Chapter 245: Chapter 233: Enemies Meet
When Alevia finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the Magic Potion Room.
She lowered her head, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the rim of the teacup. The hot tea inside had long gone cold.
"A thirty percent casualty rate..."
She repeated under her breath, her voice tinged with an undeniable weariness.
"This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that number. But this time... I spent three whole months looking through the archives."
Ian didn’t rush her, simply watching her in silence.
Alevia raised her head, her golden eyelashes trembling slightly in the light.
"Every time the Endless Sea ruins open, at least three to four hundred Wizards go in. The ones who come out alive... two hundred at most.
The vast majority are Liquidation Wizards. Occasionally, even Crystalized Wizards perish in there. And among those who die..."
She paused for a moment, as if she needed to gather her courage to finish.
"According to the records, many of them die at the hands of their ’companions.’"
Ian’s pupils contracted slightly.
"The Space Rule inside the ruins is distorted."
Alevia’s voice grew lower and lower as she slowly recounted the information about the ruins.
"Teleportation, folding, random splitting... teams are easily separated. And when resources, Inheritances, and treasures are laid out before you..."
She didn’t continue.
But Ian already understood.
Trust between Wizards was already a rare commodity.
In that kind of isolated, desperate situation with bizarre rules, human greed and fear are infinitely amplified.
"I still have too much to do."
Alevia finally stated her real reason. She gave a wry smile, a flicker of struggle in her eyes.
"The Magic Potion Department’s research has just entered a critical phase, and the projects the Tower Master assigned me... I can’t take the risk."
She looked at Ian, her deep blue eyes filled with complex emotions.
"Do you think I’m a coward?"
Ian shook his head.
"Everyone has their own reasons for needing to survive," he said calmly.
Choosing to stay requires courage, and so does choosing to press forward.
It’s just a difference in the direction of that courage.
Alevia was taken aback for a moment, then she smiled, relieved.
She stood up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the night view of the towering High Towers.
"Herman is leading the team this time," she said, her back to Ian.
"He’s the most talented Crystalized Wizard in the Magic Potion Department, and his Space Witchcraft is also quite formidable. He gained a lot of benefits after returning alive from the ruins last time. You’ve worked with him before, so you should know his personality."
Ian recalled the gray-haired, strict Elder Wizard.
He and Herman had exchanged several batches of Magic Potion Materials and Starlight Potions. They had collaborated many times; while they weren’t close, they were at least familiar with each other.
In the Wizard World, such a level of "familiarity" was already a rarity.
"Besides you and Herman, there are six Level One Liquidation Wizards on the team."
Alevia turned around, her expression returning to its usual calm.
"They are all elites among the High Tower’s Level One Wizards, with extremely strong Wills and their own agendas.
Herman can lead the team because he’s the strongest and most experienced, but once inside the ruins..."
She paused, her voice dropping even lower.
"They aren’t going to the ruins to ’complete a High Tower mission,’ but to find an opportunity to break through to Level Two.
The moment they encounter a true opportunity, the so-called ’teammate’ relationship becomes as fragile as paper."
Ian nodded. This was the norm in the Wizard World.
「One month later. The eastern Endless Sea, on the outskirts of the Broken Islands.」
The Shadow Moon cut through the gray-blue waves, slowly sailing into a new region of the sea.
It was a hundred-meter-long Wizard Airship, silvery-gray all over, its hull engraved with Rune Arrays of crescent moons and stars.
The bow was sharply streamlined, with six pairs of huge Metal wings unfolding from its sides. A faint blue Energy glow shimmered on the wings.
Those were the marks of Compound Witchcraft combining the Wind Element and the Space System, allowing the ship to sail steadily through the harsh environment of the Endless Sea.
On the deck, Ian leaned against the railing, the salty sea wind rushing to meet him. He gazed ahead at dozens of islands, large and small, that formed a ring-shaped sea.
They had been sailing for a month.
They had departed from the East Coast of the Anoroya Continent and passed through the dangerous sea region known as the "Storm Corridor."
That place was perpetually shrouded in violent thunderstorms, and spatial turbulence, like invisible knives, could tear any intruder to shreds.
Relying on its hull’s powerful Defense Array and Herman’s precise navigation, the Shadow Moon managed to pass through the Death Sea Region.
The price was... dozens of deep gashes on both sides of the hull.
The third wing on the port side was severely damaged, and cracks had appeared in the auxiliary power core at the stern.
But they had finally arrived.
"That is Longgu Port."
Herman’s voice sounded from behind him.
Ian looked in the direction he was pointing.
In the center of the ring-shaped sea, on the largest island, stood a massive port.
To call it a "port" was an understatement; it was more like a multi-leveled city built on the island’s edge.
The port’s main structure was built from some kind of deep blue, coral-like material, its surface flowing with the faint golden light of Runes.
Countless piers extended from the port in all directions, connecting to dozens of Wizard Airships and Alchemy Ships of all sizes.
There were even a few enormous marine creatures—the tamed Sea Beast mounts of the Tide Association.
Above the port floated three huge Crystal Balls, each over a hundred meters in diameter.
The one in the very center was a silver-white Crystal Ball engraved with a Silver-White Ring—the Badge of the Silver Ring.
One was deep blue, with a pattern of swirling waves on its surface—the symbol of the Tide Association.
The other was pale cyan, with wind and lightning intertwined within it—the mark of the Storm Hall.
The three Crystal Balls emitted a soft pulse of Energy, collectively maintaining the Defense Barrier above the port.
Comments