Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 817 Nun
Hmm? There are other people here?

As the gentle female voice faded, Xin Lailai, who was lost in the scene before her, suddenly came back to her senses and noticed that next to the teleportation pod, a woman with her eyes covered and dressed in a simple black and white nun's habit was standing with her hands folded in front of her, her head bowed, and speaking to her respectfully.

This outfit, and this aura...

"Are you a nun from Holy Light Paradise?"

Xin Lailai carefully observed the blindfolded woman in the nun's habit before her. She used her True Sight to scan her, but only received a message indicating insufficient permissions. Politely, she inquired, and the blindfolded nun nodded slightly, bowed gently in a simple gesture, and then spoke in a gentle voice that inexplicably calmed the mind:

“Yes, Lord Blacksword, I am Sister Chris Roanna, who is accompanying you and the other members on this expedition. You may call me Chris.”

"And please forgive me, for the safety of the expedition, I cannot leave the fortress headquarters at will. Therefore, what is in front of you is just an avatar I created using the fire."

"However, although I cannot receive you in my true form, you can still ask me any questions you may have. It is also the nun's duty to provide guidance to every pioneer embarking on their journey for the first time."

So that's how it is, an avatar? Indeed, given the nun's importance, rashly leaving the World Fortress headquarters, which is guarded by the Legion, would greatly increase various risks.

Having roughly understood the situation, Xin Lailai nodded slightly, looked at Chris in front of her, and spoke in an exceptionally respectful tone:

"Thank you for your explanation, Lady Chris. May I ask what my next step is, according to the Legion's arrangements?"

"Not for now. We are currently on the route to the edge of the star realm, and it will take about 10 days to reach our waiting location. Until then, Lord Black Sword can simply rest at headquarters."

"Of course, if there are any places you wish to learn about or visit, you may submit an application, and the Legion Commander will generally approve them. However, you must be accompanied by me. I hope Lord Black Sword will understand this."

"As for now, if Lord Black Sword doesn't mind, please follow me to headquarters for registration and rest. The World Fortress is equipped with space jamming devices. You can only access each area by registering and using a spaceship or space elevator. Before that, if you wander around, you may be considered an intruder and attacked."

The blindfolded nun in the black dress bowed slightly and explained to Xin Lailai in a gentle tone. Xin Lailai nodded gently and said:

"Well, in that case, Lady Laucris will be happy to show us the way."

"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Black Sword."

Having received permission, the blindfolded nun in the black dress gently lifted her skirt, gave Xin Lailai a simple bow, then looked towards the passage to the left and spoke as she walked ahead:

"Please follow me, Lord Black Sword. You are currently at the outermost space teleportation station of the World Fortress. Since it is currently a peacetime situation, the space elevators are still in normal operation, so you can simply take the elevator down."

A space elevator? Come to think of it, this seems to be their first time riding one of these things.
Two distinctly different footsteps echoed from the space teleportation station. With the blindfolded nun guiding her, Xin Lailai followed behind her at a leisurely pace. At the same time, she habitually activated her Star Luo Domain to investigate her surroundings, only to find that her senses could only extend less than half a meter beyond the metal ground beneath her feet and the surrounding metal walls.

This is... a perception shielding technique? And a very advanced one at that?
That's true. Without such sophisticated counter-surveillance measures, intelligence about the World Fortress would probably have been leaked long ago.

Realizing that the defenses within the World Fortress were far more stringent and standardized than she had imagined, Xin Lailai nodded slightly, withdrew her Star Luo Domain, and began to observe the scene before her with a normal gaze:

Contrary to his expectations, once he started moving around the space teleportation station under Chris's guidance, Xin Lailai discovered that the space was actually much smaller than he had anticipated.

Apart from the hall filled with teleportation pods where they woke up, the entire space teleportation station was filled with all sorts of passageways that could easily make one dizzy.

Especially when some anti-gravity tunnels specially designed for ease of movement were mixed in, even with their sharp minds, it took them two seconds to figure out the route and structure of the space station in their minds. This also made them realize why the Legion had sent Chris to specifically pick up them as pioneers, instead of letting them move freely.

Given the structure of this space teleportation station, if they were allowed to move freely, even if they used violent means, considering the armor strength of those super-strong alloy walls that are more than a meter thick and the shielding power of the perception spells, they would probably get lost inside for several hours before they could find their way out.

Of course, if the situation were urgent enough, they could simply use Annihilation to shatter the skylights that looked like glass but were actually made of Kroka steel processed in a gravity environment equivalent to that of a white dwarf star, right from the top-floor teleportation hall. That way, they could get outside in half a minute at most.

"Is it really okay that the internal structure of the space teleportation station is designed to be so complex?"

"Hmm... Regarding this point, according to the Legion, this design is to maximize the strength of external defenses while allowing the pioneers to take advantage of the complex environment when small enemies invade the teleportation station, and even use it as an escape airship when necessary."

So that's how it is. Was it designed for war from the beginning? That's very much in the style of Overwatch...

Having received the answer from the nun, Xin Lailai nodded slightly, casually noting it down in her mind. Then, Chris, who was in front of her, suddenly spoke up:

"Lord Black Sword, we've arrived. This is the entrance to the space elevator. Just stand here and activate the control panel on the branded interface to operate it directly."

"Of course, if you encounter any emergency, you can also directly destroy the secret door in this area and manually control it. This design is universal in space teleportation stations of level five and below."

[Identity confirmed: Sister Chris Roanna (ID 03716), Pioneer Black Sword (ID 83112), authentication successful]

As Chris explained and a ring of grayish-white light shone down, a cold notification sound suddenly rang in Xin Lailai's mind, and the silver-white metal hatch in front of her hummed and slid open to the sides, revealing a cabin at the rear that was similar to the cockpit.

"This...could it also have functions other than an elevator?"

After entering the cabin with Chris, which had absolutely no connection to the 'elevator cabin', Xin Lailai looked around at the ship windows made of the same Kroka steel, the control panel with indicator lights, and the conspicuous seats that were no different from the life pods, and asked.

"Yes, Lord Black Sword, although it is normally used as an elevator, you can also operate it as a small spaceship when necessary. It has an independent energy and internal circulation system, as well as emergency supplies and an autopilot AI activated by the brand, enough to allow you to travel 1.72 light-years in interstellar space or survive for more than 3000 calendar days." "In addition, it is equipped with an annihilation-type matter bomb capable of destroying a conventional third-order planet, and an energy self-destruct program that can briefly create a gravitational black hole. However, this is a last resort for self-defense. Please consider this carefully in the future and cherish your own life."

So even elevators have been converted into weapons of war...

Sin Lai Lai's eyelids twitched slightly as he realized that Watchers' Paradise was far more extreme in its approach to war than he had imagined, and he gained a new impression of Watchers' Paradise's fanaticism in war.

[WARNING: The space elevator is about to activate and will soon perform gravity adjustments on the control module. Anyone with a physical attribute below 50 points should immediately enter the protective cabin or don the appropriate protective gear!]

As the nun explained, a tremor suddenly came from all around. Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai nodded slightly, used her magic to stabilize herself to prevent being thrown to the ceiling, and then looked around curiously.

Humlong——! !

The next second, a violent feeling of weightlessness washed over them. Everything inside the cabin shook violently, and the scenery outside the windows suddenly slid downwards at a speed a thousand times faster than a high-speed train, revealing the outside world to them in full force:
"Look at that! It's the first time I've ever seen something so big up close!"

"Calm down, those are just star rings used to launch energy barriers and carry planetary engines. Didn't we see them in the database before we came? There's no need to make such a fuss."

"Tsk, Lai Lai, how dare you say that about others? You were clearly the most excited one, weren't you? If there wasn't a nun next to you, I feel like you would have pressed your face against the window like a pig's head!"

"Ugh, what nonsense are you talking about? How could I be so careless about my image?"

Inside the soul space, Ling Yuzi was complaining, which made Xin Lailai cough slightly in her mind, feeling a little embarrassed. She argued weakly, but the way she stared intently at the scenery outside the window perfectly revealed her true thoughts at that moment.

'That's truly...stunning.'

As Xin Lailai gazed at the view outside the ship, at the enormous ring-shaped structure that appeared incredibly vast from this relatively comprehensive perspective, even giving him a sense of insignificance, a feeling of surging emotion welled up in his mind.

Spectacular.

If he had to find a single word to describe the scene before them, this would be the only word Xin Lailai could think of at that moment.

Unlike the glimpse they had just received upon exiting the teleportation capsule, the space elevator in front of them was designed with two rows of ring-shaped windows at different angles, allowing them to see both the view from above and the world fortress from above.

It was a breathtaking sight that far surpassed any natural wonder in the world.

As the ring of stars, composed of enormous orbits that could obscure their entire field of vision when they approached, spun in the starry sky, a structure resembling an eyeball that looked as if it had hollowed out the entire planet appeared before their eyes. In just a dozen seconds, they were able to realize that those tiny, silvery-white pieces in their field of vision were actually spaceships tens of thousands of meters in size. The shock they felt surpassed any other sight they could have seen inside the world.

Even the most magnificent landscapes, when faced with this colossal entity measured on a global scale and within the radius of civilization, inevitably evoke a sense of defeat and overwhelming insignificance, a feeling of being so small and insignificant.

latitude.

This is a completely different latitude.

No longer are they tiny battles fought on the ground, measured in kilometers and on the earth, battles so primitive that even the sky cannot be breached. Instead, they are massive wars fought against the backdrop of the starry sky, measured in light-years, and simultaneously against dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of worlds.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

As the gentle, melodious voice faded, the blindfolded nun in the black dress standing to the side also looked up, gazing at the painting before them against the backdrop of the starry sky, just like Xin Lailai, and murmured:
"When I first arrived at this fortress, I had the same thought in my mind."

“Every time I look at this scene, I can’t help but think that compared with this starry sky, we are so insignificant that when we step out of the world and look up at its full size, we may even feel a strong sense of fear and unease, feeling that all our efforts are so futile in the face of it.”

"However, when I truly witnessed the performance of the pioneers and guardians on the expedition, and saw those worlds corrupted by the abyss regain their vitality through your efforts, I suddenly felt that its existence was the best consolation for us and for those worlds ravaged by the abyss."

"So vast, so boundless, so beautiful."

Even though everything is gone, the starlight will still carry the scenes from billions of years ago and continue to travel into the future.

"Whenever I know that there is such a vast starry sky above me and such a distant world that I can reach, my mood always becomes inexplicably peaceful and serene, as if just looking up at it will bring me some kind of salvation."

In the quiet cabin, the gentle murmur of the blindfolded nun in the black dress echoed in Xin Lailai's ears. After she finished speaking, she seemed to suddenly realize something, exclaimed in surprise, and quickly lifted her skirt and bowed to Xin Lailai, saying:
"Ah, I'm sorry, Lord Black Sword, I accidentally shared too many of my own opinions. Please forgive me."

"It's alright, and I think Lady Chris's perspective is quite insightful..."

【bite--!!】

[Landing complete. You have now arrived at the World Fortress - Inner Area]

……

(End of this chapter)