This was the most classified and most important location of the Castle in the Sky– the Mystic Realm of Machines.
Today was yet another ordinary day within the Mystic Realm.
A dozen adepts in silver robes crossed through this sea of runic machinery under the protection of a curtain of silver light. A silver emblem was pinned to their chests. These were the senate members of the Silver Union. These were the people with the most enviable status and authority in the Castle in the Sky.
However, even these men were nothing more than tireless gardeners and workers when they were here in the hall.
All lifeforms without the protection of Esoteric Talismans would die within this mysterious space. The assembled flood of grinding gears was enough to crush anyone into meat paste, and the energy storms released from the suddenly disassembling constructs could vaporize any adept that went too close.
The entire Castle in the Sky was a massive energy collector. A tremendous amount of magical energy was gathered daily and inserted into this mysterious space, providing it with an endless stream of energy. In return, the mysterious space provided the Silver Union with numerous powerful runic machines.
Every day, some silver-robed adepts would enter the mysterious space and unfurl a runic scroll within the endless sea of runic machinery. This would usually be a scroll that contained the endless blood and sweat of esoteric adepts past and present.
When the silver light engulfed the entire space, countless gears, bearings, grinding wheels, dowels, springs, pipes… and many more strange components of all shapes and sizes were drawn towards the scroll, like bees to nectar. They hovered above the scroll, assembling themselves according to the laws inscribed within the scroll.
There was no need for any external force. Just a golem scroll with complete laws and a self-consistent system caused the parts to automatically assemble into an elegant and powerful silver golem construct. The power of the laws would further enhance the silver golem, allowing it to possess extremely high combat intelligence upon creation. It would be able to perform all sorts of difficult actions as long as they were inscribed upon the runic arrays within their bodies.
As long as the power of the laws within the scroll did not conflict with it, the silver golem would be able to sustain itself indefinitely. A slight inconsistency within the systems and laws would cause the golem-construct to break into thousands of pieces, returning to its base components.
The silver-robed adepts were responsible for recording the construction process of the golem, as well as the process of its disassembly. These records were then handed over to the esoteric adepts to correct and fix the mistakes within the scrolls. It was through such a method that the esoteric adepts were able to continuously go through trial and error, ceaselessly improving upon the golem-construct until it reached their desired standards.
Then they would hand over the blueprints to the golem factory and have them mass manufacture the final product. This allowed them to save on the expensive and lengthy trial process of golem research.
Of course, the Mystic Realm saved them a lot of resources and time in designing new golems. Still, how easy could it be to design a mature and powerful construct golem from scratch?
There were over ten thousand esoteric adepts in the Castle in the Sky, but less than one in ten of them had the right to wear the silver robe. The numbers of senate members were even fewer, with only one in a thousand esoteric adepts being able to attain that rank. Less than ten people held the highest rank, which gave them the right to access the Mystic Realm of Machines and engage it for research.
Every single one of them was a Senate elder, and every single one of them had tremendous authority and influence within the entire Silver Union.
The Silver Union had split their members into five ranks based on the authority they held within the organization. The lowest ranked were the ordinary silver-robed esoteric adepts. These were often the First Grade adepts, and they functioned as the base of the organization. They too had some privileges while they stayed in the Castle in the Sky.
Above the silver-robed adepts were the silver-robed executors. These executors were the more powerful Second Grade esoteric adepts and were responsible for the security of the Castle in the Sky. They had partial authority over the Aerial Guards. The executor headquarters was located in the nests above the Castle in the Sky. That place was also the where the Aerial Guards were stationed.
If the ordinary silver-robes were the citizens of the city, the silver-robed executors were the police. The Aerial Guard was a golem-construct army under the control of the silver-robed executors.
Above the silver-robed executors were the Third Grade silver-robed senate members!
Most of these senate members were esoteric masters themselves. They were the core members of the Silver Union that drove its progress forward. They were the ones that managed most of the Silver Union’s daily errands as they discussed the issues to be resolved, in the Senate Hall.
Even higher than the Senate members were the Fourth Grade Senate-Head and senate elders.
The Silver Union currently possessed one senate-head, one vice senate-head, and seven Senate elders.
These nine people were the core combat strength of the Silver Union. These nine people guaranteed the Silver Union its status as one of the three major organizations on the Continent of Adepts. Their existence was what ensured the tens of thousands of years of prosperity for the Silver Union.
The Silver Union always made sure that there were at least nine Fourth-Grade esoteric adepts within the organization. If someone died because of old age or unexpected factors, the Union would try their very best to fill the gaps as soon as possible.
Thus, the nine Fourth-Grade adepts would always appear as the most powerful force that the Silver Union had, and no one knew whether they were hiding some of their strength. The true prowess of the Silver Union would always remain a mystery to outsiders!
The only ones the adepts ever talked to were their powerful and loyal golems. After all, they devoted their entire lives to the laboratory. This caused them to develop lawful and orderly personalities. Consequently, many outsider adepts found the Silver Union to be a fantastical, powerful, and strict organization after they visited the Castle in the Sky.
The Castle in the Sky had also become a massive stage for all types of magical golems. This was because nearly sixty or seventy percent of all esoteric adepts on the Continent were gathered in the Silver Union. Until now, the greatest mystery, and the one thing that all adepts were most curious about was the number of powerful magical golems the Silver Union had stored in their reserves!
Though the Union sold plenty of golems to the adept clans for the purposes of war, they kept even more of the manufactured golems for themselves. No one knew the specific number of golems the Union hid, but everyone knew it was an unbelievably huge number.
The unusual sound of alarms rang out within the Space Monitoring Committee, located within the Executor Headquarters in the Central Circle.
"Warning. Warning. Unusual spatial flux detected. Initial estimates suggest spatial anomaly to be a small otherworldly wormhole. The target area is being determined"
"Target area has been determined. Origin of space flux located in Outer Circle, Twelfth District,167 Champs Élysées Street. Records indicate the location to be managed by the Byron Clan of Dagon, Zhentarim… "
"Aerial Guard Squad 935 is on its way. Requesting silver-robed executors to head over to the area as reinforcement… "
Chapter 293
Greem was woken out of his sleep by the commotion.
He could hear anxious door knocking sounds clearly, even in his bedroom. Not even simple magical defenses were able to keep the commotion out.
Greem curiously removed the defenses and opened the door, only to be greeted with a shocking sight.
The land owned by the Byron Clan was split into two parts. The part facing the street outside functioned as a shop, while the other
part was the storehouse and lodgings. Yet, at this moment, the skies above the clan outpost had been obscured by a gigantic black shadow.
A floating ship shaped like a whale hovered high the air. One after another, several massive shapes leaped from the ship, their heavy bodies smashing craters into the ground as they landed.
Amid the sound of grinding gears, the four-meter-tall metallic golems rose from the craters. A fearsome red light shone from the magical gems in their metallic eyes.
There were humanoid golems, spider golems, as well as spherical constructs hovering over the ground, with a dozen metallic appendages extending from inside their bodies…
"Aerial Guard Squad 935 will place this area under lockdown under orders. No individual is allowed to enter or exit at will. Everyone is to wait silently for the executors' investigation to conclude! All who disobey will be killed without exception… "
The metallic golems spoke with their emotionless mechanical voices. They quickly moved and sealed all the entrances and exits to the Byron outpost.
Once twenty-nine of these First Grade metallic golems had completely secured the perimeter, an even more intimidating War Statue flew down upon a hovering disc.
This was a fearsome animated statue of war. It’s humanoid body stood ten meters tall. Colorful patterns covered its entire body, giving its every action a terrifying aura of might. It gripped a metallic ax in its hand. The blade was so large that it was almost comical; just the axeblade alone would be enough to form the gate of any other city.
The earth quaked with every step the war statue took. Everyone who watched it move was certain that if it went berserk, it could tear down the entire outpost in less than a couple of minutes.
As the Byron outpost’s authority figure in the Castle in the Sky, Lady Nunnally was already present at the first sign of commotion. Unfortunately, her status as a Second Grade adept was not enough to intimidate anyone present! Just those war statues alone had power rivaling the Second Grade.
Moreover, this was the headquarters of the Silver Union. All the war golems and puppet-constructs within the Castle in the Sky were enhanced by magic while they were here. Even a Second Grade elementium adept would have a hard time taking down a golem of the same Grade as themselves.
Not to mention the fact that retaliation was a suicidal act in and of itself. Anyone that dared to raise a finger against the Aerial Guards would be poking a massive hornet's nest. In less than a couple of minutes, all of the war fortresses hovering in the sky would descend upon the intruders. The small clan outpost would be flooded by the tide of terrifying golems that came afterward.
This was why Lady Nunnally didn't dare expel the Aerial Guards. The only thing she could do was protest it as loudly as she could and argue against the intruders.
"Please wait here patiently. A silver-robed executor will soon be here to explain the situation. Please have all your personnel cease all suspicious activities before that."
The war statue ignored Nunnally's protests and spat out a warning in the process. Red light projected from the red-gemmed compound eye embedded in its head. In a single instant, the statue had done a complete scan of the entire outpost.
The war statue seemed to have discovered something when it scanned in a certain direction. The red light started to flash rapidly. The crimson light that had been scattered in every direction started to gather and slowly focus on the room next to Greem's.
Greem stood behind the door of his room. His mind fell into turmoil when he saw the war statue's detection rays converging on Snorlax's room.
Goddammit. What is that idiot doing? To even have the infamous Aerial Guards come after him! Don't drag me down with your suicidal acts!
Greem cursed furiously in his heart as he silently called upon Snorlax, using the mental link established from their contract. The connection was almost instant since they were practically next to each other. Snorlax hadn't set up any magical barriers in his room either.
"You stupid goblin. What did you do this time? Do you know what you've done? The city guards of the Castle in the Sky have come for you. Quick. Tell me. What did you do?" Greem couldn't help but start cursing at Snorlax the moment the mental link was established.
"Master, I… " Snorlax cowered in fear as he spoke, "I exchanged some good stuff with a guy from the Goblin Empire's plane using the mechanical heart you gave me. I was just about to report to you… "
"Forget the bloody report! We can celebrate after. Just think of some way to get these Aerial Guards off our lawn!" Greem scolded again, "Oh right. What method do the two of you use to communicate?"
"Master, this is how it is… "
Snorlax didn't dare hide anything with danger knocking right on their doors. He told Greem everything about his contact with Gazlowe.
Greem immediately fell deep into thought after Snorlax explained what had happened.
What should he do now? Give Snorlax over? If he handed Snorlax over to the authorities, the communications between the Goblin Empire would end right there. If any major force got their hands on that Transportation Tool, they could make a huge fuss out of the issue.
A plane of goblins? This was an opportunity for the adepts! It was another lesser-plane that they could rob and exploit to their desire! Countless metal and mineral reserves, large numbers of skilled slaves with knowledge of mechanical construction, and an unimaginable amount of unknown resources… any single one of these factors was enough to spur the rise of a clan. It would be a waste to let such a treasure slip through his fingers!
But how was he supposed to explain that spatial transfer if he didn't hand Snorlax and the Transportation Tool over?
After several seconds of thought, Greem quickly made up his mind. He had made a decision.
Just then, the space above the outpost tremored. A stable portal slowly opened in the middle of the air and three silver-robed executors proudly walked out from within.
"Lady Nunnally! Very nice. With you present today, we can solve this problem without a hitch!" The male executor in the lead was wearing a silver headband on his head. Magical runes had been carved all over the accessory. It was clear that this person knew Nunnally.
The three silver-robed executors, one female and two male, were all First Grade adepts.
Usually, in the World of Adepts, power was the only thing that demanded respect. These three adepts would usually have to bow down cautiously before the might of the Second Grade Nunnally. However, this was the Silver Union's territory. A Second Grade adept like Nunnally couldn't do as she wanted here. In fact, she had to negotiate peacefully with this bunch of intruders.
"Sir Randolph! I was wondering why you made a sudden visit to my clan's outpost… " Adept Nunnally had stayed in the Castle in the Sky for a long time, after all. Moreover, she was still a Second Grade adept! Even these silver-robed executors didn't dare to offend a Second Grade adept without good reason.
"Lady Nunnally, you might not be aware, but we detected a spatial wormhole in your clan outpost earlier. That's why… " Randolph put on a courteous and superficial smile as he explained.
"What did you say? A spatial transfer or a spatial wormhole?" Nunnally frowned. She couldn't believe her ears.
A spatial transfer meant that a small Transfer Array had been hidden in the outpost and had been used for long-distance transfers within the plane. This was forbidden in the Castle in the Sky!
However, if it was a spatial wormhole, this meant that someone had broken the planar barrier of the World of Adepts and was trying to contact another plane! This was… even though plenty of adept clans did such a thing, most of these contact points existed within their own adept’s tower in order to prevent outsiders from detecting spatial abnormalities.
Which adept would be foolish enough to try that in the Castle in the Sky? Even though the World of Adepts did not fear an invasion from another plane, opening a spatial wormhole in the heartland of the Silver Union was far too reckless!
Nunnally was c
ompletely caught up in the confusion. Just then, Greem shouted out awkwardly, "Lady Nunnally, this… might be a misunderstanding!"
Everyone's gaze shifted to Greem.
"A misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding?" Randolph narrowed his eyes and let out a cold laugh, "Lady Nunnally, this is a fresh face! Is he a newly advanced adept from your clan?"
Honestly, Greem's powers were still lacking. Anyone could see that he was a newly advanced adept. Consequently, it was hard for him to earn the respect of anyone with just a glance.
"Our clan hired him for the esoteric duels. His name is Greem, and he has a fairly powerful elementium golem under his control!" Adept Nunnally gave a simple explanation, then turned and frowned at Greem, "Greem, what did you mean by this being a misunderstanding?"
"I mean to say that if you are here because of the spatial abnormality earlier, I'll have to confess. I was the cause!" Greem answered firmly.
"A newly advanced adept like you can open a spatial wormhole and access another plane? Ha… "
Randolph raised his head. He was right about to laugh and ridicule the bizarre suggestion, but his jaw stopped when he saw what Greem held in his hand.
"A spacestone!"
Chapter 294
What was a spacestone?
Most adepts would never be able to lay their eyes upon the true appearance of the legendary spacestone!
Most books that described the spacestone only contained a simple description of its importance as the core material of interplanar, ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays.
This description wasn't incorrect, but it wasn't entirely accurate either.
The construction of an interplanar teleportation array was still possible without a spacestone. However, an adept’s tower would have to serve as a spatial coordinate for the spatial transfer. A large number of magical crystals would have to be exhausted during every transfer as well.
All of this meant that an interplanar teleportation array without a spacestone consumed a large amount of money and resources. There was also a long period of time before the infrastructure was built.
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