Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1568 - 1129: I Like You

Chapter 1568: Chapter 1129: I Like You

With Anthony personally paving the way, the entire mission was carried out exceptionally smoothly. In just one meeting, Tianya transformed from an unknown rookie dean into one of the six nominees qualified to make nominations in the Astrologers’ Alliance.

Of course, for now, the narrative is that these nominations are merely for some additional resources. But if this happens a few more times and becomes customary, who would still remember how Tianya’s qualification originally came about?

Arriving at the Sea of Omniscience, Roger and his group, like hill-dwelling cave men entering a city, couldn’t close their mouths in awe. A newly constructed Mage Tower stood tall on a barren island amidst the sea.

Due to the terrain, the Sea of Omniscience’s surface was covered by a thin layer of air, lacking an atmosphere or Plane Barrier. Looking outward revealed a star-filled Void, pitch black and pure—a perfect place for stargazing.

The Astrologers’ Alliance had many magicians who traversed great distances to establish stargazing outposts in harsh Abyss Dimensions.

However, it was incredibly challenging to build large Astrology Towers in Abyss Dimensions. Not only were the environments inhospitable, but the facilities were also incomplete—bathrooms were improvised, and resources were scarce—making them far from comfortable destinations.

Now, there’s an Abyss Dimension suitable for stargazing, featuring a fully equipped, warm, and comfortable Astrology Tower. Simply stepping foot here has left everyone marveling endlessly.

The oldest astrologer among them remarked, "My right arm was damaged many years ago in a frigid Abyss Dimension while chasing a Fire Meteor. If there had been an Astrology Tower there back then, my arm wouldn’t have been ruined."

Tianya, concerned, asked, "You can’t move it? Why don’t you get it treated?"

"No way to treat it—the damage was too extensive. It froze for too long and necrotized. My companions performed emergency treatment, using Petrification Magic to harden it and prevent infection and decay. Otherwise, by the time I returned from the Abyss, the arm would have rotted away. But the trade-off is irreversible necrosis—it’s beyond repair now," the astrologer chuckled, quite nonchalantly.

Tianya lamented, "That’s such a pity. The Omniscient God knows many people. I’ll ask around and see if there’s any way to treat such an injury."

"Ha, though it’s unlikely, Tianya, your thoughtfulness is appreciated. Don’t worry too much about it. At my age, I’ve already come to terms with it."

While casually chatting, the group stepped into the topmost level, where everyone was immediately stunned by the enormous aperture of the stargazing mirror.

Durken had adopted the Stargazing Realm design from Tyrone on the Master Plane—a reflective, large-aperture stargazing mirror. While the Tyrone version was quite small, with an eyepiece diameter of only three meters, the design was highly advanced. Tyrone simply lacked the capability to build anything larger.

But Durken had Ange. When it came to constructing Stargazing Realms, Ange’s greatest skill wasn’t cutting glass. After all, cutting eight-meter-diameter glass—even space-manipulating genius beauty Hiludi could manage it with some effort and a few failed attempts—eventually getting it right.

What truly set Ange apart was the Ring of Balance. With one glance, he could pinpoint where on a sphere or asphere symmetry was off, unevenness persisted, or curvature fell short, enabling real-time adjustments.

For such a massive mirror, even the tiniest discrepancy could make imaging blurry and indistinct.

The five astrologers who previewed the results were left speechless with shock. The demonstration was hugely successful—they were desperate to subscribe on the spot.

Even as they were escorted back, they couldn’t shake off the feeling of awe.

The youngest, Luo Yaoer, who was still over fifty years old, was as exhilarated as a fisherman who had just reeled in a big catch. He enthusiastically recounted the stunning experience to other astrologers at the event.

This made those who hadn’t seen it even more eager, urging Tianya to secure more slots for observation.

When you’re in possession of resources others lack, earning prestige becomes effortless. Finding the right opportunity to heal the necrotized arm of the elderly astrologer would instantly make him and his students Tianya’s most loyal supporters.

"Find another chance to assert dominance—deal with a troublemaker decisively. Merge kindness with deterrence, and problem solved. It’s a pity things went far too smoothly—not a single troublemaker popped up, not even Roger, who’s going around touting the Astrology Tower, trying to get one built for his own group." Anthony said regretfully.

Negris rolled his eyes sarcastically. "You’re actually bemoaning the lack of someone to intimidate? Speaking of, after all this effort, what did we gain?"

"Haha, you’ll need to ask Durken about that." Anthony gestured to a direction in the venue.

Besides Anthony, others had snuck in, including Silver Coin and Durken under the guise of the Star Astrology Academy. At this point, they were busily handing out business cards everywhere.

Initially, they refrained from distributing cards because nobody recognized the Star Astrology Academy. But now things were different—the name was trendy and widely discussed. Soon, crowds gathered around them.

As the meeting concluded, Silver Coin invited a discussion group for a meal, quickly familiarizing themselves with everyone. Meanwhile, Durken connected with several highly skilled and capable magicians.

Not long after, Durken brought surprising news: "The conscious projection toward Emery’s direction has historical records indicating that, over six thousand years, a particular star experienced three instances of brightness surges. The most recent was six hundred years ago, coinciding with the appearance of a blue ring beside the star, lasting three nights."

Anthony was utterly baffled. "What does that imply?"

"That’s a blue-shift phenomenon—indicating that six hundred years ago, it hurled something in our direction," Negris explained.

"So it not only projects its consciousness but also throws physical objects toward us? Do they have any idea what was thrown?" Anthony asked in surprise.

"That’s exactly why they mentioned it to me—they hoped I could use the stargazing mirror to examine the area and uncover anything unusual," Durken said.

"We’ve observed it before—there’s nothing to see," Negris said. When they had first built the Astrology Tower, they immediately had Xisluo adjust the mirror to examine the direction but found nothing noteworthy.

Right, the Star-searching Demon Spirit for the Stargazing Tower was Xisluo, while the astrological mirror’s support frame was constructed from Silent Magic Vine. Embedding Xisluo within the structure resolved the issues of physical embodiment and star-searching functionality. However, Xisluo wasn’t particularly willing, so they resolved to leave him an extra body should one become available down the road.

Durken shrugged. "True, but I can’t tell them that—otherwise, they’d wonder why we were focusing on that direction. At least we managed to obtain their ancestral six-thousand-year observational data, which is reason enough to join the alliance. Without it, no way would they share such precious information casually."

Anthony was about to say something when suddenly Ange called out for him. "You summoned me, my Lord? I’ll return immediately."

Anthony headed back to the Sea of Omniscience and saw the Table Mountain’s governor, Lea, a subordinate of the Great Speaker, standing alone there. Ange, however, had no interest in her, focusing instead on farming. Both his hands seemed to vanish into spatial voids, leaving only his shoulders visible, furiously at work.

Anthony looked at Lea in confusion. "Why are you here?"

His interactions with Lea had been minimal—aside from treating her when the Light Disaster first erupted, they hadn’t had much contact since. Her sudden appearance now seemed odd.

Lea gave Anthony a complex glance and then said, "I like you."

"Pfft..." A short burst of sound rang out from a distance but quickly went silent.

Anthony glanced toward Ange and found him looking up at the sky as if pondering something, his shoulders now motionless.

A mix of laughter and embarrassment filled Anthony’s face as he stammered awkwardly, "You...this...so sudden... I wasn’t prepared—"

Lea earnestly said, "Since I’ve confessed my feelings, please answer me seriously. What happened last time when the Great Speaker encountered you? Why did he change so drastically afterward?"