Chapter 65: Chapter 69: City-State Life
After inspecting all the test items, Duncan gained a deeper understanding of Ai Yi’s transportation capabilities and the properties of the items on Homeloss.
Ai Yi could transport various items simultaneously, including organic, inorganic, transcendent, and ordinary items. The type of items did not affect the stability of the transport process, nor did the transport process affect the properties of the items themselves;
Some items on Homeloss that obviously had the “ability to move” were “sub-units” under a larger controlling consciousness, such as projectiles that were sub-units of the ammunition system. Once these sub-units left Homeloss, they would lose their mobility and become ordinary objects;
The transportation process did not seem to exhaust Ai Yi’s “energy.” Whether it was initially carrying a ceremonial dagger or now carrying a bunch of items at once, the bird returned still lively. Of course, this might be because the “cargo” transported so far was too little and far from reaching its capacity limit;
So far, only the transportation of items of different types had been tested, and it was not yet known whether Ai Yi’s transport ability had limitations on “weight” or “volume.” More tests were required.
Duncan methodically summarized the known information and only after confirming that everything was thought through did he breathe a sigh of relief and slowly leaned back in his chair.
He knew that the tests he had conducted so far were still very imperfect. Many potential variables were not thoroughly considered, even considering the “test item categories,” and the samples he selected were too few to gather effective data.
In the future, he intended to select even more types of items and to test Ai Yi’s transport limits and the stability of multiple transports with different item weights and volumes. Only with enough comparative samples would the test data be reliable and credible.
He was very cautious in this regard, and this caution was not without reason—he had a very bold plan… or rather, an idea.
Since Ai Yi could transport items unharmed between the land and Homeloss, and it did not restrict the type of items, then… could it transport people?
If it could transport people, could it transport people who weren’t exactly human? For example… Alice?
Duncan knew that one person’s abilities were limited. Relying solely on his own ability to navigate the Spirit Realm as a link between Homeloss and the land City-State, he would eventually encounter problems of insufficient manpower and oversight. Having an assistant would significantly improve the situation.
The pigeon Ai Yi’s demonstrated transportation ability gave him an excellent idea.
Of course, Alice was not an ideal assistant candidate. This “anomaly 099” with a high-ranking number was elegant and mysterious when idle, but as soon as she became active, her inept and useless nature was immediately apparent. However, Duncan currently had no other options.
Thinking that the only usable crew member under his command was a good-for-nothing who could even stew herself while cooking, Duncan could not help but sigh.
The precarious position of Homeloss as an enemy of the world really troubled him; he figured that he would not likely find allies in the human world. If he had to find them, he might only attract a group of immature villains who looked forward to the apocalypse upon waking up each day, cut gas pipelines on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and engaged in demonic sacrifices on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and skirmished with church guardians on Sundays…
This type of riff-raff could indeed hit it off with those like Goat-Head quickly. They could plan invasions of different City-States in their free time but were hardly the help Duncan wanted.
“Ah, Alice is at least obedient,” Duncan sighed as he stood up, muttering to himself, “With proper training, she might be able to grow…perhaps.”
Even if she couldn’t become an assistant, letting that figurine meet the world outside would be good. After all, she had been locked in a coffin for so many years; she didn’t even know what the outside world looked like.
After organizing his thoughts, Duncan began to tidy up the large pile of items he had brought over. He was not planning to return to Homeloss yet, and many items could not be carried personally, so naturally, they had to be stored in the shop.
There weren’t many places to hide things on the second floor of the antique shop, and Nina could come up at any time to help clean the room. Some items that clearly did not look like daily necessities would appear especially suspicious in the room (like a century-old projectile). However, after brief consideration, Duncan found a suitable place for these items.
The Sun Amulet could be hidden on his person, the salted fish could be placed directly in the kitchen, appearing perfectly reasonable, and the century-old projectile and the century-old sailor’s dagger were even simpler—
Duncan took those two items directly to the ground floor shop and placed them in an inconspicuous corner near the counter—after all, this was an antique shop, and it was filled with all sorts of messy items similar in style; the dagger and projectile were more inconspicuous thrown in that pile of broken fakes…
As for the last item, the cheese taken from the kitchen of Homeloss, Duncan also found a good place for it.
The trash bin.
After handling all this, Duncan dusted off his hands, which were not actually dusty, and was quite satisfied with his arrangements.
He then glanced outside at the sky.
The “sun,” confined by dual rune restrictions, was hanging high in the sky, and it was just noon.
Nina would return home later today. Before that, he planned to go out and walk to further understand the city.
Anyway, it looked like the antique shop wouldn’t do much business today.
The weather was somewhat chilly, so Duncan put on a dark brown coat and tidied his somewhat messy and decadent hair before leaving the house. He tried to make his worn-out body, tormented by alcohol, drugs, and illness, look sprightly before leaving the antique shop.
The moment he stepped outside, a fluttering sound of wings came from the second floor. The pigeon, Ai Yi, flew out of the room on its own and landed on his shoulder, bopping its head and beaming proudly, “To the Twin Immortal Bridge, take Chenghua Avenue…”
Duncan shot a glare at the bird. He had planned to let the pigeon stay on the second floor to watch the house since having a pigeon on him when going out was too conspicuous and strange. Anyway, there was a Spiritual Fire connecting him and Ai Yi. If anything happened, he could summon it to his side using the Spectral Flame without delay.
He just hadn’t expected to forget to remind it, so the bird “boarded” on its own.
Seeing the bird looking so cunning and pleased with itself, Duncan finally laughed helplessly and sighed, “…Alright, if you love to follow, then follow.”
With the pigeon on his head, he made his way to the main road opposite the antique shop, walked along the main road for a short distance, and heard a crisp bell sound mixed with the operation of a steam machine, approaching from afar. Looking up, he saw a double-decker bus colored brown with blue stripes driving along the main road, gradually stopping near the bus station.
That was a common public transport in the Plunder City-State, powered by a steam machine, with a fare of six bisis, covering most of the Lower City District. According to the route map posted on the back of the bus, its line had two more stops that passed through the edge of the Upper City District, a place called Cross District.
Duncan remembered “Cross District.” He knew that the district and its surrounding area were regarded as the “boundary” of the Plunder City-State. There, one could find bustling commerce and decent residences. Many residents from the Lower City District considered the Cross District a goal and dream for moving up in life, while many middle-class citizens who couldn’t afford the high costs of the Upper City District but wanted to live decently also resided there—there were cinemas, museums, and several upscale restaurants.
Nina’s school was near the Cross District, and the museum she mentioned was also next to the Cross District.
Duncan thought for a moment and quickly walked to the station, boarding the bus before it departed.
The bus was not crowded, more than half of the seats on the first level were empty. Standing next to the driver’s cab was a ticket seller in a deep blue uniform. This young woman, with shoulder-length hair and simple makeup, instinctively reached for the ticket clamp upon seeing someone board. But then she noticed the pigeon on Duncan’s shoulder.
“Sorry, no pets on the bus. It’s the rule,” the young woman said, pointing at the pigeon on Duncan’s shoulder, “including pigeons.”
Duncan looked at Ai Yi. Ai Yi flapped its wings innocently and cocked its head at him.
“Go cling to the roof.”
“Coo, coo.”
Ai Yi flapped its wings and flew out of the bus, cursing in “coos” as it went.
The young ticket seller was stunned, watching the man who communicated with the pigeon and the pigeon that seemed to understand human speech, speechless for a long while.
“Is it okay now?” Duncan had to speak up to remind the somewhat dazed ticket seller, pointing towards the roof, “You can’t really control a bird on the roof, can you?”
The ticket seller then snapped back to reality: “Ah… yes… It’s six bisis for a ticket, an all-day pass.”
Duncan reached into his pocket, brought out two coins, and received a blue ticket. He then found a seat by the window and settled down quietly, ready to enjoy his first bus ride in this world.
The steam machine started up, accompanied by a slight vibration and mechanical friction noise; the bell on the bus’s front also crisply rang, and then the bus slightly shook, the scenery outside the window moving backward.
Duncan comfortably leaned back in his seat, feeling the tremble and acceleration as this mechanical creation operated.
Steam machines were great, civilized society was great, technological progress was great.
He would definitely have to install a set on Homeloss—if only just a boiler to heat water, then they could have hot showers on the ship too.
Just as his thoughts began to wander, he felt the bus suddenly shake, and the scenery outside the window slowly came to a stop.
The young ticket seller opened a window near the front of the bus, leaning out and shouting, “Boarding? There are seats! All big seats!”
Duncan paused, then chuckled to himself.
In that moment, he suddenly felt that this City-State, still foreign to him, immediately brimmed with a lively, homely atmosphere.