Chapter 243: Incident
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Staring at Lily who was eating heartily, Hao Ren wanted to taste it too. So, he took a bite, but he instantly frowned. Although the food was not as bad as Lily had claimed, it was not good; the solid food was bland and coarse while the paste tasted fetidly sweet. These were apparently mass-produced using the simplest synthetic formulation. Even though things in the eco-dome were more than sufficient to provide for the needs of Aerym Royalty, they did not take it—it was just their attitude.
Vivian and Y'zaks both tried. The demon had no complaints about the food. However, Vivian and Lily obviously had the same tastebuds; even during her poorest times, Vivian had never eaten such an unpalatable thing. It was so unpalatable that Lily put everything back into the cabinet. She then took a pack of brownish snacks out from her bag and started eating them. While she was at it, she offered some to Hao Ren. "Landlord, I bet the dinner won't be any better. For now, just eat this. Battie, you can eat if you want."
While waiting for Hilda to return, Hao Ren, Vivian and Lily sat at the table, wolfing down the snacks. Y'zaks was not interested at all; he found a quiet corner, sat down and started daydreaming as usual.
"There's always food to be found on your body, eh?" It was not a surprise to Hao Ren. Apart from her unusual strength and shapeshifting ability, she always had a portable supply of food. Her bag of supplies was enough to feed the poor in the mountain. "Oh, this thing's good. Tastes like beef. Where did you buy it?"
The pellets were crunchy in Lily's mouth. "They're dog food..."
Blearghh
Hao Ren and Vivian would have spurted in each other's faces if not for their quick maneuver. He coughed as he cleaned his mouth. "What the hell, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"It tastes good," said Lily as she looked at them, baffled. "What a waste. One pack of this is even more expensive than your breakfast."
After Vivian was done puking, she licked her lips and said, "Hmm... it doesn't taste that bad."
"See, I said so." Wagging her tail happily, Lily said, "In fact, I've never tried this before. Since I bought it, I thought I might as well give it a try. Once I tasted it, I couldn't stop eating. If the ingredients on the packaging are anything to go by, it's definitely better than the rice that humans are consuming..."
After clearing the residue in his mouth, Hao Ren raised his head with an incredible look on his face. "Dogs are having a good life nowadays, huh?"
"That's true. Sometimes humans have less privileges than dogs." Vivian nodded in total agreement. "Just look at me, I'm a countess to say the least."
The two pretty maidens—appearance-wise—began to talk in length about the dog food. Hao Ren could not bear to look at them any longer. He turned his head away, pretending to look at the scenery outside while trying to convince himself. They were not humans, so they one could not look at them from a human's perspective. Feeding them dog food was not animal cruelty. He was extremely confident of the law, in his mind.
Time flew as the two maidens immersed themselves in their noisy chat. Dusk had finally come to an end. A gleam of golden light slowly disappeared quickly in the horizon as the floating island spun on its axis. The Aerymian elves were using the rotation of the floating island to simulate the transition between day and night. They also used the protective shield to create a natural filtered sunlight. Even with those things, it was obvious that the world under the dome was very different from that of a natural planet—the lack of the sky's depth, the abrupt fall of night, and the harsh sunlight. People who lived at the edge of the floating island could clearly observe the distortion of the sky. He could now truly understand what Hilda meant when she said, "I envy you people, the vast sky and landscape..."
Suddenly, on the horizon where the sun had just set, a flash of faint light appeared.
The flash quickly subsided. Hao Ren thought it was an illusion. Soon, a commotion could be heard down in the city streets. Some bright columns of light appeared at the edge of the city as some flying objects were making their way towards the Royal District. Residents were all out on the streets as though they were expecting the arrival of news from far away. Hao Ren could see everything happening in the city with his biologically enhanced eyesight, including people on the roof of the steeple, who were gazing out at the same direction—the horizon where the light had just appeared.
"Something's happening," said Lily as she stuffed a bunch of dog food in her mouth. Her ears stood erect as she came up to Hao Ren. "There's commotion."
"There was a flash of light, probably an explosion," said Hao Ren quickly before he darted to the end of the hall and called a lift. The massive lift had two Royal Guards on standby, and Hao Ren noticed the strange expression on their faces as well. "What happened outside?"
"Do not worry, the guards are handling the situation. Everything is under control," said one of the elven warriors, whose eyes were filled with anxiety even though he still behaved professionally as a Royal Guard. "The queen is back from the elder assembly. She will attend to all of you shortly..."
Hao Ren waved his hand, signalling the restless lot behind him. They stormed into the lift by force. "We are here not as guests. Lead us to the exit and tell us what the hell is going on."
"But, the queen has ordered—"
"There was no explosion when she gave the order!" Hao Ren pressed a lift button. "Just do what I say. I am sure your queen will agree. By the way, why is the door still not closed?"
"That is... that is the open button..."
Hao Ren was embarrassed. "Why does the arrow here mean the opposite? It's unlike anything on Earth."
Seeing that the guests were determined, and thinking about the unusual attitude the queen had towards them, the elven warriors gave in. They paged their superior using some kind of communication device. As they got the nod, one of the elven warriors sent the lift down to the exit on the ground floor. "A propulsion system exploded. There is some damage to the surrounding walls. But, they are being sealed... temporarily."
Hao Ren could feel hid head humming as he thought to himself: he was no scientist, but he at least knew what was outside the floating island—a spaceship with a thin layer of shield. The shield was the only thing between the city and space, and it was punctured!
He wished that the lift would go faster. In his head, he complained about the height of the steeple, where the elves lived (they were probably used to living on trees in the past). One minute felt like a century in the lift and they finally reached the ground after half a minute. They darted out of the lift as soon as the door opened while the elven warriors followed from behind. "Please, wait a minute. I will get you a magic-guided levitating car..."
"That toy is not as fast as we are!"
Hao Ren turned his head around and held on to Vivian's arm. "Let's take off."
As he spoke, the vampire maiden flung her wings open and carried him up into the air. Meanwhile, Lily was howling like a beast as she began to run on her four limbs. Y'zaks was following closely behind like a vicious, humanoid chariot. The earth trembled as he ran. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared into the distance, leaving the two elven warriors or guards behind.
"What a bunch of unusual guests the queen brought back."
"What if the levitating vehicles collide with the flying one?"
"If we could catch up... err... we would probably not catch up."