The thrones of Victoria's two special races remained unclaimed. With the royal seats vacant, Regent Theresis was given the perfect opportunity to enter Londinium. Windermere could do nothing. They could only watch as the Military Commission was invited into the capital. What followed unfolded exactly as Duke Kent had foreseen: Londinium was steadily swallowed by the Military Commission, and the Parliament was powerless to stop it.
Victoria lacked a true king. That was how Duke Kent saw it. What was missing was not a regent. His nostalgia for the old royal authority was shallow to begin with, for it was that very noble system that had led to the massacre of the previous royal family. He despised the aristocracy.
If Felix was willing… then the duke would seriously consider placing his bet on him.
Forget it for now.
Watching his daughter Delphine still lost in thought, Duke Kent smiled. Nothing had been decided yet; there was no need to overthink. They would move step by step.
He should, however, consider contacting a few rational and trustworthy noble friends.
The next day, the players in Kazdel and nearby area selected by lottery began carrying their luggage onto the Venus. Along with them were many members of Tomorrow's Development, all scheduled to accompany Felix to their next destination.
During this period, the industrial district had not stopped working for even a moment. It churned out materials and mechanical components day and night. When the Venus arrived a few days earlier, the Victoria landship designers aboard immediately dove into Kazdel's mobile-city industrial complex, hammering away without rest.
By mid-December, everyone finally understood what the engineers had been working on. Heavy cannons were carried out one after another by mechanical arms and loaded onto transport trucks. Players and mercenaries alike were stunned. Only then did they realize the Venus had originally been unarmed.
With the weapons installed, the Venus now radiated a faint sense of lethal power. According to the craftsmen from Victoria, these cannons were modeled after Londinium's city-defense guns. The only drawback was heavy ammunition consumption. In a direct artillery exchange between landships, the Venus would suffer considerable losses, since those cannons were extremely costly to build.
Armed at last, the Venus was no longer a mere landship, the type commonly used by the Rim Billiton people. She had effectively become a Victoria battleship-class landship.
The New Year was fast approaching. The Venus, carrying hundreds of thousands of Terrans and adventurers, set course for Lungmen. They planned to anchor in an uninhabited zone near the city and spend the New Year there.
Now that the Venus carried long-range artillery, she could no longer dock close to populated areas. She had to remain outside cannon range, which meant uninhabited territories most of the time. This was similar to Rhodes Island in Felix's previous life; the Rhodes Island landship rarely docked near cities and usually waited in deserted areas nearby.
Life aboard the ship was exciting at first. Players agreed to meet outside the training rooms. Renting a training room required points or money, and hiring professional instructors also required payment. It operated just like before. In the cafeteria, players could spend their points to buy meals. Although Felix provided each person with a monthly food allowance, the moment players saw the entire world's cuisine gathered on the food deck, all restraint vanished. Eating more wouldn't make them fat anyway; at worst they'd get a temporary Gluttony debuff. But who cared? Good food was priceless.
Sushi and sashimi from Higashi; street snacks and traditional dishes from Yan; Schnitzel and Bratwurst from Leithanien; sausages and hamburgers from Columbia; and, of course, Siracusa's infamous pineapple pizza. Everything was available. Many players enjoyed watching Siracusan operators react to the pineapple pizza. They would scold the Sarkaz shop owner in heated tones every time, but the owner always remained cheerful, insisting that pizza should be sweet to taste good.
If not for the fact that the shop owner had zero combat ability, the Siracusan operators probably would have devoured him whole.
The food deck was also a hit among Terrans. Some alcohol-loving patrons quickly found the bars. They often gathered after dinner to enjoy a drink and chat. Felix would visit the Summer Bar with Degenbrecher, and sometimes he would invite Carnelian, Loughshinny, Ines, and Giles. They would sit at the counter, sipping drinks of varying strength and chatting casually.
Felix had once worried about conflicts between infected and non-infected, but it turned out he had worried too much. Aside from a few conservative operators who avoided the infected, the adventurer players had none of these concerns. As for the other operators, most of Kazdel's people were infected, and they were currently Tomorrow's Development's strongest fighting force. Any mission required their support. Whether for quests or for future relationships, maintaining good ties was essential.
Players soon realized that with the growing number of operators from various regions, this was a perfect opportunity to receive missions from different parts of Terra without leaving the ship. If they managed to chat up an operator successfully, they might even learn new skills.
The players were extremely satisfied. Everyone lived together in dorm-style rooms, equal and relaxed. Many office workers who had graduated years ago said it felt like returning to college life, staying up at night chatting with roommates.
Everything aboard the ship required payment. That was understandable. Terrans and adventurers were treated exactly the same. If players wanted to stay on the Venus and enjoy all its facilities and services, they simply needed to work even harder.
Five days before the New Year, the Venus slowly came to a stop in an wasteland area outside Lungmen. From here, anyone heading to the city would have to walk for half a day. The players made no complaints. For some of them, this was their first time visiting Lungmen, and they treated the journey with the excitement of sightseeing.
A dense tide of people poured toward Lungmen, causing the gate guards to break out in a cold sweat. They couldn't help recalling that day years ago, when crowds of adventurers had pressed around the city walls, all wanting to enter at once.
In their eyes, these adventurers—who used to dress like homeless drifters—now wore stylish, abstract runway outfits. Something about them felt different, though the guards couldn't quite name what it was. Perhaps they had simply grown stronger. After all, the first time they entered Lungmen years ago, the locals had unanimously agreed they looked like country folk visiting the city for the first time: asking about everything, touching everything.
And now, these troublesome outsiders were back.
Lin Yühsia sat at the bar counter of the Summer Bar. It was a perfect seat with a view of the landscape deck, where one could usually see the distant outline of the city through the mist. Unfortunately, today a thick fog had settled in, and it looked like it might snow later that night. If the weather had been clear, the view of Lungmen would have been beautiful.
"Big Sister Lin, you're not going home yet?"
Rafaela expertly mixed a drink, adding a bit of fruit juice before shaking the cocktail shaker with practiced strength.
"I'll head back tonight. My luggage is already packed."
Lin Yühsia was quite pleased by the way Rafaela addressed her. She knew the girl truly saw Felix as an older brother or even a father figure, unlike the other three foster sisters who saw him as a dependable future husband. To be called "sister" was a form of recognition that meant a great deal.
"Brother Felix is planning to return to Lungmen in a day or two too. Sigh, the Venus won't feel lively anymore."
When business was booming and foot traffic was high, shopkeepers and restaurant owners like them made the most money. Now that the New Year was coming, many operators were preparing to spend it on the landship, but the majority of adventurers had already disembarked for Lungmen.
Lin Yühsia nodded. She accepted the drink Rafaela handed her and took a small sip. Tomorrow's Development had begun its New Year break, and the upper management had finally earned their rest. As for Lin Yühsia, she was only a partner organization, not an official operator, so she could take time off whenever she wanted.
Degenbrecher and Carnelian had returned to Lungmen and were staying there for the moment. Ines had gone into the city with W to wander around. Other members of the leadership were either traveling alone or entering Lungmen in small groups with a tourist's mindset.
There were others drinking here besides her. Soon after she finished her drink, Lin Yühsia stood and headed toward her room.
She had been away for months. She didn't know how her parents were doing. She had bought plenty of souvenirs from various countries for them, but she still sighed at the thought of being away for so long.
As she checked her luggage one last time to make sure everything was in order, a knock sounded at the door.
Felix stood outside with empty hands, dressed not in the military-style uniform that made adventurers stop and stare, but in casual clothing. Lin Yühsia felt relieved. Whenever he wore that general's outfit or whenever people called him "king," she felt a faint distance between them. In this relaxed outfit, he seemed much closer.
"Ready? Don't worry, we still have time before tonight."
"How are we getting there?"
Lin Yühsia opened the door and continued checking her clothes. Despite being a famed mafia princess, she had no extravagant habits. Here, she would like to criticize a certain rich police officer.
Felix jingled a set of keys. "Private plane."
A smile spread across Lin Yühsia's face.
Twenty minutes later, the two of them stepped onto the deck's runway. Dozens of transport and combat aircraft were docked there. At the far end sat Felix's personal craft. With a rising engine roar, the plane lifted off and headed toward Lungmen.
It took only a little over ten minutes before they landed at the Lungmen airport. Felix pulled on a hood and sunglasses as he disembarked. His overly cautious appearance made Lin Yühsia let out a small laugh.
"My King, you look like a celebrity trying not to get recognized."
"Fine. Acting sneaky only draws more attention."
Felix removed his sunglasses. Sunlight fell gently across his face, revealing the calm, refined features of the young man. He had gone from someone who could be easily read like a novice merchant to someone capable of negotiating with nobles, bargaining with Wei Yenwu, conversing with Princess Theresa, and ultimately unifying Kazdel. He had matured far beyond what he once was, carrying a charisma that made others instinctively want to submit.
As the sunglasses came off, the passersby around them turned their heads, drawn to him as if they had spotted a pearl among rubble—though in their minds, they considered themselves the rubble.
Felix had no choice but to put his sunglasses back on. He grabbed the slightly dazed Lin Yühsia and pulled her into the private car waiting for them at the airport.
The driver said nothing and quietly started the engine. Only then did Lin Yühsia burst into laughter.
"Felix, having too much charm isn't always a good thing, you know~"
"I really didn't expect something like that to happen."
Felix looked a little frustrated. The most noticeable effect of the "King of Liberation" title was the permanent +30 to Charm. The increase was fixed, meaning that whether or not he equipped the title, his Charm remained at a staggering 90. He didn't dare imagine what would happen if it climbed any higher.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the lower district. The driver stopped the car and opened the door. Not far from a candy shop stood two people: the elderly Lin patriarch leaning on his cane, and beside him, the youthful, beautiful Zalak woman—Lin Yühsia's mother, Madam Lin.
Yühsia was nestled in her mother's arms, whispering softly. Felix lowered his hood and approached the old man, handing over a gift bag.
"Old Master Lin, these are black tea and century-old wine from Victoria… and this is a specialty from Iberia."
Whenever Felix visited a new region, he always bought small gifts to give to people later.
"At least you still have a bit of filial sense."
The old man shot him a glance and let out a dissatisfied snort. "It's the New Year, yet you're not on the ship organizing activities for Tomorrow's Development. Instead you're running around indulging in romance."
Felix was stunned. Good grief. Wasn't he the one who insisted they come home for New Year's dinner? How did it turn into this…? And then, realization struck. He grinned.
"I just missed you and Madam Lin, that's all. Besides, Yühsia hasn't been home in so long. I simply brought her back along the way."
"Hmph. That's more like it."
The old man turned and hobbled forward on his cane. Madam Lin stepped in front of Felix and gently patted his head.
"Don't listen to that old fool. He praises you constantly. He even said that you and Yühsia are a perfect match made in heaven."
"Cough—cough—cough—cough!"
Old Master Lin stumbled, nearly falling face-first into the street.