While Qian Mian was purchasing an oasis through normal channels and heading towards the coordinates, the construction plan for Oasis Number One was largely finalized!
It was named: Project Spark!
The reason was that after deliberation and meetings, the pioneer of Oasis Number One had officially decided on its name – Spark Oasis, with the intention of it being the first spark of a prairie fire heading towards the Shady Realm.
Fang You had already recorded the oasis's terrain map entirely through the Little Illusion Card's divine sense scanning device and constructed a clear and precise three-dimensional model. Experts and designers were now being assembled on Blue Star to plan the first phase of Spark Oasis's construction design.
However, the construction and operation of Spark Oasis still faced two major challenges.
First, how many people would be willing to move to the oasis.
Second, how to safely relocate these people.
Third, how to maintain secrecy during the relocation.
…
"Hey, brother, did you hear? They're planning to launch a frontier base project."
On the outskirts of Water Marsh Base City, at a construction site buzzing with activity, Zhang Kuang approached Zhao Fashen conspiratorially.
"I heard this base project offers extremely high compensation, much better than most current frontier positions. The only drawbacks are that you must adhere to secrecy protocols and work at that base for at least five years."
Times had changed. While there was no shortage of jobs, to earn more money and improve one's life, one either had to be an Awakened or venture into the frontier at their own risk.
The latter was the choice for the vast majority of ordinary people. The risks weren't necessarily immense, but the current inconvenience of transportation and communication meant that once one went to the frontier, they would be cut off from family and friends for a considerable period. Moreover, the local networks in frontier areas were very limited, lacking the rich entertainment options of base cities.
"Five years, that's indeed quite a while. Where did you get this gossip? How could you possibly know about a classified project?"
Zhao Fa just chuckled dismissively, not taking it seriously.
He continued his grueling work as a civil engineer, but as he was leaving work that evening, his boss surprisingly found him and a few others, and began to talk to them about the 'Base Project'.
"The compensation is 1.5 times that of a regular frontier permanent position, and three to four times your current monthly salary. And salary is just the visible benefit; there are many hidden benefits, such as superior living conditions compared to what you have now, and priority purchasing of certain medicinal herbs that can nourish the body, etc."
"Because this job is rather special and requires long-term residency, you can also apply to bring your families with you."
"Think about it carefully and give me your answer within two days."
Finally, the boss added, "Of course, it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to go just because you want to. It ultimately depends on the number of applicants and the number of positions offered by the higher-ups."
Judging by the boss's tone, he had already applied and planned to bring his family. His current job would be handed over to someone else in a few days.
To be honest, Zhao Fa was also tempted.
Before today, he had considered venturing into the frontier to make a living. However, the frontier mostly recruited agricultural talent, and positions suitable for civil engineers like him were scarce, quickly being snatched up.
Zhao Fa was tempted, yet hesitant.
He wanted to catch the express train of the era's development, yet he feared the unknown ahead. Whether to go or not, the scales in his mind constantly swayed. Many other selected talents were similarly wavering.
…
"But won't our large-scale screening attract the attention of the Evil God faction?"
Little Huan floated in the air in a side-legged seated posture, occasionally swinging her legs.
She was somewhat confused.
"This plan isn't exactly confidential, but..."
Fang You had initially considered complete secrecy, secretly selecting elite talents to send to the oasis. For those unsuitable or unwilling, he would implant a psychological suggestion of 'must keep secret'.
However, doing so would be too time-consuming and labor-intensive. The oasis construction required not just ten or twenty people, not hundreds, not even thousands!
It required at least tens of thousands, and as the oasis expanded in the future, it might require hundreds of thousands or even millions.
Screening them one by one, how long would that take?
Besides, it was difficult to keep a scale of at least tens of thousands completely secret. The entire plan involved too many personnel, and this world had means like divination and memory theft. The more he concealed, the more it would attract the attention of the Evil God faction.
It was better to be forthright, at least outwardly so.
"Our plan is indeed exposed, but what's exposed is merely a frontier base project. This project only has a name and very brief information. The destination is merely a relatively special frontier area."
"Of course, this explanation can only fool ordinary people; it won't fool the elites of the Great Oases."
There were so many Great Oases; Fang You certainly couldn't expect them to keep secrets.
Some oases might have private collaborations with the pawns of Evil Gods, which was not impossible.
Moreover, there were definitely still pawns of Evil Gods on Blue Star.
He had used World Power to clear out the cultist strongholds within the Gray Mist Zone, but World Power was not omnipotent. What Instructor Fang could discover were only those strongholds with dozens or more people, containing items for cult rituals, and clearly problematic.
If they disguised themselves as ordinary awakened explorers, Instructor Fang would be helpless.
Not to mention the cultists and pawns hidden within the base cities. These could only be dealt with by local offices and mysterious departments, to be apprehended one by one.
He believed the Bloodstained Emperor was observing the changes on Blue Star in some form.
"In the eyes of those Great Oasis elites and the pawns of Evil Gods, the 'frontier area' in the Base Project is merely a facade. They will most likely guess that the destination is not a frontier area, but an oasis."
"Ah?"
Little Huan exclaimed, "Then, then what do we do?"
"Don't worry, I haven't finished yet."
Fang You smiled slightly. "As everyone knows, our Blue Star has been blockaded by the Evil God faction. Bloodstained Emperor is particularly aware of this. Since we are blockaded, and yet we've launched an oasis construction project, then there's only one truth – the oasis is in the shallow layers of the Shady Realm!"
"Oh, right, right!"
Little Huan suddenly realized, and a cascade of data flowed through her eyes. She extracted a piece of information.
"According to statistics from the Great Oases' provided data, the probability of an oasis being born in the shallow layers of the Shady Realm is as high as 79.6%! It is indeed very reasonable for oases to exist in the shallow layers. As expected of Master, you are already on the fifth level!"
She clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
Mmm, as expected of the little secretary I cultivated, she understood her boss's intentions so quickly.
"That's exactly the idea. Little Huan is very smart too."
"Those with insight can guess that we are building an oasis. So where is this oasis? Let them figure it out slowly. The oasis's coordinates are a top secret, so it's very reasonable for them not to be able to find out."
"Mmm, very reasonable~!"
Little Huan added.
Fang You turned his gaze towards the shallow layer and swept across it with World Power.
He was certain that the shallow layer of Blue Star had not yet birthed an oasis. This wasn't to say Blue Star was unlucky; it was likely too short a time. Whether an oasis was born naturally or evolved from a secret realm, it required time.
But how long had the shallow layer of Blue Star existed? Less than a year.
Perhaps in a few more years.
Even if there were, he needed an oasis located in the deep layers of the Shady Realm more.
He asked, "Currently, only a very small number of people know about Spark Oasis, so the secrecy issue is not a concern. What I am more worried about is how many people are willing to go and live in a strange and distant place."
"Little Huan, what's the current enrollment situation in the various base cities?"
"Master, don't worry~"
Little Huan cheerfully shook the ahoge on her head. "As of half an hour ago, there were already over a thousand applicants, and many have applied to bring their relatives, totaling... 2669 people! By the time the three-day period is up, it's estimated there will be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, far exceeding the demand!"
"So many?"
Fang You pondered, "The oasis is still a blank slate. It's not advisable to bring in too many people in a short period... Little Huan, calculate the number of people needed for the first batch of pioneers by profession, the total quota is... 2800 people!"
Challenges one and three were settled. The only remaining task was how to safely transport this batch of pioneers.
An-mei alone wouldn't be enough.
She had the Evil Baby, but she was also spread too thin. Moreover, the larger the team, the easier it was to attract evil spirits. With thousands of people, even the most powerful Bright Lanterns would be useless.
One couldn't always rely on the same tool.
Fang You had a contingency plan.
He came to the forging workshop in Zone Two.
Here, Awakened individuals were leaping over eaves and scaling walls, dismantling scaffolding. Once all the scaffolding was removed, only a gigantic airship at the center of the entire factory would remain.
It was suspended in the air, about twenty meters off the ground!
It hovered silently, without making any noise, yet it exuded an indescribable power. Especially when one stood directly in front of it, it felt as if a hundred-meter-long shark was about to pounce, capable of making ordinary people's legs turn to jelly.
This was a great mystical creation.
A vehicle of legendary grade – the White Shark-class airship!
Produced by the super ancient empire of Candela.
"The technological content of this airship is too high. If its core components weren't mostly intact, we wouldn't have been able to repair it. I really want to dismantle it and study it."
Old Master Wang sighed, his eyes gleaming.
He had a condition where seeing exquisite craftsmanship made him want to dismantle it. However, with Shallow Red in front of him, Old Master Wang's interest in the White Shark-class airship was only moderate, not yet to the point of fanaticism.
Dr. Strange, standing beside him, was different, exhibiting the fanaticism of someone who had seen a god.
"What kind of art is this, what kind of greatness!"
"This is a warship capable of confronting gods!"
Dr. Strange couldn't contain his excitement as he introduced it.
Initially, he defected not entirely out of submission, but because he wanted to rely on Spark's technological prowess to repair this damaged, magnificent airship.
He knew this airship was extraordinary, but he had underestimated it. It was a great creation that integrated protection, attack, and travel. Even if held by mortals, it was enough to confront deities with its power!
Uh, but this Instructor seemed to be a deity himself?
Dr. Strange suddenly fell silent.
Fang You walked inside and examined the airship's various parameters in the main control room.
Master Wang Hammer introduced, "A complete peak White Shark-class airship indeed possesses the ability to confront myths. This is a vehicle that combines armament and transport. However, alas, Instructor, you asked us to finish as soon as possible, so we prioritized repairing the airship's defense and flight systems. As for the firepower system, we've only installed over a dozen secondary cannons so far. The main cannon was the most severely damaged part, and it cannot be repaired in a short time."
The main cannon was also one of the White Shark-class airship's most intricate components.
If the core of the defense or flight system were damaged, Master Wang claimed he would be powerless. But for the main cannon...
"Old Wang, I've studied Shallow Red's energy cannon for a long time. If you give me two months, I'm confident I can repair it."
However, two months was still too long.
Fang You pondered, "Meaning, the current White Shark-class airship can kill a six-star evil spirit, but cannot deal with a seven-star evil spirit?"
Master Wang nodded.
Fang You continued, "That's sufficient. No need to continue repairs."
Even if Master Wang could multitask, two months was a long time. It would be better to let Master Wang shine elsewhere. As for the airship's lack of firepower? Fang Someone never relied on the airship's firepower.
Confronting myths was merely confronting; if one were to quantify it, it would be around the level of a descended avatar, the combat power of Old Brother Black Blade when he gathered his legions.
And it would consume a large amount of spirit crystals.
Look at Shallow Red v2.0 to understand how much spirit crystals energy cannons burned. If they truly encountered a seven-star evil spirit, they wouldn't be able to activate such a main cannon anyway. Wasn't it better to have An Jianyou make a move? Powerful, environmentally friendly, and with no consumption.
Instructor Fang claimed he was very economical.
Through the enthusiastic introductions of Master Wang and Dr. Strange, Fang You learned more about the White Shark-class airship's capabilities.
For example, the airship's defense system not only resisted the impact of powerful energy but also resisted sanity shock and gray mist infiltration. Especially the latter, only by preventing gray mist infiltration could it be ensured that no evil spirits would breed inside the airship.
In addition, capabilities such as hovering, flight, short-range spatial traversal, obstacle traversal, etc., were numerous.
In short, it was awesome!
Describing the White Shark-class airship as capable of confronting myths was truly superficial. There were many mythical combat organizations, but only this White Shark-class airship could escort thousands of people at once.
The standard passenger capacity of the airship was three thousand.
If squeezed, eight thousand or ten thousand people would not be a problem. However, this trip to Spark Oasis, in addition to transporting the first batch of pioneers, would also require transporting a lot of living supplies and construction materials.
These could not be stored in the more than ten cubic meters of space provided by the storage spirit artifacts, nor could Little Illusion be treated as a ruthless transport machine.
Occasionally transporting valuable items was enough.
"Get ready, we'll need this airship in three days. Is piloting it no problem?"
"Instructor, rest assured, the airship has very advanced intelligence, even automatic piloting is fine. As for manual control, it's easy to get the hang of it with a little practice. Old Wang will pilot it himself then."
But why did I feel even more uneasy?
Wait, let's have Little Huan learn to pilot the airship. With Little Huan's computing power, even if she were the only one, she could manage all the operating systems on the airship.
Stable!
Anyway, as long as the airship could fly, that was fine.
…
…
"Our plane is preparing to land. Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts, stow your tray tables, and open your window shades..."
"Currently, the ground temperature in Frontier Area Six is 38.8 degrees Celsius. The plane is taxiing. For your safety and the safety of others, please do not stand up or open the overhead compartments..."
The spoilers on both wings of the passenger plane had opened, and it was decelerating as it taxied. Due to inertia, the passengers' bodies leaned forward.
Zhao Fa was an ordinary passenger on this flight.
After much hesitation, he decided to seize this opportunity. After applying, he heard that the competition was fierce. Only after two rounds of selection was he finally chosen, and he let out a sigh of relief.
He had also applied to bring his newlywed wife with him, but the first batch of slots was tight, and his wife could only remain in the base city for now. She might be able to join him in the third or fourth batch when the 'family group' could arrive.
They might have to be separated for several months.
With three parts reluctance, three parts nervousness, three parts anticipation, and one part unknown, Zhao Fa followed the leader down the boarding stairs, and then traveled for over half an hour by troop transport vehicle.
He didn't know exactly where he was, nor did he dare to ask.
The secrecy regulations were clearly stated.
"We've arrived."
A man in a black trench coat in the same vehicle said, "You will transfer here to another flight to the place where you will live for the next five years. You will know the exact location once you arrive."
Zhao Fa had expected to transfer to another passenger plane, but when they walked into a huge building that resembled a factory, what greeted their eyes...
Was a flying giant ship!
At this moment, inside the airship.
Zhou Hai was directing the distribution of supplies. He was also one of the passengers about to head to 'that place'. Unlike ordinary pioneers, he was part of the future management of Spark Town, and would serve as the Director of the Town's Public Security Bureau.
A director of a town.
It seemed much lower than his previous position as a provincial deputy director. In reality, Zhou Hai understood the importance of Spark Town. Although it was called a town, it was a unique town, a bridgehead for future development.
If not for his connections in Spark's upper echelons, it would have been difficult for him to secure this position based solely on his previous rank.
Of course, he was now also a Spark person, a formal member of Spark from the 65th intake, and he had recently broken through to the Transcendent level, which was also one of the reasons he could hold this position.
Yet, even as the future Director of Spark Town's Public Security Bureau, Zhou Hai still did not know where Spark Town was, nor where this airship was flying.
Soon,
All three thousand passengers, including Zhou Hai, boarded the airship, and various supplies and equipment were loaded.
The White Shark-class airship officially sealed itself, and all contact with the outside world was severed.
"The airship is about to take off. Everyone can move freely within the living quarters. Well, you'll arrive at your new home in a few days."
A gruff voice from someone echoed from various parts of the airship.
There was no need to fasten seatbelts, nor lie down in their respective rest cabins. There was only a slight hum as the airship was about to take off, but no jolting.
The White Shark-class airship began to...
But it didn't take off.
The massive airship remained suspended, and outside the airship, a delicate girl stepped through the air.
"Master Wang, it's about to start here."
"Okay, it's all yours, Little You."
Inside the bridge, Master Wang Hammer gave a thumbs-up and signaled all personnel to get to work.
Outside the airship, An Jianyou slowly extended her hand.
Her black hair fluttered in the wind, and a domain devoid of any light, as black as pitch, spread out from her body, like a giant black hole, like a man-eating maw. In just a few seconds, it engulfed the entire White Shark-class airship.
The domain was maintained.
Her gaze was deep and distant, looking towards another world.
Descend!
Her figure instantly disappeared, and with it, the White Shark-class airship within her domain, and the escort, Number Two Xitina.
To ensure safety, Fang You had dispatched both his top generals.
Especially An Jianyou, who had rushed back to Blue Star alone, and after only half a day's rest, had to embark on another journey. Instructor Fang felt a pang of pity.
As a boss, his state of mind was still insufficient.
He watched.
An Jianyou quickly entered the deep layers of the Shady Realm, the Falling Star Grotto-Mire Domain. However, she did not stop using her Netherworld Eye; she could continue to 'Communicate with the Netherworld'.
In An Jianyou's eyes, the Shady Realm was layered, with each layer representing a great domain, and within each great layer, several smaller layers were subdivided.
After entering Area 1 of the Falling Star Grotto-Mire, she could use her Netherworld Eye to 'descend' to Area 2, Area 3, as long as these areas had been explored by her.
She could not specify coordinates, but she could specify areas.
It was as if she had lit up a teleportation anchor point in a certain area.
As An Jianyou descended into Area 3 of the Falling Star Grotto-Mire, she finally stopped using her talent and let out a sigh of relief.
Lifting such a massive object was also a first for her.
She didn't sweat, but she still wiped her forehead. It was indeed hard work for me~
"This way, we'll arrive at Spark Oasis in just three to four days. The journey is shortened by more than two-thirds! There's no danger around either, so that's good~!"
She released Red Clothes and the now-promoted White Silk to guard outside, and entered the airship to rest.
She called out to her master in her mind, reporting the situation.
The White Shark-class airship officially set sail.
It emitted a faint, soft light, traversing the dangerous, gray and hazy Shady Realm. During the journey, it occasionally encountered dangers, and the number and level of evil spirits encountered were far greater than when An Jianyou explored alone.
After all, it was an airship carrying over three thousand passengers (including the crew).
Even though the White Shark-class airship 'concealed' and 'mitigated' most of it, it was still equivalent to a large-scale team, and was attacked by groups of dozens or hundreds of evil spirits from time to time.
Then, their defenses were not breached.
They subsequently became food for Red Clothes and White Silk.
The most dangerous encounter was... uh, they encountered three four-star Calamity-level evil spirits, who were flattened by Red Clothes while still a hundred meters away from the airship.
The three-day journey was uneventful and without peril.
This left Xitina, who had received her mission with utmost seriousness and her Endless Blade at the ready, slowly forming a question mark.
She looked at An Jianyou.
"Are the organization's missions always this... this simple?"
"Isn't simple good?"
An Jianyou, holding a cup of papaya milk tea and enjoying her brief holiday, also slowly formed a question mark.
Perhaps this was because she wasn't strong enough yet?
An Jianyou sipped her milk tea and fell into thought.
The three days of airship life were an incredibly novel experience for the passengers, whether they were ordinary talents or Awakened individuals.
But what made them even more curious was that they had flown for three full days and nights.
"At this distance, we must have flown out of Blue Star."
"To be honest, we might have actually flown to an alien planet this time."
"We are pioneers beyond the world? Oh my gosh!"
The airship was sealed, and nothing from the outside could be seen inside. The journey was also incredibly smooth.
But at a certain moment, melodious music sounded from the cabins, along with Captain Wang's rough voice.
"Folks, our destination, Spark Town... we've arrived!"