Meanwhile, inside the ship;
Skylar sat leg crossed at the center of the completely transparent chameleon glass floor of the room, facing the direction of the ship travel. He tapped on the display screen of the remote control, and the completely transparent walls and floors of the rooms that seemed to disappear earlier, except for the front wall he is facing, seemed to return—they display, looking black and opaque like a normal black wall.
How does this chameleon glass wall operates? Is it a logical creation or an abstract creation the simulation AI just randomly generate? I really want to get my hand on one and dismantle it...
Lost in thought, Skylar stare into space.
"Big bro, do you know our faction will definitely dissolve since leader Lingyue has left?"
Starboy's voice rang in the room, simultaneously as the view on the front wall showed a ripple in front that signifies the ship is passing through the force-field barrier of the sky terminal, leaving it totally and beginning the travel proper. And gaining Skylar's attention, he first put the remote control device on the floor, raised his head to start watching attentively the view of the resplendent sky displayed by the wall like there is nothing between them and it, and then he responded:
"I thought so too. And I think this is the best outcome for your leader and your faction... you guys are being targeted by many enemies after all, wait... where is that ghost boy?"
***
Somewhere in the simulation;
Steps echo on the black wooden floor of a carridor dimly lit by the warm glow of white foggy masses inside suspended lanterns lined on its two sides. The corridor—33 meters wide and 100 meters high, had on its black walls the distinct shadow of the figure responsible for the echo of footsteps reverberating through its lengths that seems to has no end.
The figure with their face veiled—dressed in a white long-sleeved wedding gown with the veil draging on the floor along with it behind them, and carrying a white porcelain vase that holds white lilies with hands in white gloves—continued for a while along the corridor, until they reach its end where a gate with two big belly men in front of it stand guard.
"Prince, what brings you here?"
One of the two figures, totally identical to the other, making them look like they are twins, and dressed only in a plain white silky skirt with his face and big belly painted white, just like the other; addressed the figure in white wedding gown that now stood paused in front of them and the gate, seeking passage.
"I seek an audience with the empress?" The bewitching voice of the prince figure sounded like the voice of a thousand women speaking in harmony, requesting.
Reacting to her request; the other big belly man look to the side at the other one who took the lead, expecting him to respond. However, the one who took the lead closed his eyes tightly, and a second later, his presence shifted, turning overwhelmingly chilly and deathly. And for the prince person, she could clearly see with spirit vision, the changes in the flow of spiritual energy coursing through the man in the lead, making them conclude he deployed a technique—an action which seems not to bother them, as they already judged the technique only made his spirit temporarily leave his body after seeing everything with spirit vision.
A moment later, the man suddenly opened his clear black eyes—his spirit returned—and looked at the veiled prince person.
"Prince, please go in." He addresed, bowing to the prince person, alongside the other, then they both simultaneously steped aside, creating space between the princess person and the large carved wooden door behind them that is now slowly opening by parting in the middle, allowing passage.
"Thank you." The prince person replied, seeming to nod her head at them, then they resumed thier journey, moving towards the gate that has [ PALACE OF HARMONY ] carved bodly above it, and not long after, they passed through it, entering the enclosure behind it.
...
Inside the three hundred meters high enclosure—palace of harmony; to the left and right of the hundred meter wide straight pathway the prince person is treading purposefully and casually is a colonnade of a 150 meters tall black pillars—with a statue of hooded figures next to each of them—bordering it at both sides, while also seeming to keep out blue glowing fog behind them that did not also go beyond the pillars height, making one unable to see what is behind them.
Also, far above the prince person about to reach the end of the first section of the palace—the 100 meter long colonnade-lined pathway—is a creeping flowering plant with many super large blue glowing flower that looks identical to the flower of lilies and are responsible for the warm and moon-like illumination of the palace, growing on the inverted surface of the 300 meters high ceiling of the palace that stretched 300 meters in both length and width, totally carpeting it.
Soon after; the prince person, reached the end of the hundred meter path bordered by the colonnades, and not stopping, she continued her casual and purposeful march on a 33 meter wide bridge—a pitch black bridge with an arched deck that spans across the middle lane of the middle section of the palace that is a 100 meter long and 300 meter wide pool of a substance that is producing haze like carbon dioxide, having a slightly raised 25 meters square platform at both sides—each 58 meters from the the bridge, located corresponding to its halfway point, holding a 30 meter tall pitch-black statue of a mythical four-faced creature that looks like a winged lion.
Moments later, never faltering in thier manners—casual and purposeful, the prince person finally crossed the bridge, and stepped feet on the third section of the palace, which is also the last; coming face to face with a 50 meter wide pitch black throne on a pedestal, flanked at both sides by an identical 45 meter tall statue of a fully cloaked figured.
Proceeding futher, the prince person move closer to the throne. And then standing 25 meters from it, they focus their veiled face on a two and half meter tall woman in white, who is also veiled, but by white fog, and is lying on the very large plushy cushion placed on the throne seat, with the elbow of their right arm—that propped the right side of their head—on a pillow.
"Mother, I have come to say goodbye."
The prince person projects thier bewitching voice that sounded as usual—like a thousand women speaking, to the fog-veiled woman. And in reaction, the fog-veiled woman seems to sit up, responding:
"Child, you confuse this empress?"
Like a million women speaking in harmony, just like the prince person but the voice of the women sounding older and more mature; the equally bewitching voice of the fog-veiled woman echoed in the palace, seeking clarity.
"Mom, I don't want to be a boy anymore... I found a man?" The prince person replied, their face locked with the face of the woman—thier mother—veiled with fog.
"Child, what prank are you up to?" The fog-veiled woman responded, their bewitching voice echoing as usual, once again.
However, before replying, the prince person removed the floor length veil that covered their face and thier back, and throw it to the side, revealing as seen from their back, their long and lustrous silky black hair and a pale neck, after which they slowly remove a thin long needle from the right side of their neck, which in turn caused their revealed pale neck to wriggle along with their body in a lace wedding dress that fits their upper body tightly, before throwing the thin needle on the ground—in front of the throne on a pedestal.
Meanwhile, in that moment, the eyes of all the statues in the palace lits up like they are about to come to life. But anyways the prince person seem not to mind.
They responded, "Mom, my man is the ideal man have been dreaming of every day... A man with the purest spirit you can't even imagine exist, and he is a lot stronger than uncle Jal too."
"Mom, I know you will understand my decision—we are mother and daughter after all—and I know you also wish to meet a man of your dream badly. That's why I am saying bye bye mother... I wish you all the best..."
"Get him for me." The fog-veiled woman screamed, voice echoing shrilly.
As they lunged incredibly fast from their throne, flying towards the prince person; obeying the fog-veiled woman, the statues in the palace that already came to life and locked on to the prince person when they were talking charged at the prince person, especially the front two flanking the throne that are already before the prince person.
However before the giant white pale feminine hands of the front two statues could reach the prince person, the prince person suddenly turned into a stream of glowing star dust that rushed up—passing through the ceiling—leaving their apparel and flower vase behind, and causing the fog-veiled woman who arrived a tenth of a second later to go on her knees and screamed loudly with a shrilling voice that echoed through the walls of the palace and that caused all the statue that has paused to cower in fear. And for the next few minutes, the kneeling fog-veiled woman apparently bowed her head without making a single sound, looking like someone abandoned by the world. And after a long while, a 'hic' from her echoed in the room.
"Hic... Its a man again?" They muttered, sounding like they are sobbing.
***
Back to the ship;
"Big bro, I don't know; the bastard left when we touched ground... maybe he has logged off..." Starboy replied Skylar who is sitting facing the wall that display a rippling vertical surface made of air, mid air—the sky terminal barrier they are passing through.
"For how long have you two known each other? I realise you guys are very close."
"Big bro, I have know him since the very first day I joined moonlight courtyard, a year ago. But I think she has been with leader Lingyue before they founded the faction."
"Big bro... is there anything interesting about him? I personally, find him annoying. The only thing he can offer is help us surveil with his out of the body ability... anything else, he is pretty much useless." Starboy replied.
Skylar shook his head, he responded:
"Abbass, you are doing it again."
"Big bro?" Starboy sat up on the large bed behind Skylar, that he has been lying on, sounding confused, seeking clarity.
However, Skylar on the other hand picked up the glyph remote control, replying:
"Never mind. Anyways... I am thinking we should follow the tower's rule and tweak our plans for the magazine a little bit. Maybe we can do something else... like find a real trustworthy user faction to help us with it. And I already thought of another way to promote it. What do you think? I'm also thinking of increasing your share from five to ten percent?"
Starboy upon hearing Skylar last sentence smiled and starts rubbing his right cheek with the front of his right fingers pressed together in excitement.
He replied, "Big bro, If you have already thought it through, I have no objection... afterall, the idea and invention is yours to begin with. Hihihi..." Starboy giggled.
Still watching the view of the rapidly moving clouds displayed by the front chameleon glass wall, Skylar shook his head and before he respond, he tapped purposefully on the display of the control, thereby causing the other three walls and the floor to start displaying like the front wall—showing them the rapidly changing view of the ship surrounding as it travels just above the upper sky.
Then responding, he said, "Okay, your share is now ten percent, and we will have to hold up until we find the right user faction for the job. But in the meantime, we should go over everything from the beginning to the end?... I am beginning to have new ideas."
"Okay, big bro." Starboy agreed, sounding pumped up, then he went back to lying on the bed, while Skylar continued to watch the displayed view of the rapidly changing surrounding of the ship moving at an incredible speed, exactly two hundred times the speed of sound.
***