Above The Sky
Chapter 184 - 184 173 Over-the-top Terra Continent 23

184: 173 Over-the-top Terra Continent (2/3) 184: 173 Over-the-top Terra Continent (2/3) After all, six years had passed since his transmigration, and Ian no longer marveled at the relics of pre-civilization eras that dotted the Terra Continent with their varying artistic styles.

Not to mention anything else, the ‘Aether Armaments’ of Viscount Grant alone were enough to make anyone who thought this place was just a world of swords and magic with alchemy and inscriptions abandon their preconceptions.

One should know, according to the bit of information revealed by Viscount Grant himself, the core military power of the Tara Confederation was not, as Ian had imagined, a force of modern firearms, nor behemoth cavalry or iron tanks.

The core military power of the nations was named ‘Armor Suit’, a colossal construct!

To put it simply, they are full-coverage exoskeleton armors, miniature mechanical battle gear.

The Armor Suits of the First and Second Energy Levels, named ‘Alchemical Armor Suits’, were listed among the core knights of the Grand Knight Orders and the core units such as the imperial guard; in ordinary legions, only high-ranking officers might possess an Armor Suit as a reward for their service.

The Armor Suits of the Third and Fourth Energy Levels, named ‘Aether Armaments’, were exclusive to the great noble families and a symbol of honor; possessing ‘Aether Armaments’ proved that a family had once been glorious, a meritorious clan with ancient honor, ranking just below the Imperial Capital’s nobility in the hierarchy of disdain among the nobles, fortunate enough not to be considered complete bumpkins.

The reason Viscount Grant could negotiate with the Ellen Family on an almost equal footing and truly receive assistance was not only because he indeed had a relationship with Patrick but also because the Grant Family was also forged on the blood-drenched battlefields north of Mist Port, a foundational stone of the Empire.

It was a pity, though, that ‘Aether Armaments: Conquest Ripple’ had declined to the peak of the Second Energy Level due to long years of disrepair, weapon module damage, and a core reactor that had been severely damaged once; otherwise, with Viscount Grant’s strength not inferior to his father’s, he would have been able to charge through the entire Great Redwood Forest Zone with his Aether Armaments, considering the now-dwindled power of the Southern Ridge Natives.

This was also why Viscount Grant was resolute in nurturing their own Alchemic Inscription Master in Harrison Port.

Without going into details, as long as that Alchemic Inscription Master could repair even just a small part of Conquest Ripple, he would have the capital to suppress the entirety of South Ridge.

As for the ‘Apocalypse Armament’ of the Fifth Energy Level and the ‘Ancient Silent Divine Items’ that are not included in the comparison category…

Those are divine artifacts and strange treasures that allow high-ranking Sublimators to fight against the armies of great nations single-handedly; they are the foundation for establishing a great power.

For the time being, the young man could not guess what those things were, but surely they could not be some kind of ultimate battle machines or strategic level destructive weapons, right?

Hahaha…

Haha…

Ha…

It was indeed possible.

Ian never dared to underestimate the ridiculousness of the Terra Continent.

In short, because Harrison Port was remote, it was unable to display the full extent of the Terra Continent, a fact Ian was well aware of; hence, he knew that even though the foundation for changing the world in the future might lie in Harrison Port, that natural fortress port with its exceptional geographical advantages, he would still find an opportunity to go out on an adventure and witness everything this world had to offer.

However, looking at it now, this place was truly worthy of being the location Emperor Inaga had specifically instructed his confidants to develop as a new district port.

Pre-civilization ruins abound here.

“It’s a high-voltage electric energy wireless transmission tower.”

By slightly reducing the output of his ‘Fairy Wings’, Ian managed to ‘stand’ in the deep sea, approximately a kilometer deep, using his high-density ‘Sand Armor Apprentice’ physique, and then reached out to touch the surface of these towering stone trees.

He frowned, “But why?

Wireless power transmission loses a lot through dissipation; it might be worthwhile in space.”

“But if it’s in space, why use wireless transmission at all, instead of direct high-energy laser transmission?”

Wireless power transmission is feasible, but attenuation becomes severe with distance, leading to staggering losses that make it practically useless within the atmosphere of a planet.

But then…

Ian lifted his head, looking at the dense stone forest in front of him; the thousands of wireless transmission towers made little sense to him, especially their being built in such a densely packed manner in a coastal area…

it was meaningless!

No, that’s not right.

Perhaps they were not built…

but rather stored here.

Suddenly, Ian had a thought.

—Harrison Port is located in the tropical coastal region, very close to the equator.

—There lies an exceedingly large cluster of pre-civilization relics in the area, so important that even after decades Hiliard still remembered and would periodically return to check for anomalies.

—The great storms of the Southern Sea are suspected to have been caused by the abnormal dissipation of heat from the energy supply system of the relic cluster; his teacher had once said that there lies a secret to ‘Above the Sky’.

All these clues led Ian to a very probable answer.

“Could it be…

the essence of the South Sea Relic Cluster…

is an Equatorial Orbital Accelerator, or perhaps an Orbital Space Elevator?”

With that said, everything had an explanation.

Ian was well aware that whether it was the orbital accelerator or the orbital space elevator, both required a colossal amount of energy to operate continuously, and even a group of supergiant nuclear fusion power stations were not enough to supply the necessary energy.

The ocean contained an abundance of nuclear fusion fuel and naturally served as a cooling repository; surely the pre-civilization of old took all aspects into consideration before situating these facilities in this location.

And these wireless energy transmission towers before him…

Just as he had suspected—these were things that would only be useful in space.

The pre-civilization of that era probably had already begun constructing large-scale space facilities!

However, since they hadn’t completed the space industry hub, they still needed to rely on the orbital accelerator and space elevator to transport these high-precision industrial products from the planet to assemble them in space orbit.

The seabed forest of rock formations before him…these were space facility parts that had not yet been transported to the heavens before they were buried in the deep sea by the Calamity of Heavenly Fall.

An incomplete dream.

Upon realizing this, Ian couldn’t help but sigh.

No matter if the great storm was a ‘natural disaster’ caused by the orbital accelerator’s power unit overheating or not, he would still consider this possibility—even if the recent monster anomalies were actually due to a high concentration of leaked nuclear fuel…

That would be all too reasonable.jpg

“What about that fish from before?”

After organizing his thoughts and recording his speculations, Ian looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

He spotted the nest of the magical fish beneath one of the stone trees.

This stone tree had already toppled and shattered, its metal construction from over a thousand years ago having long decayed beyond recognition.

A large fish had piled it up into a nest that resembled a lid, coiling within it, lying silently in wait.

In his Foresight View, the nest of this magical fish also surprisingly contained a Spirit Energy Field.

Furthermore…

“It’s very similar to the Spirit Energy Field at Sigh Cliff—no, it’s exactly the same.”

Ian narrowed his eyes and looked up into the pitch-black deep sea, towards the direction of Sigh Cliff, which was theoretically not far above his head: “Could it be that Sigh Cliff is actually connected to the seabed here?

That being the case…

the peculiar ability of Sigh Cliff to attract lightning might also be a manifestation of relics from the pre-civilization era.”

“No wonder such an electrically charged magical fish could be bred here.”

Having figured out both the origin of the magical fish nest and the seabed forest of stone trees, Ian allowed himself to relax.

The day’s testing of the Fairy Wings and the Demi-Magic Potion could be deemed a complete success, even far exceeding expectations.

Theoretically, it would be perfectly reasonable for Ian to return right then and there.

But since he was already here, he definitely needed to take something back with him.

“I’ve seen quite a few Magical Beasts just now.

Even if I don’t catch the magical fish, catching a few familiar faces should be no problem.”

Thinking this, Ian activated the Fairy Wings and propelled the currents as he began to patrol the surrounding deep sea.

The Pure Rock Crystal Bone could break down water into oxygen and hydrogen, providing Ian with oxygen.

However, he wasn’t a Reef-eater Otter; without an air sac inside his body, he couldn’t quickly surface like an otter, and the consumption of Origin Quality was somewhat significant.

At this point, having activated the Fairy Wings and the Crystal Bone, Ian had depleted a third of his body’s Origin Quality…

If he wanted to preserve enough energy to fight at full strength, he would have to return to shore in twenty minutes to eat and rest.

However, the Origin Quality that Ian had stored in the Ancient Dragon Heart Core over the past four years ensured that in a critical moment, he would have a cruising time more than ten times that of an ordinary individual at the First Energy Level.

So he wasn’t in a particular hurry.

With Foresight View, locating hidden Magical Beasts and treasures among the gravel, reefs, and the deep sea was quite straightforward for Ian.

Before long, he found a huge ‘rock’ in a hollow.

Though it was called a rock, from its curvature it was clear that it was an enormous Giant Clam, larger than half a person.