Chapter 179: Uhtred’s Arrival (I)
Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to the sky where she pointed. Her voice had been surprisingly loud, and there had been a lull of silence as the powerful parties were staring at the World Government officials arriving domineeringly. It made it such that she had been the one breaking the silence.
As everyone looked up, their expressions changed immediately. There in the horizon, several dots could be seen floating in the sky above the vast sea.
"Are those... airplanes?" someone muttered in utter surprise.
At this point, nearly everyone had risen to their feet subconsciously. Even King Alexei stood up in his lounge, squinting at the sky to have a better look. The World Government officials who were just settling in domineeringly also stood up to stare at the dots, their faces clouding over into deep scowls.
"No. It’s not an airplane," King Alexei was the one to speak, his much higher perception allowing him to see farther into the distance than anyone present. A slow smile spread on his face, one that was filled with a competitive air, yet at the same time, excitement and acknowledgement.
"Haha! What great timing, Uhtred!" He guffawed.
"Uhtred—?!"
"Is that really Uhtred—?!"
"That’s what King Alexei just said—"
"Damn! No matter how I look at it, those are planes, right? How the hell did he build a damn plane—?!"
"Fool! King Alexei just said they aren’t planes—"
"But they look like planes to me! What a fucking entrance—!"
"You! I just told you King Alexei said—"
Murmurs began to drone among the various factions present, particularly among the mid-tier factions.
"Hey, hey. You guys aren’t even asking the right question," a man cut in. He was among the Free Ascenders’ Guild. "Even if it’s not a plane, we can clearly see it’s some sort of flying vehicle... Which begs the question, how the hell did he cross the vast ocean?"
The moment he spoke, everyone finally realized this fact, and their expressions became even more bewildered.
One had to remember that the purpose of the teleportation circles every major faction had procured at great expense from the multiversal store was to bypass the near-impossible odds of surviving vast distance sea travels.
Of course, given enough time, sea vessels could be made, and a crossing would be possible. One just had to follow the safe Zone 0 band around the equator of the planet instead of entering into Zone 1 waters.
But there was also the matter of fuel. What would power such a vessel?
The World Government had appeared in jeeps domineeringly, showing that they still had their level of expertise and means to build and power such vehicles. But while it was shocking, it was still within the realm of believability.
A car was not too hard to make, especially given the more adept abilities available to humans now. The only problem was fuel, but clearly, alternative sources had been found.
However, powering a vehicle to display might was one thing, and powering a new form of flying vehicle to cross an open ocean — one that spanned a greater distance now that the planet was at least double in size — was another thing entirely. The two couldn’t even be spoken of in the same breath.
The World Government forces watching the incoming dots had terrible expressions on their faces, clearly understanding all of this.
Coming here, they knew they couldn’t compete with the wealth of Jolene Okafor, which was sure to be on display at every turn. They knew they couldn’t compete with Uhtred in terms of strength — in fact, there were several powerful figures between their most powerful ascender and Uhtred in terms of strength.
The one thing they were confident of was their innovative might. Their only means to show a level of dominance over the arriving factions for the Summit.
Yet, here was Uhtred one-upping, and in fact, double-upping them at their own game.
A large man with grey hair, donning ceremonial military attire, turned and whispered something into the ear of one of the government agents closest to him. The lady nodded promptly, then disappeared behind a row of other agents.
Nearly no one saw it, except King Alexei, who grinned harder as he noticed. And, surprisingly — or not so surprisingly — the four representatives of the Shadow Brokerage.
Everyone was focused on the incoming dots that had become much larger in the sky at this point. Details could be made out much more clearly now, and the awe and surprise everyone felt only deepened further.
"Damn, Uhtred..." Antoine Blanc whispered under his breath, a shit-eating grin on his face. "You’ve outdone yourself this time..."
Right there in the sky, three shapes drew near in a tight triangle formation.
The one in the middle was the largest. Long and wide, it looked like a plane from the old world, but cleaner and sharper. Like something you would find in a sci-fi movie rather than in reality.
There were no engines under the wings. No spinning parts. The only thing about it that looked similar to a pre-integration era plane was the fact that it also flew. And even the way it flew was different. Glowing lines ran across its entire black body, patterns of arrays that looked almost like runes. They pulsed with a soft blue-white light, steady and controlled.
Two smaller craft flew on either side of it. They were shaped like fighter jets... if fighter jets had the spacious interior of a private jet.
"Quinjet..."
Donovan Jr., who was watching from below with glittering eyes, muttered subconsciously. The smaller jets resembled the Quinjet from the very popular AVENGERS movies of the pre-integration era. The same glowing arrays of the largest jet in the center covered their hulls as they all moved in perfect formation.
Everyone on the terraces was mesmerized.
King Alexei’s grin got wider. Stormcaller’s face turned dark. Golden Finger Chen leaned forward on his palanquin. Even the four people from the Shadow Brokerage tilted their heads up at the same time.
Donovan Sr. felt his mouth go dry. Albert had nearly stopped breathing. Sophie still had her hand raised, pointing as if she had forgotten herself.
The three vessels kept coming closer. As they drew nearer, people started to wonder how they were going to land. There were no runways present anywhere. However, it turned out they didn’t need them.
Right there on the open, sprawling lawns beyond the teleportation circles surrounding the amphitheatre, the two flanking jets landed first, touching down softly and noiselessly. A beat later, the largest vessel descended and touched ground too.
Nothing happened for a moment. Then suddenly, hatches opened at the sides of the smaller jets, revealing several people immediately.
Black Sun, with his signature calm non-committal air, walked down the sloping stairs, holding the hand of a beautiful female youth who bore a striking resemblance to him.
Behind him were several individuals with powerful auras, though nothing compared to his. These were surely his trusted men and women under his banner.
The second small jet opened, revealing a sharp-eyed middle-aged lady with a unique, regal air about her. Without even trying, her presence commanded attention. From the way she carried herself, to the way her eyes darted around intelligently, everyone knew she was someone important.
Just as everyone was wondering who she was, the guards of the Marina Archipelago all straightened into attention as she descended.
"Huh?" several eyes whipped back to her figure. "Don’t tell me that’s Jolene Okafor?!"
They hadn’t even processed their shock and the implications of her just arriving in her own territory, when the hatch of the central, largest jet opened.