Pillar of Yita

”Mr. Ade.” Fang Hong looked at Mei standing outside the door, breathing out white mist, with hands clasped at her chest watching him with a slight surprise. ”Miss Mei, is there something you need?” The faint white mist was quickly dispersed by the wind on the deck, and Mei blinked her moist eyes, ready to nod. But just then, Fang Hong heard Gita’s voice coming from the sound transmission tube:

”Brother Ade, there’s been a discovery.”

Fang Hong signaled Miss Knight to wait for a moment and turned his head to ask, ”What’s up, Gita?”

”There are an unidentified number of wind element reactions ahead, one directly in front, and one each on the left and right... Their spacing... their spacing seems very consistent, no, they don’t seem like Cloud Sea creatures...”

Fang Hong paused for a moment: ”How far are we from the exercise area here?”

”Less than thirty kilometers.”

”These people are really persistent,” Fang Hong thought. If they’re not Cloud Sea creatures, it can only be airships. The area ahead had already entered Kailan Ao’s airspace, and sure enough, the other party had set up an ambush here, just as he expected. But a mere thirty-kilometer encirclement in the Sky Sea is no thicker than a piece of paper; can it really stop anyone?

”Got it, Gita,” Fang Hong replied. ”We’ll continue moving forward as usual, no need to change the course.”

”No need to change the course?” Miss Natural Historian’s voice sounded surprised.

”No need, just inform Luo Hao to enter combat readiness, I’ll come to the deck shortly.”

”Alright.”

Only then did Fang Hong turn back to look at Mei and speak: ”Miss Mei, Kailan Ao is just ahead. We’ll drop you off there later; this situation doesn’t concern you.” He paused, ”By the way, did you need something earlier?”

Mei gently nodded: ”I don’t need to disembark for now, Mr. Ade.”

”What?”

”The Knight Order just notified that the target is no longer heading to Kailan Ao, they may have already left Nogness. The captain said that they’ve temporarily lost track of the target and instructed me to wait here for a month to meet others, during which I thought I could join you in investigating the Dark Followers.” Mei said with some joy, her gaze filled with anticipation as she looked at Fang Hong.

Fang Hong paused for a moment, instantly understanding what had happened, and couldn’t help but feel a bit amused. But being watched with such hopeful eyes by a lovely Miss Knight made it hard to refuse, so he nodded. ”If Miss Mei is willing, feel free to stay on the ship as long as you want; we can afford to have one more person.” He said half-jokingly.

But Mei was quite serious, ”I will pay for my living expenses, Mr. Ade.”

Fang Hong: ”Well... it’s not really necessary...”

”It is necessary. Self-sufficiency is a basic tenet for Believers of Ouli, Mr. Ade.”

”Alright, then.”

Since it involved the precepts of a knight, Fang Hong couldn’t refute it. Ancient Precept Knights are required to strictly adhere to ancient laws, or they might even lose their professional abilities.

”And those people,” Mei continued, ”are they the Descendants of Flor?” Having stayed on the ship for some time, she naturally heard about the dispute between the Seven Seas Travel Group and the Descendants of Flo. Fang Hong had told her about the gray list but hadn’t elaborated on the wanted order.

Of course, Miss Knight didn’t ask or think much in that direction. She had temporarily received the mission from the Ancient Tower to go to Colin Ishulian and wasn’t originally an Invoker of the Third District. She didn’t know the detailed situation regarding Parker’s wanted order locally and was unaware of the antecedents behind it.

”Not entirely,” Fang Hong shook his head and spoke truthfully, ”The Descendants of Flor are only part of it. To be honest, their influence in Nogness isn’t that significant; more people are here for the gray list.”

”But it is the Descendants of Flor who defame you,” Mei said with a firm voice, ”I heard about them having a poor reputation in Sanxiak, and in my observation, Mr. Ade could never be a pirate. These people full of lies will surely receive their due punishment. Even if unrelated people blindly believe them without knowing the truth, I will stand with everyone and fight alongside them.”

Fang Hong looked at her somewhat surprised: ”The Descendants of Flor defame us? Who told you that, Miss Mei?”

”I figured it out myself,” Mei replied seriously, ”Ouli’s teachings tell us to use our own eyes to find the facts and truth, not blindly follow rumors. In the face of light, darkness will have nowhere to hide.”

Alright, although the logic is a bit strange, the conclusion is correct. And this conclusion is likely influenced by Tianlan, who constantly visited Mei, Fang Hong knew well what her motives were.

From a certain perspective, this might be considered a kind white lie. He slightly shook his head: ”Though I appreciate it, you don’t actually need to take action, Miss Mei.”

Mei gently exhaled and looked at him curiously: ”Mr. Ade, have you decided how to deal with them?”

”Come with me, Miss Mei, and I’ll show you how the Seven Seas Traveler fights.”