Chapter 629: Blueprint
"Damn it, is this really some kind of monster? What kind of bullshit password is this..." Anderson's expression was a sight to behold.
Leon was just as dumbfounded...
But soon enough, Leon tossed those thoughts aside. Once the box was opened, he casually took out its contents—a stack of blueprints, forty or fifty sheets in total, each one incredibly complex. When pieced together, they seemed to form a vast Alchemical Array...
And yet, Leon couldn’t make heads or tails of this Alchemical Array...
What did that even mean...
Leon was a newly minted Grandmaster!
A newly minted Grandmaster who could brute-force his way through dimensional corridors, yet couldn’t understand this massive Alchemical Array. What did that imply? It meant this array was, in all likelihood, Sky Rank!
Yes—a Sky Rank Alchemical Array...
Leon stared at the blueprints, utterly stunned for a full minute before he slowly set them down...
The blueprints were already incredibly clear and complete—not only were every detail marked, but there were also copious annotations written in Aquatic script.
That was rather odd...
Aside from being strange and concise, Aquatic script didn’t have any particular qualities. It wasn’t like Ashan Script, which carried terrifying power, nor like Nesserian Script, which was naturally suited for spellcasting. In fact, outside of the Aquatic race, hardly anyone in Northend World ever bothered to write anything in Aquatic script.
Could it be that these blueprints for a Sky Rank Array were actually created by someone from the Aquatic race?
But that didn’t seem right either...
There had never been a single Saint Alchemist from the Aquatic race in Northend World’s history...
As Leon pondered this, he kept flipping through the blueprints. He couldn’t make sense of most of it, but he could still feel the terrifying power of this Alchemical Array.
The more Leon looked, the more his heart raced...
This wasn’t just any ordinary Sky Rank Alchemical Array...
Its power was downright terrifying...
Leon even suspected that these blueprints in his hands—among Sky Rank Alchemical Arrays—were top-tier.
Only the most elite Saint Alchemists could possibly make sense of this Sky Rank Alchemical Array.
Sky Rank Alchemical Arrays and True Spirit Alchemical Arrays were worlds apart—the difference between heaven and earth. Sky Rank Arrays could even modify certain rules!
Some of the more advanced Sky Rank Alchemical Arrays could even set their own rules!
Legend had it, the most supreme Sky Rank Alchemical Arrays could even alter the fundamental rules that shaped the world itself!
And the Sky Rank Alchemical Array in front of him—even if it wasn’t the absolute top, it was close. Just by looking at the parts he could understand, Leon found plenty of places where the rules didn’t add up!
Those places where the rules didn’t add up had obviously been altered...
After half an hour, Leon realized there was basically no way he could figure out any of these blueprints in a short time—not even the simplest one!
With that in mind, Leon prepared to put the blueprints away.
Hubert, standing nearby, looked like a proper alchemist himself, studying the blueprints intently. When he saw Leon getting ready to pack them up, he carefully pointed to one of the sheets.
"Archmage Leon, haven’t we been here before?"
"Been here before?" Leon was confused.
"Isn’t what you’re holding the map of this ghost ship? Look here—this is the very cabin where we ran into those monsters earlier."
"A map?" Leon froze, then, as if reminded, quickly spread out the blueprints and began matching them to the cabins he’d visited.
This time, Leon stopped treating the blueprints as designs for an Alchemical Array. Just as Hubert suggested, he saw them as the map of the ghost ship...
And suddenly, Leon understood...
"Holy crap, it really is the blueprint for the USS Dauntless!"
Keel, cabins, deck, sails, rudder...
Everything matched up, piece by piece!
Leon’s hands were shaking—this discovery was downright terrifying.
This wasn’t just a top-tier Sky Rank Alchemical Array blueprint—it even came with complete documentation and, unbelievably, was the structural blueprint for the USS Dauntless!
Could it be that the USS Dauntless itself is a Sky Rank Alchemical Array?
Anderson was stunned when he heard that. Were they actually inside a Sky Rank Alchemical Array?
Can we not make things this terrifying, please!
Suddenly, Leon understood why so many things hadn’t made sense before. The spatial rules here must have been altered; if you tried to understand this place with ordinary logic, it was impossible. Because here, the rules belonged to the USS Dauntless itself!
Realizing this, Leon knew he’d made a lot of assumptions before. Now, thinking about it, things were probably much more complicated. Just the remains of a god-demon wouldn’t account for all this strangeness and unpredictability. Now, everything made sense.
Sky Rank Alchemical Array!
Just those words alone made all the impossibilities suddenly seem reasonable.
The more he understood, the colder Leon felt. He forced himself not to think about the Alchemical Array and focused only on the blueprint as the structural design of the USS Dauntless.
Soon enough, Leon found the blueprint for the corridor they’d just passed, and also the one for his current location.
Even treating the blueprint as a structural design, it was incredibly complex. After a long while, Leon rubbed his tired eyes.
Captain’s cabin, kitchen, storeroom, sailors’ quarters, slave cabins...
He found almost all these places, and a rough outline was forming in his mind.
After pondering for a while, Leon pointed to a spot on the blueprint.
"We’re here now, and we need to go through here, here... and finally reach the captain’s cabin. I think we’ll probably find a way to escape in there. Otherwise, wouldn’t Redbeard be trapping himself on this ghost ship?"
With a rough outline and the USS Dauntless’s structural blueprint, things got much simpler. Understanding the Sky Rank Alchemical Array could wait—being able to read the ship’s design was enough.
Leon hadn’t even finished speaking when a furious, hate-filled roar echoed from somewhere nearby.
Everyone’s face changed.
Hubert was wide awake; Reina looked panicked, and Anderson cursed loudly.
"Damn it, is that monster a Cerberus?"
Leon’s eyelid twitched. That monster was catching up way too fast!
Cerberus are expert trackers—once they catch your scent, you can’t shake them off, even if you run to the ends of the earth.
But earlier, Leon had set up a special Alchemical Array to clean away all traces and scent—even residual magical waves could be erased. Plus, with a short-range teleportation array, even a pack of Cerberus would be lost.
Yet somehow, that damned monster had caught up so quickly. Leon had no idea how it was tracking them.
"Move! That cursed monster’s going to wear us down..."
Anderson sounded desperate. The monster’s vitality was absurd, but as long as you avoided its tentacles, it wasn’t overwhelmingly strong.
But if you got caught, the monster could siphon everyone’s mana from a distance. When your mana ran dry, it would drag you to death—no question about it.
Leon was furious. Since arriving in this era, he’d never suffered such heavy losses. Lich Barton was still lying inside the Death Tome, and his own mana hadn’t fully recovered. Now, that bastard was after them again.
Damn it, will this ever end?
"Fine, if you refuse to let go, don’t blame me for getting nasty..." Leon packed away the USS Dauntless blueprint, his face murderous. "This time, let’s give that thing a proper gift!"
After confirming the direction of the monster's aura and the sounds, Leon led everyone to flee in the opposite direction.
They dashed through corridors that twisted like a labyrinth, finally finding a short-range teleportation array in one of the rooms. Leon activated the array, and they transported to another deck. Just like a seasoned old sailor who’d spent years aboard the Dauntless, Leon chose his path without a trace of hesitation.
He charged straight to an alchemical portal as if he’d walked this route a thousand times.
Without missing a beat, Leon pulled out his crystal pen and began to break the seal. It took him barely ten seconds to crack the portal’s alchemical password.
He ushered Anderson and the others inside first, then immediately began reinforcing the portal. In less than a minute, the portal’s defensive power was boosted by a whole tier.
Once inside, Leon didn’t bother to check the state of the cabin. He spun around and produced three gold ingots, each etched with intricate, arcane patterns.
Anderson, seeing the three fist-sized chunks of metal, looked absolutely heartbroken. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, not a word came out.
Three fist-sized pieces of Eternium!
This is the finest magical material for forging defensive artifacts or armor. Northend produces only a pitifully small amount of Eternium each year—this metal is so rare, you’ll never see it for sale on the open market. (Eternium: A legendary, gold-hued magical alloy famed for its ability to strengthen and protect, highly coveted by mages and smiths alike.)
Even a meager Eternium vein can spark a war between two major factions, each sending their own titled Archmages into battle!
For any artifact or armor below the True Spirit tier, adding just a piece of Eternium—no matter if it’s forged by an apprentice—will raise its grade by a level. Even for True Spirit artifacts, the addition of Eternium greatly boosts their defensive power. (True Spirit artifact: A high-level magical item imbued with powerful spiritual essence, rare and highly sought after.)
If a True Spirit artifact is forged with Eternium as the primary material, its defensive capabilities are simply monstrous.
It’s an extremely rare magic metal that completely enhances defense and solidifies structure. Whatever you use it for, it always boosts protection and strengthens the item itself.
Now Leon was using it to set up an alchemical array—he was even using all three pieces as the main materials. The array he built was crude, almost barbaric in its extravagance.