Chapter 1360: Plan B

In Cecil City, the sun had already slipped below the horizon, leaving only a brilliant wash of golden-red light spilling over from the far side of the mountains. It filtered through the vast western forests and riverbanks before settling softly on the rooftops of the city. But after finishing the urgent document that had just arrived, Gawain had little time to admire the breathtaking view outside his window. He had Amber handle some of the less critical tasks, then settled into the armchair in his study, refocusing his mind to reconnect with the Sky Station’s monitoring system.

After confirming the expedition fleet’s location, he chose not to inform anyone else just yet. Instead, he maintained a shallow link with the Sky Station, keeping a close eye on Byron’s movements. Whenever he had a moment, he would dive into a deep connection, using the station’s optical sensors to directly check on the status of the Winter’s Edge.

For some time now, the Winter’s Edge and its fleet had been anchored near the ocean platform of the orbital elevator, seemingly inactive. The Sky Station’s system hadn’t reported any new developments since then. But Gawain knew Byron was still exploring the orbital elevator platform—he wasn’t the type to waste time idling in calm waters.

From what Gawain could gather, Byron’s exploration hadn’t triggered any “extreme reactions” from the Voyager’s Legacy. At least, the fleet hadn’t been attacked, and no intrusion warnings had come through the system on Gawain’s end.

“…Thank goodness Byron’s leading the fleet, not Rebecca,” Gawain muttered to himself as he maintained contact with the Sky Station. “If that stubborn girl had gone, she’d probably have blown up the whole gate with some giant fireball just because she couldn’t open the door…”

Before he could finish his thought, a sudden voice intruded into his mind: “Visitor has arrived at Sky Station. Guidance protocol cannot initiate—interactive medium activated, switching to backup procedure…”

Gawain froze. Just as the thought “What?” formed in his mind, a flood of new information surged into the depths of his consciousness. It was complex, vast, unfamiliar—but almost instantly, it integrated smoothly into his existing connection with the Sky Station. His awareness was guided through darkness until new colors and lights appeared in his “vision.” The limited bandwidth he’d experienced over years of space facility connections suddenly expanded dramatically.

His shock lasted only a few seconds before the colors and lights stabilized into a clear image:

In a dark space, a woman with long black hair and a tear-shaped mole at the corner of her eye suddenly leaned in close. Her face was tense as she carefully examined the viewpoint where Gawain’s perspective was anchored. She pointed and tapped at something, her slightly distorted voice echoing in his mind: “Asalina, come look at this… It lit up! I just poked it and it suddenly turned on! What do we do now?”

“What the hell?!” The instant that face appeared, Gawain’s heart skipped a beat. After all these years as a satellite specialist, this was the first time he’d ever seen an “outsider” through the system connection. It was like a veteran hearse driver suddenly feeling a passenger tap him on the shoulder after twenty years behind the wheel. The shock was enough to stop even Rebecca’s heart—she was tough as nails. Gawain himself took over ten seconds to fully process and recognize the figure before him.

It was Cassandra, the chief navigator of the Imperial Expedition Fleet, an ally from the deep seas. She had departed from the Northern Port alongside Byron. Theoretically, she should be aboard the Winter’s Edge—so why was she here?

Gawain’s pounding heart gradually calmed as he adjusted to this new “perspective” that had just appeared deep within his consciousness. He noticed he was connected to some device equipped with a camera. Around Cassandra, he saw a dimly lit space—though the view was limited and shadowy, it was clearly not anywhere on the Winter’s Edge.

Suddenly, he recalled the voice that had just sounded in his mind: Visitor has arrived at Sky Station, interactive medium activated.

His mind reeled. This was… very, very unexpected.

Meanwhile, Cassandra wasn’t idle. Having confirmed the suddenly activated device posed no threat, her innate adventurous spirit as a sea witch took over. Her tail flicked near the camera, poking and prodding the device as if testing how to interact with it. Then another figure appeared in Gawain’s view: the red-haired Dragonmark sorceress, Asalina. She looked at Cassandra’s poking with alarm, warning her to be careful, but couldn’t help glancing curiously toward Gawain’s (the camera’s) direction.

Their conversation streamed into Gawain’s mind. Asalina’s voice came first: “Be careful! Don’t accidentally trigger any weapons systems or something—we’re intruders here…”

“We’re not intruders,” Cassandra replied reasonably. “We entered this station through proper channels. Didn’t you hear the broadcast on the orbital elevator? Besides, what kind of facility would have weapons that fire off at the slightest provocation? Especially a transit hub for visitors—at worst, my actions would just be flagged as unauthorized access. Don’t worry, we sea witches have built spaceships before. I’m steady.”

Asalina seemed convinced and focused on the device that had just powered up. “What do you think this thing is?”

“Probably an operation terminal, but I’m not sure what it controls. Maybe a port information kiosk—since it’s near the elevator entrance,” Cassandra said. “There should be some kind of active guidance system here, but it’s obviously broken. This terminal doesn’t seem to respond much…”

“We could still hear broadcasts when we were on the orbital elevator… Maybe the ground and space parts of this system run separately?”

“Could be. We built something similar long ago—not as advanced as this ring, but our space stations and ground stations back home operated independently…”

Gawain listened carefully to their exchange, gradually piecing together what had happened: how they’d arrived, what they’d done since, and how Cassandra’s poking had accidentally activated an interactive terminal within the Sky Station. That terminal had automatically routed its data stream to the station’s “sole authority” in orbit—Gawain himself.

If that was the case… bold ideas began to flood Gawain’s mind—ideas that might help him better understand himself and the Voyager’s Legacy in space.

He quickly familiarized himself with the new connection, exploring the controls of this small “operation terminal.” Sifting through the limited new information flowing into his mind, he finally prepared to act. Through the system’s backend, he activated the terminal’s interactive module and addressed the two explorers far out in space: “Please follow the procedure and perform the following operations…”

Cassandra, who had been leaning close to the camera studying the controls, suddenly sprang back, her long tail snapping like a spring. She bounced nearly fifteen meters away in an instant.

“It’s talking! It’s talking!” Cassandra shouted, pointing excitedly at the terminal that had just spoken. Her eyes were wide with amazement. Asalina was startled too, stepping back several paces, but unlike the sea witch, she quickly composed herself. After a moment of shock and tension, she seemed to realize something. “Wait, Cassandra… doesn’t that voice sound familiar?”

Cassandra blinked. “…?”

Gawain’s mind raced. “…?!”

Had the terminal’s audio processing malfunctioned? Or was there a glitch in the temporary operation method he’d looked up? How had his voice been recognized the moment it spoke?

This unexpected twist left Gawain momentarily stunned. On the other side of the camera, Cassandra quickly recovered from her shock and moved closer, staring intently at the device. She said to Asalina, “I recognize that voice—it’s His Majesty Gawain’s, no doubt about it. Sea witches don’t mistake voices! But how…”

Asalina’s gaze fixed on the terminal, which glowed faintly and projected shifting geometric patterns into the air. No one knew what she was thinking during those few seconds, but finally she broke the silence: “Your Majesty Gawain, is that you speaking?”

Gawain quickly regained his composure. The small surprise hadn’t shaken him for long. Originally, he had planned to conceal his identity, pretending to be an ancient control system guiding the two women to activate and repair certain station modules. But now that things had changed, forcing that pretense would only raise suspicion and hinder cooperation. It was better to switch to plan B.

“It is,” Gawain said calmly, his voice steady and low.

He admitted his presence. This might actually be a good thing. Revealing himself could make it easier for Asalina and Cassandra to cooperate. Facing an unknown ancient system might have made them wary, and pretending to be a system would make it hard to ask them to “poke that big red button and see if it lights up” or “check what’s written on that sign over there” without sounding suspicious.

Moreover, if the reason was right, openly revealing himself could help build an image of a mysterious and powerful ally among the Dragonborn and Sea Witch factions. The benefits outweighed the risks.

“Really you?!” Asalina’s eyes widened in surprise. “But… how…”

“You should know that seven hundred years ago, I climbed a Voyager tower,” Gawain said in a calm, matter-of-fact tone. “That’s no longer a secret.”

“Oh, I know,” Cassandra nodded immediately. “It was one of my sisters who showed you the way back then…”

As she spoke, her eyes grew wider. “So, you actually…”

“That expedition gave me more than just an immortal soul and resurrection seven centuries later,” Gawain replied. “It forged an unbreakable bond between me and the Voyager’s Legacy—much deeper than anyone realizes.”

Asalina’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.

The ruler of the Cecil Empire, the legendary human pioneer Gawain Cecil, was known to have some connection to the Legacy of the Voyagers. This was no secret among the upper echelons of Talrond, the Holy Dragon Principality, and many allied nations. When they first explored the towering spire near Talrond and later discovered the Sentinel Mother Port deep within the Divine Realm, Gawain had recognized the ancient Voyager script—an archaic language known only to a select few dragons. Because of this, a handful of insiders believed that during that mysterious sea expedition seven centuries ago, Gawain had entered the “High Tower” and acquired some knowledge related to the Voyagers. That was the closest anyone could come to explaining the link between the two.

But now, Asalina understood that this “connection” was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.

She took a quiet breath and instinctively scanned the vast, dimly lit hall. The ancient devices stood silent under the faint glow, and her mind drifted back to the magnificent ring she had seen from the observation cabin of the orbital elevator—the grand structure encircling the planet, along with the space stations orbiting nearby. A shiver ran through her, the kind that comes from suddenly grasping a vast secret, from glimpsing the true course of history. When she spoke again, her voice betrayed a hint of unease. “So, you’ve been… all this time—”

“For many years now, I have been watching over this world,” Gawain said plainly, though his “many years” surely meant something very different from what Asalina imagined. “I once told the world that after I died in battle, my soul drifted among the stars, wandering above the world. That was true—though the reality is a little different from what people understood.”

“So… your body remains on the surface, but your consciousness can project here, communicating with us through the equipment on this space station…” Cassandra, standing nearby, caught on quickly. Once she realized it was someone familiar, the sea witch’s boldness surged again. She leaned close to the camera, curiosity shining in her eyes. “You can see us, right? Can you see the fleet docked near the elevator base? Are you controlling those satellites and space stations out there too?”

“I can see you, and I can see the Winter’s Edge. I can see many things, but not everything is under my control. This ancient cluster of space facilities has endured far too many years; their condition isn’t what it once was,” Gawain’s voice carried a faint smile. “Which is why I’m going to need your help with something…”

(End of chapter)