The male supporting character was actually myself.

Once all the masts break and cannot be quickly replaced, control over the airship will rapidly decrease, leaving it adrift aimlessly on the flying rocks. If a massive tornado were to affect it, it could collide with other flying islands...

"I see!" Jiang Chen suddenly understood.

Previously, influenced by the script, I had preconceived notions and always thought that the continent floating in the air was just a background setting of the mission world.

I never expected there was such a connection.

No wonder the airship was swept and crashed onto the flying island after the mast was broken. Firstly, it lost precise control of the airship; secondly, the bad weather made the detection instruments prone to malfunction, so the helmsman had no time to react before the entire airship crashed.

The so-called floating ball that the protagonist Ji Ningyu grabbed in her panic was probably just a fragment of a flying stone that fell after a violent impact! Or it might just be something with some flying stone fragments attached. In any case, it was a prop specifically designed to give the female protagonist a life-saving cheat.

Lan Jingshu's palms were slightly sweaty with nervousness. She said softly, "I don't want others to know this secret. Otherwise, the flying stone will be too attractive to people, and the Yunmeng family will definitely be in the eye of the storm."

Many adventurous groups will even target flying islands they can attack, and who knows how many more continents and creatures will suffer because of the flying stones.

“I understand your concerns.” Jiang Chen nodded in understanding. “In the search for gold and gems, many mountains and lands have been dug up and riddled with holes.”

Moreover, such a precious flying stone?

If the news gets out, all the continents floating in the air will probably suffer.

However, knowing the internal workings of the airship, perhaps I can manage to save the Cloud Dream City from disaster!

Lan Jingshu hurriedly asked, "Have you come up with a solution? How do you do it?"

Of course, it involves using Horcruxes to directly control the flying stones, making them obey your will and carry the airship away from danger to a safe landing.

Thinking this to himself, Jiang Chen smiled and said, "Be prepared to replace the mast at any time before a tornado arrives."

Even if only two are saved, it will be enough to maintain the airship's operation. As long as it doesn't completely lose control and is quickly maneuvered to land, the lives of over four thousand people can be saved.

"Is this all it takes?" Looking into her beloved's bright eyes, she suddenly mustered the courage to stand on tiptoe and hug Jiang Chen tightly. In a barely audible, trembling voice, she said, "Promise me, if we really can't turn the tide, you must get on the rescue boat and leave. Don't let the secrets of the Yunmeng family drag you down!"

Chapter Twenty-Three: Family Heirloom

"Don't worry, you have to have some faith in me. I'll definitely handle everything perfectly!" Jiang Chen gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.

In the dim light of the flickering red candle, Lan Jingshu could hear the strong, steady heartbeat against his chest, which gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

"It's so good to have you!" she murmured softly, reluctant to let this moment of tenderness slip away.

Ye Qingqing's heart was pounding. Her eyes were fixed on the precious ancestral necklace in Duan Lang's hand, and her joy was evident.

Although it cannot compare to Luo Jiangchen's priceless jade pendant, Duan Lang's deep blue sapphire jade necklace is still more gorgeous at first glance!

Especially the heart-shaped sapphire, so large and pure in texture, refracted a dazzling light, its beauty breathtaking.

The jade necklace is made of the rarest purple jade, and the entire piece is carved into a necklace and connected with exquisite and gorgeous gold rings.

Being treasured as a family heirloom by the extremely wealthy Duan family, it is naturally extremely precious. It is said that both the sapphire and amethyst necklaces are the largest and best known to date!

Even the gold wire clasp adorning the purple jade necklace was meticulously crafted by the most famous master craftsmen in history, making it highly valuable both in terms of its intrinsic worth and its collectability.

"This is the Duan family heirloom. My father entrusted it to me for safekeeping after I passed the imperial examination. It is to be given to the person I will spend my life with as a token of love at our wedding."

Duan Lang held the necklace in his hands and said tenderly, "Now that we are engaged, I will inform my family as soon as we arrive at the Glass Tower to choose a date for the wedding. I would like to put it on you tonight."

I know that Young Master Luo once gave you a priceless treasure as a token of love at your engagement ceremony, and I don't want you to suffer any injustice regarding this token.

"My dear, will you wear this and become my wife, and love me deeply?"

Her face flushed slightly as she turned her head to look at herself in the mirror. The red candlelight cast a hazy glow on her beautiful face.

Although he didn't say anything, his beautiful fiancée's shy actions already showed no objection, and Duan Lang happily put the hairpin on her head himself.

At the same time, he secretly rejoiced that the heavens were on his side. He had been riding high on his success in the imperial examinations not long ago, and today he had successfully boarded the Cloud Dream City and met the love of his life and married her.

That young master Luo is truly unlucky; he was already engaged, but he broke off the engagement because his fiancée was slightly unwell.

Fortunately, the engagement was called off, otherwise where would he have found such a perfect wife?

"Today is our engagement day. According to the customs of our Longyuan Dynasty, we should give porridge and rice to the poor. However, we cannot do so as usual since we are on the airship."

However, I heard that the last class cabin of the Cloud Dream City was crowded with many poor people who could only eat two meals a day, which was really pitiful.

So, taking advantage of our auspicious engagement day, I'm going to arrange for the kitchen to treat those first-class passengers to a nice meal, followed by a grand banquet..."

Duan Lang was still talking excitedly, but Ye Qingqing didn't hear a word he said.

Looking at herself in the mirror, adorned with various jewels and appearing like a fairy descended to earth, she always felt a sense of unreality.

In just two days, I experienced two engagements!

My fiancés are all handsome, dashing, and wealthy, but... do I really want to marry this stranger whom I've only met once and have never had a heart-to-heart talk with?

Ye Qingqing's mind flashed with the image of her lover again, and she painfully realized that she could not forget him!

Even with the jingling of gold and silver jewelry, what she longed for was still tenderness, consideration, and care. Duan Lang, also a scholar, clearly lacked the same tenderness.

"I heard that Mr. Ouyang is also on the airship. I must go and pay him a visit. If you are tired, you should rest first." Duan Lang was excited but also helpless because he had to be considerate of all social obligations. There would be plenty of time for him and his fiancée in the future, so there was no need to rush.

However, it is naturally better to visit other highly respected figures as early as possible.

Otherwise, he would be branded as a philanderer who only cares about a fleeting moment of pleasure, and in the future, as he travels to various continents and befriends many famous people, he would inevitably be criticized for his moral failings.

Therefore, no matter how much he didn't want to leave Qingqing, he had to leave her alone in the empty room while he went to visit various celebrities.

Upon learning that they probably wouldn't need to share a bed tonight, Ye Qingqing suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, finally putting her mind at ease.

"It's very lively outside, may I go and take a look?" she hurriedly asked timidly as the other person prepared to leave.

Duan Lang laughed heartily and said, "Of course! Our Longyuan Dynasty doesn't have so many messy rules. Since you and I are engaged, you are the hostess of this celebration banquet."

The only difference is that when I boarded the airship, I only brought my page, and now he has to help me prepare for the ceremony to meet with Mr. Ouyang.

"It's a bit inconvenient for you to go out and meet guests without a maid. Please invite your mother-in-law to join in the fun; she'll have company."

"Okay, I understand." Ye Qingqing's heart raced. She thought to herself that she absolutely couldn't let her mother come along, otherwise her mother would start lecturing her with all those long-winded principles of being a wife.

After Duan Lang left, she took off the precious necklace, put it in a box, and tiptoed out the door.

The storm continued, and the torrential rain seemed endless. Ji Ningyu lay bored on the wooden bed waiting for dinner, while her mind wandered, constantly recalling the beautiful face and weaving her own stories.

"Dinner is served! Today is the auspicious occasion of the engagement of the newly appointed top scholar, Lord Duan, of the Longyuan Dynasty on the Xing'ao Continent. We are offering porridge and rice as a blessing."

You're in luck! Lord Duan specially ordered the second-class kitchen to prepare a delicious meal for each of you!

Don't fight or scramble, everyone gets a share and will be distributed according to their bed number!

Knowing that the last class cabin was crowded and chaotic, and that even the food and dishes distributed on weekdays were handled by several burly men, they now had four security personnel with batons on standby.

This approach was quite effective. Even though the aroma of the food was so enticing that people were swallowing their saliva, the most unruly thugs no longer had any desire to scramble for it.

The entire cabins on the Cloud Dream City are divided into five classes, and all tickets include meals and lodging. However, most guests in other cabins are out sightseeing, and if they don't like the daily food, they can pay extra to change to something different.

The only place with the most people was the last-class cabin, which had a large dormitory-style berth, and was a melting pot of all sorts of people.

Most people here, like Ji Ningyu, are impoverished for various reasons, yet they are drawn by the cheap first-class tickets offered to celebrate the maiden voyage, and dream of getting rich and living a good life on the Star Moon Continent.

It's worth noting that other ships that can reach the Star Moon Continent have expensive tickets and don't include meals. In comparison, the Cloud Deep Dream City's last-class cabin is cheap and comes with two full meals, enough to reach the new continent and start a new life.

At this time, they were lucky enough to encounter a high-ranking official celebrating a happy occasion. Everyone stared longingly at the meal, which included meat, vegetables, rice, and soup, waiting to be allocated to them.

"Hey, I just peeked over, it's really lively upstairs!" A young man in the next bed said excitedly to his companion, "Let's hurry up and eat before someone steals our food!"

Then, taking advantage of the fact that we're allowed to go out for a stroll late at night, we can see if we can sneak in. They have the best food and drinks there!

Chapter Twenty-Four: Reunion

"Damn it! Riding in an airship is like being in prison. We're not allowed to go out during the day, and we can only get some fresh air at night. It's disgusting!"

"That's normal. After all, the large deck is for public use. They're afraid that our shabby clothes and vulgar language will scare away those rich young ladies."

"Damn it! If it weren't for my gambling debts and fear of getting exiled again, I'd definitely find a chance to sleep with two rich young ladies, otherwise my life wouldn't have been in vain..."

"As expected of food prepared in a high-end kitchen, it's delicious, and the pieces of meat are so big!"

"Compared to this, it seems like we're eating pig swill all the time!"

"How many coins does your boat ticket cost? You're lucky if you can even get enough to eat..."

Ji Ningyu wolfed down her food, thinking to herself that the taste was just so-so, far inferior to the cooking in the small kitchen in her own big garden.

If he weren't worried about eating too slowly and having someone snatch the food away, he wouldn't want to gulp it down like that, as if the food were incredibly delicious.

It's only slightly better than usual, with a few pieces of meat.

"The new top scholar..." He quickly finished his meal, let out a burp, and muttered to himself, thinking that he must arrange for the protagonist in the story he was writing to become the top scholar!

The story of passing the imperial examination and celebrating one's wedding night is loved by everyone, from young women and newlyweds to poor scholars who have failed the exam.

Ji Ningyu made up her mind, took out the blouse that she had carefully folded and put away under her pillow, and was very satisfied to find that it was wrinkle-free before putting it on.

This way, one can distinguish themselves from other passengers in the last class with a better image.

If we could take the opportunity to sneak upstairs and enjoy some delicious food, that would be even better!

Apart from the area under the eaves, the exposed deck was covered in rainwater. Many of the first-class passengers came out and crowded under the eaves, listening enviously to the lively sounds of clinking glasses and exchanging toasts upstairs.

The surroundings were pitch black, but there was very little lightning or thunder, which made the atmosphere even more oppressive.

The hull of the Yun Shen Meng Cheng ship was illuminated by navigation lights, and a hazy, pale yellow light stripe shone on the outer railing of the deck to help people identify safe locations; the upper floors and the surrounding buildings were all lit with warm yellow lights, emitting a hazy glow in the darkness.

Faint sounds of music and singing drifted over, reminding Ji Ningyu of her tender dream.

"Holy crap! What is that thing?!"

"Flying islands?"

"Oh God, are we going to run into something?"

"Pah, pah, pah! Shut your jinxed mouth!"

"The Cloud Recesses Dream City is truly impressive; it flies so steadily. It's obvious they knew there was a flying island here all along..."

…………

As the airship flew past a giant, dark island, tourists who happened to be looking to the starboard side immediately witnessed this spectacular yet terrifying scene.

The towering cliffs stood before them, and under the dim lights of the airship, they could see the flowers, plants, and trees growing on the craggy rocks, and even had the thought that they could reach out and pick a flower.

"It's absolutely spectacular!"

"Come and see! The helmsman of the Cloud Recesses Dream City is showing off his skills again!"