane to explore the undeveloped Abyss of the Conch Plane, I made it clear that the dangers were significant, yet still thousands signed up. Not to mention, these people don't consider taking a stroll through the Boundless Space Hole as something perilous.”

While speaking, Anthony gestured everyone to look towards the front-right, where a luxurious Airship was visible. Not only was it larger than the regular Airships, but one glance at its decor and setup screamed opulence, including a deck much larger than those of ordinary vessels.

For Airships flying in the Void, having such a large deck is quite unnecessary. The bigger the deck, the more sophisticated the air shield needed to retain the atmosphere, else standing there would be impossible.

To ensure ample redundancy, there would need to be multiple overlapping air shields, along with backups, to prevent accidental asphyxiation on the deck.

Hence, most Airships only have a small ring of deck, and no fixed air shield–anyone wishing to stand there must equip their own Magic air shield.

If an Airship has an exceptionally large and luxurious deck, there's no doubt it's designed for sightseeing and entertainment.

The deck of the aforementioned Airship was lit up, Magic Lamps illuminating the entire area, where a group of elegantly dressed men and women mingled, astonishingly hosting a fairly large dance party.

Upon spotting someone on the deck, Ange tilted his head.

“Do you recognize them?” Negris asked.

Ange nodded, “Silver coin.”

“Silver coin knows them, too? But Silver coin isn't here,” Negris glanced around, noting Silver coin was absent, always ready to depart, responsible for liaising with Orgal and had not followed.

Ange could only say, “Business Federation, Fulco.”

Anthony immediately realized, “I know who it is now. Silver coin came through a projection at that time, right?”

Back at the Royal City, Ange and his team had Graystick disguise as a Green Elf Priestess to attend an Astrologer party hosted by the Business Federation. It was there Ange confirmed Little Ghost had followed them and also snatched the new God Status from the Business Federation; that party was organized by Fulco.

“So it's him. Could he have instigated these sightseeing flights as well? Isn't he part of the Business Federation? How could Silver coin not know about such a big event?” Negris expressed surprise.

Anthony explained, “Silver coin is merely a newly ascended deity within the Business Federation. His divine status is registered, and he can't do anything too scandalous. And the operational activities of the affiliated Commerce Guilds wouldn't report to him either.”

Just like the Church of Light making appointments or organizing events, or collecting taxes, they don't report to the Gods of Light. For one thing, such mundane tasks are too tedious, and the gods can't be bothered. Secondly, the flexibility in handling these mundane tasks is also a source of wealth and power, which needs to be distributed at multiple levels. If the gods make all decisions, then what's left for the Church to consume?

“That makes sense. So what are they doing now? Entertaining clients?” Negris inquired.

“I'm not sure; let's go ask them,” said Anthony, signaling the airship to approach.

Fulco's luxury airship had a larger tonnage, so it was equipped with an airship docking port that allowed for the transfer between two moving airships.

At the docking port, an airship crew member and two guards watched the approaching airship warily. The crew member's hand hovered over the alarm bell, ready to sound it at any moment, while the guards gripped their weapons, on the alert.

Anthony took out an iron badge and displayed it briefly before tossing it over.

The opposing guards and crew member were startled by the sight of the iron badge. After inspecting and verifying it, one of the guards hurried to report, while the remaining crew member and guard quickly lowered the gangway to let them pass.

“What badge is that?” Negris whispered.

Anthony replied in a low voice, “It's from the silver coin, for auditing.”

“Oh, the auditing type? No wonder they're so flustered,” Negris realized.

The Church of Light wasn't afraid of accounting inspections. The Silver Knights stationed in Dark City, each time the auditing team had just arrived in the desert, preparing to inspect their accounts, would encounter sand thieves and all die in the desert.

It was the same with Leonardo's Saint's Edge Legion; they were violent machines. The auditors might live to inspect the accounts but wouldn't survive to report back; even if they washed their faces with Holy Essence Liquid at a thousand Demon Crystals per bottle, they still remained God's Knights, brave, upright, and incorruptible.

But the Business Federation was indeed afraid of having their accounts checked; they weren't machines of violence but instead members of the Merchant Association, whose main business was still trade.

With trade comes accounts — huge, complicated accounts. Even without embezzlement, checking the accounts would mean overtime for several weeks, which was why the most dreaded thing within the Business Federation was auditing.

Dear lord, why are these chaps here? Upon receiving the notification, Fulco hurried over, leaving the banquet behind, to meet them and found a group clad in cloaks at the gangway.

“Greetings, colleagues from the Auditing Department. Welcome to our distant location. May I know if you're just passing by or here on some mission?” Fulco wondered along the way whether he had missed any detail in the accounts, and finding none, he greeted Anthony and his companions without concern.

Of course, Anthony wasn't here for an audit. He promptly presented the iron badge, saying, “No, no, just passing by. Lord Fulco, please excuse us. I am Anthony from the Auditing Department, pleased to meet you.”

“Lord Anthony, pleased to meet you, very pleased indeed,” said Fulco. Although he said 'very pleased', his inspection of the iron badge was relentless. Only after confirming its authenticity did he return it, then asked, “Lord Anthony, 'just passing by' here, is there something you need?”

“What's this banquet about? Why are so many airships gathering here? Where are you heading?” asked Anthony.

Fulco chuckled bitterly, “Indeed, you all are curious too, aren't you? I was merely hosting a six-day and seven-night luxury astrological drifting tour at the edge of the Boundless Space Hole, having invited some important clients and astrology enthusiasts. We were supposed to circle the edge of the Boundless Space Hole and return, but somehow the word got out. By the time we were about to depart, airships sporadically trailed behind, and it turned into what it is now.”

Anthony frowned and said, “You don't know how the message leaked? So many clients on your airship, they must be wealthy, right? It's not that the leak was intentional, and then someone sneaked into the convoy, planning to rob you, is it?”

Sheneko's expression changed dramatically, and he turned and ran to the control room.

Ange and his party hurried after him. When they reached the control room, they found Fulco with a complexion ashen, standing at the window looking outside. Hearing footsteps, he turned around: “There are about six airships faintly encircling mine.”

Saying this, Fulco gave Ange and the others a profound look, “Your appearance here at this time is very suspicious. For safety reasons, I must trouble you, lords, to hand over your weapons and equipment, and to wait in a room for some time. Guards, capture them.”

Chapter end

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