Chapter 759: Chapter 718: Ascension
"Who goes there?!"
In order to maintain his dignity and intimidate the unfamiliar intruder, Newton slammed the table and stood up to ask.
His long helmet seemed to be trembling, hinting at the force with which he had shouted.
Da Vinci took two steps forward, put his hands behind his back, and said very calmly, "I am your brother, the elder of the Holy Shield, I am Leonardo da Vinci."
Newton’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets: "That’s impossible, Leonardo has long since passed away. I personally buried him with my mentor, and I have visited his resting place many times. You couldn’t possibly be him."
Da Vinci stroked his beard, raised an eyebrow, and revealed a smile filled with meaning, "Yet, here I am, having conquered death and traveled through the time tunnel to come here."
"You must submit to our inspection... and study," the committee member next to Newton stood up and voiced his opinion.
Hearing these hostile words and seeing hundreds of suspicious eyes, Da Vinci remained unfazed.
"As you wish, but first, I must explain why I am here. I have brought a gift, offered to the Brotherhood, offered to all of humanity."
Saying this, he raised a small golden sphere in his hand, which seemed to have a life of its own as it floated in the air. Newton’s eyes widened as he watched the golden sphere hover, momentarily at a loss for words.
However, he quickly regained his composure and shouted, "Everyone leave, now!"
The people in the conference hall immediately departed, as Newton, being the supreme councilor, possessed the highest authority there.
Leonid looked at the departing crowd and then at Da Vinci. For some reason, he felt he should stay here, as if the small sphere was calling him.
"I said, everyone!" Seeing Leon still hesitating, Newton immediately stressed the command once more.
Da Vinci smiled at Leon, "It’s okay, you go ahead, wait for me by that big door."
"Alright." Leon glanced at them again, then walked out of the conference room.
Newton descended from the high platform and approached the center of the hall. He looked at the golden sphere and even poked it with his finger.
"What does this truly mean? It... what is your real identity?"
Then he uttered a long string of Ancient Egyptian, which was a maxim passed down within the Holy Shield Brotherhood.
Being a true elder of the Holy Shield, Da Vinci naturally responded fluently, answering Newton’s every inquiry with proficient Ancient Egyptian.
In the end, even Newton wore an expression of disbelief, realizing Da Vinci knew much more than he did.
"You really are him, aren’t you?"
"Yes, I am."
In the empty hall, the golden sphere continued to hover, and the mirror-like floor reflected the silhouettes of the two men.
Newton cleared his throat and calmed his emotions, "Very well, then you should know that my name is Isaac Newton, also a leader of the Holy Shield, in fact, the master of this space."
Da Vinci nodded, "Hello, Isaac, it’s nice to meet you."
Newton sighed, "After you left, everything changed; the world has been turned upside down."
"It seems things haven’t all developed in a better direction, have they?" Da Vinci replied, half-smiling, for he knew what Newton had done.
Newton obviously sensed his sarcasm and hung his head, "Master Leonardo, what exactly do you intend to do? Why have you come back?"
Da Vinci shook his head as he looked at the place familiar yet strange to him. He turned and left.
"Fulfilling my duty, Isaac. I am a brother of the Holy Shield, and I will stand up."
With those words, he left in a hurry without waiting for Newton, adorned in luxurious attire, to say anything further.
This left Newton standing in silence, his expression uncertain.
Da Vinci soon reunited with Leon. Through a mysterious passage, the two of them arrived once more on the platform, their faces illuminated clearly by the bright moonlight.
"What do you think of him?" he asked Leon.
Leonard scratched his hair; he hadn’t groomed it since being pulled out of bed by Tesla, making it even messier now.
"You mean Master Newton? We haven’t known each other long, but I think that although he’s strict, he is fair-minded."
Da Vinci sneered a bit, "Very well, then I ought to tell you, behind the Holy Shield Council Hall there is a secret passage. All you need to do is find a mark, an open eye, and follow its guidance."
Da Vinci once again donned his arrival attire, that battle armor made of metal and wood, adjusting the buttons on it.
"What will I discover?" Leon furrowed his brow; everyone seemed so secretive it was driving him mad.
"The truth." Da Vinci smiled as he fastened his helmet.
"Then where are you going now?" Leon asked once more.
Da Vinci gave a satisfied smile, "To fly beyond the horizon and become the first human to enter space."
With that, he controlled the armor to spread the leather wings from his back, then soared skyward. A golden energy enveloped him, turning into a bright light, disappearing from sight.
Leo watched as he disappeared, lingering for quite a while, ultimately driven by curiosity to check out the so-called secret passage.
After he left, two people floated up from the edge of the rooftop, Su Ming and the duo who had found nothing in Newton’s office and switched to the backup plan.
"First person to enter the cosmos? Da Vinci is treating Leonid like a baby, deceiving him." Su Ming shook his head with a smile.
"Haha, knowing too much is no good for ordinary people." Zheng Xian replied, not to mention, The Ancient One had entered the cosmos eight hundred years ago and explored the multiverse seven hundred years ago.
The power of magic is beyond the imagination of mere mortals, and judging by the tone, the second Supreme Mage beside him found entering the cosmos to be effortless as well.
Several members of the Holy Shield had reached extraterrestrial planets by other means before.
"Da Vinci is going to retrieve the Celestial God fetus." Su Ming looked up at the sky as the two landed on the platform.
"Seems you don’t plan to go." Zheng Xian remarked in a narrative tone.
The primordial alien species are relatively easy to deal with, maybe the Holy Spear won’t be needed, and Da Vinci, as a Middle Ages scientist, is definitely not a match for Deathstroke.
Perhaps just one charge would suffice to take care of the Celestial God fetus.
"No, if we’re going to make a grand entrance, we should at least wait for the deity to start wreaking havoc, otherwise the Holy Shield won’t appreciate the reinforcements."
Su Ming’s helmet retracted as they smoked on the high platform once again.
Not finding the desired treasure, then perhaps extracting compensation from the Holy Shield will do.
We need to grasp the degree of loss here, not making the Holy Shield suffer too much, nor letting it be unscathed.
If the loss is too great, Earth’s defense would weaken, resulting in a lack of cannon fodder for future events; if the loss is too small, Su Ming and Zheng Xian wouldn’t be able to extract good items, resulting in meager gains from this trip.
"Oh dear, we’re truly bad people." Zheng Xian remarked with a smile.
"Being a good person tends to be short-lived; actually, we’re just ordinary people who want to safeguard our interests." Su Ming smiled, patting Zheng Xian on the shoulder.
The two exchanged smiles, as ghostly echoes reverberated across the platform.
..........
Da Vinci was enveloped in a pale blue light, energy that protected him from the Solar gravity tugging him into the Fixed Star.
As for what this special energy was, he couldn’t say—it was acquired centuries ago when Galileo used the creation machine to defeat the Planet Devourer.
Looking like scales or a piece of skin, it now fixed on Da Vinci’s back, with a continuous flow of energy streaming from it.
So even while floating near the Sun, Da Vinci merely felt warm, experiencing no discomfort; he could even gaze directly at the shadow in the Sun, with its massive form lying quietly inside.
Having confirmed the timing, all he needed was patience to wait for the previous Celestial God to complete disintegration and for the new alien species to complete its birth.
The Sun began to fluctuate violently, ejecting prominences in all directions, which to Da Vinci nearby, these towering flame pillars resembled giant dragons.
Aside from dodging, he still kept an eye on the flames.
With the final burst of flames, the enormous Celestial God body shattered in the fiery sea, gradually sinking into the depths of the Sun, as a small figure flew towards Da Vinci.
It was an alien species emitting red light, not just because it was the offspring of the Celestial God.
It was conceived in a forbidden womb, the Celestial Gods Group banned such pregnancy-like procreation. The energy it received for growth came from the Fixed Star Solar in the Solar System, rather than a planet.
To any race, it was an alien species, meaning it would be more powerful than other Celestial Gods.
But at this moment, it was not much larger than an ordinary human baby, waving its tiny hands and feet, issuing its first cry, audible even in the cosmos, resonating in Da Vinci’s mind.
Its cry was: "1+2=3."
Da Vinci nodded, yes, this time it was correct.
Usual Celestial Gods Group thought in binary, either 0 or 1, whereas this alien species had a more human-like aspect, using decimal.
A Celestial God’s growth involved math learning, the more it understands, the larger its form, the stronger its power.
And this unique humanoid Celestial God might serve as a bridge for peaceful coexistence between humans and the Celestial Gods Group.
"2+2=4." Da Vinci taught it the next phrase.
The Celestial God then expanded as though inflating, rapidly growing from newborn size to the approximate size of a one-year-old.
After Da Vinci taught it arithmetic up to ten, it had grown larger than Da Vinci, capable of moving freely in cosmic space, with its metallic body aglow with red energy conduits and three red eyes fully illuminated.
The Celestial Gods Group’s energy flowed within it, extremely potent.
Luckily, it was very docile, like a child, obediently following Da Vinci.
"Let’s go back to Earth."
The Celestial God, glowing ominously red, obediently followed him, smoothly flying towards Earth.
