Chapter 265: Simple and Crude Yet, Effective
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With the exception of totalitarian civilisations, all societies—Aerymian included—had opposition and dissidents. These dissidents were not necessarily extremists or evil. They had good intentions but, due to certain realities, their ideologies were not compatible with their rulers. The situation in Aerym was better. They were much more united than most mortal civilisations; although there were people of different political ideologies, they had the same zeal in protecting the Aerymian Civilisation. With this premise, the Lotto Group garnered the support of a large elven following, which consisted of those who opposed the migration decision.
To put it plainly, they were just being overly sensitive and skeptical about things that sounded too good to be true. It was totally understandable. There were bound to be some who would insist on not taking the elixir even if it was given to them for free. So, Hilda did not force her will on the dissidents. She instead mobilised her covert agents, public opinion and political clout to gather all the opposition on Darklight Isle.
It was sort of like the "gazetted venue for political protest" on Earth. Just that it was in a larger scale in Aerym.
Hilda's plan was to leave the opposition in the cold temporarily while she completed the migration. Only then would she convince the opposition with facts to do the same. The blunt 883 captain felt that the queen's move was a waste of time. He pointed at Kayber, a humanoid looking plant and said, "This is Kayber, a sylph. We've known each other for 30 years. It can help you with the holdout."
"A sylph? Hao Ren looked at Kayber in bewilderment. "A humanoid plant? Err... I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend you. I just didn't know plants could evolve into intelligent beings."
"Most people have the exact reaction as you the first time they see a sylph." Kayber waved its leaves at Hao Ren. "As far as I know, intelligent plants capable of thinking in the Macroworld form only five percent of all intelligent life forms. And only one percent of these intelligent plant races have evolved into the Interstellar Age. Our basic life form isn't built for evolution of the brain but, with the assistance of these equipment, sylphs have become the best transporters in the Macroworld."
Kayber showcased its lower body where its roots were fused with the machine. The machine was not just helping with its mobility but also amplifying its senses and speed of response. As amazing as this life form was, Hao Ren was more interested in how it would solve the houldout problem.
"It's simple. Follow me and you'll understand." 883 invited everyone out of the spacecraft. "I'm not used to staying on land. The spacecraft feels more like home. Now, the first batch of migrants have almost finished boarding. Let's go the 'site', shall we?"
There were not many elves in the first boarding site. Excluding the required personnel, the spaceships were mostly loaded with various materials and large equipment. They needed these things to first establish a base in their new home. Then, the subsequent migrants would be able to adapt to their new life on the new planet. The loading of materials and equipment was a lot faster than boarding elves, not to mention, there were teleportation devices on some of the spacecrafts. As such, most spacecrafts were already loaded up when they got there. Hilda understood this. She rose to her feet and said, "I'll go with you. Vimm, you stay."
According to the plan, Hilda would go with the first batch of personnel to the new planet. She would be the spiritual support and play the role of a supreme commander in case of an emergency situation. She would helm the outpost in the new planet until the migration was completed. While Vimm would be stationed on the Aerymian island chain to ensure that the whole migration process ended smoothly. The first batch of spacecrafts were ready to leave and it was time for Hilda and Vimm to say goodbye to each other. The young prince regent got to his feet and bowed before his mother. "Mother, safe travels. Do not forget to send back the first image of our new home when you get there. I will be waiting."
Hilda only had one thing to say. "Look after our home."
As everyone left the royal platform, Hilda looked at the dome above the city: the dome had protected the Aerymian elves for thousands of years; it was a sanctuary as well as a jail, which was slowly decaying. A never-before seen scenario was unfolding in Aerym as gigantic, interstellar spacecrafts hovered above the dome while transport vessels, fully-loaded with personnel and materials left the city in a hurry; the city streets were filled with elves—busy yet orderly, as the city was in its last moments of hustle and bustle. The queen could not help but lament. "I never expected things to end this way."
"Hmm, at least it's a happy ending." Hao Ren smiled. "Let's take my spaceship. The Petrachelys is loaded with people too."
The Petrachelys was docked on the platform at the edge of the isle. It was not a cargo ship, but it had the most advanced cargo expansion space, which other spacecrafts lacked. So, it could move a considerable amount of materials and people at the same time. Hao Ren decided to join the migration fleet, thinking that he should not let what he had go to waste, and also because he could. The MDT connected to the main computer and autonomous robots in the Petrachelys. From the very beginning, tonnes of cargo had been loaded into the spacecraft and it was almost filled to the brim at this point.
Hao Ren did not need to get his hands dirty—and he also did not know how to.
The 883 captain came up together with his group of veteran pilots. They became excited and surrounded Hao Ren when they heard what he said. "We'd like to go onboard too..."
A female captain said with a broad grin across her face, "We never had the chance to visit the inspector's spacecraft. The imperial spacecraft is one of the four mysteries of the Macroworld. We're gonna have a look today!"
"It's not as mysterious as you think." Hao Ren laughed, and did not refuse them entry. The spacecraft had different levels of locking protocol—no one could access the highly classified zone of the spacecraft. Everyone finally arrived at the platform, where the Petrachelys was docked. The last batch of passengers were boarding: elven kids and women were queuing up with luggages while robotic squids were standing at the side to maintain order.
Even though the autonomous robots were gentle, their appearances were not particularly pleasing. When it came to the aesthetic views of most intelligent beings, the consensus was a cold, mechanical monster look and tentacles were not the good kind. Under the instruction of the autonomous robots, the elves boarded without a hitch however, the flying, robotic monsters had frightened the wits out of many children and women. It looked as if they would pounce on them at any moment. Hilda's appearance caused a ruckus among the elves but the good thing was, they became less nervous. Hao Ren could even hear kids shouting, "The queen has arrived!"
"I will board with everyone." Hilda waved to the elves. "Let us move. Follow the robots' instructions."
The elves finally calmed down as they lined up and entered the spacecraft. The 883 captain and his friends were at the rear of the line. They mumbled among themselves as they pointed at the autonomous robots. "Do you think we can buy one in the black market?"
"Are you dreaming? It's military! Anyone who gets caught selling this stuff would be shot first and questioned later."
"But, I've heard that they're selling it in the black market..."
"That's a modified version of the retired version. It's inferior to the original."
"What if we steal one from here..."
"I think that's a little impractical."
"Why do you say so?"
"Because there are two robotic squids pointing their cutting blades at the back of your head right now."
"Oh f*ck, do they understand our language?"
Hao Ren shook his head, lamenting; he found that he had to be really careful with these unscrupulous profiteers a.k.a illegal pilots.
The Petrachelys finally lifted off and left Dawnbreak Island. Smaller transportation ships and utility vessels were traversing to and fro, in and around the Aerymian island chain, which looked a little busier than usual. Meanwhile, a few fully-loaded spacecrafts were flashing their lights, ready to accelerate and take off. Hao Ren flew his spacecraft over the space above Darklight Isle. It was extremely quiet.
The holdouts occupying the floating isle were indeed in an awkward position; they were unwilling to board the spacecrafts or negotiate with Hilda.
"They are stubborn." Hilda stood next to Hao Ren, visibly embarrased. "Some of them have actually softened upon seeing the migration fleet. But, people at the upper cadres of Lotto are guarding the entrances and exits of the isle. I am not sure if I should send an army in there to get those people out."
The spacecraft's main computer intercepted some of the telecommunications in Darklight Isle, mostly of Lotto's propaganda. The stubborn skeptics were urging people on the isle not to board the spacecrafts, and not to believe in the unknown, extraterrestrial civilisation. There was even a loud voice shouting, "We will not leave this city. We will stay here until the very end..."
Hao Ren turned to Kayber. "How are you going to convince these holdouts to get onboard?"
Wielding its leaves, Kayber contacted its subordinates as it yelled, "Vessel One, Two and Three, it's showtime! Let us first work on the isle that I've earmarked!"
Everyone was curious as three strange-looking, sylphic spaceships suddenly appeared from afar. The three spaceships were not like any other cargo ship; each one had a narrow and curvy shape very much like an elegant crescent. So, these were obviously not cargo ships. As the three spaceships approached Darklight Isle, they formed a triangular formation and rounded up the isle. Suddenly, a burst of light from the three spacecrafts formed a giant ring of light.
Then, a transmission from one of the sylpic spaceships said, "Energy field has been activated. We'll proceed first!"
Meanwhile, some leaders of the Lotto Group could still be heard shouting, "Don't abandon our city, the queen has been blinded..."
Before their voices trailed off, the giant ring of light flashed. Soon after, the three spaceships together with Darklight Isle disappeared.
The houldouts did not need to get out of the buildings.
Because, the mad, veteran pilots had moved the entire isle.
883 guffawed. "That's the way to solve a problem in the Interstellar Era—simple and crude.
Hao Ren was left speechless.
This was moving house at its best!