Pillars of Ita

Fang He woke up from a deep dream and slowly opened his eyes. It was a fragmented dream, most of which he could no longer remember. It was as if he had just experienced the past again.

From the sea of ​​fire of Doliphon, to the silver spires, to the dead gods, to the shattered earth. Finally, Miss Tata stopped in front of him, staring at him with her dreamy emerald eyes, and reached out to touch him gently.

It woke him up.

He looked blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, blinked lightly, then turned around and saw another pair of eyes staring at him - icy blue like water, calm and traceless, like the surface of a lake in winter, emitting a clear coldness.

Seeing him wake up, the indifference in her eyes was quickly fading, like melting ice and snow. "--Are you awake?" The owner of the eyes asked--her nose was like a knife blade, her lips were like jade, and her flawless face was covered with ebony-like hair--her eyes seemed to be examining, and also with some concern, "Check, is there anything serious?"

Fang He was slightly startled. The black military coat, gray shirt, short skirt, black stockings and long boots, as well as the service badge on the chest and low-visibility shoulder straps were all the uniforms of the Stargate Special Operations Force. "Who is this?"

  He subconsciously wanted to speak, but pain spread from his limbs. Memories came back to his mind like a tide. The ritual of the Holy Mystery Society, he had been asleep since then. How long had it been? Where was he?

The woman stretched out her other hand and gently pressed him down. "It's nothing. You've been sleeping for two days. Your body needs some time to get used to it. Don't move yet. You will adapt little by little." Her voice was gentle, like broken ice falling into a glass.

Rustling.

Fang He felt strangely calm and at ease, and subconsciously asked, "Who are you?"

  He had actually recognized the other person's identity. He was a military man, Su Changfeng's colleague. Has Ms. Yugudora contacted them? Stargate Port sent people here so quickly. Is this still Saint Xuan, the free port?

"My last name is Shang, call me Wangyou," the woman answered, concisely. She had a special temperament, like the cold wind in winter, cold and gloomy, with a hint of alienation, but that was not Fang He's illusion, but...

He saw a clear gap, the space around the woman was constantly broken, a layer of frost formed on the outside, snowflakes kept falling, melting on the ground, and disappeared without a trace, but in the blink of an eye, everything turned into an illusion.

The power of law.

  Fang He immediately realized that the person in front of him was a dragon knight from the military—not on the league's rankings, not one of the names he was familiar with. She was like a solitary cliff, isolated and independent, shutting out the entire world. She held a long sword in her hands, and her black hair fell to her waist.

Fang He's heart was pounding.

Ordinary Chosen would have passed their prime after the age of 27 or 28, but this lady was exactly at this age, with an aura as great as the abyss and the sea. It had always been rumored that the military's Chosen were not subject to age restrictions, but this seemed to be the first time he had confirmed it.

The military's dragon knights have always been a top secret among top secrets.

Now, this top secret is right in front of him——

Could it be that he was being silenced? Fang Yu began to think wildly.

"My companions, they..." he couldn't help but ask.

"They are all fine," Shang Wangyou said, "This is still Saint Xuan, the free port."

"Did Ms. Yugudora tell you?"

Shang Wangyou nodded and said, "We have been searching for you nearby. The headquarters determined that after you escaped from the pursuit of the imperials, you went to Rotao or Saint Xuan in the south or north. Another dragon knight is in charge of the north, and here I am-"

Fang He opened his mouth, and an indescribable feeling suddenly emerged in his heart. The military sent out two dragon knights to search for his whereabouts. Was it necessary to make such a big fuss for him? He didn't know how to describe his mood for a moment. He was uneasy and a little excited.

"Not only that," Shang Wangyou saw through his little thoughts. She usually seldom said such nonsense, but she still added, "In fact, there are three fleets cruising nearby, and the girl from the Oak Knights just happened to encounter the nearest one."

Fang He opened his mouth wide. Are they all here to look for him? Three fleets, "...Isn't that too...exaggerated?"

"You went on a mission for us," Shang Wangyou said, "and you performed the mission very well. Although the special operations force has its own boundaries of authority, the military can't help you much with some things, but they will never let you be bullied easily."

Fang He felt warm in his heart. All the grievances he had suffered in the Empire seemed to be swept away at this moment. However, he had caused a huge trouble in Einbrok, and he was still a little uneasy. "But what about the Empire..."

"You taught me a good lesson."

Shang Wangyou looked at him and interrupted, "You won the championship based on your own strength. The Empire is not worthy of being called the birthplace of magic skills. You are two-faced. You have severely slapped the face of the First Division and avenged them."

"them?"

"People from the fleet," Shang Wangyou smiled slightly. This was the first time Fang He saw the ice and snow melting on her face. "You will understand when you go out. If I hadn't given the order, this place would have been crowded with people."

"You have a great reputation in the third division. Although some people are trying to discredit you, everyone has their own opinions, especially those who have watched the game. There is a lot of debate online now, but the majority of people still support you."

Fang He was silent for a moment. He had originally imagined many scenarios that he might encounter after returning to Corin-Ishurian.

And what Yugudola had told him before, made him more worried. Although he had no regrets about his choice, he couldn't help feeling homesick. When facing his country and region, he couldn't help feeling uneasy. Would 'they' still support him as they had in the past?

The facts have proved everything.

He took a deep breath, "...Sister Wangyou...has the communication between the two worlds been restored?"

Shang Wangyou narrowed her eyes, but did not refute the title. Her men were probably about to drop their eyes when they saw this scene. Is this still their captain? She shook her head, "No, but Stargate Port can receive communications from the ground."

Fang He then reacted and realized that he had asked a stupid question.

"What happened to the communication between the two worlds?"

Shang Wangyou's expression turned serious, and he looked at him and said, "This is exactly what I want to tell you, Ed, you better prepare yourself mentally."

Mentally prepared? Fang He was startled, feeling a little uneasy, "Something happened on Earth?"

His heart tightened: "How are my uncle and aunt?"

"They are fine, but they did run into some trouble," Shang Wangyou said, "But Su Changfeng should have told you that the evil star caused the coordinates of the two worlds to overlap, which led to the disruption of communication between the two worlds."

"Although this is only temporary and communication between the two worlds will be restored soon, some changes are irreversible. The overlapping of boundary markers has once again shortened the distance between the two worlds, causing some structural anomalies in Western Siberia, Eastern Sahara, and North and South America."

"Structural mutation...?"

"In short, the nature of space has changed. Overlapping landmarks have formed unstable channels... To put it simply, some areas on the ground are becoming unstable space gates. You can think of it as... another kind of 'star gate'..."

"Moreover," Shang Wangyou looked at him and said word by word, "this phenomenon will continue to expand."

Fang Yu spoke out of turn.

He never expected that such a big thing would happen on the other side of the star gate when he was about to go to the empire. It took him a long time to react and he couldn't help asking, "... In other words, the entire earth is turning into a huge star gate?"

"You can understand that."

"What will happen then?" Fang Yu asked hurriedly, "Will more people fall into Etalia... Or will the influence of the evil star penetrate the star gate and affect the earth...?"

"Not only that," Shang Wangyou shook his head, "The star gate is two-way. Now a large number of unidentified outsiders have entered our world. Terrorist attacks are heating up. Not long ago, a group of people attacked Bihai City."

"Tangtang!" Fang He stared at her closely, "Is she... is she okay?"

"She's fine. Our people located where these people were going in advance," Shang Wangyou said. "The military cooperated with the special police and went to your sister's school to rescue her and another student in time. Moreover, your uncle and aunt are now included in our protection."

She looked at Fang He and said, "But what I want to tell you is that they are coming for you—"

Fang He couldn't help but fall silent. He had actually realized this from the beginning. Before leaving Corin-Ishulian, Su Changfeng talked to him about the mystery surrounding him and the suspicious plane crash in which his parents died.

If those people didn't have a clear purpose, why did they go looking for trouble with Tang Xin and Ai Xiaoxiao? They were just ordinary students. The military protected their uncle and aunt, which also indirectly explained the problem.

Fortunately, with the intervention of the military, my uncle and aunt's family should be safe. The mystery surrounding him is related to the remains of a saint from more than ten years ago, and is also related to the Star Port smuggling case. Star Gate Port will obviously pay close attention to it.

He couldn't help but ask: "How is Tang Xin now?"

"She is fine. She and her classmate are being protected in a backup base in Stargate Port," Shang Wangyou replied, "but it will be difficult for them to complete their studies. They will never have this opportunity again. The overlap of the two worlds is being completed. The military intends to let them adapt in advance. They have also participated in military training. They only have one life on the other side of the Stargate, but it will be different after passing through the Stargate."

Fang He breathed a sigh of relief. This was the wish of his cousin and Ai Xiaoxiao. He didn't know how to start the conversation for a moment, because the sudden change had completely disrupted his plans. "Is time so tight, Sister Wangyou...?"

Shang Wangyou nodded slightly.

"In fact, another responsibility of the Stargate Port is to monitor the approach of the coordinates of the two worlds. At that time, the Stargate was built in order to actively explore the world behind it. On the other hand, it was also a choice we had to make—"

"For more than half a century, research institutions in various countries have been measuring relevant data and have concluded that the overlap of the two worlds is accelerating, while research related to the curse star was only started later, and the two parallel projects were only merged one by one after the properties of the curse star were observed."

"But the facts are still beyond our expectations. The latest inference is that the intersection of the two worlds will be completed within five years at the latest. Countries have already begun preparing backup plans and gradually recruiting more Chosen Saints to project more power into this world."

Fang He listened to this in silence. Su Changfeng had actually told him about the expansion of the recruitment of the Chosen Ones.

In fact, he was not too surprised. He just looked at the other party and asked, "So, the Star Gate Declaration actually included these from the beginning. Countries are investing their forces into the Star Gate to find a solution to the problem?"

"Yes," Shang Wangyou nodded gently, "This concerns the common future of mankind, so all governments signed the declaration. However, after passing through the star gate, we had a conflict with the civilization of another world. In the history that followed, we sat back at the negotiation table and settled the dispute with peaceful initiatives. That was indeed the most glorious era."

"The first generation of the Super Athletic League's Chosen Ones," she said, "are what you call the Forerunners. They, as well as the original vision of the League, are indeed the hopes of all mankind. And they lived up to expectations by heading to that unknown world, opening the second door and paving the way for the 'Sanctuary' project."

"Shelter plan?"

Fang He felt that in the three years since he passed through the star gate, he had never been exposed to so many new terms and concepts in one day. Although Su Changfeng had discussed with him in depth about the understanding of the disaster star on the other side of the star gate, he had never told him these secrets.

"The two worlds are intertwined, and the star of disaster is bound to descend. The extinguished starlight and the shadow of death are like shadows that come to us, our world," Shang Wangyou said, "but civilization will not sit idly by and wait for death. If the first world is bound to sink, then perhaps the second world is our hope—"

Fang He was stunned and took a deep breath. So that's it. So that's it.

This is the reason why the first generation of pioneers who crossed the star gate and their successors have continued to explore to this day.

In the silence, the disillusioned glorious past seemed to return to his thoughts again. The road paved by generations had never been meaningless, nor was it just a product of some people's greed and ambition.

However, its significance was not known to most people in the world from the very beginning.

However, the door to the second world had already been opened, and countless saints and explorers from several continents had already taken root there.

So, did that plan come to fruition?

"No," Shang Wangyou said in a much lighter voice, "The coordinates where the two worlds overlap are anchored on the Ether vein of Ataria, but we don't have a very good plan to project those things into another world out of thin air."

Fang He shuddered, and suddenly thought of something. The ambitions of the imperial people suddenly returned to his memory. He raised his head and looked at the lady, "...So the shelter plan is actually... projecting the entire Ethernet vein into the second world...?"

"No," Shang Wangyou shook his head, "It's not a projection."

"But it's teleporting—"

It was as if the blood was rushing back to his forehead, and Fang He's heart was pounding. Wait, what a spectacular plan - if it was successfully executed, it would connect at least four floating continents of Etalia together through the Ethernet.

Directly teleport to the world behind the door.

But how is that possible?

Even if the Saints of Orin joined together to promote this mortal's plan, he could not imagine projecting the four main continents into the second world. After all, that would even exceed the authority of God, so how could Stargate Port reach that?

"But it is possible," Shang Wangyou replied, "because we found a kind of crystal in the Turbid Realm of the Second World. It has the ability to penetrate the world barrier in a short period of time. It can ignore the continental bridge and the world gate and perform short-term point-to-point transmission."

Fang He swallowed his saliva.

He seemed to realize what it was.

Shang Wangyou's icy blue eyes stared at him quietly, "You have seen the power of that crystal twice. It is not actually a product of the Second World. The Numelin elves once gave a batch of them to mortals."

"Later, they were called holy relics."

"Or, another name-"

Star Dagger.

Hailin Crystal.

Fang He had almost lost the ability to think. He finally understood why Mia seemed so important in the eyes of all those forces. Looking at the entire Ataria - the entire second world, this wolf girl was also the only person who had successfully activated the power of the Star Dagger twice.

She had passed through the star gate twice, jumping from the higher world into the lower world, and no one knew what happened in between. Perhaps that was why those people were so crazy.

He opened his mouth subconsciously, but no sound came out.

"Miss Mia...she..."

"We have communicated with her," Shang Wangyou said, "...but the way she stimulated the crystal is beyond our imagination. In short, it is related to the twin harmony in you..."

"Twins' cooperation?"

Shang Wangyou nodded, "Yes, but everything has yet to be verified. The Twin Alliance in you is not always active. We don't have much clue at the moment, and we can't draw any conclusions. So we agreed to her plan and let her stay in the Seven Seas Brigade for the time being and act with you -"

  Fang He was stunned. Is this even possible?

"Ed, you are very special," Shang Wangyou continued, "When Mia activated the Star Dagger for the first time, the coordinates were directly locked on you. According to her, she directly locked on your starlight among all the starlight, so she appeared near the Dawn Star afterwards-"

"Later, the Hailin Crown recognized you first, and then it was transferred to her." She paused, "This may not seem like a big deal to you, but the problem is that Miss Mia received information that the authority she obtained was a secondary authority of the Hailin Crown."

"So in fact," Shang Wangyou replied, "from the moment she took over the Hailin Crown, the Twins' Alliance was already planned for you."

You could hear a pin drop in the room.

Fang He didn't know what to say for a moment, but Miss Mia had never told him these.

"Because she herself doesn't know," Shang Wangyou said, "She also has many doubts in her heart, so she wants to communicate with us. The troubles she was involved in before are not what you can imagine, and she doesn't want you to get involved."

"She left you just to verify everything by herself; but she didn't expect that the starlight would still lock onto you in the second projection."

Is this the reason why Miss Mia stayed in the Seven Seas Tours? She realized that there was no point in avoiding them, so she stayed to find the truth?

Shang Wangyou looked at Fang He and asked, "Ed, have you thought of anything?"

Fang Plover lowered his head.

How could he have any clues when even the military and Miss Miya couldn't think of an answer? Just a moment later, he suddenly raised his head in disbelief, and a flash of light flashed through his dark thoughts:

Cang Zhihui——

If we were to say that the only power in him that was related to the Hailin Crystal was this thing.

  But the Blue Glory only entered his body after he obtained the Crown of Hailin. How do you explain the abnormality when the Star Dagger was activated for the first time?

"It seems you have thought of it," Shang Wangyou said, "The four holy objects all come from Cang Cui's remains, and Cang's Brilliance comes from the power of the source of the disaster star. In our opinion, this is not a secret, but it is special only for you."

Fang He looked at her in surprise, not quite understanding what she said.

The lady continued, "There are four holy relics in existence, but no one except you has gained any power from them. Cang Zhihui has only recognized you from the beginning to the end."

"But why?" Fang He asked.

"We don't know either," the latter shook his head gently, "Perhaps that is the answer to all mysteries, and it is what we want to know, but now all clues related to the four sacred objects point to the second world."

"One of the seven obelisks has sunk into the abyss, so people can only place their hopes on another prophecy, the place where twenty stars shine together. People previously believed that it was Mount Covenant, but you all know what happened afterwards—"

Fang He couldn't help but smile bitterly. This was related to Miss Miya again.

"So in short, it's always right for you to go to the Second World now. The major guilds have also begun to withdraw their personnel. They have obtained enough clues from the First World and have once again turned their attention to the Gate of the Sea in the Turbid Realm legend."

Shang Wangyou said: "If your wish is to go behind the gate, perhaps the military can provide you with a special passage, but in that case-"

Fang He immediately interrupted her, "No, Sister Wangyou, I want to cross the land bridge by myself."

He was well aware of the other party's subtext.

Passing through the door is a test. People call crossing the bronze steps "pushing open the silver door." Only those who have passed through the door personally are qualified to push open the silver door and move to a higher realm.

This is one of the reasons why qualification to go to the Second World is so precious.

But the military has its own channel to the second world, which is a semi-open secret to the outside world. But if the Seven Seas Brigade goes to the second world in that way, then they will never be able to reach higher heights.

They will also have no chance to explore and develop the future.

That was something he absolutely could not accept.

Shang Wangyou looked at him silently, but did not object. "If you think about it carefully, I can respect your wishes."

"After all, all countries are advancing the research on the Hailin Crystal and the Four Sacred Objects. We don't need a node like you for now. Moreover, even if we figure out the secret of the Hailin Crystal, we will need a huge amount of ether nodes to implement the 'sanctuary' plan."

"You still have time, and so do we," she replied, "but you have to understand that the responsibilities and powers of the special operations forces are very clear. In the First World, we can't really help you much. Once you leave Corrin-Ishurian, you will hardly get any support from us."

Fang He nodded without hesitation.

Because he not only has to go to the second world, but before that he has to go to the Giant Tree Hill to rescue the elf lady.

His plan had already been made, so naturally it would not be changed.

"Okay then," Shang Wangyou said, but he didn't look disappointed at all. Instead, he looked at him with some appreciation, "But there is one more thing."

Fang He looked at her with some confusion.

"Everything I told you today is highly confidential. Originally, even I was not qualified to know it. I was only informed of this information after I completed the mission. Ed, you must sign a confidentiality agreement with us."

"what?"

...(End of chapter)