A dimly lit tavern.
The patrons were all enjoying their drinks and snacks, chatting casually with one another, as if this were some kind of quiet, peaceful tavern.
Looking out the side window.
The starry sky tonight was exceptionally beautiful, a dense sea of stars, dotted with tiny glittering stars.
A few glittering stars nestled in the sky, illuminating the night.
In a corner of the tavern.
Balazs, lightly disguised, waited quietly.
As the table and chairs across from him were pulled open,
He looked up and saw it was Alka.
Alka sat down and said, "I guess I'm late?"
Balazs looked at Alka, observing his expression in the dim light. Then he shook his head. "No, I just got here, too. But are you okay?"
"What do you mean? What could possibly happen to me?" Alka frowned, puzzled.
Balaz blinked, confirming it wasn't just the dim light, and pointed at Alka's face.
"You look really bad. Are you really okay?"
"Bad?" At this, a mirror appeared in Alka's hand. He looked at his face in the light, and the first thing he saw were his slightly sunken eye sockets.
The area around his eye sockets looked pitch black, and there were traces of bloodshot between them.
A scraggly stubble grew on his chin, giving him the appearance of a homeless person. Or perhaps a drunk who'd been drinking for days.
Seeing himself like this, Alka coughed and dropped the mirror.
"It's nothing. I've just been a little tired lately and have been busy."
Balaz nodded without further questioning.
After clinking glasses with Alka, he began to talk about his search for Alka: "According to the intelligence, we'll arrive in about 15 days.
I'll send you a message then. I should arrive directly at the church. You can pray in the church beforehand; your identity shouldn't arouse suspicion."
Alka nodded: "No problem, we'll be ready later."
"Well, Kriel seems to be making some secret preparations lately. I suspect it might be targeting his nephew.
If you confront him head-on, something unexpected might happen. So you'd better make more preparations and be careful."
Hearing this, Alka nodded seriously: "No problem, I'll keep it in mind."
After the two exchanged a few details, Balazs said: "By the way, your shipment is in Warehouse 3-133 at the port. This is a one-time spell key."
He handed Alka a disc-shaped key, about the size of a coin. He then stood up, pulled his hood over his head, and left the tavern.
Alka took the key and examined it. After a long moment, he stood up and walked out of the tavern.
They took advantage of the night and ran all the way to the warehouse at the port.
"1-333...2-3...Found it, 3-133." Alka looked at the warehouse in front of him, walked over, and placed the spell key in the middle.
A very subtle magical wave spread out.
Then the door opened, and Alka entered directly through the small door next to it.
The pitch-black interior, with a snap of Alka's fingers,
Light appeared.
The warehouse was piled high with wooden boxes. He opened one at random and peered inside.
There were all kinds of food.
After confirming that everything was okay, Alka blinked, and his left eye had transformed into a crystal-like pupil.
A blue light emanated from his left eye, and with a gentle wave of his hand, the vast amount of supplies before him vanished.
After completing all this, Alka cleaned up his tracks briefly and returned to the ship.
At this moment, the Dawn's ship was completely silent.
Alka looked around. Aside from the few puppet girls hiding in the shadows, who were on duty, only Pororo was left, on night duty in the observation room above.
The rest of the crew was gone.
"Aren't you going to rest?" Pororo asked, peeking out from the observation room.
Alka shook his head. "I still have unfinished business back there."
"Okay, but I still suggest you get some rest. Do you know how long it's been since you last rested?" Pororo offered a suggestion, though he didn't stop him.
"No problem, no problem," Alka said, passing through the spatial rift that appeared before him and disappearing onto the deck.
"They're really going crazy," Pororo said helplessly, observing the situation. He truly couldn't understand the state Alka and the others were in.
As Alka disappeared from the deck,
His figure reappeared directly within the space, appearing within the city-state of Vastva.
Or rather, what was left of Vastva.
The supplies he had just dragged in were currently being piled up in Vastva's inner warehouse.
Someone was busy counting the supplies, moving them, and sorting them for storage.
"This batch of supplies should last a long time, right?" Alka asked, looking at Missiru, who was also counting the supplies.
This was a shorter Vastva girl.
"Of course, these supplies will last a very, very long time," Michelle said with a bright smile, genuinely delighted.
These foods were new to her, but honestly, they tasted far better than those nutrient solutions.
After eating so much of them, even her mood improved considerably.
Then, looking at Alka, she bowed solemnly: "Thank you, Lord Alka. If it weren't for you..."
Before she could finish her words, Alka interrupted her: "No need to be so. I just used your money to buy these. I just helped carry them."
Alka smiled and patted her shoulder: "Okay, you go ahead."
Watching Alka leave, Michelle waved: "Goodbye."
"Okay, goodbye."
Alka waved without looking back and walked towards a rebuilt temple not far away.
This city temple, from its appearance and materials, was clearly newly constructed.
This was the newly renovated and reactivated research temple.
Of course, the various building materials were also provided by them, as the place had long been empty.
Most of them were gathered in the temple.
A lair had been specially constructed on the temple's roof. A crystal dragon lay there, idly, doing nothing, unknown.
A large group of puppet girls surrounded it.
The Vastva people, who came and went, had become accustomed to the powerful creatures they had never seen before.
"Command!" Just as Alka was about to enter, a puppet girl suddenly jumped out of the shadows in front of him.
"One three? What command?" Alka asked curiously.
He had no recollection of needing a command to enter.
The puppet girl named Yi San crossed her arms and declared with great authority, "The captain said this is an important place now. Anyone entering must give the command, no matter who you are!"
"But I just came out of here a moment ago. And I've received an order so soon?"
"No matter what, this is an order. Even the captain must obey!"
The puppet girl spoke fiercely, her expression serious and meticulous.
Arka looked helplessly upward. The crystal dragon stared at him with a gloating smile.
"What's the command?"
"Do you think I can enter?" Urulius said, pointing to himself.
"Okay, okay." Arka reluctantly began to connect with Lucilia through the soul link.
Inquiring. "What's the password?"
"What password?"
"The password to enter the temple? Didn't Yisan tell you you asked her to guard the gate?"
"No, there aren't any outsiders here, and this is the space you control. Why would you need a password? Are you out of your mind?"
Hearing this, Alka immediately knew he'd been tricked.
Helplessly, he looked up at Yisan.
Yisan, realizing his plan had been exposed, had already jumped to the side of the crystal dragon, rolling around in laughter.
"Hahahaha, I've been fooled, I've been fooled!"
Urulius also let out a carefree grin.
"Hahaha, see, I told you, this simple trick would definitely trick him."
"Hahaha..."
Hearing the laughter from above, Alka sighed helplessly and rubbed his head. It seemed time to rest. Thinking, he pushed the door open and walked in.
"What's going on outside? Why are they laughing so happily?" Sofia, holding a book, asked Alka as he entered.
"Nothing, they just played a trick on me," Alka said helplessly.
Inside the temple now stood a massive bookcase, densely packed with books and various materials. Besides this entire wall, the surrounding rooftops were filled with similar bookcases.
A month and a half had passed since they arrived in this space.
They had spent almost all of that time here.
They had also collaborated to build this temple for research.
Many previously dilapidated research machines, rendered unusable due to the dwindling amount of world magic power, had been moved here.
In addition to the temple's upper floors, there was also a mezzanine.
That was where the real research took place.
Of course, those spatial layers were only recently created by Alka.
The previous layers had long since vanished with the erosion of time and the depletion of magical power.
However, before they vanished, the contents had already been retrieved by the researchers of the time, which was a good thing.
It must be said that the ancestors of the Vastva people had already encountered this day.
It's just that some among them always seemed to have a certain sense of luck.
And some wise men had already made preparations.
They had carefully protected various books, research equipment, and research results and materials.
Protection in a physical sense, not magical.
They had already foreseen that if they could finally escape, these things might be the guarantee of their survival.
And this was indeed the case.
"Where's Simon?" Alka asked.
Sofia pointed to the central hall. "It should be Lab 3."
Hearing this, Alka nodded and walked to a standard door marked 3 in the hall.
He pushed it open and walked in.
The door was a simple doorframe, standing in the center of the hall.
But after Alka opened the door and walked in, he didn't exit through the door, but instead entered the interstitial space.
This was a simpler, more convenient, and faster way to navigate the interstitial space in a safe environment.
Upon arriving at Lab 3, one would find it as bright as day. A sun-like ball of light, perched at the top of the entire space, provided a bright, soft, all-encompassing illumination throughout the lab.
This ensured that there were no blind spots in the lab.
This was also Sofia's ability.
After all, they couldn't use magic to create such an exaggerated light source, otherwise the Vastva people conducting their research experiments there might suffer severe allergic reactions. If it were natural light condensed from Sofia's magic, there wouldn't be such a problem.
They'd been struggling with various allergic reactions to magic for a while.
At this moment, a Vastva man could be seen, wearing only simple shorts, standing in a completely enclosed, transparent chamber.
The other Vastva men, along with Simon, Lucilia, and Matlisa, were nearby, also conducting operations.
To those who didn't know, they might have thought they were conducting some kind of sinister human experiment.
The Vastva man, who couldn't be seen in the chamber, seemed to be describing his current feelings.
Alka walked over.
"Magic density 0.06. The subject is acting perfectly normal, with no allergic reactions or discomfort.
Increase the magic power."
Matlisa spoke as a nearby Vastva scholar turned on a nearby machine and slightly increased the pressure.
These scholars are currently focusing their research on Simon and Alka, as the topics they previously studied are no longer of much use.
The difficulties have been overcome.
A full jar of mana can be seen not far away. It's a transparent jar, three meters tall and half a meter in diameter.
It contains concentrated mana, but it doesn't emit any. The fluctuations are firmly and stably contained within the container.
It's a very interesting and advanced mana container. Alka and his team collected it from outside using Vastva mana battery technology.
In the outside world, no one would have the desire to produce such stable mana.
This is also the source of mana for Laboratory 3.
Both Simon and Matresa looked exhausted, as if they hadn't rested for a long time.
The surrounding Vastva people, however, seemed to be in good condition.
This was because they had been rotating through several groups, taking turns resting. After all, they were essentially ordinary now.
And Alka and the others had barely slept since the temple was built.
There was no other way.
The technology left behind by the Vastva people over tens of thousands of years was more than a treasure trove for them.
It was a treasury crammed with countless treasures.
Every day brought new surprises.
Simon wished he could split himself into ten parts and conduct research simultaneously. Even Lucilia, who wasn't particularly fond of experimental research, was completely absorbed in it.
Not to mention Alka and Matresa, who were very interested in experimental research.
Even within the temple hall, Shadati and Julia were poring over various ancient documents.
There were simply too many of them.
The Vastva people were adept at recording anomalies.
These documents offer insights into the gods of the time and their relationships and status.
As for Juanlu,
He is helping the entire Vastwa people train a team of chefs.
Addressing more practical needs.
Perhaps it's because the Vastwa people have been consuming nutrient solution for hundreds of years.
Even before consuming the nutrient solution, there wasn't much edible food left.
So they've almost completely lost any culinary skills.
In other words, they're no different from primitive people.
And Juanlu has been busy with exactly this lately.
And outside, Porolo, seemingly uninterested in these things, actually spends the majority of his time here as well, though much less so than the others.
You should know that while the Vastwa people hate war, they prefer peace. Even in such a small, resource-limited space, a full-scale war has yet to break out.
But they were once a race that fought against the armies of the God of War, and within their tribe, there are those specifically called "Hands of War" to handle war.
Perhaps even those who love war possess a certain inquisitive nature.
That's why they surprisingly have a very comprehensive military training system and process, even with corresponding training equipment.
They have a very, very comprehensive training system.
However, it later became apparent that this item had little use here, so it was completely sealed away.
There hasn't been much progress since then, and much of the knowledge is just a relic of that golden age.
Everywhere are these completely sealed items, beautifully preserved.
This is what Pororo is obsessed with.
He also oversees the martial arts training of some young Vastva men, and sometimes Sofia also acts as a coach.
"Magic concentration 0.13. The subject has already developed a mild allergic reaction. Experiment concluded."
With that, the transparent chamber opened, and the concentrated magic within diffused slightly. However, the concentration decreased after diffusion, making it perfectly acceptable to the surrounding Vastva people.
He simply sniffed, feeling a little uneasy.
Alka also came to his senses.
Matthia waved her hand, and a fine needle pricked the emerging subject, instantly vanishing the red spots on his body. "Lady Matresa, how are the results?" asked Vastel, the woman in charge of recording the experiments.
"It's a slight improvement compared to before, but still far from the standard. But that's a good thing, isn't it?
This at least shows that your bodies are only slightly uncomfortable. With a little adjustment, you'll be able to adapt to the magic."
Mastelsa said, looking at the record book in her hand.
They were studying Vastel's magical adaptability.
After all, they couldn't really let them stay here forever. They had to find a way to get them out.
Staying here clearly meant there was no future.
It also made Alka afraid to infuse magic into this space to revive it.