Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1234 - 20: The Return Journey

Chapter 1234: Chapter 20: The Return Journey

"Port side, lower twenty-seven centimeters, descend evenly," announced a worker on the high platform, dressed in striking red and black attire, waving two red flags to relay the ground control’s commands to the skyboat floating above: "Target East Dock 2, speed seven Ka, turn right fifteen degrees, reduce height by thirty Ka, slow to four Ka, continue descending, prepare for buffer, activate the reverse propulsion Array, stop."

The massive skyboat, guided by the semaphore, glided smoothly into the air harbor and landed on the specially shaped dock. Slowly, the multiple doors on either side of the skyboat opened, and the workers, who were ready on the dock, quickly boarded to commence their duties.

In the eastern outskirts of the City of Knowledge, there is a highly guarded area completely enclosed by high walls, accessible only through two main gates. This area remains under close surveillance twenty-two hours a day, and anyone without access permission is kept out at the gates.

Not long ago, this was just an empty plot, but within a month, it had transformed into its current state. Only on very special days would one occasionally witness fully armed adventurers escorting several outwardly ordinary wagons into the gates beneath the high walls. Of course, if one were to continuously observe this area, it wouldn’t be difficult to discern the secrets within the walls. Each time a convoy enters or leaves, a skyboat would land or depart. Subsequently, those apparently ordinary wagons would then exit the high walls under strict protection, heading through the gates of the Mage District into the City of Knowledge, or into the range of Starshine Tower, or the governor’s residence, or directly to the Adventurers’ Guild.

For the general public, under the increasingly dense shadow of war, this mysterious air harbor serves as the best topic of conversation. For the media outlets of the Holy City, news about the air harbor is what draws the public’s attention the most. Courageous journalists continuously seek ways to infiltrate the air harbor. Naturally, they are invariably stopped outside the high walls, and some less honorable journalists even find themselves cordially detained by the city guards at their reception for ten days before being released. However, this has not quenched the enthusiasm of these keen individuals. After being kicked out of the city guard’s quarters, dirty and hungry, they quickly dive back into a new round of exploration.

However, the air harbor is not as mysterious as it seems. In fact, most of the journalists and residents of the Holy City are quite aware that this heavily guarded and mysterious air harbor must be connected to the impending war, probably serving as a port for transporting special materials and designed to protect these materials from any harm. Thus, their curiosity is merely to satisfy their curiosity, with nobody truly planning to break into the harbor; it’s more about... playing?

"Exactly, it looks like they are just playing, and enjoying it immensely," Pannis nodded to the person by his side, saying seriously, "Don’t be fooled by their chants about wanting to see the truth, and then getting captured by the city guards as if it were some heroic act. Looking at their expressions, it’s all just a thrilling game to them. Yeah, when you think about it, it is quite fun. Hey, hey, don’t pinch me; I didn’t say I was going down there to play with them."

On the familiar skyboat, stood the familiar captain. A year ago, Nellie’s Adventure Team took this skyboat operated by the same old captain on their way to the Sea Race commission in the City of a Thousand Lakes, where they encountered dangerous events. Surprisingly, after such perilous incidents, the old man didn’t retire. Instead, after taking some rest, he once again boarded the skyboat he loved like his own child and soared through the skies. Even more unexpectedly, he once again encountered members of Nellie’s Adventure Team.

In recent times, almost all civilian skyboat routes had been temporarily canceled. Out of the four skyboats owned by the Business Federation, aside from one kept on standby, the other three had been temporarily modified for transporting special cargo and personnel. The old captain’s skyboat was assigned the route from the City of Knowledge to the border of the Lost Forest. Just three days prior, upon taking on special personnel in the early morning, the old man received a pleasant surprise—it was the partners he had fought alongside before.

"These people aren’t just playing, or rather, President Odin can tolerate the reporters making a fuss even on such a critical occasion because he has his own reasons," the old captain, evidently quite spirited, explained while guiding the skyboat to land following the semaphore: "But I don’t quite understand it myself; after all, I’m just a captain. The remarks I just made were something I accidentally heard a few days ago while transporting Prince Nicolas from the east."

"Yes, I can understand President’s thoughts," Catherine nodded, "To the common folk of the Holy City, war seems like a distant affair, mainly involving professionals. By letting these daily nonsensical journalists gradually expose the public to news of the war, it’s a prudent way to slowly prepare people mentally without overwhelming them all at once. Heh, the President really has it tough."

"Boom," the skyboat experienced a slight tremor as it safely entered the air harbor. However, the girls were not in a hurry to disembark since the primary purpose of this voyage was to transport cargo. They had gotten on board because there was just enough spare capacity, so they conscientiously stayed on deck for the time being, giving priority to those transporting the goods.

"I wonder what the cargo really is," Lina leaned over the rail, her eyes twinkling with curiosity: "If it’s transported by air, it must be something very important."

"Yes, it’s quite important," Pannis nodded, "It includes various types of high-quality Crystals from Mountain Country and top-grade enchanted arrows transported from the Elven Forest. The Crystals are probably going to be transported to the skyboats preparing to head to the frontline while these arrows will likely be delivered at top speed to the initial main forces, to be issued to groups of Upper Rank rangers."

"Wow, that’s indeed very important," Lina suddenly realized, surprised, she asked: "How do you know what exactly is inside those eight cargo containers? I remember them being securely sealed."

"Because I sneakily opened them and took a look," Pannis held up a thumbs up, a smug smile on his face: "Even though each container was under the vigilance of at least four guards around the clock, I still managed to take a sneak peek. Hehehe."