Chapter 150: The Grand Crown of the King of the World
Lucius was genuinely a bit frightened by Noah's serious demeanor in front of Odin.
So, not only did he behave obediently along the way, but after returning to Marcus's place, he went to sleep not long afterward.
It wasn't until he woke up the next day and saw Noah again that Lucius finally breathed a sigh of relief—Noah still wore that faint, gentle smile, looking no different from before.
However, he noticed that Noah was standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at a map he had hung on the wall. Curious, Lucius walked over and asked:
"Is this a world map? But it looks different from the ones I've seen before..."
As he spoke, Lucius pointed to the eastern part of the map Noah had hung up.
Amidst the jumble of various tribes, there was a large blank area, as if something existed there but hadn't been recorded.
"This doesn't seem right. Below the few Eastern Slavs, shouldn't this be Great Qin? And Qin's territory isn't this small..."
Lucius then moved his hand westward.
"I remember this area also belonged to Qin."
Hmm?
Qin!?
Noah wasn't surprised to hear Lucius say this world map differed from the ones he had seen.
After all, Altera had been active between the East and West for a long time, and Rome had been cut off from the East by Altera for ages, so it was normal for their maps to be outdated.
But... Qin?
That was far too long ago...
Noah remembered that Rome should have been aware of the Han Dynasty.
"Qin? How old is this map?"
"Very, very old..."
Lucius thought for a long while before giving such a vague answer.
Hearing this, Noah felt a bit helpless, but he couldn't expect ten monkeys to remember a timeline... So, he decided to ask Merlin about it later.
Or, after suppressing Rome City, he could investigate it himself.
Noah was thinking this when Odin's voice suddenly rang out.
"Rome's maps of the East are two to three hundred years old... If you want to know about the East, I can tell you."
Odin had now returned to his original form as the Sage of the Forest and was leaning against the doorway.
"Two to three hundred years ago... Which emperor of the Qin Dynasty was it then?"
Noah pondered for a moment before asking.
"The Qin Dynasty had only one emperor."
Even Odin couldn't help but sigh at this point.
"That First Emperor lived from the End of the Divine Era until two to three hundred years ago. But when I went to investigate information about the White Titan recently, I noticed that the eastern part of the map had changed to what you see now..."
"Whether it's that First Emperor or the vast Great Qin, no one knows what exactly happened in the last century or two. They've completely vanished, leaving only..."
The land was a wreckage of steel and circuitry. On this map, that location was depicted as blank precisely because the area still contained the First Emperor's shielding device.
"That's why observation methods can't take effect there."
At this point, Odin also sighed with emotion.
"After discovering this, I went to take a look. At least based on my judgment, Great Qin should not have perished. Rather, it seems the First Emperor used some special method to ascend with the entire nation."
"They might have flown beyond the scope of the stars, or perhaps simply performed something like a worldline jump—but in any case, they didn't perish; they left."
"Even for us gods, humans are like weeds. Yet even I, the God-King, have to admit that weeds cannot be that resilient. Not to mention, the First Emperor seems to have accomplished something even we gods cannot achieve."
Odin's gaze fell upon Noah, hinting at something.
"We can only hide in the prison called the Inner Sea of the Planet, while the First Emperor was able to lead his people out of this great vortex. Who knows what unimaginable things will happen in this world next."
Hearing Odin say this and knowing he was looking at him, Noah showed no particular reaction. He simply stared at the world map before him and responded to Odin's words quite plainly.
"If you can't imagine it, then just wait and see with your own eyes when the time comes. After all, for you, whether it's a few hundred years or a few thousand, these times should be utterly meaningless."
....
Upon learning that the First Emperor had survived from the End of the Divine Era until two or three hundred years ago, Noah was initially surprised. But upon hearing that Great Qin had already left, he reached out and gently stroked the eastern part of the map, saying nothing.
Seeing him like this, Odin fell silent, and so did Lucius.
Only Mary's voice echoed in Noah's mind.
"If you also intend, like the former King of Conquerors, to see the sea at the end of the world, then I can only tell you—the planet is round."
Hearing Mary say this, Noah laughed.
"Isn't that just fine? If it's round, it means that starting from Britain, we can reach Rome, then resolve the White Titan, then advance eastward to take over the territory left vacant after Great Qin's departure, and then continue across the ocean. Then we'll arrive at the new continent you mentioned."
"And once the new continent is also under our control, we'll eventually return to Britain."
"By then, we might have achieved something no one else ever has—an accomplishment even greater than simply circumnavigating the world."
"Forging an unprecedented great crown on the map, a crown belonging to the King of the World."
Hearing Noah's words, Mary was clearly taken aback.
"Becoming the King of the World... that really doesn't sound like something you'd say... But since you've said it, it means you have some ideas of your own, right?"
Mary was well aware that Noah would not embark on a campaign across the entire world just to become some kind of king of the world.
Nor would he do it to prove the Earth was round.
So if he said it, he must have his reasons.
And indeed, that was the case.
"Rather than a complete idea, it's more like I've just begun to form a thought... Mary, I've realized there are things we hadn't considered before.
"The so-called Divine Era Blessing, in a sense... is also a type of Blessing, right?"
"I cannot bestow a Blessing upon the world, but if I grant one to my territory at this very moment, then as long as I become the king of the world, under my crown, glory will be eternal, never fading. What do you think?"