Souta didn't bring out the epic enchanting ores and spiritual fruits. He still needed time to think about what he should give them. Then, there's the epic enchanting ore. This type of ore was rare and could only be found in a few places across the Great World Imperium. It was one of the materials needed to forge high grade weapons.
This will be useful if he had a weaponsmith in his group.
It's been one month since he cleared the living labyrinth. Nothing much happened after except the incident in Eternal Empire. Lumilia and Lynn told him about what happened to Bryan through the transmission talisman.
"Don't worry, I think that we're close to Imperium," Souta said with a smile.
"I'm looking forward to it, Souta!" Lynn's voice came through the talisman as she couldn't hide her excitement for the day that Souta will come back to them.
"I will prepare everything for your return. I hope that you will like the Dark Oculus Legion." Lumilia said.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll leave everything what happened there to all of you. Just don't forget to increase your power level as it will help you in emergency situations."
Souta talked to Lumilia and Lynn for a while before he bid farewell to them. He placed back the transmission talisman in his back and walked towards the window.
The items from Imperium were really magical and amazing just like this piece of yellow paper. It lets two other people chat from a distant place. The Guardian Fortress had a technology like this one but the signal couldn't reach Astley Planet. That's why they couldn't contact Jasmine and Lydia with the technology of the Astley Empire luckily Souta left them a piece of transmission talisman so that they could contact him anytime.
He moved his eyes and observed the dark space through the windows. Hundred millions of stars were flickering before his eyes and he knew that they were in a desolate galaxy. A galaxy that doesn't have any habitable planets.
All of the stars in this galaxy were dead. It means that it didn't have any mana at all. Just a lump of metals and chemicals.
Suddenly, the windows were filled with bright lights and it blocked his vision. The people that were driving this fortress just used the transportational gate. It was a daily occurrence for him so it was normal.
He once again looked at the stars before him with an amused expression. He noticed that they were close to a huge planet. The planet was color blue and he realized that its surface was filled with blue color liquid that is not water.
"This planet alone is already ten times larger than Astley Planet. Unfortunately, this planet only had chemicals. It doesn't have any mana so it doesn't interest other people from Imperium."
He rubbed his chin.
Knock!
A knock sounded on the metallic door behind him.
"Come in," Souta said as he turned around and placed his hand on his back.
The door opened and a tall man with shoulder-length dark green colored hair entered the room. The man was wearing a simple black and white cloth, the uniform of this fortress.
"You're Berdu, right?" He asked while observing this man. This man was one of the subordinates of Torkez when he lead the rebel army to fight the Great Astley Empire decades ago.
"Yes, sir!" The man named Berdu saluted at him.
"So, why did you come here? I hope that it's worth disturbing my thoughts." Souta walked to the chair on the side and he sat down while looking at Berdu.
"We've seen a planet that has civilization in it using our telescope. The technology level of the planet is low and about the mana density... It's beyond our radar so we couldn't detect its level. Sir Torkez wanted to know your opinion about it." Berdu reported in a polite tone.
"Finally, a planet with mana density." Souta rubbed his chin. He looked at Berdu and said, "Okay, you can go now. Tell Torkez that I will come soon."
Berdu bowed before he left the room.
"Saya, what's your opinion about it?" He asked.
'Hmm... I don't know but for sure it's not the Imperium. You wouldn't be able to look at the surface of Imperium outside the space as the atmosphere of a Great World is protected by some sort of field that blocked all the vision outside. You can only see Imperium as a huge white planet with one sun and three moons circling around it.' Saya voiced her opinion.
Souta nodded as he knew that she was right. He glanced at the dark space through the window one more time before he left the room.
...
Alice, Torkez, Franklin, Isabella, Yenxa, Yuko, and Doranjan were all inside the control room. The control room of the Guardian Fortress was quite huge as its length was seventy meters and its width was thirty meters.
All of them were looking at the projection, the projection of the planet that they'd discover.
"The technological level of this planet is the same as Isabella's homeworld. It's on a surface level but we don't know its mana density. Mana density is the most important thing as we will know the level of the creatures inside the planet using mana density." Torkez explained to them.
"I-Is it possible to approach it?" Isabella raised her hand as she asked.
"No, it's millions of light years away from the Guardian Fortress. We could only approach it using the transportational gate and since we've just used the transportational gate we can't use it anymore. So we'll need to wait for a day before we can use it once again." Torkez looked at Isabella and explained.
"I-I see..." Isabella nodded her head.
The door opened and they turned their heads. They saw Souta enter the room with steady steps while observing the projection.
"Hmm... We'll go there to resupply our food. We don't have infinite stock of food in the fortress so it's better that we gathered some resources if we've found a good planet." Souta said as he swept his eyes on the people present in the control room. He then added, "As for the danger that it possessed... Don't worry about it, we are heading towards the Great World Imperium and nothing is more dangerous than that planet."
"Then, we should prepare ourselves. Based on my experience most of the civilizations are hostile to foreign people." Franklin said with a smile on his wrinkled face.
"We are just going to restock our supply but in case of emergency we need to prepare ourselves for battle." Torkez nodded at Franklin's words.
Yenxa walked in front of Souta before she kneeled on one knee. "My Lord, do you have any orders for me?" She said.
Souta just glanced at her before he shook his head. "You don't have to do anything."
...
On the next day, the Guardian Fortress used the transportational gate and they've arrived on the surface of the unknown planet.
The group already know the location of the planet so they could pinpoint it to directly arrive on the surface. It's not much as the Great Astley Empire always does this when they were going to invade other planets.
"Let's start it immediately!"
Souta said with a faint smile on his face.
Soon, white light covered the entire fortress as it disappeared along with the light.
...
In a certain kingdom on the surface of an unknown planet, humans were living peacefully with a smile on their faces. They were satisfied with their current life as the current king was a wise and kind king.
People were walking on the streets. They don't need to be worried about their safety as the crime rate of their kingdom was too low compared to their neighboring countries.
Suddenly, a gigantic object block the sun up above them and cast a shadow that enveloped the whole capital of the kingdom.
The citizens couldn't help but look up and when they do, they couldn't help but gasp. Their eyes opened widely and their mouths turned into "O" shape. Soon, their face slowly turned pale as if blood left their bodies.
"W-What the hell is that?!!!"
"I don't know!!"
"Fuck!! We need to get out of here!!"
"We'll die if that thing fell from the sky!!"
The citizens panicked and the military guards assured the citizens that they don't need to worry. The royal palace will do everything to guarantee their safety.
At the royal palace, the king and his trusted aids were looking at the giant object that was blocking the sun rays in the sky. All of them had a frown as they didn't know why this object appeared above their capital.
"Is that a fortress?" The king asked.
"Your Majesty, I think that you are right but a flying fortress... It's our first time seeing something like this." One of the people beside the king said.
"Flying above our capital without our permission. They are disrespecting the ruler of our country. Maybe, they wanted a war..."
...
Souta and the rest were on the Guardian Fortress in the sky. They were looking down at the city before them.
"Oh, we are too eye-catching.. I thought that we would arrive in the middle of the forest like before but it seems that I'm wrong."