Chapter 270 Final preparations!
Arthur's calm words were like a meteor plunging into a silent, deep lake, not creating ripples, but rather a monstrous tidal wave.
"Depart now?"
"What a joke!"
"Wait!"
Doctor Roman was the first to break free from the shock, waving his hands repeatedly, the fatigue on his face completely washed away by the sudden fright.
"Absolutely not now!"
He rushed to Arthur's front, his tone urgent, pointing at the red light that had just appeared on the Chaldea Animus.
"Precise coordinate positioning, stability debugging for Spiritron Transfer, and the proof of the Age of Gods… all of these require time!"
"Romani is right."
Da Vinci also walked over, her face filled with the rigorous solemnity characteristic of a scholar facing an unknown field.
"Spiritron Transfer in the BCE era is already fraught with difficulties, not to mention that we are heading to the Age of Gods—an era where mystery has not yet faded."
Ritsuka, who always adhered to the principle of asking when she didn't understand, didn't care about her previous embarrassment and raised her hand to signal.
"Da Vinci-chan, what does 'mystery has not yet faded' mean?"
"Hmm… The Age of Gods and the modern era are two completely different sets of world laws."
Da Vinci raised her hand to pinch her chin, pondered for a moment, and then made gestures in the air.
"To give an example, the world at that time had not yet separated. The gods were in the sky, and the underworld was beneath the earth."
As she explained, several dark blue magic circles, layered on top of each other, formed a complex yet integrated model.
"Gods, humans, spirits, magical beasts… all beings lived in the same world, at most with a 'upstairs, downstairs' distinction."
"The most crucial point," Da Vinci's tone became exceptionally serious, "the atmosphere at that time was filled with high concentrations of True Ether that modern life forms cannot withstand."
She lightly tapped the perfectly nested circle model, looking at the half-understanding Ritsuka with a hint of helplessness in her eyes.
"Forget about fighting, ordinary people, if simply exposed to the environment of the Age of Gods, their bodies would collapse due to inability to adapt. We must specially prepare protective measures for you."
Upon hearing this, Ritsuka's face instantly turned pale.
It wasn't that she hadn't faced powerful enemies and arduous battles, but an environment where even breathing itself was fatal clearly went beyond the scope of courage.
"Then… how much time do we have left?"
"Don't worry, Ritsuka."
Roman quickly spoke to comfort her. He patted the girl's shoulder, trying to help her relax.
"The environment of the Age of Gods is indeed the biggest challenge, but things must be done one at a time. Before everything is ready, your most important task is to rest."
"I agree with that statement."
Unexpectedly, Arthur, who had first proposed to depart, now nodded in agreement.
He reached for his waist, picked up the unremarkable storage pouch, and shook it.
"Besides the Atlas Institute's legacy, I also brought back some 'local specialties' from my travels, which should be helpful."
Saying that, he looked at Da Vinci and Roman, tilting his head to signal.
"Let's go to the storage area, there's quite a lot of stuff."
The impromptu meeting thus ended.
Chaldea once again began operating at high speed, with all staff members dedicating themselves to preparations for the Seventh Singularity.
Meanwhile, in Chaldea's backup storage area, Da Vinci and Roman were staring dumbfounded at the mountain of supplies piled before them.
"These things… they don't seem like the work of a Magus."
Da Vinci held a piece of earth-brown fluid that changed shape under pressure, her eyes gleaming with the fervent light of a genius encountering the unknown.
"Divinity? And mixed with the essence of the earth? What kind of creation is this…"
Thud!
Arthur casually took out the last stack of heavy stone carvings, emanating a magical aura, and dropped them to the ground with a dull thud.
"These are magical tomes and technical data I collected while traveling through other worlds; they should be useful to you."
Da Vinci eagerly picked up the top few finely leather-bound tomes, and after just two pages, the curve of her lips could no longer be suppressed.
"Mm-hmm, even richer than I imagined, no, beyond imagination!"
Roman was also quickly flipping through one of the tomes, and with just a glance, he realized—
The collection here was enough to drive the entire Mage's Association into a frenzy.
He finally understood why Arthur could so casually say, "I'll leave after the incineration of humanity is over."
Having traveled through many worlds, possessing such unfathomable power and resources, how could he possibly care for a Chaldea that was just beginning to rebuild?
Leaving the subsequent organizational work to Da Vinci, who was already completely immersed in the ocean of knowledge and unable to extricate herself.
Arthur and Roman exchanged glances, and with a tacit understanding, they turned and left together, heading towards the medical area.
After passing through several long, cold steel corridors, they finally stopped before a large alloy door.
Roman stepped forward to input the command, the door slid open silently, and a biting chill assailed them.
What met Arthur's eyes were rows of neatly arranged white containers, with pale blue low-temperature gas swirling around the dozens of young figures sleeping within.
These were the Master candidates originally recruited by Chaldea, who, after the explosion, were urgently put into cryogenic sleep to save their lives.
The entire medical area was silent, with only the faint humming of the life support systems, like the whispers of the dead.
"Are you… going to defrost them?"
Roman stood beside Arthur, his voice low.
His eyes were complex, filled with both anticipation and an unshakeable worry.
Arthur stepped inside, his calm voice echoing clearly in the silent cryogenic chamber.
"I feel, Doctor, that you don't wish for me to do this."
Roman nodded heavily: "Yes. Chaldea is currently barely functioning, and even with the supplies you brought, it's impossible to restore it to a level where it can simultaneously support nearly fifty Masters for Spiritron Transfer."
"Furthermore…" Roman paused, "waking them might cause an uncontrollable shock to Chaldea's current fragile balance."
Arthur chuckled softly, his gaze calmly sweeping over the sleeping faces, his eyes showing no ripples.
"You worry too much. My relationship with my team members, as their leader, isn't exactly good. I'm here for another purpose."
Arthur's answer once again caught Roman off guard, making him freeze.
"What purpose?"
Arthur didn't answer immediately, but slowly closed his eyes.
In his mind, the warnings of Gaia and Alaya echoed from when he returned to Chaldea.
"Be wary of alien prying."
Arthur raised his hand, and the starlight mark on his palm quietly lit up, its faint glow spreading like mercury, instantly enveloping all the dormant containers.
The next moment, his consciousness pierced through the barrier of matter, descending before an amorphous, twisted nebula.
That thing was silently extending its tendrils, attempting to awaken the sleeping souls.
No warning, no confrontation.
The brilliant starlight, upon its appearance, instantly condensed into a blade of will, piercing through without warning, striking directly at the nebula's core!
This was not a physical attack, but rather a clash on the level of pure "concept" and "existence"!
The vast will abruptly contracted, and the invisible confrontation ended in an instant.
The nebula quietly retreated a bit, concealing itself deeper, as if it had never appeared.
In the medical area, Arthur reopened his eyes, the starlight mark on his palm growing dimmer.
"Alright, let's go."
He turned to the confused Roman and said, then strode away.
"Ah? Oh…"
Roman was utterly bewildered, completely unclear what Arthur had just done, but he immediately followed.
The heavy alloy door closed behind them, and the entire area returned to silence, with only the humming sound echoing in the cold space.
After an unknown period, a broken, hollow voice sounded from within one of the containers.
"...Wake up... replace him..."