Pillar of Yita

Upon hearing his request, Lady Rand’s face showed a look of disbelief, nervously muttering to herself, ”But how, how can we let Miss Lavali take the risk? Why not let me go instead...”

But she also knew that this was just her wishful thinking; the ’criminals’ would never agree to her request.

Lavali, however, was not afraid at all, merely snorting coldly, stepping forward without hesitation, passing through them, and arriving at the front of the group. Fang Hong suddenly felt that letting this young lady come might be a mistake, but she had already walked up to him and stood beside Gita. She took Gita’s hand and answered coldly:

”I’ll take you over.”

Although a bit helpless, Fang Hong had no choice but to accept the situation. The Earl’s daughter led the way in front, occasionally conversing quietly with Gita, her voice so low that he couldn’t hear it from behind, only noticing Gita’s reluctance, and her neck blushing all the way to her ears.

As Lavali leaned in a little closer, Gita stepped back in fright, and Fang Hong finally couldn’t bear it, reminding, ”Miss Lavali.”

”What’s it to you,” Lavali looked at him, saying, ”You have such broad oversight, Captain. Miss Gita is my history teacher, I have questions for her.”

”What?”

Fang Hong looked at Gita.

Gita shook her head repeatedly, blushing.

However, this minor episode did not affect the group’s speed, and Fang Hong would not allow them to play any tricks here. The Earl’s daughter seemed to have realized this too and did not stir any tension in the direction that would make everyone nervous. Only Bain’s knights followed from a distance, maintaining a viewable distance, though His Excellency the Governor couldn’t be seen, Fang Hong believed the other party wouldn’t be too far.

Soon, they arrived at the rooftop exit, Fang Hong signaled Luo Hao to open the door, and a strong wind mixed with sand surged in. They had already witnessed the dust storm’s intensity down on the city walls, but now the wind on the rooftop was even stronger, unexpectedly pushing them back a few steps.

Yet, despite retreating, the group was well prepared. Fang Hong squinted his eyes, shielding Affia with his hand—although to outsiders, this looked more like a hostage move. Bain’s knights indeed seized the opportunity to advance a few steps, but seeing their calm demeanor, they stopped once again.

The strong wind made Lavali’s golden long hair bloom like cosmos flowers; she turned around, took off her coat, and covered Gita with it, protecting her with her hands. Interestingly, this Earl’s daughter might not be as strong as Gita, shivering in the wind but standing firm.

Gita’s face was somewhat red.

Fang Hong glanced at her, and Lavali immediately glared back: ”What are you looking at? Can’t I protect my own teacher?”

Fang Hong was unwilling to argue with this inexplicable young lady, instead focusing on Bain’s knights, who again retreated awkwardly under his watchful gaze.

Wu Xiaopang was spitting out sand from his mouth on the side, and Fang Hong turned around once again, pulling down his wind goggles, looking at the rooftop’s surroundings—this was the top floor of the fortress, but unlike modern buildings with a flat rooftop, it actually arched in the middle forming a dome, appearing as a huge hemisphere from the outside.

The passages were perimeter-focused, similar to a square-shaped corridor, with the outside wind howling, black sand flowing like rivers in the sky, nebbish and chaotic. Occasionally, shelters, cloth strips, and palm leaves were swept from somewhere, passing over the rooftop.

As his gaze extended to the distance, he vaguely saw the shadow of the ’Dawood’ Ship, the massive airship bobbing up and down in the gusts of wind, but not yet leaving the platform—because from this angle, he could see the airship secured by several iron chains to the rooftop, chains swaying and clanging in the strong wind.

This was just the tip of the iceberg; there were evidently more anchor chains at another end. The arcanists had evidently made comprehensive preparations to berth the airship at this location.

Witnessing this scene, Fang Hong couldn’t help but frown, realizing he had taken some things for granted, as if boarding the airship would allow them to leave this place—however, in such harsh weather conditions, launching the airship from the platform and figuring out how to get it moving wasn’t as easy.

How large was the ’Dawood’ Ship? What’s the minimum number of sailors needed to operate it? How to navigate?

He realized he hadn’t considered this at all.

Yet, this was also normal, as though they were called the Seven Seas Travel Group, they hadn’t truly left the land aside from the journey from Elpaxin to Golande. Without relevant experience, failing to consider this in such an urgent situation was to be expected.

Nonetheless, Fang Hong wasn’t panicked and quickly collected himself. How many sailors were required to operate the ’Dawood’ Ship didn’t really matter; operating and launching were different matters—in the worst case, letting it drift in the wind would suffice, with such strong wind, it would certainly take off. As for where it flies, that was truly not within his power to decide.

Even if they had sailors, would that mean they could navigate ’Dawood’ Ship in such weather conditions? Clearly, it’s not possible.