Chapter 709: Entering the Core
Chapter 709: Entering the Core
The view inside the topmost building of Sky City was astonishing, as it showed almost no signs of human habitation. The entire dimension was a lush green, resembling a vast primeval forest.
"Are we inside a building? This place is truly magnificent", Baru marveled, looking at the thick trees. Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the top of a large tree, and he pointed upwards, shouting, "Everyone, look at the sky—"
Ryan and the others followed his finger and looked up, indeed seeing a transparent structure like glass. However, Liam clearly remembered that the walls of this place appeared white and opaque from the outside.
"Truly amazing!" Although Liam had similar one-way transparent materials, the grand gesture of using such materials to create a massive greenhouse and then building a self-sustaining mini-primeval forest inside still left him awestruck.
After passing through this small jungle, a truly breathtaking sight appeared before them: a massive, almost miraculous tree stood at the very center of the building, surrounded by a vast, flat lawn.
A broken robot stood beneath the tree, with a large black stone tablet embedded in the ground and another on the tree itself. The tablets were inscribed with an unknown cuneiform script, a language entirely different from the English used in this world.
"If only we could read these inscriptions", Hermione said regretfully, looking at the stone tablets. "They must contain a lot of knowledge and stories about this civilization, perhaps even the reason why they abandoned this city. It feels terrible not being able to understand them, like standing at the door of a vault without the key."
"I suspect it's a warning to future generations", Hilda said. "They must have done something wrong and had to leave the city, so they left this stone tablet as a warning to avoid repeating their mistakes."
"Even if it were carved as a mural, it would be better, at least giving us some clues about what happened", Liam complained. "While pictures may be less precise in transmitting knowledge, they can still convey the most important warnings in case of a cultural gap."
"By the way, Hilda. From your secret name, you should be a descendant of the rulers of Laputa, this floating city", Baru turned to Hilda after hearing Ryan and the others' complaints. "Do you have any knowledge of this language in your family?"
"Sorry, we don't", Hilda said regretfully after a moment's thought. "Our clan only left behind various spells, but unfortunately, those spells require the Pendant to be used."
"Alright, let's search this place a bit more. We might find more inscriptions. If we collect enough, I'll try a Prophecy magic to see if I can translate it", Liam shrugged and looked up at the sky, only to be surprised by the change in the color of the clouds. The storm surrounding the city seemed to be dissipating.
In his memory, the clouds around the city were supposed to clear the morning after tomorrow. But at the current rate, Liam estimated that the storm barrier would disappear in just one or two hours.
Liam's gaze quickly drew everyone's attention, and as they followed his gaze out the window, they too noticed the clouds and storm around Laputa dispersing.
"I always thought the stone used as the Pendant was the key", Hermione said to Liam through the Phoenix Mark. "But it seems this Sky City uses blood detection. Laputa's technology is even more advanced than we imagined."
"The fog is clearing", Hilda said with a worried expression. "We just intercepted a military radio message saying they would send a flying battleship to find Laputa. What if they gain control of this floating city? I fear it could become a tool for ambitious people to achieve their evil goals."
"What should we do then?" Baru seemed very anxious, then he turned to look at Liam. "As Wizards, do you have any Magic that can make the military unable to find this Sky City?"
"There is a way", Liam nodded. "However, hiding a city of this size is not something that can be done quickly. Even if we all work together, it would be impossible to hide the entire city before the flying battleship arrives."
Just thinking about how a World Cup Stadium, which is much smaller, took half of the wizarding world over half a year to conceal, it’s clear that two people couldn’t possibly cast enough complex Magic to hide a Sky City of this size in 48 hours. And simple visual invisibility would be useless against those with pendants as indicators.
"Besides using Magic to hide this Sky City, we have other solutions to solve the current problem", Hermione said at this point. "With our spaceship technology, we should be able to easily shoot down the approaching flying battleship. To be precise, our spaceship, with its powerful energy, could destroy all the aircraft in this world. As long as they can't leave the ground, they won’t be able to seize this Sky City."
"No, we can’t do that", Hilda shook her head after realizing what Hermione suggested. "If we resort to killing, how are we any different from those ambitious people?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Baru scratched his head in frustration. "We can’t hide a city this big, and we can’t eliminate those who might harm this city. Are we just supposed to watch helplessly as this city falls into the hands of villains, bringing darkness and slaughter to this world?"
"I have an idea", Liam said, summoning the Rose Madonna. "I’ll see if I can find the control room of this Sky City. There might be a better solution."
"Wow, it’s so beautiful!" Baru and Hilda exclaimed as they watched the pink gemstone float above Liam’s head. Soon, under Liam’s spell, a pink dot flew out of the gemstone. After circling around them a few times, it flew toward the door of the building.
They followed the light speck out of the building, running all the way to the edge of the platform. Due to weathering, the original path down was gone. Fortunately, the giant tree on the top floor had grown countless thick roots that spread across the entire Sky City, allowing them to climb down along these massive roots.
With the help of short-distance Apparition, they finally reached a walkway next to the black hemisphere at the lower half of the Sky City. At this point, the pink light orb spun around a section of the wall and then vanished into thin air.
"That’s it, this is the place", Liam said, pointing to a thumb-sized Laputa emblem on the wall. "However, theoretically, we need a pendant to open this door to the core area."
"What should we do now?" Baru asked, but he was cut off by Liam. "But my Rose Madonna can also open this door; it just takes a little time."
Liam then held the Rose Madonna and began drawing runes in the air. After about seven or eight minutes, the light runes in the air gathered to form a light speck that looked almost identical to the pendant, and it merged into the wall.
Instantly, a hexagonal door appeared in the wall. Liam stood at the entrance and gestured for them to enter. "Alright, let’s go in. This should be the core of the Sky City."
(End of Chapter)
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