People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

A smile spread across his lips, and that smile was the answer, an answer that resonated in everyone's hearts, accompanied by a resounding voice:

"We've decided to go to the moon!"

"We've decided to go to the moon!"

"We've decided to go to the moon!"

"We decided to explore the two moons and realize more dreams in the last decade of the 11th century, not because they were easy, but precisely because they were so difficult!"

Chapter 325 I am Tikkaz's Last Glory

Kjerag, Matterhorn, Dome Research Station.

"Are you ready?"

Kristen watched as Safar walked into the cabin.

The Tower of Babel, the Star-Picking Tower, the Tower of Babel—how people refer to this tower built under the Star-Picking Project is their freedom.

Although she didn't know why, Kal'tsit insisted that Ernst remove the "Tower of Babel" option.

But who does she think she is? Christensen has never been one to tolerate anyone.

Use it if you want.

Safar nodded, and Kristen gave a final reminder:

"The experiment is divided into three stages, and the experimental procedure is repeated at the end."

Safar stated:

"The first stage is climbing, using the tower to reach the area directly below the isolation layer. The second stage is breaking through the isolation layer, using equipment to take pictures of the situation outside the isolation layer as much as possible. The third stage is returning, confirming that the body indicators are normal, and returning to the isolation layer with the data. The experiment ends."

"What a pointless experiment. I completely don't understand why you kids make such a big fuss about it."

"Are you bored?"

Christensen smiled, a rare occurrence.

"This is my dream."

“If Ernst hadn’t insisted on stopping me, I would have been the one standing in your place. And the fact that you are standing there now is not because I gave you my place, but because I haven’t yet determined whether this plan will succeed.”

"And you, even if you find it boring, you have to do it."

Safar pursed his lips, though Ironhead probably didn't have that function. Before he could say anything, Christensen suddenly spoke again:

"And Mr. Safar, are you really as nonchalant as you claim?"

The question pierced Safar's heart like a sharp sword, causing the flames burning in his helmet to flicker.

He looked at Christensen with some surprise, the flickering fire in his eyes revealing the fire demon's somewhat guilty mood.

What met his gaze was Christensen's slightly lowered head and the slight upturn of her lips.

She was looking down, checking the items on the list, as if her question just now was merely a casual remark, an unintentional act. This slightly lessened Safar's anxiety.

He turned around and was about to climb the tower when Christensen stepped forward and pressed the button to close the hatch.

Just as the isolation door was about to close, Christensen heard the last reply from the now-vanished figure:

“You’re right, little girl.”

".......hehe."

Kristen chuckled, shook her head, turned and returned to the control panel, watching Safar's figure on the monitor screen.

Safar's steps were exceptionally steady and firm, and even showed signs of gradually quickening.

Kristen's question truly struck at the deepest part of his heart.

He wasn't as indifferent to the experiment as he seemed. He didn't dismiss the grand plan undertaken by these ancestors' descendants, nor was he so stubborn as to believe that exploring the unknown was meaningless.

He is the Flame Demon.

He has had many names, many titles, many nicknames: Safar, the Punisher Clan, the Royal Court Balrog, the Guardian Flame, or most widely and universally, Tikkaz, and Sarkaz.

He's not young anymore.

He lived through the end of the Tichatz era. He grew up listening to the legends of Tichatz ruling the world (Kazdel). But like every citizen of the last dynasty, the glory of the past was gone forever, echoing the tragedy of the present, which made people feel helpless and sigh.

He grew up, served in the Flame Demon King's court, became a member of the Flame Demon Lord's personal guard, and protected the Demon King in that battle until his death. After that, he lived in a daze for too long.

Time will erode everything, and in this long period of time, long enough for even Sarkaz to turn to ashes, he was not unaware of anything.

The era of the Tikkaz is long gone, and the era of the Sarkaz has not yet arrived. Their compatriots perished in the flames of war, succumbing to depravity. Differences and estrangement, like thorns, not only lie between the Sarkaz and the descendants of the First Men, but also between the Sarkaz themselves.

His resurgence in this era may not be a stroke of luck for him, but rather a misfortune.

Everything he saw was unfamiliar: unfamiliar country, unfamiliar people, unfamiliar order, even unfamiliar Sarkaz. He had no friends, no one to talk to. He stroked the old pages of the book, only to sadly discover that even on those yellowed pages, he could no longer find his own or his friends' names.

At that moment, he suddenly understood.

He is a remnant of the old era, and the new era has no ship to carry him.

But he is not willing to give in!

Is there nothing that is eternal?

Safar asked himself the same question.

The people of Kazdel, once seated on high walls built of magic, savored a brew made from a mixture of brains and blood, believing that their Kazdel Empire, which ruled over everything, would continue for eternity, just like the legacy of the Demon King!

As one demon lord after another fell to the ground, and one tribe after another collapsed and died out, the people who became Sarkaz knew that all good things must come to an end.

Mighty beasts can be killed, magnificent walls can be breached, and supreme military might cannot withstand the ravages of time. Even empires that rule the entire world will perish.

Is nothing ever eternal?

He asked himself the same question again and again, but could not find the answer. Then Ernst and Kristen found him and pointed him in the right direction.

"Two moons".

The twin moons that have hung in the Terra sky since the time of Tichatz are the eternal abode.

If ruling the earth cannot bring the Sarkaz the true liberation they have always longed for, then the sky must be the eternal place!

He didn't even treat the next task as a job.

Looking at everyone in Sherag, perhaps only Kristen understood Safar's obsession. They were all the same kind of people in some ways. Although their goals were different, they all regarded exploring the sky as their life's mission!

And now, this mission is within reach!

"Ding--"

As the elevator doors opened, Safar stepped out of the elevator, and before him lay the final steps.

The isolation layer is right in front of us, but its properties have not yet been fully explored. All we know is that any electronic device or product will experience a repulsive reaction upon contact with the isolation layer, thus malfunctioning. This is the direct reason why Christensen's parents' aircraft went out of control and crashed when it approached the isolation layer.

Aside from that, the isolation layer seemed harmless; it never actively harmed the Terrans, and it was completely invisible even at this distance.

It's like a seamless mirror; once you get used to its presence, you won't even notice anything unusual about it.

What were the first Terrans who discovered the isolation layer thinking? Did they see it as a miracle? Or as a prison?

But for Safar, this meant nothing.

He was not afraid; he was about to cross over.

I'm so tired, so alone

"Beep beep - Log: This is Safar, making the final notification before contacting the isolation layer. After the notification, I will officially make contact with the isolation layer and attempt to cross it. Over."

Safar spoke into the communicator on his left shoulder. Unsurprisingly, there was no response. Only a busy signal came through the communicator.

This means that this area has now entered the influence zone of the isolation layer.

Safar was not surprised; this situation was normal and had already been included in Christensen's list of anticipated contingencies.

No one responded, so he simply recorded the audio and kept it safe, as a way to prove that he had tried to challenge the heavens, should something happen.

After confirming the recording was complete, Safar reached out and unlocked the communicator, which was supposed to be silent.

It should have been silent.

"Didi—[An incomprehensible language]"

"Didi—[An incomprehensible language]"

"Didi—[An incomprehensible language]"

A series of sounds suddenly broke the silence, startling Safar, who stared in disbelief at the communicator in his hand.

He was certain that the voice was coming from the communicator.

Although its content was completely incomprehensible and its sound was severely distorted, it was indeed transmitted from a communicator.

“That’s strange, where did this signal come from?” Safar clicked his tongue in confusion. “Kristen’s operating manual doesn’t say how to deal with this situation.”

He hesitated for a moment, then turned the communicator back on and replied:

"Hey, who are you?"

"------"

The communicator went dead again. Then, an incomprehensible language began to play once more.

Safar couldn't understand it, but based on the tone he remembered from listening to it repeatedly, he was fairly certain that the person on the communicator was repeating the same sentence over and over again.

Instead of answering my question, they kept repeating the same sentence?

The flames burning on Safar's armor grew even brighter.

He was a little angry. Was this a bit too rude?

No, theoretically, there shouldn't be any signal in this place...

This is really... a bit weird.

Although he no longer had the ability to sweat, Safar still instinctively felt a chilling sense of unease.

He asked again, and the voice on the other end paused once more. After his voice disappeared, the other end repeated the incomprehensible sentence.

What is this? A ghost signal?

Safar was completely baffled, so he simply put the communicator on the ground and kicked it far away.

What a nuisance! These gadgets invented by our ancestors are so unreliable! It's bad enough that we can't communicate with the control tower here, but they also come up with all these scary things!

He resolutely walked up the stairs and reached out his hand towards the isolation layer at the end.

Dulin 259 armor instantly blocked Safar's body under the barrier of the isolation layer. So he took off his armor and used the burning flames to support himself, lifting himself up as a small, burning fragment of Originium, and rushed towards the barrier layer.

"Watch closely, all of you!"

"The only one in history to have completely conquered this land was the Demon Lord of Tikkaz!"

"The one who conquered the sky and explored the twin moons for the first time in history is me, Safar the Firelord!"

"This is the glory of us Tikkaz, reaching to eternity!"

The flames burned, expanded, and compressed, as if obstructed by some obstacle, yet they continued to rise relentlessly.

Until that tiny spark finally ignited the first ray of light outside the isolation layer.

This is the spark of Terra.

Chapter 326 Damn demon, how dare you touch my fire!

What were the results of the experiment?

“Safar has been on the tower for over an hour.”

Can you confirm his condition?

"There's no way around it; there's severe interference near the isolation layer, making it impossible to observe with electronic devices."

"Where's the communicator? Is the signal still down?"

"Cannot connect..."

"Tch, I'll go up myself!"