Chapter 39
A-An earthquake?
The ground rumbled and shook, making everyone stumble. I staggered back a step and accidentally bumped into Lian Qi’s embrace. She immediately steadied me.
“Be careful,” she whispered. So thoughtful.
It made me feel quite embarrassed. I smiled at her. “Mm. What’s happening?”
Lian Qi held my elbow, gazing into the distance.
“Fei’er, look.”
As far as the eye could see… the forest in the distance was sinking.
No.
We are rising?
So the ‘earthquake’ just now was because the land under our feet was being torn away. Unknowingly, this several-square-mile patch of land, carrying all of Nature’s Home’s facilities, had… just… started to slowly rise into the air, bringing us with it.
Lian Qi “tsked,” annoyed. She let me go, strode over to Loroshe, and grabbed her by the collar—“Professor Einstein must be behind this! Take us to him, and then stop him!”
Now that Professor Einstein is flying away with us, it’s no wonder Lian Qi is on edge.
“What is he trying to do?” I asked worriedly.
“I don’t know. Maybe he wants to crash us into the Mana Furnace and take everyone out with him?” Lian Qi said.
Loroshe’s face was a mask of bewilderment. “I-I’ll get everyone to look for him right now—Go! Go find him!” she immediately said to her companions behind her.
The moment she spoke, I heard that rumbling sound again.
Seriously… flying in the sky like this gives me a feeling of helplessness. It’s not as grounding as standing on the surface. Any small movement makes me anxious, always worried the ground I’m standing on will collapse at any moment, making me lose my footing and fall from this high altitude.
This time, the sound was coming from all directions. I looked around and found—this is bad. What are those things?
I nudged Lian Qi, reminding her to look.
All along the outer perimeter of Nature’s Home… that is, the edge of the floating land… mechanisms in the ground opened, and one magic tower after another rose from beneath. Their shape was like a miniature Mana Furnace, and the thing on top… seemed to be a prism polished from mana crystals?
I don’t get it.
At the same time, an even louder rumbling sound started. In the center of the vine-covered manor before my eyes, an even larger magic tower was slowly rising. In an instant, it tore apart all the climbing vines. The original atmosphere of being one with nature was gone, replaced by… an aura of heavy magic industry.
I could only watch—“Wow.”
Dumbfounded.
“So this so-called ‘Nature’s Home’ was modified long ago? And none of you knew?” Lian Qi glanced at the environmental volunteers, skeptical.
However, they all said they didn’t know.
And then…
A beam of light shot from the distant Mana Furnace in the Royal Capital, striking the mana crystal of one of the small magic towers.
The prism-shaped mana crystal then reflected the beam to the other magic towers.
Just like that, one passed to ten, ten to a hundred. All the magic towers were linked by the beams!
Finally, they all shot toward the largest one in the center of the manor, activating it.
The volunteers had already dispersed to find Einstein. Lian Qi stared at that tower and said, “That biggest tower… something is definitely wrong with it. Let’s go check it out.”
“Okay!” I nodded firmly. I saw the magic tower’s prism flash at us. I instinctively tackled Lian Qi!
She was pinned under my body, looking a bit nervous and confused.
A beam of light from the magic tower shot past, right over my head, and struck the ground a meter away, drowning out whatever Lian Qi was about to say.
Phew, that was close!
“The magic tower is attacking us!” I said quickly.
Lian Qi looked down at me, swallowed nervously, then immediately got up, grabbed my hand, and pulled me under the eaves for cover.
I originally thought the prism on the magic tower would keep attacking us, but unexpectedly! Although it kept firing beams, its target… wasn’t me or Lian Qi, but… the direction of the Royal Capital.
We should be suspended several hundred meters in the air right now. This tower is firing beams down at the Royal Capital… swish, swish, swish… and it’s even changing angles from time to time. It’s confusing.
“Come on, let’s get a closer look. If Einstein’s evil plan is related to that tower, he’ll definitely stay there to protect it.”
Lian Qi pulled my hand, and we rushed through the manor gate, straight for the magic tower.
As expected, Lian Qi’s judgment was correct. We passed through one door after another. Just as the central courtyard with the magic tower was in sight… the white-haired Professor Einstein was standing in front of us, leaning on a magic staff, backed by the ‘Nature’s Home’ slogan.
Lian Qi stopped, stared at him, and said coldly, “You still have the nerve to stand in front of those words: Conserve Magic, Protect Environment?1 As a magic scholar, you’ve actually gone down the path of stifling magic. This is truly a tragedy for all mages.”
“Haven’t you… hated the Mana Furnace all this time?” I asked. “Why did you secretly build so many things that look just like the Mana Furnace? And hide them under Nature’s Home?”
Faced with my question, he didn’t answer me directly.
“Children, weren’t you making a bet with me?” Professor Einstein said, leaning on his staff. “What you see now… was built to realize Lord Demon King’s plan…”
“What? Including making Nature’s Home fly… this is also that person’s plan?”
I noticed that the handle of the staff in his hand… was also inlaid with a mana crystal prism.
Even now, Professor Einstein still offered us a kindly smile. But this smile… combined with his actions… made me feel very uncomfortable.
“Of course, it should fly. Because it will be the sword hanging over the heads of all mages.”
“What exactly do you mean? Why does that sound like the Sword of Damocles?” Lian Qi said.
Einstein tapped the floor with his staff.
“This magic system was developed by me using the principles of wireless magic transmission. Through the Mana Furnace, it can endlessly transmit magic to these mana crystal prisms. And this kind of magic… is lethal.”
He continued, “This tower you see before you will monitor every mage within the entire country. If anyone uses magic… it will automatically fire a beam to strike the target. Like a god’s judgment. I call it… the Heaven’s Condemnation System.”
“System—”
No wonder it attacked Lian Qi just now. Is it because it automatically detected the magic wreathed around her?
I can’t understand… why Professor Einstein would use his genius on something like this.
While we were talking, the magic tower was still continuously firing beams in the direction of the Royal Capital.
Footnotes
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The slogan is likely “节魔环保” (Jié Mó Huánbǎo), which is a bit ambiguous. It could mean “Conserve Magic, Protect Environment” or “Restrict Magic, Protect Environment.” Given the context, “Restrict” might be more accurate to Einstein’s twisted plan, but “Conserve” is what the public-facing organization would likely use. I’ll stick with a slightly ambiguous but positive-sounding “Conserve.” ↩