Pillar of Yita

After the twenty-second hour of daylight, the sun’s rays cast a blinding whiteness over the ’Ross Li Cantilever’ 0A-4 platform.

The ’Uroboros’ stargate appears especially gigantic when looked up at; it has a diameter of one thousand four hundred and twenty-four point seven meters, resembling a slowly rotating colossal ring, with its surface reflecting dazzling white light under the daylight sun, set against the pitch-black deep space backdrop.

Due to the dimension effect, the stargate appears like a constantly transforming large pattern, or like a sheet of paper crumpled and then unfolded again. It has no thickness, yet it possesses a three-dimensional structure. It is eternally rotating but always presents only the silhouette of one side, sometimes in gray and white, at other times with different hues.

Tang Sheng is lifting his head, his gaze passing through the oxygen mask to settle upon this enormous space construction.

The military personnel turned back, a courteous voice coming from the communicator: ”Mr. Tang, when passing through the stargate later, there’s no need to be too tense, just stay relaxed. After the adaptation training, your and your wife’s stellar synchronization abilities are very outstanding, so there should be no major issues.”

As he spoke, he handed two small objects to the couple, it was a crystal, radiating an amber-colored glow under the pure sunlight, with luminous material seemingly inside, shining brilliantly.

”This is sightseeing grade starlight material, although it has been introduced beforehand, I still have to ask, neither of you have past experiences as Invokers, correct?”

Tang Sheng checked the crystal before pressing it into a slot on the chest of his spacesuit, not too large nor too small, fitting perfectly.

”I have always been engaged in writing work before,” he replied calmly, ”which has nothing to do with the profession of an Invoker.”

”That’s good, sorry to trouble you both.” The staff nodded.

The group stopped at the entrance of corridor number twenty-seven.

An engineering warning sign, alternating in black and yellow, was painted obliquely over the entrance door.

The word ’Emergency’ was written in English and Chinese on the door. The officer placed his hand on the entry verification device, and moments later, the door retracted with a ’thump,’ emitting a deep exhaust sound.

The door then slowly opened, layer by layer, from the inside to the outside, totaling three layers.

Amidst the rotating red light, a white mist rose into the room—

The staff then explained: ”No need to worry, this is the depressurization and decontamination process... although theoretically traversing the stargate won’t involve material form passage, but you know, just to be safe.”

Everyone passed through the white mist.

The door on the other side slowly opened.

A steel bridge exposed in the vacuum lay ahead, suspended between the stargate and the passage—looking around through the faint light marks on the oxygen mask, Tang Sheng gazed to the left and right, where there were hundreds of identical bridges, like a white forest, spanning across space.

Streams of flowing light were shuttling before the stargate, interweaving the information streams between two worlds—they are also the Invokers themselves, and next, they too would transform into the same form, entering the unknown world beyond the door.

”Is Little Hong in there...?”

Madam Tang appeared a bit nervous and couldn’t help asking.

Tang Sheng turned around, held his wife’s hand, indicating she need not worry.

The officer walked ahead, turned around to demonstrate to the couple: ”Next, I will be the first to pass through the stargate, you follow closely behind me, just walk forward as usual. The Glow Objects have already had coordinates preset, we will head to Eteliria Northern Continent, Tarun’s Kapuka, because according to the investigation, that’s where Mr. Fang Hong first appeared—”

Tang Sheng just nodded.

...

Zhang Tianmiu was checking the crystal beside him.

He looked up again, glancing at the hotel’s vast lobby, where a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling; it was the largest inn in Kapuka—the Tree Residence of the Witch. Because the inn grew upon a towering ancient tree, it had a total of three levels, and the crystal in the center of the lobby grew perfectly integrated with the tree.

His assistant hurriedly walked over from outside, leaning in to whisper something: ”They’ve arrived.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianmiu turned back for a look, seeing several entering in black trench coats outside the door, yet he hadn’t spotted the main person he awaited, only nodding.

The assistant hesitated beside him, finally unable to hold back, saying: ”Team Leader Zhang, Stargate Port has urged several times for you to report back to Sidewind Port... It seems they’re planning to send you to the Southern Region...”

”What about over here?”

Zhang Tianmiu asked.

He then waved his hand: ”I understand all you’ve said, but at least let me arrange matters here, I dislike doing things without a head or tail.”

The assistant opened and closed his mouth but said no more.

Zhang Tianmiu turned alone, looking at the massive crystal prism standing in the center of the lobby behind him.

There were many magical legends about this crystal; even before the inn was established, it had been growing with the giant tree. The locals called it the Witch’s Heart, believing that touching the crystal would bring good fortune.

But it is actually a guestbook, the inn transformed it into a Magic Guided Conductor, allowing guests to write blessings and wishes on it. For a long time, it has been one of the holy sites for travelers in Kapuka.

The earliest clues about the target were discovered on this crystal.

He placed his hand on the crystal.

Lines of text immediately appeared on the crystal: