The black dragon, transformed from the metallic life form, circled in the air above the mountain range. Every member of the Black Dragon tribe who intended to travel to Emperor Wing City flew over one by one. A burly young man stood at the entrance of the corridor that had opened in the metallic life form's belly.
"One at a time! Anyone heading to Emperor Wing City pays five ink stones per person!" the burly young man shouted carelessly.
Over a hundred people wanted to go to Emperor Wing City, and Lin Lei's group was naturally among them.
Five ink stones per person meant fifteen stones for the three of them. They had only gotten twenty stones from selling four lower-grade divine artifacts, and now more than half would be gone in one fell swoop.
"That's really expensive," Bei Bei muttered under his breath.
"Didn't you hear what Paton said?" Lin Lei whispered back. "This is a tribal departure — only residents of the tribe itself can pay five ink stones each and leave together. People from other tribes don't even qualify to board this metallic life form."
As they spoke, it was Lin Lei's group's turn.
"The three of us," Lin Lei said, indicating his companions, and produced two ink stone bars, each worth ten ink stones.
The burly young man took them, handed back five small ink stones, and said impatiently, "Hurry up. Next!" Lin Lei and the others promptly stepped inside the metallic life form.
The interior was vast and divided into a front cabin and a rear cabin. Anyone who had paid five ink stones, like Lin Lei's group, was directed into the rear cabin. Inside, the metallic life form had automatically formed a great number of seats.
The seats were arranged four to a row, and Lin Lei's group naturally chose the same row.
"I'll take the inside," Bei Bei said, settling into the seat closest to the wall so he could peer outside through the transparent metal. Dilia and Lin Lei sat on the outer seats.
"Finally, we're leaving the Black Dragon tribe," Lin Lei and Dilia said to each other with a smile, clasping hands. As more and more tribe members filed in, seats in the rear cabin began to run short. A green-haired young man with curly hair grinned and greeted Lin Lei before sitting down beside him.
"Hey there, I'm Debora!" the green-haired young man called out cheerfully.
"Lin Lei," Lin Lei replied with a friendly nod.
In Hell, status was determined primarily by strength. This Debora was merely a lower god… Debora, for his part, could sense that the woman (Dilia) and the boy (Bei Bei) both radiated an aura that made him wary. Lin Lei, on the other hand, seemed to be a lower god.
"Lin Lei, what brings you to Emperor Wing City?" Debora asked curiously.
"Me? It's my first time in Hell, so I figured I'd check out Emperor Wing City — never been. What about you?" Lin Lei answered with a faint smile.
Debora lowered his voice. "I want to sell a divine artifact, but selling in the tribe would be a rip-off. So I've decided to go to Emperor Wing City instead. I got lucky, actually — during that big battle half a year ago, I happened to pick up a mid-grade divine artifact down below."
That great battle had seen countless mid-grade gods fall.
At the time, Lin Lei's group had even killed three mid-grade gods, taking their divine cores, divine artifacts, and spatial rings. During battle, ordinary property a tribe member acquired did not have to be turned over to the clan chief. Finders keepers — that was the tribal rule.
"You sure were lucky," Lin Lei remarked with a casual smile.
*Rumble~~*
The metallic life form lurched into motion. The violent airstream parted before it, and the craft instantly became a phantom streaking across the sky above the mountain range, leaving the Black Dragon tribe behind.
"It's begun," Lin Lei murmured to himself.
"From here to Emperor Wing City takes about half a month. These two weeks are going to be boring," Debora, the green-haired young man sitting next to him, muttered helplessly.
"Half a month?" Lin Lei's thoughts stirred.
He recalled that奎特 —奎特 had once mentioned the nearest city to the Black Dragon tribe, Emperor Wing City, was over ten million li away. If half a month was enough to get there, the metallic life form was covering roughly a million li a day.
"Keep your voices down!" A cold command suddenly rang out from the front. Lin Lei and the others looked up and saw, at the corridor connecting the rear and front cabins, an old man with golden hair stepping into the rear cabin, trailed by several mid-grade god warriors.
"Lord Edmund is here too!" Debora whispered in surprise.
"Who's Edmund?" Lin Lei asked in a low voice.
Debora explained, "Lord Edmund is the chief steward of Clan Chief 'Sterton.' I didn't expect him to be heading to Emperor Wing City as well. If Lord Edmund himself is making the trip, the tribe must be conducting some major business this time." Debora's knowledge of the Black Dragon tribe far surpassed Lin Lei's.
Lin Lei cast a surprised glance toward Edmund in the distance.
Chief steward?
"That Edmund should be an upper god," Bei Bei's voice sounded in Lin Lei's mind.
Lin Lei silently agreed.
Edmund surveyed the people in the rear cabin with cool, detached eyes and called out, "Is anyone here going to Emperor Wing City for the first time? If it's your first visit, stand up!"
Two figures in the rear cabin immediately rose to their feet. Lin Lei, Dilia, and Bei Bei exchanged a glance, then stood as well.
Edmund swept his gaze over them and nodded curtly. "Five in total." He then walked over to Lin Lei's group, the nearest. As he approached, Debora stood and greeted him with a smile: "Edmund, you little rascal, you're going this time too? Just tell these three what they need to watch out for in Emperor Wing City. If they cause trouble and die, that's their own problem — I just don't want the tribe dragged into a mess because of them."
"Yes, my lord. Leave it to me — I'll make sure they know everything they need to," Debora said quickly.
Edmund gave a faint nod. "If anything goes wrong, I'll hold you responsible. You three, sit down."
With that, Edmund walked further back and similarly instructed someone nearby to brief the other two newcomers. Once everything was arranged, Edmund led his entourage out of the rear cabin and returned to the front.
The front cabin — that was where Clan Chief Sterton's direct retinue resided.