Chapter 1101: A Hundred Ways to Tell if a Man is Lying

The Martyr’s Palace was currently parked in the void, its long tail moving slowly as it drew upon the void origin power in the surroundings. This movement kept the vessel in place and prevented it from drifting away.

The long tail moved gently and slowly, forming eddies of origin power nearby which served to maintain its level-flight and cut down energy consumption by half. Even a heavenly monarch would have to sigh in admiration after seeing this ingenious level of control.

To the Earth Dragon, though, this was merely an inherent skill, something even its remnant skeleton, and what little remained of its spirit, could perform.

That was why this dragonship was peerless in long-distance void travel. It could float continuously in the void, albeit at a slower pace.

There was now a large dark-silver area on the dragonship built of warship-grade plates. The color on it was a bit mottled because Qianye hadn’t managed to get enough armor plates. All he could do was install armor plates on some of the more important areas.

From a distance, the Martyr's Palace looked like a sleeping colossus in the void, covered in a faint sheen of light.

This layer of light was the forcefield that would protect the crew inside. With it, the weaker staff members aboard the vessel would be able to survive. After all, the Martyr’s Palace still wasn’t entirely sealed, and many parts of it were exposed to the void.

In addition to blocking out the void, the barrier could also isolate one’s aura from leaking out. This served as a concealment mechanism. The void was vast and the dragonship was but a small dot against the entire expanse. Even if one were to search for it deliberately, the slightest deviation would throw the seeker off course. Qianye was currently the master of the Martyr’s Palace and thus shared a natural connection with it. That was the reason he could pinpoint its location every time.

That was also the reason why Qianye could easily leave the airship in the void every time.

Qianye was strong enough to traverse the void for a short while. Zhuji was a special exception—her constitution might be even stronger than Qianye’s. Naturally, she didn’t mind the void environment at all.

As the two rushed out of the protective barrier of the continent, Little Zhuji patted her chest, saying, “It feels a bit tight here.”

That was all she felt from traveling through the void.

Qianye patrolled the interior of the vessel and confirmed that the important installation projects were going smoothly. Most of the toad-grade ballistae had been installed and were undergoing calibrations. The kinetic engines were more complicated—each of them required meticulous calculations before mounting, in order to ensure the balance of the entire airship and allow for the installation of even more engines.

There were two propellers under the current Martyr’s Palace designed to propel origin power and generate forward motion. Each propeller had to be powered by three engines to produce sufficient acceleration.

More engines meant more energy. The main cannon—after being attached to two dedicated engines—could now fire at max output. It would still need to recharge for five minutes between shots, however.

Qianye was fairly satisfied. The palace’s current speed and firepower were sufficient to fight a duke-grade warship.

The Earth Dragon’s skull had been put to good use, containing Qianye’s residence, the command center, Landsinker, and its ammunition storage.

Qianye brought Zhuji onto the skull and sat down on it.

Little Zhuji looked on from the side while munching on a large piece of beast meat.

“What’s up?” Qianye felt that the little girl had something to say.

Zhuji asked, “Papa, won’t people think you’re unreliable?”

“Ah, why?” Qianye wasn’t expecting this.

Zhuji said seriously, “After taking Southern Blue back, you should be reorganizing the forces and handing out punishments and rewards. Some of them were asked to surrender by mama, but some yielded of their own accord. You should be finding these people and punishing them one-by-one. Otherwise, people will find out betraying you has no consequences and another rebellion might happen.”

“Uh, yeah.” Qianye looked surprised.

“Also, you have to beat up those merchant groups at least once. These are things you should’ve done, but you ignored everything and stood there gazing. Then, you came here. Mama will surely blame you if he finds out.”

“Wait a minute, where did you learn all these things?” This little fellow wasn’t very old yet, but her reasoning was already giving Qianye a headache.

“Mama taught me.”

“When did he teach you?” Qianye couldn’t believe it. Little Zhuji had spent more time with him than Song Zining, apart from when she was very young. Besides, she had only grown rapidly after eating the six-armed giant’s heart. She was still in a rather confused state before that. When did she learn so many things?

Little Zhuji tilted her head. After some thought, she said, “Mama taught me all this. He taught me all of that soon after I hatched.”

“You didn’t even know how to speak! Fine, what else did he teach you?”

“A lot of things. The history of the Empire and Evernight, theories in war and fighting, the language and culture of each race, how girls should dress, style themselves, and match colors, also about space, designs, a hundred ways to tell how a man is lying, love that transcends race…”

“Wait a minute! What the heck are those? How did he teach you?” Qianye was speechless at the things Little Zhuji had learned. After some thought, though, they seemed to be in line with Song Zining’s style.

The lass thought hard. “Mama read me books and sometimes just talked nonstop. He said he would give me many books to read when I know how to.”

“When did he have that much time.”

“A lot of time. Mama would always talk to me while looking at the map.”

Qianye understood what was going on. That fellow was actually multitasking—he would study military strategy while teaching Zhuji. It truly made one wonder what kind of accursed strategy he would think of in this manner. Yet it just so happened that he was always victorious in battle, earning him the title of future strategist god. Was he too much of a genius, or was the enemy too dumb? That was a mystery.

A hundred ways to tell if a man is lying, how could he teach her such an unrefined thing? Of course, it did have its uses in war, but those old politicians could lie so well that they even deceive themselves. Ordinary people simply wouldn’t be able to see through them.

Wearing matching colors and dressing pretty were things ladies knew inherently, but it wasn’t a bad thing to learn them. After all, even those with good looks need to dress up. The problem lay in Zhuji’s age. Was it appropriate to teach her all these things from a young age? Wasn’t he afraid she would go astray?

“What kind of teaching-attitude was that!?” Qianye thought angrily. Was reading some books considered teaching?

Qianye realized something all of a sudden. How did Zhuji remember all of those when she couldn’t even speak?

To this question, the lass replied, “I just remembered them! I didn’t understand what they were back then, but I do now after eating that thing Aunty gave me.”

“You mean, you remember everything he said back then?”

“Yes, is something wrong?”

“… Nope, nothing.” Qianye was speechless once more. He couldn’t help but rub his temple—Zhuji’s talents were probably enough to frustrate many people to death.

After learning about her entire education process, Qianye accepted that her words weren’t strange. It was just that he felt rather awkward. The little girl being too smart wasn’t a good thing, especially since she could remember every small detail. Wouldn’t she remember it all if anyone were to treat her badly as a kid?

Qianye felt lucky that it wasn’t him teaching the girl. Sooner or later, she would realize the mess of things Song Zining had taught her.

Since Little Zhuji was more intelligent now, he couldn’t treat her like before. Qianye explained with a serious expression, “I’m not in the mood for all those things.”

“Why? Is it because of Aunty?”

The direct question almost caused Qianye to trip and fall. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Little Zhuji replied earnestly, “That’s not nonsense! You like Aunty, but Aunty doesn’t like you. Isn’t that all there is to it?”

Qianye almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Fortunately, he was level-headed enough to suppress the feeling. “What would a child know?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s written clearly in the book!”

Qianye was both angry and laughing. “What book would write such things?”

“A Love that Transcends Race!”

Qianye finally fell to the floor.

“That’s not a book, that’s a novel!”

“It’s very interesting! Everything is reasonable! You and Aunty are exactly like what’s written in the book!”

Qianye discovered that reasoning with this all-knowing girl was futile. He muttered through clenched teeth, “Song Zining, just you wait!”

Zhuji was confused. “Why must Mama wait for the matter between you and Aunty? Don’t tell me there’s romance between you and Mama? There’s nothing like that in that book, maybe I need to find a new one.”

Qianye shot up from the floor, almost hurting his back in the process. He said in great alarm, “You’ve learned enough! No more reading for the time being, training your body is more important.”

“Isn’t growing all about eating and sleeping? Don’t tell me I have to cultivate?”

Qianye was stopped up. It went without saying that ordinary dark races had to cultivate too, but during their growth period, the more powerful one’s bloodline was, the less effective cultivation was. Someone as strong as Zhuji needed only to eat and sleep well.

Seeing that Qianye had nothing to retort, Zhuji said, “What exactly is going on between you and Aunty?”

The little girl’s eyes twinkled brightly. Qianye could almost see the flames of gossip burning in her eyes.