A Guide to Farming in a Mobile City
Chapter 22: The Ultimate Steampunk Romance – The Airborne Mobile City!

This mobile city floated above the dense cloud layer, its chimneys spewing grayish-white smoke, and the roar of its propellers echoed through the sea of clouds.

Li Ye was dumbfounded.

“That mobile city can actually fly in the sky?”

He swiftly rushed up to the watchtower and grabbed a telescope.

The exterior of this mobile city was covered by thick, enormous canvas like sails, in all manner of colors, giving it a fairy‑tale appearance, and these canvases converged to form a hot‑air‑balloon shape.

Through the gaps in the canvas, Li Ye could clearly see its internal structure.

Its main body was built from multiple layered metal platforms, with armored plates riveted together, and numerous steam pipes winding through, transporting high‑pressure steam.

The bottom of the city was suspended with dozens of giant gasbags, the rear was fitted with huge propellers, and the wings had strikingly large mechanical fins, enabling the city to remain balanced amid storms and air currents.

Its vehicles consisted of various sizes of hot‑air balloons and some small‑scale airships.

Li Ye squinted and stared, trying to take in more detail.

What intrigued him most was how the city’s inhabitants lived up here.

As the telescope slowly moved, he saw exactly what he had wondered.

This mobile city was divided into over a dozen layers from bottom to top.

The reason it had far more layers than a normal level‑1 mobile city was because, floating in the air, it was no longer constrained by height.

The arrangement of its layers was completely reversed compared to a level‑1 city.

The top was the boiler and power zone, the middle was the living area, and the lower part was the noble district.

Li Ye could see the giant steam reactors in the upper levels in operation, with mechanics and apprentices bustling about.

The middle‑level streets were made of interwoven iron mesh and riveted steel plates, with roads of various sizes intersecting; along each road were gear‑driven elevators and conveyor belts.

The city’s residents hustled back and forth on the streets, busy with their tasks; some leaned casually against the railings, waving down at the people on the ground.

The noble district on the lower level was quite small—only about half the size of a soccer field.

The layout there surprised Li Ye: only a single old-fashioned small house with rustic decoration, beside which was a patch of grass, surrounded by a wooden fence.

The mobile city drifted slowly and leisurely, under the admiring gazes of everyone in the fortress.

As Li Ye looked on, the corner of his mouth involuntarily lifted.

“How wonderful.”

He couldn’t help but sigh.

The sky was always humanity’s most desired form of romance.

From Chang’e flying to the moon, the Greek gods residing on Olympus, to Van Gogh’s Starry Night igniting the night sky with swirling brushstrokes, then to hot‑air balloons, airplanes, rockets and scientific and technological advances…

Humans always, clumsily yet persistently, sought to reach the sky in myriad ways.

Li Ye put away the telescope, closed his eyes and began to ponder life on this airborne mobile city.

Upon waking in the morning, opening the window revealed the flowing sea of clouds.

The morning breeze, wrapped in a thin mist, rushed in, and the rising sun cast the giant propeller’s silhouette onto the cloud wall, reflecting as a beautiful inverted image.

Beneath their feet flowed the land—mountains, lakes, plains, and towns unfolding in full view.

Workers in the boiler zone shoveled coal while chatting idly, occasionally brushing off black ash fragments from their clothes.

Residents pushed open their windows, allowing the air mixed with coal smoke and morning dew to flow in.

They donned goggles and wind hoods before stepping outside.

On the crisscrossed aerial walkways, children gleefully ran while holding onto the railings…

Since the moment of his crossing into this world, Li Ye had been on edge every day just to survive.

Now, quietly, his mind had relaxed much more.

In a wasteland apocalypse where order had utterly collapsed and survival was paramount, living on a flying mobile city must feel absolutely amazing!

He suddenly thought that if the Tomorrow could be transformed into an airborne mobile city, that would be pretty great too.

But he could only sigh in longing.

Converting a mobile city into an airborne mode was incredibly difficult.

It required gathering a whole set of aerial flight components, and the entire mobile city needed a major face‑lift.

Whether in terms of resources or manpower and materials, it was a tremendous investment.

Among a hundred cities, it was rare to find even one airborne city—that was how scarce they were.

And it was precisely for this reason that when an airborne mobile city appeared before everyone’s eyes, it felt as wondrous as a fairy tale.

At that moment, everyone in the fortress paused their tasks and all looked upward toward the airborne city.

The airborne city gradually slowed down, began to descend, and emitted two long blasts and one short blast on its steam whistle.

“This means they want to communicate! They want to stop at Roland Fortress for a rest!”

As this realization dawned, Li Ye became excited.

Lin Wu, who was currently repairing the Tomorrow, seemed to sense Li Ye’s thoughts and spoke up.

“Lord, this airborne city is quite enviable, isn’t it? Do you wish to go aboard for a tour?”

“Yes.” Li Ye nodded, his eyes full of emotion. “Even if it’s just for a few minutes, to see the ground scenery while it’s flying, that would be nice.”

“Really? Just thinking about that is wonderful… May I go with you?”

“No, you must continue your work.”

When Lin Wu, disappointed, adjusted his glasses, Li Ye rubbed his hands in excitement and took the elevator platform back down to the ground.

At this moment, the airborne city had arrived above Roland Fortress and began descending slowly.

Its helmsman had carefully selected the landing point and communicated the landing operation via megaphone.

The airborne city gradually ceased heating its burners, opened about 50–70% of its exhaust valves, and maintained that opening as it slowly descended toward Roland Fortress.

When it was forty to fifty meters above the ground, it briefly ignited to slow the descent, allowing itself to hover with the gondola level above the fortress.

People from the airborne city descended to the ground in hot‑air balloons.

Li Ye looked closely and realized they all had blond hair and blue eyes—Western features.

Leading them was the butler of the airborne city’s lord, a man in his fifties, displaying a calm and restrained expression, standing upright like a ruler, his brow always slightly furrowed, much like the solemn homeroom teacher by the window who had watched over students in high school.

He immediately opened his notebook and said to everyone.

“Then, according to my previous plan, purchase 2,000 units of iron ore, 1,000 units of coal, 500 units of fuel….”

When he snapped back to reality, he found that a crowd had already gathered around him.

Almost everyone in the fortress had gathered here.

The butler then introduced himself.

This airborne city was called Adventurer, and it was a level‑1 city.

He was named Gray, and he was the butler to the lord of this city.

It came from a distant Basin Region.

According to him, the Adventurer was approximately 300 meters tall, about 700 meters in diameter, with a main structure thickness of about 120 meters.

Its total area across a dozen or so levels was 12 square kilometers, and it could accommodate more than 500 people.

Under normal circumstances, the Adventurer’s flight altitude was between 300 and 1,500 meters, and it could ascend higher in emergencies.

Its speed was generally between 20 and 50 kilometers per hour, and it could sustain flight for one to two weeks.

However, everyone was completely uninterested in these figures the butler had presented.

“Sir, may we go aboard for a visit?” a child raised their hand to ask.

“The lord is, of course, very happy to invite everyone, especially children.”

Gray replied with the same calm expression.

“But I dislike children, because when they make noise they resemble out‑of‑control wind‑up toys and often emit terrible noises above 140 decibels.”

“But Mr. Butler, you were also a child when you were young,” a little girl timidly spoke up.

Gray slowly and firmly shook his head.

“No, I have been calm and self‑possessed since I was small, and almost never made a fuss. Because of that, people often said I was an uninteresting little adult.”

Before he finished speaking, a long queue instantly formed in front of him.

Seeing this, Gray helplessly lifted his eyebrows and then added a sentence.

“Lords of mobile cities have priority.”

Li Ye immediately displayed his lord’s wristband.

At that moment, he was surprised to see two other hands raised high wearing lord’s wristbands.

They were none other than Li Jin and Lei Jian.

"You're still childlike at your age?" he said in surprise.

The two of them looked at the Adventurer above and spoke excitedly.

“Of course! No matter how old a man is, seeing this would make his heart race!”

Under the arrangement of butler Gray, the three lords boarded the Adventurer in hot‑air balloons.

They arrived at the mid‑level area of the Adventurer, first stepping into the “Rivet Plaza,” the core position of the mid‑level.

This was both a market and a social hub.

Repair shop mechanics hammered parts at their stalls, sparks splashed onto the iron‑plate road, emitting tiny sizzling sounds.

The windows of the small pharmacy displayed glass bottles labeled “High‑Altitude Sickness Relief” and “Dizziness Nourishment.”

Street vendors were selling uniquely themed “Gear Kebab,” meat chunks skewered on small propeller shafts, roasted by residual heat as they rotated.

On the window sills, residents tended cold‑tolerant steam‑greenhouse plants whose roots were entwined in metal mesh.

A few street performers played a steam‑powered organ, and the notes rose and fell with the changing low‑altitude airflow.

The steam‑oven in the bakery emitted its first aroma of toast, and in the low‑pressure environment, the fresh bread’s crust was especially crisp while the inside remained fluffy like cotton.

“How wonderful,” Lei Jian said upon seeing these scenes, unable to help but express his heartfelt amazement.

“If I could live here every day, how great that would be.”

Li Jin also nodded but, still harboring concerns, spoke up.

“What if we encounter strong winds or storms or thunderstorms?”

“Ahem, saying that now is a bit of a party pooper, don’t ruin the atmosphere….”

While the two chatted idly, Li Ye walked down the walkway toward a certain place.

What interested him most was the lower level that had the old small house, grass, and fence.

He soon arrived at the lower level and looked toward that old small house.

No matter how one looked at it, it was merely an ordinary wooden cabin.

A pointed roof, a chimney, creamy exterior walls, like a gingerbread house stuck with rainbow candies.

The cabin’s door was open, and from inside one could catch glimpses of some scenes.

Above the fireplace in the living room, there was a framed photo of a young couple embracing in front of a small repair shop, and the wooden frame edges were polished smooth from use.

The faded floral sofa had indentations left by two people, and the left armrest bore fine scratches from when someone had been knitting.

On the old mini‑fridge sat a yellowing recipe card with a series of health‑warning dietary notes.

At the door lay two pairs of slippers, their plush worn flat.

One pair lay scattered haphazardly, while the other was neatly placed aside, seemingly still waiting for someone to return.

Li Ye silently observed all this, quietly sensing the passage of time within the house.

Just as he hesitated whether to knock and alert the owner, a noise suddenly came from inside.

“Hmm?” Li Ye looked toward the sound in surprise and saw an old man frozen in place, secretly stuffing a cake into his mouth.

The old man was roughly eighty years old, his silver hair as messy as dandelions, yet his eyes still shone like a child who had stolen candy.

“Oh, I thought it was Gray coming,” he sighed in relief.

“Welcome, stranger. If you have time, come in and sit.”

“I’m actually here.”

Gray appeared motionless behind Li Ye, nearly startling the old man off his feet.

His figure moved like lightning as he snatched the cake and put it back on the plate—it was hard to imagine a butler in his fifties could move so fast.

“Please give up on sweets—the state of your health can no longer handle them.”

The old man clasped his hands, looking sheepish like a child who had done something wrong.

…

This airborne city was named Adventurer, and it was a level‑1 city.

He was called Claude, and he was the lord of the Adventurer.

He seated Li Ye on the sofa as he introduced himself.

Speaking, he pressed his hand to his forehead in exasperation.

Although he was already eighty‑seven years old, he still behaved like a child who had never grown up, causing trouble every day…

“Don’t always use that resigned adult tone, Gray; you’re more than twenty years younger than me,” Claude muttered.

This old lord tried to sneak a fingertip of cake cream during the pause, but Gray swiftly tapped his hand with his notebook.

“Ouch! Go easy!” he complained in annoyance.

“You must stop eating sweets; your health can no longer handle them.”

“Alice wouldn’t care; she was such a gentle person,” the old lord reluctantly withdrew his hand.

“I wish I could see her every day now; even being scolded would be fine.”

Upon hearing this, Gray paused, and a trace of tenderness appeared in his usually stern eyes.

Li Ye listened silently nearby, smiling quietly.

Claude then noticed the lord’s wristband on his hand.

“Oh, so you are a lord too,” he rubbed his hands together and leaned forward.

“I wonder how your mobile city is doing, and whether you’ve had any memorable experiences.”

Just as Li Ye prepared to respond, the old man suddenly smiled and gently patted his shoulder.

“Before we speak, perhaps you should first hear my story.”

…

Claude had been an orphan since childhood and grew up in a fortress.

A kind repair‑shop owner adopted him and trained him from an early age to be a mechanic.

When Claude timidly and awkwardly entered the repair shop, a little girl wildly screamed and ran out, accidentally slapping the thick book in her hand against his face.

That little girl was the owner’s daughter, Alice, and the book she held was a lord’s written log of airborne‑city adventures.

The two same‑aged children thus met.

There was always endless work in the repair shop; young Claude squatted in a corner, patiently repairing customers’ items, while Alice laughed mischievously beside him, occasionally helping — though often causing trouble.

After closing time, they would read that adventure log under kerosene lamps, and in their free time, they would lie on the rainy window sill and fantasize about life in an airborne city.

More than ten years later, the repair‑shop owner passed away, and Claude as an adult had already become a capable mechanic, even gaining a reputation.

He inherited his foster father’s shop and the responsibility to care for Alice.

She had grown up too, transforming from a mischievous little girl into a gentle young woman.

She no longer meddled as before, but diligently helped with work.

One time, Claude lost his footing while changing a light bulb, and Alice quickly helped steady it.

Their fingers accidentally touched the bulb at the same time, and when their eyes met, they felt a spark—whether from electricity or something else.

There were no grand gestures or dramatic events; the two young people fell in love in a perfectly ordinary way.

They ran the shop and raised children together; as a couple, they supported each other through more than a decade.

By chance, they lost their pair of children in an unexpected accident.

Claude managed to carry on, but Alice began to crumble.

Seeing his wife grow thinner and more haggard, Claude felt heartbroken but helpless.

One day, while tidying the house, he discovered the adventure log from their childhood.

It brought back their old dreams.

When Claude appeared before Alice, magically presenting the picture of an airborne city from the log, Alice’s eyes brightened—a rare expression.

The couple regained their spirits and ran the repair shop diligently every day.

While Claude was busy in the shop, he saw Alice bringing in a drifting orphan boy from the fortress.

The boy, though ragged, held his head high.

Claude waved a wrench, intending to tease or scare him, but the boy unexpectedly stepped on his foot, causing an “ouch” to escape.

Yet even though Claude was a renowned mechanic and had been working diligently for over a decade, he still lacked the money to buy a mobile city, let alone convert it into an airborne city.

The couple grew old, their hair turning gray with time.

One night, watching his dying wife and the adventure log in her hand, Claude looked at her, eyes filled with guilt.

But Alice gently shook her head with a smile, closed the log, and softly held his hand.

Her gentle gaze seemed to smile, as if wanting to say something.

When Claude asked, she gave him a sly smile and shook her head.

…

Claude sat despondently in front of the closed repair shop, unsure what to do next.

At that moment, he heard a sound; looking up, he saw Gray handing him the adventure log.

That uninteresting little boy had already grown into an uninteresting adult, his expression still impassive as he handed over the book.

Claude slowly opened the adventure log and discovered new content inside.

It was decades of his wife’s recorded details of their shared life.

From their meeting, growing closer, supporting each other, to falling in love…

Unconsciously, Claude’s eyes had become moist.

When he turned to the final page, he saw a sentence written in bold:

“You are the greatest adventure of my life.”

After a long while, Claude finally calmed his heart.

He closed the adventure log and stood up, gathering strength as he looked at Gray.

They exchanged a glance and nodded gently.

The repair shop reopened, and the old and young continued to work diligently together.

Claude and Alice’s story gradually spread throughout the Basin Region.

One day, when Claude was closing his shop, he saw several residents from the fortress approaching him.

They handed him a few units of iron ore, a wrench, a small piece of metal plate…

Day after day, more and more people came to visit the repair shop.

Steam pipes, chimneys, mechanical parts… various items appeared in front of the shop, gradually piling up into a small mountain.

Bounty hunters, survivor caravans, mobile city lords… with collective effort from the entire Basin Region, over more than a decade they managed to assemble an airborne mobile city.

Claude thus became a lord, and Gray became his butler.

He then named this airborne mobile city “Adventurer,” and moved the small house where he and his wife lived down to the lower level, setting sail anew.

“How wonderful…”

Li Ye couldn’t help but express genuine emotion when he heard this.

Claude gently stroked the adventure log, his eyes full of nostalgia.

“As you can see, I will continue adventuring in this world, until I return to my Alice.”

…

With a roar, the Adventurer slowly started its engines and began circling around the fortress.

Li Ye stood by the railing, his hair tousled by the breeze, his eyes shining brightly.

The plains, lakes, mountains, forests…

At this moment, everything on the land lay before his eyes, breathtakingly beautiful.

Claude stood beside him, the elderly lord gripping the railing with both hands, gazing at the scenery below.

“Hey, young man! I’ve finished my story—what about yours?” he called out loudly.

Li Ye thought for a moment and then gave the old lord a gentle smile.

“It’s only just beginning.”