Chapter 139 Civilization Epic: Battle of the Lost Coast (Two-in-One)
The aroma of food and the warm orange glow of night lights filled the night before departure.
Hiltina did not linger too long in the student dormitory; she left shortly after the dinner she had hosted.
She knew that Rast was not the kind of person to be sentimental or overly attached. Rather than wasting too much words and emotions on farewells, it was better to save time and energy for what lay ahead.
Just as he did back in Deep Blue Harbor, Rast did not hesitate to blow up the metal bridge, confronting the waves of the Iron Cross in the harbor area.
There was no need for tearful farewells; all they could do was wish each other well and pray for safe returns.
…
The next day, morning.
Just as dawn began to break, Rast boarded the military express train heading to the Tower of Secrets.
Compared to his previous train journeys to the Tower of Secrets, the atmosphere during this trip was much heavier.
Even before arriving at the Tower of Secrets, the military presence outside was evident, and upon entering the military exclusion zone around the Tower, there were noticeably more checkpoints for identity verification and inspections.
Not only Rast, but even the crew on this confidential train faced repeated questioning.
“It must be because of the recent turmoil in the capital.”
Mr. Silver shrank against Rast’s shoulder, yawning one after another…
He was always one to turn night into day, sleeping when tired and eating when hungry, lazing on the couch playing with his smart device until he dozed off. Now, waking up early with Rast was surely taking a toll on the little weasel.
“Although the royal side currently has the upper hand, those noble alliances linked with secret organizations will clearly not just sit idly by. They might launch a final counterattack.”
“The Tower of Secrets, being one of the Empire’s most important confidential agencies, stores massive amounts of secret items, including over half of the prototype blueprints listed in the forbidden catalog… These military forces and checkpoints are likely set up to guard against a last-ditch effort from the noble alliance.”
“What Young Tina and the others are worrying about should also be related to this.”
Mr. Silver’s fluffy white tail poked out, and he pulled out a small dried fish from a spatial rift.
Having learned from the last experience of going hungry all day, he had specially stocked up on junk food in the sub-dimension, waiting to feast while watching the live stream this time.
“Sigh, just when one wave settles, another rises… I wonder when this world can truly settle down.”
Mr. Silver stuffed the small fish into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly, “By then, I can finally lie flat carefree, without worrying every day about the safety of you guys.”
“I didn’t expect, Mr. Silver, that you have such a grand dream of world peace.”
Rast smiled and rubbed the little weasel’s fluffy head, “However, for the world to truly settle down, it seems we have to wait until the remaining historical echoes of the Sixth Epoch, as well as the final End Echo, are fully cleared…”
“The things known as the Night World and Twilight Catastrophe must completely disappear from this world.”
“Yes, by then the world will be stable… and people will have fewer filthy, despicable thoughts and impurities in their hearts. Randomly grabbing a passerby will yield a pure shining soul, and there will be quality offerings everywhere in the world.”
“At that time, perhaps I could rise to Level 8 in three years, and to Level 9 in ten years. It wouldn’t be long before I could truly ascend to the divine seat and become a True God.”
Mr. Silver chewed on the small fish, lost in thought: “True Gods have almost infinite lifespans, along with a massive number of believers and churches… At that time, I could just lie down and binge-watch every day, with the endless grilled fish cakes offered by the believers as offerings.”
“As for the church under my command, let’s continue with the name of the academy, calling it the ‘Magical Animal Protection’ church.”
“And then, I’ll appoint you as the Saint Son of the Holy See, and make Young Tina and Young Xiya the Saint Daughters… and your task will be to rotate shifts, tirelessly grooming me for 24 hours straight.”
In Mr. Silver’s ruby-like beast eyes, a foolish light reflected.
“Hahaha, just thinking about that scene feels so exhilarating.”
“This is simply a weasel’s paradise, a golden country…”
What an odd fantasy for a weasel!
Listening to the mischievous laughter of the completely entranced little weasel on his shoulder, Rast fell into contemplation.
And, the ‘Magical Animal Protection’ Church…
Are you sure this is a legitimate church and not some kind of cult that everyone would condemn?
Amid the noise of one man and one weasel, the military train marked with the black eagle emblem sped across the plains.
Until the dark tower was finally in sight.
…
This was not Rast’s first time entering the Tower of Secrets, so he was somewhat familiar with the various inspection procedures inside.
Military exclusion zones, checkpoints, soul rune circuits, and iris verification, the Tower of Secrets, the Era Hall.
Soon, Rast reached the center of the Era Hall, the entrance to the historical echoes of the Sixth Epoch, also known as the End of the Night World.
However, the senior who had previously guided him to the Tower of Secrets to review documents had now parted ways with Starry University and taken a completely opposite path.
“So… Senior Ingrid.”
“You choose to associate with the Gravekeeper, to collude with those despicable nobles, even at the cost of touching the law and betraying the ideals and justice you once believed in…”
“What is the reason behind all this?”
Rast gazed at the vast and silent hall, the ancient stone tablet imbued with a sense of timelessness, whispering to himself.
But soon, this murmuring faded with the wind, and even the little weasel on his shoulder did not hear it.
Rast’s gaze returned to silence.
That was a matter to handle later…
And if he could not successfully return from the historical echoes at this moment, everything would become meaningless.
“Then, let’s do one last check.”
Rast focused on the pitch-black stone tablet before him and exhaled lightly.
“Equipment checked and confirmed.”
“Mental state acceptable.”
“Transference crystal core, mechanical devices, ‘Key of Heaven’, Holy Grenade, Emblem Armor, preliminary original sequence of the Fool’s Library… confirmed.”
“Preparation complete.”
After stating the final words, Rast gently placed his hand on the Era Tombstone.
With a chilling sensation, a night as light as a veil gently enveloped him.
It concealed Rast’s vision and consciousness under the shroud of eternal night, intoxicating and unaware of his destination.
…
On the Era Tombstone, the light of the night merely flashed and vanished.
As the light dispersed, Rast’s figure was no longer seen in the Tower of Secrets.
“Although only a few hours or days have passed in reality, for him, this journey into the historical echoes must feel like at least several months.”
Professor Barbarossa’s robust voice echoed in the Tower of Secrets.
He had shrunk to human size and walked in from the hall’s entrance, adjusting his gold-framed glasses, gazing at the place where Rast had vanished, reflecting deeply.
“He is just a sophomore at Starry University, only around eighteen or nineteen years old.”
“At such a young age, to survive in a strange world for several months, I wonder if he misses home while in there.”
As he mused, Professor Barbarossa noticed that the weasel beside him seemed uninterested in his thoughts.
Mr. Silver remained silent, merely busying about.
He landed on the ground and waved his little paws and tail, constantly pulling out items from the spatial rift of his exclusive sub-dimension into the Era Hall.
First was a large and tidy picnic mat, enough to accommodate seven or eight people for camping.
Then came several large bottles of soda.
Followed by countless snacks… little dried fish, grilled fish cakes, potato chips, and fried chicken, all densely spread across the picnic mat meant for seven or eight people.
There was even a large bucket of popcorn.
“Mr. Silver, what are you doing?”
Professor Barbarossa was taken aback.
As the guardian and administrator of the Tower of Secrets, he had seen many people come to the Tower.
But those people were mostly in a hurry, with clear purposes in mind to review documents, and would never linger for too long.
He had never seen anyone bring an entire set of camping supplies to the Tower of Secrets, much less a weasel.
The little weasel even set up a barbecue grill and was now awkwardly assembling its stainless steel pipes with its little paws.
“What do you know? This is called preparing for battle.”
“Or will you have me starve again like last time while watching the live stream… having to wait until the end to see if I could eat something based on Princess Ophelia’s mood?”
“And don’t worry about Rast’s mental health—he is much better at regulating his mood and tolerating loneliness than you, old gorilla. It’s not for us to worry about.”
Mr. Silver dismissively twitched his ears, not even turning his head, still fiddling with his barbecue grill and stainless steel pipes.
“Big gorilla, come here and lend a hand. At worst, I’ll share some of the grilled fish I make with you to taste.”
“Speaking of which, the production company of this grill is really thoughtless. They only considered the disassembly and installation experience for humans, never thinking that their customers aren’t humans but magical animals… not even a bit of optimization for weasels.”
Professor Barbarossa’s mouth dropped open in shock.
He had never seen such a shameless weasel.
But in the end, Professor Barbarossa helplessly stepped forward and took the stainless steel pipes to assemble.
Though both were magical animals, compared to the small weasel, the gorilla appeared closer to human form, making it easier to assemble the grill.
He felt that if he didn’t help out, the weasel would really take three days and nights just to finish assembling it in the Tower of Secrets.
…
“Ah, finally done, that was quite a chore for me.”
Moments later, looking at the finally standing barbecue grill, Mr. Silver sighed, wiping nonexistent sweat from his paws.
After completing all this, he took out a crystal from his pocket and placed it near the picnic mat and the barbecue grill.
In the next moment, the crystal erupted with dazzling light.
In the interplay of light and shadow, a pure white light curtain slowly emerged.
“Speaking of which, big gorilla, what are you doing staying here?”
“Are you coming to watch the live stream too?”
Mr. Silver stretched his fluffy tail to test the temperature of the charcoal under the grill, then seemingly startled by something, quickly withdrew his tail and nodded in satisfaction.
Next, he took out several pre-marinated raw fish from the sub-dimension warehouse and placed them on the grill.
Smelling the enticing aroma of the grilled meat and the sizzling fish on the grill, Professor Barbarossa couldn’t help but feel speechless.
However, he still shook his head: “Although I’m curious about the experiences of that little guy Rast in the historical echoes, I still have the duty to supervise the Tower of Secrets and can’t leave my post for too long.”
As he spoke, Professor Barbarossa took out a small black metal item and placed it beside Mr. Silver.
Though it was solid metal, the moment it touched the ground, the pitch-black metal quietly melted, transforming into flowing liquid metal particles, like immortal mercury.
Then, these mercurial liquid metals swiftly coalesced… gradually forming a diminutive human shape.
“I was sent by Princess Ophelia.”
“Although she is currently keeping watch against the nobles’ counterattack over in the capital and is temporarily unable to come, she had me specially deliver a mercury avatar to record Rast’s transference crystal imagery in real-time.”
“The princess’s reason… seems to be that as the prototype developer of the Zenith Sword, she wants to see the first real combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Armament.”
Hearing Professor Barbarossa’s explanation and looking at the familiar and petite girl-shaped figure formed from flowing mercury beside him made Mr. Silver shiver slightly as he rolled the bamboo stick while grilling the fish’s tail…
…
On the other side.
Already in the Night World, Rast had no way of knowing what was happening in the real-world Tower of Secrets.
In the increasingly dense night, a line of azure text rapidly flashed before his eyes.
[Detected that the traveler is bound to a locked historical node, the previous timeline of the Night World will continue.]
[Night World Mission: “Civilization Epic: Battle of the Broken Coast” has begun.]
[Era Background: The Broken Coast and the sea routes along the coast are the bridges connecting the human settlements after the great catastrophe, the final pulse of human civilization.
The organization known as the Guardians has been stationed along the Broken Coast for a century, watching over the last maritime route for humanity for a hundred years.
Now, the forbidden beasts lurking in the depths of the ocean are stirring, and ancient legends from a bygone civilization are emerging from the river of history, all aimed at breaking through this final coastal defense line.
The grand tapestry of history has already been unveiled.
This is a chapter of epics, a song of heroes, and a decisive battle that may alter the course of human history, determining the fate of Sixth Epoch civilization.]
(End of this chapter)
