CHAPTER 155: BOARDING THE FLIGHT

A few days passed after KiRA had the talk with his business partner, the white crow, and finished all the preparations for his long trip.

He was going to the Northern desert fields, the vast desert area which used to be a barren land before the arrival of the tower.

A few small scale nations used to be the lords of these lands, lands that lived in giant cities made by the rich oil exporters and Kings who possessed vast generational wealth.

They were prosperous lands but the arrival of the tower changed everything for these countries.

The lands were covered by the sand and the appearance of the dangerous desert monsters wiped out everything that existed in these lands, killing millions of natives and everything they had built up until then.

Some lucky ones may have managed to escape somehow, but they were of a miniscule number. The Northern desert fields were a death zone by all means right now.

Just to go there legally, you had to move to the nearest country located more than a hundred kilometres from the edge of the desert.

The monsters of the desert are restricted to the field so the area outside of it is not affected. But since the field is so dangerous, all the land around it is strictly managed by the A2P2.

Common people aren’t allowed anywhere near the border and even the players have to receive special permits to enter the field.

Thankfully, since these permits are only given to the [Rank-6] players and above, KiRA was able to obtain one quickly with Ziggy’s help.

He had finished his preparations and made certain arrangements to take care of everything here, in the guild, and the tower while he was gone.

And, now that he was leaving today, the entire family had come to drop him off at the airport.

"It has not been that long since the tower appeared but this palace has changed so much." Air travels weren’t happening much nowadays so the ladies were pretty surprised to see a relatively empty airport.

Most of the people she could see were either from the association or from the big guilds that needed to travel within the country or around the continent quickly.

Many of the sky routes that were previously used had to be shut down after the appearance of the sky piercing towers and various aerial monsters that appeared around the world, leading to the establishment of newer airroutes.

The association had also prepared different airplanes armed with tactical weapons in case something unexpected came near them.

When traveling afar, the association made sure the passengers were traveling in the special aircrafts to prevent any accidents, limiting the airway travels to work and important travels.

Even with the Association, the world was not used to the presence of the monsters and tower elements. However, it would surely change at a great pace once humanity reaches the higher floors of the tower.

"Can you all come inside as well? Ziggy?" KiRA didn’t really know much about how the A2P2 regulations worked around the world.

Ziggy was the employee there so KiRA looked at him and asked the question while looking at the rest of his family that had accompanied him all the way here.

His aunt and uncle had always come along to drop him whenever he was travelling and since his uncle travelled frequently, he was away a lot.

They didn’t do the same for him but things were different for someone like KiRA or Izzy or Ziggy who didn’t travel often.

"They’re fine. I got the permits for everyone so it’s fine." Ziggy had known this would happen from the start so he had already made his preparations.

The airport area was more of a military base now with most of the available flights being weaponised aircrafts.

Not just the A2P2 but one could find army men and even airforce personnel around special places like these.

Situated at the edge of their city, the special areas controlled by the government bodies and A2P2 were controlled zones, so, as they got out of their black-yellow taxi and walked towards the fortified glass doors, they were stopped by two, armor-clad players from the association.

"Can we see the entry passes for the people accompanying you, Sir Zyon?" They already knew Ziggy so they did not even ask for his ID or entry passes.

The devices behind the gates had already confirmed the identity of one of the association executives from their city and given him a green pass.

But the same was not true for the rest of the people with him.

"Here you go, gentlemen." Ziggy immediately took out a few paper cards from his inventory and handed it to the guard on the right side.

Receiving the cards and finding nothing wrong with them after a quick scan at the special scanner beside them, the guards gave their green light for the group and the family entered the airport.

The plane that KiRA was going to board was faster than a regular jet so he will reach his destination by tomorrow.

It was late night right now so he had a few hours of flight ahead of him.

The airport was empty from the inside as well. There weren’t many lines, just some small groups like theirs accompanied by different people from the association or the government.

There were many who seemed to know their group, or at the very least, Ziggy was surely famous among the people present here.

The association members that came across him were polite with him and by the time they reached the departure area after all the procedure, Ziggy had been asked for an autograph or photo three times already.

He didn’t deny any of them. He was polite and cheery with everyone they came across.

It was obvious that he was well liked by everyone, and his mom couldn’t help his proud smile every time this happened.

"I’ll have to be on my own from here on out." When they had reached their destination, KiRA was ready with his single backpack.

Most of his luggage was in his inventory that he had upgraded with the money he had saved up and now had more than twenty spaces of inventory available to him.

He used a special backpack with expanded space as well so there was much more on him than what met his eyes.

But then again, sights like these were common after the appearance of the tower.

The security could not search for each weapon, artifact, or items that the players had on them. They could not fit everything in their inventories so it was uncommon for many of the people in their full gears around the airport.

KiRA was relatively better in that aspect. There was enough space on him for all his things and there was also no real need for extra luggage.

"Kai, you have promised me you will take care of yourself so you better come back without a single scar on your body. Get healed before stepping foot in the house if you get even a single scratch."

"That’s right, you better be alright out there." Izzy smiled at both the mother in law and her Son who wore a bitter smile on his face.

It had taken him a while to convince her but at the end of the day, she had no choice but to give in. She understood this was pretty important for him and there might be consequences if he doesn’t do this quest.

He was going to face dangers but the family could not keep him restricted for long.

"I’ll be fine, don’t worry." He stepped forward and before leaving, gave his Aunt Su a good hug.

He understood her worries, but also how much this departure meant for her.

She was afraid, but also considerate of his path.

"Don’t do anything reckless if you can. Some things are not worth it if you have to put your life on the line." She gave him a last piece of wisdom, and he accepted it with a smile.

"I will keep that in mind."

He finished his hug with a warm smile, shared a hug with the rest of his family, his brother, uncle, future father in law, Miss Lia, and a kiss with his partner.

Then, he took a step back with the warm smile still present on his face.

"Take care of them, you two." Waving his hand at the rest of them, he nodded at his two companions.

Ziggy was shaking his head with a smile, while Izzy was delighted to hear those words from him.

"Then... I’ll see you all in a few months." He waves his hand at the family, and turns around towards the gate leading to the runway area.

He would board his plane from there and by the morning, he would arrive at his destination, the fortress city in the far north.

"What do you think, Uni."

"Viii~." (They’ll do well, master~.)

She was talking about the people she had chosen to look after their family and the guild. The rest did not know about them, but Unity was certain they’d do a good job.

"Then I guess we can look forward to the next stop." The aircraft before him was completely back, a thin but vast frame.

It was a pinnacle of human engineering, an aircraft made for war, a flight that was never supposed to be used commercially.

The appearance of the Tower had changed a lot of things in their world.

Things like this aircraft that would have never even been accessible to special people without special permits, was now something they were going to use as a means of travel within the continent itself.

KiRA would have been fascinated by this aircraft had he not travelled in the Higher Being’s celestial bus.

That, according to him, was the peak of any kind of traveling modes...