Chapter 1187
[Ancient Civilization: Ottoworld ]
Chapter 1187 [Ancient Civilization: Ottoworld (Former Great Eldar)]
Upon hearing this, Lot felt a growing sense of unease.
He knew all too well what "one teleportation" meant to those at this level. For ordinary forces, teleportation was just a means of spatial movement, but for a war machine like the Courtyard, a precise and covert large-scale warp was equivalent to projecting an entire legion, along with its fleet, Titans, colossi, and war machines, directly into the heart of the enemy.
This is no longer a simple tactical maneuver, but a strategic projection force that can tear apart the battle lines and reshape the battlefield landscape in an instant.
Moreover, he had just witnessed the fighting style of the Courtyard Legion firsthand.
The legion structure governed by a perfect embryo is like a blade that has been honed to its limit. If it is combined with the wand man's multiverse warp map, allowing the entire legion to appear on a key plane before the enemy can react, then what happens next is almost unimaginable—the entire plane will be swallowed up by war in a very short time.
Almost instantly, an image flashed into Lot's mind.
Dozens of courtyard legions poured out from the spatial rifts, colossal Titans stepped between the sky and the city, and hundred-meter-tall divine colossi descended onto the battlefield like gods, while the steel torrents composed of chainsaw swords and bolt guns crushed an entire civilization in just a few hours.
If the target of this warp is the seventeenth outer plane, then things become even more complicated, because once the Wandman assists Heaven in completing this level of military projection, the entire universe will tacitly agree on one thing—the Wandman has already sided with Heaven.
Their so-called neutral stance will cease to exist.
Lot sighed inwardly as he thought about this.
If he agrees, the wand man will essentially become a potential ally of Heaven.
If he refuses, he will likely face direct condemnation from the Kingdom of Heaven, and he might be struck by the iron fist of the fourth sword-bearer of the Kingdom of Heaven on the spot.
That's being too narrow-minded, it's blocking both ends of the equation!
Xia Xiu clearly noticed Rhodes' hesitation, so he spoke to Rhodes in a tone that suggested he was being reasonable:
“I have repeatedly emphasized one thing to others—I am a very kind person, and the Kingdom of Heaven is not some unreasonable organization—I understand your difficulties, but you cannot bully honest people just because I am kind and reasonable to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Oh, you're so kind that you've extolled the entire pantheon of the Garden of Joseph, bringing the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven directly into other people's homes.
You honest people have all gone to live with other people!
He looked at Xia Xiu's very calm face, and then glanced at the massive control center of Blackrock Fortress.
He knew, of course, that if he refused now, the other party might actually test on the spot whether the wand man's multiverse jump was faster or his [Möbius strip] was faster.
And to be honest...
From Lot's perspective, the myriad worlds of today... are somewhat dead.
From the moment those pantheons and civilizations decided to oppose the Kingdom of Heaven, they were already doomed; the only difference was whether they died sooner or later.
Although Rhodes really wanted to say that Xia Xiu and the Heavenly Kingdom were shameless, considering that their fists were harder than his own, he thought better of it and said tactfully:
He nodded.
“I can agree to this on behalf of the wand man, but before that, I need to retrieve some things from inside Blackrock Fortress—including the remains of wand man number twelve, and the multiverse map he carried with him, which is an important asset of the newspaper.”
Xia Xiu simply nodded after listening.
"Reasonable."
He slightly raised his hand, pointing to the huge passage that stretched deep inside Blackrock Fortress.
"Just right."
"I also plan to see just how many interesting things are hidden inside this fortress."
He turned to look at Rhodes.
"Want to come along?"
Lot finally nodded and said nothing more, because things had already progressed to this point, and continuing to refuse would only complicate matters further, and the fourth swordsman of the Kingdom of Heaven clearly had no interest in wasting any more time.
So the two of them walked one after the other into the inner passage of Blackrock Fortress.
As they got closer to the entrance, Xia Xiu realized once again just how astonishing the size of this ancient behemoth was.
This is a spatial structure composed of huge geometric arches. The outline of the arches is pieced together from countless sharp-edged black crystals. The overall height is enough for a small exploration ship to fly directly into it. On both sides of the arches, there are several ancient floating platforms with some kind of long-inoperable docking structure remaining on them. They were obviously once docking areas used for ship docking.
Xia Xiu only glanced at it.
His attention was not on these structures, because in the eyes of beings at his level, these defensive facilities and transportation nodes no longer held much significance.
The two quickly passed through the archway and entered the fortress.
What appeared before them next was a huge spatial maze.
Countless passageways, halls, deep wells, and towering spires intertwine and overlap, forming a massive internal structure resembling a city. The width of those passageways is such that Titan-class war machines can pass side by side. As for the vertical shafts leading to the depths, they are like bottomless abysses, with some unfathomable space hidden in the darkness.
The ground and walls were covered with dense triangular psionic patterns.
Those patterns are not only energy circuits, but also defensive nodes. Once activated, the entire maze will become an automatically operating war machine.
In fact, even after so many years, a considerable portion of these defense facilities remain operational.
If an ordinary person entered this place, they would most likely be blasted to ashes by the maze's magic array. However, for [miracle workers] like Xia Xiu and Luo De, these things are practically non-existent.
After getting a general understanding of the outer structure, the man and the bird went straight through the maze and arrived at the core area of the fortress—the Etherian Space Core Module.
This is a huge, almost spherical hall, surrounded by black crystal structures. Countless slowly rotating psionic loops are embedded in the walls, while a huge control structure floats in the center of the hall.
At the very center is an ethereal throne carved from blackstone crystals. By sitting on it, one can attempt to control the entire Blackrock Fortress.
However, Xia Xiu and Rhodes' gazes were hardly on the throne, but rather on another place.
A bird carcass floated in mid-air in the hall.
It was the body of a pterodactyl that had lost its life, its wings slightly spread, as if it was still trying to break free from some force in its last moments. Around the corpse, the wand man's [multiverse map] floated.
Xia Xiu looked at the corpse and spoke calmly.
"This is the corpse of the Twelfth Wandman... and his multiverse map."
Lot did not answer immediately.
His eyes were fixed quietly on his comrade who was suspended in mid-air.
Those once calm bird-like eyes now clearly showed a trace of sadness.
He slowly flew up, came to the body, gently spread his wings, and gathered the remains and the floating cosmic map to his side.
Then he said in a low voice.
"Sorry I'm late."
The hall fell silent for a moment, and the atmosphere became somewhat somber.
Xia Xiu's voice suddenly rang out.
“I’m sorry, Rhodes. I didn’t mean to interrupt your time of remembering your comrades, but we’re probably facing a small problem right now.”
Lothar was slightly taken aback. Shashchuh's gaze had already slowly swept around, and his third eye on his forehead, the Eye of Thybiya, had quietly opened.
The eyes that could see through illusions were fixed on a certain space in front of them, and Xia Xiu's tone became solemn.
“We are actually standing in a very small bubble of the world right now, which means there are other miracle workers present.” As he said this, the [Eye of Thybheya] on Xia Xiu’s forehead began to glow faintly.
"It's quite rare to see three miracle workers gathered in one place... However, if you intend to continue hiding, don't blame me for making the first move."
After Xia Xiu's voice slowly faded in the core cabin, the space fell silent for a moment. The black stone crystals around him continued to slowly circulate ethereal patterns, while the psionic circuit suspended in the center of the hall flickered slightly as if it were breathing.
Lode remained suspended in mid-air, having just gathered the remains of his comrade and the map of the multiverse. His wings were not yet fully folded, but after hearing Xia Xiu's words, his eyes became noticeably alert. He knew very well that if there were other Miracles here, things would probably be more complicated than he had imagined.
However, this silence did not last long.
Just moments after those words were spoken, a soft yet clear voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the hall. The voice carried an almost melodious rhythm that echoed throughout the space filled with ancient psionic structures.
"As expected of Eden's chosen one."
The voice carried a clear tone of admiration. The voice paused slightly, then continued:
"From the moment we stepped into the heart of this Blackrock Fortress, you sensed the anomaly. This sensitivity to causal fluctuations and the structure of miracles is indeed far beyond the level of ordinary miracle workers. No wonder the great Admiral Lakmule chose you as the new Eldar collaborator."
As these words slowly fell to the floor, the air in the core compartment suddenly rippled slightly, as if some kind of invisible structure had been deactivated.
Immediately afterwards, two figures gradually emerged from the distortion of space.
They were originally standing in that bubble of worlds, but had been hidden within some kind of psionic folding structure. Now, as the conversation unfolds, that concealment is being actively dispelled.
The first person to appear was a woman.
She wore an extremely ancient monastic robe, the fabric of which was not ordinary but made of some kind of pale golden psionic fiber, faintly embroidered with many long-lost theological symbols. In her hand she held an extremely exaggerated scepter—almost taller than herself, with a crystal at the top that slowly rotated like a miniature star.
After landing, she bowed to Xia Xiu without any hesitation.
The movements were both solemn and composed.
Then she spoke.
"The human representative of the Otto Alliance of Tyrjan II, the former supreme leader of the Second Otto Church in the human world, the former Messenger of the Fallen Star of Terra, and also the chief spokesperson of the Seven Holy Ones of Eldar in the human world—High Priestess Faira Ontius of the Seven Holy Ones, hereby pays homage to the Fourth Swordholder of Heaven."
At the same time, the man standing next to her also took a step forward.
He looked much younger, also wearing a monastic robe, but in a much simpler style, and his eyes were exceptionally sharp, like those of a scholar who had long studied the structure of the universe.
He also bowed to Xia Xiu, his movements perfectly executed.
"Sean Glenn Markus, the former head of the Otto Church in Toronto, a researcher of multiverse cosmology, and a priest of the Seven Holy Regions, met the Fourth Sword Bearer of the Kingdom of Heaven here."
When Lot heard the string of titles, his previously composed expression suddenly changed.
This well-traveled pterodactyl cartographer, who had practically traversed the multiverse, was clearly familiar with the name "Ottos." When the woman who claimed to be the High Priest of the Seven Saints revealed her identity, his pupils suddenly constricted, and an extremely sharp chill immediately appeared in his previously calm gaze.
He slowly raised his head, his wings slightly spread, and his bird-like eyes stared intently at Farah Antius, his voice also becoming lower.
“Otto…”
Lot's voice suddenly became sharp.
“Ya Sha Er…” His wings suddenly flapped, “was he killed by you?”
Sean, who claimed to be a multiverse cosmology expert, stepped forward. He first sighed softly, a regretful expression on his face, before slowly speaking.
"On this point, I must first clarify one thing."
His tone was very calm.
"The death of this Gilad Twelve wandmaster was not directly caused by us. Although Otto is indeed involved in the cause-and-effect relationship, if you really understand the structure of Blackrock Fortress, you will realize that things are far more complicated than you imagine."
As he said this, his gaze shifted slightly to the psionic throne that hovered in the center of the hall.
"When the Eldar discovered that someone was bypassing the restrictions and touching the throne, they sent people to stop this dangerous behavior. At that time, the wandmaster number twelve was obviously trying to access the fortress's control structure. She probably relied on the ability of the multiverse map to bypass the restrictions."
Sean's voice lowered slightly.
"And here's the problem: your wandmaster number twelve is taking Blackrock Fortress far too lightly."
"Blackstone Fortress is not a war megastructure in the ordinary sense. It is a device left behind by the Otto Kingdom on Earth. Within this system, there is a security mechanism that almost no one is willing to touch—a forbidden structure personally set up by the great Lakmule."
As he said this, Lot's pupils visibly moved.
Sean continued to explain.
"The essence of that taboo is a vacuum singularity compressed within the core structure of the fortress."
"It is not an ordinary space weapon, but an extreme cosmic-level safety device. Once triggered, the entire singularity will expand rapidly and change the physical constants of the surrounding space in a very short time, causing all stable material structures to collapse."
His tone remained calm.
"To put it more bluntly, if that singularity is truly stable and expanding, then it would only take a few hours for it to devour an entire star system and rewrite the physical laws of the local universe in the process of destruction."
Lot's eyes grew even more somber.
Sean sighed softly.
"The original purpose of this device was not to deal with ordinary invaders, but to prevent Blackrock Fortress from falling into the hands of some more dangerous beings—such as the Workin of the World Eater."
He paused slightly as he said this.
"The problem is, that wandmaster number twelve obviously doesn't know that."
Sean's gaze fell once again on the location of the body.
"In her attempt to access the Psionic Throne, she inadvertently triggered the mechanism, and when the vacuum singularity briefly unfolded within the core, she was almost instantly annihilated by that force."
His tone carried a clear sense of regret.
"By the time we noticed something was wrong and arrived here, it was all over. We didn't even have time to shut down the structure."
There was a moment of silence in the hall.
Sean then continued.
"Moreover, this is not a good thing for Ottoshi either."
He gently raised his hand and pointed to the internal structure of Blackrock Fortress.
"Because that vacuum singularity device was originally one of the fortress's most important defensive measures. Its existence could prevent the entire fortress from being occupied by the enemy in extreme circumstances. However, the accidental activation by Wandman Twelve caused the mechanism to run out of energy prematurely and become completely ineffective."
Sean shook his head slightly.
"in other words."
"Blackrock Fortress is now missing a crucial defensive barrier."
He looked at Lot.
His tone remained calm.
"So if you have to say who the victim is—Otto is one of them."