Chapter 131: Qinghui Base
“Flight 242 was about to depart, passengers please board in a timely manner.”
In the airship rest hall of Qinshan Base, a gentle reminder sounded from the broadcast.
After hearing it, quite a few passengers hurriedly quickened their pace and rushed toward the corresponding boarding passages.
If one missed the airship’s departure, not only would they have to wait several more days, but the one hundred thousand Alliance Coins paid as travel expenses would also not be refunded.
That was right—taking an airship once required a fee of one hundred thousand Alliance Coins.
Of course, if one had a special status, the price would be much lower.
For example, Lei Yuan whom Zhou Ming had encountered back then—after being admitted to Qinghui Scientific Research University, with her status she only needed to pay ten thousand Alliance Coins.
At this moment, Zhou Ming carried a backpack on his shoulders and wore a fitted cold-weather coat as he slowly walked toward the boarding entrance.
With a height of one meter eighty, a slightly lean build, broken bangs, and gold-rimmed glasses, he looked like a student who had yet to leave campus.
He wore the gold-rimmed glasses not to conceal the dark-gold serpent pupils, but to mask his cold and indifferent temperament.
When he had returned to Qinshan Base back then, it was precisely because his temperament was too cold that the city defense army had conducted a strict interrogation on him.
It was also because of this that Zhou Ming had noticed the changes in himself.
There were not many passengers at Qinshan Base—only several dozen—and soon all of them boarded the airship.
After boarding, under the guidance of the staff, Zhou Ming quickly found his own room.
It occupied only a few square meters, but it was already sufficient for resting.
Leaving the backpack containing his clothes behind, Zhou Ming began to stroll around the airship, since this was his first time coming into contact with one.
The airship before his eyes resembled a battleship sailing on the sea, about a hundred meters long and possessing an enormous deck.
At present, there were at least several hundred passengers on the airship. They came from different bases, and their destinations were also different.
Zhou Ming quietly observed them once. Most were Beast Tamers, or people dressed in obvious wealth.
“It’s taking off.”
The massive airship seemed to shake free of gravity, rising steadily into the sky as a semi-transparent energy shield rose all around it.
Passengers on the airship could stand directly on the deck and admire the scenery from high above.
The shout just now had come from those riding an airship for the first time, who could not help but cry out upon seeing the scene before them.
“No wonder it’s the top-tier scientific achievement of the Academy of Sciences.”
Although the speed of the airship still could not break the sound barrier and was, in some respects, inferior to fighter jets, its ability to hover, take off, and land at any time was enough to give it far broader applications.
Especially the energy shield, which was sufficient to withstand harassment from ordinary mutated flying birds and low-tier Ferocious Beasts.
As for comfort, there was no need to mention it. Aside from single-person rooms for rest, the airship also had areas such as dining halls and screening rooms.
Thinking about it now, the one hundred thousand Alliance Coins were indeed worth the price.
The airship flew westward, not directly toward the southwest where Qinghui Base was located.
This was because the airship’s route was fixed. It would stop at nearly all medium-sized and larger bases in the north; otherwise, passengers from a single base simply could not support the operational costs of the airship.
The land was blanketed in white snow. Qinshan Base had already turned into a tiny black dot, and Zhou Ming was traveling far in this world for the first time.
……
Three days later, after experiencing more than ten takeoffs and landings, the airship finally arrived at the large base of Qinghui.
Upon hearing the announcement from the broadcast, Zhou Ming slung his backpack over his shoulders and came to the deck.
Lowering his head to look into the distance, a forest sea covered with scattered white snow came into view.
“Air defense shield, optical invisibility?”
Although he was wearing cosmetic lenses, with the eyesight of the dark-gold serpent pupils, Zhou Ming still detected something abnormal about the scene before him.
Recalling what he had learned, although large bases possessed air defense shields, they consumed an enormous amount of energy.
Under normal circumstances, they would only maintain the lowest operational state—that was, optical invisibility to avoid attracting flying Ferocious Beasts.
Although large bases were generally located close to the interior of the Alliance and powerful flying Ferocious Beasts would not appear nearby, accidents could still happen.
Just as Zhou Ming had guessed, the airship slowed down. Then the bow touched a layer of light-and-shadow barrier. As ripples spread layer by layer, the airship seemed to be slowly swallowed by an invisible giant beast.
In the next instant, a large base occupying more than ten kilometers in diameter appeared in Zhou Ming’s field of vision. Compared to the Qinshan Base he had once lived in, Qinghui Base was more like a modern metropolis.
High-rise buildings of twenty to thirty floors were everywhere. Especially the tall towers located in the eight directions of the base—each about three hundred meters high and occupying an area of nearly a hundred meters.
It was precisely these eight towers that made it possible to construct the air defense shield of a large base.
With energy operating at full power, it could, for a short time, withstand attacks from lord-level Ferocious Beasts. This was an achievement of the Academy of Sciences’ research on Energy Crystals, and it also contained quite a bit of knowledge from other races.
It was said that within the Alliance, the confidentiality level of the air defense shield ranked first among numerous top secrets.
Perhaps due to the influence of the air defense shield, there was noticeably less snowfall inside Qinghui Base, and snowflakes almost disappeared upon reaching the ground.
After surveying the scene before him, as the airship slowly descended, Zhou Ming finally turned around and left the airship he had ridden for three days.
Qinghui Base’s airship docking grounds were extremely lively. Aside from passenger airships, there were also cargo airships and large cargo aircraft continuously taking off and landing.
Before Zhou Ming could even leave the Qinghui airship docking grounds, another passenger airship arrived.
According to what Zhou Ming understood, the permanent population of Qinghui Base was maintained at over three million year-round, and together with Yunhai Base, it was known as the Twin Stars of the Alliance’s north.
These two large bases, along with twenty to thirty medium-sized bases and several hundred small bases, formed a population of nearly fifty million—this was roughly the situation of the Alliance’s north.
“Qinghui Scientific Research University.”
After leaving the airship docking grounds, Zhou Ming skillfully hailed a taxi.
Aside from the air defense shield, Qinghui Base did not cause Zhou Ming much surprise. After all, the great metropolises of his previous life were the true definition of prosperity.
The only thing on Blue Star that could truly attract Zhou Ming was that Beast Tamers could rely on their beasts to gradually grasp transcendent power.
“Young brother, you’re a student from Qinghui Scientific Research, huh? Truly young and promising, much better than the ones in my family.”
“They don’t have the potential to become Beast Tamers, and their academic results are a complete mess.”
……
Perhaps taxi drivers were the same everywhere. Even across a parallel world, they still liked chatting with their passengers.
However, this time the driver had chosen the wrong person. From beginning to end, Zhou Ming did not respond with a single word, and the driver ultimately had no choice but to fall silent.
“Two hundred and five.”
There were not many vehicles inside the base. Without any traffic jams, it took just over twenty minutes to reach the entrance of Qinghui Scientific Research University.
The only downside was that the fare was rather high, but given the prices in Qinghui Base, it was clear the driver had not tried to overcharge Zhou Ming.
“Brother Zhou.”
Just as Zhou Ming got out of the car, a voice with an uncertain tone sounded behind him.
Zhou Ming turned his head to look. The person wore a white down jacket, a fluffy hat that covered the ears, and held several books tightly in both hands.
Looking at the other party’s delicate and refined face, Zhou Ming felt a faint sense of familiarity.