Chapter 61: What an Open-Minded World~

Early the next morning, a little after eight, Lin Huang arrived at the central square of Domineering City. He bought some pastries and a drink from a nearby dessert shop and sat under an outdoor sunshade to enjoy his breakfast.

The scheduled magic crystal airship was set to arrive at the central square precisely at nine. It would stop for five minutes to allow passengers to board and disembark. If one missed the boarding time, there would be no way to get on; the next ship would not come for another week. Lin Huang certainly didn’t want to waste a week, so he made sure to get to the square well ahead of time.

After breakfast, it was only a bit past eight-thirty. Lin Huang logged onto the net to browse the news.

Over the past few days, the Imperial Heart Network had been flooded with reports about the recent beast tide in Snow Mountain Town. The transcendental Yu Chanli had been interviewed multiple times about the incident, but some media outlets shifted their focus to the weakest group involved in the event—Zhou Le, Yu Guang, and others.

Like Lin Huang, these young people had participated in the reserve assessment, and were, without a doubt, the weakest among those who resisted the beast tide. Interviewed by the press, these youths seemed flattered and a bit overwhelmed. When reporters pressed them for details, they couldn’t help but talk about Lin Huang. Zhou Le in particular praised Lin Huang, telling reporters they should give him a proper interview.

Besides Lin Huang’s name sticking with the reporters, another matter was brought to light by Yu Guang. Bai Yan, the strongest participant in the reserve assessment, had not only refused to stay and fight the beast tide, but had also mocked those who did, calling them a bunch of fools rushing to their deaths.

The media seized on this and soon unearthed surveillance footage from the hotel conference room in Snow Mountain Town. Some outlets extracted the relevant portion and posted it online. Though Bai Yan’s voice was low in the footage, special processing amplified it. His scornful expression and the now-clear words drew widespread attention.

For a time, criticism of Bai Yan flooded the internet.

“No sense of responsibility at all!”

“If you’re not going to help, fine, but why make snide remarks?”

“Calling others fools, when he’s the real idiot!”

Some comments were even harsher, dragging Bai Yan’s family into the insults.

It wasn’t long before someone dug up Bai Yan’s background online.

Lin Huang was surprised by what he found. Bai Yan was born into the Bai clan, a renowned family of summoners—he was the eldest son of the sixteenth generation, blessed with extraordinary talent. The Bai family was not only a house of summoners, but noble as well. Their power was formidable, with transcendents among their ranks and extraordinary monsters serving as summoned guardians.

“No wonder the kid acts like he owns the place,” Lin Huang thought, finally understanding Bai Yan’s deep-seated sense of superiority.

He browsed through the gossip online until it was almost nine, when a massive magic crystal airship slowly descended from the sky.

Lin Huang stood up, looking up at the ship as he walked toward the boarding point.

It was a lavishly decorated vessel, somewhat resembling a luxury cruise ship from Earth, though far larger and more brilliantly colored. The ship had eleven decks. Many people stood on the balconies gazing outside, others leaned on the railings of the main deck looking down, and a few stood atop the open-air eleventh deck, surveying the scene below.

There weren’t many people boarding at Domineering City—counting Lin Huang, just over ten. Even fewer were disembarking, only seven or eight.

Lin Huang brought up the projection of his ticket from the Imperial Heart Ring and scanned it at the boarding gate. The barrier opened automatically, reminding him of taking the subway on Earth.

Onboard, Lin Huang followed the ticket information to find his room—ticket number 080298, which corresponded to room 298 on the eighth deck. He took the floating elevator to the eighth floor and quickly located his room. After scanning his ticket at the door and pushing it open, he was surprised to find the accommodations much better than he had expected—comparable to a luxury hotel suite on Earth. The living room was spacious, with a kitchen and bathroom, though only one bedroom.

“No wonder the tickets are so expensive. The room is excellent, and aside from special services, everything’s included,” Lin Huang thought with satisfaction. He’d found the service industry in this world generally impressive—most experiences left him happy, and the staff were consistently courteous and welcoming.

He took a quick tour of the room to familiarize himself with the space, and from the balcony saw that the ship had already taken off.

Standing outside, Lin Huang felt the difference between this and flying on an airplane. The magic crystal airship’s ascent was smooth and steady. As it left the ground, a massive bubble formed around the ship, enclosing it completely.

Inside the bubble, Lin Huang only felt a brief, mild sense of increased gravity during ascent, but it faded after less than a minute. Once the ship began to accelerate, he felt no difference at all, as if he were standing on solid ground.

If it hadn’t been for the scenery moving past below, he might have thought the ship hadn’t left the ground at all.

After a while in flight, Lin Huang returned to the bedroom. Sitting on the bed, he was about to look up more detailed information on the Bai family when he suddenly received a message. Opening it, he found an advertisement from the magic crystal airship’s official account.

A video popped up of a woman in a rather provocative red dress, smiling as she delivered the pitch.

“Dear customer, if you require special services, simply click the ‘Special Services’ button on the airship’s homepage.

“We offer a full range: from mature ladies to young girls, from uncles to boys—any age from sixteen to three hundred and sixty, any gender, whatever you desire.

“If you have even more particular preferences—humanoid monsters, or non-humanoid ones—just press the reservation button, and we’ll arrange it for you.

“We guarantee absolute privacy—no information will be shared with any individual or organization!

“One final note: special services require an additional fee and are not included in your room rate.”

With the ad finished, the page closed automatically.

“I knew the sexual mores of this world were open, but I didn’t expect them to be this open…” Lin Huang couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. He’d long been aware that sexual services here were legal and aboveboard as long as they didn’t involve minors. Still, he hadn’t expected the airship to advertise such things, much less to include non-human options.