Several days later, a team arrived in the Skull Kingdom.
The woman at the head of the group was dressed in a smart red riding outfit, with a black cloak embroidered with mountain and river patterns over it. Her long hair was tied up high, revealing her smooth forehead and a pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes.
She wore a long sword at her waist, and her steps were swift and powerful, exuding the fierce aura of a battlefield general.
This was naturally Empress Jiang Hongying of the Yan Kingdom, who couldn't wait to come over.
Behind her followed a group of Yan officials with complicated expressions. The female official in charge, Wen Jing, looked distressed and had to jog to keep up with her emperor's pace.
"Your Majesty, please slow down. This thing in the sky is not like a carriage. It's better to be more stable," Wen Jing advised softly.
Jiang Hongying ignored him, her eyes fixed on the huge island floating in the sky, her gaze burning with fierce passion.
She stepped directly onto a bone dragon mount controlled by a follower of the mountain god. The soul fire flickered in the bone dragon's eye sockets, and it obediently lowered its head.
"Giddy up!" Jiang Hongying shouted in a low voice.
The bone dragon flapped its wings and soared upwards, the wind making her cloak flutter loudly.
The officials behind him were all pale-faced, gripping the saddle on the bone dragon's back tightly, feeling as if their souls were about to be thrown out.
When the bone dragon passed through the clouds and landed smoothly on the snow-white, jade-like Bone Resting Ground of Sky City, everyone was stunned speechless by the sight before them.
Beneath my feet was some kind of unidentified metal, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the drifting clouds in the sky.
In the distance, magnificent white palaces rise from the ground, with waterfalls cascading down from the sky, creating a misty atmosphere that refracts rainbows of colors.
Countless tiny mechanical puppets and skeletons moved silently and efficiently across the ground, carrying out cleaning and maintenance.
Jiang Hongying took a deep breath and felt that the air here was filled with a refreshing sweetness.
She strode through the city, her hands tracing the smooth walls, feeling their cool, solid texture, her eyes growing brighter with each step.
"Wen Jing," she suddenly spoke, her voice trembling slightly, "what do you think, if I were to build such a city above the capital of Yan?"
Wen Jing, who was following behind, stumbled and almost knelt on the ground.
She rushed forward, grabbed the Empress's sleeve tightly, and pleaded in a low voice, "Your Majesty! My Your Majesty! Please don't have such thoughts!"
"Why not?" Jiang Hongying raised an eyebrow. "This city is magnificent and spectacular, a wonder as well as an impregnable fortress! If it were built on top of the capital, what need would there be for petty villains to cause trouble?"
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible!" Wen Jing was on the verge of tears. "You've seen Minister Qian's report. Building this city is beyond human capability! Look at the spirit-gathering array on the base—who in our Yan Kingdom could understand it? And the energy core that makes the entire island float in the air—it's said to be a new type of energy developed by the Mountain God Research Institute. In the end, they even asked the Mountain Goddess to help them create this magnificent sky city. We can't learn from it! The national treasury can't support it!"
The fervor on Jiang Hongying's face cooled somewhat. She looked around, ultimately deflated, and clicked her tongue in regret. Indeed, such a miracle was beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.
She was feeling a bit listless when she caught a glimpse of the side of a palace not far away, where several people in blue overalls were busy working around a wall.
Holding all sorts of strange tools, they pointed at the complex metal wiring inside the walls, spouting odd terms like energy circuits and structural stress.
Jiang Hongying's eyes lit up instantly.
She quietly pulled her hand away from Wen Jing's and moved closer silently.
In the blink of an eye, Wen Jing realized that her emperor was gone. Her heart skipped a beat, and she glanced around before spotting that familiar crimson figure crouching furtively beside a group of craftsmen.
"It's over!" Wen Jing's vision went black, and she grabbed her skirt and chased after them.
"Ahem," Jiang Hongying cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound kind and friendly, "Masters, are you busy?"
The time travelers were startled. When they turned around, they saw a striking woman in red with a commanding presence, followed by a group of richly dressed officials. They were immediately at a loss for what to do.
"Who are you...?" asked the young man wearing goggles at the head of the group.
“Oh, we’re here to visit,” Jiang Hongying said with a smile like a fox who’s stolen a chicken. “I see that the craftsmen here are quite skilled. May I ask who these masters are?”
"I wouldn't call myself an expert, I'm just someone who works in infrastructure." The young man scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. The people around him nodded in agreement, their eyes filled with pride in their profession.
"Infrastructure?" Jiang Hongying didn't understand the term, but that didn't stop her from continuing her charade. "I think it's a real waste that you all have such exceptional talents, yet you're stuck here doing only repair and maintenance work."
She lowered her voice, leaned closer, and said mysteriously, "I... cough, I have a big project. Want to give it a try? We'll build a city similar to this one. You can choose the location, use the materials, and there'll be plenty of money! After it's done, you'll be rewarded with high-ranking official positions, generous salaries, and your wives and children will be granted official positions, just like you guys have been saying. How about it?"
Wen Jing had just caught up when she heard these words. She couldn't catch her breath and almost fainted on the spot.
Your Majesty! How dare you try to undermine someone's master right in front of them!
The transmigrators looked at each other, their expressions changing instantly.
"A similar city?"
"New infrastructure projects?"
"Is there enough money to go?!"
"Is this part of the official staffing?"
They looked at each other and saw the fire burning in each other's eyes.
Sky City is the culmination of their hard work, but now that it's completed, routine maintenance is nothing compared to the excitement of creating a new project! Give them a challenge, and they can create a miracle for the world!
Moreover, this is a government-appointed position! Government-appointed positions are the ultimate goal in the universe. Who in China could refuse this?
"Great!" The leading youth slapped his thigh, his goggles snapping askew. "Let's do it! Your Majesty, when do we start?"
"Your Majesty?" Jiang Hongying was taken aback, then burst into laughter, patting the young man's shoulder heavily. "Great! From this day forward, you are the Chief Construction Officer of the Ministry of Works of my Yan Kingdom! You lot are all adjutants! Come with me immediately, we'll go back and start planning!"
"Okay!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Finally, I have a permanent position!"
The time travelers were overjoyed. They immediately dropped their tools and followed Jiang Hongying eagerly, as if they were seeing their own father.
Wen Jing and the group of Yan officials behind her stood there, mouths agape, completely petrified.
This...this is it? You can poach people like this?
They watched their empress walk ahead with her head held high, her smug back seeming to say something.
Look at the ambition of you lot! If you don't act bolder, you never know what kind of surprises might fall from the sky!
A group of officials looked at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, as their emperor seemed to be carrying a small hoe and ready to dig for treasures in various parts of the sacred mountain at any time.
All they knew was that the future of the Yan Kingdom was likely to be different.
However, this is a good thing!
Their emperor is truly thinking of the future of the Yan Kingdom; the Yan Kingdom will become increasingly prosperous!
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