Chapter 339: Chapter 289: Civilization Marvel: One Distinguished Guest, Council Members Please Proceed to VIP Seats_2
This artifact, shaped like a lighthouse, should strictly speaking be classified as one of humanity’s "civilization marvels."
Similar constructions include the Hanging Gardens, the Northern Boundary Wall, and so on, each possessing extraordinarily magical capabilities.
The Pharos Lighthouse held a series of firsts: the first lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse, the oldest surviving lighthouse, and so forth, far surpassing Byron’s first iron-smelting blast furnace or his first Tudor Hybrid Sailboat.
In theory, material production was extremely primitive during the Bronze Age.
Such a colossal structure, built of granite and bronze, was nearly impossible to complete with manpower alone. It clearly had the assistance of Extraordinary Power from a Mythological Era at the height of its prosperity.
It also made them increasingly curious about what exactly had happened long ago to cause the fall of the Old Gods and the rise of mankind as kings.
Just as a fuel-laden elevator platform passed by them, Delia continued, "In the past, the lighthouse’s fuel consisted of whale oil, Magic Potion-grade olive oil, and wood. The engineers from two thousand years ago also utilized the principle of reflection, using mirrors to project sunlight and lamplight further across the sea’s surface."
This incomparable lighthouse, dazzling with sunlight by day and bright with lamplight by night, diligently guided incoming ships to port, bringing navigators an unrivaled sense of safety.
Even the "Book of Creation Gospel," penned at the dawn of the church, contains a description of this lighthouse: ’They undertake voyages beneath the sea and trade with the majestic ocean; they behold the works of the Creator, and His wonders established in the deep.’
Two thousand years later, the colonial lighthouse system’s core hub is still here. Isn’t it astounding?"
The entire group was left speechless with admiration.
Byron, too, put aside his condescending attitude of always standing on the shoulders of giants and judging everything, and reassessed the Transcendent civilizational development of this world:
As mortals, every step humanity takes on the Transcendent path is an overstepping of their own rank. Even so, during the Silver Era, they became the world’s rulers, or at least the rulers of the entire Silver Continent. The depth of their heritage is clearly far more profound than it appears on the surface. While the specific capabilities of this lighthouse are unknown, at least one thing is clear: it serves as the core hub of a colonial lighthouse network system that spans both reality and the material world. Without it, overseas expansion efforts would instantly collapse by more than half. And just by seeing how a single Zero-Level Sacred Relic has upheld the vast Lighthouse Union, it’s clear that the waters of the upper echelons of the Supernatural World run deeper than I knew.
Soon, they reached the top of the first level’s 60-meter square structure, where from afar they could see a circular council hall that seemed to occupy an entire floor.
Clearly, in whatever world, leaders always have the terrible habit of loving to hold large meetings.
And Byron well understood one principle: "Minor matters call for large meetings, significant matters call for small meetings, and especially important matters require no meetings."
Based on his experience, if any consensus was ever reached in these large meeting formats, that would truly be a miracle. Unless... the high-ranking officials from their respective homelands had already discussed the details and were now simply informing them to carry out the plan. Then it’s even more pointless.
Just as Byron felt a headache coming on from this deeply loathed affair, he suddenly saw that near the main door ahead, representatives from several nations who had arrived earlier seemed to be in a conflict.
"Some people really should find a mirror and take a good look at themselves. Not even able to see that the ’Right to Protect’ has been internally decided, yet they still dare to vie with us, Castilia, over the seating order? You’d better hurry back and enjoy your final moments of peace while you can. Once Castilia secures the ’Right to Protect,’ we’ll eventually kick you all out of the Bantaan Archipelago. Every inch of overseas land belongs to Castilia and His Majesty the King!"
Standing at the very center of the crowd was a group of haughty People of Castilia, obviously more militarily robust than the other factions.
Byron, based on the intelligence he had gathered in recent days, recognized at a glance that the one shouting was the newly appointed Governor of Havana, Fox Ulysses, an army officer and Fortress Guard.
The presence on the scene of the only Fourth-Order Heroic Supernormal [Double-faced Person] Smith Robert clearly gave him boundless courage.
He single-handedly provoked the other nations, unapologetically determined to be the first to enter the meeting room.
In fact, comparing their national strengths, they indeed had the capital to do so.
After he uttered these words, the representatives of the other nations naturally could not do anything that would compromise their national dignity; otherwise, their official careers would be over.
They immediately stood their ground in opposition, and no one could enter the door.
Yet the person standing at the very forefront of the line was a woman.
Her slender figure was clad in a light green gossamer dress with ruffled sleeves, revealing snowy arms and a swath of delicate white skin on her chest, her gemstone brooch glittering brilliantly.
She wore a veil hat on her head. Between the white mesh glimmered a pair of light blue eyes, shimmering with moisture, and a small tear-shaped beauty mark at the corner of her left eye.
Just a hint of fiery red lips was visible beneath the mesh, her every movement exuding a myriad of charms.
Her feet were adorned with sapphire high heels custom-made by a master craftsman, making this noble lady appear exceptionally tall and enchanting.
This was none other than Byron’s aunt, Jacqueline’s mother, the Third-Order [Singer] Magnyra.
What a coincidence? Auntie, have you already returned to the colony and taken up the position of Governor of the Iris Colony?
Byron realized in a flash, calculating the time. His aunt had spent a large sum of money entrusting him to take care of Jacqueline, who had caused trouble in the Old Continent (Chapter 189), since the very beginning of the construction of Torrent Fortress.