Pillar of Yita

Qing watched the firelight on the ground. The legendary vast Istania Desert, in the dark of night, was nothing more than a stretch of darkness. The airship crossed the ridge of clouds, and Idus was just a small area on the edge of the desert behind it.

From this height, the ancient city was just like a coin reflecting the firelight, lying on the heavy earth. Yet the starry sky above had a hint of vastness.

Another beam of golden firelight streaked through the night sky, illuminating his eyes. That was the ’Ice Iron,’ releasing airships and alchemical rails, igniting fireworks sparked by magic power in mid-air.

Seventeenth ship.

The entire operation planned to deploy forty airships, not even half-way through yet.

A tall, sturdy man, like an iron tower, came up from below the cabin, looking at the scene outside. He walked up to Qing and said, ”Team Three, if it were three years earlier, I’d be as excited as those newbies in Group Seven to participate in such an operation.”

”But now,” the man shook his head a bit bored, ”I’m just concerned about when we’ll wrap up the operation, how much intel this battle will earn me, and how much subsidy the club will give us.”

He watched the drifting clouds outside, his dark eyes also reflecting lines of gold.

Qing didn’t like speaking, his community ID was just three ellipses, and over time, teammates liked to use ’Three Points,’ ’Team Three’ as his nickname; but as the guild’s star player, the ID couldn’t be so nondescript, his current ID was actually picked by his assistant.

As for his assistant, she was a little woman who liked the color of the sky.

However, Qing did have some words for his teammates, he replied without turning his head:

”That means you’re old.”

”Old, but not that old,” the man leaned back, his broad hands cradling his head, ”It’s still interesting to fight those from the Rainbow Alliance, bullying kids is no fun.”

”We’re different from them, we’re interested in the Third World, aren’t we?” he threw a sidelong glance over.

Qing didn’t answer, the joke wasn’t funny at all.

If the structure of the Invokers was pyramid-shaped, people like them weren’t at the top of the pyramid, but they weren’t at the bottom either. With ambition to climb, but lacking the matching strength, that’s probably what described this group.

Would they care about that?

Better to focus on how to improve their ranking first.

He asked, ”So what’s the deal with this operation?”

”Attacking the Sky Pirates, as you can see.”

”Since when did headquarters get interested in Sky Pirates.”

”Isn’t the alliance on hiatus?” The man shrugged, ”What else can we do, earn some extra cash.”

”Save that reason for persuading outsiders.” Qing answered silently. He might not match those at the top of the pyramid, but at least he was an elite player—he had quite a clear insight into these matters.

The man laughed heartily, ”Okay, I just heard about it—it’s supposed to be related to the Battle of the Long Summer.”

”The Spire?”

The man nodded.

”So that rumor is true?”

”I don’t know whether it’s true or not,” the man shook his head, ”It’s just a saying.”

”Then what does this place have to do with the Spire?”

”Colin Ishurian has two Spires, Osh Empire has two, Rotao and Giant Tree Hill each have one, Mount Holy Pact has one.” The man replied, ”One is confirmed to be underground in Fenris. The other has two claims, one says it’s to the south, the other to the north.”

”The north is in Traveler’s Swamp, the south is within the Istania Desert. I’ve heard headquarters got intel that Idus has clues related to it—perhaps they’re currently in the hands of Blood Shark Sky Pirates.”

He pointed downward.

”Are Spires really that important?” A voice came from behind the two.

Qing turned to look, seeing a short woman standing there, but older than him, still a bit cute, she was his personal assistant.

The man smiled faintly, no longer delving deeper, only replied, ”There’s certainly important interests behind the Obelisk, but that’s not something we can understand. But for the domestic competition district, it’s an important reshuffling opportunity.”

”Also a chance to challenge the Rainbow Alliance for supremacy,” Qing added.

The woman shook her head, ”I can’t understand your men’s thoughts, we’ve fought the Rainbow Alliance for so many years, and haven’t gotten anywhere, wasting a lot of resources. I think many issues would be easier solved sitting down and dividing interests.”

As she spoke, she pulled out a notebook, ”Qing, you haven’t made a formal appearance in a while, this battle is easy, the guild has a broadcast plan. Do you want to show up and increase your popularity among fans?”

Qing indifferently accepted the notebook, to him it was just a job.

Regarding the matters between the Descendants of Flor and the Rainbow Alliance, he didn’t rebut his assistant’s words. He actually understood clearer than many—why must the two largest domestic forces, the Rainbow Alliance and the Descendants of Flor, come to a life-and-death conclusion?

The reason is actually simple. Whether it’s the Descendants of Flor or the Rainbow Alliance, the problem between the two was never about interest distribution.

But a survival issue.

This sounds absurd at first, if the Descendants of Flor and the Rainbow Alliance have survival issues, then aren’t other guilds facing life or death uncertainty? But the fact is, there’s an equally massive Rainbow Alliance beside the Descendants of Flor.