Translator: CinderTL
The inscriptions did not end there. Instead, they continued on a new line, the tone now dripping with smugness and provocation.
"To the loyal hounds of the 'Eye of Order' who have turned the empire upside down to hunt us—how surprised are you to find we've hidden right here in your own granary?"
The next line seemed to echo with silent mockery.
"What a pity, what a pity. You're still a step too late."
"The very thing you've been so desperate to find, digging three feet deep into the earth... well, it's right here, somewhere in this Granary Hall. But exactly where?"
The final line was deliberately drawn out, brimming with the malicious glee of a successful prankster.
"Hahahahaha—then please, everyone, take your time. Take all the time you need to look! Good luck!"
"Holland?"
Staring at the taunting words carved into the wall, Roland frowned. The name felt vaguely familiar, like a faint glimmer shining through the dust of his memories.
"Holland... Holland..."
He repeated the name under his breath, trying to grasp the fleeting spark of recognition.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened. He remembered.
"Wait! That powerful, sentient zombie we encountered in the Mistland... he called himself... Holland?"
A thought struck Roland, and he reached behind his back to retrieve a silver shield.
The shield's design was ancient and simple, its edges marred with several distinct dents and scratches—a trophy won after defeating that formidable zombie. Because its material was exceptionally durable, far surpassing ordinary metals, Roland had kept it with him for emergencies.
However, in subsequent battles, there had been few moments where he needed its full defensive power, and so it was often overlooked.
Now, as his fingers traced the cool surface of the shield, the slightly blurred memory of that battle against the powerful zombie in the mist suddenly emerged, as clear as a reef revealed by a receding tide.
After a brief moment of distraction, Roland shook his head with a light chuckle.
"It couldn't be that coincidental, could it?"
He turned his gaze back to the writing on the wall.
Eye of Order—according to the scattered records he'd seen at the Imperial Academy, it seemed to be a mysterious organization reporting directly to the royal family of the Dawnlight Empire. Responsible for monitoring anomalies and hunting major fugitives, it wielded immense power and was known for its ruthless efficiency.
He weighed the shield in his hand, feeling its heavy mass and the contained fluctuations of energy within.
"Judging solely by the lingering aura of that undead, its power in life must have been immense. It wouldn't be surprising if the Eye of Order had been dispatched to hunt it down. But—it was located on another continent, separated from Aetheron by a vast ocean—"
His train of thought came to an abrupt halt.
Roland suddenly remembered Bard Galvis mentioning the intricate web of connections between Silverglow City and the Demon Capital Gilles.
Never mind...
Shaking his head gently, Roland forcibly suppressed the unverified theories churning in his mind and securely strapped the silver shield back to his back.
The most important and urgent task at hand was to secure enough supplies, then reach that mana-converging node as quickly as possible to find a way off this peril-strewn continent.
As for the rest of the tangled mysteries, they would have to be set aside for now, to be unraveled later when he had sufficient time and clues.
Composing himself, Roland wasted no more time. He strode out of the room, leaving its mysteries behind.
Back at the shell ship's docking area, he gave his companions a concise report on the situation inside The Granary Hall.
"Another ancient relic?"
Bronson's eyes lit up instantly, gleaming with the characteristic excitement of a scholar.
"Wait for me, Roland! I'm coming with you!"
The scholar sprang into action. He rummaged through a crate filled with miscellaneous tools and parts, eventually unearthing several fist-sized metal spheres. Their surfaces were dull, etched with simple runes.
"Let's go, let's try it out!" Bronson couldn't contain his excitement, as if he were about to unlock a long-forgotten treasure.
The group re-entered the Granary Hall, crossing the empty main hall and the storage zone piled with Rock core Blocks before arriving at the high-tech inner chamber.
Two uniquely shaped machines stood silently in the dim light, like slumbering behemoths.
Holding the core, Bronson approached the water collection and purification machine. He knelt, carefully inspecting the circular socket at the machine's rear. After comparing its size and shape to the core, a satisfied look crossed his face.
"The interface is a perfect match! It seems this energy standard was indeed widespread back then."
As he spoke, he gently brushed the dust from the socket with a tool, then cradled the slightly dull Energy core in both hands and cautiously slotted it into place.
Click.
A faint, precise snap echoed as the core fit snugly into the socket.
In an instant, the transformation began.
The once-dull, lifeless core flared to life the instant it was slotted into the machine. Its surface runes ignited one by one from the inside out, pulsing with a soft blue glow.
A faint hum emanated from within the machine.
It began as a low thrum, then grew steady and powerful.
The crystal panels and indicator lights on the machine's side lit up in sequence, projecting pale blue beams that wove into complex, ever-shifting diagrams and data streams in the air.
From inside, the subtle sounds of flowing liquid and mechanical components snapping into place could be heard.
"It's working! It's running a self-test and booting up!"
Bronson's face was flushed with excitement. He pressed his face nearly against the machine's panel, greedily recording the flickering ancient data he couldn't fully comprehend.
Soon, with the distinct sound of flowing water, an outlet on the side of the machine slowly opened.
A stream of crystal-clear, colorless, and odorless water gurgled out, filling a water basin below that had also been activated and automatically cleaned.
The water appeared incredibly pure, radiating a faint aura of active mana.
"Perfect!"
Avril exclaimed in delight. Elves had an innate affinity for pure water.
Immediately after, they used another core to successfully activate the machine beside it.
With a similar hum, its internal lights flickered on, indicating it was also fully operational.
"It looks like we won't have to worry about drinking water for a while," Roland said, feeling a wave of relief as he gazed at the two ancient machines, now restored to life.
Seeing Bronson and the others busily collecting the purified water, Roland turned and headed toward the other unexplored rooms adjacent to the storage zone. After all, water alone wouldn't be enough to sustain them on their journey.
However, the subsequent exploration left him somewhat disappointed.
These rooms weren't additional storage areas but seemed to be administrative offices. Judging by the remaining signs and the scattered, mostly decayed documents on the floor, this place had once been the Granary Hall's reference room, used to record tedious accounts of grain income, expenditures, and inventory turnover.
The long passage of time and possible multiple loots had left the place empty, with nothing but a mess on the floor.
The only thing that could be considered a find was a small amount of materials for crafting Nutrient Concentration Potions, which he discovered at the bottom of a relatively intact metal cabinet.
Though the materials were scarce and their potency had waned over the millennia, they should still be enough to produce a batch of improved Rock Core Blocks—true nutritional supplements far superior to the "placebos" Holm was currently holding—if Roland used the synthesizer he had just activated.
The taste would likely remain unappetizing, but they would be sufficient to sustain the group's energy needs for the journey ahead.
Carefully packing all the usable materials he had found and securing them within the Mystic Die's spatial gate, Roland brushed the dust from his hands but did not leave immediately.
He closed his eyes, his mental power intensely focused.
Just as he had done in the previous rooms, his perception spread outward from him like an invisible web, meticulously scanning every corner of the vast warehouse.
Holland's playful, almost mischievous message echoed repeatedly in his mind.
With a personality like that, if he went out of his way to leave a clue, then the claim that he had "hidden something" was likely true.
And something the Eye of Order would spare no effort to retrieve could be no ordinary item.
Of course, after a thousand years, it was highly probable that the Eye of Order had already recovered it, or that some later explorer had stumbled upon it and carried it away—
But since he was already here, there was no harm in a quick search.
As the thought crossed his mind, his senses swept over the mottled walls, seeped into the cracks in the floor, and probed beneath the piles of rubble—
Most areas returned only dead silence, dust, and structural decay.
Just as he was about to give up, his senses paused slightly as they brushed past an extremely hidden corner of the storage zone.
The spot seemed to blend seamlessly with the surrounding walls, covered in thick dust and cobwebs. But under his deeper investigation, a faint spell pattern, almost completely merged with the surrounding environment's energy, was detected.
This pattern formed a sophisticated, multi-layered barrier for protection and concealment, its design far surpassing the magic common to this era.
Yet, no spell, however powerful, could withstand the erosion of time. After a thousand years, the barrier's energy had drained away, leaving less than a tenth of its original strength.
Only then, under Roland's focused concentration, did it reveal a nearly imperceptible flaw.
Roland opened his eyes, his sharp gaze fixed on the corner. He stepped forward slowly, carefully brushing away the accumulated dust and grime as his fingers traced the wall.
Soon, he found a nearly invisible crevice.
With a deft touch and a faint click, a camouflaged stone slab—perfectly matching the surrounding wall's color and texture—slid open, revealing a small hidden compartment.
Inside the compartment lay an unremarkable, dark gray metal box.
Its surface was devoid of any decoration, save for the nearly worn-down grooves left by now-defunct protective runes.
Roland carefully opened the unassuming box.
There was no padding inside. A single object hovered a few inches above the center, slowly rotating.
It was a polyhedron roughly the size of a fist, its entire body a deep, profound blue that seemed to contain a swirling nebula.
Its material was neither crystal nor metal, yet its surface was as smooth as a mirror, with a liquid glow flowing within. Countless pinpricks of light, as fine as stars, flickered and pulsed inside, forming a miniature star map of the universe.
The object radiated a gentle warmth and a low, steady energy rhythm, like a beating heart.
"This is—"
Roland was struck by the exquisite mystery of the artifact. Just as he leaned in for a closer look, the ancient bracelet on his left wrist began to vibrate—a steady, unmistakable tremor.
It wasn't a warning. It was a longing. A...
Resonance.
Roland frowned slightly. With a single thought, the mysterious armor responded to his call, manifesting from his skin and spreading across his body in an instant. The cold touch of metal and its familiar weight returned.
Once fully armored, Roland tentatively moved the deep-blue core toward the central socket of his belt.
But before he could set it in, the armor seemed to awaken with a mind of its own. A subtle yet definite pull tugged at him, causing his waist to lurch forward slightly, aligning the belt's socket perfectly with the core.
The next moment, as if activated by an invisible force, the core's rotation accelerated sharply, radiating a brighter, softer glow. It no longer needed Roland's grip; it rose into the air, drifting steadily and precisely toward the socket like a homing pigeon.
As the core met the socket, there was no metallic clank. Instead, a low, melodic hum resonated, like the pluck of an ancient string.
The core settled into the socket with a seamless fit, its edges merging perfectly with the belt, as if it had always been a part of the armor.
Once the core was fully seated, the starlight-like specks within it began to swirl with noticeable speed. A blue aura, flowing like a living thing, spread slowly outward along the armor's waistline.
Just as Roland was marveling at this strange, automatic fusion, a gentle yet immense surge of warmth erupted from every point where the armor touched his body.
It was as if countless warm streams were instantly pouring into his limbs and bones.
At the same time, his vision was suddenly illuminated.
Lines of text, glowing with a pale gold light and a distinct mechanical feel, cascaded past like a waterfall.
Unknown high-dimensional energy source detected... Analyzing energy source structure... Parsing... Identification code confirmed: Heart of the Spellweaver... Energy spectrum matching... Compatibility assessment: Extremely High Initiating preliminary energy synchronization... core protocol link established... Attempting to awaken deep-layer construct neural network...
The barrage of information left Roland dizzy.
Just as he tried to focus his mind to comprehend the text, he felt a series of faint, rapid vibrations pulsing through the armor covering his body.
The once cold, matte surface was undergoing an unknown transformation, visible to the naked eye.
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
📖 You are reading [276] Chapters behind with [104] Free Chapters available on site.
🔥 Read up to Chapter [728] now, only on ᴄɪɴᴅᴇʀᴛʟ.ᴄᴏᴍ.
📊 [17] Novels, [14.5K+] Chapters with [11.4K+] Free Chapters!, [23.2M] Words on ℂ𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕋𝕃.𝕔𝕠𝕞
---------------------------