Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Control Room, Energy Cabin
"The first layer consists only of a few cabins and a corridor."
The black-haired Second Ring Wizard led three people towards the staircase at the end of the corridor, introducing as he walked:
"The second layer is different, with a combination room that serves as both control room and cabin, an energy cabin, and a warehouse."
While speaking, the four of them climbed the stairs and reached the second layer of the spaceship.
Lor glanced over the layout of the second layer of the Black Cliff Spaceship and found it looked much smaller than the first layer.
Standing at the staircase entrance, one could only see a corridor about two meters wide, similar to the first layer.
Along the middle of the corridor, three iron doors were distributed on both sides.
"To maximize space utilization, we simplified the layout of the Flying Ship’s second layer."
The black-haired Second Ring Wizard said, "In the spaceship’s energy cabin, we can store 500,000 Magic Crystals as backup energy, and the warehouse can also hold quite a lot of spare supplies."
He led the group to the first door on the left side of the corridor and opened the door.
Lor glanced inside and noticed it was an empty room, larger than the combined area of the three cabins on the first layer.
"This is the warehouse for storing supplies."
The black-haired Second Ring Wizard noticed Lor’s Space Ring and said, "I think you might not need it."
"Perhaps." Lor replied noncommittally.
The black-haired Second Ring Wizard nodded and continued forward, arriving at the second door on the left side and opened it, gesturing to two unique magic arrays in the room:
"This is the energy cabin; we have transformed the entire space into an energy reservoir, with the Magic Crystal Reactor at the center. Once the Magic Crystals in the reactor are depleted, it will automatically absorb energy from the reservoir."
Following the black-haired Second Ring Wizard’s gesture, Lor saw the center of the room was recessed.
Within the recess was an energy furnace, with some Magic Crystals piled inside.
Around the recess was a stair-like structure, layer upon layer rising up, with a simple magic pattern on each tier.
He counted, finding ten tiers of stairs, and the patterns on these stairs combined to form a Teleportation Magic Array.
Around this Teleportation Magic Array were some dark golden magic patterns.
The black-haired Second Ring Wizard noticed Lor’s gaze on the outer magic patterns and immediately said, "Outside is the second set of Cliff Gold’s Defense Magic Array, primarily protecting the energy storage."
"Why not set a Cliff Gold’s Defense Magic Array in the nine cabins and the hall on the first layer too?" Lor asked curiously.
"In our design, activating the second set of Cliff Gold’s Defense Magic Array also triggers the two outside magic arrays."
The black-haired Second Ring Wizard spread his hands, "The power supply from the Magic Crystal Reactor isn’t sufficient to support three magic arrays simultaneously, hence no other cabins on the first layer and not even the control room on the second layer have them."
"The spaceship’s main protection focus is always the energy storage; if it’s destroyed, the other places’ magic arrays can’t function either."
"Alright." Lor nodded, "Let’s take a look at the control room then."
He felt a bit disappointed inside, finding the energy furnace capacity of this era quite lacking, only able to support two Third Ring Magic Arrays simultaneously.
"Okay."
The black-haired Wizard turned around, walked to the single door on the right side, gently pushed it open, and pointed to the innermost side of the cabin:
"This control room is equipped with a Flying Ship Control Magic Array and a Scenic View Magic Array; the rest you can arrange at your discretion."
In the innermost part of the control room, a half-meter diameter magic array and a one-meter diameter magic array were placed side by side.
On the right side of the cabin, there was a large door, serving as the entrance and exit for the second layer of the spaceship.
Lor entered the cabin and input a trace of Earth and Fire Elements into the half-meter diameter magic array.
"Hoo——"
The magic array emitted a pale golden light, and soon he noticed the Black Cliff Golden Walls surrounding the cabin disappeared, revealing the scenery outside the ship’s docking area.
Without pausing, Lor inputted a trace of Earth and Fire Elements into the adjacent one-meter diameter magic array.
"Buzz——"
The spaceship suddenly started trembling; in an instant, it lifted off the ground, ascending vertically.
Using Spiritual Power, Lor controlled the Earth and Fire Elements floating at the magic array center to drift slightly to the left, with the spaceship following suit, moving a short distance to the left.
After conducting the test, he directed the Earth and Fire Elements back to the center, then slowly moved downwards, with the spaceship descending back to its original position along with Lor’s actions.
Once the spaceship was stable, he waved and dispersed the trace of Earth and Fire Elements, and the surrounding Black Cliff Golden Walls returned to their original state.
Lor turned to the black-haired Wizard who had entered with him and said, "Completion verified, you may leave now."
"Okay." The black-haired Wizard nodded, walked to the right, opening the door at the second layer passage; without looking back, he flew away.
He always held a bias against those young First and Second Ring Wizards who relied on family resources to forcibly ascend.
The likelihood of them advancing to the Fourth Ring was slim and offered little value for association.
In his eyes, both Levan and Lor were such people.
"Kateya, please help me find ten Wizard Apprentices of the second level with Earth and Fire Elements, all of whom should have at least two Witchcraft Positions."
Lor turned to Kateya and said, "Once you find them, bring them to my laboratory... no, just bring them here and remember to bring the contracts and my manuscripts from the lab."
Given the Wizard Tower obstruction, his laboratory couldn’t perform the separation of small-scale Meteor Witchcraft involving Divine Realm Layer Earth and Fire Elements, among other special projects, necessitating an outdoor attempt.
"Yes, Lord Lor." Kateya nodded and, likewise, flew out from the second layer passage.
Lor waved his hand, maneuvered spiritual power to close all the spaceship’s portals, and then smiled at the sole remaining Levan, asking:
"After all this time, Kateya still doesn’t know your identity?"
Earlier on the first layer, Kateya’s remark to Levan sufficiently implied she was unaware of his identity.
Honestly, Lor was quite surprised.
Levan’s identity was known to the mid and high ranks within the tower; what was the point of keeping it from Kateya?
"Huh?" Levan blinked, "Didn’t you instruct me to keep it hidden?"
"For this reason, I’ve specially requested those Third Ring Wizards not to appear when I’m with Kateya."
"When did I ever tell you to keep it hidden?" Lor thoughtfully recalled but couldn’t remember instructing him to conceal anything.
"Upon initially meeting Sister Kateya, you didn’t introduce me with my identity, yet when meet with your mentor, you did reveal my identity."
Levan’s eyes conveyed a somewhat silly look of pondering, slowly saying, "So I assumed you wanted me to keep it from Sister Kateya."
"Hmm, do as you please then." Lor’s lips curled momentarily, preferring not to further delve into the matter; it wasn’t of significant concern anyway.
Initially, he considered asking Levan to inquire with his grandfather whether he would permit him to accompany him to the Betula Continent.
But after reconsideration, he discarded this notion.
The Fourth Ring Witchcraft Scroll is yet to be obtained; such items are crafted when Fourth Ring Wizards find the time.
Generally, it takes within three years.
Lor reckoned asking until the acquisition of the Fourth Ring Scroll would make more sense, intending to approach the subject just before departing the Murphy Continent—not now, implying undue exploitation.
He permitted Levan to roam the spaceship freely, while he himself exited the control room, proceeding to the energy cabin, where he directly tossed in 500,000 Magic Crystals, filling up the energy cabin.
Observing the pile of Magic Crystals accumulating in the magic array, Lor’s eyes showed a touch of sentiment.
Once upon a time, he used to pick up Magic Crystal remnants on Mala’s ship.
Now, he was far more generous than Mala, not only filling the Energy Furnace but also the extra energy storage.
"No, if I were ambushed and had my energy storage attacked, wouldn’t all these Magic Crystals be gone?"
Thinking about this, Lor quickly retracted 400,000 Magic Crystals, leaving only 100,000 in the energy cabin.
...
Half an hour later, Kateya returned with ten Second Level Apprentices, ten Soul Contracts, and the manuscripts Lor had forgotten to bring, aboard the spaceship.
Lor directly piloted the spaceship to take off, aiming for a plain 1,100 miles away.