Chapter 1054: Lantern Festival (1)
As soon as the
servant"s voice trailed off, Perkins stumbled forward a few steps, and
the servant was given quite a fright by this as he immediately
backtracked with a wary expression. "Mr. Perkins, are you alright?"
Perkins
rushed over to the servant before grabbing his shoulders with both
hands and asking with intense, bloodshot eyes, "What kind of lantern
festival is this?"
"The lantern festival is... a lantern
festival..." The servant was perplexed. What other types of lantern
festivals could there be?
"I"m asking you what type of lantern
festival it"s going to be! Is it going to be with normal lanterns or...
or that type of lantern?!"
Thankfully, the servant had undergone
national etiquette training, so even though he was internally denouncing
Perkins as an idiot, he still maintained a polite smile as he replied,
"It will be a palatial lantern and firework ceremony, which is held
every year on the 1st of October to celebrate the founding of the
nation."
I see... Thank heavens for that...
Perkins removed
his hands from the servant"s shoulders, and only then did he realize
the complete loss of his composure. "Thank you for the explanation. You
can go now."
The servant bowed with impeccable manners, then left
the room. As he closed the door, he immediately rolled his eyes as a
disdainful look appeared on his face. "Is that man an idiot? Where did
this hillbilly come from? How does he not know what a lantern festival
is? He looked like a rabid dog back there! Looks like the GTO should
really focus on improving the etiquette of its staff!"
Perkins
naturally couldn"t hear the insults being directed his way. He quickly
paced back and forth in his room, and he quickly began to tense up once
again.
Hold on a minute, if this really is just a normal firework
palatial lantern ceremony, Yanluo Qin wouldn"t have invited me to
spectate it, and it certainly wouldn"t be a spectacle worth watching...
He had a feeling that a monumental moment in history was going to take place on this night!
He quickly adjusted his own suit before making his way to the top of the pagoda with a myriad of emotions churning in his heart.
He
wanted to see the answer to his questions, but he knew that if the
answer was the one that he expected, then this entire world was going to
be tipped on its head!
All of the underworlds and death gods were
going to be scrutinizing this moment intently, and the state of the
entire world was going to undergo drastic changes!
He wanted
desperately to know the answer, but at the same time, his legs felt like
lead, and he was too afraid to find out the answer.
The world wasn"t prepared at all for something like this!
The
pagoda was normally completely deserted, but at this moment, there were
dozens of Yin soldiers occupying each floor. Perkins made his way to
the top floor with a heavy heart, then scaled the final staircase to
reach the top of the building.
Down below was a vast sea of black
Yin energy that resembled a layer of clouds. Up here, it was already
impossible to see the city down below. The only landmarks that were
visible were the tops of the four slightly shorter surrounding pagodas
that were peeking through the clouds like four mountain peaks.
Tea
and snacks had already been prepared at the center of the top floor,
and several taishi chairs had been placed around the table. Zhao Yun was
seated on one of the chairs, casually eating some sunflower seeds, and
he gave a nod to acknowledge Perkins"s arrival.
Perkins"s gaze
quickly swept over Zhao Yun as he cast his eyes directly forward, where a
young man wearing a black dragon robe was seated on a recliner chair
right in front of the railing up ahead. He was holding a cup of wine in
one hand, and he raised the cup in a casual and elegant manner in
Perkins"s direction as he greeted, "Welcome, Director Perkins of the
GTO, I"ve heard much about you."
That"s the Cathayan Underworld"s King Yanluo!
Perkins
gulped nervously at the sight of Qin Ye. This King Yanluo had a very
youthful appearance, but he possessed cunningness and guile far beyond
his years. He had only occupied the throne for several years, yet the
three pillars hadn"t managed to best him yet!
If the second King Yanluo were still in power, then that would be very normal.
However,
this King Yanluo was so young and his cultivation rank was so low that
it was downright unimaginable for him to have achieved all of this!
Furthermore,
the most remarkable thing about him was that he always managed to beat
his opposition while remaining within the constraints of the rules. He
was far more gentle in his approach than the second King Yanluo, and due
to his more amicable political style, many nations across the entire
world had begun to develop a positive image of the Cathayan Underworld.
All
of these thoughts flashed through Perkins"s mind in an instant, and he
extended a deep and respectful bow as he said, "Director Perkins of the
GTO pays his respects to the ruler of the Cathayan Underworld."
"Take
a seat," Qin Ye offered, and Perkins immediately did as he was told,
making his way over to a chair before sitting down on it in a careful
manner, before inspecting his surroundings.
As soon as he did so, the netherfire in his eyes instantly flickered slightly.
Everything was too casual here...
There
were no guards in the surrounding area at all! While it was true that
Qin Ye was a mid Yama-King himself, and he also had Zhao Yun for
accompaniment, thereby making any further guards redundant, there still
had to be a sense of ceremony!
How could the ruler of one of the four pillars not be surrounded by countless officials and Yin soldiers? Unless...
Perkins"s hands began to tremble slightly as a thought occurred to him.
Unless Qin Ye didn"t want anyone else to hear what they were going to be discussing next!
Perkins"s
breathing drew to a halt as this thought occurred to him, and he felt
as if he were dancing on the edge of a sharp knife that could cut him in
half with the slightest misstep.
"What are you so afraid of?"
Right at this moment, a gentle hand placed itself onto his shoulder, and
Qin Ye appeared beside him, then pulled out a silken handkerchief to
dab at Perkins"s forehead. "I"m an advocate for peace and reason, so
there"s no need to be afraid in my presence."
"Yanluo Qin!"
Perkins"s hands were trembling even more severely now, causing the tea
in his cup to spill all over his hand, and he gritted his teeth as he
mustered up all of his courage before asking, "What exactly is it that
you want me to see?"
If he didn"t ask that question now, then his curiosity was going to make him explode!
Qin
Ye smiled as he picked up Perkins"s hand, then led him over to the
railing. He raised a hand, pointing a finger into the distance before
sweeping ir over the four pavilions in the distance as he asked with a
smile, "Don"t you think something is missing here?"
Perkins pursed his lips and shook his head in response.
Right
at this moment, the melodious chime of a clock rang out from below the
clouds, and Qin Ye released Perkins"s hand as he asked with a smile,
"Don"t you think this place is missing some sparkle?"
The clock
chimes signifying the arrival of National Day rang out across the entire
island, and at the same time, all of the air at the top of the pagoda
seemed to have congealed. Perkins wanted to stand up, but his knees were
too weak, so he could only sit on the ground as he held his own upper
body upright by holding onto the railings, while peering through the
gaps in the railings toward the sea of clouds down below.
It was
also at this time that Zhao Yun rose to his feet, and he took a deep
breath, upon which all of the surrounding Yin energy surged toward him
like the tide, forming a vortex of Yin energy with a radius of several
hundred meters around the pagoda. At the same time, his voice rang out
like rumbling thunder throughout the heavens.
"Units 1 to 10 of the Yin Mountains Power Station, get ready!"
A
series of light screens suddenly appeared in the east, illuminating
Perkins"s deathly pale face and his trembling hands that were locked
tightly around the railing.
The screens depicted groups of
extremely excited Yin spirits wearing white lab coats, and behind them
were electric generator sets that were close to 20 meters tall and
several dozens of meters wide!
There was no mistaking it now, the Cathayan Underworld was serious about this!
His
mouth gaped wide open, and countless emotions surged through his heart,
causing him to tremble uncontrollably, but he was staring intently at
the light screens, unwilling to miss even the slightest of details.
Inside
all of the light screens, all of the engineers and scientists replied
in loud voices, "The Yin Mountains Power Station is ready to be
activated at any time!"
Zhao Yun nodded in response before declaring, "Units 1 to 300 of the Western Power Station, get ready!"
Several
hundred light screens appeared one after another in rapid succession
above the clouds, following which countless vigorous voices shook the
heavens in response.
"Unit 1 is ready to be activated at any time!"
"Unit 5 is ready!"
"Unit 21 is ready!"
"Unit 130..."
"Unit 200..."
The
high-ranking officials of all of the government departments, including
the likes of Qin Changxin and Qin Xinzhong, seemed to have sensed
something, and all of them had emerged onto the top of the North Yin
Pavilion.
They cast their eyes toward Everburn in unison, watching the countless specks of netherfire burning in the distance.
They
could see all of the Yin spirits gathered on the plazas throughout the
city, holding candles in their hands as they awaited the promised
fireworks.
An amused smile appeared on Qin Changxin"s face upon seeing this.
My apologies, but you won"t get to see any fireworks today. Instead, you"re going to witness the rise of a new era!
Qin
Xinzhong suddenly heaved an emotional sigh. "To think that the Cathayan
Underworld was able to reach this step from nothing in just over 10
years... This is truly incredible..."
Deadsend, Ashmound,
Eastwood, Shadowend, Mirage... All of the mayors of the Cathayan
Underworld"s cities had been alerted in advance to what was going to
happen, and they had all gathered on the tallest buildings in their
respective cities with their family and friends to eagerly await the
dawn of the new era!
"Units 1 to 100 of the Aurogon Power Station, get ready!"
"Units 1 to 200 of the Nine Yin Power Station, get ready!"
"Units 1 to 200 of the Suiren Power Station, get ready!"
It
took Zhao Yun a full 30 minutes just to call out the names of all of
the power stations, and the response that he received came in the form
of thousands of light screens, depicting the excited faces of countless
Yin spirits, all of whom were raring to go, eager to usher in this new
era.
In total, it took a whole 50 minutes for everything to be ready.
As a result, the fireworks display for the new Hell"s 16th National Day was delayed by 50 minutes.
Perhaps
countless netherworldly citizens were already complaining about the
delay, but that did nothing to dampen the moods of everyone above the
clouds.
Qin Ye finally rose to his feet, then extended a deep bow
toward all of the light screens around him, and in this moment, even he
was overcome by emotion.
An unimaginable amount of resources and hard work had culminated in this occasion, and he was about to witness history.
"Thank you for your hard work over the past decade, everyone."
He
stood up straight again as he declared, "On this day, let us draw a
conclusion to this era! The future belongs to us, and it"s up to all of
you to usher in the new era! Now then, on my command... Activate all of
the generator sets!!"
All of the generator sets across the entirety of the Cathayan Underworld were activated in unison at his behest!
All
of the Yin spirits depicted in the surrounding light screens instantly
pressed the buttons that their fingers had been resting on, and in that
instant, a string of slight tremors seemed to have run through the
entire nation.
The giant wheel of history was going to crush everything in its path en route to creating a new era.
A chapter in history had drawn to a conclusion, and a new one was about to be written.
From
this day onward, the world was going to welcome an era of rapid
development, filled with countless possibilities and opportunities!
Five
minutes later, bursts of dazzling light pierced through the clouds from
the ground below, illuminating the entire pagoda into an immortal
paradise!
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