Chapter 577: Chapter 293: Shadow Dock

Farina pondered while holding her chin: “You just mentioned that at the end of each passage, there’s a door that cannot be opened.”

“Yes, the passages start from different places, all leading to the core in the middle of the island. The note the captain obtained records that the author only knew of seven passages, but that was enough for him to sketch out a sectional diagram based on orientation.

“These passages lead to the same place, a circular, inaccessible giant enclosed space, called the ’Mechanical City Core’. This is where the passages get their name.”

Zoe’s eyes shone: “A new adventure again?”

Xiaomo looked at her with a smile: “I wouldn’t call it an adventure; those doors can’t be opened at all. It’s just the background of the event.”

He raised his index finger: “Based on past events with the Machine Core Tunnel and the Mechanical City Core, a group of engineers separated from the major shipyards, formed an underground organization, known as the ’Shadow Factory’. They are aware of the current conspiracy in the city, which is also why the Empire sought me out.”

Every time a powerful Sky Riding Corps arrives at a Sky Island, it causes at least some ripples, though the magnitude depends on their purpose and actions.

If a mighty group worthy of being called a “Celestial Group” chooses to settle on an island, even if they decide to stay out of worldly affairs, they can’t avoid establishing some contact with local rulers.

The Fellowship of Fortunate Stars found itself in this situation.

Their leader was a local from the City of the Ship’s Rudder, and after the team became powerful, under the Guild’s guidance, they would take on some tasks to aid the city.

Of course, this was merely the proper choice on the surface. In reality, one could say that the City of the Ship’s Rudder was protected by the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars.

However, as a Celestial Group, embarking on expeditions to the Desperate Secret Realm was routine, so some members would take turns guarding their base.

“About a week ago, just when the Double Eagles’ Helm celebration began, someone from The Soul Apex reached out to me.”

As he spoke, Xiaomo’s expression grew colder.

Farina’s eyes showed a hint of sadness.

Xiaomo said to Li Ang: “They mentioned catching up with old friends, and I heard they had kicked out the witch. I knew it wasn’t Li Ang coming. What I thought at the time was that Rams wanted something from the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars and wanted me to act as a mediator.”

This is a normal person’s first thought.

Li Ang nodded, asking: “Did Rams come?”

“If he had, I would have considered him quite a character.”

Xiaomo sneered: “What I saw were two people I didn’t recognize, but they were indeed from the Excellence Realm, likely later additions to the main force. The problem was the Black Armored Warrior they brought.”

“Annihilation Knights.” Meluna said nearby.

Xiaomo glanced at the black-haired young girl: “So that’s what those monsters are called; it seems you all know a bit about them.”

“That’s not just a bit of knowledge.”

With Er Mei and Zoe on their side, besides the Empire itself, Li Ang couldn’t think of anyone who knew these enemies better than the Star Flower Travel Corps.

“We’ll discuss it more later. In short, once I appeared, they launched their attack.”

Xiaomo drew the dagger from his waist, playing with it in his hand. Li Ang knew this was a sign that he intended to kill.

“It’s obvious they had scouted the time of the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars’ expedition. By getting rid of me, the protection over the City of the Ship’s Rudder by the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars would be temporarily lifted, allowing them to do whatever they wish.

“After escaping, I immediately evacuated the station staff and sub-group members. Many have already taken refuge at the Shadow Factory, but some were captured.”

Morales tossed the dagger in his hand, a weapon Li Ang had not seen before; it was the Tier Eight Dagger [Dancer’s Sharpness] displayed on his panel, likely acquired over the years in the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars.

He caught the dagger’s handle, thrusting forward fiercely in a mock motion.

“I’ve heard about how the so-called Holy Empire is trying to block passages, causing trouble everywhere in the Ignis Sky Realm and clashing with the Order Flame Corps, but I never expected that The Soul Apex would collaborate with such a power.

“Rams indeed, using even the former comrade identity to attempt to take my life.”

As Xiaomo finished, the surroundings fell into a brief silence.

Although the young girls didn’t know much about The Soul Apex, they were concerned about Li Ang, all silently observing him.

Li Ang moved his lips, instinctively wanting to say – if I were there, I would surely have stopped The Soul Apex from allying with the Empire.

But he understood immediately.

If it were merely hypothetical, or rather, precisely because he, Li Ang, would do such a thing, he was no longer with The Soul Apex. Whatever Rams wanted to do, no one could stop him anymore.

“I also… The last time I encountered someone from The Soul Apex, he was a local of the Empire. At that time, the deep alliance between The Soul Apex and the Empire wasn’t apparent, but…”

The words Li Ang wanted to say were interrupted by Farina raising her hand.

The mature older sister smiled gently at him: “Don’t say you have a responsibility to prevent this from happening here. Look at how many things you’ve encountered these days – demons, the Holy City, and the affairs of these two Miss Mei Mei. Not even building a ship has been peaceful. You’re not a Divine Spirit; don’t take it all on yourself.”

“Demons?” Xiaomo was quite surprised upon hearing this, but now wasn’t the time to ask more questions, so he just remarked: “You’re really something these days.”

“Let’s just say, the shadow of the Empire has begun to spread. It’s a dark tide that personal strength is hard-pressed to stop. Here, everyone is standing on the beach, and right now they’re just getting their feet wet with the tide’s leading edge. After this, there will be bigger waves, one after another.” Mei Mei suddenly spoke up.

Xiaomo looked at her in astonishment; this charming little girl was the main reason he mistook Li Ang for being on a recreational outing, yet he didn’t expect her to articulate such a statement.

The young man with beast-like ears cast an inquiring look at Li Ang, who simply said “explain later,” and in the corner of his eye, he saw Zoe clenching her fists tightly.

“Empire…” Zoe muttered the word quietly, her head lowered.

After calming himself a little, Li Ang said: “Given the situation, let’s start advancing what we need to do.”

He felt that they could no longer simply see the Empire as merely a regional power. Or rather, while it was indeed so superficially, the unknown forces behind it could be viewed as the dark side of Nebis, and the Empire was just the front where its conspiracies were executed.

“The Soul Apex… Rams’s ambition… It seems to be heading in a direction that can’t be easily returned from,” Li Ang sighed softly.

Xiaomo stared at Li Ang for a while, then said slowly, “The Soul Apex must have found the largest Empty Flame Shipyard here early on, which is also a gradually deteriorating group. They don’t know when they secretly reached an agreement for cooperation. In short, taking advantage of the Fellowship of Fortunate Stars’ departure, and after attacking me, The Soul Apex immediately took control of other Great Shipyards by force, and then the Festival started to be held.”

“Was it the other eleven that control the Machine Core Tunnel?” Farina asked.

“Yes.”

“I felt something was off about this Festival. Aside from the Flashing Field, there aren’t many places that favor airship racing,” Li Ang said.

After he finished speaking, he noticed Andasu’s ears drooped slightly.

The young girl’s past life was all put into this, and those words were not pleasant for her to hear.

Yet it was indeed the truth.

Xiaomo, unaware of the origin of Li Ang’s members, said directly, “It’s obvious the Boat Race was to cover the reason for the shipyard’s work stoppage. The Soul Apex and Empire need the shipyard for something.”

“For what?” Zoe asked.

“That I don’t know. We need to find a way to infiltrate and investigate. All I know is The Soul Apex’s main force seems to consist of four or five, and those maintaining the scene under the name of The Soul Apex don’t count. Besides, there are those powerful Black-armored Knights from the Empire.”

“We’ve eliminated three.”

“Oh? Looks like your new group has some skills, able to confront such things directly? If so, we should have eliminated half. But I don’t yet know if there are more lurking beneath the surface.”

Xiaomo pointed ahead: “Let’s go first; there’s still some distance to the Shadow Factory.”

He said while walking, “The Shadow Factory has the goal of overthrowing the existing twelve Great Shipyards. They utilize the Fourteenth Route to investigate everywhere in the city. So, as its name suggests, the information I’ve shared comes mostly from their investigations.”

“What about you?”

“I’m considering how to infiltrate the shipyards,” Xiaomo said.

“Among the twelve, surely there’s one you can infiltrate successfully.”

“I’ve gotten in, but those I could get into are all maintaining work stoppages without seeing any crucial things. Whereas those few that appear to be secretly doing something inside, as I’ve mentioned just now, are heavily guarded. More planning is needed.”

Xiaomo shrugged: “I was in a hurry to come to rescue you because you stirred up trouble at my place. The people at the Shadow Shipyard informed me; I saw it was you two, and thought I better not let them catch more of your power, so I hurried over.”

“When retreating, I noted there wasn’t any pursuit,” Li Ang said.

“Not that simple. Among them are those, conventional stealth techniques fail with these trackers. You guys even went straight into a restaurant to eat.”

Xiaomo gestured a symbol representing an eye in front of him: “During my escape, I miscalculated; if not for being an experienced thief providing some leeway, I could have been trapped.”

Li Ang guessed he referred to some secret technique of the Oracle envoy.

Yet, it didn’t affect them. There are two people here with extensive battle experience against the Empire. Since they felt no issue, it’s one of the reasons for Li Ang’s reassurance.

Nevertheless, Xiaomo had goodwill; if not for it, he couldn’t have joined forces with them, so Li Ang didn’t reject his kind intentions.

“Were those cutting the power the people from Shadow Factory?”

“Yes, they are indeed good comrades.”

“We also encountered one before,” Andasu said.

“Ah? How could you have met them? No one would claim such a thing,” Xiaomo was surprised.

Li Ang roughly told the story of what happened in the engine shop earlier; Xiaomo paused momentarily, squinting his eyes, and whispered: “Could it be?”

Li Ang pressed him about what was happening, but the guy mysteriously said: “We’ll talk later.”

“Are they really building a secret warship?” Zoe focused on the urban legend she had heard earlier.

Xiaomo gave a mysterious smile: “You’ll know when you get there.”

He suddenly began acting spooky, Li Ang sarcastically said: “Then hurry up.”

They advanced for about half an hour; the tunnel finally reached its end. Ahead, they could see the lights, and from the sound and scattered light, it was apparent this was a huge space.

Stepping out of the tunnel, standing on a platform with railings, the scenery ahead temporarily stunned everyone.

On the vast full-metal dock that almost appeared to be a spectacle, a giant ship in half-completion was resting within.

Its length was likely two to three hundred meters, almost like a small city itself; there were plenty of shadows on it, and some places had even set up tents, seeming to be treated as a community.

“That is the so-called secret warship, in fact, a damaged ship from the previous civilization, the Shadow Factory just wants to repair it.”

Xiaomo said, “And using parts of its still usable power and various facilities, it’s also the main living space for everyone.”

The young man with beast ears pointed to some slightly smaller docks in the distance: “That place is where the Shadow Factory builds ships, essentially called the Shadow Dock.”

Standing at the platform edge, next to some cables connected to other platforms or the ground below in the underground space, someone who noticed him in the distance used small roller glides hanging on the cable to slide over.

“Morales, you’re back, are these your friends?”

The newcomer had the appearance of a young engineer, examining Li Ang’s group.

“Yes.”

“Take them with you; the Great Engineer wants to meet them.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep