Flying City: Eureka

Three months.

Lan Qingyou and a squad from the Witch Group had spent a full three months finally completing that project.

Although the personnel had been constantly shifting for various reasons throughout the process...

Because everyone was so interested in the project, no one slacked off while on the clock.

As a result, the construction period was significantly shorter than Lan Qingyou had anticipated.

Of course...

Since this project was such a massive undertaking, practically all the witches living in Typhon City knew about it.

While they didn't know the specifics, they were certain their leader was up to some grand new tricks with the Witch Group.

Consequently, the witches generally avoided disturbing Lan Qingyou and her team, and some even stepped up to help.

This was another reason for the shortened construction time.

“Phew—it's finally done.”

“I didn't expect a single project to take this long.”

“I didn't expect it either, but the finished product is very satisfying.”

“If anything, it should have taken much longer. Completing it in just three months is quite an achievement, no matter how you look at it.”

After placing the final material into the steel-like substance before her, Erika, who was sitting on her magic broom nearby, spoke with a touch of pride in her voice.

“That's true,” Pandora, the Flame Witch, replied with a smile, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her arm.

If anyone were looking from a distance right now, they would surely be astonished.

Floating in the air before the two witches was a massive island.

The island was so large that, from a distance, the two of them wouldn't even look like specks of dust.

Atop the island, a magnificent city surrounded by walls of black stone was clearly visible.

【Flying City — Eureka】.

That was the name of this city, and it would henceforth serve as the true core city of the Witch race.

Eureka's predecessor was Typhon City.

It could be said that the entire range of the Flying City: Eureka extended just beyond the walls of Typhon City.

This was partly because the magic shield was only that large, and partly because this range was their current limit.

Or rather, it was the limit of the 'Project 1.0' for the 'Flying City.'

The project was originally conceived to make Typhon City fly, thereby reducing ground-based attacks and protecting both themselves and the other witches.

Thus, version 1.0 didn't involve any extra bells and whistles.

If the city needed to expand with other buildings or facilities in the future, they would simply perform a version 2.0 upgrade.

For witches like them, such a thing was hardly worth mentioning.

Moreover, the entirety of Typhon City was already designed to house over a million people, so there was plenty of empty space, not to mention herb fields, the Witch Academy, and manufacturing plants.

Living inside would be perfectly convenient for daily life, study, work, and research.

So, for the time being, they didn't need to focus on other aspects.

As the saying went, it just needed to fly.

It didn't even need to be that high; five hundred meters was enough to defend against most ground attacks.

Even among the flying races, only a few could reach an altitude of five hundred meters in one go.

One could say that the new direction Lan Qingyou had found for the Witch race was 'detachment.'

Since they were people who could save on food and drink to focus on research materials, they didn't really need much interaction with others anyway.

Too much exposure only made them vulnerable.

It was a shift from one extreme to another following the Abandoned War.

As for the name, Lan Qingyou simply found the sound of it interesting; it had a happy ring to it.

Didn't Blue Star have something called a 'Eureka moment'?

It was probably something like that.

The metal components Pandora and Erika had just installed were the thrusters that allowed the flying city to take flight and change direction.

There were over ten thousand such thrusters beneath the city of Eureka.

They were a product of combining the mana machinery technology Lan Qingyou excelled in with the biological alchemy technology she had obtained from Alisa.

The mechanical part was straightforward, using principles similar to those of golems.

The biological aspect utilized cellular compounds from the Big-eyed Cutie—Ksuya's Eye.

After all, the Big-eyed Cutie also possessed the ability to float. Although it wasn't fast, the city of Eureka never prioritized speed.

In a way, it wouldn't be wrong to view these ten thousand thrusters as ten thousand tiny Ksuya's Eyes.

Of course, that was assuming one didn't have trypophobia.

Otherwise, just the thought of the underside of the island being covered in eyes would be enough to kill someone on the spot.

During these three months of construction, the research and development of these thrusters alone had taken a full month.

And that was with the collective efforts of over twenty brilliant witches.

But it had to be said that the results were very satisfying for everyone.

Naturally...

Besides making the city fly, Lan Qingyou had other reasons for doing this.

Steel Witch: "Final thruster installation complete."

Flame Witch: "Final calibration can begin now."

Witch of the Tower: "Acknowledged. All witches working outside, please return to the city immediately."

As the reports from Pandora and Erika came through the cards, Lan Qingyou, sitting at her magic desk, replied.

She then set down her card and opened her small screen.

【Do you wish to upgrade to a Level 7 shelter?】

The moment she opened the screen, that dialogue box popped up.

Yes.

Lan Qingyou had held off on upgrading her shelter, partly because she didn't need it yet, and partly because she was waiting for this exact moment.

She quickly clicked the option and began tossing in the required materials one by one.

When the final piece of Beast Emperor Ore was thrown in, the dialogue box immediately changed.

【Please select your shelter's upgrade path:】

【1. Triple the size of the tree hollow shelter.】

【2. Double the size of the tree hollow shelter and add a third-floor area.】

Lan Qingyou familiarly chose the second option.

【Level 7 Shelter Facilities】

【Bedroom: ... Living Room: ... Storage Room: ... Fireplace: ... Balcony: ...】

Lan Qingyou didn't even spare a second glance at the things she hadn't chosen before.

What she needed now was to find the specific one she wanted.

Sure enough, as she scrolled down rapidly, she finally saw the item she was looking for.

【City Flight Management Center: Steel *1000, Obsidian *10000, Thorium *800, Mana Conductor *10000, Ksuya Cell Components *10000...】

【Each shelter upgrade allows for the modification of three facilities. Please choose carefully based on your needs.】

“Woohoo!”

When she saw that option, Lan Qingyou couldn't help but raise her hands in a cheer.