Chapter 1519: Reconnecting Once More
As a surge of roaring energy poured into the main antenna array, dazzling blue sparks ignited within the power core. The Voyager Crystal thrummed softly, emitting a clear, melodious chime. Hathaway, the deep-sea witch who had been vigilantly guarding the faster-than-light communication array all these days, finally allowed a faint smile to grace her face. The long, grueling overtime and near-death experiences had been worth it. After stagnating on this planet for hundreds of thousands of years, she had once again tamed the unknown with the knowledge and wisdom she so proudly possessed.
As dusk approached, the chilly sea breeze swept across the communication platform and the winding coastline below the ship. The gentle waves lapped against the rocky, steel-reinforced shore, their rhythmic sound soothing to the soul. Hathaway gathered with her fellow deep-sea witches and deepwater technicians on the platform, watching the massive antenna array slowly awaken under the orange-red glow of the setting sun.
The towering antenna system, resembling a colossal coral formation, adjusted its angles in the sea breeze, self-calibrating to capture every call from the starry expanse. A steady, low hum resonated from the nearby gain antenna clusters—stable and smooth.
At the same time, invisible energy waves rippled outward as the main antenna powered up. These tremors, emitted by the awakening Voyager Crystal, radiated rapidly from the Antavian, piercing through billions of tons of seawater and thick mantle rock, even penetrating the Deep Blue Conduits, the elemental realms, and ultimately spreading across every domain of the planet.
“Hundreds of thousands of years… and it’s finally running at full power,” Hathaway squinted against the sea breeze, gazing up at the main antenna as it gradually adjusted its position. “I almost forgot how loud this thing gets when it wakes up.”
The ruler of the deep seas, the sea witch queen Petia, was present at this thrilling moment. Hearing Hathaway’s remark, a faint smile appeared on her face. “We should hurry and share this good news with our allies—they’ve been waiting a long time.”
“Ah, they might already know,” Hathaway replied, sensing the turbulent energy in the air and the psychic songs sent back by their sisters living far away on the Loren Continent. She smiled and nodded at the queen. “The energy spike from the main antenna’s activation just reached Loren. The planet’s unique magical environment and conduit system acted as a medium, carrying the shockwave throughout the entire world—including all elemental and shadow realms. It’s like a resounding bell toll.”
Queen Petia blinked, surprised. “The energy shockwave from the antenna’s startup is really that massive?”
“Yes, far beyond what I expected. The planet’s peculiar energy cycle is truly fascinating, isn’t it?” Hathaway’s face lit up with delight. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been this excited about research. “I definitely want to study how the Deep Blue Conduits operate, and whether they exist on other celestial bodies…”
“Uh, that’s not what I meant,” Petia interrupted, gently pulling her trusted scholar back. “I’m talking about the shockwave’s scale—did it really reach all the elemental realms?”
“Huh? Yes,” Hathaway blinked, still processing. “You saw it yourself just now…”
“Well, then we should let the neighbors know,” Petia sighed. “Especially the closest one to the Antavian—the Gulu…”
Before she could finish, a strange howling suddenly erupted from the nearby sea. Waves surged and winds roared. The once calm surface was torn open by a massive fissure hundreds of meters long. Because the Antavian had pierced the elemental dome in this region when it crashed hundreds of thousands of years ago, the barrier between the real world and the elemental realm here was blurred. Within seconds, the waters near the Antavian overlapped with the boundless sea of the water elemental world. From this enormous rift, a mountain-sized elemental lord strode out in fury.
The ruler of the water elementals, the colossal water giant Gruguno, stood on the sea surface, a gaping hole over two meters wide in his head. His voice thundered like a storm: “Who is it? Who dared to alter the flow of the Deep Blue currents? I demand an explanation—”
His voice abruptly cut off as he suddenly noticed the Antavian before him. Though a giant as tall as a mountain, his hundreds-of-meters-tall form was dwarfed by the shadow cast by the starship’s bow. The water elemental lord strained his single, swirling eye at the figure standing on the deck’s edge—the sea witch queen looking down at him.
“…So it was you?” Gruguno finally spoke again, his tone a mix of anger and disbelief.
Petia quickly deduced that when he charged out, he probably had no idea this was the Antavian. The shockwave from the antenna’s activation had disrupted the balance between the elemental and real worlds, leaving the elemental lord disoriented. The hole in his head was proof enough. A pang of guilt filled the queen’s heart—this wasn’t the first time the sea witches had caused trouble for their neighbors.
“Sorry, Gulu,” Petia said, leaning on the railing and looking down at the elemental lord standing in the ship’s shadow. “We just powered up the ship’s main antenna. We didn’t expect the energy pulse to affect the Deep Blue Conduits… Is your head okay?”
“Your ‘ship’… is really being repaired?!” Gruguno seemed to only now sense the overwhelming energy surging within the starship—a force so immense it made even a near-divine being like him tremble. The colossal power was contained within this steel beast, pulsing like a heart.
For hundreds of thousands of years, he’d never been able to feel this terrifying force so clearly and up close. Only now did he truly grasp how powerful these troublesome “neighbors” had once been. He hesitated, unsure how to respond to Petia, before finally muttering, “Well… congratulations, then.”
“Thanks, but we’ve only taken the first step. There’s still a long way to go before full repair,” Petia smiled. “Today we just successfully restarted the antenna array—and accidentally hurt you in the process.”
Gruguno considered her sincerity and guessed these eccentric folks weren’t trying to kill him for fun. That eased his mind somewhat. Then he realized something else. “Wait, since you’ve succeeded with the first step, does that mean this ship will really fly again someday?!”
Hathaway poked her head out beside Petia, both peering down at the sea. “Ah… that’s always been our dream. Now that the first step is done, of course we want to find a way to get it flying again.”
Gruguno’s voice trembled. “So when the ship can fly again, you’ll leave?”
“We probably will leave this planet…” Petia exchanged a glance with Hathaway, hesitating. “We have many future voyages planned—to explore more habitable worlds and search for our kin. After all, the Antavian is an interstellar ship; it shouldn’t remain here forever. Though some of the younger generation might choose to stay in this ‘second home,’ they seem to prefer the Loren Continent now. I respect their choice.”
Petia spoke casually, not fully believing it herself. This was a long-term plan, not something imminent—even by sea witch standards. But the water lord seemed instantly uplifted. Petia even felt the wind shift and ocean currents change hundreds of kilometers away. Gruguno’s voice boomed like thunder: “You said that! You sea witches value your promises—you’ll have to honor this one!”
Petia blinked, about to remind the giant that even if she meant it, it wouldn’t happen for tens of thousands of years. But before she could speak, the sea rumbled again. The massive rift reopened, and without giving her a chance to explain, Gruguno turned and strode back into his elemental realm.
Petia and Hathaway exchanged bewildered looks. After a long pause, the witch finally asked, “So… what exactly was Gulu here for?”
“No idea. But with a hole that big in his head, we shouldn’t hold it against him…” Petia’s words were cut off as the rumbling returned. The sea, calm for only a few seconds, roiled once more. The water elemental lord Gruguno emerged again, parting the waters.
Petia stared blankly. “…Gulu, what do you want now?”
“You need to make a formal promise.”
Petia: “…”
The energy howling through the Deep Blue Conduits was detected by multiple monitoring stations—not only the Deep Blue Well Fortress on the Talash Plains and the Observer’s Chamber within the Ancestor Peaks, but even the distant Talrond Continent registered the planet-wide energy shockwave. The cause behind this surge thrilled the alliance’s leadership: after such a long wait, the sea witches had finally completed the arduous and complex repair.
The Antavian’s faster-than-light communication array was restored—fully restored.
Gawain soon summoned Tyr to his study. Perhaps influenced by the collective excitement of the sea witch clan, this usually lethargic creature, who could sleep through eighteen hours a day, was unusually alert. From her, Gawain confirmed the situation aboard the Antavian: the FTL communication array had been activated, system debugging and antenna realignment completed immediately afterward, and was now ready for use at any moment.
“The Great Witch Hathaway’s team reported that the main antenna is currently operating just as smoothly as when it first rolled off the factory line. The system’s full load never exceeds fifty percent, and standby load stays under five percent. In theory, we can chat with the Noyans for as long as we want—even hold a continuous twenty-four-hour interstellar call without dropping the connection—unless their equipment gives out first,” Tyr said proudly as she briefed Gawain, as if she had personally repaired the antenna array herself. “After all, it’s only a mere four light-years between the two planets…”
“Yes, this isn’t like back then when a simple conversation would mean the antenna needed a week of repairs,” Gawain replied with a pleased smile. “I’ve already instructed the Thorin Control Center to prepare the system. The Starbreakers and the servo-brains in the Thorin region have been waiting for this day for a long time.”
“It really did take quite a while,” Tyr admitted with a hint of nostalgia, then grew curious. “How are things on the Noyan side? We haven’t been able to respond to their messages for so long. Even though we explained the situation before, they must be starting to worry.”
“The Noyans sent us a mountain of data and greetings during this time,” Gawain sighed. “But in the past few days, no new information has come through. I suppose they’ve sent most of the preset communication data already. Now, they just send a ‘Are you there?’ every morning, and a friendly icon around midnight.”
“The person managing their communications must be under a lot of pressure,” Tyr said with sympathy. “Well, I’ll head over to the relay terminal and stand by for the signal connection.”
Gawain nodded, watching as Tyr waddled out of the study. He let out a soft breath, leaned back into the tall-backed chair, and let his gaze drift off into the distance—either lost in thought or simply emptying his mind.
Time passed without him noticing, until suddenly the magical network terminal at the edge of his desk, along with the connected printer, buzzed and creaked to life. The self-starting devices snapped Gawain out of his reverie. He quickly turned to the terminal, where the face of Beltira appeared, floating in midair.
“Brother Gawain, the Starbreakers and auxiliary translation systems are ready. The signal call from the faster-than-light communication array has just been answered. We can now speak with the Noyans,” Beltira’s hologram said solemnly—her wooden features always carried that serious expression. “Please send the first response.”
Gawain quickly composed himself, glanced at the printer slowly spitting out a wide paper tape that recorded the latest interstellar messages. The Noyans’ greetings from four light-years away appeared before his eyes—
“Are you there? Are you there?”
“Are you there?”
“Are you there…”
Gawain steadied his nerves and typed a serious reply into the magical network terminal:
“Here.”
The communication channel fell silent for a moment as Gawain patiently awaited a response from four light-years away. But he didn’t have to wait long.
The powerful antenna array picked up a signal from across the stars. The printer on Gawain’s desk whirred and clattered as messages from the Noyans began to pour out onto the paper tape:
“This is wonderful! Hearing your voice again is truly a joy. Has your faster-than-light communication array been fully upgraded? Was the repair process smooth? Will we be able to communicate at any time from now on? Everything here is well. The Noyans are actively preparing for the trial a year from now. How are things on your side?”
Their words carried unmistakable joy and urgency.
(End of chapter)