Chapter 498 - 469: Welcome to Silver Radiance City

Chapter 498: Chapter 469: Welcome to Silver Radiance City

The train moved with exceptional smoothness. If it weren’t for the scenery constantly rushing past the window, Roland would have barely sensed any movement at all.

Scorched battlefields, weathered Giant Stones, desolate wastelands...

Everything slid backward as smoothly as an unrolling scroll, without the slightest jolt or tremor.

Pulling his gaze from the window, Roland began to carefully inspect the train’s interior.

The carriage’s interior was surprisingly spartan, yet every detail hinted at an exquisite craftsmanship far beyond this era.

The walls were made of some kind of warm, milky-white material, its surface shimmering with incredibly fine patterns of light that brightened and dimmed as if breathing.

There were no traditional seats. Instead, a dozen or so curved seats hovered in mid-air, their surfaces covered by a soft Force Field.

The ceiling was inlaid with a row of deep blue crystals. The light they cast was bright but not harsh, blanketing the entire car in an atmosphere of Serenity.

The most striking feature was a pillar in the very center of the car.

It was made of transparent crystal and contained a slowly rotating star chart.

The points of light were not static; they drifted along complex trajectories, as if a miniature cosmos had been brought down to the mortal realm.

A faint, fresh scent filled the air, like a forest after the rain mixed with some indescribable metallic tang.

No sound of machinery could be heard in the entire car—only the almost imperceptible whisper of wind from the scenery flowing past the windows.

This time, however, the creation—so far beyond their era—did not inspire awe or curiosity.

The partners, tempered by dozens of cycles, had long since shed their initial sense of wonder. In its place was absolute vigilance.

They instinctively gathered in the middle of the car, forming a tight defensive circle with Roland at its center. Every one of them was on edge, their sharp gazes sweeping every corner.

It was as if an unknown threat could leap from the flowing patterns of light and the deep Shadows at any moment.

Amid this tense silence, a side door slid open with a low, smooth hum.

Duraga appeared in the doorway, his brow deeply furrowed. His stocky arms were dusted with a fine metallic powder.

Seeing this, Roland gently patted Avril, who stood tense before him. He guided her by the shoulder to a nearby hovering seat and gave her a reassuring look before turning to the Gray Dwarf leader.

"Did you find anything, Duraga?"

Duraga shook his head heavily and slumped into another hovering seat. The seat dipped slightly under his weight, sending ripples across the Force Field on its surface.

"This thing is absurdly huge."

He ran a hand through his grizzled beard in frustration.

"The passageways are a maze, and there are too many compartments. I can’t possibly map out the whole thing by myself in a short amount of time."

He stomped his heavy boot on the floor in agitation, and the metal plating gave a dull thud.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over his wary companions as his voice dropped to a low rumble.

"Rudolph, I know you had my people stay behind on the Shell Ship in the Star Realm out of caution, and I thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. But given the current situation..."

He held out his calloused hands.

"There are too few of us. Who knows what’s waiting for us up ahead."

"A few more pairs of eyes, a few more trusty hammers... it wouldn’t be a bad thing."

"Duraga. Everyone..."

Hearing this, Roland looked around at his tense companions and clapped his hands softly.

"There’s no need to be so tense."

When their somewhat dazed eyes focused on him, he continued.

"What awaits us might not be an entirely unknown danger."

Bronson fidgeted with his fingers and asked, confused.

"What does that mean, Roland?"

"What Roland means is..."

Avril took a deep breath, suppressing the anxiety in her eyes. She forced the corners of her mouth into a semblance of her usual radiant smile.

"We’ve been through dozens of cycles but have never once fallen into a truly fatal trap. That means our opponent either has no intention of harming us, or... they lack the ability to harm us directly. So..."

"So they’ve resorted to trapping us by manipulating Space-Time, right?"

Galvis chimed in, casually polishing his Lute.

Seeing him voice the very analysis she had been formulating, Avril wrinkled her nose in annoyance, making the Minstrel lower his head sheepishly.

"Precisely."

Roland gave a slight nod, his gaze shifting to Duraga.

"So you see, Duraga, more people isn’t necessarily a good thing."

"Although our opponent seems to lack malicious intent or direct lethality for now, everything within Silver Radiance City remains an unknown. More importantly, there’s the power they possess to manipulate Space-Time."

His tone became exceptionally grave.

"Against such a being, bringing in more people wouldn’t just be useless—it could put your people in unnecessary danger."

In fact, when Roland learned that Duraga could safely moor the Shell Ship in the Star Realm, his initial plan had been to enter Silver Radiance City alone to investigate.

An indescribable intuition told him that he himself was likely the target of the mastermind behind this time loop.

With his strength far surpassing that of his partners, acting alone would not only be more flexible, but even if he met with disaster, he could at least ensure the others remained unharmed.

But when he announced this decision to the others, he was met with unprecedented and resolute opposition.

"Did you really think we would just stand by and watch you walk into a place like that all by yourself?"