MWC – Chapter 184 Luxurious Journey

I AM DROPPING THIS NOVEL. IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE THEY CAN. IF POSSIBLE PLEASE SHARE THE LINK SO I CAN BINGE READ TOO.

The train rumbled swiftly across the fields.

Lu Ming lay on the soft bed, having just dozed off for a while. He checked his watch; it was already past eleven.

He hadn’t slept a wink the previous night. This morning, at 8 AM, he had boarded the train at the East Sea Central Station. The starting point was the East Sea Central Station, and the final destination was Nikola.

Nikola was one of the largest city-states in the Western Domain Free City-State Alliance.

It was also the location of the alliance’s parliament.

The alliance was a loose coalition formed by hundreds of free city-states, which had joined the empire to become one of the empire’s five major federations.

However, this alliance was extremely loose, with many conflicts between the city-states, and frequent wars.

The alliance’s headquarters was located in Nikola City.

The main symbol of the alliance was the alliance parliament.

Each city-state, no matter its size, had one representative in the alliance parliament. Large and small city-states had no distinction in the number of representatives—each had only one member and one vote. This seemed fair, but it made it impossible for the alliance parliament to resolve any conflicts between the city-states. It was merely a symbolic body, a place for verbal battles between hostile city-states.

This train from East Sea could go straight to Nikola City.

However, Nikola was located in the northeast of the Western Domain, and the journey from Nikola City to Bat City was over two thousand miles. Of those, about a thousand miles had railways, while the rest consisted of rough roads and dirt paths. In particular, the area around Bat City and nearby city-states mostly relied on horse-drawn carriages for transport.

However, due to the discovery of an enormous oil field, Fira Petroleum had already planned to connect Bat City to the Western Domain railway network.

In the Western Domain, railways were scarce—there were only two main lines running east to west and north to south. Once Bat City entered the railway network, it would attract a massive influx of businessmen coming to mine for gold.

Therefore, if the North Gate Chamber of Commerce could gain a foothold in that area now, the future potential would be substantial.

However, there weren’t many figures from the North Gate business community participating in this investigation group. There were only around twenty business representatives in the trade delegation, and they only represented eleven companies and individuals, some of whom might not even have much genuine business involvement.

Lu Ming paid more attention to these people. Of course, not wanting to participate in this investigation did not mean they lacked ability. It couldn’t even be said that they lacked entrepreneurial spirit. Their decisions were closely related to their company’s goals and strategies. In fact, the companies that were eager to expand might be struggling with heavy debts, hoping to find a lifeline.

Not everything could be generalized.

The members of the trade delegation, along with the accompanying municipal staff, occupied most of Carriage 15, which, along with Carriage 14, was a first-class carriage.

Additionally, there were 200 armed personnel from the United Matrix, along with weapons, supplies, and vehicles. Several additional carriages were attached, along with three helicopters, which were secured atop the attached carriages.

Lu Ming’s carriage was one of the attached ones.

At this moment, lying on the soft bed, Lu Ming gazed out the window at the rapidly retreating scenery.

The large glass windows offered a clear view of the countryside outside.

Lu Ming sighed inwardly. Capitalism was indeed so comfortable.

In his previous life, his home country, at that time, had no problem technically creating such ultra-luxurious carriages. This wasn’t advanced technology—it was just soft furnishings. But even the highest government officials’ special trains didn’t have anything like this, did they? After all, they had to consider the impact and couldn’t be too extravagant.

In East Sea, however, as long as you had enough money, it was a kind of enjoyment unimaginable to ordinary people.

The added-on carriage was a luxurious scenic family carriage.

It was essentially designed for noble families, with many servants traveling along.

It was an upgraded version of the luxurious soft sleeper carriage.

An imperial-standard luxurious soft sleeper carriage typically consisted of 8 independent compartments, with only 16 berths per carriage. Each high-end compartment had double bunks and an en-suite bathroom. The rooms were furnished with sofas, coffee tables, a phonograph, a radio, a safe, and so on.

The luxurious scenic family carriage, on the other hand, consisted of a master bedroom and 4 independent compartments. The 4 independent compartments were similar to those in the luxurious soft sleeper carriage, all double rooms with en-suite bathrooms, sofas, coffee tables, and phonographs.

The master bedroom was as large as the combined four independent compartments, occupying half the carriage.

It featured a spacious luxurious bedroom, a viewing platform, a bathroom with a bathtub, and an outer room with a bar for entertaining guests. It could easily be considered a luxurious hotel suite on a train.

This type of luxurious scenic carriage was not a standard carriage and was only available at East Sea Central Railway Station for added services. Typically, it was only available on trains that exceeded a distance of about 1,000 kilometers, and guests had to pay a steep extra fee to attach it to their train.

The journey from East Sea to Nikola was over ten thousand miles. The extra cost for this luxurious scenic family carriage was 5,000 yuan.

If calculated per passenger in the soft sleeper (16 passengers), the average cost per person was 300 yuan.

The first-class fare from East Sea to Nikola was only 50 yuan per person.

The third-class fare was 9 yuan.

However, this luxurious scenic carriage was indeed very comfortable.

The high, soft, snow-white bed was a delight. Lounging in bed and watching the scenery outside—the lush green fields, the distant small bridges over flowing streams, and the faint outlines of villages in the distance—was truly enjoyable.

“Where’s the next stop?” Lu Ming lazily asked.

“Master, you’re awake! The next stop is Wogis,” came a soft, delicate voice from outside. It was hard to tell if it was Luo Yi or Luo Er.

At the Hepu Road Lu Mansion, the two of them were in charge of serving him, but in reality, since he bought these household slaves, their encounters had been few. When he returned home, they were merely background figures, never given a second glance.

However, on this trip to the Western Domain, after being persuaded by Hanzhu, he brought both of them along. After all, they were ready-made translators and understood the local customs to some extent.

Especially when Hanzhu mentioned that Luo Yi had relatives in Bat City.

The Idro people were a large ethnic group in the Western Domain, and they had settlements in many city-states.

The hundreds of city-states in the Western Domain actually spoke different languages, but despite the linguistic differences, people from different city-states could still communicate with some effort. The differences in language were similar to dialects within the same language, though some of these dialects were vastly different.

“Master, shall we help you dress and wash?” the soft voice asked from outside.

“No need, I’m too lazy to move,” Lu Ming replied, then added, “If you’re hungry, make something to eat with Sun Bo and Da Hei.”

The added-on carriages were at the end of the train, and they were not connected to other carriages. During the journey, they couldn’t access the dining car. Fortunately, there was a separate kitchen where they could cook.

Inside the carriage, besides Luo Yi and Luo Er, there were also Sun Bo and four black slaves acting as guards.

The train rattled along with its unique rhythm, slightly swaying as it moved. Looking out the window at the passing scenery, lying on the soft bed, a sense of drowsiness gradually overcame him, and before he knew it, he drifted back to sleep.

Around 8 PM, the train stopped at Raccoon City. It would stay here for about an hour, as it was a major station and the capital of Hanerton Province, a transportation hub in the central region. At the same time, the locomotive needed maintenance.

Lu Ming got off the train but didn’t leave the station. He went to the coffee shop among the row of shops on the platform. Along with him were Sherlock, Wen Liangyu, and a young master from Wang Ji Gold Industry, named Wang Jinfei. He was in his thirties, calm and composed, and already made many important decisions for the company.

In this trade delegation, Sherlock was the leader, and Lu Ming was the deputy leader.

After all, Sherlock was older and had much more experience than Lu Ming.

However, after the uproar at the meeting yesterday with the Wang family, it was impossible to hide who had organized the delegation.

The four of them sat by the window in the coffee shop, sipping coffee and chatting leisurely.

Wen Liangyu’s position in the North Gate business world had changed drastically from a year ago. Now, the most prominent title he held was not as the president of a union, but as the owner of Wen Real Estate Company. One of the construction sites near the Free Tower was his.

Wang Jinfei had been introduced to this trade delegation by Wen Liangyu. He called Wen Liangyu “Uncle Wen,” Sherlock “Uncle Sherlock,” and Lu Ming “Uncle Lu,” with an extremely respectful attitude.

Lu Ming had grown used to young people addressing him with the same formal respect they gave to elders. After all, he usually addressed their elders as peers, and in the Zhongzhou tradition, the hierarchy of generations was very important. Thus, it was only natural for him to be considered a senior.

According to the hierarchy, since he addressed Wen Liangyu as a peer, it was perfectly appropriate for Wang Jinfei to call him “Uncle.”

“Jinfei, Jinfei… Your name sounds a bit odd, doesn’t it?” Sherlock asked, with a furrowed brow, speaking naturally without any reservations.

Wang Jinfei smiled, “Yes, when my father named me, our family hadn’t started the gold industry. I’ve actually changed my name, but among friends and my fourth uncle, they still call me by this name.”

“Oh, what’s your new name?” Sherlock asked.

Wang Jinfei told them his new name, and Sherlock laughed, saying it was a good name.

Lu Ming, sipping his coffee, found the conversation somewhat boring. He asked Wen Liangyu, “Fourth Brother, has Liu Laoge contacted you by phone since the new year?”

Wen Liangyu sighed, “He’s almost become an immortal by now. His level of thinking is too high, I can’t find anything to talk about with him anymore.”

Lu Ming nodded. “Still unclear exactly what happened. We’ll have to see when we get there. The regional representative office said they’ve already sent a fax to inquire with the lord of Bat City. Logically, a small security office wouldn’t dare to act recklessly, but I’ve heard that some city lords in the Western Domain can’t even control their subordinates. They’re just figureheads. I don’t know if Bat City is one of those places.”

Wen Liangyu also sighed, “It’s hard to say. Like you said, we’ll find out when we get there.”

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, with many people running in one direction. Some passengers waiting for their trains even abandoned their luggage, not caring about it.

A staff officer from Sherlock’s office, standing at the entrance of the coffee shop, quickly came in, his face full of excitement. “It’s Miss Nicole! Miss Nicole is at the station!”

Sherlock frowned. “A movie star, what’s so special about that?” He stood up. “Let’s go take a look.”

Wen Liangyu paused for a moment, then shook his head helplessly. “Let’s go take a look too,” he said to Lu Ming.

Wang Jinfei, who had been eager to join in, noticed that the two older men hadn’t moved yet, so he didn’t rush out like a headless fly.

“Alright, let’s go see,” Lu Ming said as he stood up. He hadn’t seen Nicole in a while. Recently, with the big production from Renault Film Studios, her team had been given a break. After working intensely for over half a year, it wasn’t good to keep the pressure up, even if they earned a lot of money. This break was a chance for them to relax and recharge. It seemed Nicole was out enjoying herself.

Normally, when traveling, she would likely wear sunglasses and a mask to cover her face. He wasn’t sure how she had been spotted.

As he pondered this, he left the coffee shop and saw a large crowd gathered outside, surrounding a place in several layers.

Shaking his head, he said, “Alright, I’ll return to the carriage. I’m not going to squeeze in there.”

Wen Liangyu smiled. “I’ll walk around a bit. See you at the next stop!”

Thanks again to Mr. Su for the reward! Thanks to all the friends for their support, bowing deeply!