The sky over Avalon is clear, and the residents of Fantasy Country love it — what’s the most profitable business in the 21st century? Tourism! It’s a lucrative industry where you just need a piece of lucky land, a glib tongue, a group of old Taoists selling jade, and a couple of fortune tellers who read palms; basically, barring catastrophes, financial crises, or failed tribulations, you’re guaranteed not to lose money.
At least in theory.
Huge transport mother ships seldom appear in Avalon’s airspace because I have always felt that environntal conservation is crucial for this picturesque and eternally spring-like place, but this ti is an exception. With my relentless persuasion, the majority of the Fantasy Country’s residents have expressed their eagerness to see the enchanting beauty of the Paradise District in the Imperial Capital, and even though the transfer from Atlantis requires opening a massive space rift over the skies of Avalon, in the spirit of saving every penny possible, the transport mother ship didn’t independently open a portal but directly entered Avalon.
The gigantic flying ship slowly peeked out from the colossal crack in the sky, casting a dense shadow like dark clouds over the endless green prairies, disturbing countless small animals frolicking in the grass. Due to its massive size, the transport mother ship couldn’t land directly on this untouched prairie, so it hovered at a height of one or two thousand ters above the ground. Then everyone transferred to small transporters for landing. Of course, many demons were accustod to flying on their own — they were more interested in tasting the air of this otherworld to see if it was salty or bland. So, as the transporter descended, a large chaotic swarm of little black dots followed alongside, making it look from afar as if the old plane was flying while shedding parts. Many residents of Fantasy Country had already been amazed by the beauty of Avalon before disembarking from the flying ship, and envied Boli Lingng and Yukari Yakumo for working in such a favorable place with endless complaints; they now expressed a strong desire to invest and build houses here.
Boli Lingng severely criticized the optimistic attitude of the demons and expressed deep concern, while Yukari Yakumo pointed out sharply that a certain ruthless boss was playing bait and switch, luring property owners with a beautiful prospect and a refurbished property background, only to reveal the exploiter’s true face after the contract was signed; it was as though upon employnt, the boss points to the X Building and tells the new staff that’s our company’s office building, only for you to learn after signing the labor contract that the actual office is in Room 404 on the fourth floor of Building A of the X Building, and you even have to share a cubicle with two fortune-telling companies, and the inevitable feeling of being utterly swindled would soon follow...
I engaged in half an hour of intense debate with these two sharp-tongued individuals, striving to prove I had no intention of duping the demons from the start — though even I didn’t believe that.
The end result was that I reluctantly agreed to compensate for the bonuses deducted during Yukari Yakumo and Boli Lingng’s work. Only then did these two chiefs change their tune, declaring their strong support for Fantasy Country’s relocation project — it seems that with enough incentive, Ling ng would not hesitate to sell off the entire Fantasy Country, and even Mother Zi would help count the money...
The transporter landed smoothly on the boundless prairie, a region newly ford as the World Tree continues to grow, still without clear administrative divisions, and even its ecological environnt was only half-surveyed by Artemis. It was temporarily nad "Morning Breeze Prairie," a na Dingdang pulled from the "World Tree Naming Book," which was a lot better than the initial suggestion of "Alpaca Prairie."
"Whoo — YAHOO!! Prairie!!"
As soon as she stepped out of the transporter, Chiruno started sprinting across the prairie like she was possessed, the imnse space and nature’s powerful aura enveloping the area sent her, an elf, into an excited frenzy; there was nowhere this vast in Fantasy Country reserved just for grass. As it was impossible to see any other landscapes looking in any direction, Chiruno beca incredibly curious as to what lay at the end of the prairie, and to prevent her from actually dashing off to the world’s end, we had no choice but to tie her up and drag her back.
As an ice fairy, you’re supposed to freeze frogs and make ice pops, content as a "⑨," not pretend to be a little mouse in the prairie... Nazling, co back!
I expended considerable effort gathering up all the demons who were running around everywhere upon landing, using at least forty ters of rope and a dozen collars in the process. In the process of catching those who strayed, I earned about thirty or forty bite marks, but as the leader of the demons, Yukari Yakumo at least showed support for her boss’s work this ti: those energetic individuals were representing the countless relocated residents of Fantasy Country to inspect their new hos, but now it seems, they can’t even manage themselves, so so mandatory calming asures are essential. I believe after being tied up for a while, those demons will stop wandering off.
Just then, a low rumble ca from the high skies, presumably the sound of high-altitude winds suddenly changing direction due to being blocked by so large object, as a shadow even larger than the mother ship gradually covered the grasslands around us. I looked up to see that the Floating Island of Atlantis was now moving the rest of its body through the space gate.
"Wow..." Wenwen looked up in awe at the majestic floating continent erging from the space rift, gasping softly in wonder. The last ti Atlantis appeared over Fantasy Country, it had completed the transfer in the middle of the night and its entry point was higher than the naked eye could see, so no one witnessed first-hand how the floating island accomplished that feat; this was sothing Wenwen always regretted, but now, she was treated to a full spectacle.
The Tengu Girl was snapping photos like mad with her cara, and later it seed she wasn’t satisfied with taking pictures from the ground, so she simply spread her wings and whooshed into the sky. Cheng Miao, who was also looking up at the sky nearby, was suddenly blown away by the huge wind force for several ters, to Yakumo Lan’s great distress.
anwhile, I began pondering a question as I looked at the giant shadow on the ground: With Atlantis blocking the sun like this, the entire prairie and a considerable area nearby would be plunged into darkness. Right now, only a small part of Atlantis was revealed, and the area around us was just extrely dim without reaching the level of midnight. But if the whole thing were to co out...
Without a doubt, Avalon’s lighting market would be facing an unprecedented boom, and the residents here would definitely protest about the lighting issue—these days, even building a high-rise involves careful consideration of the distance between buildings. Who wouldn’t be upset with a sunshade with a radius of hundreds of kiloters placed right above their heads?
When I shared this situation with Sandora, she also agreed it was a problem.
Just as Sandora and I were both troubled by the ecological issues that would arise from Atlantis hovering over Avalon and the thought of revising Avalon’s optical laws seed too troubleso (mainly because Dingdang might ss everything up), a cheerful greeting suddenly ca from afar, carrying the unmistakable sound of a small couple’s sweet reunion, "Ah Jun—"
I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a huge group of people rushing towards us. The one with an overwhelming presence leading the charge was Qianqian, followed by Big Sister and Lin Xue, and behind them was a large group of Lolies or Fake Lolitas, such as Bubbles, Lilina, and the Rose Maidens. Ilya was sitting on Berserker’s shoulder at the end of the line. She was now using a flashlight near Uncle B’s face to indicate she was overtaking him with flash after flash. I believed Uncle B must be enjoying himself terribly, tears of joy streaming down his face.
Moriya was stunned as she watched such a mighty procession charge towards us, shaking in her boots. The little witch who feared neither heaven nor earth was not entirely fearless, the one who spent her years "borrowing" items from places like the Red Demon Mansion was most disconcerted by the sight of a stampeding battalion coming her way. Now she was completely baffled, fiercely tugging on my arm and shaking it hard, "Hey! What exactly did you do to those girls? They’ve co to fight you, haven’t they?"
I couldn’t begin to imagine how a bunch of girls cheerfully running over could turn into an aggressive charge in Moriya’s mind.
"Ah Jun, Ah Jun~! You’re finally back! The carnival was so boring without you!" Qianqian leaped into the air a few ters away and hurtled into her lover’s arms with a whoosh, vigorously rubbing against my chest for a while before leaving with a giggly smile. I hurriedly took Dingdang out of my front pocket. The little creature was still emitting wisps of smoke from its eyes and murmured in a very tiny voice the events that had just occurred: "Too fast... Everything happened too fast... With a bang, Dingdang was flattened..."
"I didn’t expect it to be so magnificent," Big Sister said with a gentle smile, tidying up my collar that had been ssed up by Qianqian and Dingdang’s wings. She looked up at Atlantis, which was gradually taking up a large portion of the sky. A few little ones jumped excitedly to my side, "Where’s rcury Lamp? Where’s rcury Lamp?"
Cui Xingshi and the others had missed their big sister dearly after not seeing her for a few days—if this had been a few months ago, they would not dare to seek their terrifying sister so eagerly.
"I’m here," a cool voice ca from mid-air, and then I felt a weight on my shoulder as the tiny doll girl gently sat there, swinging her legs and starting to swing, her tone filled with intense grievances, "Don’t even ask, utterly bland. I’ve been stuck on the ship all the ti, those stupid humans wouldn’t even let on the battlefield, and I’m not allowed to use the rcury Lamp Corps either."
I tapped gently on Little Light’s head. I hadn’t planned on bringing this little one with in the first place; it was her persistent cajoling and those little tiger teeth that changed my mind. But after arriving in Fantasy Country and finding the situation a bit complicated, I still insisted on leaving her on the ship. Now, she had been quiet onboard, but would probably start complaining to her sisters once we got ho.
...By the way, Little Light acting like this is quite cute, isn’t it?
Anyway, we were all together having a good ti, sharing amusing stories from the few days we had been apart, when a voice suddenly piped up inopportunely, "This is..."
A tall girl about sixteen or seventeen, with short golden hair and a red headband, clutching a thick to under her arm, forced her way out from the crowd of Fantasy Country folk, and stared in astonishnt at the cluster of doll-like girls at my feet.
"Dolls? Dolls that move on their own!?"
Marisa looked surprised at the golden-haired girl who was starting to show an interest in researching, "Hey, Alice, don’t tell you’re just noticing now? Didn’t you see this doll nad rcury Lamp flying around on the ship... Oh, I see, you must have been cooped up in your room again talking to dolls. You never show up even during als, DAZE, it’s hopeless with you."
At Marisa’s words, I imdiately rembered who this sowhat unfamiliar girl was: Alice Maggotroyde. Well, that na is a bit long, so let’s just call her Alice. She’s a resident of Fantasy Country who lives in the Magic Forest and, like Marisa, is a very capable witch. Her specialty seems to be manipulating magic dolls, and her main interest is researching magic dolls. Unlike Marisa who is always on the go and buzzing around everywhere, Alice seems to be more of a hobody type, usually with her homade magic dolls or engrossed in research. I hadn’t seen her during crises like the Fantasy Country or the Atlantis battles, so I was not very acquainted with her.
But now my impression of her was vivid—she was the first person I had ever seen who had the guts to launch a flying pounce at rcury Lamp upon first eting.
"Hey! What on earth are you doing, you idiot!" rcury Lamp agilely dodged the flying pounce from Alice and shouted in dissatisfaction, "Stupid human, get this crazy woman away from !"
Alice, a bit frantic, waved her magic book, seemingly trying to take to the air and grab rcury Lamp, "I just... just wanted to see... Are you really talking by yourself? No one’s controlling you? Who made you? Do you have a na?"
Ever since rcury Lamp had co to our ho amidst a series of chaos, this was the first ti I saw her fall back into such an awkward predicant. No one ca forward to help the little girl in distress; even Big Sister seed interested and started to watch the spectacle. rcury Lamp had dodged Alice’s lunges multiple tis and, upon seeing her opponent start to release dolls to intercept her, finally burst into rage. She waved her small hand in the air: "This is your own doing! Co out! King’s rcury Lamp Army!"
Alice froze montarily, and in the air around her shimred nurous space gates, resembling undulating water ripples. Cartoon doll versions of rcury Lamp, three heads tall and 60 cm in height, began poking their heads out from these space gates. They were dressed in various uniforms, so carrying carbines or the Heart of the Sunrise, with soldier helts or pirate hats on their heads, serious expressions on their faces, and marching with disciplined steps appeared on the plain and midair. Under rcury Lamp’s command, they quickly ford an attack formation, encircling Alice and the few dolls she had released.
Gilgash behind was hopping madly and shouting, "Copyright infringent! This is my skill! This is a blatant copyright infringent! I’m going to report you to the City Managent Team! I’m going to find your parents!"
I slapped Jil on the back, "Her parents are here, you go ahead and tell."
Golden Shining glared at fiercely, then looked down at Little Baobao who was cheering for rcury Lamp, and suddenly turned to run away in tears, "You bunch of lowlifes just wait! Wuuuu..."
I think Gil’s unusual behavior now had an indistinguishable connection with the ti she was dragged by Chiruno to play the WAAAAAGH ga with Dingdang. Those three strands of ahoge are my witness.
Surrounded by a plethora of three-headed dolls, Alice’s few rudintary magic dolls were quickly overwheld. Although rcury Lamp wasn’t particularly ruthless, her dolls still managed to knock down Alice’s creations. Alice herself put up an exceptionally tenacious fight, and after twelve seconds of intense combat, the skillful and magically adept witch succeeded in halting her retreat and squared off from below against more than a dozen three-headed rcury Lamps. The unfortunate girl, who was never great at hand-to-hand combat, had just been flipped over by a sweeping leg from Kusanagi rcury Lamp. Her body imdiately beca a pile with dozens of dolls stacked on top, with only her head sticking out.
"This is...this is a doll...of dolls...how amazing!" Alice struggled to lift her head, "I must find out how this technology is accomplished, do these other dolls also have such..."
"Too bad," Cui Xingshi said, resting her hands on her hips and giving a sideways glance, "soone is a very biased father!"
You don’t say, if a Titan Cui Xingshi cos out, the book might as well change its na to ’Toy Story’!
"Alright, alright, Little Light, that’s enough. She’s a guest," I stepped forward and patted Cui Xingshi’s little head, while gesturing for rcury Lamp to return to my shoulder. The enthusiastic group of three-headed ones who had been clambering onto the "Doll Mountain" on Alice suddenly dispersed like birds and beasts, chirping away without a trace. "Alice, right? If you want to learn advanced doll-making techniques, sign here— ". You get a half-price discount on tuition fees with a Paradise housing card, and you can even exchange real magic skills with many talented mages you can’t even imagine. Go on, don’t hesitate, sign this contract and beco a Magic Girl~!!"
Confused, Alice got up and swept a distrustful glance at , but soon, her attention was captured by the sheet of paper in her hands:
Non-academy students now have opportunities to enroll! Initiated personally by the honorable Master of Ti serving as the honorary dean, the Imperial Military Academy-Alchemy System is starting registration for winter holiday redial classes! Residents of Shadow City with an aspiration to beco alchemists and possessing a certain foundational knowledge (tourist scholars from Otherworlds are also welco, but please be prepared for the accompanying fees) may register for the training. After passing the post-training examination, qualifiers will be guaranteed acceptance into the Military Academy to beco official academy students!
Please bring a one-inch holographic photograph and a temporary/permanent Shadow City Identification Card to the registration point.
Registration deadline: These next two days.
Age restrictions for registration: Both pre- and post-mortem acceptable; if post-mortem, please visit the Dark City office in the Capital beforehand to handle the transfer formalities.
Race restrictions for registration: Anything goes, as long as you can read.
Registration point: Second door opposite the shopping street at the Imperial Military Academy; ask Uncle Wang for directions.
Instructor contact thod: Yell your heart out beneath the window of Building No. 8 at the Military Academy faculty dormitories (make sure to put your back into it. The teacher lives on the twenty-eighth floor and is a little hard of hearing.)
Note: This notice was personally drafted by the great Lord Qianqian, Master of Ti, without any edits. All consequences and inquiries are in no way related to this printing factory. We wish you a pleasant enrollnt—if you can find your way, that is. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote with your recomndation and monthly tickets at Qidian; your support is my greatest motivation.)
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