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Speaking of which, there was a perfectly round island within the Lion Kingdom's territory—Holy Light Island, the sacred ground of the Church of Light.
The island was perfectly circular, like the sun in the sky that brought light to all people. A holy land for followers of the Light.
This, of course, made the Shadow Reach Empire—worshipers of the God of Shadow—deeply envious. They searched the entire continent but couldn't find a similar treasure.
Then came the unexpected.
When the First Emperor Aldric announced the establishment of his new nation, a crescent-shaped island suddenly rose from the sea in the southeastern part of his territory.
The island's area was exactly the same as Holy Light Island. And even more coincidentally, its shape could perfectly align with the circular Holy Light Island, forming a larger complete circle.
Now all five Empires had their sights set on this divinely bestowed island.
They initially assumed that by issuing a declaration, this upstart nation would obediently step aside and let the five great powers contend for supremacy.
They assumed wrong.
The king of this newly established country dared to disagree. He stubbornly declared the new island as national territory and deliberately named this crescent-shaped island "Moon Gaze Island."
Thus began the war between "the newly established small kingdom" and "the five great powers and their allied lackeys."
What was unexpected—incredible, even—was that the new kingdom won. It forcefully transformed itself into an emerging Empire.
And then the founding emperor of the Moonwatch Empire made what could only be described as a Versailles-esque statement: he claimed he'd originally only wanted to be a king who quietly lived off the land and waited to die, but he'd accidentally been forced into becoming an Empire emperor.
This made him feel very helpless, he said. He often lamented about the impermanence of life.
This statement was, naturally, infuriating to everyone who'd just lost a war to him.
However, a few years later, another interplanar invasion began.
The First Emperor announced the method of Dual Cultivation—combining magic and martial arts—to the entire world, greatly enhancing the combat power of the allied forces.
Gradually, the Moonwatch Empire gained the recognition of all countries and races.
Later, it even became the only nation with friendly relations with the Elven Race.
After that, the other countries never truly coveted Moon Gaze Island again. Only the Shadow Reach Empire remained fixated on it, and every time they spoke of this island, their faces would turn sour.
Caelan estimated the distances and found that the Shadow Reach Empire was also more than four hundred units away.
Their players seemed exceptionally fond of the two Shadow Reach characters—Guile and Nash—providing more magical feedback than expected.
Many chat messages in Spacetime Communication were discussing the strength of these two fighters.
However, all players were currently very unfamiliar with keyboards. Typing was painfully slow.
Everyone tried to shorten their messages, making them as concise as possible.
But they were all deeply impressed with Spacetime Communication. Many people were preparing to buy a console just for this feature.
Hmm?
Merchants had already raised console prices.
Someone on the Forum said that a merchant in Duskhold City had sold an Elite Edition console for sixty gold crowns.
Who's that aggressive?
People from the Dragonspire Empire?
Could it be that same guy from Earthforge City again?
Huh?
Someone in the Lion Kingdom managed to clear Chronicle of Fierce Tortoise Warriors just a few days after turning on their console?
Was this guy exceptionally talented, or had he played before?
Looking at the records... the former seemed more likely.
He'd even chosen nunchaku.
Could it be that he read the guide I wrote on the Forum?
After a quick glance at the jumbled information flowing through his mind palace, Caelan took out two runestone tablets, each about the size of an old Nokia phone.
From the cabinet drawer, he retrieved powders of white meteorite, gold-veined stone, and fortitude stone.
Using his mana, he injected them into the runestone tablets. The engraving was complete in moments.
Leaving Game City, Caelan arrived at a new warehouse he'd rented near the market district.
Workers inside were arranging Elite Edition-sized runestones.
Seeing Caelan approach, they all nodded in greeting.
After a brief acknowledgment, Caelan took out a mana crystal, held it in his hand, and began to work. His mind palace precisely controlled the amount of meteorite powder needed for each Elite Edition runestone, slowly injecting them one by one.
When this batch was finished and he moved to the next, the workers would begin packaging and storing the runestones that had been injected with powder.
These pre-injected runestones no longer needed Caelan to engrave them individually.
With the white meteorite powder inside them, Caelan could directly multitask through his mind palace, allowing the runestones to engrave themselves—essentially downloading the system remotely.
The next day, military personnel arrived.
They were led by a woman in her forties—Captain Rosalind Bluefire.
After she stated her identity, Caelan handed over the two runestones he'd engraved the previous day.
"There are two versions," Caelan explained. "Their functions are exactly the same—both can make long-distance calls.
"The only difference is that one must be bound to a person, like the Supreme Edition console. After binding, only that person can use it.
"The other, like the Elite Edition, doesn't require binding. Anyone can use it at any time, but they must first log in with their account and password..."
Caelan patiently walked her through the functions.
"Account and password?" Captain Rosalind looked puzzled.
Caelan explained while demonstrating the operations manually.
"So you're saying everyone who uses this needs to first apply to create an account and password? And they need to use both every time they turn it on to access the communication function?"
"Not just a password. When you create the account, you also need to do a face scan." Caelan gestured at the screen. "You face it, and the illusion I've embedded will determine if it's really you. This prevents enemies from stealing accounts and passwords to transmit false information." He paused. "Oh, and everyone can only create one account."
"Why set up an account and password? That's so troublesome. Can't we just use face scanning directly?"
"It's a double guarantee. Prevents things like master shapeshifters from bypassing security. Also distinguishes between twins."
Captain Rosalind nodded, accepting the explanation. "Let's try the communication function first."
"Of course. Go ahead."
She had a subordinate take the bound version of the runestone.
Under Caelan's guidance, the subordinate bound his face to it.
Caelan told him that once he reached his destination, he should channel mana to activate the runestone, then let it scan his face.
Seeing that he understood, Captain Rosalind told him to run far away—at least a kilometer.
The subordinate ran out as instructed.
"What next?"
"Next, you create an account."
Caelan guided her through the process. "Enter your password, then your real name and nickname..."
"Real name?" She frowned. "Do I have to enter my real name? Can I just fill in anything?"
"You can fill in anything, technically. But you're military personnel. Your comrades will want to know that the person on the other end is really you. Best to use your real name."
Captain Rosalind thought it over and agreed. She honestly filled in her information.
Her account number was 118943.
"I forgot to have you two add each other as friends earlier, but it's fine—I can fix that now."
Soon, the two soldiers began the first long-distance call in this world's history.
The call was short, but the effect was stunning.
Afterward, Captain Rosalind requested ten of each type of instant communication runestone.
Then she hurried with her subordinates toward the City Lord's Mansion teleportation array to report to her superiors.
There were teleportation arrays within the city, of course, but they weren't generally open to outsiders.
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