Pillar of Yita

”Have you seen the recent post?” Luo Hao threw a coil of rope over the ship’s rail and turned to ask. A thin layer of snow accumulated on the ship’s rail, and in the distance, hazy villages and forests with wisps of smoke lingered. The noon bell from the Holy Temple faintly echoed.

”Which one?” Fang Hong stopped what he was doing and asked.

”The one on the Gula Region forum, someone has gone missing again. Additionally, a dragon beast attacked the village around here.”

”Didn’t Nikopolas take the dragon beast away?”

Luo Hao shook his head, ”Who knows? The situation north of Tarun is unclear to most people right now.”

Fang Hong asked again, ”But I heard that one of the missing is an Invoker?”

”Three, all three still have remaining Starlight. They’re currently being verified over at Stargate Port, but it’s already spread among the Invokers, causing varying degrees of panic... The community can’t keep up with the censorship, who knows when regulation will start.”

Fang Hong’s eyes widened slightly. The three had remaining Starlight but didn’t revive, which could be attributed to encountering the Dead Silence Zone, but if the Stargate Port also couldn’t find them, doesn’t that mean Invokers could actually die in Eteliria?

This news is definitely subversive. Not to mention ordinary people, even he found it difficult to accept for a moment.

”...Are you saying, Invokers might... remain in Eteliria?”

”Remain in Eteliria? No, they’re dying in this place,” Luo Hao said with extreme calm, ”Didn’t I tell you before? Such things are commonplace; the Stargate Port has just been covering it up, like seven years ago...”

”Alright, alright.” Fang Hong quickly interrupted him. Regarding the bizarre stories of Invokers dying all over the place, filling Stargate Port, he had heard Luo Hao talk about it at least ten times, and he had seen such rumors on the community too, but they were obviously full of holes.

However, he looked at this chubby guy with a bit of curiosity, ”Aren’t you afraid?”

”Afraid of what?” Luo Hao looked indifferent, ”Why do you think I didn’t want to come here initially, but since I’m here, I came through the military’s passage anyway. Otherwise, what could I do, become a deserter? Staying doesn’t necessarily mean death, that’s a one-in-several-million chance, but going back would truly be social death.”

”...You really have an open mind.”

Fang Hong looked into the distance, the snow-covered forests and villages, surrounded by traces of human activities—probably the Invokers’ teams. He couldn’t really believe such things would happen, as the missing were likely due to other factors, since hadn’t he himself also ’disappeared’?

Better let the news spread for a while longer.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Luo Yu approaching.

”Did Uncle and Aunt finish their tour?”

Luo Yu nodded.

Although his mother agreed to give them a year, it didn’t mean she was completely reassured or would leave them unattended. Luo Yu’s parents would still stay here for about a week, during which inspecting the Seven Seas Travel Group was an expected event.

The biggest asset of the Adventure Group is the Seven Seas Traveler, so the two naturally wanted to visit the ship. Fang Hong actually intended this too—if it could give Luo Yu’s parents some confidence. Although there were many secrets on the Seven Seas Traveler, none were evident on the surface.

”Did you design the magic power network on the ship yourselves?”

Luo Yu’s father walked silently around the deck, returned to their side, and asked.

”Not entirely, Uncle,” Fang Hong replied, ”Three Artisan Masters also helped us a lot; we just provided the design ideas.”

”At least the design ideas are yours?”

”Yes.”

”It’s a nice ship.” Luo Yu’s father nodded.

Then the lady also walked over and said lightly, ”It’s passable, but this ship can’t reach the Second World.”

She paused and added, ”I appreciate those who keep their promises. I hope you will follow through.”

Fang Hong quickly nodded, ”We’ll see you off, Aunt.”

”No need, just focus on doing something useful.”

Leaving these words, the lady walked off the ship down the gangway.

After his wife got off the ship, Luo Yu’s father patted his son’s shoulder, gave them a silent look, lightly nodded, then also followed down the ship.

”Aunt sure is decisive.”

Fang Hong watched as the two walked further away into the snowfields.

Luo Yu turned his head back, looking at everyone with a bit of apology, ”Sorry, I...”

”Nothing to apologize for,” Fang Hong smiled freely, ”They are elders after all, so being strict is understandable. But it seems Uncle really appreciated our ship, which is good news.”

”Actually, my dad was also an Alchemist,” Luo Yu suddenly replied, ”Once.”

Fang Hong looked at that direction somewhat in realization, suddenly understanding where Luo Yu’s interest in Alchemy came from.

...

In the small room, there were only about eleven or twelve people.

Dim light penetrated through the gaps in the window that had never been nailed shut, forming long, narrow paths of light. Dust floated within the light paths, like countless tiny organisms swimming. Occasionally, one or two hexagonal ice crystals drifted in from outside, but they melted by the window, glistening brilliantly along the edges of the gaps.

”We’ve come this far, there’s no turning back,” spoke a woman’s voice in the darkness, ”So I won’t say much; we all came here with some purpose. I’m here to rescue someone, and I think it’s similar for you all.”

”I’m also here to rescue someone, my daughter, Sharna.”