After some preparations, Michael was finally ready to journey to the Queens region using the highway system in the Dwarven Kingdom.
Coming with him were the Dragonborn siblings, who refused to let Michael go anywhere without protection, as well as various Rebornians who could each contribute different skills and talents when needed.
Yuna and her escorts also tagged along since they were already planning on going back to the Queens region. As much as she and the rest of her escorts wanted to stay in the Nation of Reborn, her parents would freak out if she didn't return after a few months of travel.
Her skills as a diplomat were also incredibly helpful in the Queens region. She would serve as a much-needed aide for Michael to navigate through the political landscape of a foreign land.
Before they left though, Michael left the Nation in Lolo's hands, who proved himself adept at handling the Rebornians and keeping them in check.
After the festival, the number of tourists remained high, which meant that everyone's workload increased significantly.
Even though they had no electricity yet, people were already pre-ordering their own air conditioning systems and refrigerators to use in the future. Perhaps, they just liked to see it in their houses to remind them of the good times they had in the Nation of Reborn.
But all in all, the amount of gold they earned from this ended up helping cover the costs of the new projects Michael had started in the Kings region.
While he would be busy establishing the company in a new region, the Rebornians would be busy planning railroads and laying the foundations for the electric lines that would 'modernize' everything and put it up to Rebornian standards.
Thankfully, the mages and wizards from the Magic Tower offered their services to speed up the construction. It seemed that they were quite desperate for money to afford their own customized Mithril wand artifact.
…
It took them quite a few days before they finally reached the Dwarven Kingdom.
There, they were greeted by eager dwarves who showed Michael the newly constructed concrete highway.
It was divided into two, one for entering the Queens region, and one for leaving it.
In the middle of this highway were tall street lamps that illuminated the whole place at night.
Michael built this with the high speed driving in mind, to make overnight trips much safer and faster overall.
"This is amazing. Thanks for your help!" Michael said to the hardworking dwarves. "Take the week off. I'll give you an all-expenses paid trip to our Nation for you and your families. Enjoy!"
The dwarves cheered after hearing this. They weren't able to join the music festival because of this project, so now they were glad they got to see their work had paid off.
…
…
…
Meanwhile, in the depths of a forest, a couple of peddlers tried to hike through the uneven terrain of the land.
"Are you sure it isn't dangerous here?" the youngest among them asked.
"No. There weren't any earthquakes last night, so the ground won't suddenly collapse under our feet," the oldest replied.
"That doesn't make me feel better. Why are we risking our lives here again? I thought this place was a ghost town," the youngest asked.
The oldest peddler looked back. "Orcus Town needs our help. They are dying of hunger and thirst. Buying our wares is their only way to survive,"
But just as they were about to climb over one of the uprooted trees, they suddenly heard a loud thumping sound echoing through the forest.
It boomed through their bodies, rattling their very bones.
"BU! TO! TO!"
"BU! TO! TO!"
"BU! TO! TO!"
"RAH! TAH! TAH!"
"RAH! TAH! TAH!"
"RAH! TAH! TAH!"
The thumping sounds were accompanied by growls and guttural shouts, which continued to get louder and louder with each echo.
It was at this point that they realized that those weren't echoes. Those were the culmination of hundreds of other creatures shouting at the top of their lungs, each one trying to outdo the other.
The peddlers suddenly felt their hearts palpitate from the sheer deafening sound coming from the forest.
The eldest peddler looked back at his team.
"Let's go back," he said decisively.
…
Meanwhile, just up ahead of the forest was a gathering of Orcs, with their pig-like snouts and their large almost obese figures that made them look very intimidating even against their kind.
On the left side were Orcs who had wolf ears on the top of their heads as well as patches of gray fur sparsely spread throughout their bodies.
They called themselves the Orcanine tribe.
On the right side were Orcs who had very short ears and skin with rock-like patches that had spikes coming out of the roots.
They were called the Orcupine tribe.
Despite how it looked, these two Orc groups were not the violent type. They made it their principle to solve their fight through a show of dominance.
"BU! TO! TO!" the Orcanine tribe shouted, squatting and slapping their meaty thighs to produce a thumping sound.
"RAH! TAH! TAH" the Orcupine tribe answered, strumming the spikes on their bodies to imitate the sound of a snake rattling its tail.
These two tribes 'postured' to show their dominance, yet none of them showed any sign of relenting.
"Leave! We stay here!"
"No, you leave! We keep our place here!"
The two leaders exchanged 'pleasantries'.
…
…
…
Meanwhile, in the middle of the calm ocean, a sudden gust of wind disturbed the large cumulonimbus clouds populating the blue skies.
Large winged creatures broke through the clouds, turning them into nothing but mist.
These were none other than Giant Wyverns, creatures from the proud Draconian race. And if one were courageous enough to go above the Wyverns, then they would see an incredible sight.
Constructed above the wide ribcage of the Wyvern's body was a small town complete with wooden houses and constructs. Not only that, but it was also populated by hundreds if not thousands of humans and demi-humans!
Their destination? None other than the continent in the distance…