Chapter 647: Chapter 16: Log

“Sky City…” Lynch murmured, repeating the name, the excitement in his heart spreading like ripples.

This legendary ancient wizard civilization, known for mastering pinnacle alchemy and as famous as Acadia! This flying aircraft, it actually came from that glorious civilization long lost to the dust of history!

The enormous hatch seemed to be the last barrier to the hidden treasures of the lost civilization. Lynch took a deep breath, suppressing his surging thoughts, his gray eyes becoming intensely focused.

He approached the hatch, his fingers quickly brushing over metallic patterns and array nodes that seemed disorderly but actually contained profound rules. His deep foundation in rune knowledge was fully displayed at this moment, his spiritual power as precise as the finest probe, analyzing the ancient defense system left by this door.

“The energy core has long been depleted… the protective array’s active defense mechanism is offline, leaving only the structural magic lock…”

Lynch whispered, his fingertips lighting up with a faint gray-white glow, the power of decay controlled with exquisite finesse, like the most nimble key, accurately eroding the magic connection points between several key rune nodes. At the same time, his powerful spiritual power simulated specific magic fluctuations characteristic of Sky City’s creations, injecting them into the lock’s recognition core.

“Click… hum…”

A muffled sound of mechanisms turning came from inside the heavy hatch, accompanied by the low hum of an ancient magic array being forcibly “unlocked.”

The large wheel lock covered in moss slowly rotated several turns on its own, followed by a “hiss” as the seal released pressure, the edge of the hatch glowing with a dim circle of magic patterns about to extinguish.

The heavy alloy door slid inward slowly with a screeching metal friction sound, opening a gap wide enough for two people to pass through shoulder to shoulder.

An odor even more decayed than the passageway, tinged with metallic rust and some peculiar energy remnants, swept over them.

Lynch and Kong exchanged a glance, seeing the anticipation in each other’s eyes.

Kong tightened his grip on the Cross Sword, while Lynch’s body surface was enveloped in the shifting glow of three domains, ready to respond to any sudden changes. The two of them sidled cautiously into this core chamber forgotten by time.

What came into view was a massive circular space, far more spacious than expected. The cabin walls, streamlined with silvery alloy, were covered with a dense web of rune carvings and energy conduit interfaces, most of which were dimmed and even broken and damaged.

In the center was a slightly sunken command platform, surrounded by several dust-covered and cracked crystal control interfaces. The dome was severely damaged, exposing tangled vine roots and rocks outside, with faint sunlight slipping through the cracks, barely illuminating the sealed place.

Scattered on the ground were more fully scrapped and deformed debris of instruments and broken pipes. The entire control room was like the heart of a giant that had stopped beating after a fatal blow.

Lynch’s sharp gaze swept around, quickly drawn to a relatively intact crystal sphere half-embedded in the central command console.

The crystal sphere, about half a meter in diameter, was made of translucent material, with faintly stardust-like light spots flowing slowly inside, not concealing its extraordinary nature even when covered in dust.

“There’s an energy reaction, very weak, but very pure.”

Lynch approached the console, carefully wiping the dust off the crystal sphere. He attempted to inject a wisp of pure spiritual power into several specific rune nodes at the base of the crystal sphere, following an activation sequence common in ancient alchemy.

Hum…

The stardust light points within the crystal sphere suddenly brightened! The gentle glow was like an awakening galaxy, instantly filling the entire sphere.

Then, a bright but not dazzling beam of light was projected from the top of the crystal sphere, weaving a clear and stable three-dimensional magic image with a pale blue aura in the center of the control room air –

It was an interface made up of ancient universal characters and magic symbols.

“It seems to be… this flying aircraft’s voyage logs?!” Kong’s eyes lit up as he moved closer.

Lynch focused his mind, beginning to read these records spanning the long passage of time:

…

[Log One: Mission briefing confirmed. “Star Dust Messenger” has departed Navest main city as per highest directive, entering secondary spatial channel. Target: land regions “Red Ridge,” “Ghost Valley,” “Magic Energy Research Institute” – three secret research facilities.]

[Mission: Fully receive and seal all derivative mechanics of the “Wise Man’s Stone,” energy field resonance models, and non-standard configuration experimental data. All physical samples are sealed in deep space folds within the research facility, carrying back only encrypted knowledge crystal cores.]

[Instruction priority: Highest. Time window: Urgent. Unstable spatial ripples from aftermath of Acadia war detected in main city peripheral airspace.]

[Council of Elders resolution: Upon completion of this containment task, Navest will initiate the “Curtain Protocol,” completely cutting off all unnecessary spatial anchors with the main material realm, entering deep phase concealment state. All outbound units must return by the end of Flaming Sun Month.]

…

[Log Two: “Red Ridge” research facility data recovery complete. Encountered a small group of wandering void aberrations, cleared by the accompanying “Destroyer” squad.]

[The spatial environment is continuously deteriorating, secondary channel stability down by 7%. Communication with “Ghost Valley” research facility is interrupted, the last contact signal indicates it suffered an unidentified energy impact, severely damaging the facility’s structure.]

[Adjusting course, prioritizing heading to “Magic Energy Research Institute.” Study of the Wise Man’s Stone… too dangerous. Independent explorations by each research institute point to uncontrollable energy fission, hopefully, the data we bring back can help the main city find a safe path. May the Sky Wall protect us.]

…

[Log Three: “Magic Energy Research Institute” data recovery complete. The head of the facility reported they are attempting a radical ’Wise Man’s Stone structure,’ which seemed to trigger some kind of resonance during creation, pointing to unknowns, needing further investigation.]

[After communication, it was decided the Magic Energy Research Institute would not evacuate temporarily, opting for closed mode, with all personnel continuing research to find the reason for the resonance and report to the Odyssey Wheel.]

[Last spatial communication confirmation with Navest, the “Curtain Protocol” will forcefully initiate in ten days! We must find a stable space node for transition! Coordinates will be recalculated…]

…

[Log Four: Warning! High-energy lock detected! Unknown source! Non-Acadia energy characteristics!]

[Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Shield suffering intense… boom!… energy readings off the charts!… port propulsion array damaged!… spatial anchor interfered with… unable to transition!… Destroyer squad fully deployed to intercept… the target…]

[What is the target? Shadows? Pure… darkness?… It’s consuming energy!… Main shield overloaded… collapse!… Structure… broken!… Falling… we are… falling toward… unknown Floating Island… coordinates… lost… core cabin… emergency initiation of protective arrays…]

[… May… knowledge… be… preserved…]

…

The last record’s image flickered violently, twisted, accompanied by harsh alarm sounds and terrifying noise of structural tearing simulations, ultimately ending in a “zzzz” and dissolving into chaos and static before completely dimming. Thıs text ıs hosted at nοvelfire.net

The light within the crystal sphere quickly converged, returning to its initial weak state of stardust flow.

The control room was deathly silent, only their slightly heavy breathing audible. The air was permeated with a despair and gripping urgency from millennia ago.

“The aftermath of Acadia’s war… the research of the Wise Man’s Stone… channel closure and concealment… ultimately suffered an unknown attack…” Kong slowly exhaled, gray eyes flickering with complex emotions:

“This is the truth of their fall. An airship of Sky City carrying its final mission, ultimately perishing here.”

Lynch’s expression was much calmer than hers, but there was still an irrepressible joy on his face.

In this series of voyage logs, he keenly captured one word:

Wise Man’s Stone!

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