Chapter 250: There Is No Road Ahead.
But what did Igor the Azure Sage mean by leaving behind such a message?
Is anyone still alive?
Igor the Azure Sage really meddled too much. You’ve been gone for ten thousand years, and you still care whether anyone’s alive? Can you really manage that much?
And this question itself is a bit random. He doesn’t even ask clearly who’s still alive, just blurts out “Is anyone still alive?”—who knows who he’s even asking about…
“Is anyone still alive?” By now, the Sky Rank Alchemical Golem had repeated this phrase countless times…
“Can you ever shut up…” Leon muttered under his breath, intending to cut off the mana supply. As he reached out, his whole body suddenly froze…
Is anyone still alive… Is anyone still alive…
Leon’s face suddenly turned pale…
“Leon… Leon…” Salomon had been watching for a while, and everything had seemed fine, but now he saw Leon freeze up, his face suddenly going ghostly pale. Worried, he called out several times, but Leon didn’t respond, so he raised his voice: “Leon, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing…” Leon was startled awake by Salomon’s voice. He shook his head reflexively but suddenly felt a chill down his spine. When he touched his back, he realized it was soaked in cold sweat…
It was only now that Leon realized: “Is anyone still alive?” wasn’t Igor the Azure Sage meddling too much, nor was it a random question. It was just… just asked at the wrong time…
If this question were asked thirty thousand years later…
Raging winds, blazing flames, yellow sand, meteorites, the ruined Northend, the desperate Heather City, everything Leon had once tried to forget resurfaced before his eyes. He shook his head instinctively, trying to cast it all away, but found he simply couldn’t…
“Shut up!” Leon almost violently cut off the mana supply. The Sky Rank Alchemical Golem, which had been endlessly repeating the same phrase, suddenly went silent as if its throat had been choked.
But that question kept echoing in Leon’s mind…
Is anyone still alive, is anyone still alive…
Thirty thousand years later, would anyone in Northend still be alive?
“Leon…” Salomon looked at Leon, puzzled. “You don’t look so well…”
It’s nothing, I just remembered a few things.
"By the way, what's up with this alchemical golem? Why does it keep asking the same question over and over—does it really matter to it whether anyone's still alive?"
"The one who wanted to ask that must've been the creator..."
"Is the creator nuts or something? What does it matter to him if anyone's alive..."
"Heh..." Listening to Salomon's complaints, Leon finally managed to set aside the shadow in his heart for a moment and started thinking about how to haul this Heaven-tier alchemical golem back home...
This was a Heaven-tier alchemical golem, after all. The Ember Iron used just for its frame alone was worth a king’s ransom. On the market, even a small chunk could be traded for a dozen Soul Magic Crystals. The whole skeleton together was easily worth a hundred Soul Magic Crystals. This was by far the greatest haul Leon had scored since entering Vaughn’s laboratory. And that was before counting the half-complete Heaven-tier alchemical array...
Even if only half remained, it was still a Heaven-tier alchemical array. Its research value was simply immeasurable.
Besides, just because Leon couldn't repair it now didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to in the future. Who knows—maybe one day he’d become a Saint himself. Then he could restore all seven alchemical arrays. By then, he’d be like the Lord of Nightfall, always escorted by a Heaven-tier powerhouse wherever he went.
But how was he supposed to bring it back...?
The spatial ring on Leon's hand had come from that magus in the Bone Plane. It was only a Legacy-tier artifact, good enough for storing minerals, books, and spare parts. But trying to cram a Heaven-tier alchemical golem inside? That was just wishful thinking...
What did a Heaven-tier alchemical golem even mean...?
That was a truly extraordinary artifact. Even if only half of the seven Heaven-tier alchemical arrays remained, it was still far beyond what any Legacy magic item could handle. Even the tiniest leak of its power would instantly shatter a Legacy-tier spatial ring!
"Should I just carry it back myself?" Leon felt his head throbbing. This was the first time he'd ever faced a problem like this: a fortune sitting right in front of him, and all he could do was worry about how to haul it home.
Looks like, once he got back, he’d have to figure out how to get his hands on some higher-grade spatial equipment...
Carrying it back was clearly just wishful thinking...
Ember Iron might not be famous for its weight, but that skeleton—plus all the random spare parts—had to weigh more than a grown man. If he really tried to lug it all the way back to Seaview City, he’d be busy for a long, long time...
"Wait, I've got it..." Just as Leon was agonizing over the problem, his eyes landed on the scattered spare parts littering the floor.
Of course! If he couldn’t repair it, he could always assemble something himself...
Why not just build a new alchemical golem from scratch?
After all, this Heaven-tier alchemical golem was already a wreck. If he just added a few mechanical arms, rebuilt the control core and power system, and hooked it up to a mana source, he’d have a brand new golem. Sure, its functions and strength wouldn’t even come close to the original Heaven-tier—but who cared? Leon didn’t need a Heaven-tier golem. He just needed it to get back to Seaview City in one piece...
Yes, this was definitely the best solution for now.
If it were any other day, Leon might've worried about finding spare parts. But this was a warehouse for scrapped alchemical golems—there were enough random bits and pieces lying around to build ten new ones. All he had to do was get to work...
And so, Leon got busy...
When it came to assembling alchemical golems, Leon was a pro. Within minutes, using the spare parts at hand, he’d attached two mechanical arms, keeping the golem’s humanoid shape. Next up: the alchemical array.
Normally, Leon would redraw the alchemical array to build a new control core.
But when Leon saw the remaining half of the Heaven-tier alchemical array, another idea popped into his head...
A lot of the interfaces on that half-array were still perfectly intact—why not make use of them?
That would be way easier than rebuilding the control core from scratch...
So Leon changed his plan, diving into research on the half-complete Heaven-tier array, figuring out how to use those intact interfaces. Meanwhile, his hands kept moving—one alchemical array after another was drawn, each one hooked up to the interfaces, slowly forming a new control core...
Finally, there was that Level 20 magic crystal...
With a click, the Level 20 magic crystal was set into the mana source. As Leon activated the control rune, a brand new alchemical golem whirred to life.
"But ahead of me, there’s no path left—no future, no hope..."
Yet...
Just as the newly awakened alchemical golem started moving, it suddenly blurted out another phrase...
"Huh?" Leon was startled yet again.
"Sa... Salomon the Magus, did you hear that?"
"I heard it. What’s all this about ‘no path ahead’—trying to spook us, huh..."
"Uh..." Leon couldn’t be as nonchalant as Salomon. He knew exactly who the true creator of this golem was—the greatest puppet alchemist in history, teacher to Emperor Charles, gravedigger of the Silver Age: Igor the Azure Sage. Even if he was trying to spook them, Leon couldn’t help but take it seriously...
Plus, the appearance of this new phrase made Leon realize that Igor the Azure Sage probably left more than just 'Is anyone still alive?' and 'There’s no path ahead.' There could be many, many messages, but because the Heaven-tier golem was so badly damaged, Leon had only heard the first phrase at first. By chance, after activating the array interfaces, he’d heard the second...
But what else?
What did Igor the Azure Sage truly want to say?
Leon couldn't figure it out...
He just had a vague feeling that Igor the Azure Sage was trying to say something extremely important...
Sadly, now wasn’t the time to investigate. After a moment’s thought, Leon cut off the mana supply again, disconnected the array interfaces, and spent another ten minutes rebuilding the control core and power system. He made sure the new golem had nothing to do with the original Heaven-tier one.
Once everything was done, Leon restarted the alchemical golem.
Sure enough, this time the golem didn’t spout any nonsense about ‘no path ahead’...
It simply followed Leon’s control rune, obediently trailing behind Leon and Salomon as they walked along the Ember Iron furnace. Soon, they caught up with Suas and Fran, who were already waiting there.
When Fran saw the two of them, he looked noticeably more confident, his eyes no longer darting away. Leon knew it was because of the Crystal Balance...
With the Crystal Balance in hand, Fran was sure he could crush the other two. That huge psychological edge made him seem like a different person entirely.
"Just wait—you won’t be smiling soon..." Leon pretended not to notice, secretly muttering to himself. Fran was still too naive; signing any contract without doing his homework, not even bothering to ask how cursed the Crystal Balance really was...
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It's almost New Year’s, and things are really piling up. Hope you all understand.