Chapter 1423: Careful Deliberation

In an upper-level observation room aboard the Dawn of the Mortal World, a space with a panoramic view of the open sky, High Lord Gawain sat quietly before a broad, curved wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. The harsh sunlight above the clouds was filtered through crystal panes, transforming into a bright yet gentle glow that filled the room, illuminating the furnishings and a document resting on a small table beside him.

Gawain glanced at the document and muttered to the empty air, “Honestly, this really isn’t the best plan.”

“But in the end, it was still approved,” came Amber’s voice from the shadows. The petite figure leapt out from a dark crevice and landed lightly beside Gawain. “That means everyone knows there’s no better option right now—like you said, we can’t afford another civil war at this point.”

Gawain remained silent for a moment, mentally reviewing the final outcome of the Tarash Conference and calculating how much time this agreement would buy the world for development.

The vast tracts of purified land on the wasteland’s edge were returned to the “Pioneering Nations.” This move was both legally sound and a way to compensate the four countries—Tyr, Gaoling, Ogure, and Cecil—that had borne the brunt of the war’s cost. After the collapse of the Great Wall, these four nations faced the heaviest and most direct pressure, paying the highest price—something no one could dispute.

Meanwhile, the Deep Blue Well and the core of the Tarash Plains were designated as neutral zones. The three great empires established an international energy regulatory organization, pooling funds, manpower, and technology to distribute the magical energy from the Deep Blue Well worldwide. This was a plan Gawain had agreed upon with Ophelia from the start, and after gaining the support of the other two empires, there was almost no opposition within the alliance.

Finally, the remaining large areas of the Gondor Wasteland—those not allocated—were declared global common property. Led by the three empires, all nations would cooperate in development and research, with no country allowed to claim sovereignty over these lands. A strict supervisory system was set up under the alliance framework. Though nominally all member states had oversight rights, anyone with eyes could see that the three empires held the real power.

As Gawain said, this was far from an ideal plan—but it was the most workable one for now.

“When the big powers get their fill, at least the smaller ones get a bowl of soup. Even if the distribution is tightly controlled by the big powers, at least we can guarantee the soup’s existence. That’s the ‘bottom line’ for maintaining alliance order,” Gawain broke the silence softly. “The so-called joint pioneering organizations with shared stakes are essentially one big pot of soup. We give every country a share of the benefits. As long as the three empires don’t fight among themselves, and special members like the dragons and sea witches don’t get any ideas about the Gondor Wasteland, the rest won’t cause trouble—at least not for now.”

“Yeah, assuming the three empires don’t start fighting,” Amber shrugged. “It’s great that the current friendly relations with Tyr and Silverhaven hold, but who knows what the future holds? Tyr isn’t exactly a pushover, and the elves… well, the elves are even more worrisome. For thousands of years, they’ve been a peaceful, forest-dwelling race, but based on my intelligence summaries and projections, they’re about to change.

“The fall of the Starfall Sanctuary has shaken elven society deeply. This ancient, somber empire was like a sleeping giant suddenly awakened by thunder. Now, everything dormant in those forests for millennia is stirring. Ancient forges are being restored, scholars are building new research facilities, and long-sealed archives and scattered tomes across the empire are being reopened. This time, the Silver Queen even proposed the idea of a multinational pioneering organization at the Tarash Conference. All signs point to this ancient race waking from their peaceful dream—they’re becoming interested in the outside world…”

“Eventually, it was bound to happen,” Gawain said, unsurprised by Amber’s report. “The Starfall Sanctuary was like a lock for the elves, even a kind of ‘spiritual seal.’ Once that lock vanished, it was only a matter of time before they emerged from the forest. After all, pioneering isn’t just a human privilege. But…”

He shook his head, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest. “Gondor’s homeland is still vast. This cake can be sliced for a long time. At least for the next few decades, this ‘table’ will feed every mouth in the alliance. When the table starts to fill up and conflicts arise, we’ll have to find a bigger table.”

“A bigger table?” Amber frowned in curiosity, but Gawain didn’t answer. Instead, he looked up thoughtfully, gazing out at the clear, expansive blue sky.

“Have you encountered any more ‘mysterious incidents’ related to the Lady of Night’s divine power recently?” Gawain suddenly shifted his gaze back, concern flickering in his eyes. “You haven’t been involved with the ‘Inverse Tide’ lately, have you?”

“Don’t worry, I value my life,” Amber waved her hands emphatically. “Whenever I hear those tech guys mention ‘Inverse Tide,’ I run far away. And no, I haven’t seen any strange phenomena lately. The shadow dust and shadow marks have been quiet. I think the Lady of Night’s power has calmed down for now…”

Gawain frowned slightly. “Still can’t figure out the nature and purpose of that shadow mark?”

“I’ve studied it for a long time, no progress,” Amber muttered helplessly. She waved her hand, and the ghostly gray-white mark appeared in her palm, drifting like weightless mist. “I’m sure it’s left by the Lady of Night, but no matter how I sense it, its ‘source of power’ points nowhere. Even in the Shadow Realm, it doesn’t change. Looks like using this to find the Lady’s divine realm is impossible…”

She tugged at the mark’s edges, then swung it around like a slingshot. “But on the bright side, this thing makes an excellent slingshot band—perfect elasticity and toughness, and it never snaps. I’ve never seen a better slingshot rubber in my life…”

“…So the Lady of Night’s divine essence in your hands is just for slingshot practice?” Gawain shot a glare at the mischievous half-elf. “Shadow dust blinds people in fights, shadow marks become slingshot bands for breaking glass—what are you planning if you steal the Lady’s scepter? Knock people out or open wine bottles?”

Amber grinned without a hint of embarrassment. “Depends on the scepter’s shape. Maybe it’s just a crowbar…”

“You really believed you were the Night’s chosen once,” Gawain waved his hand dismissively. Just as he was about to say more, the observation room’s door suddenly opened. Turning toward the sound, he saw Tyr peeking in cautiously.

“Gawain, you really are here!” Tyr smiled upon seeing only Gawain and Amber in the room. Her long tail followed, curling inside as she closed the door with its tip. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“…Did you turn those six clones into a tail again?” Gawain noticed the long tail behind her and casually asked, “I thought you planned to keep them around for a while.”

“Ha, the meeting’s over—why would I keep them? Controlling seven bodies upright all day is exhausting,” Tyr flicked the tip of her tail. “This form is more comfortable to walk in, at least my center of gravity is stable…”

“…I just don’t understand how you sea witches think,” Gawain cleared his throat and asked, “You’ve been looking for me? What’s up?”

“Oh, just to let you know, I’ve reported the Tarash Conference results to the Queen. Antavien is preparing now. Soon, a transport ship will arrive at the Loren Continent, bringing all the rune stones we’ve salvaged so far—and taking a ‘cargo’ back with it,” Tyr said casually. “Also, the Queen plans to send some sisters skilled in Waynet butterfly swimming into the Deep Blue Waynet to search for other rune stones and set up signal relays.

“In theory, once those relays detect rune stones, they’ll try to build a more stable, controllable transmission link. No idea if it’ll work, but it can’t hurt to try.”

Gawain nodded slightly as he listened. Amber thought for a moment before asking, “Speaking of taking a ‘cargo’ back… you really decided on that? As one of the main forces in the wasteland war, even if you’re not from the Loren Continent, you deserve a share of the joint development. But you’re just taking a half-corpse of the Inverse Tide…”

“For us, that’s far more useful than any land ‘resource,’” Tyr smiled, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth without embarrassment. “The deep sea has everything we need—much richer than anything the land can offer. And compared to that, a god’s corpse is pretty rare…”

Gawain’s expression twisted oddly as he noticed the glistening at the corner of Tyr’s mouth. “Honestly, you really can stomach that thing?”

“Sure can, sure can,” Tyr nodded vigorously, tapping the floor rapidly with her tail tip. “Don’t you think it looks pretty good? I took a look—the texture… mmm…”

Gawain and Amber exchanged a speechless glance.

“Hey, you wouldn’t understand,” Tyr said, waving off their reactions. “You don’t know how many strange creatures live in the deep sea. The Inverse Tide is just a giant meatball in Antavien’s dining hall… Ah, I won’t describe it further—I think you two are about to throw up. But honestly, we’re not just bringing it back for a taste test. The main reason is for research…”

The sirens’ technology allowed them to extract incredibly pure and potent energy from the corpses of gods—energy that land-dwelling races had yet to master. This power was used to fuel their massive starship, a fact Gawain was well aware of. He also knew that over the past two years, the sirens had made significant progress in repairing the ship. As they gradually developed a sensitivity to the world’s “magic,” they finally found a way to counteract the “law deviations.” Many of Antavian’s systems had been successfully rebooted. Though the starship was still far from fully operational, this species, trapped on a “primitive planet” for hundreds of thousands of years, now had a glimmer of hope.

With that in mind, he couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “By the way, how’s the starship repair coming along?”

“I’ve heard it’s going pretty fast,” Tyr replied cheerfully. “We can now keep Antavian’s core fusion tower running steadily for a while, and the energy output efficiency has surpassed fifty percent. As long as the power supply holds, a lot of things become easier. But I don’t know the details—I’m not a deepwater technician or a deep-sea witch… Oh, wait, there’s something else!”

Suddenly remembering something, Tyr’s voice shot up, startling both Gawain and Amber. Then she straightened her tail tip and said seriously, “I heard… they managed to activate the faster-than-light communication array, though only for a very short time.”

“Faster-than-light communication array?” Gawain blinked, instinctively exchanging a glance with Amber. After a brief pause, realization struck him like lightning.

One thought flashed through his mind—interstellar communication!

“Antavian has faster-than-light communication capability?” he asked reflexively, then quickly added, “Ah, of course you do. After all, it’s a massive ship designed for deep-space colonization. Communicating across astronomical distances would require breaking that barrier… So the fact that your FTL communication array was active for a while means it’s at least functional for short periods, right?”

“Ah… yes, it works,” Tyr said, her tail stiffening for a moment, clearly startled by Gawain’s sudden serious tone, then she nodded quickly. “But it’s very unstable. We were planning to use it to search for the other three sister ships that lost contact, but right after completing one scan with the main antenna, it crashed. Now the High Witch, Hathor, is trying to find the fault inside.”

Amber glanced between Gawain and Tyr, her mind racing to catch up with the conversation. Hesitantly, she spoke up, “Well… I don’t really understand what a ‘faster-than-light communication array’ is, but I think I get what you’re talking about. You’re not thinking of… using Antavian’s comm system to respond to that ‘signal’ we received, are you? I mean, while the system’s still working…”

Gawain furrowed his brow, clearly deep in thought. After a moment, he shook his head. “…We can’t be that reckless. Responding hastily to an alien civilization that’s likely more advanced than us would be unwise. This needs careful discussion. Besides, Antavian’s FTL communication array might not even be up to the task—it sounds like it’s in terrible shape. And the sirens might not be willing either…”

(End of chapter)