Chapter 1302: The Awakening of the Sky Fortress
“Ahhh!”
That was the last cry the sea witch Caroline uttered to her comrades and commanders before she was swept away. In the next instant, her figure was engulfed by an overwhelmingly powerful surge of energy, quickly transforming into a streak of light that shot off into the distance. Nearby, the Abyssal Commander and sentinel Vera were caught completely off guard—by the time they tried to reach out and stop her, it was already too late.
Not far away, the Water Elemental Lord, who had been floating in the sea trying to heal his wounds, witnessed the entire scene. The massive elemental giant surged toward the “downstream” of the blue energy current. In this boundless ocean brimming with elemental power, his speed was almost lightning-fast—but still no match for the deep blue torrent. The Elemental Lord barely managed to stretch out an arm before Caroline’s blue-purple silhouette vanished completely from everyone’s sight.
Silence fell over the scene. The sudden turn of events left the nearby sea witches and water elementals momentarily stunned, unsure how to react. Finally, Vera broke the silence. “…I think she’s dead inside that current.”
“Not necessarily,” the Abyssal Commander mused, stroking his chin. “She didn’t seem to be ‘dissolving’ after jumping in. Our lifeforms are less reactive to this world’s magical environment, so maybe she needs to stay in there a while before it finishes her off…”
Vera shrugged. “Either way, it’s only a matter of time. I’ll head to the outpost and adjust the next shift’s rotation.”
At that moment, the liquid-like Elemental Lord slowly swam over. His massive form looked dazed as he stared toward the spot where Caroline had disappeared. After a long pause, he muttered, “She didn’t have to jump in… I just wanted to get some answers. But if there are none, then there are none…”
“I don’t think she jumped in on purpose,” Vera said awkwardly, then suddenly noticed something. “Wait—where’s the lower half of your body?”
The Water Elemental Lord blinked, glanced back at the place he had rushed from, and saw only a slowly dissipating whirlpool of pure water glowing faintly blue. A look of frustration and regret crossed his hazy face. “Ah… I forgot to bring it along when I charged out.”
“Don’t be too down about it,” the Abyssal Commander stepped forward and patted the Elemental Lord’s arm reassuringly. “I was watching earlier—you probably can’t save that half anyway. It would fall off with the slightest movement. We’ll investigate this incident later, but for now, we can help treat your ‘wound.’ If you trust our sea witch healing techniques, the outpost has an Elemental Reconstitution Matrix. We use it when we get badly injured but don’t want to die and respawn. Even native water elementals can use it.”
Despite one of their own being swept away by the deep blue current, the two sea witches remained remarkably calm. This reaction unsettled the young Water Elemental Lord. He recalled records of the ancient Elemental Wars and the stories told by elder elemental lords. A chill ran through him: these “Extractors” from the starry void truly were a terrifying species.
He instinctively looked up toward the shadow drifting on the distant sea—the outpost built by the sea witches. Nearby water elementals usually avoided that place, but as an Elemental Lord, he felt no real fear—only suspicion. “Your technology… can really be used on pure water elementals like me? No side effects?”
“Of course not,” the Abyssal Commander said proudly, thumping his chest. “We’re water elementals too, just like you. Come on, let me introduce you to our medical tech… Oh, Vera, go report to the comms station. Tell them Caroline was swept away by the deep blue current. She might die and respawn at any time. Let the sisters guarding Antavien know so they can send a retrieval team to the rally point.”
Vera waved her hand in acknowledgment and flicked her tail as she swam toward the outpost. The Water Elemental Lord sighed. “I’ve heard about you before, but seeing it firsthand… your way of life really is something else.”
On the northern side of the Dark Mountains, west of Cecil City, hidden by rolling hills and dense jungle, a massive engineering complex sprawled across the landscape. High above the assembly yard, Gawain stood on a platform overlooking the entire site. Nearby, Rebecca was intently reviewing the parameters just submitted by her assistants.
Below them, the vast assembly yard was bathed in bright light from high-powered magic crystal lamps. A colossal steel structure lay quietly, supported by countless modules and scaffolding. The main body of this structure was nearly complete, shaped roughly like a slightly elongated hexagon. The internal “bones” and “organs”—energy arrays, power spines, anti-gravity engines, and various weapons, control, habitation, and defense systems—were all securely encased within layered hull compartments. From above, only the orderly “deck architecture” and large weapon turrets at each corner were visible.
Gawain’s gaze drifted to the distance, where bright sparks flashed continuously along the edges of the immense “deck.” Tiny figures—workers and machines no bigger than ants—bustled about. Magic engineers were welding the final section of the sky fortress’s outer armor and installing sturdy alloy casings on the last exposed biological neural conduits. Only when their work was done could this astonishing “fortress” be considered basically complete.
Yes, basically complete. Everything here was just the core structure of the sky fortress, enough to guarantee basic flight and combat capabilities. Many auxiliary systems—detection arrays, aerial data centers, alchemical synthesis factories—were far from finished. According to Rebecca’s original plan, these would take at least another year or two to install. But the current situation left no choice. Gawain had to push for a rough prototype as soon as possible.
The parts that couldn’t be installed right away… well, they could be assembled gradually in the air after the fortress took flight.
Gawain’s eyes slowly swept across the broad deck below, marveling at the scale and grandeur of the structure. Yet the imposing image of the “Sentinel Ship” kept surfacing unbidden in his mind. After a moment’s comparison, he sighed. The gap between the two was still significant…
Rebecca noticed his sigh but didn’t know what he was thinking. She tilted her head curiously. “Ancestor, why the sigh? Still unhappy with the progress?”
“No, I was just thinking about something else… The progress here has actually exceeded my expectations,” Gawain shook his head, not elaborating. Then he glanced at the magic network terminal behind Rebecca and casually asked, “How’s the control core?”
“We just completed the final awakening test. It’s in excellent condition,” Rebecca’s face lit up with pride and joy, her eyes sparkling like a child showing off a perfect test score. “Would you like to greet it?”
“Already ready for a greeting?” Gawain was surprised. He looked up at the assembly yard’s sky, where a grayish “rock dome” stretched overhead like a distant firmament. He knew the giant sun should be near its zenith now—almost noon. “Indeed, the time is about right… Rebecca, bring up the control core’s feed. I want to say hello.”
“Right away, Ancestor.” Rebecca nodded eagerly and quickly tapped commands on the magic network terminal. The holographic image floating above the terminal expanded and brightened rapidly, soon forming a two-meter-wide projection hovering over the platform. The scene flickered twice before sharpening into clarity.
Gawain saw a brightly lit hall filled with busy technicians moving between neural nodes, recording parameters. At the center lay an enormous device composed of one large and two smaller hemispherical metal bodies mounted on a vast, complex base. From the base and behind the main bodies extended a tangled web of pipe- and cable-like structures, disappearing into the floor below and the ceiling above, faintly glowing with shifting light.
The upper hemispherical shell of the massive device slowly opened, metal shielding sliding down to reveal crystal containers inside. Each of the three hemispheres held a translucent, dilute solution. The central, largest container immersed a colossal biomass brain taller than a person. The two smaller containers beside it were currently empty.
Surrounding this wetware apparatus were numerous empty immersion pods standing by.
Gawain studied the holographic display, then instinctively glanced down at the silent, dormant fortress beneath the platform. What he was seeing was the very heart of that fortress’s control hall.
This fortress was alive. It had a living brain, a nervous system stretching hundreds of kilometers throughout its body. Every engine and turret was entwined with nerve endings. It could feel the breeze skimming over its decks during flight, the footsteps of crew members walking above. The team controlling it could even lie in immersion pods—if the battle demanded—and synchronize their nerves to communicate swiftly and precisely with the fortress’s “mainframe,” issuing commands and exchanging information.
This technology was partly inherited from the End of All Things cult, partly accumulated over centuries by the Sleepless, and partly derived from the Silver Elves’ “Throne of Dominion.”
“Greetings, esteemed Emperor,” a neutral, synthesized voice came from the magic network terminal. At the same time, Gawain saw a stream of bubbles rise around the synthetic brain immersed in the hemispherical container. “I am pleased—this is my first time meeting you. I am very pleased to meet you for the first time.”
“Hello, Dawn of the Mortal World,” Gawain nodded, feeling a bit intrigued. He knew these synthetic brains—grown from the great trees of Thalin or biofactories—possessed a certain level of cognition and virtual personalities. He was aware that psy-singers and wetware technicians could communicate with them, but for him, this was the first time actually talking to one. The sensation was oddly fascinating. “How does it feel to be awake?”
“Very good,” the synthetic brain replied immediately through the holographic projection. “I can sense all my engines and deck structures, feel the temperature in every compartment, and monitor the operations in the lower mechanical zones. The technicians did a perfect job connecting my neural interfaces—and the biomass solution here is quite comfortable.”
The response was smooth and natural, exceeding Gawain’s expectations. While it couldn’t compare to the near-human ironmind technology of the old Númenor Empire, these “synthetic brains” created by Beltira clearly represented the pinnacle of the diverse artificial intelligence technologies across the nations of Loren in this era.
Rebecca, standing nearby, had been curiously staring at the two empty containers flanking the wetware mainframe in the hologram. Suddenly, she asked, “What about your two auxiliary brains? I remember they were installed a long time ago…”
Before she finished, the synthetic brain’s voice came through the arcane network terminal: “The left auxiliary brain is assisting in the kitchen, and the right one is lifting weights in the gym. System load is low while docked; to prevent qualitative degradation of the synthetic brain generators, we take shifts on duty.”
Gawain: “…Makes sense.”
He wasn’t new to dealing with these synthetic brains created by Beltira. He had read various trial operation reports from factories, labs, and data management departments. He was familiar with the unique ways these “biological computers” were run and maintained. So, although this seemed a bit odd, he accepted it without much trouble.
Overclocking fueled by sugar beans, maintenance in the gym—this was apparently the normal operating procedure for these otherworldly biomass computers. He had to appreciate the quirks.
Shaking his head to dismiss the mental commentary, he looked up at the gray, rocky ceiling above.
“Dawn of the Mortal World, your mainframe is complete. Although it’s not yet time for official flight… would you like to bask in the sun?”
“Bask in the sun?” The synthetic brain’s tone was almost devoid of emotion, questioning. “Is that allowed?”
“Of course,” Gawain smiled. “It’s part of the process.”
“Understood. I would like to bask in the sun,” the synthetic brain responded immediately. “The ‘Mother Tree’ engraved the ‘joy of photosynthesis’ deep within every brain’s memory. She told us that sunlight provides beneficial stimulation—I want to experience the feeling of sunlight on the deck.”
“…Why does Beltira have to etch everything into your memories…” Gawain’s mouth twitched involuntarily. Then he turned to Rebecca. “Alright, shut down the projection and open the skylight. Let the sunlight pour in.”
(End of chapter)