Chapter 596 - 592 – THE DOOR BETWEEN TWO WORLDS OPENS, EIGHT WINGS OVER QUIET BAY, AND TEA FOR THE CAPTIVES

Dawn had not yet truly broken when Sylvia was already standing at the end of the stone dock of Quiet Bay. A thin mist hung over the water, and the thirty-meter Black Starsteel frame before her pulsed softly like the heart of a sleeping giant. Noir sat upright on her shoulder, his tail curled neatly. He now woke up earlier than Sylvia, something that had never happened before.

"Stacia, final report," Sylvia said, looking at her holographic bracelet.

On the screen, Stacia looked like someone who hadn’t slept in two days. She hadn’t slept in two days. Her goggles were crooked and her golden hair stuck out in every direction. But her smile was beaming wide.

"I’ve raised the Astral Starforge Reactor to eighty percent of peak voltage. The dynamic coordinates are stable. The balancing crystal Noir pointed out is working perfectly. The only problem is..." Stacia swallowed. "If I raise it to one hundred percent, the entire spatial corridor will open wide enough for cargo ships. But I haven’t tested living creatures yet."

"Then test it now."

"Eh, I can’t use Sofia for the first test!" Stacia shook her head in a panic. "If anything goes wrong..."

"You don’t need to send Sofia," a calm voice cut in from behind Stacia. Sofia had already stepped into the screen, wearing a deep blue gown with the silver embroidery typical of Nocture’s leader. Her eight golden wings were folded gracefully on her back. "Send a skeleton soldier first. I’ve prepared one."

Behind Sofia stood a skeleton soldier fully armed in black armor, upright and silent. Its skull stared straight ahead as if awaiting a noble command. It was one of the tens of millions of Zark’s troops.

"All right." Stacia took a deep breath, then pressed a lever on her laboratory console. "Full activation in three... two... one!"

HUMMMMMMMMM!

The low hum that made bones tremble now turned into a deep roar echoing across the whole bay. The white-gold veins on the frame blazed brilliantly, spreading from the base to the topmost arch. The air inside the frame rippled, then shattered into a colossal blue-silver mirror that reflected Sylvia’s face in a thousand fragments.

Sylvia took a step back. From the other side of the mirror, she could see Stacia’s laboratory, clear, sharp, and real. The distance of five hundred thousand kilometers had collapsed into a single footstep.

The skeleton soldier stepped into the mirror without a moment’s hesitation. In a blink, it was standing on the plateau of Quiet Bay, upright and saluting with its sword.

"Soldier of the Death Legion reporting, my Queen!" the skeleton said in a hollow, echoing voice. "All bones intact, no damage!"

"Excellent," Sylvia smiled in satisfaction. "You may rest."

On the screen, Stacia was already jumping up and down, crying with emotion. "It worked! It worked! It worked!"

"Now it’s everyone’s turn," Sofia’s voice sounded cheerful. She slowly flapped all eight wings, then stepped straight into the mirror.

Golden light instantly filled the plateau. Sofia emerged from the gate like a goddess descending from the heavens, her eight golden wings spread wide and her golden hair fluttering in the sea breeze. Her clear blue eyes immediately found Sylvia’s face, and her warm smile bloomed.

"Sylvia."

Sylvia had no time to answer. Sofia had already run over lightly and embraced her tightly. The warmth she had missed for days wrapped around her completely: the scent of lilies, a gentle embrace, and a calm heartbeat.

"You took so long," Sofia whispered in her ear. "I almost asked Stacia to send me through the gate without waiting for testing."

"I missed you too." Sylvia hugged her back, letting her head rest for a moment on Sofia’s shoulder. It felt like coming home, even though she was thousands of kilometers from their palace in Nocture.

Noir leapt down from Sylvia’s shoulder and moved away with a flat expression. ’I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.’

After a few moments, Sofia released the embrace and looked around. "So this is Tianhua. The air is clean. I had imagined a much shabbier place."

"Fallen Star City was only just cleaned up. It was worse before." Sylvia turned to the gate, now wide open. "Stacia, send the first cargo ship."

Over the next few minutes, the most absurd sight ever seen on this continent took place at Quiet Bay. From behind that giant blue mirror, a black metallic hull streaked with white-gold veins slowly emerged, like an enormous whale rising from the depths of the ocean. Its bow touched the canal water without a sound, then glided gracefully into the bay, followed by the rest of the ship, three hundred meters long, loaded with neatly stacked cargo crates.

On the deck, hundreds of Nocture crew cheered and waved. Dwarves, elves, beastkin, zombies, all lined up neatly along the ship’s rail. Some of them even carried small children and held banners reading "WELCOME TO TIANHUA, MY QUEEN!" that had obviously been made overnight.

Sylvia covered her face with one hand. "Who made that banner?"

"Celes," Sofia answered with an amused smile. "She insisted."

From the ship’s deck, a silver-haired woman in light black armor leapt down to the dock without a sound. Celes, Supreme Commander of Nocture’s Combat Forces, saluted with one hand over her chest.

"My Queen. Fifty elite guard troops, three hundred tons of fresh food supplies, two thousand bottles of potions, and one hundred units of military equipment have arrived safely."

"Good, Celes. Make sure everything is unloaded quietly and don’t cause a commotion on land. This place is a secret."

"Understood."

As Celes organized her troops, Sylvia turned to Sofia. "Sofia, there’s work in the city. Zhaoyue is busy dealing with uninvited guests."

"Guests?" Sofia raised her eyebrows.

"Six mana-crystal ships from the capital. The Noble Council’s forces. They came to seize this city, but Sol brought them all down yesterday."

Sofia covered her mouth and laughed softly. "Sol really used his full power just for that?"

"No. He only released a little dragon pressure. And even that was because I told him to guard the princess while enjoying snacks."

"Poor little kitty," Sofia laughed again. "All right, I’ll come along. I want to meet your new friend. And see the faces of the nobles who dared to touch your territory."

Sylvia smiled, then turned to Celes. "You guard the gate. If Stacia calls, tell her I’ll be back this evening."

An hour later, a black armored carriage stopped in front of the Fallen Star City governor’s mansion. In the square, the six mana-crystal ships that once loomed so proudly now lay on the ground with dented hulls and extinguished magic sails. The Noble Council’s mages sat in rows on the grass under the watch of local soldiers. They hung their heads listlessly and didn’t dare look at the sky at all.

On the roof of the main hall, a tiny golden cat lay on his back with his belly facing the sun. Beside him lay a pile of grilled salted fish, already half gone.

’Ah, you’ve come,’ Sol greeted lazily when he saw Sylvia and Sofia step down from the carriage. ’Princess Zhaoyue gave me ten times the usual snack ration. I wouldn’t mind guarding this place forever.’

"Don’t get too comfortable," Sylvia replied quietly through telepathy, raising an eyebrow. "You’ll forget you’re a dragon."

’Dragons need retirement too!’

Inside the main hall, the atmosphere was far tenser. Hua Zhaoyue sat upright in the governor’s chair in a dark red gown with a simple silver crown in her hair. Her face was calm, though the fingers gripping the chair’s armrests had turned slightly white. Before her, General Mo Lan knelt on the stone floor together with three Tier Eight mages, their faces deathly pale. They were closely guarded by ten of Zhaoyue’s soldiers, and in a corner of the room, two servants were pouring tea with trembling hands.

When the hall doors opened, every head turned.

Sylvia walked in wearing her casual black dress. Beside her walked an eight-winged woman in deep blue and silver, her aura so graceful and sacred that even the sunlight from the windows seemed to bow as it shone on her.

Silence fell like a stone.

General Mo Lan, who had been staring at the floor, instinctively raised his face, and his eyes widened in terror. As a fairly experienced mage, he could clearly feel the divine pressure radiating from the winged woman. It was not a human aura. Nor was it the aura of a Tier Nine mage. It was the aura of a being born of a different realm.

"W-W-Who..." he stammered.

"Allow me to introduce her, Zhaoyue," Sylvia said casually as she sat in the chair prepared at the side of the hall. "This is Sofia, my consort and the one who manages all the administrative affairs of my civilization."

Zhaoyue rose from her seat and bowed politely to Sofia, her eyes shining with admiration. "Lady Sofia, it is a great honor to meet you. Sylvia often speaks of you."

"Is that so?" Sofia glanced at Sylvia with a teasing smile. "I hope she tells you the good parts."

"Only the good parts," Zhaoyue smiled shyly, then sat back down with a straighter posture. Sofia’s presence clearly boosted her courage. She turned to the captives on the floor.

"General Mo Lan," Zhaoyue said in a composed, cold tone. "You came to my territory without notice, deployed a battle fleet above a city led directly by the First Princess of the Kingdom of Tianhua, and demanded that I surrender my seal of office. On what grounds?"

Mo Lan swallowed. "Y-Your Highness... this humble one was merely carrying out the decree of the Grand Noble Council. This territory has just gone through... the extrajudicial execution of a lawful royal official. The Council has the right to investigate..."

"Lawful official?" Zhaoyue tilted her head. "An official who stole the people’s taxes, let refugees starve to death in shacks, and withheld the funds for building the city wall until a third of this territory nearly fell to monsters? That is what you call a lawful official?"

"This humble one didn’t... it’s not like that..."

"And furthermore, the Southern Star Territory was granted directly to me by His Majesty Emperor Hua Chen at the royal banquet, before all the nobles of the capital, including the Council’s representatives. That decree is still in force. In other words, you have just invaded the personal territory of the First Princess, without the Emperor’s permission."

Mo Lan’s face was as pale as paper.

Sylvia, leaning back while sipping tea, held back a smile. Zhaoyue had truly changed. She used to hesitate when facing corrupt officials. Now she spoke like a true ruler.

"I will not kill you," Zhaoyue continued. "However, there are conditions. First, you will write a formal report to the Council stating that the inspection has been carried out and no violations were found in the Southern Star Territory. Second, you will sign a statement that this territory is under the full authority of the First Princess in accordance with the Emperor’s decree. Third, all your ships will be held by us as compensation for the damage to the square and the disruption to the citizens."

"Our... our ships?!" exclaimed one of the Tier Eight mages.

"Your ships are badly damaged," Sylvia finally spoke up, smiling faintly. "If you like, I can repair them at a low price."

The captives turned, and when Sylvia’s gaze met theirs, two of them began trembling at once. They remembered the divine pressure that had once traumatized Elder Lin in the capital. Now they understood that the rumor was no empty boast.

Sofia, who had been silent all along, watching with a gentle smile, finally spoke in a tone as kind as a mother’s. "You must be tired after your long journey. Please, drink your tea. It’s tea from Nocture, it should be quite soothing."

The servants poured fresh tea. A fragrant floral aroma spread through the hall and calmed the nerves. The captives looked at the cups before them hesitantly, not daring to touch them.

"Drink," Sofia said again, smiling, but her eight wings spread a little wider.

They drank it within seconds.

Mo Lan lowered his cup with trembling hands. A moment later he drew a long breath and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness... this humble one will sign everything. There is... only one thing Your Highness should know."

Zhaoyue narrowed her eyes. "Speak."

"The Second Prince... His Highness Tianming is not the only one who set the Council in motion this time. Our fleet is merely the initial investigation force. In the capital..." Mo Lan swallowed. "In seven days, the Council Guard Legion, five hundred Tier Seven and Eight mages, will march south if our report does not return on time. The Second Prince said... that if this city does not submit, it will be burned to the ground."

A long silence enveloped the hall.

Zhaoyue paled for a moment, then slowly turned to Sylvia.

Sylvia set her teacup on the table with a small clink. She looked at Mo Lan, then at Sofia, and finally at Zhaoyue with a calm smile that, for some reason, was far scarier than anger.

"Five hundred Tier Seven and Eight mages, is it?" she said lightly. "Zhaoyue, please write that report beautifully. Write that everything is fine, and that the First Princess officially invites the Noble Council to visit in seven days."

"Invite them?" Zhaoyue was startled.

"Of course. We will welcome them properly." Sylvia stood, smiling at Sofia, who gave a small nod as if she already understood the plan. "Besides, seven days is enough time for Nocture to build a port, warehouses, and an intercontinental trade market. Let’s show them what the face of the future looks like."

From the roof of the hall, Sol yawned widely and muttered through telepathy, ’I smell a big party. Don’t forget to prepare more salted fish.’

Noir, perched on the windowsill, merely flicked his tail slowly. ’You never learn.’

Sylvia laughed softly and turned to the southern sky, where the gate frame hidden behind the cliffs of Quiet Bay awaited the first flow of troops, ships, and goods from across the ocean. In seven days, the land of Tianhua would see what it meant to face a civilization that had passed through the apocalypse.