Chapter 1276 — Meeting in Person

This was by no means casual flattery but sincere respect—even during the period when Typhon and Cecil had been at odds, even standing on the "opposing" side, Windsor Mapel had had to acknowledge Cecil's advanced position in the field of arcane engineering, and acknowledge the immense transformation that the "Arcane Age" brought by Gaoyang Cecil had wrought upon this world; unlike those stubborn politicians who always let their backsides decide what their heads should think—as a scholar, Windsor Mapel could more plainly and candidly express her admiration for Gaoyang, who had brought "advancement."

"Lady Windsor Mapel... I know of you. Luoyan says you are his most trusted magical adviser, and that in the struggle against the 'Eye of God' especially, the role you played was irreplaceable," Gaoyang said with a faint smile, nodding to the legendary mage. "And now you have opened the door to the realm of the divine kingdom—in this age, we need experts who understand the gods as much as we ever have."

After this friendly exchange of mutual compliments, Gaosong's gaze fell upon Daniel and Mary.

"Daniel Fred, current president of the Typhon Imperial Engineering Association," Daniel said with a blank face. "I salute you. Behind me is my apprentice, Mary—no one of any consequence here."

"Daniel... I know of you too," Gaoyang said, likewise with a faint smile, sizing up this subordinate who reported to him at least twice a week. "You unraveled a great deal of our arcane technology—we sold you a single prototype engine, and it did not take you long to build engines of your own."

At these words, Windsor, standing beside him, felt a sudden surge of tension; though Gaoyang kept a smile on his face throughout, the sensitivity of the topic itself set the heart of the Royal Mage Association's president racing—she had in fact long known that her mentor held a uniquely sensitive position here; the arcane technology team he led had for years been the mainstay of resistance to "Cecil's arcane hegemony," and more than half the credit for Typhon's not being crushingly defeated when the Arcane Age came crashing down upon it should go to Daniel—and if this enormous contribution to Typhon were viewed in Cecil's eyes...

Then it would be no good thing at all.

But just as Windsor was fretting to herself, Daniel merely showed a faint smile that seemed to others somewhat gloomy: "Knowledge and technology know no borders; the people of every nation have the right to enjoy technological progress—our arcane engine prototypes, too, were hammered out by hand at the start, one blow at a time."

Gaoyang looked at Daniel earnestly for a moment, then smiled slightly: "The people of every nation have the right to enjoy technological progress... you are quite right."

It was as though the verbal "crossing of swords" with Daniel over that sensitive topic had been nothing but idle chatter.

Windsor Mapel breathed an inward sigh of relief.

Kamaier hovered to one side with a blank face (which he genuinely did not have), Daniel and Gaoyang both kept smiling, Mary strove to bow her head and reduce her presence, and Amber behind them seemed to be wandering off in her mind—everyone was well aware of certain things; only Lady Windsor Mapel had honestly spent a good while being nervous, and then honestly let out a breath of relief all at once.

Gaoyang nearly felt a twinge of guilt about it—fortunately he overcame that little psychological hurdle in time and swiftly became easy again.

And after the brief introductions and pleasantries, the party did not waste more time on ceremony.

Gaoyang came to the portal leading to the Divine Kingdom of the God of War.

The perfectly circular space passage, mirror-like, was steadily constrained in the middle of the portal platform, the passage reflecting the scene at its other end; in that broad plaza under a gray, overcast sky, Gaoyang saw the outpost facilities the explorers had set up, and the towering walls and palaces in the distance.

Kamaier floated beside him: "Through these days of advance and exploration, we have successfully established several supply stations within the divine kingdom; with the mana these supply stations provide, our exploration teams have roughly surveyed the conditions of the temple district, the arena district, and the plaza district—these areas count as the 'stable zones' of the whole divine kingdom, and beyond the outer edge of the stable zones are the 'boundaries' that are constantly collapsing; they are slowly caving in toward the center of the divine kingdom, and we still know very little about the various properties of those boundaries.

"We have already sent our exploration results thus far to the Divine Authority Council, and every member state shares these results according to the agreement...

"In addition, because of the uniquely 'interference-free' conditions within the Divine Kingdom of the God of War, we have installed a great many experimental devices in the arena at the heart of the divine kingdom, for research on numerous topics concerning the nature of mana; you should have received the reports on this subject on your way here..."

"Yes, I received them at Northport," Gaoyan nodded, his expression turning quite grave. "You have finally verified the wave nature of mana—the significance of this is perhaps as great as that of 'mortals stepping into a divine kingdom.'"

"We have not merely verified the wave nature of mana..." Kamaier said in a solemn tone. "'Lady High Tower' also discovered, in the course of this, phenomena even more bizarre, even more unsettling and perplexing..."

"I received her message as well," Gaoxi nodded slowly, recalling the countless questions and conjectures that had surged into his mind after he reached Northport and received Milmina's transmission, all of which had at last gathered into a tightly knit brow and low-spoken words. "She said that after comprehending the essence of mana she briefly entered a very strange 'state of self,' and in that state, from an unbelievable vantage, she saw the world's 'explanation'; she said she not only saw the wave nature of mana directly, but even 'saw' the wave characteristics of all things in the world, saw the blurred boundary between matter and mana—but she also said she could not explain the process in concrete terms, because her 'vantage'... could not be accurately described in writing or in speech."

"Yes, that is what she told us as well," Kamaier said with a slight nod. "Lady Windsor, Mr. Daniel, and I all attach great importance to 'Lady High Tower's' discoveries, but we have not the faintest clue where to begin."

"...A clue will turn up sooner or later," Gaoyun said with a light sigh. "After I return, I will have another good talk with our senior advisers; as for now... let us first go and see those things you found at the edge of the divine kingdom."

As Gaoyang's words fell, every gaze involuntarily went to the portal at the center of the platform.

Amber stared at that circular zone that seemed like a mirror's surface, and after a moment could not help but swallow hard. "I'm starting to get a little nervous..."

"Even I'm nervous, but what I feel more is anticipation," said Mo Jin, who had kept quiet for a long while, finally breaking the silence—he had not spoken all this time because everyone standing here was, in his mind, "a great figure who is changing the course of the world," and he felt that an adventurer who had lost his memories had best keep his mouth shut on such an academic occasion; but now the journey to the Divine Kingdom was about to begin, and this great adventurer's emotions finally got the better of him, stirring into excitement. "I even prepared a blank notebook specially for today..."

(End of this chapter)