Chapter 480 - 451: [Weaver’s Heart]

Chapter 480: Chapter 451: [Weaver’s Heart]

Faint sounds of liquid flowing and mechanical components resetting emanated from within.

"It worked! It’s running a self-diagnostic and starting up!"

Bronson’s face flushed with excitement. He nearly pressed it against the machine’s panel, greedily taking in the flashing, ancient data he couldn’t fully comprehend.

Before long, accompanied by a much clearer sound of running water, an outlet on the side of the machine slowly opened.

A stream of clear, colorless, and odorless water gurgled out, pouring into a storage tank below that had also been activated and automatically cleaned.

The water looked incredibly pure, and one could even feel a faint aura of active Magic Power.

"Wonderful!"

Avril said, pleasantly surprised. Elves have a natural affinity for pure water sources.

Next, they used another core to successfully activate the adjacent machine.

A similar hum sounded as the internal lights switched on, indicating that it, too, was operational.

"Looks like we won’t have to worry about drinking water for a while."

Roland looked at the two ancient machines, now humming with new life, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Bronson and the others busily collecting the purified water, Roland turned and headed toward several other unexplored rooms beside the storage area.

’After all, drinking water alone won’t be enough to sustain us on the journey ahead.’

However, the results of his subsequent exploration were somewhat disappointing.

These rooms weren’t additional storerooms, but rather an administrative area.

Judging by the surviving signs and the thoroughly decayed documents scattered across the floor, this had once been the records room for Sui Cang Hall, used to keep tedious accounts of grain income, expenditures, and inventory turnover.

The long passage of time and what were likely multiple sackings had long since left the place barren, with nothing but debris littering the floor.

The only find of any value was a small quantity of materials for preparing Nutrient Concentrate, which he discovered at the bottom of a relatively intact metal cabinet.

Although the quantity was small and their potency had diminished over time, by using the newly activated synthesizer, he should be able to produce a batch of improved Rock Core Blocks. These would be far more effective than the "placebos" Hom had, capable of providing real, substantial nutrition.

’The taste probably still won’t be anything to write home about, but it should be more than enough to cover our group’s Energy needs for the rest of the journey.’

After carefully packing all the usable materials he could find and sending them through the Secret Imprisonment Dice’s Space Gate for safekeeping, Roland dusted off his hands but didn’t leave immediately.

He closed his eyes, concentrating his Spiritual Power.

Just as he had in the other rooms, he sent his Perception out from his body like an invisible web, slowly spreading it to meticulously scan every corner of the vast warehouse.

Holland’s wild, almost mischievous message echoed repeatedly in his mind.

’Given that personality, if he deliberately left a message, then his claim of having "hidden something" is very likely true.’

’And anything the Eye of Order would pursue with all its might could be no ordinary item.’

’After a thousand years, the item has likely already been recovered by the Eye of Order, or perhaps discovered and taken by later explorers...’

’But since I’m here, there’s no harm in looking around.’

As he mulled this over, his Perception swept across the mottled walls, seeped into the cracks in the floor, and probed beneath the piles of rubble...

Most areas reported back nothing but silence, dust, and structural decay.

Just as he was about to give up, his Perception faltered for a moment as it passed over an extremely well-hidden corner of the storage area.

The spot seemed to blend in with the surrounding walls, covered in thick dust and cobwebs. But as his Perception probed deeper, he detected a layer of extremely faint Spell Patterns, their Energy almost perfectly merged with that of the environment.

These patterns formed an intricate, multi-layered Barrier of protection and concealment, its design far more sophisticated than the Magic common to this era.

However, not even the most powerful Magic could withstand the erosion of time. After a millennium, the Barrier’s Energy had all but dissipated, leaving not even a tenth of its original effectiveness.

This was why it revealed a nigh-imperceptible flaw under Roland’s focused Perception.

Roland opened his eyes, his sharp gaze fixed on the corner. He stepped forward slowly, carefully brushing away the surface layer of dust and grime, and ran his fingers delicately over the wall.

Soon, he found a nearly invisible seam.

Applying just the right amount of force, with a soft CLICK, a camouflaged stone slab—identical in color and texture to the surrounding wall—was slowly pushed aside, revealing a small hidden compartment behind it.

Inside the compartment lay an unremarkable, dark gray metal box.

The box’s surface was unadorned, bearing only the nearly worn-smooth Engravings left behind by the now-defunct protective patterns.

Roland carefully opened the unremarkable, dark gray metal box.

The box had no padding. A single object hovered silently a few inches above the center, slowly rotating.

It was a polyhedron, roughly the size of a fist, that glowed with a deep, ethereal blue, as if it contained a Star Wheel.

Its material was neither crystal nor metal, though it resembled both. Its surface was smooth as a mirror, yet a liquid halo seemed to flow within, where countless specks of light like tiny stars flickered on and off, forming a miniature star chart of the cosmos.

The object radiated a gentle warmth and a low, steady rhythm of Energy, like a heartbeat.

"This is..."

Roland was stunned by the exquisite and mysterious creation before him. Just as he was about to examine it more closely, the ancient bracer on his left wrist began to vibrate, distinctly and without pause.

The vibration wasn’t a warning. It felt more like a craving, a kind of...

Resonance.

Roland frowned slightly. With a mere thought, the mysterious Armor materialized on his body as if summoned, instantly spreading to cover him from head to toe. The cold touch of metal and its familiar weight returned.

Once the Armor was fully formed, Roland tentatively moved the ethereal blue core in his hand toward the socket in the center of his belt.

But before he could push the core in, the Armor seemed to gain a will of its own, exerting a subtle but distinct pull.

It caused his waist to thrust forward slightly, perfectly aligning the socket on the belt with the core.

In the next moment, the ethereal blue core seemed to be activated by an unseen force. Its rotation suddenly accelerated, and it emitted a brighter, softer radiance.

Roland no longer needed to hold it. It levitated on its own and, like a fledgling returning to its nest, drifted with steady precision toward the socket on the belt.

The moment the core made contact with the socket, there was no metallic clang as expected. Instead, a low, pleasant hum resonated, like an ancient string being plucked.

The core slotted perfectly into the socket, its edges merging seamlessly with the belt as if it had always been a part of the Armor.

Once it was set, the flow of the Star Wheel’s light points within the core visibly accelerated. The blue halo began to spread out from the belt like a living thing, following the patterns on the Armor.

Just as Roland was marveling at this strange, automatic integration, a gentle yet immense warm current surged from every point where the Armor touched his body.

It was like countless warm streams instantly flowing into every fiber of his being.

At the same time, his vision was suddenly illuminated.

Lines of text, glowing with a faint golden light and possessing a mechanical quality, cascaded rapidly across his vision.

[Unknown high-dimensional Energy source detected...]

[Analyzing Energy source structure...]

[Analysis in progress...]

[Identification code confirmed: ’Weaver’s Heart’...]

[Energy spectrum matching...]

[Compatibility assessment: Extremely high]

[Commencing preliminary Energy synchronization...]

[Core protocol link established...]

[Attempting to awaken deep Mechanical Assembly neural network...]

The stream of information left Roland reeling.

As he tried to focus his Spirit to understand the meaning of the text, he suddenly felt the Armor covering his body begin to emit a series of faint, dense vibrations.

Its once cold, matte surface was beginning to undergo some unknown transformation at a speed visible to the naked eye.