Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1678: New Era

The equipment within the skyscraper deteriorated further with each use.

Sein felt no regret over this. In fact, he preferred that the avatar no longer wield any truly effective power.

That way, they would be much safer.

After making the necessary arrangements to deal with Bond and the others, the avatar led Sein’s group upward.

From that point on, they no longer had to struggle through unfamiliar passages or search blindly for a route.

The upper levels of the building were the best preserved. Wherever Sein and the others wished to go, the avatar could guide them there directly.

As they moved through the higher levels, Sein noticed the inert crystal ore veins were still stretching endlessly upward.

Unlike Grethel, Gilbert, and the others, who had been exploring through trial and error with little sense of direction, Sein decided to ask the avatar directly about the origin of these crystal veins.

“You call them inert crystal veins?” the avatar asked. “In my database, this mineral is classified as BF ore.”

“The emergence of these BF minerals likely exceeded even Dr. Charles Isaac’s expectations. Within the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, they were exceptionally rare and extremely difficult to extract.

“The reason they now appear so extensively across our bases and laboratories is that they used to be energy crystals produced by our Infinite Energy devices. After tens of millions of years of sedimentation and geological compression, they gradually transformed into their current form,” the avatar explained.

In other words, the number of inert crystal veins discovered by Sein and the other Magus Civilization explorers directly corresponded to the volume of reserve energy crystals once stockpiled by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

Even so, the energy crystals left behind in the Astral Realm must have represented only a small fraction of their total reserves.

When the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization departed the Astral Realm, they undoubtedly took the majority of their resources and weaponry with them.

“You used crystals produced by the Infinite Energy device?” Sein asked, clearly astonished.

“Yes. When these energy crystals were first created, they were universal active energy. Dr. Charles Isaac and the others could process them through specialized methods on a small scale to power ordinary vessels, or on a grand scale to supply entire overlord-class fleet formations.

“Nearly one-third of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s total energy consumption at the time came directly from the Infinite Energy device,” the avatar replied.

The Gallant Federation possessed the technology to manufacture neutral energy blocks, while the Magus Civilization relied on magic arrays to produce energy crystals.

Even so, neither approach comes close to matching the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s so-called Infinite Energy device.

A single device supplying one-third of an entire civilization’s energy demand?

That was simply outrageous!

To this day, the Magus Civilization’s primary energy source still came from plundered and scavenged resources taken from the federation’s planes.

The Gallant Federation made more efficient use of energy than Magus World, yet even its powerful fleets depended on special sources such as star cores or divine relics.

“These pure BF veins exist within the Grandlight Tech Center because a replica of the Infinite Energy device continuously generates power underground. For tens of millions of years, this device has sustained this building’s most basic operations,” the avatar explained.

The Infinite Energy device was undoubtedly one of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s most precious technological creations.

In fact, even after Dr. Charles Isaac mobilized the full resources of the civilization and led the research effort personally, only a single fully functional prototype was ever produced.

That original device was ultimately brought out of the Astral Realm by Dr. Charles and his colleagues.

Limited by technology and materials, they were unable to construct a second Infinite Energy device. However, they did succeed in developing five or six simplified replicas.

Although these replicas possessed less than one-tenth the output of the original, they still functioned as remarkably efficient power generators.

Aside from the replica housed beneath the Grandlight Tech Center and another core research facility, the remaining units were deployed aboard overlord-class warships and massive fortresses.

Through both conversation and his recent exploration of Eiyurant Papillon Civilization ruins, Sein had already begun to grasp some truth. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Unlike the Gallant Federation, which employed a diverse and flexible approach to warfare—deploying mobile suits, robots, and a host of unnamed superweapons—the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization relied almost entirely on fleet formations as its main force.

Every new weapon they created was designed to serve their fleets.

Such an opponent might appear somewhat easier to counter within the complex dynamics of a Clash of Civilizations.

Yet the mere thought of facing a civilization that wielded technologies like Infinite Energy and Space-time shockers was enough to make any enemy feel the crushing pressure of a truly terrifying adversary.

Sein’s attention shifted almost entirely to the replica of the Infinite Energy device beneath the skyscraper that the avatar had mentioned.

Though it could not compare to the original, acquiring it would still bring tremendous benefits—not only to Sein himself, but to the Magus Civilization as a whole!

With it, the Magus Civilization might even be able to develop something akin to a perpetual motion machine!

Sein could not help wondering whether this replica was the world-class secret treasure detected by the Magic Cube earlier.

If that was the case, then aside from the avatar before him and the replica of the Infinite Energy device, what was the third world-class secret treasure hidden within this skyscraper?

“Probably the Energy Activator of this Grandlight Tech Center that activates and controls all energy barriers within this subspace,” the avatar answered.

“When the remnants of the Black Merlot Civilization attempted to drag us into mutual destruction, we resisted. Our garrison forces not only annihilated most of those remnants, but also erected countless energy barriers to block their prying eyes—as well as those of other civilizations,” it stated matter-of-factly.

“That was done by your garrison forces?” Sein pressed. “Then where was your main fleet? And where were the countless billions of your kind?”

The avatar glanced at Sein before lifting its gaze toward the boundless sky beyond the tower.

Through the gloomy skies, the endless wars, and the vast river of time, it seemed to glimpse a colossal azure portal unfurling beneath the infinite starry expanse.

Countless Eiyurant Papillon Civilization warships and interstellar fortresses rose into the void, surging toward that unfamiliar passage.

Dr. Charles Isaac had once said that this marked the dawn of a new world... and a new era.