[Vol. 8] Chapter 308: The Imitated World
The lowest floor of the tower in the real world was a completely closed space. Here, there was only one big hall. Even though the outside was heavily guarded, this floor had no living creatures that could be seen with the eyes. There were not even many decorations or objects around.
There was only one thing that caught everyone’s attention.
In the very center of the hall stood the tower’s foundation. A gigantic mechanical magic furnace!
The base was terrifyingly huge, with a diameter of dozens of meters. At this moment, buzzing sounds and scorching heat were bursting out from the furnace, which was made of some unknown metal. The firelight reflected on everyone’s faces with a faint red glow, and the extreme heat quickly made a thin layer of sweat appear on their skin.
The temperature here must have been at least sixty or seventy degrees Celsius, far beyond what normal living beings could endure.
After checking carefully to confirm there were indeed no guards in this place, the strong warriors of the Sea Tribe Alliance finally let out a sigh of relief. They began observing the enormous furnace and looking around for anything of value.
“No wonder no one stays here to guard… With such high heat, who could possibly remain here for long? Your Highness, what do you think this strange furnace is used for?”
The Sea Tribe liked water. Normally, they naturally disliked high heat and flames. Although Alex’s strength, with Nitila’s help, had already reached the legendary level, even he couldn’t help but frown slightly at the waves of heat rolling out from the furnace.
The fact that this furnace served as the base of the tower meant it must have been built at the same time the tower was first constructed. It was not only the foundation but also one of the reasons the tower could exist at all. Forget about whether they even had the means to destroy such a strong object, even if they could, the moment it was broken, the tower would likely collapse, and the Empire would instantly know enemies had invaded. They would immediately send strong reinforcements to surround and kill them.
So unless there was no other choice, this furnace could not be touched.
The reactions of the other strong warriors were not much different from Alex’s. Since the furnace blocked most of the heat inside itself, the temperature, though uncomfortable, was still bearable for a short time. More important matters had to come first. Before long, one of them looked around and made a new discovery.
“Your Highness, Daughter of Truth, please look over there. There are stairs, they should lead to a higher floor.”
“Mm.”
The staircase curved upward without any attempt to hide it. Naturally, Nitila had noticed it right away, but she did not rush to leave this unbearably hot floor. Instead, she thoughtfully looked around, as if searching for something.
They had gone through so much trouble to sneak into the imperial palace and enter this mysterious tower for two purposes.
First, to investigate the plans of the World Sustainers who were working with the Austre Empire. And second, to search for and rescue the many Sea Tribe captives who had been sent here but had never been seen again.
The first matter could be left aside for now. As for the captives, they had already seen the tower’s full appearance from the outside. Though tall and magnificent, it was still impossible to hold tens of thousands of living beings inside. That meant this place probably had some kind of hidden mystery, for example…
“Everyone, please spread out and search carefully. Look for any hidden passages, secret mechanisms, or underground doors. But remember, do not touch anything you don’t understand, and do not make too much noise. If you find something strange, report it to me right away.”
“Yes!”
Nitila was the true leader of this mission, and since she had already shown her mysterious and divine abilities earlier, no one dared to doubt her orders. The warriors, including Alex, quickly spread out, leaving only the two girls, who were not part of the Sea Tribe Alliance, by her side.
Violet gave a small signal with her eyes, and Xiao Guang immediately understood, moving off by herself into the distance. Only then did Violet turn back toward the young mermaid girl, who had just calmed her breathing and taken out the Book of Truth again. The girl seemed hesitant, and Violet curiously asked.
“So, you think the base of this tower might be hiding something underground?”
Since Violet was someone she could trust, Nitila didn’t hide anything. Though she didn’t fully understand why the priestess wanted to send the dragon girl away for the moment, she nodded slightly.
“Yes. Do you remember back in the Eastern Sea Pearl, when I first asked for your help to investigate the mystery of my father’s disappearance? At that time, your friend Le Qiaoqiao discovered a hidden secret room in my father’s chamber. That shocked me a lot. So now I want to learn from that past experience and make sure not to miss any possible clues.”
“Hmm…”
The priestess fell into thought, looking somewhat doubtful.
“Then why not just use the Book of Truth to directly find the answer? Isn’t this kind of thing exactly what that power is best at?”
Hearing this, the princess couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.
“I want to do that too, but back then I didn’t have that ability, so I never found anything. The Book of Truth also has its limits. Carrying so many people through the ‘inner world’ already put a huge burden on it. I’m afraid it won’t be able to be used again in a short time.”
“In the end, it’s not a real divine artifact anyway, it’s only a partial material form of the Law of Truth.”
“I see. No wonder…”
The priestess didn’t comment much on this. She just lifted her eyes toward the higher floors of the tower and shook her head slightly.
“Nitila, I know what you’re thinking, but you also have to understand, rationally speaking, another possibility is far more likely right now.”
“...”
Faced with this blunt reminder, the princess fell into silence.
It was true that Nitila’s guess about an underground space seemed to make sense, since the tower’s outer size could never fit tens of thousands of captives. But there was also a key problem that couldn’t be ignored, why would the emperor bring so many living beings all the way here, only to lock them up?
That was clearly impossible. Just feeding tens of thousands of mouths would already cost a huge amount. The Austre Empire wouldn’t do something that useless. Since they had deliberately chosen “prisoners of war” as the target group, the hidden meaning was already very clear.
In the worst-case scenario, if those captives died fast enough and in large enough numbers, then there would be no need for much space to hold them, right?
Of course, this was just Violet’s guess. So she didn’t say it too firmly, nor did she stop Nitila outright. But to her, Nitila’s hopefulness seemed a little too idealistic, which was why she couldn’t resist mentioning it.
After a pause, the princess quietly shook her head and said,
“Miss Violet, I also know my effort may be useless. But if I don’t even try, then there won’t be even the slightest chance, will there? The coldest thing in this world isn’t refusing to save someone, but giving up hope from the very beginning in the name of so-called rationality. I… I just want to do what I can. I hope you can forgive my stubbornness.”
“~”
Even though the reply was unexpected, maybe even a little offensive, the priestess didn’t get angry. But she also didn’t step forward to help. She only nodded, let her eyes wander casually around, and then let her gaze fall again on the glowing, burning furnace at the tower’s base. She seemed to be secretly studying it, lost in her own thoughts.
Soon, the others who had spread out to search returned one after another, bringing back results that were not surprising.
“Sorry, Your Highness, I didn’t find anything useful.”
“Same here. And this floor is completely sealed, not even a single window. There are only two ways out: the main door and the stairs going up. The furnace heat can’t escape, the air is too dry, and water loss is too fast. Your Highness, it’s really not good for us to stay here too long.”
Several Sea Tribe warriors reported their findings one after another. Their conclusions were basically the same. Nitila, knowing what this meant, sighed softly. A hint of sadness appeared in her eyes, but she could only nod slightly and put the mission first.
“Understood. Since that’s the case, let’s go up and continue exploring. Everyone, please be careful.”
And so, they quickly gave up on the bottom floor, which held little value. Skirting around the furnace, they climbed the spiral stairs to the second floor of the tower.
As a spire, the second floor was clearly smaller than the base. They met no obstacles along the way. Looking around, they saw no living person here either. In the center stood another metallic magic furnace foundation, similar to the one below.
But this time, there was something strange. The furnace was not blazing hot. Instead, it gave off an intense icy cold!
No one knew what method was used to create such powerful frost, but it coated the furnace’s surface in a color like frozen frost. If the lower floor had been “burning hot,” then this place was the exact opposite, a sudden reversal into freezing cold. The temperature dropped instantly to dozens, maybe over a hundred degrees below zero. Even the walls and floor were covered with visible ice crystals.
“What… what on earth are these imperial people doing?”
Looking at the huge metal device that seemed like an eternal block of ice, Alex finally scratched his head in confusion. The other Sea Tribe warriors also glanced at each other with puzzled faces.
Before starting this mission, they had guessed many possible situations inside the tower, maybe it was a prison holding countless captives, or maybe it was a sacrificial altar for some evil being. But after climbing two whole floors, they hadn’t seen a single living shadow. Instead, they ran into this strange “ice and fire” contrast.
Could it be some kind of cruel and unusual torture?
“Hot and cold spaces… wait, could this actually be…?”
The group was confused, but Nitila, the Daughter of Truth, frowned slightly. She seemed to vaguely understand something from the strange sight in front of them. Still, she wasn’t completely sure. Instead of letting her subordinates spread out to search again, she looked around on her own as if to test her guess, and soon found another staircase leading upward.
“Let’s go. We’ll continue to the third floor.”
The space on the third floor was even smaller than the second. As expected, it was just as empty of people. In the center was another magic furnace pillar, whose method of creation was unknown.
But this one was different, it was neither hot nor cold. Instead, violent gales burst out of the furnace without end. The raging wind was like countless blades, cutting across the bodies of anyone who entered. The strong pressure of the storm even formed a barrier of air inside the hall, making everyone sway on their feet, barely able to keep their eyes open.
A faint white light from the Book of Truth blocked the wind blades. The princess’s face was calm as water. Watching her warriors urgently use their own powers to protect themselves, she did not hesitate and waved her hand, giving the order:
“Keep going.”
And so they continued upward. Very soon they found that each floor was actually very similar. The higher the tower, the smaller the space became. On every floor stood a magic furnace at the center, but with different powers burning inside.
The first floor blazed with scorching fire.
The second floor froze with extreme cold.
The third floor raged with storm winds.
The following floors, too, each had their own unique environment.
This continued for seven floors in total. Finally, under Nitila’s command, they stopped climbing. Her expression had turned strange, as if she was realizing something.
“The elements match exactly. It really seems they are deliberately imitating that special environment. But… what is the purpose of doing this?”
“Uh… Your Highness, what special environment are you talking about?”
“She means the Elemental World.”
At that moment, the quiet priestess, who had only been following silently until now, finally spoke. She answered Alex’s question on Nitila’s behalf.
As everyone’s eyes turned to her, Violet calmly explained.
“You’ve probably heard some of the Holy Academy’s theories before. Everything in this universe can be grouped under two ideas. [Matter], which represents all physical existence, and [Void], which represents the spiritual and immaterial. Just like the separation of sky and earth, the space between them is what we call the World.”
“Of course, the ‘sky’ and ‘earth’ I mention here don’t mean the sky and land we see. They mean the Lower Dimension and the Upper Dimension.”
“These two dimensions are very special. They can’t really be called full ‘worlds.’ If you imagine the main material plane where we live as a great tree, then the Lower Dimension is like the soil that provides its nourishment, while the Upper Dimension is like the flow of air that the tree breathes out. They exist apart from the ‘tree.’ Because of this, beings who live on the ‘tree’ can never truly enter those two dimensions.”
“Elements are the foundation of matter. The Lower Dimension is said to be a pure world of elements, filled with every element we know in our reality, but in quantities and strength millions of times greater. That’s why scholars often call it the Elemental World.”
“………Miss Violet is exactly right. You are truly knowledgeable. To be honest, I also learned these details only because of the Book of Truth.”
Nitila nodded, confirming and then adding:
“The Lower Dimension is the foundation of all worlds. And here, the word ‘World’ doesn’t just mean our home reality, but every world that appeared after the original act of creation. Both known and unknown. All of them are built upon this unique dimension. And this tower…”
“It seems to be imitating the state of the Lower Dimension.”