The people of Typhon could not be excluded from the results of Project Gateway. This included not only the exploration of the kingdom itself but also the various unexpected discoveries during the exploration process. As one of the initiators of the project and one of the main leaders of the Alliance, Gwen certainly had no intention of kicking his ally out of the picture.
But now he suspected that the origin of Steel Earth might be related to the Voyager, and it might even be related to his own body in space. He could not help but worry. He was worried that the exploration trip would have unpredictable situations, and all of this might not be suitable for a stranger to see.
Melita Pânia was not an "ally" of the Cecil Empire, but she was at least a close friend and knew something about the Voyager. Windsor Mappel's situation was different. Gwen knew nothing about the Typhon scholar. He did not know what would happen if he showed too many special things on Steel Earth or activated some of the Voyager's technology.
Daniel, who had been silent all this while, stood up.
"Let me go." The old mage glanced at his former apprentice. "You are a scholar-type mage who is used to doing research in a stable environment. You may not be able to handle an exploration mission that requires adaptability and experience. It has nothing to do with how strong you are. I have some adventure experience after leaving the Royal Association of Mages. "
He paused for a moment and looked at his other apprentice. "And I can bring Mary along."
Windsor Mappel looked at her mentor, a little surprised. She looked a little hesitant until Daniel casually added, "There needs to be a technical officer of the highest level who can oversee the overall situation outside the Gateway."
"Yes, your suggestion is very reasonable. I understand," Windsor immediately reacted, nodded solemnly to her supervisor, and said, "Then I will take the technical directors outside to meet you. You must pay attention to your safety."
Daniel nodded gently. Gwen just stood by and watched with a blank expression. On the other side, Melita Pânia was handing the two Young Dragon to Noretta.
"You stay here with the two little guys. There is no need to let Melly and Noretta risk their lives for things that have nothing to do with the Deep Blue Crevice," she said to her friend solemnly. "If everything goes well, we will be back in two days."
"Take care of yourself, protect yourself, and act according to the situation." As a Giant Dragon who had gone through the Coming of Age ceremony together, Noretta did not waste time. She just reminded her friend to be careful. "Follow Gwen's opinion. He has a lot to do with the Voyager's legacy."
"Don't worry, I know. I have a 'heart-to-heart' relationship with him." Melita smiled. She reached out and pressed the two Young Dragon who were looking at her curiously. She then rubbed Noretta's snow-white hair. Before the latter got angry, she quickly ran to the side. A brilliant light curtain descended from the sky. Under the light curtain, the slender female figure began to transform into a Giant Dragon.
In the distant sea of sand and clouds, the enormous steel behemoth was still approaching the border of the divine kingdom with an astonishing momentum. The layers of silver-white alloy armor and the glimmering lines on the edge of the armor belt were more and more clearly visible in the dim light. The sea of clouds undulated, and the quicksand was brought up by the edge of the steel earth and then slid down like a waterfall. A deep roar came from afar. The roar was not loud, but it made people feel as if they could feel the enormous energy contained in the depths of the steel earth. Those who heard it for the first time were frightened.
A vague feeling suddenly surged from the bottom of Gwen's heart. He subconsciously looked at the steel behemoth that was getting closer. In the huge pressure, he saw countless streams of light flowing inside the behemoth and some illusory projections. This feeling was very similar to when he came into contact with the Tide-Reversal Tower, but there were some differences.
This thing was indeed the legacy left behind by the Voyager, and … it was still 'alive', just like the Firmament Station and the Tide-Reversal Tower.
Heavy footsteps came from behind. Melita in the form of a Giant Dragon walked to the edge of the Divine Kingdom. She lowered her head and looked at the tiny 'passengers' under her feet with her huge eyes. She said with a rumbling voice, "I'm ready. Come up."
The people who were scheduled to go to the 'Steel Ground' to carry out the exploration mission immediately came forward. Gwen's eyes swept across the entire exploration team (including Melita as the flying vehicle). He gradually calmed down.
Followers, lackeys, best friends, die-hard fans, senior 25s, trainee 25s — the composition of the team was very reassuring.
The Giant Dragon rose into the air and rushed out of the Divine Kingdom's border with a violent airflow and a jolt. Those who stayed in the Divine Kingdom looked up at the direction where the Giant Dragon left and silently hoped that the mission would go smoothly.
"I hope the legendary Gwen Cecil can solve this mystery," Windsor Mappel said softly. "The further we go, the more unknown things we see …"
"The essence of exploration and research is to clarify the boundary of ignorance, so that we can be more aware of the vastness of the world." Noretta's eyes were always following Melita's figure, but her mouth was responding to her sigh. One of the two Young Dragons hugged her leg with its front claws, while the other tried to hang itself on her shoulder. "The dull and shallow people are the least confused because they have never come into contact with things beyond their knowledge. Nothing can make them doubt and think. Only the explorers who walk at the front will often be accompanied by confusion because they are dealing with the boundary of civilization every day."
As a profound scholar, Windsor Mappel certainly knew this truth. So she just smiled and looked into the distance again. In the corner of her vision, on a broken high platform decorated with swords and shields at the border of the Divine Kingdom, Malcolm Dumont's figure appeared out of nowhere, looking into the distance at the end of the sea of clouds.
This "ghost" who had already coexisted with the divine kingdom did not always appear in front of people. Most of the time, he would wander around other parts of the divine kingdom, as if he was protecting and patrolling this silent "city of gods." He would not disturb the activities of the explorers here, nor did he take the initiative to communicate with the people who entered here. However, when the explorers did something that could arouse his interest, he would still quietly appear and watch from afar like this.
What was he looking at? Was he looking at a world that was already unfamiliar to him? Or was he just taking the place of his "Lord" to see where the mortals who broke into the Divine Kingdom would go?
That was not what the explorers were concerned about. Windsor Mappel just glanced at the former Pope of the God of War, nodded slightly to him, and then looked away.
…
The spectacular but disturbing "Border Sea of Clouds" rolled under the Giant Dragon and gradually receded. The silver-white armor and complex structure of the "Steel Earth" gradually enlarged in the field of vision. Amber and Modir widened their eyes and stared at the approaching destination in the distance. Gwen patted the scales under his body and asked Melita, "Are you okay? The takeoff was very bumpy just now. I almost thought you were going to fall. "
"There is a lack of magic in the Divine Kingdom of the God of War. I'm not used to it," Melita's voice came. "I can only rely on my own magic when I take off. I can only fly normally when I'm out of the Divine Kingdom. It seems that I still need some practice."
"I see." Gwen nodded. He was relieved after knowing the reason.
The flight of the Giant Dragon was not "aerodynamic", and it did not rely solely on flapping its wings to create airflow. This was a fact that the real "Draconists" now gradually understood. These huge creatures had to rely on airflow and "magic ripples" at the same time to fly. The lift provided by flapping their wings was far from enough. The edge of their wings had a complex innate runic structure, so their flight was essentially a "spellcasting process".
"It seems that the special environment of the Divine Kingdom of the God of War is also particularly unfriendly to you," Kamel said. He also knew the secret of the Giant Dragon's flight. "I'm afraid you won't be able to fly for a long time here."
"Actually, even gliding is very tiring," Melita said helplessly. "But fortunately, everything will be back to normal after we leave that place. Okay, everyone, sit tight. We are about to land!"
The explorers on the dragon's back immediately tensed up. The next second, they noticed that they had passed through a thin, transparent energy barrier covering the Steel Earth. The feeling of passing through a cold curtain was fleeting. A moment later, the Giant Dragon's massive body landed on a relatively flat and open metal platform with a moderate impact.
The landing did not trigger any automatic anti-air fire, nor were there any hostile mechanical garrisons. Just like when the Explorer Golem landed, the worst did not happen.
Daniel was the first to get up. He cast a levitation spell and landed on the platform. He deliberately did not communicate too much with Gwen. While Amber and Victoria knew the inside story, Modir and Melita did not know about "Liaison Number 25". So, at least on the surface, he still had to maintain his identity as "Typhon's technical representative".
The explorers left the dragon's back one by one. Gwen was the last to leave. Just as he was about to step on the ground, he could not help but look back at My, who was bending down with her wings down.
Pony said casually, "Your landing was very smooth. I was prepared to roll on the ground for a while."
"It's not like I have problems every time!" Melita grumbled when she heard that. "My eyesight is just a little bad. It's not like I can't see such a big place! And didn't I apologize to you for falling into the sea last time … "
What followed was a bunch of "limited deceleration", "flight avoidance", and "Dragons forced to land is not called a crash". Soon, the platform was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
But the cheerful atmosphere did not let the explorers let down their guard, nor did it let them lower their observation skills.
Gawain looked up and saw a layer of translucent energy barrier clearly visible in his field of vision, blocking out the sea of sand and dust outside. Within his field of vision was a silver-white or silver-gray steel deck that extended into the distance, as well as some building-like facilities fixed on the deck.
Yes, he used the word "deck" to refer to the so-called "Steel Earth".
He thought that this thing was a ship, a spacecraft cruising in the realm of the divine realm according to a predetermined program.
It was not silent here. The humming and vibrating sounds of some ancient mechanical devices came from certain directions. These sounds made the intruders realize that something in the depths of the 'earth' was still moving. On the upper deck, there were all kinds of lights. These lights, large and small, created many dividing lines between the deck facilities. Gawain looked up at the end of the straight metal road. He saw that the distance was still shrouded in the shadows of Chaos. Some rising light burned quietly in the depths of the darkness, like the light produced by the exhaust flames of some propulsion device. Gawain looked up at the end of the straight metal road. He saw that the distance was still shrouded in the shadows of Chaos. Some rising light burned quietly in the depths of the darkness, like the light produced by the exhaust flames of some propulsion device.
Amber craned her neck and looked around, recalling what she saw on the dragon's back. She whispered to Gwen, "Hey, compared to this thing and our 'Project 115', which one do you think is bigger?"
Project 115 was the Cecil Empire's largest war weapon manufacturing project. Its main body was an aerial fortress that was being assembled at the foot of the Gloom Mountain Range. It was already in the latter half of its assembly, and although it was not completed, its scale was already quite impressive.
It was the largest man-made "device" that Amber could think of.
But even Project 115 seemed to be difficult to compare to this thing, even if it was just the size.
"This thing is bigger, maybe even bigger than the Stellaris Temple," Gwen said in a deep voice. "This is not something we can build with our current technology. Whether it is inside or outside, it is beyond the technological limits of today's era."
"Could this be left behind by the Voyager?" Melita, who had transformed into her human form, gulped and said nervously, "I feel that the style is a bit —"
Gwen did not wait for Ms. Blue Wyrm to finish. "Yes, this is the Voyager's legacy."
Melita opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she did not say anything. The other people beside her also had tense faces, fully focused on dealing with this "Primordial Legacy" that was extremely unfamiliar and unknown to mortals.
Gawain, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes slightly. He was communicating with the main body of the satellite in the material world and the main system of the Firmament Station. After confirming that everything was normal, he began to use his experience in the Tide-Defying Tower to try to establish some sort of connection with the giant ship that was cruising autonomously under the control of some sort of automatic program.
In fact, he did not know how to establish a connection, and he did not even know if this thing could respond to him. But generally speaking, as long as it was the Voyager's legacy, there must be some kind of resonance between them. Even if his authority was limited, he should have received some feedback when he contacted it.
But he did not "hear" anything. When he tried to use his spiritual power to explore the steel giant ship under his feet, he only sensed nothingness. It was a cold shell that was blindly operating according to the most primitive program settings, just like the simple machines made by mortals in this era. It did not have a "control system" that could respond to the Voyager's identification signal.
This seemed to be different from the Voyager's legacy that Gwen had come into contact with.
(End of Chapter)
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