Chapter 155: The Meaning Behind a Ship Ticket
Chapter 155: The Meaning Behind a Ship Ticket
Three years passed in a flash. Chen Xiyi carried a small leather suitcase and held a ship ticket at the port of Bei City. He boarded the ship along with the bustling crowd.
He was preparing to go to the Holy Purple Iris Empire. The ticket was given to him by Ji Shan a few days ago.
Chen Xiyi had just come out from the Underground Shelter beneath the Shu King Palace when Ji Shan found him. He had basically not come out at all during these three years, hiding very deeply.
“Among the nobles, it seems Ji Shan did not treat me poorly.” After checking his ticket, Chen Xiyi boarded the cruise ship. Of course, locally it was generally called an ironclad ship, as there was no detailed classification of various types.
Due to being on land, not many Warlords purchased these ironclad ships. Of course, the Holy Purple Iris Empire would not sell them either.
After boarding the cruise ship, people were divided into different groups. Some went to the knight cabins, others to the commoner cabins, and those who were poorer stayed at the very bottom level. This group usually consisted of people going out to make a living.
After carefully observing, Chen Xiyi noticed that the entire cruise ship was operated by Foreigners from the Holy Purple Iris Empire. Thinking about it, that made sense—why would they entrust it to others?
As a user of the noble cabin, Chen Xiyi had some privileges, at least in terms of attentive service.
No Foreigners or others came to provoke or challenge him. Everything went smoothly as he settled in.
“So, where is Yue Yu?”
Chen Xiyi did not see Yue Yu. Perhaps there were too many people.
Half an hour later, with several blasts of the ship’s horn, the cruise ship slowly set sail. It would drift on the sea for over half a month before reaching the Holy Purple Iris Empire.
As the cruise ship moved farther away, Chen Xiyi noticed that the farther he got from land, the efficiency of nourishing his Primordial Spirit seemed to weaken.
At first, he did not notice it. It was only after the monitoring function of his System issued a warning that he became aware.
The drop was extremely small. If not for the System’s precise monitoring, he might not have noticed. Even the Fairies helping him did not detect it.
“After leaving for one hour, the Qi Mechanism concentration decreased by 0.01%.”
Chen Xiyi compared the Qi Mechanism environment chart and only then realized what was happening.
He reopened the Game Map. Previously, he had thought that the essential Qi Mechanism was being gathered, but it turned out the overall Qi Mechanism was decreasing.
He made a simple inference. According to this ratio, the Qi Mechanism in the Holy Purple Iris Empire would be extremely sparse.
But looking at the waveform chart, the overall Qi Mechanism was spreading. In just a few years, it would quickly reach the Holy Purple Iris Empire.
“It seems it’s not just because of feeding that they didn’t divide the Holy Purple Iris Empire, but because the cake hasn’t been made yet, so it can’t be divided.”
Only then did Chen Xiyi understand this matter. Previously, he had been busy with experiments and had received warnings from other Qi Refiners, so he did not pay attention.
“Tsk, when making the cake, they complain there aren’t enough people; when dividing the cake, they complain there are too many.”
He finally understood. Earlier, they had probably used the pretext of warning to deceive him.
Regarding this, he felt some relief that he had not tried to improve his Favorability with the Qi Refiners. Even if he had tried for thirty years, he might not have been able to add them as friends.
It was true that they bore no ill will toward him. Even their schemes might have been just a casual move. Unfortunately, Chen Xiyi fell for it and could not escape. Of course, not escaping might actually be for the best.
It seemed Chen Xiyi was being controlled, but in reality, he had a way out. He even planned to use this fake death to escape.
He could have caused a big scene and then run away, but looking at the densely packed emails in his mailbox over the years—all sent by Li Zhao and Mi Hong—he reconsidered.
If he really caused trouble, he might gain some benefits, but these two would suffer.
Because of this, he could only be a bit more cautious.
After all, they were his friends. Over the years, they often sent him things and helped him expand his circle of friends. He was a Player, but he still knew right from wrong.
If they were just neutral names, Chen Xiyi would not have cared at all—let them go wherever they pleased.
He viewed everyone as NPCs, but over time, he developed feelings, especially for friends recognized by the Home Game.
After tidying up his room, he left and wandered onto the deck of the cruise ship.
One reason was to get some fresh air, as he had been underground for three years. The other was to see if he could find Yue Yu.
Chen Xiyi was certain that Yue Yu must have been entrusted with some mission. Otherwise, why would Ji Shan value him and even allow Chen Xiyi to go to the Holy Purple Iris Empire?
Surprisingly, after walking around, he actually found him.
Yue Yu was now dressed in Western-style clothing and was communicating with a Foreigner in the Holy Purple Iris language.
Even his title had changed. Previously, he was a killer, but now he was a member of the New Learning Society. It seemed he was preparing to study abroad in the Holy Purple Iris Empire.
This was a common occurrence. Although Chen Xiyi did not know what the New Learning Society was, he guessed it was similar to Li Zhao’s Salvation Society.
After stabilizing his situation, Li Zhao had sent many trusted followers to study in the Holy Purple Iris Empire. These matters had been written in letters sent to Chen Xiyi.
However, Chen Xiyi did not feel particularly moved. If there were no Qi Refiners, this would indeed be the correct choice.
But with Qi Refiners around, everything was basically in vain.
“Brother Yue, long time no see,” Chen Xiyi suddenly spoke.
Hearing this, Yue Yu turned around, a hint of surprise in his expression. “Brother Chen, what are you doing here?”
The current Yue Yu was not in disguise but showed his true face. Compared to before, he looked more mature and weathered.
“I’m going to the Holy Purple Iris Empire to take a look. And you, dressed in Western clothes—are you planning to study abroad?” Chen Xiyi teased in return.
“Yes, my family arranged for me to go out and see the world. This is Carmen Charles. Charles, this is my friend Chen Xiyi.”
Yue Yu used the standard official language for the first half and the Holy Purple Iris language for the introduction.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Hello, I didn’t expect Mr. Chen to speak the Purple Flower language,” Charles said. He had intended to use clumsy local official language but was surprised to find he understood Chen Xiyi.
“I know a little. After all, I’m going to the Holy Purple Iris Empire. If I didn’t know the language, I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere,” Chen Xiyi replied.
He did know it, and it was relatively easy to learn, but he mainly relied on the language pack from the Home Game.
The conversation between Chen Xiyi and Charles surprised Yue Yu a little. In Yue Yu’s impression, Chen Xiyi seemed more like an old-school scholar.
Old-school scholars were mostly stubborn people who rejected new things and were left behind by the times.
But seeing Chen Xiyi’s youthful appearance, he understood. Young people naturally had a better ability to accept new things than those old stubborn fools.
Most old-school scholars were middle-aged or elderly, and many held official titles.
Yue Yu’s mood was clearly more enthusiastic than before. Whether it was because he met an old friend in a foreign land or something else, after just a short chat, his Favorability rose to 3 stars. Previously, it had not moved for three years.
As for reaching 4 stars Favorability, Chen Xiyi no longer held out hope. He simply chatted and caught up with them.
Unless it was a life-saving favor or a life-and-death bond, or someone like Li Zhao who brought his wife along, it might be possible to increase to 4 stars Favorability. Otherwise, 3 stars was basically the limit.
Over the years, Li Zhao and Mi Hong had often talked about him with others, but even now, those with 3 stars Favorability remained at 3 stars. None had broken through to 4 stars.
Therefore, Chen Xiyi understood that 3 stars and 4 stars Favorability were a dividing line.
The former might be good friends with a close bond, while the latter involved life-and-death friendships.
Chen Xiyi felt that if he asked Li Zhao to give up his position as Warlord, Li Zhao might actually do it.
“By the way, Brother Chen, which room are you staying in? I’d like to visit you later,” Yue Yu asked.
Chen Xiyi did not think to hide it and directly told him his room number. Yue Yu found it a bit strange—it sounded like the noble cabin.
“It seems Mr. Chen managed to buy a ticket for the noble cabin. That’s quite unusual,” Charles said, a meaningful tone in his voice.
“I have many friends. One of them has some status. When he heard I was going to the Holy Purple Iris Empire, he called in some favors to get me one,” Chen Xiyi replied. He was no fool and could tell from Charles’s tone that the noble cabin seemed unusual.
More importantly, Chen Xiyi noticed something flash in Charles’s eyes just now.
Can eyes flash?
His certainly couldn’t.
With Chen Xiyi’s eyesight, he could not have mistaken it, nor was it an illusion. He was certain Charles had flashed.
“Then your friend is truly extraordinary. You should know, this is the noble cabin. Without sufficient status, it’s impossible to buy a ticket. At the very least, one must be a count to qualify. If you don’t meet the criteria, even if it’s empty, no one can purchase it,” Charles said, startling Yue Yu.
He had not expected it to be like this.
“Is that so? That’s really valuable. I had no idea,” Chen Xiyi said. He genuinely had not expected it; he thought money could buy anything.
“No, it’s far more valuable than you imagine. There are only three noble cabins, allocated based on status. If all are occupied and someone with higher status arrives, the one with the lowest status will be forcibly moved to the knight cabin. As far as I know, the other two noble cabins on this voyage are occupied by Third Princess Rosa and Fifth Prince Roskin. So, Mr. Chen, who occupies the remaining noble cabin, must have origins no less than these two royal heirs of the Holy Purple Iris Empire—perhaps even higher.”
“Because your room number is above theirs.”
By the end, Charles even used a respectful form of address.
Chen Xiyi, however, felt a headache coming on. Well, this was just putting him in the spotlight.
No wonder the ticket inspector looked both strange and respectful, even personally guiding him. So that was the reason.
Chen Xiyi, who was used to keeping a low profile, felt a bit uncomfortable, but he did not show it.
“Oh, I see. After all that, this ticket was given to me by a friend. I didn’t buy it myself,” Chen Xiyi said calmly, implying he had no significant background.
But the more he said this, the more it made Charles and Yue Yu ponder.
Was it possible?
It wasn’t. The Holy Purple Iris Empire operated on a noble system, where nobles were the rulers. Even now, nobles held power, so matters of status were taken very seriously.
It was not just about the ticket; they had to confirm that Chen Xiyi’s status was indeed higher than the two royal heirs to stay in the first noble cabin.
Those with higher status than royal heirs included dukes, princes, and the emperor. But Chen Xiyi did not look like a duke of the Holy Purple Iris Empire. After all, there were only a few dukes, and Charles had seen all of them in newspapers. Besides, a non-citizen of the Holy Purple Iris Empire could not possibly hold such a high title.