Pillars of Ita

Fang Hefang wanted to ask, but the scenery in front of him seemed to change suddenly. A thin layer of water curtain seemed to appear between him and Sailer, and the scenery he saw was distorted.

Not far away stood a few sailors from the Sons of Salt and Bone. Next to them was a Bebelo tree with twisted roots. The sailors were talking beside the tree, but the sound of their conversation seemed to be dissipated by the distance, leaving only meaningless whispers.

All the sounds around him seemed to be near and far, high and low, as if he had fallen into a dream. Even the firelight was flickering. Fang Yu heard a clear voice that overwhelmed the other sounds. Luo Yu said to him:
"Ed, time and space are returning to normal!"

"Damn it, it has to be at this time." Fang He's heart sank. He turned around to look, but couldn't find the location of the others. The entire scene was distorted, just like the colors on a canvas were disappearing.

But he had just caught a glimmer of inspiration. The inexplicable look in Sergios's eyes at the end seemed to have a meaning. He seemed to see something? What happened when the full moon rose three hundred years ago?
"That great explorer's goal could not possibly be that illusory new route. What was his real goal, the Fountain of Youth? Or Vor-Salastir, the mysterious mobile port?"

Fang He felt vaguely that he seemed to have missed some important clue, but while he was thinking, a trembling whistle in the air interrupted his train of thought.

The voice passed by him and landed heavily not far away, as if the awakened instinct from deep in his genes told him what happened - artillery fire, and at least the shells were fired from artillery with a caliber of 5 inches or more! Without thinking, Fang He threw an Xs-1 behind him, and the gravity well that unfolded even covered the location where he imagined Miss Nightingale was.

As for Luo Yu, he was farther away, but their elementalists should be able to handle such a situation. While he was thinking, the shield of the magic furnace behind him emitted a dazzling light, and he felt as if he was pushed hard by someone and fell down involuntarily.

His mind went blank, but he realized what was happening and crawled forward subconsciously. But someone immediately rushed over and held him down, "Be careful, don't move!"

"You are hurt!" Miss Nightingale said with a slightly worried tone, handing over a crystal bottle filled with dark red liquid.

Her hands were covered in blood, but it wasn't hers, it was his. Fang He then felt a sharp pain coming from behind his waist, but he was still slow to react, and the shrapnel passed through the gravity area, pierced through his shield, and hit him.

He took the crystal bottle, unscrewed the stopper, and swallowed it in one gulp. Elisa opened another bottle of healing potion and poured it on his wound. Attalia's alchemical potion was not so magical, but it was very effective in relieving pain and stopping bleeding. Fang He immediately felt a chill spreading from that direction.

The second shell passed over their heads and landed farther away, creating a ball of fire in the darkness. The sailors, the ruins, and all the images disappeared, leaving everything about the Son of Salt and Bone in another time and space. The surroundings seemed to have turned into a strange valley, covered with lush jungle.

"Someone is bombarding us." The cooling and pre-charging time of magic artillery is extremely long. This density of firepower cannot be limited to one or two artillery pieces, which means someone has already set up an ambush here. Fang He said as he skillfully released the clockwork fairy, but no ships were detected in the sky.

It looked like the enemy had unloaded the magic artillery from the ship and set up a position nearby; this was clearly a long-planned and cautious move.

"How did they know we were here?" Elisa asked in a serious tone.

A hint of curiosity flashed across Fang He's mind. How could the other party know when the space-time rift would appear and set up an ambush so early?
"This is not the time to worry about this," he looked ahead. Three hundred years ago, there should have been a bottomless sinkhole there, but now the topography of the valley has completely changed, and now there is only a shallow ravine.

There were still traces of some ruins in the ravines, though they looked more weathered than they had been in that era, with exposed stone slabs glowing palely in the moonlight and covered with vines.

What exactly happened then?
Fang He couldn't help but be curious, why would his unlocking of the seal become the opportunity for that time and space to exclude them?

However, the turbulence of time and space has not completely subsided. A bright vortex still remains deep there, and behind the slowly rotating light - there is still the entrance to another world.

"Alyssa, notify the others," Fang He said, "The entrance to the space-time turbulence is still there, find a way to get in."

At this moment, a cannonball landed nearby, stirring up mud like raindrops. Elisa nodded and used the communication crystal to inform others that Luo Yu and the female pirate Catherine were both fine.

But there was no reply from Miss Bachelor.

Fang He remembered something and glanced at his pocket, but he was not surprised at all.

Elisa helped him up and asked with her eyes if he was okay. Miss Nightingale's eyes were like emeralds in the darkness, but with a rare hint of concern.

Fang He shook his head. He could still hold on. He glanced at the attributes on the panel and saw that his condition had returned to minor injuries. The shrapnel had been removed and no vital organs were damaged. As long as the bleeding stopped, the wound would heal quickly under the effect of the alchemical potion.

He is just suffering from slight blood loss now.

However, he did not rush to take Elisa away, but waited silently for a round of artillery fire. A total of eight shells fell nearby, two of which were farther away. The opponent had unloaded at least five guns.

Moving these cannons is not a small project, and the enemy may have more manpower than they imagined. Fang He has already guessed the identity of the enemy, but he is not in a hurry to verify it.

"Someone is coming, a very powerful guy," Eleusis' voice rang in their ears, "If you don't want to be caught, leave quickly."

Fang He was a little surprised that the other party did not take the opportunity to escape, but he thought it was because they still had the evidence in their hands. Although the Duke's tone was bad, it was still a kind reminder.

It seemed that she was not happy to fall into the hands of these people.

Fang He had already made a plan. He signaled to Elisa to help him climb out of the depression. The two of them crouched through the jungle, and the bright whirlpool soon appeared in front of them.

It was like water ripples floating in the air, emitting a light blue light under the moonlight. The textures were rotating, and the scene behind them could be vaguely seen. The seal from three hundred years ago was frozen in that space and time.

Fang He turned his head and looked further away - there were sporadic gunshots coming from that direction, and many of the construct spies he had deployed there disappeared in an instant.

Through the vision of the clockwork fairy, he saw Luo Yu walking through the woods. Catherine was also with him. In order to avoid the previous bombardment, the two fell in another direction. It seemed that it was too late to meet up with them.

Luo Yu took out the communication crystal and sent him a message: "Ed, you go in first."

"Be careful." Fang He replied.

Just as Elisa was letting go of his hand, Fang He turned around and nodded gently to Miss Nightingale on his boat.

Then he turned around and stepped into the transparent vortex.

It was as if there were many voices talking in his ears, and that familiar feeling came back again. All the sounds were pulled far away, and the buzzing sound seemed as if he was in a conference room, but he could not hear every specific byte.

The surrounding scene is also flowing, like a postmodern painting, but unlike before, the colors are not flowing away, but returning to the painting.

Then the surrounding scenery gradually became clearer, and Fang He unexpectedly found that he had not returned to the huge pit, but was in a closed hall.

The surroundings and the top of his head were all pitch black, with only the glow of the magic crystal in his hand projected onto the stone wall on one side, reflecting a grayish-white color.

Fang He raised the magic crystal and found that the gray-white stone wall extended all the way to the top of his head, forming an empty space. It seemed to be located underground, surrounded by natural caves, but there were also traces of artificial excavation.

"What is this place?"

The air was filled with a faint smell of moss and was a little damp. He had actually seen the natural spring in the center of the hall, which was flowing down with the layers of lava, but the spring water had long since dried up.

"Is this... the Fountain of Youth?"

Fang He approached with the magic crystal in his hand. His experience had convinced him that he had once again entered the turbulence of time and space, but this was three hundred years ago? The Fountain of Youth was indeed in this place, but how could it have dried up?

Fang He wiped his fingers in the spring pool and found only a layer of dust on his fingers, which showed that the spring water here had dried up long ago and no one had taken the water away recently.

But theoretically speaking, space-time turbulence will not change people's spatial coordinates. Why did the huge pit disappear after the outer seal was released?
Why did they come here? Had Sergios and his men been to this place before? Where were they going now?

He stood there silently. He once again entered the space-time turbulence not just to avoid it, but to figure out the inspiration he had grasped. What did Sayer want to tell him at that time?
He remembered the way the great explorer looked at him, and there seemed to be something else in his expression. Why did he ask himself that question?
What exactly did he notice?
Fang He walked around the hall holding the magic crystal and found that there was nothing special here except the dried up spring.

But when he returned to the place, he found that Alisa had not appeared yet.

Fang Yu was stunned for a moment before realizing that the space-time rift did have the ability to transfer spatial coordinates, but this might not be a bad thing. At least it meant that he would not meet those people outside in the short term.

He took out the communication crystal. As expected, this thing could not be relied upon in the turbulence of time and space, but he was not too worried.

Miss Nightingale's ability to protect herself is much stronger than his. As long as she is still in this place, the two of them will meet again. The same goes for Luo Yu and Catherine.

Fang He then looked at the place again. In addition to the spring in the center, there was also a passage leading out on the north side of the hall. If Sail and his men had been to this place, they should have left from that direction.

He thought for a moment before releasing the clockwork goblin and walking in that direction.

……

The Seven Seas Storm was approaching the edge of Drakilim's southern island under the cover of night, with the Shining Silver Coin following behind, also silently.

The cliffs outside Huanyu were emerging from the darkness. Luo Hao stood by the side of the ship, keeping an eye on the distance between the ship and the nearby islands and reefs. He didn't look back until he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

The one who came was a Paparar, who looked like he hadn't woken up yet. He was yawning and said to him, "Fatty, the sailors said there was a fire on the island just now. Did you see it?"

"They've already told me," Luo Hao glanced at the guy unhappily. This bastard was the only one in the group who would address him in such a disrespectful way. Miss Sylvie had just promoted him not long ago. Now he was the second mate on the ship, the deputy captain of the Shining Silver Coin. "If nothing unexpected happened, someone was fighting with the captain and his men."

"Have you contacted that guy?"

"No," Luo Hao shook his head. "I think the captain and his crew have probably entered a time-space turbulence. Miss May has investigated and found that time-space turbulence often occurs near Drakilimnan Island."

"In the turbulence of time and space, all laws are difficult to guess with common sense. The etheric pulse flow is also disordered, so long-distance communication that relies on the crystal network is almost unusable."

Luo Hao sighed.

This is actually the most dangerous part of the land bridge route. As long as communication is maintained, there is a chance of rescue even if the ship crashes. But in the fault sea area, loss of communication is a common thing, and often the next time people find a missing ship, they only find its wreckage.

This was exactly what happened to Miss Sylvie's father. He and his fleet disappeared for unknown reasons near the Sky Island Chain. It was not until the other half of the fleet returned from the Storm Gate that people figured out what had happened in the Second World.

To this day, no one has found the whereabouts of this great explorer, but some people say that they have seen his ship, the Queen Bayard. To be exact, this person is Miya.

But while the two were talking, Luo Hao's expression suddenly changed, and he picked up his communication crystal and said, "Ms. Alice has contacted Luo Yu."

He repeated the information on the communication crystal.

"It was the people of the Pivot Flame Oath Court who engaged the captain and his men. The other side has at least one fleet stationed here, and the captain has re-entered the space-time turbulence."

"The Pivotal Flame Oath Court?" Parker was startled. "Then what should we do? Did that guy give us any instructions?"

"The captain is not there," Luo Hao shook his head, "Luo Yu plans to go and meet him. We have to make our own decisions and deal with the current situation."

"Wait, what should we do?" The Papara people couldn't help but be surprised. "He wants us to come and meet him. Do we also have to go to the turbulent space-time to find someone?"

"No," Luo Hao glanced at the dark night above the sea, and a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes. Fang He, Miss Sylvie and Catherine were not on the ship, and he was the highest-ranking person on the ship.

Although there were still the big cat man and the elf lady, Atila and Red were not actually in charge. Although it was important to reunite with Fang He and the others at this moment, they would still meet the Pivot Flame Oath Court after leaving the time and space turbulence.

What's more, there is an important information gap at the moment, that is, the other party may not know the existence of the Seven Seas Storm and the Shining Silver Coin. Luo Hao immediately came up with a bold idea in his mind.

"While the Shuyan Oath Court hasn't noticed this," Luo Hao couldn't help but grin, "It's impolite not to reciprocate. Go tell Mr. Reid and Miss Atila, and inform my elder sister that we're going to hold an emergency combat meeting."

The Paparar looked at the fat man unexpectedly, as if he saw a hint of ferocity in his eyes. He wanted to say something else, but he couldn't help shuddering when he saw this scene. After thinking about it, he shut his mouth obediently.

The night wind was lifting the flag on the ship, making a low sound.

……

The bishop in scarlet robes was looking at something at his feet. It was clearly a fragment of a certain device, like a fragment that had fallen from a magic furnace. The edge of the metal was sharp and curled, and there was an obvious scratch on it.

There was a pool of blood nearby and empty crystal bottles scattered around. He listened silently to the report of his men. The bombardment had the desired effect. It should have hit the target and penetrated the opponent's magic furnace, but no one was left alive.

"The target is injured. Where did they go?"

"Your Excellency, the blood trail extended forward for a distance and stopped abruptly in the valley. We have measured the ether runoff there, and the reaction of disordered space-time is extremely high—"

"In addition, two targets escaped along the valley, and our people are still chasing them."

The Archbishop of the Pivot of the Oath Court had no interest in the two escaped prey. He stretched out his hand, and the metal fragments on the ground automatically flew into his hand. He turned the object in his hand, and stared at the details on it in the light of the fire. The gold patterns embroidered on the red robe sleeves also flashed in the light.

After a long while, he raised his head and said calmly, "It seems that the target has hidden in the turbulent space-time again. But this is also good, so we don't have to look for people everywhere."

The bishop gently threw away the metal fragment in his hand and asked, "Where is Her Majesty the Saint?"

"My lord, there is no news about the Saint," the knight half-kneeling on the ground replied, "She doesn't seem to have left that turbulent space-time, my lord, you know..."

"Forget it. I can't control that person's affairs." The archbishop said, "But it's enough to do this. The door has been opened, so now we just need to wait for the Seat of Stars to appear."

The knight finally breathed a sigh of relief, raised his head and looked at the lord, waiting for further instructions.

The Archbishop looked at everyone around him, and then he said solemnly: "This time, we will put an end to all the fallacies and restore the Holy Covenant of the Pivot Flame to its rightful place."

"We swear the Holy Flame Oath to live up to the blood we shed."

There was unquestionable authority in the archbishop's words.

Everyone lowered their heads and responded in unison:

"Don't let down the blood of this body."

...(End of chapter)