Chapter 1355: Unusual Contact

Guided by the information Asalina had transmitted, the Empire’s expedition fleet, led by the Winter’s Chill, began advancing toward the sea shrouded in mist. As the sunlight grew stronger and the chaotic turbulence gradually subsided, the fog blanketing the ocean slowly thinned. Through the dissipating veil, a towering “pillar” seemingly connecting earth and sky began to emerge.

Byron stood on an observation platform at the prow of the Winter’s Chill, gazing out over the vast, shimmering waves. In his sightline, the “tower” that pierced through the clouds and vanished into the horizon grew clearer—a dark silhouette rising with an overwhelming, almost suffocating majesty, like a mythical pillar descending from the heavens.

The sound of massive wings beating the air descended from above. A red dragon clad in mechanical armor flew in from the direction of the tower, circling above the Winter’s Chill as it gradually lowered altitude. With a thunderous “thud,” Asalina transformed into her human form midair and landed on the nearby “landing platform.” The dragonborn lady tidied her slightly tousled red hair and approached Byron with a brisk step.

“See that? This thing…” she began.

“It’s definitely left behind by the Voyagers. The style is unmistakable—no civilization on this planet could have built something like this,” Byron said gravely, his gaze fixed on the distant sea. “The envoys from Talrond mentioned that the Voyagers left three ‘towers’ on this world—one at the North Pole, and two near the equator, one in the ocean and the other on a continent. Our Majesty has also spoken of these towers… It seems what we’re looking at now is the equatorial tower in the ocean.”

He paused, a hint of awe in his voice. “This is truly an unprecedented feat in human history… How far off course have we drifted?”

“It looks very different from the tower near the Talrond continent,” Asalina frowned, staring into the distance thoughtfully. “That tower is tall, but at least you can see its top. If you’re brave enough, you could even fly to the summit. But this one… I tried flying upward for a long time, pushing the limits of my Steel Wings, and still couldn’t see its end—it’s like this tower pierces right through the sky.”

Byron said nothing, his brow furrowed as he continued to watch the distant tower. The Winter’s Chill pressed forward, but the tower still seemed far away. Its scale defied human comprehension; even now, he couldn’t see the full base of the tower. Nearly two-thirds of the “Iron Island” it rested upon remained submerged beneath the sea.

As the fleet drew closer to the tower’s domain, Byron noticed subtle changes in the environment.

The waves became gentler and more fragmented than elsewhere; the water’s color lightened; the wind over the surface weakened. These changes grew more pronounced as the Winter’s Chill advanced. By the time he could almost see the entire “Iron Island” beneath the tower, the sea was as calm as a small pond behind his home.

Such tranquility was unimaginable in the ever-changing ocean, but here… perhaps this sea had maintained this state for the past hundred thousand years.

“How close did you get just now?” Byron turned to Asalina. “You didn’t land on the island or touch the tower, did you?”

“I’m not a reckless fool like you,” the red-haired Dragonmark witch shook her head immediately. “I just circled around a few times and didn’t enter the island’s perimeter. But from what I observed, there’s still something ‘alive’ on the tower and the island below—I saw moving mechanical structures and some lights. Also, in the shallow waters near the island’s edge, there seemed to be some activity.”

“…It’s normal for Voyager tech to still be operational,” Byron murmured, stroking his chin. “According to Silver Elf legends, the ancient primal elves fled from their ancestral lands, crossing endless oceans to reach the continent of Loren. They sheltered from storms inside a towering structure standing in the sea—this tower. They were cursed for recklessly entering the tower’s ‘forbidden zone,’ which caused their species to diverge into many elven subraces. His Majesty mentioned these legends to me; he believes the tower the elves encountered was left by the Voyagers. Now it seems… it’s probably this very tower before us.”

“Then we must be extra cautious. This tower could very well react to any living beings entering it. The primal elves’ mutation sounds like a drastic alteration of genetic information,” Asalina said solemnly. As a Dragonmark witch, she bore the responsibility of “preserving knowledge and passing down memories” in the Holy Dragon Principality. Before being a warrior or diplomat, she was a scholar with a vast store of knowledge. “It’s said that each Voyager tower left on the planet serves a different function. The Talrond tower is a ‘maternal factory.’ This one here might be related to the planet’s ecology…”

The tower loomed ever closer.

The colossal structure stretched between sea and sky. Only when the fleet reached the tower’s base did the officers realize the true enormity of this behemoth. It dwarfed the Talrond tower in both scale and complexity. Its base was vast, casting a shadow over the sea that enveloped the entire fleet. Under this immense shadow, even the Winter’s Chill looked like a mere skiff.

“So, what do you think? Shall we explore it?” Asalina glanced at Byron. “We’ve finally found this thing. We can’t just circle around and leave, right? But it might be risky—we should proceed cautiously…”

“I’m used to risks. Nothing on this journey has been smooth sailing,” Byron shrugged. “We need to gather intel, but you’re right—we have to be careful. After all, this is Voyager tech…”

“Then let’s send a small boat over first. I noticed some dock-like extensions on the edge of the Iron Island where mechanical boats can berth. I’ll also dispatch a few Dragonborn warriors to provide aerial support for the exploration team.”

Byron was about to nod when a voice suddenly came from behind him: “Wait. Let us go first.”

He turned to see Lady Cassandra, the sea witch navigator with a distinctive tear-shaped birthmark near her eye, slithering toward them with her long serpentine tail. Two other sea witches followed her. Noticing Byron’s gaze, the “deep-sea allies” who had been accompanying the Empire fleet since North Harbor smiled.

“We can start exploring beneath the surface, then land to check the environment. If danger arises, we can retreat into the sea much more easily than you humans can run,” she said.

She glanced back at her two companions, pride evident on her face. “Besides, we’re not easy to kill anyway…”

Byron instinctively finished her sentence: “…so we just go all out?”

“Pretty much the same thing,” Cassandra said, hands on hips, unfazed by the exchange. “Sea witches are excellent explorers. Our talent comes from two things: we’re fearless, and we’re recklessly fearless.”

Byron considered this and found himself convinced.

Moments later, with a few splashes, Cassandra and her two sea witch companions dove into the water. Their agile, fish-like forms quickly vanished beneath the waves.

The underwater scenery near the towering giant was transmitted back to the Winter’s Chill’s control center via the magical network terminal Cassandra carried.

On the screen, Byron saw them first cross a sloping seabed scattered with rubble and black sand. Agile small creatures scattered at their intrusion. Then came a clearly artificial “boundary ridge.” The gentle seabed abruptly ended at this line. Beyond it lay an astonishingly vast network of interwoven alloy structures, massive pipes and pillars deeply embedded in the ocean floor, seemingly driven deep into the crust.

Beneath the surface, the tower’s base had a foundation far more extravagant and complex than the portion visible above water.

The footage continued for some time, then shifted upward. Sunlight filtered through the thin water like drifting auroras around the three sea witches. They found a slanted alloy ramp resembling a conveyor pipe plunging into the seabed. Suddenly, the screen flashed as Cassandra surfaced, climbed onto the Iron Island, and began moving toward the tower.

“We’ve landed, General Byron,” the sea witch’s voice came from off-screen. “Many facilities here are clearly still operational. We saw moving lights and mechanical structures, and in some areas, we could hear a humming from inside the buildings. But aside from that, it’s very ‘quiet.’ No ancient guardians or traps… Honestly, this is much safer than the tower we found on the southern continent of our homeland.”

The sea witches had once explored the southern seas of Antavian in ancient times, discovering a primitive continent teeming with dangerous ancient machines. That continent held the third Voyager tower on this planet—the same tower climbed by High Lord Cecil seven centuries ago. Byron was somewhat familiar with this, so he didn’t react much, only asking seriously, “Any signs of life on the island?”

“Yes—although the island is mostly alloy construction, near the damp coastal areas there are plenty of signs of life: accumulated algae, small creatures living in crevices… Oh, and we even spotted a seabird! There might be other natural islands nearby; otherwise, the bird wouldn’t have flown this far. This is probably a temporary resting spot.”

Byron exhaled slightly in relief. The presence of life signs meant the area around the tower wasn’t a lifeless “dead zone.” At least outside the tower, ordinary creatures could survive long-term.

After all… sea witches were a special race. These immortal deep-sea dwellers were incomparable to ordinary material-world beings. No matter how lively they were around the tower, Byron dared not take that as a reliable reference…

Cassandra led her two subordinates onward toward the towering spire. The fierce equatorial sun beat down on the three sea witches, and through the magical network terminal’s live feed, Byron and Asalina watched as the scales on the tails of the two explorers shimmered under the intense sunlight. Wisps of mist seemed to rise and swirl faintly around them.

“…Do you think they’ll end up dried out like fish jerky?” Asalina suddenly voiced her concern. “I swear, their heads look like they’re steaming.”

“No need to worry, Lady Asalina,” Cassandra’s voice came through the communicator immediately. “Besides exploration and the occasional untimely death, my sisters and I have plenty of experience with sun-drying. We know exactly how to avoid drying out under harsh sunlight… and if worse comes to worst, we’re well-versed in condensation and rainfall techniques.”

Asalina and Byron exchanged a blank look.

What kind of bizarre experiences do these deep-sea saltfish have?!

After a long stretch of exploration, Cassandra and her two sisters finally reached the junction where the colossal tower met its base—a seamless, massive alloy ring connecting the tower’s shaft to the steel island below. Surrounding the ring and above it were numerous attached corridors, ramps, and what appeared to be entrances.

“We’ve now arrived at the main body of the tower,” Cassandra said, speaking into the portable magical network terminal hanging from her chest. She stepped forward and tapped the enormous alloy ring. Given its staggering size, the ring’s side rose like a towering, curved metal barrier to her.

“So far, no signs of danger—”

Her words abruptly cut off. She stared in disbelief at the spot where her fingers had struck, watching as layers of pale blue light rings rapidly spread across the silvery metal surface.

“By the deep sea! This thing’s glowing!”

…

Meanwhile, in Cecil City, after finally wrapping up his tasks, Gawain was about to rest briefly in his study’s armchair when a sudden voice echoed in his mind, jolting him upright:

“Sensing native intelligent lifeforms contacting the lower structure of the orbital elevator at the ring station. Preprocessing initiated. Safety protocol 766 engaged. Detection—elemental lifeforms, anomalous sequence, mild and harmless.

“Switching to procedure B-5-32. System maintaining silence, awaiting further contact.”

Gawain sprang from his chair, standing dumbfounded as the phrase echoed repeatedly in his mind:

What the hell is that?

He stood frozen for a few seconds before realizing where the voice had come from—the Skyward Station’s monitoring system!

The next moment, Gawain quickly returned to his armchair, settled into a comfortable position, and focused his mind to connect with the station’s surveillance system. After a brief adjustment, he began directing his “gaze” toward the orbital elevator linking the space station to the planet’s surface…

(End of chapter)