Chapter 123: Even if it Blows Up, You Have to Admit it Made a Bang
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 123: Even if it Blows Up, You Have to Admit it Made a Bang
Carlos Lilanka, Aodu Empire.
Following the bustling flow of people, Xie Bai led the Two Little Ones off the train.
Facing the slightly piercing sunlight, Xie Bai couldn't help but squint her eyes.
"Mm... it’s been a while since I was last here."
Looking at the chaotic crowds surrounding her, Xie Bai felt a sense of unfamiliarity.
More than twenty days had passed since the lifting of the war decree. By now, Carlos Lilanka had completely regained its former prosperity—perhaps even surpassing it.
As the capital of the Aodu Empire and the global center for alchemical exchange, Carlos Lilanka was also the most flourishing trade hub on the entire continent.
Although the Aodu Empire had recently formed the Dual Emperor Alliance with the Northern Territory, making the diplomatic situation somewhat delicate, it hadn't affected commercial dealings in the slightest.
On the contrary, speculators and adventurous merchants who smelled opportunity were even more numerous than usual.
Compared to before, one could now see more people in diverse attire walking the streets, including quite a few Players with nicknames floating above their heads.
Watching everything around them, the Two Little Ones were filled with curiosity.
"Wow! This place is way more lively than the cities we passed before!"
"On the ground, in the water, in the sky... Mmm, why are there so many cars and boats?"
Seeing the Two Little Ones looking around in every direction, Xie Bai walked up and took their hands.
"Alright, there are a lot of people here. I'll take you somewhere a bit quieter."
At this moment, Xie Bai had quietly altered a few details of her appearance. With the help of the Crown of the Empire to lower her presence, none of the passing Players recognized her.
However, due to her height, she was very likely to be mistaken for someone's child.
After leading the Two Little Ones away from the crowd, Xie Bai’s group arrived at the Central Plaza.
Unlike the solemn, open Central Plaza of the Northern Empire that sat adjacent to the Imperial Palace, the Aodu Empire's Central Plaza was flanked on one side by the magnificent Royal Opera House.
With the improvement of its operating mechanisms, the Royal Opera House was leased out to other outstanding performance groups most of the time.
Only on specific days would the theater's true master, Atoris, find the time to take the stage and sing.
"Speaking of which, is Atoris still inside the Opera House right now?"
Currently, the theater was in its regular operating hours. Although there were audience members entering and exiting the doors, it was nowhere near the surging tide of people seen during Atoris's special performances.
But even without a special performance, Atoris was likely beneath the Opera House, managing the branch of the Wheel of Fate.
Thinking of this, Xie Bai turned to look at the Two Little Ones.
"Are you interested in taking a look inside the Opera House? Or would you rather see somewhere else first... Hmm?"
Before she could finish her sentence, there was no one beside her.
In the blink of an eye, the Two Little Ones who had been standing right there had vanished without a trace.
Xie Bai was stunned for a moment, then a helpless, slight smile curved her lips.
"They ran off to play on their own... Well, that's fine too."
Xie Bai didn't feel much panic at the Two Little Ones' unauthorized departure.
Relying on the Void Authority attached to their bracelets, Xie Bai could clearly sense their current location and status; there was no need to worry about them getting lost.
Besides, the Two Little Ones were the dignified Space-Time Twin Gods.
Even if they were outside the Land of Distortion and couldn't fully exert their Space-Time Authority, they still possessed True God-level stats.
In this era where the gods had not yet fully awakened, their very existence was a near-absolute guarantee of safety.
If it weren't for the Two Little Ones' child-like temperaments, Xie Bai might have actually worried they would go off and try some fancy trick like world domination.
"It's good to let them explore on their own. I'll look for some novelties along the way later and buy them as gifts."
Xie Bai calculated her plans in a good mood while simultaneously trying to lock onto the Two Little Ones' position.
"Traveling together, no problem... Wait, this direction... Why did they run outside the city?"
*
Outside the city, at a temporarily cleared engineering site.
A charred crater over thirty meters in diameter and several meters deep was starkly visible. The walls of the pit bore the remnants of high-temperature scorching, and a faint smell of burning lingered in the air.
A group of Alchemists surrounded the edge of the pit, every one of them looking grim.
"Um... Chief, would you like to go back to the workshop and rest first? You've been working for nearly a week straight leading the Underground Magitech Train project."
"That's right, Chief, your health is important. If you collapse from exhaustion, the project's progress will be affected instead."
"If it really doesn't work out, remote guidance is the same. Just leave the site inspection and data recording to us."
Facing the persuasion of the surrounding Alchemists, Edward, standing in the center, appeared somewhat somber.
After his teacher, the former Royal Chief Alchemist Roland, stepped down, Edward had taken over the position at Orion's suggestion.
As a Child of Fate on the Alchemist side, his theoretical attainments and innovative thinking in alchemy were beyond doubt.
However, while Fate gave him talent, it also imposed a curse upon him according to the rules of alchemy.
Any alchemical process performed by his own hands—no matter how well-prepared or how precise the steps—had a staggering fifty percent chance of failing in various unexpected ways.
Because of this, when planning the construction of the Underground Magitech Train, Edward had adjusted his work mode.
He was only responsible for the core design, theory, and overall guidance, while all specific refining, assembly, and debugging processes were executed by other outstanding teams of Alchemists.
This strategy had been remarkably effective at first, and the project had progressed smoothly.
The Magitech Train network, which tunneled underground to connect the Empire's major cities at incredible speeds, had gradually turned from a blueprint into reality.
Theoretically, in the future, it would only take a few minutes to travel from Carlos Lilanka to Northgard in the Northern Territory.
And then, today happened.
Right at this final trial-run acceptance stage, something went wrong.
"Why is it that I only went for a trial ride... I didn't even touch the control console, yet it still triggered an extremely low-probability event like a power chaos explosion?"
If he were the only one involved, it wouldn't have mattered.
But he wasn't the only passenger on this trial run.
Considering the train's operational stability under different loads, he had specifically posted a trial-ride recruitment notice in the city, promising a generous reward of two thousand gold coins.
The applicants had been very enthusiastic, though he noticed that these people were almost entirely the "Unfated" that Master Roland had once mentioned to him.
A group of strange humans who were not involved in Fate, who could be resurrected after death, and whose behavioral logic often differed from that of ordinary people.
Thinking of this, Edward subconsciously looked at the group of Players who had just been evacuated nearby.
At this moment, they were jumping around energetically, showing no sign of the pathetic state one would expect after being blown up by a train.
"Holy crap! That G-force just now! It felt like my soul was about to be pushed right out of my body! What a rush!"
"Way more intense than the 'Coaster of Death' at the amusement park! This trip was worth it!"
"Two thousand gold coins for nothing—even if it blows up, I have to admit it made a hell of a bang!"
"Uh, hey... a few of my brothers got blown back to the city. Can I pick up the money for them?"
Seeing this group of lively Players, Edward's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
"Fortunately... these Unfated are indeed as Master said. As long as the reward is reasonable, they're willing to try almost any mission. After such a serious accident, not a single person is complaining or seeking accountability..."
As he spoke, his gaze unintentionally swept across the group of Players and landed on two small figures in the middle.
Seeing them, Edward froze for a moment.
In an instant, he felt a powerful sense of dread.
"Speaking of which... among this batch of Unfated trial riders... were there supposed to be two little kids like that?"