Chương 80: Battle Bastion

The flying fortress hovered within the gray fog. Only after standing directly beneath it did Rowan realize that what he had seen from a distance wasn't even its full scale. Its shadow covered most of the temporary embarkation zone. Several heavy docking passages hung from the underside of the fortress. Vehicles entered along designated routes, then departed from the other side. Military personnel moved through the crowd. Candidates from different Abyssal Hives were divided into separate areas.

Some wore identical combat uniforms. Some carried long spears or greatswords on their backs. Others had brought nothing more than a small equipment case. Complicated exoskeletons were almost nowhere to be seen. There wasn't a single high-output external core in sight. Every candidate wore the same pale-gray seal on their left wrist. Rowan followed the signs assigned to the Seventh Abyssal Hive. Julian walked on the other side. Several steps separated them. Neither made any attempt to speak.

Just as they approached the first verification checkpoint, someone nearby called Julian's name. Julian stopped. Several young people in dark-blue combat uniforms came over from another passage. A silver-white insignia was fixed to the collar of the person leading them. Rowan had never seen it before. But he still picked up a few things from their conversation. Ore shipments. Transportation. And a batch of equipment that the Aether Consortium had brought back to the Seventh Abyssal Hive from outside last month.

They clearly weren't meeting for the first time. Julian soon joined the group. Rowan looked over only once before withdrawing his gaze. It wasn't strange. The Aether Consortium had operated throughout Sector 4 for years. There were plenty of families in the surrounding Abyssal Hives that maintained trade relations with it. Even in a different place, Julian would still find acquaintances far more easily than Rowan. The line ahead moved slowly. An argument suddenly came from beside him.

"I'm saying this now. Once we're inside, don't fight me for the seat against the wall."

"Didn't you say you don't get motion sickness?"

"I don't."

"Then why did you throw up earlier?"

"The Neutralizer tasted horrible."

"I took it too."

"So?"

"I didn't throw up." Rowan turned his head. The speakers were two young men. Their height, hair color, and long, narrow faces were nearly identical. Even their combat uniforms differed only in the numbers printed on their shoulders. One looked somewhat pale. The other was full of energy, watching him with folded arms.

"That's because your sense of taste is broken."

"Yesterday you said we had the same sense of taste."

"Yesterday was yesterday." As they spoke, both stepped forward at the same time. The line had just moved. Even their movements were almost perfectly synchronized. Rowan gave them a second look. Someone suddenly patted his shoulder from behind. The touch wasn't heavy. But Rowan had already stepped half a pace aside and turned around.

"Ro—" The young man behind him paused. The expression on his face barely changed. But after the first syllable, the sentence abruptly shifted direction.

"Hello. Nice to meet you." He smiled and extended a hand.

"Evan Lloyd." Rowan looked at him. Around twenty years old. His short, pale-blue hair was slightly messy. His most noticeable feature was a pair of thick eyebrows that nearly met in the middle. His combat uniform didn't look expensive. Nor did it display any obvious family insignia. But his smile appeared completely natural. As though he saw nothing strange about walking up behind a stranger and patting him on the shoulder.

"Rowan Vance." Rowan shook his hand.

"Seventh Abyssal Hive."

"Twenty-Sixth Abyssal Hive." Evan gave his own origin as well. Afterward, he didn't return to his original line. Instead, he naturally took up a position beside Rowan and continued moving with him. As though they had always intended to board the bastion together. Rowan didn't point it out. That unfinished syllable still lingered in his mind. Ro... It was also possible Evan had simply stumbled over his words. The surroundings were noisy. A single syllable wasn't enough to prove anything.

"First time seeing one this close?" Evan raised his head toward the structure above them. Rowan looked up as well. Layer upon layer of deep-gray outer armor covered the underside of the floating battle bastion. Several sections were open. Using mechanical arms, engineers guided a new armor module into position. Deeper inside— Dark-red array patterns appeared and disappeared. Like blood vessels wrapped beneath the armor.

"It looks even bigger up close."

"Aerial Battle Bastion," Evan said.

"That's the military's official term."

"That should be what they call it over the broadcast too." Rowan looked at him.

"You know a lot about it?"

"A little." Evan's answer was casual. The line moved forward again. Soldiers checked the Silence Seals on each candidate's left wrist and confirmed that their weapons matched the registered records. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The two followed the crowd into the first docking passage. The heavy metal structure extended down from the underside of the bastion. Inside, the only sound from outside was the muffled roar of machinery.

"How long can something like this stay out there?" One of the twins ahead was still looking up and studying the docking passage. The other thought about it.

"A month?"

"Didn't you say you watched two whole episodes about these?"

"The program said it could conduct long-term operations."

"How long is long-term?"

"More than six hours, anyway." Evan laughed quietly. Rowan turned toward him.

"Was he wrong?"

"Not exactly." Evan raised a hand and pointed upward.

"As long as it remains connected to fixed resupply nodes in Sector 5, regularly replenishes mana-ore crystals, and rotates its array materials, it can stay there for months without much trouble."

"If it completely leaves the supply line..." He thought for a moment.

"Standard independent operation is probably a little over ten days." Rowan looked at the array patterns flashing beyond the docking passage.

"The outer armor isn't what limits it."

"Of course not," Evan said.

"Tainted Energy doesn't directly dissolve metal."

"The real problem is all the active array circuits inside."

"The stabilization field, the neutralization cycle, the energy supply, and the replacement of array materials." He didn't speak quickly. Nor did Rowan hear any deliberate attempt to show off. It sounded more like Evan was discussing something he knew extremely well.

"If an ordinary aircraft remains in Sector 5 for too long, the control systems and energy supply are the first things to malfunction."

"This thing has multiple layers of redundancy."

"It can keep flying even after part of it fails." Rowan didn't continue questioning him about the structure. What Evan described was generally consistent with the Sector 5 equipment Rowan had seen before.

"How long will this trip take?" Rowan asked.

"A little over six hours," Evan replied. There was almost no hesitation. Rowan looked at him. Evan seemed to realize he had answered too quickly and added:"That's what I heard."

"A little over six hours if everything goes smoothly."

"There's been a beast migration outside recently. If they have to take a detour, it's hard to say."

"Which area?" Evan answered:"I don't know the exact location."

"Only that it's beyond the established route." That answer sounded more normal. Rowan had previously left a fixed cleared route with an exploration team. He understood the difference between areas inside and outside those routes. Sector 5 was dangerous. But there were still military roads, beacons, and regular patrols. Once those were left behind— The route itself was no longer fixed. And the activity ranges of aberrant beasts wouldn't obediently remain within the markings on a map.

"The military didn't clear the route beforehand?" Rowan asked.

"Probably not completely," Evan said.

"Clearing a route solely for this operation would cost too much."

"And the larger the disturbance, the more likely it is to attract things from farther away."

"Besides, this is exactly what this thing is built for." He raised a hand and patted the heavy metal wall beside them. The gesture was as casual as if he were patting an ordinary transport vehicle.

"Having an Aerial Battle Bastion clear the way is safer than making a ground convoy slowly push through a migrating beast herd." Rowan didn't disagree. Transporting three hundred candidates alone certainly didn't require a military platform of this size. But the candidates couldn't be the only people involved in this operation. Spatial stabilization equipment. Ruin technicians. Medical and contamination-treatment personnel. Perimeter combat forces. And everything else that might go wrong.

The Aerial Battle Bastion was more like a temporary forward base than a transport vehicle.

"How many people came this time?" Rowan asked.

"More than fifty Abyssal Hives," Evan said.

"Probably around three hundred official candidates."

"Less than six from each Hive on average."

"High-risk special recruitment." Evan spread his hands.

"People who have a safe path available usually aren't willing to sign an agreement like this." After speaking, his gaze passed Rowan and settled on another passage. Julian was going through verification with the candidates who had approached him earlier. The person leading them seemed to say something. Julian unusually responded with a few words. Evan watched for a moment.

"Your enemy certainly knows a lot of people." Rowan turned his head.

"I don't remember saying he was my enemy." The smile on Evan's face froze for half a beat. It was extremely brief. Someone who wasn't paying close attention would barely have noticed.

"There were only two of you in that transport." He quickly smiled again.

"After getting out, one of you went this way and the other went over there."

"You still haven't said a single word to each other."

"The chances of you being friends are practically zero, right?"

"We're not friends." Rowan looked at him.

"So that makes us enemies?"

"That was a little exaggerated." Evan didn't avoid his gaze.

"Opponents?"

"Competitors?"

"You can't actually be friends, can you?" Rowan didn't answer. The line ahead had begun entering the second verification gate. Evan didn't explain himself any further either. He continued walking as though nothing had happened. Rowan followed beside him, his expression unchanged. But his caution had already risen. Something wasn't right. From the moment Evan approached, he had shown almost none of the distance normally expected between strangers. He might have heard Rowan's name beforehand.

Or he might have investigated Julian. Julian had been cultivated by the Aether Consortium's proxy family in the Seventh Abyssal Hive. Even here, people still approached him to talk. Could Evan be connected to them as well? Someone Julian had arranged? Using the identity of an unfamiliar candidate to come over and draw information from Rowan? The theory had only just appeared when Rowan temporarily suppressed it. It didn't quite fit. Evan had not asked about his tier.

He hadn't asked what spell artifacts Rowan carried. Nor had he probed his spells, physical condition, or military-exam preparations. Most of what he had discussed involved the battle bastion, the route, and the number of candidates. If Julian had arranged for him to gather information, he wouldn't waste his time on those topics. And judging by Julian's personality— Even if he wanted to probe Rowan, he wouldn't choose someone who aroused suspicion with his very first sentence.

For now, Evan didn't seem to have been sent by Julian. But that didn't mean he had no purpose of his own. He had initiated the conversation. After introducing himself, he had simply remained beside Rowan as though it were the most natural thing in the world. It didn't feel like he had just met a stranger. He had immediately assumed the two of them could move together. Was he merely open and straightforward? Or did he have another motive? Rowan leaned toward the latter.

Still, Evan possessed a considerable amount of useful information. There was no need to push him away now. Listening further would make it easier to identify the problem than directly refusing him.

"That one over there." Evan suddenly gestured ahead. Rowan followed his gaze. In front of the second verification gate— A black-haired young man stood at the edge of the crowd. His combat uniform was ordinary. He carried no exaggerated external equipment. When another candidate passed beside him, their weapon case struck his arm. The young man simply turned aside. He even reached out and steadied the case before it could fall.

"Adrian Voss," Evan said.

"The only publicly registered Tier 1 Three-Phase candidate in this examination." People nearby were already quietly discussing him. Rowan looked for a little longer. Because of the Silence Seal, he couldn't clearly perceive the structure of Adrian's Source Crystal Core. But there was indeed something different about the way Adrian stood among the others. He wasn't releasing his aura. Nor was he deliberately displaying anything. People nearby simply left him a little more space without realizing it.

Adrian appeared long accustomed to it. He paid no attention to the surrounding gazes.

"You know about him too?" Rowan asked.

"That isn't a secret," Evan said.

"Anyone who followed the joint examination zone beforehand has probably heard of him." A Tier 1 Three-Phase Mage in his early twenties— Even across the entire southeastern wall segment, that was enough to make his name stand out. The line finally reached the verification gate. A soldier raised a scanner. Pale-gray light passed across the Silence Seal on Rowan's left wrist. There were no abnormalities. His carried equipment matched the records. The Three-Luminary Life-Warding Clasp over his chest remained quiet.

It triggered no reaction.

"Passed." The soldier waved him through. The metal door ahead opened to either side. A deep announcement sounded from above the docking passage at the same time. [Southeastern Wall Segment Joint Examination Zone. Embarkation Passages Two through Six are now open.] [All candidates who have completed verification are to board the Aerial Battle Bastion immediately.] Aerial Battle Bastion. It really was the military's official name for the flying fortress. The crowd began moving more quickly.

Rowan followed Evan through the hatch. The interior was wider than expected. There were no unnecessary decorations on the walls. Deep-gray metal support beams were left completely exposed. Armament patterns were embedded deep within the structure. Even through the sealed outer layer, dark-red light could be seen slowly traveling along the circuits. Physical signs hung overhead at regular intervals. Candidate Area. Medical Area. Equipment Area. Central Mission Hall.

Different groups were rapidly directed along separate routes. No one stopped to look around. Military personnel continuously urged those behind them to keep moving. Rowan followed the candidate passage farther inside. A low vibration suddenly came through the floor. At first, it was extremely faint. Like some enormous machine in the distance had just begun operating. Then the vibration gradually spread. Layer after layer of array patterns lit up inside the walls. Rowan felt his body sink slightly backward.

Several people in the passage instinctively grabbed the wall. But the backward pressure lasted less than a second. The internal stabilization array adjusted immediately afterward. Every tremor rapidly vanished. The floor became steady again. Only the increasingly deep hum proved that the enormous structure had begun moving.

"Did it just start?" Someone ahead asked.

"It was already hovering." Another person answered.

"This is it beginning to move out." Rowan looked back. The docking passages had already been completely retracted. The final hatch was closing. There was almost no sense of changing speed inside the bastion. Something with this much mass had begun accelerating— Yet the interior had only shaken once.

"First time aboard one?" Evan walked beside him.

"Yeah." Rowan didn't deny it.

"Mine too," Evan said lightly. Rowan adjusted the equipment on his body. Evan had already turned his attention ahead. They were directed into a temporary rest compartment. There were no windows. But a massive external projection covered the wall in front. The image came from beneath the bastion. The assembly area was slowly shrinking. Ground transport vehicles became tiny gray-black dots. Farther away— The fixed roads of Sector 5 extended into the depths of the gray fog. The bastion didn't continue rising.

It maintained its altitude and advanced along a military flight route. The compartment quickly filled with candidates. The twins from earlier had also been assigned here. The pale one immediately claimed a seat against the wall. The other stood beside him and stared for several seconds. Then sat in the adjacent seat.

"Weren't you supposed to be immune to motion sickness?"

"Shut up." On the external projection— A group of aberrant beasts moved among the ruins in the distance. There weren't many of them. As the bastion passed overhead, the creatures raised their heads one after another. One aberrant beast with flesh-like wings growing from its back suddenly left the ground. It flew upward at an awkward angle. It seemed to have been attracted by the enormous mana fluctuations of the bastion. Its flight was unstable. But it wasn't slow. Someone noticed it.

Quiet discussion quickly spread through the rest compartment. The aberrant beast broke through the fog below. It drew closer and closer to the bastion. The outer array patterns suddenly flashed. There was no blinding explosion. Nor was there an obvious sound of cannon fire. A streak of dark-red light passed through the edge of the projection. The aberrant beast's body abruptly stiffened in midair. Through the projection, they could faintly see a cloud of blood erupt from its chest.

Then it tumbled back into the gray fog. The bastion continued accelerating. Its heading never changed. The external array patterns quickly dimmed again. As though nothing had happened. Evan leaned back against his seat.

"See?"

"That's an Aerial Battle Bastion." Rowan didn't answer. He watched the external projection. Military beacons beside the route retreated behind them one by one. A moment later— The broadcast sounded again. [The current Southeastern Wall Segment Joint Examination Zone includes fifty-two peripheral Abyssal Hives.] [The total number of candidates who completed final registration is three hundred and six.] The rest compartment became somewhat quieter. Rowan looked at Evan. Evan noticed his gaze. He merely smiled.

[The Aerial Battle Bastion is expected to arrive at the target anchor point in six hours and twenty minutes.] [During transit, all candidates are to remain within open areas.] [Entry into military restricted zones is strictly prohibited.] [Contact with the bastion's protective arrays and energy nodes is strictly prohibited.] The broadcast paused for several seconds. Then continued with new instructions. [Attention, all candidates.] [Report to the Central Mission Hall within fifteen minutes.] [The Deep-Dive Legion will announce the operational discipline and basic rules of this assessment in the Central Mission Hall.] The compartment door opened. The candidates who had only recently sat down began standing. The passage quickly became crowded again. On the external projection— The final large fixed beacon in Sector 5 was retreating beneath the bastion. Farther ahead— The road began to disappear. Military markers became increasingly scarce. Only constantly moving shadows remained within the gray fog.

"Let's go." Evan was already standing beside the door.

"Time to hear what they're planning to make us do."