Chapter 1476: Chapter 1474: Dream City
Through a string of transparent windows on the steel wall, Philip, inside the steel monster, saw that the steel monster was shuttling through the interior of a mountain.
He couldn’t imagine how such a passage could be carved out in the middle of a stony mountain, yet the fact lay right before his eyes.
A few minutes later, he saw the steel monster pass through the entire mountain, entering the endless mountain range, twisting its body along the laid tracks, speeding forward faster and faster.
The mountain peaks were retreating swiftly, almost just entering his field of vision, only to be immediately thrown far behind by the relentless steel monster.
"Clack clack clack..."
The steel monster rushed past valleys, rocky grounds, riverbanks...
Occasionally, passing certain sections, the steel monster would vibrate violently, nearly jolting the crowd inside off their feet.
The unprepared ones would fall to the ground, dizzy and disoriented, while the smart ones would emulate the two officers, gripping the handrails, thus escaping harm.
With a reminder from his son Jimmy, Philip had long since grasped a handrail, while Little Jimmy clung to Philip’s body, ensuring both were safe.
The steel monster continued on its path, the distance it covered unknown, but just as everyone was slowly becoming exhausted, the steel monster roared as it climbed a steep slope, breaking out of the mountain range.
A plain appeared ahead, with a city built upon it.
Through the windows, everyone took a single look at that city and was stupefied, feeling as if a giant hammer had struck their minds; it took them a while to recover.
Gazing towards the city, they saw that it was an extraordinarily magnificent metropolis. Just from the outline, they could tell the city’s scale surpassed any city they had ever seen in their lives—possibly larger than all the cities they had encountered combined.
The city was indeed built on the plain, but it resembled a mountain range, with surrounding "clouds"—upon closer inspection, one could see it was actually an energy shield enveloping the whole city. The energy shield was nearly transparent; only when objects outside collided with the shield’s surface would a ripple arise, like a cloud ascending, dissipating after a long while.
All of this left Philip and his group deeply shocked.
Once the steel monster passed through the energy shield and entered the city, Philip and his group could observe the city up close, resulting in even greater astonishment.
Inside the city, height seemed to lose its meaning, with building after building rising up. Some were over ten stories tall, others dozens of stories high. The building material resembled stone but was extremely smooth, with no visible seams, making the entire structure appear integral, as though it naturally stood there.
In mid-air, figures dressed in colorful robes flitted about. They would ascend from the top of one building, landing on the top of another, some diving directly into a window—that was evidently the work of wizards.
On the ground, there were rails everywhere. Besides their enormous steel monster, many small steel monsters swiftly sped by. These small steel monsters had only a few coupled sections, loaded with dense crates, briskly passing by the giant steel monster, their destination unknown.
On either side of the tracks were numerous pedestrians, some walking on foot, others riding a kind of small steel monster.
This small steel monster appeared very light, consisting of a steel body and two large wheels.
The riders would grip the small monster’s two horns with their hands, steering its direction by yanking the head, and using their feet to fiercely kick its belly, prompting the little monster to gallop painfully forward. The two large wheels would roll on the ground and soon carry the rider out of sight, occasionally emitting a faint whimper.
"Jingle jingle, jingle jingle..."
Philip and his group looked somewhat dazed, the sheer amount of information making it nearly impossible for them to think.
For the rest of the day, Philip’s thoughts were somewhat chaotic; many memories blurred, leaving only vague recollections.
Roughly... he rode the steel monster through almost half the city, eventually arriving at a place called the "Inner City Comprehensive Transport Station." Upon arrival, he and the others were led out of the steel monster by two officers, exiting the "Inner City Comprehensive Transport Station," and walked a long way on the streets, witnessing various incomprehensible scenes.
Like a furnace mounted on four wheels racing by, with someone sitting atop, operating it like a fearless rider.
Or a child pressing buttons on an iron box beside them, causing metal cylinders to roll out; the child grabbed them and left, yet no one cried "thief."
Another example, someone obviously only being a person, yet standing before a small kiosk, holding two iron pieces, placing one beside the mouth and the other by the ear, talking loudly, as if communicating with ghosts.
Even more bizarrely, five women entered a tiny silver room nearby; after closing the door and waiting a while, three men emerged.
This!
This was simply too magical, too surreal!
Describing it as heaven wasn’t fitting; it resembled a dream city beyond imagination.
As they walked, Philip learned a piece of information from the two officers—that they were now in the real Redstone City.
As for the place he had stayed in before, it too was considered part of Redstone City, but specifically, it was a reception point for Redstone City.
Redstone City had a total of twelve such reception points, distributed in different directions. Their primary purpose was to provide a preliminary reception for people from various places, undergoing assessment. Once passed, they would be sent to the real Redstone City.
After hearing this, there was only one thought in Philip’s mind: so this is Redstone City. However, the man he met earlier named Ma Qiu Philip had said that Redstone City was just a smaller version of Shalin, with relatively poor conditions.
With magic and surrealism at such a level, if Redstone City couldn’t compare to Shalin, then what is Shalin like?
Pondering this, Philip, along with the others, was led to a hall in a building called the "Labor Department" by two officers, lining up in front of a desk.
The Labor Department seemed responsible for arranging their next destinations; people in front of the queue, after being asked several questions, were led away and never returned.
Dozens of minutes later, it was Philip’s turn. He nervously faced the round-faced man behind the desk.
The round-faced man was looking down at a piece of paper, murmuring its contents: "Father and son, the father is forty-two, healthy, with no special skills, recommended for low-skilled work. The child, eight years old, healthy, passed the second-class ability test, recommended for mid to high-level educational training. Also, the father and son had prior contact with our personnel Ma Qiu Philip (165021) before being accepted, can be given considerate treatment."
"Ma Qiu Philip? 165021?" The round-faced man looked up, slightly puzzled, evidently not recognizing this person.
Without knowing who exactly this person was, how should one offer considerate treatment?
Who knows if Ma Qiu Philip was just an ordinary soldier or the illegitimate child of Lord Richard? The level of consideration given makes a significant difference.
