Chapter 1357: Conditions for Crossing Not Met
A small mechanical landing craft was lowered from the Winter’s Edge, gliding smoothly over the sea so calm it resembled a mirror. It came to a steady stop at the base of the colossal tower that seemed to pierce the planet’s atmosphere itself. Cassandra, who had spent half a day exploring the steel island, came to meet them. After securing the landing craft, Byron and Asalina led a squad of loyal marines to ascend the ancient relic that had stood on this planet for 1.8 million years.
A gentle, faint sea breeze drifted in from afar, carrying unusually fresh air. The great sun had already passed its zenith; the slanting rays were no longer the scorching, deadly heat of noon. The golden-red glow bathed the towering spire before them, casting a shadow across the distant ocean that could only be described as magnificent. At the edge of the steel island, Byron noticed the mineral deposits, algae buildup, and countless other signs of life that the sea had accumulated over the ages.
He tilted his head back, straining to see the top of the tower—though, as with every previous angle, the summit remained invisible. All he could see was a grand silver-gray column stretching skyward, piercing the clouds, gradually thinning into a slender black line that vanished at the horizon—like a bridge descending from the heavens.
“How is something like this even standing here?” one marine muttered under his helmet, his voice muffled. “Are you sure it won’t just fall over?”
“Who knows? It’s some artifact left by the Voyagers…” another marine whispered back. “They even built ships that patrolled between the divine realms. I heard those things were way bigger than the Dawn of the Mortal World…”
Byron heard the astonished chatter behind him but paid it no mind. He let Cassandra lead the way, and soon they passed beyond the already mapped safe zone, arriving at a broad plaza at the tower’s base.
“I suspect this is the tower’s entrance,” Cassandra said. “We found gate structures nearby, and what looks like a staging area for vehicles and personnel, but we haven’t had time to explore further.” The weakening sunlight made the steam swirling around Cassandra’s form less dense, making her look less like a dried salted fish in danger of crumbling. “Also, while waiting for you, my sisters and I found more ‘latercomer traces’ around the plaza—probably left by the original elves who fled here back then. Unlike the Voyagers’ creations, which last millions of years, the elves’ marks have weathered and faded beyond recognition.”
Byron nodded solemnly, his gaze falling on a metal plaque at the plaza’s edge, etched with ancient elven script. Though he couldn’t read a word, he maintained his commanding presence before the marines, projecting the image of a seasoned general: knowledgeable, confident, and steady. “Leaving messages near the entrance to warn future visitors… that makes perfect sense.”
Asalina, of course, knew Byron was bluffing about understanding the ancient elven language, but she wasn’t interested in calling him out. Instead, she stepped closer and carefully examined the plaque again. This time, up close, she noticed a detail missed in the remote images.
“The material of this plaque… it’s different from the surrounding structures, but it’s not the copper-based mythril alloy commonly used by today’s elves.”
“Maybe the elves brought it from their original homeland,” Byron mused, stroking his chin. “The original elves possessed technology far more advanced than the current Silver Empire. The Star Sanctum is their ‘ancestral legacy’ brought to the Loren continent. This alloy is probably of similar origin. After their split and decline, they lost much of their technology and suffered severe collective memory erasure. I doubt they can still smelt such advanced materials brought from their old home.”
He pondered for a moment, eyeing the plaque standing like a monument in the plaza. “Can this be removed?”
“Yes,” Cassandra nodded immediately. “The island itself is made of incredibly hard material, but this plaque isn’t difficult. It’s cast into a recessed groove in the ground. Your magi-engineers’ cutting machines should be able to extract it from its base… Are you planning to take it?”
Asalina glanced at Byron in surprise. “What do you want with this thing?”
“Dig it up—then have the Winter’s Edge send down a team of engineers,” Byron said, gesturing at the base of the ‘monument.’ “We’ll try to extract it as neatly and intact as possible. I’m thinking we can package it up and send it to the Silver Empire, maybe in a nice display case. As His Majesty says, this could boost our reputation by at least a hundred points…”
“Calm down! You want to rip down an ancestral monument and box it up as a souvenir to boost your reputation?” Asalina’s eyes widened, and she shouted, shaking Byron out of his wild idea. “The moment you step into the Silver Empire with that, you’ll be caught red-handed, you know?”
No one in the Imperial Fleet dared shout at the Fleet Marshal, except for a mother dragon who had been drinking and brawling with him in the southern territories decades ago. Asalina’s loud voice made Byron’s head throb, and he finally realized his plan was a bit reckless. Not every ‘lost artifact’ should be dug up and returned to its original owners. This ‘monument’ was not just a relic of the original elves; it was a vital symbol of their presence here. Perhaps, once this world was safe again, the Silver Elves would come here just as the Winter’s Edge had, and this monument would serve as a crucial cultural and historical landmark.
It was a simple truth—like a mountain peak no one had ever climbed until one day a strong man reached the summit and hung his family crest there. Even if it was an accident, you wouldn’t just rip that symbol off and send it to his descendants with a casual, “Hey, found this on the road—is it yours?”
Byron imagined how furious that climber would be.
“Forget it. I’ll report this to His Majesty and see how he wants to negotiate with the Silver Empire,” Byron said, scratching his messy hair. He turned to the towering curved metal wall nearby—just a small section of the tower’s base. “Next, let’s go inside and see what’s there.”
“You sure you want to go in?” Asalina frowned, glancing at the gate that looked like an entrance. “I have a bad feeling about this place…”
“I came here to see inside,” Byron said firmly. “Finding this tower was pure luck. The Voyagers’ legacy is hugely important to the Empire, and His Majesty is very concerned about it. We should at least bring back some valuable intelligence—that’s the least we owe the Empire. Of course, we won’t linger here. The naga navigators and the sea witches aboard the Winter’s Edge are recalibrating our course. Once they find the continent, we’ll head back. But before entering the tower, we should be cautious.”
He looked at Cassandra, who was carefully tying her tail into a bow. “Cassandra, would you and your sisters please go through that gate first and check it out?”
Cassandra immediately dropped her tail and smiled confidently. “No problem. We’ve been waiting for this—Sisters, let’s move out!”
The three sea witches quickly separated from the group. Under Byron and the others’ watchful eyes, they crossed the open plaza and ascended the wide ramp leading to the gate. The massive alloy door, wide enough for seven or eight heavy tanks to pass side by side, stood at the ramp’s end, slightly ajar. The three figures slipped through the narrow opening.
Passing through the enormous gate and a similarly wide but short connecting corridor, the interior of the tower finally revealed itself to the three explorers.
The lighting was bright and spotless. Some ancient purification or barrier system seemed to block all dust from the outside world. Before Cassandra stood a perfectly clean, brightly lit circular hall that was impossible to imagine had endured 1.8 million years.
Unlike the first-floor hall of the tower in Tal’Rond, this one had no running machinery or busy central conveyor tubes. The vast space was almost empty, save for a single silver-white metal cylinder piercing the floor and ceiling at the center. Its diameter was nearly as large as a castle tower. Around the cylinder, several holographic images floated, but all displayed only static noise.
No danger, no ancient devices activated—no walls suddenly glowing.
Cassandra and her two sisters circled the hall, confirming it was safe—just as the plaque on the plaza had said, the first floor was free of hazards.
Once safety was confirmed, Byron and the others stepped inside the ancient place.
“No matter how many times I see it, the Voyagers’ creations never cease to amaze,” Byron marveled, looking around the pristine hall that seemed almost brand new despite its million-year history. “So the original elves gathered here and… met their doom?”
“We found no passage to the upper levels—no stairs or gates,” Cassandra said. “We checked everything except the metal cylinder in the center. It’s obviously still operational. I didn’t dare touch it, but my sisters and I circled it twice without triggering any alarms.”
“Better to be cautious,” Byron nodded, stepping toward the silver-white cylinder. “Just approaching it is safe, right…”
Before he finished, a sudden, chilling “beep” echoed from all directions. Accompanying the sharp warning sound, a mechanical, synthesized voice seemed to inject itself directly into everyone’s minds: “Warning. Conditions for crossing not met. Visitors, please retreat.”
Byron froze, a cold sweat breaking out over him. Without hesitation, he stepped back immediately.
The alarm didn’t sound again, and the synthetic voice in their minds fell silent.
“Did you all hear that alarm just now? Or was it only me?” Byron looked at Cassandra in shock. “I thought you said nothing would happen if we got close?”
“We heard it too—but when we sisters approached, nothing happened!” Cassandra’s eyes widened in surprise. Then, as if to confirm, she wagged her tail and slithered several steps toward the center of the hall. After checking that the system remained silent, she backed away. “See? Nothing.”
Azalina frowned at the scene before her and suddenly said, “Let me try.”
Without waiting for Byron to respond, she stepped forward to where he had just stood. Under the watchful, cautious eyes of many, nothing happened.
No warning sounded.
“…Am I being targeted?” Byron frowned and glanced back at the marines he’d brought along. “Everyone else, come try—but don’t go too far forward. If you get a warning, step back immediately. And if there’s no warning, don’t linger up front.”
“…This shouldn’t be like the Original Elves back then, recklessly tempting fate, right?” Cassandra said nervously to Azalina.
“I don’t think so,” Azalina whispered, watching a marine step forward. “Judging from the messages on that monument, the Original Elves got into trouble because they arrogantly tried to hack the system and force their way into the upper restricted zones after being warned. As long as we don’t go against the warning…”
“Warning: Conditions for boundary crossing not met. Visitor, please step back.”
The voice echoed in everyone’s minds, cutting off Cassandra and Azalina’s conversation. The brave marine who had stepped forward quickly retreated.
The hall fell silent. Everyone exchanged glances, and after a brief moment, a sea witch from Cassandra’s group finally broke the silence. “What’s going on here?”
“…Looks like this is the ‘authentication mechanism’ the Original Elves mentioned in their messages,” Byron said, frowning deeply. Though usually careless, his judgment was sharp now. “It seems all the Original Elves were stopped by this system. Most of us can’t pass its ‘screening conditions’ either, but the strange thing is…”
His gaze landed on Cassandra, Azalina, and the others.
“Why didn’t you trigger any warnings?”
The three sea witches and the dragon exchanged confused looks.
Byron furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, then suddenly turned to the marines he’d brought.
“Everyone, step forward and test it.”
The testing didn’t take long. The dozens of marines spent less than ten minutes in total, and during that time, the “Conditions for boundary crossing not met” warning sounded almost nonstop.
Except for Azalina and the three sea witches, everyone who tried to approach the metal pillar in the center of the hall was warned by the Pathfinder system!
(End of chapter)