After leaving Yumen, they escorted Nian back to Shangshu, and naturally, the two shared one last intimate moment before parting.
After that, Felix headed for Lungmen.
Without many people realizing it, many years had already passed since he had last left Lungmen. With the support of Tomorrow's Development Adventure, Lungmen had become one of the top three cities with the largest number of players. Although, on the surface, adventurers seemed to be fighting in Victoria, far more of them were actually immersed in their daily in-game lives. Some were clearing dungeons, some were exploring, some were dating online, and some were even busy exposing each other. It could be said that life there was remarkably colorful.
Felix had the most contact with the strongest one percent of players. As for the overwhelming majority of the rest, they treated Ark as either a game to seriously enjoy or simply as a casual pastime.
Felix did not deliberately make things difficult for the Lungmen guards stationed at the city gates. Some time ago, Nine had been transferred to the core of Kazdel because of her outstanding performance in the Lungmen branch, and after the construction of Kazdel's two remaining mobile cities was completed, she would become the governor of one of them.
At present, the head of the Lungmen Guard Department was Swire, who had taken over Ch'en Hui-chieh's former position after her departure. Her deputy was still Hoshiguma. In this life, neither of them had joined Rhodes Island, nor had they become operators of Tomorrow's Development. They had remained in the Lungmen Guard Department, which was quite a good outcome.
Although they had not joined Tomorrow's Development, their relationship with Ch'en Hui-chieh had not fallen apart. Even though they were now in different places, they still exchanged letters and chatted about the small details of everyday life.
Standing across the street, Felix looked toward the Guard Department building. Through the wall, he could see Swire seated in her office with a troubled expression as she looked through the documents in her hands, while Hoshiguma stood nearby, handing her a cup of coffee.
After entering the Guard Department, no one noticed the sudden appearance of an extra person. Felix did not disturb anyone. He simply took the elevator to the top floor, where Wei Yenwu's office was located, along with the room he shared with his wife.
When he saw Wei Yenwu standing in the corridor, enjoying the cool breeze, the corners of Felix's lips curled upward.
"Lord Wei, it has been a long time. Your fondness for standing here and enjoying the wind has not changed at all."
Wei Yenwu gave a snort when he heard the voice. Turning around, he spoke in a somewhat mocking tone. "Oh? Isn't this His Highness the Liberation King, the man who has shaken all of Terra? What brings you to visit an old man like me today?"
"I was just passing by, so I thought I would stop in and have a look."
Before heading toward that starry sky, Felix naturally wanted to meet everyone he knew.
It was not truly a farewell. It was simply a sense of ritual.
Wei Yenwu wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth. "I heard from the Grand Tutor about what you intend to do. It is nothing less than defying fate itself... Yet ironically, those of us who have lived on this land far longer than you are unable to help you in any meaningful way."
"The enemy is not some demon king. There is no such thing as king against king, or general against general. It is merely a battle of blood and fire. At most, I can only serve as a large-scale weapon of destruction. Lord Wei is overpraising me."
"Now that Yan has fully chosen to support Kazdel, Lungmen naturally cannot stand aside either." Wei Yenwu let out a sigh. "It is just a pity. I originally intended to transfer some of the Shadow Guards and Black Cloaks to your command. After all, not only did you guide little Ch'en, you were also Talulah's savior."
"Do you still feel regret now?"
"It is not that much of a pity. Who could have imagined that the Venus was only the beginning? Tomorrow's Development will be overflowing with weapons and equipment, enough to inspire both awe and fear." Wei Yenwu grinned. "Are you not going to stay for a meal?"
"Not this time. Next, I still need to visit Old Lin, and then I will prepare to leave."
"Where to?"
"Columbia. Trimounts."
"When will we meet again?"
"Probably at a war conference involving all of Terra."
Wei Yenwu waved his hand. "Alright, alright. There is no point in wasting words with an old man like me. Your time is precious too, so go on."
Felix smiled and cupped his hands toward Wei Yenwu in salute. Wei Yenwu sighed, then smiled as well and returned the salute with solemn formality.
But when he raised his head again, Felix had already vanished.
"What are you doing? I brought you here to sober up, but you seem to be getting more and more drunk."
When Wei Yenwu saw that it was Fumizuki, he grinned and said, "Nothing much. I just happened to meet a promising junior I have not seen in a very long time."
"From the Guard Department?"
Wei Yenwu only smiled without answering. He turned his gaze toward the twin moons in the distance, and the expanse of space beyond them.
After his trip to Yan came to an end, Felix returned to Kazdel. Without resting for more than a few days, he immediately set out for Trimounts. This time, he once again chose to travel incognito. In Columbia, his identity would make it difficult for him to move freely, and in the end, the whole visit would inevitably turn into a diplomatic ceremony.
This time, he brought only Saria and Ifrit with him. Both were directly connected to Rhine Lab and had originally been meant to go to Trimounts anyway.
Columbia today was somewhat different from the one it had once been. The military placed unspeakable pressure on technology companies, squeezing every scientist and every corporation to produce better equipment and more powerful weapons. In the arms race, Columbia had always stood at the forefront. Since when had it become the one being overtaken by newcomers?
Not to mention Kazdel, whose technological progress was practically a black hole.
At the time, because of Felix's identity, both the military and the government of Trimounts began suppressing Rhine Lab. If not for Rhine Lab's massive customer base, and the fact that the military and government were never entirely united, the company might have struggled to survive.
Even so, Rhine Lab ultimately became Trimounts' leading technology company. That success was inseparable from its abundant funding, spacious laboratories, expensive equipment, terrane working hours, and its relatively caring work environment.
There was not much Felix could do about it. The position of director of the Mechanical Power Department had always remained under his name. Though he was still a shareholder, he never attended meetings, and to the newer researchers, he had become little more than a mysterious phantom shareholder.
After leaving Trimounts, Stainless went to Victoria to assist the local self-defense forces. Once the Victorian incident ended, he returned to Trimounts to continue working toward his third doctorate. Meanwhile, Snowsant returned to the Kazdel Institute last year to resume her research project.
"Trimounts seems to be in a state of panic right now. There are far more police patrols on the streets than usual. What exactly happened?"
"If you mean this..." Felix pointed toward the Clever, which had just received a signal from within Trimounts and begun broadcasting the news.
"Fellow citizens, this morning, an explosion occurred at the Tlayton Third Chemical Plant in District 13..."
"If it were truly a chemical plant explosion, then there should have been a severe chemical leak. But none of the soldiers shown in the report, the ones blocking people from entering District 13, were wearing gas masks or protective gear," Saria said calmly. "If this is not simply arbitrary military suppression, then it must be some secret experiment taking place inside the chemical plant."
"Saria, you really do not give the Columbian military any face... although I also think those high-ranking officers are a bunch of shameless idiots." Felix let out a cold laugh. "War, war... it is one thing for soldiers to fight and earn promotions, but for generals to still be unable to see the situation clearly is simply foolish. What is all this frantic preparation for war supposed to achieve? In the end, it is nothing more than seeing Kazdel as a threat and wanting to turn their technological level into weapons."
He crossed his legs. "Soldiers fight for victory, but they fight for politics. If Kazdel had not directly taken Londinium in the Battle of Kazdel, would Kazdel have the status it holds today? Leaving aside the matter of seizing the capital, with Princess Vina on our side and the Military Commission as our enemy, we had every legitimate reason to wage war."
"In Columbia today, all I see are foolish military leaders running wild in the name of the arms race. Of course there are rational people as well, but compared to those obsessed with quick success and immediate gains, they are in the minority."
Ifrit listened carefully to Felix's words. Then, in a rare moment, she paused to think for a while. "So, Your Highness means that Columbia is looking for someone to go to war with now?"
"Smart. It seems Hoederer is doing a good job teaching politics and history. Give him a raise when we get back," Felix said with a smile. "Now it is only a matter of which unlucky target ends up in front of Columbia's guns. Ninety percent of the time, it will be Bolívar. Sigh... even though the Laterano Summit of Nations was only just signed, if two Columbians were to die on Bolívar's soil or the discovery of any signs to the existence of a Weapon of Mass Destruction, would that not already create the conditions for war? Wether it's true or not is another matter."
Saria seemed thoughtful. "Is that why you have not contacted Columbia?"
"That is right. Their military is advanced, their technology is advanced, and their population is large. But a large population also means a large number of insects. How can we form a proper alliance with insects?"
The plane landed smoothly at Trimounts Airport. The group disembarked, and after going through identity verification, they were allowed inside. Saria used her real identity, while Felix and Ifrit used false identities prepared by the skilled craftsmen of Tomorrow's Development. As for how Felix managed to pass the inspection, it was simple: he merely had the AI keep scanning his face until it produced a suitable fake identity for him. It was not some advanced disguise technology, nor was he wearing any kind of mask.
"What next?"
"Rhine Lab."
"?" Saria nodded and followed Felix's steps. "How much longer until Arc Light One launches?"
"Less than half a month. To be more precise, two days from now."
Saria raised an eyebrow. "You chose a good time, Your Highness."
"Luckily, we arrived in time... Clever has already reported that the cause of the explosion at the Thirteenth Chemical Plant was neither of the two possibilities we guessed earlier. Instead, it was the experimental launch control platform for Arc Light One reaching the end of its service life, breaking apart in midair, and crashing down."
The two entered Rhine Lab's office area through the back door. Earlier, they had glanced at the front entrance, where reporters and researchers were gathered, apparently covering some newly unveiled invention.
Returning to Rhine Lab, Saria let out a quiet sigh of relief. Using the access card she had never canceled, she entered the office of Chief Administrator Kristen, only to find that Kristen was not there. After asking the secretary, she learned that Kristen had gone out on business.
Seeing this, Felix did not stay any longer. He and Kristen had an agreement and remained in frequent contact, whereas Saria had already become something of an outsider. Felix knew more about the plans for two days later than Saria did. Rather than wasting time listening to Kristen explain the Arc Light One launch plan all over again, he would rather go see his future wife.
So he decisively left Saria and Ifrit in the office and headed alone to Rhine Lab's botanical garden. Some of the plants there had been relocated some time ago for observation experiments in the Horizon Ark's Garden, but compared to the old botanical garden, this place was at least dozens of times larger. The moment Felix stepped inside, it felt as though he had entered a vast forest.
Birds and beasts called from the trees, while fish swam through the murmuring stream. For a moment, Felix felt as if he had stepped into a paradise. The place was so vast that he nearly lost his way, since there were no signs anywhere. He guessed that only Muelsyse could find her office without markers. Fortunately, that was no problem for Felix. He sensed his surroundings, then walked in a single direction.
Muelsyse was currently making the final preparations. Now that the Horizon Ark project was ready, this was all she could still do.
When she heard the door open, she looked up in surprise, but joy quickly filled her eyes. Abandoning her work, she hurried to Felix and leaped into his arms with a bright smile. He caught her at once.
"When did you come back?"
"Just now."
"I think about your body temperature every day."
"We'll stay together for a very, very long time from now on."
Hearing this, Muelsyse leaned against Felix's chest like a little bird. After a while, she looked up and sighed softly. "Once Arc Light One launches, all the directors of Rhine Lab will board the ship to observe the starry sky. After doing something like this, will Rhine Lab still be able to keep its footing in Columbia?"
"It will be difficult."
Felix loosened his hold on Muelsyse.
In his previous life, Kristen had been a lone wolf, so she had borne all the blame, including the losses that followed. The reason the others were able to continue their research at Rhine Lab with relatively little punishment was because they had not been the masterminds, and in the eyes of the military, they were still useful.
But if all of Rhine Lab's members were involved this time, then as accomplices, they would have a very hard time reclaiming their rights.
Trust in Columbia was no longer something they could count on.
It did not matter. Kazdel had laboratories as well. At worst, they could all move there.
After being apart for so long, the two spent some time together, speaking softly and sharing quiet affection. Then a work email from Kristen arrived.
Rhine Lab was holding a directors' meeting, and each director was allowed to bring one student.
Felix took Muelsyse's hand and said, "Let's go see the real starry sky together."
"Mhm~"