Chapter Twenty-Five: The Emerald Main City

Chapter Twenty-Five: Greenwood Main City

Ye Bai sat on the train, gazing out the window at the passing scenery. In truth, the Silverwing’s speed was so fast that any scenery outside was nothing but a blur. The white streaks flashed past, and Ye Bai’s mind wandered, recalling the moment he left the Greenwood Main City years ago—the grandest house at the city’s center, surrounded by colossal trees…

Lost in his reverie, Ye Bai felt a sudden tap on his shoulder.

“What are you thinking about, that you’re so absorbed?”

Fatty plopped down beside Ye Bai, handing him a drink.

“Nothing much. Just got a little sentimental out of nowhere.” Ye Bai took a sip, suppressing the thoughts swirling in his mind.

When they first boarded the train, no one knew each other and the carriage was silent. But conversation is an innate human skill; before long, everyone had become acquainted, and the quiet train was filled with lively chatter.

“Did you know? The eldest son of Leaving City is in carriage number four. He ranked 482 in the joint examination.”

The girl nearby immediately chimed in, “I know, I know! I even went over to see him.” She cast a glance toward carriage four, then lowered her head to open her makeup mirror and began to apply her powder.

“Hahaha, at least you’re self-aware, knowing a toad can’t eat swan meat. Good thing you’re covering those freckles.”

Some boy shouted loudly from the carriage, making the girl blush. She chased after him, not even bothering to pack away her makeup mirror.

Laughter erupted all around.

“Toot toot!”

The train’s horn sounded suddenly; the penultimate stop, Sun City, had arrived.

Everyone on board tightened their seat belts. Anyone who had studied physics knew that a moving object stopping abruptly produces inertia, and the Silverwing was certainly no ordinary train.

Yet, to everyone’s surprise, the passengers felt no discomfort at all when the train stopped; the doors simply slid open.

Silverwing had six carriages in total, each city assigned two. Before long, the train restarted.

Next stop: the final destination, Greenwood Main City.

“Toot toot!”

The train started again, leaving behind a trail of silver light in the eyes of those bidding farewell.

Ye Bai and Li Fei seized these last moments to nap. No one knew what kind of examination awaited them in the main city, so conserving energy was wise.

Back to back, Li Fei’s gentle snores quickly turned into full-blown snoring. Unable to bear it, Ye Bai shoved Li Fei to the other side. Li Fei mumbled about delicious food, then rambled about iron stakes being too thin, asking for a thicker one.

Ye Bai was baffled. “If it tastes good, eat more. The iron stake is already thick now, hit it however you want.” Whatever Li Fei was dreaming about, it alternated between eating and striking iron stakes.

Soon, Ye Bai too drifted off.

Silverwing sped along its fixed route, when suddenly, a colossal beast more than eighty meters tall appeared ahead.

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The warning lights installed in the train flashed abruptly, glowing red.

The broadcast crackled, “Arya Four has detected a primary-class supernatural beast one thousand meters ahead. All passengers, fasten your seat belts. Prepare for impact. Impact commencing.”

The Silverwing itself began to transform. The white wings emblazoned on its body grew longer, a black substance enveloping the silver wings, changing them into black wings that wrapped around the train’s head, forming a drill-like shape.

Anyone from the main city would recognize that the black substance coating Silverwing’s wings was similar in color to the Blackwing train.

A thousand meters was but a blink for Silverwing.

Many passengers, still in their slumber, heard only the alarm. Groggy-eyed, they hadn’t time to react before a thunderous boom echoed.

Within the train, an incredible scene unfolded.

Candidates about to rub their eyes were suddenly thrown from their seats, and the whole carriage turned into a free-flight zone. No sooner had one landed than another was flung onto them. Cries and curses filled the air, while those with seat belts remained firmly in their places. (Here, Xiao Bai reminds everyone: always fasten your seat belts when traveling.)

“Ah, what happened? I was dreaming of eating flower pig intestines, and now I’m awake.” Li Fei rubbed his lips.

Ye Bai glanced at the glass window, amused by the fat man’s lip print, not daring to admit he’d unfastened Li Fei’s seat belt to escape the snoring.

Li Fei stood up, saw the chaos in the aisle, and laughed so hard he clutched his belly.

“What’s with these people? Are they cold, that they need to sleep together?”

‘Beep beep, alarm cleared. Wishing everyone a pleasant journey.’

Fatty scratched his head, looking at Ye Bai in confusion, as if asking what had happened.

Ye Bai shook his head, indicating he didn’t know.

The passengers lying on the floor stood up one by one, glaring at Li Fei. Embarrassed, Li Fei hurried back to his seat.

The rest of the journey passed without incident. Everyone soon warmed up to one another, putting the earlier unpleasantness behind them. This time, seat belts stayed on, and no one dared nap.

Greenwood Main City, City Lord’s Mansion. King Tianmu Xiao Mu watched the video sent from Arya.

An eighty-meter-tall supernatural beast, glowing red, had inexplicably stopped on the tracks Silverwing was about to cross.

Silverwing’s tracks weren’t fixed on the ground as usual; the train seemed to lay its own tracks as it advanced, with the rails appearing ahead and vanishing behind.

The supernatural beast watched the approaching Silverwing, stretched out its fiery red palm, attempting to snatch the train. But the fully armed Silverwing, like an arrow loosed from the bow, charged forth with unstoppable force.

With a thunderous crash, the train pierced straight through the beast’s massive, crystalline hand, veins and all, and sped onward.

The beast howled in pain, instantly gathering a red beam in its mouth and firing toward the train’s tail, but Silverwing had already disappeared.

King Tianmu’s expression darkened as he watched. This primary-class supernatural beast was evidently intelligent, and the appearance of such ruler-class mutated beasts here was unprecedented. Since…

“Toot toot!”

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“Dear passengers, the final station, Greenwood Main City, has arrived. Please disembark in order.”

Ye Bai and Fatty stood below the main city, Ye Bai in front, Li Fei behind. Looking at the city, familiar yet strange, Ye Bai felt a small thrill of anticipation.

“What is this? Where’s the main city?”

Li Fei stared, dumbfounded, at the enormous trees before them—thicker than any from the pre-Dark Era, centuries old, their crowns forming an expanse of deep green overhead.

Suddenly, three stone platforms appeared in Li Fei’s vision, slowly descending between the trees.

In the sky, the platforms seemed small, but as they came down, their vast size was revealed—large enough to hold hundreds or even thousands of people.

With three muffled thuds, the platforms landed before the crowd, revealing figures atop them.

“Candidates, please board the transport elevator corresponding to your city.”

The elevator slowly rose, and those standing upon it saw the forest scenery for the first time.

A vast expanse of green stretched as far as the eye could see, rare and wondrous plants on display, and occasionally, mutated beasts tens of meters tall passing in the distance.

The guide on Ye Bai’s platform smiled, stroked his beard, and said, “Amazing, isn’t it? When I was young, my first ride was just like yours—filled with awe.”

The elderly guide took two steps forward, gazing at the forest ahead. “For humanity to survive in this land is no easy feat. If it weren’t for the Three Kings and the Power King’s heroic stand back then, I can hardly imagine what things would be like now.”

In a short while, the platform halted, and the gates of Greenwood Main City appeared before them.

Ye Bai stood stunned, not expecting the main city to be built halfway up the trees. Though he’d lived here as a child, the passage of time had blurred his memories.

“Hurry up, what are you standing there for?” Fatty tugged Ye Bai toward the gathering crowd.

As they squeezed through, Fatty turned back to Ye Bai, “I already told Old Steward about Mo’er. He’ll look after her, so don’t worry.”

Inside, they found a green qilin stone statue standing at the city gate, beneath it a stone tablet inscribed with the history of Greenwood Main City.

Greenwood Main City was founded in the Year 2036 of the Dark Era.

In its early days, deep within the Divine Wood Mountains, the area was occupied by mutated beasts. Two years later, the world was shocked by the emergence of the Divine Wood Secret Realm. King Tianmu and another sovereign led many strong warriors to seize this territory and establish Greenwood Main City, as the gateway to the secret realm.

Upon arrival, countless mutated beasts occupied the land, with many king and primary-class beasts among them. Humanity and the beasts were at daggers drawn. At the first encounter, a fierce battle broke out.

A foreign king struck swiftly, instantly killing several of humanity’s primary-class warriors. King Tianmu retaliated, slaughtering mutated beasts, while an unknown sovereign held off the rampaging enemy king.

What followed was a pitched battle—king against king, general against general. At first, humans held the advantage, their top fighters dominating, but this was the beasts’ territory, and the endless tide of mutated creatures gradually wore the humans down.

Then, the mysterious sovereign suddenly erupted, slaying the foreign king and aiding King Tianmu in defeating the enemy. With the king beast leader dead, the remaining beasts scattered, leaving behind a field of corpses and only a handful of surviving human warriors.

Thus, Greenwood Main City began to rise, though the unknown sovereign vanished after this appearance, leaving King Tianmu as the sole defender of the city and guardian of the Divine Wood Secret Realm.