Chapter 18: The Tower That Reaches Heaven
Year 841 of the Falling Stars Era, February 17th, Northern Helgamos Empire.
Ten more days had passed since the light of Emperor Israel's ascension to godhood had illuminated the world. After a week-long grand celebration and the political negotiations hidden behind it, with the assistance of two legendary experts, the Second Prince, Di Mo Er, had temporarily assumed part of the Emperor's authority and position. The remaining portion was handed over to the Empress-led faction of the imperial court.
Clearly, the conflict between the Second Prince and the Empress was immense, and it had not eased much even now. But at such a critical juncture, both sides knew that infighting was meaningless. Although Di Mo Er was tacitly recognized as the heir, other princes and princesses still held inheritance rights, especially the First Prince. Though he usually seemed unremarkable, his wings were well-feathered, with deep roots among both the major nobles and the military. To counter these siblings of his, Di Mo Er indeed needed the political strength brought by the Empress's faction.
An Ultimate-rank could not possibly rule the entire Northern Empire well. Until Di Mo Er achieved legendary status, he would likely face much criticism. But these were minor matters, for as long as the two legendary experts were present and expressed their support for Di Mo Er, no one in the entire empire would dare to raise any 'objections'.
Moreover, the Emperor of the Empire, Israel Diamond, was unlike previous emperors who had to abdicate due to death or declining strength. On the contrary, Israel had simply grown too strong, to the point where the position of Emperor no longer suited him.
As long as that being, gestating within the cocoon of divine power in the Boundless Heaven, had not died, nothing would deviate from the path of order.
At this moment, aside from the Three Mountains Holy City, the political center, which was somewhat restless due to the Emperor's ascension, the commoners in other provinces of the Empire, and even all the followers of the 'God of Might and Justice' across the world, felt immense joy. The former were relieved because Israel's Heaven Net system had freed them from nearly ubiquitous exploitation, and the grand celebration had exempted farmers from almost all taxes this year. The latter sensed that the 'Might Divine Arts', unique to the God of Might and Justice, were gradually returning. Although their response was somewhat different from before, at least their strength was slowly recovering.
Of course, good people could rejoice, and bad people could as well.
Because of Israel's temporary departure, various black-hearted forces, which had been intimidated by him for three or four years and dared not even breathe loudly, were beginning to show signs of resurgence. Since not much time had passed, nor had a generation been replaced, when these villains discovered that their misdeeds no longer resulted in divine fire descending from the sky to burn them to ashes, some evil began to brew again in the remote and hidden corners of the Empire.
But what awaited these people were sharp, invisible dimensional blades that struck without any warning.
"What are they thinking?"
At this moment, on the Detection Throne high above the Eastern Barter Plateau, Nostradamus held the core terminal, controlling the Heaven Net network and monitoring all abnormal events within the Empire. A black-haired warrior, accompanied by a winged girl, stood behind the old mage, listening to him complain about the stupidity of the criminals.
"Joshua, tell me, do these people have any brains? Do they think a space-time legendary mage is worse at casting spells across distances than a legendary dragon knight? Ha, I forgot, Israel doesn't ride dragons; he just keeps pets."
Saying this, Nostradamus turned his head, glanced sideways at Joshua, and muttered, "Yes, just like you. You both like to keep dragons as pets."
"Being bad doesn't necessarily mean committing crimes. They might try their hand in finance, become unscrupulous merchants or shady lawyers. Some might even try to run lotteries and gambling. In short, being bad doesn't equate to being a criminal."
In response to the old mage's slander, Joshua, standing behind the throne and watching Nostradamus precisely eliminate all the criminals, shrugged, causing No. 3, sitting on his shoulder, to wobble slightly. Joshua said calmly, "Only those who are both bad and stupid commit crimes. Also, I don't keep Black as a pet; I do ride him. Last time, I rode Black for a spin around the Western Mountains. That's a big difference between Israel and me."
"Heh, by that logic, Israel 'rides' dragons too." The old mage cracked a slightly lewd joke, causing No. 3's eyelashes to flutter slightly. Joshua pretended not to hear and quickly gave him a suggestion: "Master, I think you need to kill those criminals in a more obvious way, at least add some elemental effects. If you keep using silent, traceless dimensional slashes, they won't know it's the Heaven Net's judgment."
"Not a bad idea."
Muttering, Nostradamus thought for a moment, added some light particle effects to his dimensional slashes, and then continued his patrol of the entire Empire. Joshua, still with No. 3, watched from behind as the old mage observed each light screen.
Since ten days ago, when Israel received the information deduced by Joshua and embarked on the 'Path of Ascension', everyone knew that the world's situation would change.
Inheriting the title of 'God of Might and Justice', if Israel succeeded in his ascension, he would naturally become one of the Seven Gods of Humanity, gaining unimaginable power. Moreover, he was already a powerful legendary expert before his ascension. After becoming a god, he would quickly master his power, compensating for the loss of high-end combat power in Mycroft Civilization caused by the death of the previous God of Might, 'Xing Zheng'.
But now, Israel had not yet completed his ascension. The cocoon of divine light was pulsating in the Boundless Heaven. According to the Six Gods, this was the means of sublimation to achieve true godhood. By using the power left by the previous deity, the successor could quickly cross the boundary between 'transcendent' and 'god', mastering the power of the Great Source of the multiverse through divinity.
Of course, this 'quickly' was relative. According to the Six Gods, it would take anywhere from a few months to a year for Israel to transform from the cocoon of light into a true god. The length of time had no bearing on good or bad; it was simply a matter of luck.
"It mainly depends on when he can understand the power he has grasped."
When Joshua and other legendary experts asked the Six Gods about this, the God of Law and Freedom kindly answered their questions: "A short time doesn't mean quick mastery; a long time doesn't mean deep insight. When facing the infinite, finite time is irrelevant."
This explanation didn't go into detail. Some seemed to understand, as if they had grasped something, while others were confused but unaffected.
At that moment, Joshua's heart stirred.
He began to understand why, back then, the 'God of Love and Decay', Yue Ai, had said that he and Eagle were too strong, so they were unwilling for the two of them to become gods.
In other words, he had found another interpretation behind those words.
In reality, Yue Ai probably didn't know why she said that at the time. She likely thought that becoming a god meant protecting the beings of Mycroft World, sacrificing oneself for the entire civilization like Xing Zheng, and placing oneself in constant danger of being consumed by the Great Source... Although divine power was indeed immense, it wasn't unattainable. That's why Yue Ai didn't want Eagle and Joshua, who even without becoming gods had power comparable to gods, to jump into this constrained path.
But in Joshua's view, gods and legends had no clear distinction in rank. Especially during the Era of Radiance, gods were clearly more powerful than legends and held higher status.
Lower-ranking subordinate gods, like the River God under the Earth Mother Goddess, weren't even particularly strong among legends. But at the level of a major god, due to the powerful essence of divine power and nearly unlimited endurance, they could firmly suppress multiple ordinary legendary high-rank experts and even confront evil gods head-on.
In that era, gods were revered. Although advancing was difficult, it wasn't impossible. It was certainly not like now, where it had become a vortex that strong individuals should avoid.
To understand why was actually simple.
Because the 'First Flame' was moving away.
When Yue Ai said those words, she was probably just speaking casually. But that casual remark revealed the correct answer: divine power originated from the First Flame, an infinite force connecting the Great Source of the multiverse. Gods were powerful because of it, and naturally, they were also bound by it.
Now, knowing that the First Flame was contracting, moving away, and might even sever its connection with the World Star River, sinking into an unknown darkness, becoming a god tied to the First Flame's power was a gamble. No one knew if the First Flame would have problems, but if it did, all gods would lose their source of power and might even fall due to the destabilization of their life forms.
Legends were different. Legends transformed their life forms themselves, which could cause significant problems, such as having great power but short lifespans. But regardless, legends were rooted in the power of life itself. Even if the First Flame went out, before the multiverse fell into complete dead darkness, legends wouldn't face major issues.
In fact, extremely powerful legends could survive the dead darkness after the First Flame's extinction and the multiverse's destruction, waiting for the next cycle.
"That's thinking too far ahead."
Shaking off these thoughts, Joshua chuckled lightly, then turned his head to look down at the entire Barter Plateau.
This vast plateau, located between the Western Mountains and the Northern Empire, had largely become a massive steel base. It was the production line for void warships that Joshua had built for the Empire using Steel Force after achieving legendary status. Thanks to this, void warships had become an important means of transportation for the Northern Empire to explore the void and travel to other worlds.
A few years had passed in a flash. Guided by the data from the Unified Grand Database, even the design blueprints for void warships from the Era of Radiance, the Imperial Royal Mage Association had pushed its warship design capabilities to a high level. They didn't copy the original blueprints from the Era of Radiance but tried to analyze and deconstruct them, incorporating their advantages into warships of the Falling Stars Era that they could understand and maintain.
Originally, such high-intensity research required a large number of mages to study. But thanks to the establishment of professional academies like Winterfell Academy in recent years, a steady stream of new spellcaster researchers could now join the related work. They might not have the vast knowledge of old-school mages, but after years of hard study, they were not far behind the cutting edge in their specialized fields.
Joshua activated his Steel Force vision. He could see, underground in the Barter Plateau, experimental warships being assembled and completed in magical docks. They might not necessarily enter service, which was indeed a waste of resources. But undoubtedly, every void warship that actually operated brought a wealth of valuable data to the entire design team.
For example, research ships specifically designed for detection, capable of scanning worlds across world barriers.
For example, engineering ships specifically designed for construction, each one equivalent to an entire industrial construction team.
For example, exploration escort ships specifically designed for internal world exploration, capable of some combat in the void.
For example, auxiliary ships specifically designed to support, releasing large amounts of beneficial magical auras, replenishing void warship shields and energy, and reinforcing armor.
Many warship prototypes were undergoing experiments, such as military ships like void cruisers and destroyers, specifically designed for void combat. There were also 'Dreadnought-class battleships', equipped with the strongest firepower of existing Mycroft Civilization, each one equivalent to the combat power of an entire original fleet.
The designs of these warships differed from the concepts of the Era of Radiance. Perfecting them required either a long time or a massive investment of resources for real-ship experiments.
At this point, the importance of the Imperial Foreign Exploration Department had to be mentioned. Without the metal world discovered by various teams back then, without those high-quality alloy ores from the Black Mist, Mycroft World's resources alone could never have supported such large-scale industrial progress in the Northern Empire.
"No. 3, it seems that with our current mana technology, we can already create mobile cities as large as mountains, like your original body in the Carlis World."
Leaving the Detection Throne high in the sky, Joshua and No. 3 flew above the plateau, walking above the clouds to observe every detail of the warship production line. The warrior said with some emotion, "In ten years, we've come this far."
"Actually, Mycroft World's mana technology has already surpassed that of the Carlis World."
In response, No. 3 gently shook her head. Her eyes reflected a frigate slowly rising, heading toward the edge of the world to enter the void. She said softly, "We pooled an entire world's technology to build a few primitive void warships. We exhausted the last strength of our entire civilization to create a mobile city like me."
"And you, just one country... or even just one mage organization, can accomplish such a feat... Joshua, this can't be compared."
Joshua didn't say much in response. In truth, what he wanted to praise was the Carlis people's unwavering courage to bet their entire civilization's strength when facing destruction. Even when confronted by the minions of the Famine Evil God, and even the evil god itself, they never forgot to resist and still dared to raise their weapons.
The warrior had always admired that.
"Joshua, the Magic Net is now filled with information about void warship designs and the 'Continent of Strife'... Setting aside your civilization game, is Mycroft Civilization really planning to form a void fleet soon and head to the World Star River where the Star Shepherds originally were?"
Not continuing the topic of the Carlis World, No. 3 tilted her head in confusion and asked Joshua. Thanks to the popularity of the Continent of Strife, Joshua no longer needed No. 3's assistance to think clearly at all times. Moreover, some matters were communicated directly through mental links, and No. 3 didn't know what decisions Joshua and the other legendary experts had made.
In response to No. 3's question, Joshua nodded seriously: "Yes, we have no time to delay. To find the reason for the stagnation of the World Star River, we can't stay in one place. We must go to other star domains to truly find the cause of this anomaly."
"In fact, the reason I came here wasn't just to assist Nostradamus in activating the Heaven Net system... My true purpose here is to build a tower."
"A tower?" Hearing this, No. 3 became genuinely curious. She blinked, lowered her voice as if about to do something mischievous, and asked softly, "You... what kind of tower are you building?"
"It's not an ordinary tower."
In response, Joshua looked down from above the clouds, surveying the entire Barter Plateau. Then he raised his head, gazing at the sky that seemed to have no top. The warrior smiled, stretched out his hands, one pointing to the sky and the other to the ground. His voice rang out across the sky as he declared boldly, "The tower I'm building will pierce the clouds, penetrate the world. In the past thousand years, no structure could compare to it. In the next thousand years, everyone will be proud of it."
"Its name is Babel, No. 3. It's a 'Tower That Reaches Heaven', linking the sky and the earth, piercing through the void and the world!"