Chapter Eighty-One: The Goddess of Ice and Snow

After the opening ceremony ended, the four main battleships that spanned the sky jumped away from near Star City, returning to their respective posts to continue their duties. The radiance atop Star City faded, shifting into the shape of the wolf-head gesture of the hunting teams, flickering and whirling in constant motion. The entire summit of Star City transformed into a blazing inferno.

Above, the ocean in the sky drew together, held at bay by the metropolis’s unique technologies, suspended overhead to leave a vast space below for everyone. As the ceremony concluded, all the hunting teams began to move freely; hundreds of thousands lingered in the sky above Star City, making even this colossal place feel a bit crowded.

Countless hunters disembarked from their ships, calling out to friends, soaring through the sky on their flying devices.

Ye Ling, however, found herself at a loss. Around her, the crowd left the ship in high spirits, laughter echoing, while she stood, uncertain what to do. At that moment, Lin Yang tugged her sleeve, beckoning her to follow.

“We’ve contacted Franny and the others. She said she’s already arranged accommodations for us,” Xie Liu declared triumphantly, brandishing his communication watch.

“Is this what they call pulling strings?” Xu Xiong muttered, stroking his chin with a deadpan expression. Just then, his smart watch beeped. “I see the message. Hmm, we need to get to District Twelve. How do we get there?”

“Franny didn’t say. We’ll have to figure it out ourselves.” Xie Liu scratched his head with an apologetic grin, clearly at a loss.

“Tch…” The group jeered collectively, when suddenly an announcement sounded through the ship: “Hunters heading to the ground, please assemble at Compartment Three for group teleportation.”

“See? There’s our solution.” Xie Liu snapped his fingers, while Gong Hou shot him a glare, clearly uninterested in further conversation.

Half an hour later, Xie Liu’s group found themselves on the ground of Phantom Metropolis. For Ye Ling, this was her first time outside the Institute of Supernatural Abilities, and she gazed around curiously—only to be somewhat disappointed; the city was no different from those in the outside world. After witnessing the wonders of Rainbow City, she had imagined every corner of Phantom Metropolis would be steeped in miracles.

“So this is Phantom Metropolis? It doesn’t feel all that different from the outside world, except the streets are a bit cleaner, there’s really not—” She was cut off as a cylindrical robot zipped across the street, snatching up litter and stuffing it into its belly, beeping as it hurried off to its next task. Ye Ling swallowed her unfinished words. “Alright, so there are some differences after all.”

“That’s just because you haven’t spent enough time here. In truth, every part of Phantom Metropolis is a miracle. By the way, when this year ends, in March next year, you’ll begin half a year of ‘Cognitive Education.’ You’ll have to come here every week for classes—so take some time to explore.” Vladimir suddenly appeared behind her, making Ye Ling jump.

“When did you get back? And what’s cognitive education?” she asked, patting her chest and glaring at Vladimir in reprimand.

“Cognitive education is for you latecomers—to gather you all and teach the basics of Phantom Metropolis: relativity, atomic theory, supernatural ability theory, dematerialization theory, and so on.”

“What? Those are the basics? Relativity is basic? And what’s dematerialization theory supposed to be?” Ye Ling interrupted.

Lin Yang patted her shoulder. “Don’t listen to his nonsense. You’re not here for research—most of that will just be touched on. Mainly, it’s about the history of Phantom Metropolis and practical living advice. Just because the city is advanced doesn’t mean everyone’s a genius. A lot of it isn’t so different from the outside world.”

“Hahaha,” Xie Liu laughed, drawing Ye Ling’s gaze. “Really, as long as you remember this: don’t be surprised by the strange and unusual.”

“This place is full of wondrous people and things. You don’t have time to worry about what doesn’t concern you.” As soon as Xie Liu finished speaking, a girl suddenly appeared above him and landed squarely on his head.

After a brief commotion, the girl quickly nodded in apology. “Sorry, sorry, sorry…”

“It’s alright, just don’t ‘teleport’ in the streets next time. You might run into someone.” Xie Liu covered his face, a shoeprint now stamped across it.

“I’m really sorry,” the girl bowed again, checked her watch, exclaimed, “Ah, I’m late!” and vanished. She reappeared dozens of meters away, stumbled, scrambled up, and disappeared once more.

“Uh…” It seemed the girl hadn’t heard Xie Liu’s advice. “Ah, a spatial ability user!”

“Judging by her skills, she must be at level five at least.”

The little incident caused no real stir, and the group continued searching for their accommodations using the address Franny provided.

Soon, they stood before a crystal gate and a seemingly endless estate. “Is this really where we’re staying?” Everyone but Ye Ling and Vladimir twitched at the sight.

Lin Yang was trembling in both legs—he might just get lost in a place this vast.

Franny was waiting at the entrance with her Silver Flash Team. When she saw Xie Liu’s group, she stepped forward and embraced Vladimir in greeting, leaving Xie Liu and the others staring.

Giggling behind her hand at their looks, Franny said, “Alright, to be fair, you all get one too,” and gave each of them a big hug.

Tears streamed down their faces. Gong Hou howled, “I’ll be bragging about this for a year!”

Ye Ling, unable to stand the sight, looked on in contempt. “Honestly, have some dignity. Franny, aren’t you worried about them taking advantage?”

“Xie Liu’s hands were already getting fresh,” Franny replied with a smile, pointing at Xie Liu, who blushed furiously.

“You’re too strong for me to get away with anything,” Xie Liu protested, but Ye Ling gave him no chance to explain, swooping in, twisting his head and demanding, “What exactly were you trying to do just now?”

“Nothing! I was just trying to discuss the art of the human form with Franny—ah, stop twisting!”

The group entered the hall in a rowdy mood. Wendy and the others were already inside waiting—Angela aside, Tita and Koyoru were both there, exchanging greetings.

“Where’s Angela?” Xie Liu asked casually. Wendy paused, then covered her mouth with a mischievous grin. “Why so interested in our Angela? Have an ulterior motive?”

“No, just asking,” Xie Liu replied, brushing off her teasing as Wendy clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, our princess is here—sorry, though, we’re not accepting suitors, so you’ll have to leave.”

While Xie Liu and the others bantered, Vladimir was more practical. “Did your grandfather buy this place?” he asked Franny.

She shook her head. “Not entirely. This is an ancient site, beyond the means of any council head or even the Black family to purchase outright. We’ve rented the southwest corner, and many other hunters are staying here as well. With more than three million people attending and spectating at the conference, even Phantom Metropolis is running short on housing these days.”

Vladimir nodded in understanding as the group reached the southwest dining hall. “You haven’t had lunch yet? Come with me.”

Feeling bored, Ye Ling left the dining hall with a glass of juice. She had no desire to remain among the ravenous bunch, especially with other hunters present—it was just too embarrassing.

What amazed her was how well Wendy fit in, laughing and mingling happily. Tita sat like an old monk, unfazed by the chaos, guarding her meal and eating slowly. Koyoru, usually so demure, revealed her true self: telling crude jokes and competing with Gong Hou to see who could eat more drumsticks, her carefully maintained persona utterly shattered.

Wendy was even more outrageous. With Franny gone and after a couple of glasses of champagne, she brazenly asked Xie Liu if he wanted to sleep with her—sending him scurrying to the corner in terror, desperate to escape her clutches.

“What kind of people are these?” Unable to bear the odd looks from nearby hunters, Ye Ling fled, juice in hand, stepping out to a small garden. Beyond it lay the main gate of the estate.

She watched groups of hunters heading toward the dining hall or the residential areas, exhaling slowly. The air here was clean and free of the gasoline tang that usually hung over major cities; instead, there was a faint fragrance of the forest. The sky, too, was pristine, not a speck of dust—though Ye Ling knew it was all artificial.

In the far distance, she caught sight of the telepathy towers and the spectacular buildings at the city’s core—the very heart of Phantom Metropolis, the foundation of its global dominance.

Yet none of this mattered much to her. She only wondered how she’d ended up in such a place at all; the events of recent months had been nothing short of extraordinary.

Lost in thought, Ye Ling wandered aimlessly, until suddenly her foot caught on something and she fell with a yelp.

“Ah!” a surprised female voice cried out. Before Ye Ling could see who it was, she watched her juice sail through the air, tumbling end over end before pouring straight down toward her.

“Freeze!” A slender white finger pointed, and in an instant, Ye Ling felt the temperature plummet. The juice froze mid-air into a solid block of ice, sparing her from a soaking. However, the ice block promptly fell, landing squarely on her forehead.

“Ow!” Ye Ling howled, clutching her head. “Who’s the unlucky brat responsible for this?”

“Who are you calling unlucky?” came an indignant voice behind her. “You were the one in my way, and now you’re blaming me?”

“Who dares talk back?” Ye Ling scrambled to her feet, only to see she’d tripped over a small cart loaded with a dozen boxes. The woman who had scolded her now poked her head out from behind the stack.

Ye Ling’s first impression was: white. White hair, white skin, white clothes—so pale she looked freshly fallen from the snow, even her eyelashes frosted, the only color her blue eyes and pink lips.

“Who are you?” Ye Ling asked, stunned by the woman’s appearance.

“Me? You want to know who I am?” The white-haired woman pointed to her nose, then smiled smugly and tugged at a silver badge on her chest, engraved with a lifelike snow lotus. “I am the union of kindness and courage, wisdom and beauty, justice and love’s champion—call me Niwei, or the Snow Goddess.”

Ye Ling nearly scoffed at her theatrics, but the name gave her pause. “You’re the Snow Goddess of the Silver Flash Team? Niwei?”

“Huh? You know me?” The white-clad girl blinked in surprise.

Currently available public information: The main battleships of Phantom Metropolis are the Phenomenal Class, Celestial Class, Starlight Class, and Oracle Class. Their axis lengths and mass were designed according to the spatial jump capabilities of the time, with a safe energy margin. All four can reach the threshold for jump energy, with a full charge taking seven hours and, except for the Phenomenal Class, a maximum jump distance of 700 kilometers. The Phenomenal Class is an experimental ship using the latest microgravity energy compression array, with ambient-temperature superconducting circuits for higher output power. Its charge time is reduced to two hours, and its maximum jump range is 1,200 kilometers.