Chapter 1303: Tremors

The main construction of the orbital fortress Dawn of the Mortal World had reached its final stage. According to the original plan, the concealed assembly site nestled between the mountain and dense forest was finally about to see the light of day.

At Gawain’s command, Rebecca activated a device beside the arcane network terminal. A sudden hum echoed throughout the cavernous assembly area, and her voice rang out above the site: “All units, attention. The ‘Sky Dome’ is about to open. Personnel in the work zone, cease operations and prepare for environmental adaptation. The dome projection will shut down in ten seconds.”

Rebecca’s cheerful, energetic voice reverberated across the entire site. As her words faded, a series of clicks and clanks sounded from hidden corners—arcane relay devices powering on, off, and switching modes. Mechanical parts shifted and moved in the distance. Gawain looked up to see numerous steel support beams near the grayish dome overhead slowly sliding aside. Countless lighting fixtures adjusted their positions accordingly. Then, after a brief delay, the “rock dome” that had enveloped the entire assembly area suddenly flickered.

Streams of white light gradually brightened across the ceiling. The once seamless cavern roof was divided into hundreds of uniform square panels by these glowing lines. The panels shimmered and became transparent one by one. In the next instant, chunks of “black rock” vanished into thin air—the dome’s holographic projection dissipated, revealing a vast, brilliant sky above the assembly site.

Outside the dome, the sun shone brightly, thin clouds dotting the clear winter sky. With the dome’s projection gone, the protective barrier above the site temporarily deactivated, allowing cold, fresh air from outside to flow into the valley. Snowflakes drifted down from nearby mountain peaks, swirling gently in the breeze. For the first time, the radiant sunlight bathed the main body of Project 115.

Moments later, Gawain heard an awed voice from the arcane network terminal beside him—the control core of Dawn of the Mortal World exclaiming, “Oh! Sunlight—”

“Though I imagined this moment before…” Rebecca looked up at the sky, unable to suppress her own amazement despite being one of the fortress’s chief designers. “Seeing it with my own eyes is truly spectacular…”

Gawain remained silent for a moment, simply gazing at the scene with a long-lasting, admiring smile.

Indeed, there was no actual “rock dome” above the assembly site. While the engineers had spent considerable time “excavating” the area with explosives and heavy machinery, they had essentially just widened a natural mountain valley. What had long shrouded the site was actually a holographic projection created by a massive crystal matrix.

Rebecca and her technical team had used hundreds of projection devices to conjure a small additional stretch of mountain beyond the northwest ridge of the Dark Mountains, maintaining this illusion until today.

This meant that once Dawn of the Mortal World was fully completed, simply deactivating the valley’s overhead shield and projection, and moving the high-altitude lighting fixtures aside, would allow the entire orbital fortress to ascend directly into the sky.

Beyond the fortress itself, the holographic projection array covering the valley was a highly valuable experimental technology. Though its basic units were not complex—arcane illusions had been used by mages for thousands of years—the feat of combining hundreds of small illusion units into such a large-scale, stable, and long-lasting joint projection was unprecedented. This technology, first applied to the covert Project 115, could later be expanded and adapted into many practical battlefield devices.

The vast deck of Dawn of the Mortal World basked in the brilliant sunlight. The sun’s rays traced contrasting silhouettes across its blue-and-white armored bands and superstructure. Its control core floated within the wetware mainframe container at the fortress’s heart, its countless neural fibers spread throughout the steel body. Sensors scattered across the upper decks relayed the sensations of sunlight and wind back to it—warmth, brightness, freshness, comfort.

The only pity was that the steel deck couldn’t perform photosynthesis.

“Before proceeding with the next system adjustment, the sky dome will remain open for three days and nights,” Rebecca said. “During this time, we’ll test the fortress’s environmental adaptation and visual functions. Dawn of the Mortal World, you can enjoy the sunlight, starlight, and natural wind. Afterwards, we’ll close the dome again. When it opens next time, that will be your true moment of ascent.”

The fortress’s control core responded in a neutral synthetic voice: “Yes, Creator Rebecca, I eagerly await that day…”

Suddenly, a low humming sound came from the sky, interrupting the fortress’s voice and catching Gawain’s attention. Instinctively, he looked toward the source and saw a massive hexagonal shadow rising from the dense forest along the mountainside. It moved slowly northeast under the sunlight. Several anti-gravity rings floated beneath the shadow, emitting faint glimmers that traced a hazy path through the sky.

This hexagonal flying device was clearly several times smaller than Dawn of the Mortal World, yet still far larger than any currently active “Dragon Rider” aircraft. Its chassis was notably simple, with no visible weapon stations or defensive systems installed. Instead, large blank connectors lined its edges—like universal interfaces. It resembled a sturdy, no-frills, high-powered general-purpose chassis.

It flew steadily past, seemingly on a short-range test flight, then slowly descended somewhere north of Base 115, out of Gawain and the others’ sight.

“That’s our universal aerial platform, the Gorgon Mark I,” Rebecca said with a proud smile, turning to Gawain. “Marin Leslie’s project. We recently completed prototype testing and are now evaluating the mass-produced frames from Factory No. 2. Looks promising. If the specs check out, we’ll deliver them to the First Legion and the Order of the Holy Light.”

“That fast?” Gawain looked surprised. “I remember you arguing with Hetty about the budget for the universal aerial platform not long ago…”

“Of course it’s fast,” Rebecca waved her hand dismissively. “It’s way simpler than the orbital fortress. Basically, it’s a sturdy base frame welded with several high-power anti-gravity engines, a neural system laid inside the chassis, and a brain installed. No need to worry about the deadly engine interference like on the fortress. The power spine uses off-the-shelf factory models, and even the arcane network array is a downgraded version from the Winter’s Chill energy unit. Its effectiveness depends on the ‘building’ mounted on it. As a transport chassis, it just needs to fly steadily and provide enough power output ports…”

She paused, then added, “In fact, the prototype was literally welded together from spare parts scavenged from several factory warehouses. Believe it or not, that thing actually flew—though it crashed into the mountains shortly after. So I had to ask Auntie for an extra budget.”

Gawain was stunned, especially at the thought that the technical leads under Rebecca’s command were even more reckless than she was, the Empire’s Steel Pearl herself. Though he had discussed the universal aerial platform concept with Rebecca before—an inferior, downgraded, cheap, and quickly made alternative to the orbital fortress—he hadn’t expected her team to be so bold.

At that moment, the fortress’s control core spoke again through the arcane terminal. Several monitors on the upper decks still tracked the Gorgon Mark I’s landing site. Its voice carried a hint of envy: “How wonderful, Creator Rebecca. Is that the ‘little sister’ you mentioned? It’s already flying so well… I have yet to ascend.”

“Be patient,” Rebecca glanced at the holographic projection of the brain floating in the biomass solution. “Your ascent is no small matter. Once the orbital fortress takes off, barring special circumstances, it may not land again for decades. Your resupply, maintenance, and even upgrades will all happen in the air. You might even miss being grounded.”

The fortress was silent for a few seconds before replying, “…I can’t quite imagine that scene, but I will remain patient, Creator.”

Rebecca’s lips curved into a smile. She seemed about to say more, but at that moment, a sudden urgent hum came from the arcane terminal. An emergency call from Cecil City appeared at the center of the holographic projection.

Gawain’s expression instantly turned serious. Rebecca stepped forward and answered the communication. The light and shadow on the projection shifted, revealing Hetty’s face in the foreground.

“Ancestor,” she said urgently, her gaze quickly settling on Gawain, “reports of abnormal phenomena are coming in. Several domestic and international observatories and monitoring units have detected unidentified interference in the atmosphere. I’ve transmitted the detailed data to the 115 Base’s data communications room. Please review it as soon as possible!”

Gawain exchanged a glance with Rebecca. This time, her reaction was swift: “You go ahead. I’ll keep watch here.”

He nodded without further words and turned away from the platform. Moments later, his figure became a streak of light, swiftly heading toward the base’s administrative building.

In no time, Gawain arrived at Rebecca’s office within the 115 Project Base. The staff had already organized the data from the communications room and placed it on the desk.

As he sifted through the reports and arcane “snapshots” captured by magical technology, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

The arcane terminal beside him lit up again, and Hetty’s image appeared before Gawain. “Ancestor, have you reviewed the data?”

“I have,” Gawain said grimly, looking up. “Who was the first to report?”

“The Paramel Observatory was the first to detect the anomaly and reported it immediately. Soon after, the observatories in Saint Suniel, the magical monitoring station at Winterhold in the North, and the mana hub in Tenlin City all reported similar ‘interference,’” Hetty said hurriedly, her words matching the data in Gawain’s hands. “We launched an immediate investigation and issued warnings externally. Shortly after, we received feedback from Typhon and the Silver Empire—many of their qualified observation units also detected the phenomenon…”

Gawain nodded slightly as he listened. To counter the endless and mysterious threats in this world, the Commonwealth Alliance had established numerous joint protocols at its founding—covering astronomical observation, mana monitoring, and anomaly warnings. Whenever a member nation detected suspicious ‘signs of anomaly,’ alerts would be sent across the alliance. And now, it seemed this system was truly proving its worth.

“We’re not the only ones observing this ‘interference.’ Its range stretches from the northernmost Northlands of the Loren Continent all the way down to the southern Silver Empire, and it appeared almost simultaneously across these regions,” Gawain murmured, frowning as he thought it over. “The observatories were the first to notice—while watching the stars, they saw the sky filled with disruptive noise. But the reports didn’t come only from astronomical departments…”

“Correct. Multiple mana monitoring stations and arcane network hubs detected interference within the atmosphere,” Hetty nodded. “We can basically rule out the possibility that this originated in outer space—the interference occurred within our atmosphere, and most likely didn’t extend beyond the steady-state boundary layer.”

Gawain pondered for a moment. “The steady-state boundary layer… Do we have more detailed data?”

Hetty shook her head. “Unfortunately, the interference was very brief. Almost all departments that detected it only managed to record routine data from their always-on equipment. Before they could activate specialized devices or dispatch high-level adepts for targeted observation, the energy dissipated from the atmosphere. The most valuable report we have comes from the Silver Empire’s Astrologers’ Association—Archastrologer Verania happened to be collecting high-altitude mana data near the steady-state boundary layer clouds. Upon sensing the atmospheric mana fluctuations, she quickly performed a long-range perception. She confirmed the interference wasn’t confined to the continent but spread endlessly toward the ocean, extending beyond even her legendary perceptual limits.”

“…So this is very likely a global phenomenon.”

“Yes. Scholars from various nations currently suspect it’s a worldwide event, probably caused by the combined effects of the atmosphere and the terrestrial energy field… Wait.”

Hetty suddenly stopped, turning her gaze beyond the screen as if new intelligence had just appeared before her. Moments later, she faced Gawain again, her expression even more grave than before.

“Ancestor, a message from Antavien: there’s been an abnormal fluctuation in the Deep Blue Network. The timing of its onset and conclusion matches exactly with the ‘atmospheric interference’ observed across the regions.”

(End of chapter)