Above The Sky
Chapter 498 - 498 467 Solitary Mountain City 13

498: Chapter 467 Solitary Mountain City (1/3) 498: Chapter 467 Solitary Mountain City (1/3) Following the railway towards the Imperial Capital, until they reached the banks of the Seith River, two horses were leisurely walking along the Glorious Avenue, heading towards the Imperial Capital.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s absurd.

How do the Terra People maintain such a thing?”

Atop one of the horses, a Knight clad in full armor tilted his head up, gazing at the distant, shadowy mountain ranges.

He muttered to himself with a mix of helplessness and disbelief, “Just looking at it gives me a headache, Oh my…

It’s been operational for over a thousand years.

Is this a Planetary Shield Generator or a semi-perpetual isolation dome?”

“Moreover, Solitary Mountain City, Divine Blessing City…

although it’s not wrong to call them that, the misguided impression is equally significant.”

Approaching from a small town on the plains near the Imperial Capital, the sheer size of Solitary Mountain City still stunned the onlookers.

In his past life as an engineer, Ian really couldn’t understand how such a gigantic metal structure, tens of thousands of meters tall and several tens of kilometers wide, could be built, nor where all the material came from.

Could it be asteroid belt mining?

The Moon Base was about the same size, but that was in a low-gravity environment.

Although, with the technology of Terra, it’s not impossible, but…

then again.

What in the world could have knocked the civilization of the previous era down to its current state?

The shape of the Imperial Capital, or rather, the shape of Solitary Mountain where the Imperial Capital is situated, is like a massive metallic volcanic structure.

Its conical mountain body resembles a peak, and the light-flow emitting vent is its crater.

Only, this volcano is more than ten thousand meters tall, with clouds only able to encircle its middle section.

If one had to describe it, it would be an eight-sided truncated cone made of steel, a perfectly regular frustum.

But it is not just that in its entirety.

Ian could tell just by looking at the shape that Solitary Mountain must have a considerable part of its ‘underground structure’, which is likely a gigantic shelter where all the human ancestors of the Setar Empire must have survived the Calamity of Heavenly Fall.

One could only say the technology tree of Terra is a bit outlandish.

After all, he himself had Moren Steel on his left hand, a universal tool material that can self-diffuse, self-replicate, and obey commands to repair anything.

If placed on Earth, it would probably win a whole room full of awards and medals, even enough to be enshrined in the Academy of Sciences.

With Moren Steel, the self-maintenance of Solitary Mountain and the Imperial Capital wouldn’t be too difficult.

Moreover, the cities of the Humans were actually built on the outer shell at the foot of Solitary Mountain.

There might be some construction inside, but Solitary Mountain was not entirely the Imperial Capital.

The light columns in the distance, less noticeable at night, were neither laser beams nor particle streams.

According to Ian’s guess, they were probably light paths for maintaining stance.

They themselves do not emit light; it’s only in the atmosphere that they excite such bands of light due to high energy.

As long as one is in an area where the atmosphere is thin, they will no longer give off light.

Beyond that, Ian also noticed that the Imperial Capital itself had the power to artificially control the weather.

It’s precisely because the ‘Planetary Shield Generator’ of the Imperial Capital interacts with sunlight, wind, temperature, and regulates various other things that the heartland of the Sertar Empire can be such a fertile plain.

Otherwise, it might have been okay at first, but years upon years of cultivation and development would definitely have turned this land into a barren desert.

“Ian, how do you plan to enter the city?”

Hua’an and Frost Butterfly sat atop the luggage on the back of the other horse, with the Fairy Miss happily making pebbles skip across the water’s surface at the riverbank, even using Spirit Energy to cheat—Frost Butterfly used slices of ice.

After watching the stones and ice slices splash around on the river surface a dozen times or so before sinking and melting, she turned her head and asked Ian with curiosity, “The entrances and exits of the Imperial Capital are usually strictly controlled, with many passageways.

You said you don’t want to attract attention, so I guess you can only take the Ordinary passageway.”

“I just don’t want to.”

Ian responded, shaking his head, “But how can I possibly not attract attention?

Never mind that I’m a Sublimator, the people and organizations within the Imperial Capital that should be concerned about me are certainly waiting for me.

As soon as I approach the Imperial Capital, they will definitely receive the news.”

“What I need to think about now is how to deal with these.

Moreover, between many people and organizations, I have to make a choice, where to act first to show my attitude.”

“…It’s so complex.”

Hua’an blinked, somewhat bewildered, “You said that Yisen Gard invited you to the Imperial Capital, right?

I mean, aren’t you going to meet him first?”

Frost Butterfly also nodded, “Yes, yes.”

Ian smiled, “Then am I the guest of the Ellen Family or an Inspector Knight?

Does the Ellen Family hope that I am an Inspector Knight or just an Ordinary guest of theirs?”

“Do I go to visit the Ellen Family first, or do I meet Yisen Gard alone?

When meeting Yisen Gard, should I see him alone or together with Master Gossay?”

“When meeting Master Gossay, should it be at the Alchemy Association, at the Platinum Iridium Workshop, or in his own home?

Fairy Miss, there are quite a few subtleties here.”

“Wow…”

Hua’an’s eyes widened as she exchanged a glance with Frost Butterfly, both expressing awe, “It’s so complex.”

Frost Butterfly nodded gravely, “Yes, yes.”

“In any case, Humans don’t have the kind of Spirit Energy that allows you Fae to easily understand each other.”

Folded arms across his chest, Ian pondered for a moment before nodding, “Alright then.”

“First, I’ll report to the Knight Order, finish up the business with Marquis Barton, and then go find Yisen.”

After deciding on the plan for what was to come, the human and two Fae continued to walk along the Glorious Avenue.

The Imperial Capital urban area was still ahead, and this was the plain’s agricultural zone.

The morning light covered the vast expanse of the Quinor Plains area, as the sun and the breeze accompanied them through the open fields.

The clear river water flowed, fresh air surrounded them, and from time to time, the rumbling sound of trains could be heard and the smoke of distant towns was visible.

By noon, Ian had arrived at a small village.

Unlike the Imperial Capital, which appeared so advanced it seemed miraculous, this small village—aside from a few metal towers—was of ordinary town specifications.

Nevertheless, glimpses of massive metal machinery could be seen working in the fields—perhaps these were repurposed old Armored Clothing?

Or maybe they were specialized cultivation machines?

But either way, they were quite eye-catching.

“Mechanized cultivation is being used even near the Imperial Capital?

Makes sense, with Alchemy, things like fertilizer must have been resolved long ago.

I just wonder if there are large-scale fertilizer factories.”

When Ian saw this scene, he was momentarily stunned, then smiled and fell into thought, “With this kind of development, farmers are no longer simply laborers, but rather more like technical workers, large-scale crop producers…

As a result, the agricultural population of The Empire must have drastically decreased compared to the time of the Black King.”

“The freed-up agricultural population would flow into the industrial sector, but in actuality, I haven’t seen such an industrial workforce.

Most of the towns in Falling Star Hills are Dwarf workshops, and there is no construction of full-scale industrial parks.”

“Of course, there might be large industrial bases in other places, but where did the people here go?”

“So many people…

Could they be Adventurers?”

In South Ridge, over seventy percent of the population consisted of basic producers like farmers and fishermen, and the other over twenty percent were largely gatherers and hunters, with only a small remainder being craftsmen and Blacksmiths.

The White Folk Family had secured their important position at the port precisely because they controlled a large number of craftsmen, and Elder Prude had even fostered a new generation of technicians with Ian at the helm.

In Nauman City, around the Agate Stone Plains, the number of farmers was greatly reduced because of the introduction of domesticated Terra creatures like the Bison Giant Cow, which significantly improved the efficiency of farming in the safe zones.

The plethora of restaurants and shops in Nauman City, as well as the booming bread industry in Twin Trees Town, attributed to this development.

Food was no longer scarce, and people increasingly pursued processed and delicious foods…

In Nauman City, whether the food was healthy had become a concern for the local office workers.

And in the Imperial Capital…

what really needed to be considered must be the Demonic Beast Materials, right?

“So the population of this town shouldn’t be very large either.

Surrounding a super-massive city, apart from agricultural zones, there should also be related industrial cities and transit cities, where the population gathers.”

Looking thoughtful and raising his head to survey the entire village, Ian mused to himself, “But why does it seem like there are not few people here?”

Foresight View and the Silver Chip told him that there were over eight thousand people in this small town…

which was not a small number.

But never mind that, let’s go in and have a look.

With that thought, Ian rode his horse into the town.

Ian believed that this experience was no different from any other town he had entered.

But he was wrong.

The moment he stepped into the town, children playing by the road saw his Armored Clothing.

Immediately, several kids who were kicking a ball around showed expressions of terror and picked up the ball and ran off into an alley.

“Daddy, daddy, a Knight has come!”

After hearing this, Ian stopped his horse, puzzled, and did not proceed.

Instead, he calmly observed the entire town.

As expected, soon, the originally quiet and leisurely town burst to life, as if a start button had been pressed, or like fish darting around in a tank when a Big Shark gets put in…

suddenly, people started moving.

Before Ian, who had stopped, stood an elderly man with a flushed complexion and gray-brown hair, but with a look of worry.

Ian could tell that the old man had a tinge of weariness due to his status.

“Honored Knight…

I’m the mayor of Gar Town,” the old man said hoarsely, “Are you here for an inspection?

Please allow us to prepare…”

“No, it’s not necessary,” Ian replied.

Ian dismounted and met the mayor’s gaze, holding his horse’s reins calmly, “I’m just a countryman heading to the Imperial Capital, passing through.”

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me where in town I could get something to eat?”

The old man was silent for a moment, then nodded his head.