Chapter 475

Chapter 475: Taking the First Step in Exploration

Taran Ael was an outstanding elf scholar, an expert in mathematics, machinery, and general studies, and a recipient of four Lifetime Honors granted by the Truth Academy.

He was a man devoted to learning, a careful and diligent worker, someone who could stay in the lab without sleep or rest, and someone who made Lucretia worry all the time that he might suddenly drop dead at his research site.

Now, this well-read Grand Scholar openly announced in front of everyone that he had no way to deal with the geometric glowing orb that had fallen from the sky.

Lucretia raised her head. Her gaze went past the scrying crystal in front of her and landed on the window across from her. From that direction, a magnificent glow was spreading. Even though it was already midnight, the whole sea still seemed to be bathed in “sunlight”. In the middle of that glow, the huge luminous geometric body that was like a small mountain floated quietly on the sea. Its smooth, glowing walls were like steep cliffs, blocking the horizon between sky and sea.

Another small boat crossed the shining waters, heading toward the inside of that luminous geometric body. It was going to pick up the research team that had finished its shift near the “stone sphere”.

Lucretia sighed, pulling back her gaze from the window and looking down at the table by her hand. A strange, grayish ball sat on the stand on the tabletop.

Its surface was rough, with the texture of rock. Odd, uneven ridges with no clear pattern covered it. It looked plain, yet it gave off a mysterious feeling that was hard to put into words.

At the center of the huge geometric glowing orb floating on the sea, there was a bizarre stone sphere ten meters in diameter. The ball in front of Lucretia… was a small but precise replica of that stone sphere.

It was almost the only “result” that a large group of expert scholars had managed to produce after all this time.

“Taran Ael has gone back to Lightwind Harbor to rest. To be exact, his students ‘dragged’ him back to Lightwind Harbor,” Lucretia shook her head and said to her Big Brother on the other side of the scrying crystal. “If he did not rest, I was afraid he might just drop dead outside. For an elf, dying suddenly at five hundred years old would be far too early.”

“When he left, he was very discouraged, because this ‘object from heaven’ is completely beyond our understanding. Whether it is the glowing area around it or the nature of the core sphere itself, it is all a mystery to us.

“The researchers scraped some samples from the stone sphere, but analysis showed that they were just very fine stone dust. Probing the inside of the stone sphere had no progress at all. Every method failed, even extraordinary power. It is as if the thing is wrapped in a dense shell that hides all its secrets. At least for now, we have not yet made up our minds to carry out any destructive… ‘tests’ on it.

“After all this effort, we only reached one agreement, and that is… this huge geometric glowing orb really does seem to have fallen from the rune rings around Vision 001. This is the conclusion given by the ‘tower’ in Lightwind Harbor. They carefully examined the gap at the edge of Vision 001 and found that the missing part matches the ‘geometric glowing orb’.”

Lucretia spoke in one breath. Clearly, she had been holding in a lot of frustration these days. Tyrian proved to be a good listener. He did not interrupt once while his Younger Sister talked. Only after she finished did he slowly say: “So it has been confirmed that it is a part that broke off from Vision 001… Lucy, before this, Father already warned the Church of the Four Gods about this. He said the Sun may be heading toward decline.”

“I heard about that,” Lucretia nodded lightly. “A warning from ‘Captain Duncan’. No one dared treat it lightly, even if most people’s first reaction after hearing it was to feel tense and afraid of the Vanished…”

Tyrian pulled at the corner of his mouth. As someone who had been seeing “Duncan Abnomar” often lately, and who had seen Father’s new means with his own eyes, he really did not know what to say. He could only change the topic: “So do you have any follow-up plans? For the problem of the Sun…”

“What plans could we have? Throw this big stone ball back into the sky? Set it back into the Sun’s rune rings?” Lucretia shrugged. “I am afraid only the ancient kingdom of Critt would know how to repair the Sun in the sky.”

Tyrian fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Lucretia suddenly asked: “Does Father know about my ‘research’ here?”

“I have not told him,” Tyrian shook his head. “Without your permission, I would not say a word. Why? Do you want to ask him for help?”

Lucretia clearly hesitated, as if she really was tempted. But soon she shook her head: “I will think about it. He might not be able to help with something like this anyway, and… fine, I admit it, I am a little afraid of him.”

“He is actually quite easy to talk to now,” Tyrian laughed. “But since you do not want that, I will not interfere. Still, let me say this first. Even if I do not tell him, the news might reach his ears someday. He is in contact with the Church and the city-states now. If he becomes interested at some point, I will not dare stand in his way.”

Lucretia waved her hand in annoyance. In front of her family, this “Sea Witch” who seemed shrouded in mystery to outsiders rarely bothered to hide her emotions: “I know, I know. Let’s drop it. When are you going to give me that Spirit Realm lens you promised?”

Tyrian: “…”

Two seconds later, Lucretia’s sharp, unhappy shout rang from the scrying crystal: “You forgot again?!?!”

…

“Tyrian, you don’t look very well.”

Early in the morning, Duncan came to the south port. Seeing the faint tiredness on Tyrian’s face, he could not help saying that.

Tyrian rubbed his forehead and sighed helplessly: “There has just been too much to worry about lately.”

This was not an excuse. There really was a lot to worry about these days. Managing a city-state clearly took far more effort than leading a fleet. But to be honest… being nagged at high intensity by his Younger Sister for two hours straight also had a real impact on his “complexion”.

Soon, Tyrian went around this slightly awkward topic. He did not mention Lucretia. Instead he straightened his expression: “The reason I called you here so early is to tell you that the Submersible is ready.”

Duncan raised his eyebrows: “So soon?”

“Once we considered that the passengers do not need to breathe, many of the preparations could be sped up,” Tyrian nodded. “And this secret Submersible built by the former Frostholm government was constructed based on Blueprints from the Queen’s era. Although there are many improvements, the basic principles have not changed much. If we only want to understand how to operate it, that is actually quite simple.”

Duncan looked at Tyrian for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and nodded with satisfaction: “Good. Take me to it.”

“You want to start right away?” Tyrian was a little surprised. “We can run a few more tests. I asked you here today only so you could see it with your own eyes…”

Duncan cut him off: “You have already done some tests, haven’t you?”

“…A little,” Tyrian hesitated. “After we finished the system checks, I sent two Undying sailors on a short dive last night, only a few dozen meters. It was mainly to confirm the operating procedures and working state of the Submersible. Nothing went wrong…”

“That is enough,” Duncan nodded and turned toward the warehouse that led down into the underground facility. “I will personally complete the rest of the testing. In any case, I am the one who has to carry out the actual Deep Dive mission.”

Tyrian froze for a moment, then quickly followed after Duncan. On the hurried way to the facility, he could not help feeling a hint of doubt.

He did not know if it was just his imagination, but he felt that today Father seemed a bit weighed down, and this sense of urgency was not normal for him.

It was as if Duncan had suddenly noticed some clue or touched upon some great secret, and now the urge to uncover the riddle and seek the truth was pushing him forward.

And this hurried manner… gave Tyrian a faint sense of familiarity.

The tall figure in the black coat walked quickly in front, and Tyrian hurried to keep up from behind.

As he watched Duncan’s back and followed step by step, Tyrian suddenly realized where this familiar feeling came from.

It felt just like many years ago.

Whenever they found clues to some ancient ruins, whenever a new route appeared on the enchanted sea chart, whenever news came from the borderlands about mysterious Visions, Father would be like this.

This was how he looked right before he set off on a voyage.

Long-faded memories rose uncontrollably from the depths of Tyrian’s mind. The scenes of sailing with Father in the past appeared before his eyes. In those overlapping images, Tyrian’s steps slowed without him noticing.

Duncan stopped and turned, looking at him with some confusion.

“Tyrian, what are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and keep up.”

Tyrian jolted, then quickly stepped forward and answered in a rush: “Ah… oh, yes, Father!”

Duncan turned back and kept walking, not paying much attention to Tyrian’s reaction.

Because that urgent desire to explore the world had risen in him once more, pushing at him again and again.

It came from what he had gained yesterday while probing that brass key. It came from that sudden glimpse beneath a corner of this world’s mysterious veil.

A vast ship that had crashed on this world in some lost age, a creation of an ancient civilization from hidden history called the “Blasphemous Archetype”, secrets in the deep layers that even a Grand Scholar like Morris had never touched.

There were too many unknown things. A clue appearing by chance only made him more aware of how tangled and layered the world’s secrets were, like veil upon veil.

So every chance to take a step toward the truth of the world became extremely precious.

An Explorer should be this way.