Volume 6 Chapter 150

Volume 6 + Chapter 150: The Secret of Maginot Fortress

“The true face of Maginot Fortress?”

Xia Yi looked confused. She wasn’t sure what Yuren meant by that.

“I don’t quite follow…”

“Come with me.”

Yuren pulled open the office door and walked out.

After a moment’s hesitation, Xia Yi followed.

She was indeed curious about what secrets might still be hidden within Maginot Fortress.

And so, Yuren led Xia Yi toward the heart of the base.

Along the way, he continued to converse with her.

“Xia Yi, do you believe Maginot Fortress can defeat the calamity beasts?”

“Maginot Fortress will surely win!”

Xia Yi shouted the slogan that soldiers usually loved to chant.

“I believe that under your leadership, Leader Yuren, we will definitely defeat the calamity beasts and achieve victory!”

“Yes, everyone believes that. And we have to make everyone believe it. The daily functioning of Maginot Fortress is built upon this unshakable trust.”

“Leader Yuren, your words seem to carry another meaning?”

“Xia Yi, do you truly believe we can defeat the calamity beasts?”

Yuren asked again, but his tone was different this time, noticeably heavier.

“…”

Xia Yi fell silent.

She was different from the others. She had witnessed too many calamities and knew that these terrifying monsters were not like magical beasts, they could not be eliminated just by wanting to.

Based on what she had learned since joining Maginot Fortress, the Maginot army’s ability to hold its own against the calamity beasts was already quite remarkable. But to actually defeat them…

“It’s difficult,” Xia Yi murmured her evaluation.

On an ordinary day, if a Maginot soldier made such a statement, it would be considered undermining morale, and they would certainly be punished.

Yuren, however, did not get angry.

“To be honest, I think so too. Defeating the calamity beasts is far too difficult. It’s not something our strength can accomplish. No matter how many slogans we shout, the facts won’t change.”

“What?”

Hearing this from the leader of Maginot Fortress caught Xia Yi somewhat off guard.

Was this really the attitude a leader should have?

Outwardly a pro-war faction, yet inwardly embracing defeatism?

As they talked, Yuren led Xia Yi to a restricted area that was not normally accessible.

At the checkpoint guarded by heavily armed soldiers, the soldiers saw Yuren and immediately stood at attention, saluting in perfect formation to welcome him.

“Lord Yuren!”

“Mm. Open the passage to the underground city,” Yuren commanded.

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers activated a certain device, and the entrance to a small chamber was opened.

Yuren led Xia Yi through the entrance. The chamber door closed behind them, and they began descending.

“Underground city?” Xia Yi noted the somewhat unusual term.

“Yes. Beneath Maginot Fortress lies an underground city, an absolute secret known only to a select few. This lift will take us there.”

Yuren raised his hand and made a gesture. An image was projected onto the inner wall of the lift.

Xia Yi was somewhat surprised by the content of the image. It was actually…

A super-giant calamity beast!

Even the portion visible in the image was already many times larger than a dragon, at least ten times over.

“On the Adam Plains, there are countless calamity beasts. That’s their most active region, their numbers even exceed the population of Maginot Fortress… But that’s not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying thing is that on the Adam Plains, there is a super-giant calamity beast.”

Yuren explained to Xia Yi.

“This footage was captured by an elite reconnaissance squad we dispatched. Without a doubt, if that super-giant beast were to awaken, it would spell absolute catastrophe for Maginot Fortress. Even our pride, the Maginot Wall, would likely be mercilessly destroyed before such a creature.”

“So… such a terrifying monster really exists.”

Xia Yi tried to picture it.

This super-giant calamity beast was definitely far more powerful than the calamity beast amalgam the witch had created back at the Laurel Academy.

“It’s tragic, isn’t it? No matter how much we emphasize the strength of Maginot Fortress, no matter how much we instill in the public the narrative of our invincibility, when true calamity strikes, those fragile beliefs will all be shattered…”

“But if you were to announce these facts, Maginot Fortress would begin to crumble from within, wouldn’t it?” Xia Yi added.

“That’s right. That’s the cold, hard truth as unyielding as steel,” Yuren said, his expression complex. “However, the one piece of good news is that the super-giant beast won’t awaken anytime soon. Its condition is very stable.”

“Are you certain?”

“This is based on the reports from the elite reconnaissance squad. They’ve carried out several survey missions and successfully returned with intelligence. It can’t be wrong,” Yuren replied confidently.

“Before the super-giant beast awakens, we still have time to do something, don’t we?” Xia Yi said.

“Yes. And that is exactly why I brought you to the underground city of Maginot Fortress.”

Yuren made another gesture. The projected image disappeared, and the lights inside the lift dimmed.

Xia Yi was about to ask why the lights had been turned off when, suddenly, beams of light began to illuminate from outside the lift.

“Th-This is…?”

She walked to the edge of the lift and looked out through the glass at the scene beyond.

It was completely different from the world above Maginot Fortress.

In her field of vision were precision instruments and machines, powered by magic, gears constantly meshing and turning to maintain operation.

Countless machine circuits, like blood vessels inside a living organism, supplied magical energy to a large red machine at the very center.

The large red machine resembled a heart. It took the magical energy supplied from the various circuits, converted and sublimated it, then transmitted the higher-quality magic to other machines.

Everything here formed an integrated whole, resembling the interior of some living creature. Such astonishing technology could likely only have existed in the mythical age.

If all the machines were to operate at full capacity, what would happen?

As that thought surfaced in Xia Yi’s mind, she seemed to glimpse a great dragon gradually waking from slumber, spreading its wings and soaring into the sky.

“Xia Yi, welcome to the underground city. This is my true purpose.”

The lift stopped. The door opened. Bathed in the glow of the machine signal lights, Yuren stepped out. He stood on the platform, gazing down at everything before him.

“When true calamity comes, the underground city will detach from the fortress above, transforming into a mobile flying fortress. It will leave the ground, rise high into the sky, and fly toward the World Tree.”

[Translator’s Note: Please leave comments about your thoughts on this Web Novel so far.]

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