Chapter 194: Opening
Amelia could clearly feel the growth speed of herself and Carlotta. Soon, they will be able to return to the Wendell Empire as powerful figures.
At that time, a reckoning will inevitably come.
Having spent so long with Carlotta, Amelia considered herself to sufficiently understand her. With Carlotta’s temperament, returning to the Wendell Empire will certainly bring about a bloodbath.
’No matter what kind of future it may be, I will walk through it with her.’
Amelia tightly held Carlotta’s hand, quickly moving away beneath the moonlight.
They didn’t take long before arriving above the ocean, finding a moving alchemical ship sailing below.
Carlotta looked from afar, slightly sighing, "Alchemical ships aren’t something just anyone can build. The Mechanical Fortress truly deserves its reputation as an organization dedicated to alchemy, to have produced so many alchemical ships."
After she sighed, she felt like laughing, because in the end, all these alchemical ships would only end up benefiting her.
She walked across empty space, approaching closer and closer, yet not a single person aboard the alchemical ship noticed her arrival, not even the two peak tier Resonators on board.
Were they sleeping?
Carlotta moved a little closer and saw that the alchemical ship’s protective barrier automatically appeared, blocking anything accidentally approaching.
The moment the barrier emerged, the people aboard the alchemical ship were finally started.
"What’s going on?"
One by one, they woke up in panic, rushing onto the deck to figure out what had happened.
Seeing this, Carlotta didn’t hesitate to act.
Harvest Goddess!
A magnificent spectacle immediately appeared before their eyes. Endless rice fields sprouted into existence, each filled with abundant rice ears, instantly transporting everyone into the season of harvest.
The moment the Mechanical Fortress members stepped onto the deck, they saw this scene of rice fields, leaving them bewildered and confused about what was happening.
How had their massive alchemical ship, originally sailing across the dark ocean, suddenly ended up in these strange rice fields?
"The rice ears... they’re splitting open."
Suddenly, someone instinctively spoke up.
Countless rice ears in the endless fields split open at that moment, and from within them emerged innumerable brilliant sword lights.
The next instant, the entire night sky was illuminated into a blinding white.
The many members of the Mechanical Fortress on deck finally understood what was happening, and their faces immediately turned pale.
"No!"
Under the horrified gazes of many, the brilliant sword lights instantly tore through the alchemical ship’s protective barrier, then surged toward them. The silver sword lights surged like a silver tide, instantly engulfing them.
Generally speaking, the protective barrier of an alchemical ship was extremely sturdy, difficult even for Resonators to easily break through. Yet against such an attack as Harvest Goddess, the barrier proved utterly fragile.
As the silver sword lights swept over, the deck was instantly soaked in blood. Nothing remains, only broken flesh and blood could be seen.
"How bloody. This attack method is good in every way, except that it’s a bit too brutal."
Carlotta sobbed as she descended.
Upon hearing this, Amelia couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She was the one who created this carnage, yet she still said such things.
Carlotta quickly collected the spoils of war, then took Amelia and headed toward the location of the next alchemical ship.
Around here, a total of four alchemical ships from the Mechanical Fortress had appeared, and all of them were Carlotta’s targets.
In the following short time, Carlotta quickly went to these four locations, quickly wiping out everyone and claiming all the alchemical ships for herself.
The process was clean and simple, even making her marvel at herself.
’Having omniscient intelligence is truly incredible. Otherwise, no one could achieve this, simply determining the enemy’s location would be impossible.’
Carlotta thought to herself.
The Mechanical Fortress members were constantly moving and using various means to conceal themselves, but all of it was transparent to her.
On the intelligence map, the precise locations of every single Mechanical Fortress member were clearly marked. No matter how they moved, their positions shifted on the map accordingly. All concealment methods were useless.
After capturing the four alchemical ships, Carlotta arrived deep within the forest of an island, where she took out the Stellar Workshop and placed all the loot from today inside, everything that could fit.
What interested Carlotta the most, naturally, were the four alchemical ships. Previously, she had already obtained one alchemical ship from the Mechanical Fortress. Placing that single ship into the Stellar Workshop had boosted the construction progress by a full 10%. For a second-stage ship, a 10% increase was already considerable.
And now, she has four!
When the four alchemical ships were placed into the Stellar Workshop, the progress of the second-stage ship unsurprisingly reached 46%. This surge excited Carlotta, making her eyes shine brightly.
"I originally thought the first-stage ship had only recently been completed, and building a second-stage ship was still far off. But in reality, it seems not so distant after all. The arrival of the second-stage ship might not be far away."
Carlotta giggled, continuing to inspect the remaining loot, and her eyes suddenly lit up again.
Because she discovered alchemical armor, two sets, in fact!
She didn’t know who originally owned these two sets of armor, but their owners had all been wiped out by her single move, Harvest Goddess.
She remembered that during the construction of the first-stage ship, she had placed one set of such alchemical armor inside, which had boosted the progress by a whopping 15%.
Placing it into the second-stage ship wouldn’t yield as much, naturally, each set only contributed 5% progress, and the other set only 4%. But still, such gains were satisfying.
Adding in various other alchemical materials and alchemical artifacts, another 2% progress was provided, bringing the second-stage ship’s progress to 57%.
Although it seemed to have barely passed the halfway mark, one mustn’t forget, Carlotta hadn’t yet placed the first-stage ship into the furnace of the Stellar Workshop, because the New Moon would be used at any moment.
The New Moon itself could provide 30% progress. What that meant was self-evident!
"Almost there, almost there."
Carlotta was filled with anticipation, watching the movements of the Mechanical Fortress members on the intelligence map.
She noticed that some Weavers were approaching.
"Have they noticed the disturbance here so quickly? Or perhaps they lost contact and sensed something was wrong?"
Carlotta thought quietly, then moved toward them together with Amelia.
She didn’t directly charge out, but instead, from a great distance away, watched them fly past through the city using her eagle eye card.
After just a glance, Carlotta took Amelia and left.
That person should have been Lucas Castro, a member of the Mechanical Fortress and a powerful Weaver.
Not only was the opponent himself an extremely peak tier individual, but he was also wearing alchemical armor. This kind of alchemical armor used by such powerhouses might differ entirely from that of others, no one knew just how much it enhanced their strength.
Carlotta thought it best to avoid direct confrontation for now.
She and Amelia withdraw far away to a distant island, ignoring the tremors within the Mechanical Fortress and the fury of its Weaver.
Carlotta planned to cause trouble elsewhere. The Mechanical Fortress had too many outposts across the Bass Islands, scattered across numerous islands. There were still many places worth targeting. Although many locations no longer held valuable items, the value wasn’t the key point, any action that could trouble the Mechanical Fortress and leave its members overwhelmed was something Carlotta was more than willing to do.
However, just as Carlotta prepared to act, an unexpected event interrupted her plans.
On a street of the island, Carlotta, Amelia, and everyone else on the street suddenly sensed a strange ripple spreading out. They couldn’t help but look up toward the distance.
It came from the direction of Island No.1.
Even in darkness, one could clearly see a towering structure rising from Island No.1, rapidly extending upward, soaring into the deep, endless sky, as if piercing into outer space itself.
"It’s the Tower of Babel! The Tower of Babel has opened!"
"What? Right now?"
"Hurry, otherwise we’ll be too late!"
The silence on the street didn’t last long. The crowd erupted. Many people rushed toward the harbor, eager to reach Island No.1 as quickly as possible.
The signs of the Tower of Babel’s second phase had only recently appeared. No one expected the Tower to open so suddenly, the timing far earlier than anticipated, leaving many unprepared.
Even Carlotta and Amelia weren’t sufficiently ready, having failed to wait on Island No.1 from the start.
"Tch... It suddenly opened at this moment? What kind of incident caused it to open ahead of schedule?"
Carlotta was slightly taken aback.
"Never mind that, let’s go quickly. We can’t miss this chance."
Amelia urged urgently.
"Let’s go."
At this moment, Carlotta naturally disregarded the situation with the Mechanical Fortress. Getting into the Tower of Babel was the priority.
This was a place hailed alongside Sky Island as one of the two miraculous lands, filled with millions of benefits waiting to be claimed. A single delay meant missing out on the best treasures.
Of course, opportunity and danger always coexist. Just like Sky Island, this place held immense dangers as well, dangers from other participants and from the Tower of Babel itself. A single mistake could result in death.
Carlotta grabbed Amelia, activated her Speed Card, and shot through the air, leaving behind only a blurring shadow rapidly vanishing into the distance.
...
Island No.1
Although many people were still far away and hadn’t expected the Tower of Babel’s sudden opening, thus unable to arrive immediately, there was still no shortage of those who had arrived early and waited.
Zorn, Sienna, Melissa... Many famous figures gathered here. Even due to their fame, some had grouped together, planning to enter the Tower of Babel as a team.
"It’s fine if you stay with me at first, but I’ll definitely aim for higher floors. When I do, you don’t have to force yourself if you can’t keep up."
Zorn said to the people beside him.
Inside the Tower of Babel, the higher the floor, the more terrifying the danger. As a Resonator, Zorn naturally had the ability to reach far higher levels.
As for Listeners, even if they were celebrities, they were still somewhat limited.
"Where are Layla and Mary? They’re not here?"
Melissa looked around curiously.
"Maybe they were delayed on another island? With the Tower of Babel opening, no one would want to miss it."
Sienna speculated, and her guess was quite accurate.
"Let’s go already."
Melissa didn’t want to wait any longer.
With the Tower now open, the priority was to enter immediately and seize the advantages. Waiting too long outside could mean losing out on many opportunities.
"Let’s go."
This group of celebrities formed a temporary alliance and headed straight for the Tower of Babel.
In fact, such alliances weren’t limited to them.
Many celebrities, or even non-celebrities, had formed various small teams. By cooperating, they can face others with a more composed posture.
Besides, if others formed teams and you didn’t, who else would they bully when competing for the same rewards?
At the center of Island No.1, there had once been a vast lake. But now, a towering structure had appeared emerging from nothingness in the middle of the lake, stretching endlessly toward the depths of the starry sky.
The Tower of Babel’s diameter didn’t appear excessively large, but those who knew better understood that it contained spatial properties. The actual interior space was incredibly vast, with no clear boundaries. Finding the path to the next floor inside was extremely difficult.
And just how many floors the Tower of Babel had... so far, no one had an answer.
On the sea, many people rowed their boats toward the Tower of Babel.
Those capable of flight went directly, quickly vanishing into the Tower.
Those who could fly were mostly Resonators, individuals rarely seen in ordinary times, who now appear in large numbers, quickly flying through the air and drawing many stares.
Many people gasped in surprise, recognizing some of the famous figures among them.
And when certain individuals appear, they cause massive disturbances.
"That’s a Weaver!"
Someone shouted in shock, visible tense.
And the Weavers causing such disturbances weren’t limited to just one.
From apprentices to Weavers, no one would miss this opportunity presented by the Tower of Babel.
To be precise, even Exalted beings wouldn’t miss it. However, such existences were exceedingly rare. Even if one truly appears before people, few might be able to recognize it.
...
By the lakeside, a man and a woman approached.
"I promised to accompany you to explore just one ruin, and for that, I didn’t even participate in the Imperial War. The Emperor’s message even carried a hint of dissatisfaction. Yet you still brought me here?"
A dignified middle-aged man spoke softly, his steps firm and imposing, exuding an extraordinary aura.
"The ruin was already looted previously. That expedition failed. We might as well switch to the Tower of Babel. You know the benefits of the Tower of Babel. Do you really think coming here would be a loss?"
The woman beside him had a graceful figure, her face covered by a veil, her eyes radiating a mysterious aura.