Chapter 474 - 446: Sui Cang Hall

Chapter 474: Chapter 446: Sui Cang Hall

Duraga was frowning, conferring in a low, anxious tone with a full-bearded Gray Dwarf crewman over a stack of marked-up Sheepskin Scrolls.

But when Bronson heard Roland’s question, he turned around, his expression a stark contrast to Duraga’s—he was beaming with excitement.

"Troublesome? Not at all, Roland!"

The scholar excitedly caressed the cool metal casing of the Magic Net Disturbance Detector, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Quite the opposite! As we continue to follow the directional flow of the Magic Elements, the spatial coordinates are becoming increasingly clear! I can even... I can even faintly sense a trace of the ’normal’ world beyond this continent!"

He took a deep breath, as if to calm his racing heart.

"This proves our previous theories were correct! If we can reach that core node where the Magic Power converges, there’s a very high probability we can lock onto stable spatial coordinates pointing beyond Aiselon and finally leave this forgotten land!"

Hearing this concrete news, Roland nodded slightly and breathed a small, internal sigh of relief.

’At least the worst-case scenario—being trapped on this desolate, dangerous continent until we die—should be avoidable now.’

"Having a clear path out... that should be good news, right?"

As he said this, his gaze shifted to Duraga, who still looked deeply troubled.

"Then what’s troubling you, Duraga?"

Duraga heaved a heavy sigh and looked up at Roland.

"The path itself is fine, and the direction is right. But it’s not that simple, Rudolph."

He tapped the detector beside him with a coarse finger.

"Because all the Magic Elements are flowing toward that one direction, the Magic Net along our route and in the surrounding area has become exceptionally sluggish and murky."

"My kinsmen and I modified the Shell Ship, so it can barely navigate this environment. But it’s like forcing a ship used to a tailwind to sail directly into a headwind. We can’t get up to our proper speed, and I’m afraid this drag will only get stronger the closer we get to the node."

He paused, his expression growing even more grim.

"And according to our current calculations, while the direction of that Magic Power convergence point is clear, the actual distance is vast. So..."

At this, Duraga shrugged helplessly. He took the stack of Sheepskin Scrolls from the Gray Dwarf crewman beside him and pointed to several supply reserve figures circled prominently in red.

"Based on our current speed and the estimated length of the journey, I’m afraid our supplies won’t last until we reach the node."

Hearing this, Roland immediately understood.

Back at the Zor Elf camp, Duadeng had been generous, providing substantial aid for their long journey. Duraga, for his part, had believed he’d made foolproof preparations and brought more than enough supplies.

But during their voyage across the Star Realm Rift, mundane supplies like food and water—things lacking any magical properties—had been damaged and had degraded to varying degrees. This was perhaps due to the bizarre temporal flow or Energy corrosion within the Star Realm.

This small amount of spoilage wouldn’t have been a problem for the planned journey, but no one had anticipated the sudden circumstances they now faced on the Aiselon Continent.

With the entire crew to feed, the supplies were being consumed far faster than expected.

But...

Roland scanned his surroundings. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruin and deathly silence.

A gray mist permeated the air, and the land was a barren waste, devoid of any sign of life.

’Trying to find enough food and water to sustain the whole crew on this continent—a magical wasteland, really—is probably going to be "a little" difficult.’

"Don’t worry yet, Duraga. There’s always a solution."

After reassuring the anxious Gray Dwarf captain, Roland took out the ancient map of Aiselon that Duadeng had given him and spread it across a relatively flat surface on the deck.

First, using the surrounding terrain and the bearings detected by Bronson, he reconfirmed the Shell Ship’s precise location within the region known as the Breath of the Morning Wind.

Then, his finger traced a slow path across the map as his sharp eyes scanned the annotations for the surrounding areas.

Before long, a place name not too far from their current position caught his eye.

"Sui Cang Hall..."

His eyes focused on the name, and Roland raised an eyebrow.

The name Sui Cang Hall had been mentioned repeatedly in the ancient texts he’d found back at the Imperial Academy.

According to those texts, it was one of the Dawn Wind Empire’s official grain storage facilities.

After a thousand years, any ordinary grain stored there would have surely turned to dust, completely inedible.

But based on the information he’d gleaned from the tomes in the Imperial College Library, Roland was well aware of how advanced the Crystal Era civilization had been.

’If they could create Anti-Gravity Mountain Peaks and make civilian Arcane Magic commonplace, they must have possessed food storage and even emergency food production technologies that surpassed ordinary imagination.’

’Perhaps... there might be a clue or a method there to solve our pressing problem.’

’Even if there isn’t any ready-to-eat food, finding technical records or some still-functioning magical artifacts might allow us to create our own supplies.’

However, what truly caught Roland’s attention was a conspicuous note right next to the name "Sui Cang Hall," written in a slightly hurried hand that differed from the map’s other annotations.

The note clearly read:

[Site of the "Pale Gift" Incident]

Roland’s eyes locked onto this line of small text, and he unconsciously repeated the words in a low voice.

"’The Pale Gift’..."

He slowly furrowed his brow, his mind racing.

’The name has an indescribably strange and ominous ring to it.’

’Was it some kind of religious ritual?’

’A failed magical experiment?’

’Or perhaps...’

’...a political scandal?’

’From the name alone, I can’t possibly tell what it refers to.’

After pondering it further and still coming up with no leads on "The Pale Gift," Roland decided to push the question to the back of his mind for now.

’Right now, solving the supply problem is the top priority.’

He called Duraga and Bronson over to the map, pointed to the location of Sui Cang Hall, and candidly explained his idea.

Duraga was at his wit’s end over the supply issue; any glimmer of hope was worth pursuing, so he naturally had no objections.

Bronson, meanwhile, was intensely curious about any ruin potentially related to Crystal Era technology and nodded enthusiastically.

They reached a consensus quickly.

A few moments later, with a low hum, the Shell Ship once again ascended slowly, adjusted its course, and set off toward Sui Cang Hall.

Since the Magic Net Disturbance Detector hadn’t picked up the specific spatial coordinates for Sui Cang Hall, the Shell Ship was unable to make a precise spatial jump.

Just as when they had traveled to the Imperial Academy, it had to rely on its own propulsion, flying laboriously onward like a cumbersome aerial behemoth beneath a leaden sky and through the pervasive gray mist.

During the journey, Roland stood by a porthole, clutching the map. His hawk-like gaze swept over the lifeless, receding earth below.

"According to the map, we just flew over what should be Yongquan County..." Roland murmured.

But below, there were only dry, cracked riverbeds and vast, barren plains shrouded in a gray haze that obscured their original features.

A few dilapidated stone bridges lay forlornly across riverbeds long since devoid of water, as if silently recounting the land’s former prosperity.

"That sprawling black Shadow up ahead is probably the ruins of the Craftsmanship District..."

What came into view were the remains of countless collapsed forges and towering chimneys. They stood silently amidst the rubble like the skeletons of giant beasts.

Rusted metal and shattered brickwork lay jumbled together. The once-feverish heat and clamorous din had long been replaced by eternal silence.

The Forest Market...

Harvest Square...

... ... ...

Countless places, whose names alone hinted at their former vibrancy, were now nothing more than empty lots filled with twisted, dead trees and rubble, or desolate platforms paved with huge, cracked flagstones overgrown with bizarre moss.

With every landmark he cross-referenced, the crushing weight of history grew heavier in Roland’s heart.

The vibrant place names on the map formed a sharp, suffocating contrast with the ruined landscape before him, a world utterly destroyed by time and cataclysm.

He could hardly imagine that the dead land beneath him had once been a magnificent, bustling scene, filled with life and shimmering with the glow of Magic Power.

Unseen, the leaden sky dimmed and brightened with the silent passage of day and night.

The light, however, remained hazy and bleak, filtered through the endless gray mist.

At last, the silhouette of a vast and bizarre architectural complex pierced through the seemingly eternal fog, gradually coming into focus before them.

It was Sui Cang Hall.

Even in ruins, its former grandeur was still breathtaking.

Most of the massive, circular dome had collapsed, exposing the crisscrossing metal framework within, which resembled the ribs of a giant.

The supports were not made of simple steel but of some composite of metal and Crystal Stone that shimmered with a faint, eerie light.

Even coated in a millennium of dust, their craftsmanship was clearly ahead of its time.

On the surviving walls, the faint, sprawling patterns of long-dead Rune Circuits were visible, like desiccated blood vessels.

The remnants of huge conveyor pipes and sorting machinery, half-buried in the ground, hinted at a facility that once possessed highly automated, magic-driven grain-processing capabilities.

However, what surprised Roland was not just the dilapidated scene that spoke of ancient technology.

It was the faint wisps of pale gray smoke spiraling up from deep within the rubble. In this deathly silent environment, they were utterly out of place.

His gaze followed the anomalous wisps of smoke downward, finally locking onto the central plaza of the Sui Cang Hall ruins.

There, a tall statue stood prominently.