Star Forge Titan

Chapter 247: The Island Sinks Tomorrow

The city of a thousand towers, the city of scholars.

One thing is undeniable, even though it has gradually degenerated into a strange little country ruled by academic cliques, this city once possessed wisdom and glory.

The City of a Thousand Towers has an extremely excellent city library, named the Candlelight Cottage by the mages to commemorate every scholar who has carefully copied books by candlelight in the past hundred years.

Despite its name being a small house, its grand scale and comprehensive book collection are only slightly inferior to the gigantic book city of the "Great Library of Writing, pronounced as Floating Island" at the headquarters of the Temple of Knowledge, in the entire world of Palladia.

No matter it is holidays or ordinary days, many people come here to visit with an almost pious attitude every day. They may be children with empty minds or old people with a wealth of knowledge. But no matter how they enter the library, humans can always find what they want to read and always gain their own happiness.

Besides, the mages were rich after all, and the entire library building was very imposing, with more than a dozen thick pillars imitating the style of the ancient Giant Kingdom. The pure white stone surface without any impurities was polished to a smooth jade-like texture. Obviously, there were mages involved in the entire construction process of the building, but I don't know whether they were willing to be sent here by their mentor.

The library was open until 9:30 pm each day, after which it was only open to scholars within the City of Thousand Towers. Considering the large number of people there during the day, Alvin deliberately arrived at the library near closing time.

It was already 9:25, and ordinary readers were leaving the library one after another. Since the Candlelight Cottage library even had a children's section with the latest and most popular picture books and stories, you could occasionally see a crying child throwing a tantrum at the entrance, only to be dragged, carried, and carried out by their embarrassed parents. Crying? There was no point crying!

Ivan watched the scene with a smile, holding an unlit brass lantern. Once upon a time, he was one of those children who were dragged and harassed by their parents. Later, he could spend entire days in the library without any restrictions, but the time and frequency of his reading gradually decreased. Perhaps he used it to look at his phone.

Shaking his head, Alvin strolled into the library, lantern in hand. He hadn't concealed his identity, so he had easy access to the ancient book storage area deep within the Candlelight Hut. Honestly, having heard that the elves had been searching for the holy sword fragments for over a century, he knew that even if he searched the library thoroughly, he probably wouldn't find much relevant information. Any valuable content had likely been moved or hidden.

But I was only there for show, collecting other information along the way. I might as well just joke about things like Titans who dropped out of elementary school or illiterate barbarians from the North, but reading and improving my knowledge is incredibly important, even if I'm not preparing for postgraduate studies (laughs).

However, Alvin did not open the books one by one and read them as usual. He planned to use the more efficient speed reading method.

Titan raised the lantern slightly higher, a perfectly ordinary gesture, but to those watching, it seemed unusual. The lantern was cylindrical in shape, its upper section adorned with a louvered grating connected to a knob that opened and closed it. Its appearance wasn't much different from an ordinary windproof lantern.

Before long, the knob seemed to be turned by an invisible hand, and a ray of light began to overflow from the depths of the brass lantern.

The outer layer of the light had the common orange-red color of flames, while the inner layer was pure gold as big as beans. From a distance, it looked like an open eye, turning the sight into a halo and spreading in all directions.

The books illuminated by the lantern cast shadows backwards. Behind Ivan, who was also illuminated by the light, there was a figure. The shadow looked particularly tall, swaying around, trying to incorporate the shadows of the books into its body, and nodding from time to time, as if it had seen something good.

After being promoted to the fifth level of awakening and becoming the Creator of Light, Alvin can use light as a medium to do more things, and the shadows that accompany the light are also brought under his control.

So, while it looked like he was just taking a casual stroll, Ivan had actually completed a complete copy of the Candlelight Cottage Library without disturbing other readers. It might take some time to sort through the details, but he had already skimmed through the general content.

As expected, Alvin didn't find any content related to the Immortal-level holy sword 'Revatin', not even a vague overview or side mention.

Honestly, for Ivan right now, an Immortal Holy Sword still held considerable value. While not essential, considering the immeasurable combat power of the pure-colored Ultra Beast that would descend a hundred years from now, any item that could potentially enhance his own strength was something he valued.

Besides, Frey also seemed very interested.

With a snort, Ivan closed the lantern. If that were the case, perhaps this was the time to shout that the elves had found a way to die, then seize the Immortal Sword, sink to Eternal Island, and kill them all.

"Psycho!" Ivan mentally cursed at the ridiculous joke and walked back with his lantern. He was currently staying at the Elrond Embassy. Since the Genoese Confederation had no capital, the City of a Thousand Towers, which recruited students from all over the continent, became the local window to the outside world. As a result, the city also housed embassies from many countries.

On the road, from time to time you can see young wizards riding brooms passing quickly overhead. They are not just on their way, but delivering letters or parcels.

As a secondary magic item that can only be used within urban areas, the flying broom is limited by the coverage of the magic furnace. However, its convenient usage, relatively low cost and fast movement speed make it the most commonly used vehicle for young wizards.

Studying in the City of a Thousand Towers requires a lot of money, and the cost of living is also high. Unless you come from a very wealthy family, you can naturally focus on studying, but such people are only a minority after all. Most apprentices have to work hard to make a living in addition to their heavy schoolwork, and magic delivery is one of the options.

Should I try it too?

Seeing the flying broom flying back and forth in the sky, Ivan couldn't help but think so. But he soon felt that it was really unnecessary and gave up such thoughts.

It's not like he doesn't have a ride. Although Sanwang is a magical 'little' weird horse, he has never made any mistakes in his work. Besides, with that guy's domineering personality, it's inevitable that he will get up in the middle of the night and chew the flying broom like hay to ensure his top position as the chief ride.

Thinking about all sorts of things, Alvin strolled home leisurely.

In the study, Afrediya continued to review various documents in the same manner as when she left during the day.

Seeing Ivan push the door open, Afrediya looked up and gave him a beautiful smile as bright as spring. Her hands were still busy, stamping and signing documents at the same time. Putting aside the fact that she'd skipped home for a trip, the Demon King was incredibly responsible when working. She would approve any document that came before her according to the rules, never just writing a "read" and leaving it at that.

"You're back, what did you gain?"

"Well..." Alvin paused for a moment.

"I found an important clue!"

After saying this, he secretly made up his mind.

Tomorrow, no, let’s go to Eternal Island at midnight today.

Chapter 248 Elf Sage

Eternal Island is a mysterious island located a few kilometers away from the Genoa estuary.

Birds are singing and flowers are blooming. There are blue sky and white clouds, coconut trees, clear water and white sand, which is beautiful beyond words.

However, the island is surrounded by man-made undercurrents throughout the year, which change every moment. Without guidance, foreign ships cannot reach it smoothly and will easily be destroyed by the undercurrents and sink to the bottom of the sea.

Today, a visitor was attempting to cross the undercurrent. He saw Ivan lazily riding a chair backward across the sea.

During the whole process, he let his hands hang casually on the backrest, letting his "mount" stretch out its four legs and make the sound of "Guo O Gang, Guo O Gang" (probably?) hooves, while maintaining a comfortable speed of 70 miles per hour.

After fully awakening his soul power and touching the soul of King Uranus, he felt that his mentality had not matured, but instead he felt like he had returned to his youth, or in other words, he was as free and unrestrained as a wild horse out of the stall or a husky running wild.

Ivan yawned. When Afrediya heard yesterday that he had found an important clue, she immediately perked up. But when the dragon lady is perky, someone else has to be less so. Perhaps this is a kind of dynamic balance.

After painstakingly crafting vague guidelines, he still had to rush out early in the morning to prepare various preliminary matters in order to make this matter completely complete.

At the very least, the fragments of the holy sword, the final result of the expedition, must be obtained in advance.

As for the essential puzzle elements and level design in the adventure story, Alvin planned to simply copy the Zelda: Breath of the Wild that he had played in his previous life, extract the classic puzzles from the temple copy, and manually create a very fun classic dungeon.

It was decided that the name of this dungeon would be Xiaobawang 100-in-1, and the key to enter must be a yellow plastic cassette with cheap colored paper on the front and an air-driven interface at the bottom.

As his thoughts grew more and more excited, Ivan didn't notice that the chair he was riding upside down had already reached the edge of the undercurrent. It looked as if the sea was about to surge, a raging wave that could easily capsize the ship...

What the hell is this!?! The elf on duty controlling the undercurrent almost spit out a mouthful of tea leaves onto the crystal ball. Then he stared wide-eyed as hard as he could, carefully examining the intruder. To be more precise, the intruder's mount.

As a veteran elf security guard with two hundred years of experience in surveillance, he'd seen all sorts of intrusion vehicles. But a chair, a chair that sprawled across the sea on all fours—he'd never seen anything like it! Logically, as the leader of the Secret Realm Guardians, the elf should have immediately activated the elven maze—the Blue Wall—to crush the intruder with the roaring waves.

But the other party did not rush into the depths of the undercurrent area like other invaders or stowaways. Instead, he stopped the vehicle in a very delicate position.

Going further, one would reach the internationally recognized territorial waters of Eternal Island. Taking a step back, while still within the influence of the undercurrent, one would not actually enter the territorial waters of Eternal Island.

Cunning guy...

The guard narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the person's appearance, trying to identify his specific identity.

Meanwhile, Ivan hadn't really given it much thought. He simply didn't want to force his way in out of courtesy. As outsiders, the elves of Palladia had always maintained absolute neutrality since acquiring the Timeless Isle as their home. Of course, what they were doing behind the scenes was another matter.

If the Eternal Island was really that innocent, the Genoa Confederation would not have hired so many elven scholars skilled in business and finance, and there would not have been half-elven nobles and great wizards of alien descent who appeared out of nowhere.

In short, unlike the elves of other worlds, the elves of Palladia, despite their small numbers, were not without ambition. They behaved more like merchants, and although Alvin disliked the practice of haggling, he had no intention of simply robbing them. That would go against the education he had received since childhood and the concepts formed from it.

Since you are a businessman, wouldn't it be possible to solve the problem to everyone's satisfaction if you just offer a price that the other party can't refuse?

"Ahem." Ivan coughed softly, changing his overly casual sitting posture and sitting on the chair with his legs crossed. The wooden legs were slightly wet from the waves. Although his posture was still not very straight, at least he didn't continue to sit backwards on the chair.

"I'm here to negotiate terms." Alvin knew that there must be guards watching this side, so he stated the purpose of his visit very straightforwardly.

Not long after, the undercurrents surging around suddenly subsided, and the sea surface a few meters away suddenly rose up, gradually condensing into a humanoid puppet made of sea water.

"Respected Lord Perfecter, I extend my most sincere greetings to you. But I must point out that if we continue forward, we will reach the territorial waters of Eternal Island. Please respect our country's sovereignty." The guard of the secret realm said righteously.

Elves, after all, are immortals, and after all these years, they've at least reached the fifth level to support their cause. As a knowledgeable and experienced secret realm guardian, he wouldn't easily utter words that would humiliate the nation at such a time. But before the guard leader could finish his impassioned speech, a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder from behind.

Turning around, the guard leader nearly screamed in surprise. The newcomer was the legendary great elven sage. Though half-blood, he had successfully ascended to the fifth rank after a series of arduous training, so no one dared to question his origins.

As a half-elf who spent his childhood in Genoa, this great sage spoke directly, neither quoting ancient poetry nor using metaphors in his words. For an ordinary elf, he was unabashedly rustic.

But even if he was truly the elven version of Xiang Wuning Suboning, he was still a fifth-tier Xiang Wuning, and no elf would be foolish enough to speak carelessly to his face. Just like the currently prominent leader of the secret realm guards, he didn't dare move an inch, silently listening to the great sage continue to express his opinions.

"The gentleman in the crystal ball, when he was still a lower-level extraordinary being, completed the feat of reverse bombing the deep hell, killing more than four-digit demons and a half-crippled fifth-level demon along the way." With just one sentence, the air in the maze control room seemed to solidify into a block of iron and became extremely heavy.

The great elven sage with white hair and beard continued to speak in a flat tone, while subconsciously pinching the five fingers of his right hand and making gestures as all Genoese were familiar with.

"Some time ago, battle reports from the Fire Realm Heavenly Front indicated that he had killed at least two great demons while off duty. One of them might not actually be a great demon..." After a pause, the Great Sage added, "but rather a vessel for the evil god."

"There's also unconfirmed information. The other party might be a Titan who has completed his awakening, a descendant of the One who Forged the Stars."

"..." Although he only briefly explained the other party's past experiences and the latest information, the meaning the great sage wanted to convey was already very clear.

You [Genoa swear word] stop looking for trouble for no reason!

I don’t want to become the next challenger in some legendary life for no apparent reason!

Staring, the great sage snatched the crystal ball from the captain of the Secret Realm Guard. Then, the half-elf, with snow-white hair and a youthful face, cleared his throat. His voice instantly became enthusiastic, like a virtual suit character who could make a fortune just by talking.

"Good morning! The beautiful Eternal Island welcomes you!"

"Oh, someone else? You're more approachable than the guy just now." Ivan sighed and asked casually:

"What do you call it?"

"Oh, just call me Melulida."

Chapter 249 Ancient Gift

Eternal Island is a mysterious island located a few kilometers away from the Genoa estuary.

Birds are singing and flowers are blooming. There are blue sky and white clouds, coconut trees, clear water and white sand, which is beautiful beyond words.

Hmm, has this description ever appeared before? Well, the environment is not important, it’s the people in the environment that matter.

Objectively speaking, the Timeless Isle is a remarkably beautiful island. Its climate is exceptionally pleasant, and it's hard to believe the elves have expended considerable effort to make such a limited island incredibly habitable. Even the usual pain points of coastal cities, like excessive humidity and erosive sea breezes, are absent. Even the clatter of waves crashing against the embankment is largely dampened by specially designed buffer zones, transforming it into a relaxing, gentle white noise.

After landing on the island, Alvin saw an elf on the beach with a very relaxed attitude, holding a lyre in his hand, wearing a gauze skirt, walking slowly and singing a melodious song, which gave him the feeling of a fantasy world.

But witnessing this scene, a puzzling question suddenly arose in the mind of this time traveler.

Don’t you elves have to work?

"Feeling surprised?" a voice came from behind.

"It's okay. I knew something about it before." Alvin shrugged and turned around to look at her very naturally.

The person who spoke had a clear voice and a body as slender as an ordinary elf boy or girl, but his ears were a little shorter. His clothes were very bright, contrary to the plain colors that most elves usually wore.

The short-sleeved shirt that allowed for easy movement was the latest fashion style from Genoa, with various flowers printed on it with exquisite techniques, as if the whole person was wearing a dress woven from spring scenery. Well, in layman's terms, it was like wearing a Hawaiian floral shirt, paired with an equally loose skirt and pants, a kind of cropped pants made of light fabric with very wide trouser legs, which looked like a skirt but had a crotch structure.

Having sensed the other party's approach early on, Ivan wasn't surprised. In fact, the newcomer hadn't deliberately concealed his aura.

If they didn't deliberately release their magical pressure, Perfect Ones would appear unremarkable to ordinary people, even less impressive than lower-level Transcendents. This was because Perfect Ones no longer needed to constantly communicate with the outside world. Their perfectly constructed internal circulation was sufficient to support the entire system, resulting in their low sense of presence on a daily basis.

However, perfect beings have obvious induction with each other. As long as they are within a range of several kilometers to tens or hundreds of kilometers, they can sense each other's presence even with their eyes closed. The specific data refers to individual differences.

Ordinary people might find this distance far, but to a perfect being, it's not necessarily so. It's like two giants gazing at each other from across a mountain range. From a human perspective, the distance between them seems immense, but to a giant, it's a short distance that can be easily crossed with a single stride.

Back to the point. His brief wandering of thoughts didn't prevent Ivan from observing the newcomer. It was the elven Great Sage who had answered the call earlier. He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with this character. In the future storyline revealed in Virtual Paladia, he had been one of the Order's top fighters, and also a special NPC character who issued high-level strategic quests. He was also known among the player community for his generous spending, a stark contrast to the calculating style of other elven high-ranking officials.

Of course, the "money" mentioned here does not just refer to money, but refers to various task rewards.

While this is only the tip of the iceberg of a person's behavior, it does reveal a more distinct aspect of their personality. Therefore, Ivan felt this conversation would go smoothly.

Putting aside the jokes he made earlier, he actually didn't intend to be a shameless robber this time, but decided to use this incident to establish a tacit understanding with the Eternal Island and prepare for the subsequent conclusion of a general alliance of all order forces in the entire Palladia world.

The elves' pursuit of the Immortal Sword was simply a desire to increase their resilience to risk. As outsiders drifting from a distant land, while most elves appeared relaxed, their leaders maintained a heightened sense of vigilance, having witnessed horrific disasters capable of annihilating a planet.

In a sense, this is a group of frightened birds.

"Burning Demon Sword - Revatin." Alvin said the name directly.

"As I expected." The great elf sage Melulida smiled and presented the items she had prepared in advance.

It was a compilation of copied and inscribed ancient texts, including images of objects excavated from ruins. Using special magic, the images, recorded with a clarity comparable to a photograph, allowed for clear identification of various features, allowing for analysis of their general provenance and historical context.

Instead of rushing to read the details, Ivan looked up at Melulida, who had a calm expression.

"Just give it to me?"

"Ah, I've heard of your name before. Well, I do have a few drinking buddies in the heavens."

"In a sense, all the treasures in this world should belong to you~" Melulida winked and began to talk with changing gestures.

In just a moment, the youthfulness that his elven blood had managed to preserve against the erosion of time disappeared, and he immediately exuded the unconcealable slickness of a middle-aged man, with a bit of Genoa local color, such as the need to use fingers when speaking.

Along the beach outside the Timeless Isle, the two of them casually strolled, chatting about all sorts of topics. As they did so, Alvin noticed that the number of ordinary elves playing the lyre gradually decreased. Finally, only two Perfectors remained on the beach, chatting and laughing.

"Let's talk business." Alvin ended the chat with this sentence.

"No problem." Melulida paused and paused at the staff that appeared out of nowhere.

The birchwood staff lightly touched the ground, and the transparent crystal, entwined with plant roots, instantly shone with light, transforming the surrounding scenery like a kaleidoscope. An intricate barrier instantly sealed this area off from the outside world, ensuring that the contents of the ensuing conversation would not be leaked.

"In fact, the Eternal Island has preliminarily confirmed the location of the fragments of the Immortal Holy Sword. It is not difficult to enter the relevant ruins, but opening the special container that stores the 'fragments' requires at least three Perfector-level strongmen to take action. As a result, the excavation activity is stuck at this last link." Melulida said something that surprised Alvin.

The power of the Perfector level is top-notch even in the Fire Realm Sky Defense Line where angels and demons are fighting. It takes three strong men of this level to open the container. Even compared to the fragments of the immortal holy relics stored in it, the value of this container itself is not inferior in the slightest.