Pillars of Ita

Viewed from the sky, Vor-Sarastil resembles an inverted mountain peak that has been cut away, with a city built on the smooth surface of the cut.

Centered on the city, four long bridges extend outwards, connecting with the surrounding ring of mountains to form a concentric circle – though from mid-air, it looks more like a ring-shaped cross.

Its central area is about 2.2 kilometers in diameter and consists of five levels, both underground and above ground. The three underground levels are mostly used for military warehouses and defense facilities.

Luo Yu led Alyssa and her group on a brief exploration and discovered that the area below was riddled with intricate tunnels and fortifications. The tunnels were also guarded by a large number of undead creatures and constructs that were hostile to the previous generation. Most of the supplies in the warehouse had long since decayed and were unusable, so the group withdrew.

The underground area still needs to be cleared, but the most urgent task at present is to restart the power and port facilities of this floating fortress. The power system of the Vo-Sarastil is divided into two sets: sixteen main engines in the central area and sixty-four auxiliary engines on the outer ring island.

In addition, there are twenty-four Gay sectors that provide buoyancy, which contain approximately six hundred Gay generators.

After returning the fortress core to the central node, they gained a general understanding of the fortress's condition: all sixteen main engines in the center were paralyzed and unusable, and seven of the twenty-four Guy engine sectors were damaged.

Of the sixty-four external engines, only one-third remain intact.

"...Most of the old-era magic engines used feldspar as their power source, absorbing heat and converting it into magic power. They were highly efficient and continuous, but extremely prone to damage, and once the output was interrupted, they had to be restarted manually... But right now we can't go deep underground, so we can't find out why the main engine went offline?"

"In comparison, the seven damaged Guy generator sectors are not so bad. The fortress was designed with a lot of buoyancy safety redundancy from the beginning, and the fact that it can still float stably on the air and sea is proof of that."

After listening to the analysis, Elisa asked, "If we were to clean up this area below, how long would it take?"

Luo Yu shook his head: "This place is a fully functional underground city. It was designed as a backup fortification, specifically for accommodating 10,000 to 20,000 people to retreat underground and resist foreign invasion for a long time after the fortress falls."

"Below is not only a warehouse area, but also a complete living and production area. It is a complex maze in itself. We do not have the original blueprints of the fortress. If we want to explore it little by little, the Seven Seas Brigade will not be able to finish it in a year or two with its limited manpower."

"So, in the short term, we can only rely on those sixty-four auxiliary engines?"

Luo Yu looked toward the airspace between the inner arc of the distant ring mountain range and the central city. The white arch bridge connecting the fortress and the outer ring was about 500 meters long. This area between the inner and outer rings was the inner harbor of Vo-Salastiel.

The four outer ring-shaped floating islands are about 600 meters wide, with artificially moved peaks on top. A large number of defensive fortifications have been built on the outer side of the mountain range. This was originally the first line of defense for Vol-Sarastil.

However, since the fortress had lost its original guards, these outer fortresses had become useless after the elves left. When they and the Rota'o people first arrived here, they bypassed the outer fortresses and entered the inner port area.

The four circular floating islands are not connected end to end, but rather form four independent areas together with the long bridge they are connected to. The one Luo Yu can see at a glance is the Ashkali Bridge (Goddess of Spring) in the east.

The Sons of Saltbone originally named this port after four goddesses: Ashkally, the goddess of spring; Krog, the claw of the hidden mist; Trog-Malo Bridge, the trombone of autumn; and Frost, the wind of midsummer. These names have been used ever since.

Luo Hao emerged from the passageway behind the two men, shaking the dust off his large shield as he coughed and asked, "...It's impossible to go any deeper down here, cough cough, it won't be two or three months before we can clear a path—by the way, where are the Ed people?"

Earlier, Fang Zheng abruptly dropped a sentence saying he had an idea, and then disappeared without a trace. Before leaving, he sent them to investigate the situation down there. Not only them, but Catherine, the big cat people and their group also split into several groups and went to the outer ring to check the actual condition of the auxiliary engines there.

“Ed said he has some ideas, but he needs to investigate the actual situation in Vo-Salastir first. As for where he is now, he should have gone to the workshop district with that maid—” Elisa was about to explain.

But Parker's voice came through the team channel, interrupting Miss Nightingale: "Hey, that's just that guy's side of the story."

He said with a hint of smugness, "...You don't really believe that's the truth, do you? Think about it, that place has been reduced to ruins, what's there to investigate? Why don't you think about why he sent us away?"

But then came the admonition from Miss May: "Mr. Parker, you can't say that. The captain should have his own ideas."

Parker snorted twice: "He has some ridiculous idea, I overheard it earlier—"

What did you hear?

The sound of a box came from the other end of the communication crystal.

Just as Parker was about to show off, Aina's angry scream came from the other end of the crystal, "Parker, what did you promise me—"

The channel immediately erupted into chaos.

Luo Yu and Luo Hao exchanged glances, while Elisa seemed to have thought of something interesting and couldn't help but secretly smile.

Luo Hao pondered for a moment and quickly realized that the maid's intentions were most likely related to the scholar from Kapka, who had disappeared without a trace since the battle with Livegard.

In fact, everyone could guess in private that the young lady's relationship with their leader must be extraordinary, after all, the two had studied in the same place, and since the other party mysteriously appeared and then mysteriously disappeared, Fang Zheng had remained silent.

It seems that the captain's 'mistress' has developed some curiosity about the identity of that mysterious young lady.

Only Luo Yu was slow to react in this matter:

"That one..."

“Miss Olivia,” Elisa replied with a smile, “rest assured, our captain is 'innocent,' and besides, Miss Sylvie isn’t that petty.”

Luo Yu couldn't help but cough twice. He didn't dwell on whether she was 'innocent' or not, but he remembered that the young lady had played an immeasurable role in the battle against Livegard.

"Should we help Ed... explain things?" Luo Yu suddenly remembered that Siesta seemed to have some ill intentions, and couldn't help but belatedly ask.

“No need for that,” Miss Nightingale said with a smile. “That’s between him and the ship’s officer. It’s none of our business.”

She claimed to be an outsider, but in reality, she was secretly overjoyed, clearly not having given up on the matter.

As someone who had actually traveled to another timeline and had contact with that scholar, she knew better what Olivia and Fang Zheng's deal was. The two had been in contact in the past, but it didn't seem like they had developed any further 'friendship'.

But their captain is getting more and more entangled with mysterious people. First it was Olivia, then some duchess. It would be good if Miss Siesta could give him a heads-up, so that the guy won't keep her from worrying all the time.

However, more than anything else, Elisa was curious about what Parker had overheard. It seemed she needed to find a private opportunity to get the Paparallan to talk. Thinking of this, our Miss Nightingale couldn't help but narrow her eyes.

The Paparallan on the other end of the communication crystal immediately shivered, ignoring Aina pulling his ear, and looked around warily.

But at that moment, another voice came through the communication crystal. It was Catherine's voice: "Everyone, I heard what you said earlier, but it's best to put these gossips aside for now."

As she spoke, the female pirate activated her communication crystal, sharing the view from the other side: "Everyone, the situation here is a little better. We have reached the area where one of the auxiliary engines is located."

As can be seen from the footage, those massive auxiliary engines are located below the roundabout, protected by multiple layers of security.

Although they were called auxiliary engines, each one was actually several stories high, with countless magical pipes spread out like a spider web. Catherine and Eliusith were located under those huge devices, and the two looked more like they had accidentally wandered into a land of giants.

Catherine continued, "Here's some good news and some bad news."

"The good news is that these auxiliary engines are still usable, but they've run out of power. The bad news is that, as expected, these ancient artifacts are powered by feldspar, and most of the feldspar is damaged. Finding a replacement won't be easy."

Catherine glanced at the Duchess beside her; the Duchess, who knew nothing of magic, was simply stating Eliusis's judgment. This Duchess from the Empire, after the Dragon Blood Curse incident had subsided, had not actually chosen to leave.

On the contrary, the other party had contacted Fang Zheng beforehand and informed him that they would be staying for a while:
“You got what you wanted,” these were the duchess’s exact words, as she stared intently at Fang Zheng with her beautiful eyes. “But what about what I wanted? After all, I kept my promise, didn’t I?”

“But Miss Eleusis, what you want is the Fountain of Youth.”

Fang Zheng shook his head.

The Fountain of Youth has long been proven to be a hoax.

“Then you owe me a favor,” Eliuses said with a smug smile. “Now I want to get something from that Dragon Queen. You wouldn’t object, would you?”

Fang Zheng shook his head again, "I have no authority to make decisions for Ms. Alessa. If you have any requests, you can ask her yourself."

"Hmph, what a clean excuse," the Duchess sneered. "But I expected this. It's alright, I don't need your help with this. But I'll stay here for a while, is that alright?" Fang Zheng looked at her suspiciously—the Long Bay region was currently blockaded by the Imperial Navy, which was quite sensitive for this young lady, given her status. Her choice to stay was understandable, but he always felt that the Duchess had ulterior motives.

Eliusi met his gaze without flinching and pressed on: "Don't you also want to take this opportunity to study the Shadow People? Don't forget, no one here knows them better than me."

Fang Zheng then nodded.

He wasn't really looking to study any Shadow People, but Eleusis was right about one thing: in the previous Dragon Blood Curse incident, the other party did indeed fulfill their promise completely, and the Seven Seas Brigade was by no means a person who broke their word.

However, the Duchess's stay here wasn't entirely free. They were currently severely understaffed, and Elisa naturally wouldn't let go of a craftswoman with considerable professional skills.

Before launching the operation, Fang Zheng assigned a skilled craftsman to each team. In Alyssa's team, it was Luo Yu; in the Catman and Elf's team, it was two craftsmen from the Second Regiment; and in Pasha's team, it was Forest and the others.

When it was Catherine's turn, Miss Nightingale personally arranged for the Duchess to join her group.

However, Catherine was also aware that Eleusis's allegiance was currently unclear, so she had to take precautions. The reason she shared the footage was to further confirm the situation with others.

Eliuses could understand the unspoken meaning in the other person's words, but she didn't seem to care much. She just squinted her eyes with a bit of boredom, opened her fan to cover her mouth, and lazily let out a long yawn.

During this time, Luo Yu checked the auxiliary engines through the screen and quickly came to the same conclusion—the problem was indeed mainly with the power source.

“These engines are actually secondary power systems used for steering and balancing. It’s unrealistic to expect them to propel this giant floating fortress that weighs nearly ten million tons,” Eliussis said. “Even if they could get them moving, it would be at a snail’s pace.”

“Slow as a snail is enough,” Luo Yu shook his head. “Miss Eliusis, the most urgent task is to get Vol-Sarastil moving. This is not only to get out of this time turbulence as soon as possible, but more importantly, to have the power to start the port’s heavy machinery and clear out a usable port area.”

"Then do you have any ideas?"

“I have two ideas, Ms. Eleusis,” Luo Yu said. “The first is to find a spare ice feldspar fuel, which is the most direct and simplest way. Vo-Sarastil is a permanent fortress, and its underground warehouse must store a reserve of magic power. Ice feldspar can be stored for a very long time when it is not exposed. Hundreds or thousands of years is far from enough to completely drain the magic power inside, let alone damage its structure.”

“But that would require building a passage underground, but it sounds like things aren’t going well on your end,” Eleusis said. “What’s the second option?”

"The second method is to use the technology of our time to refurbish these auxiliary power engines so that they can be adapted to magic crystals. Although ice feldspar has the advantage of continuous high efficiency, technological advancements have proven that its inherent shortcomings are too significant. Even if we can find ice feldspar as a temporary replacement, in the long run, these old engines will need to be refurbished."

“This doesn’t sound like a small project,” Catherine interjected. “How much material, manpower, and time would it take to modify 160 engines?”

“Rather,” Luo Yu replied calmly, “both plans require a lot of time. I’ve calculated it carefully, and the first plan is more suitable for us in the short term. However, we can keep the renovation plan as a backup plan to be implemented at the same time, because if we are to start renovating this fortress, we will eventually have to refurbish these old engines.”

“This is actually the problem we encountered from the very beginning,” he said, glancing at the magic wand in his hand. “We lack manpower and time.”

“But Ed said he might have a way,” Elisa said.

Luo Yu looked up at the workshop area and nodded slightly: "Now that we have completed our assessment of the fortress's condition, Ed's ideas should be pretty clear by now."

“Wait,” Parker’s voice came through the communication crystal again, “He wants to rebuild the automated workshops on this island, all by himself?”

“Yes,” Aina’s voice replied from the crystal, “that’s what Mr. Ed told me. In fact, that’s why I’m here. The Seven Seas Storm is also fully loaded with materials from Silverwind Harbor.”

……

"So that lady's name is Olivia?"

In the glow cast by the communication crystal, the ship's officer, with her usual gentle features, chuckled softly, "It's a very nice name. I actually know her; I met this lady back in Kapka."

Fang Zheng was sweating profusely because the channel's screen showed not only Sylvie, but also Miss Wolf—Miya—looking at him with a serious expression. He didn't know how she had obtained communication rights; she should be in Crosswind Harbor right now.

Add to that the presence of Triss and Sophie on the other side, and Siesta watching him coldly from the side, and Fang Zheng suddenly felt like he was under immense pressure from a three-way interrogation.

However, Fang Zheng couldn't help but be taken aback by Sylvie's words: "Huh, huh?"

Sophie was overjoyed at the sight and wished she could call Qian over to watch Fang Zheng get his comeuppance. Unfortunately, the lady wasn't interested in it. She just kept wiping her spear while glancing over and shaking her head.

Sophie couldn't help but say, "Miss Sylvie investigated you before she found you. Otherwise, you wouldn't think that someone of her status would entrust you to a clueless young man of unknown origin, would you?"

She smiled and deliberately emphasized the words "entrust" and "naive boy".

The noblewoman didn't care about this at all. She just smiled slightly, her eyes filled with tenderness. "I'm not worried about Ed's identity. After all, our parents' generation made an agreement. But I'm more worried about those who approach Ed with ulterior motives."

"Miss Olivia's origins are shrouded in mystery, but I don't think she harbors any ill intentions. I had a brief conversation with her in a small town south of Capka. I didn't ask her name then, but it seemed to me that her interest in Ed was roughly aligned with my own—"

As she spoke, she glanced at Miss Wolf on the other side of the screen.

Fang Zheng felt his hair stand on end when he saw this scene, as if he had just escaped from one danger, but immediately felt another chill, which was even more intense than before.

As for Trissy, who was standing next to Sylvie—after all, the ship's officer was actually using the latter's communication channel—she only felt a cold gaze fall upon her. Trissy immediately regretted it—

It's all that damn guy's fault for making her set up this channel. Under the gaze of that sea witch, she couldn't help but throw a murderous look at Fang Zheng.

Fortunately, Miya didn't seem to delve into it. Instead, her pale silver eyes carefully examined Fang Zheng from head to toe before she asked gently:

"I heard you killed Livegard. Did it hurt you?"

Her words were like a chilling gust of wind, sending a shiver down one's spine—as if if Fang Zheng were to nod even slightly, this sea witch would immediately descend into hell and reassemble Livegard's already shattered soul.

Then break it into pieces again.

Before Fang Zheng could answer, Sophie, standing to the side, couldn't help but widen her eyes and open her mouth in an "O" shape:
"Who did you kill?"

"That Dark Dragon King!?"

Fang Zheng was almost startled by Sophie's exaggerated voice.

"Keep your voice down, my dear Sophie," he quickly reminded her, as he didn't want the whole thing to become public knowledge. In fact, he had Trishres create the channel not to invite the little princess of Silver Visland.

But before the main characters even arrived, she and Miya barged in first.

However, the sudden appearance of Sophie, who had been out of contact for a long time, was an unexpected bonus for his next plan, although the atmosphere at the moment was rather awkward.

Fang Zheng gathered his thoughts and was about to explain what had happened to the two of them—but just then, someone he had been waiting for finally connected to the communication channel.

Suddenly, another light appeared on the communication crystal, converging into an image in front of everyone, and the person in the image was none other than Hongye, whom everyone had not seen for a long time.

Hongye was clearly surprised to receive a communication from the other party at this time. She looked somewhat taken aback on the screen and paused for a moment before asking:
"Ed, you were looking for me?"

Fang Zheng quickly nodded.

He composed himself and then spoke with some seriousness: "Lady Red Leaf, is your Oak Shield Knights looking for a stable base? If I told you that I have a piece of land here that is willing to accept you—would you be willing to establish your headquarters in my port?"

"yours……"

Hongye was taken aback: "Your...port?"

Only Sophie reacted immediately—Lifgard, the floating port, these two words flashed through her mind like lightning, "Wol-Salastir, you found that legendary floating city!?"

...(End of this chapter)