Caius hadn’t visited the Tower of Babel in a long time, and was unaware of the changes that had taken place within.
"May I ask, what exactly is your current situation?"
Caius’ eyes sparkled with interest as he earnestly inquired.
He felt that although he had acted rashly at first, he had behaved properly afterward, answering every question honestly. It was now the other party’s turn to explain their circumstances.
Carlotta looked at Caius and pondered, "The civilization of this world has already ended. You seem to regard me as someone from this world, but that’s not true. Just like you, I come from another world."
Caius was momentarily stunned, then understood. If there could be a first in another world, it makes sense that there could be a second.
He had lived in this world for decades, exploring many places, and long ago concluded it was a withered world. The sudden appearance of someone was indeed abnormal, this explained it.
Caius couldn’t help but ask, "Do you know how to return? Could you take me to your world?"
At this moment, he couldn’t confirm whether Carlotta came from the same world as him.
But his instinct told him she must be from another world. In his own world, even after decades, they shouldn’t have invented alchemical airships yet.
"We’ll talk about that later."
Carlotta didn’t agree, but didn’t flatly refuse either.
She could imagine how painful it must be for someone who had lived alone in a foreign world for decades. She didn’t want to reject him too harshly and risk him lashing out.
Besides, she still wanted to learn more about this world through him.
Compared to exploring slowly herself, Caius, who had lived here for decades, was clearly an excellent guide.
"If you don’t mind, can you show me around this world?"
Carlotta extended a request.
She activated a portal on the alchemical airship, inviting him inside.
For the alchemical airship, allowing someone inside didn’t significantly increase the risk. At this level of alchemical creation, there wasn’t much difference between threats from inside or outside.
Caius, however, hesitated, worried about potential traps.
Yet after decades, finally meeting another person, he truly didn’t want to miss this chance.
In the end, Caius gritted his teeth and entered the airship.
Of course, he wasn’t brought directly before Carlotta. He was assigned to a separate cabin, where they would communicate remotely.
Inside the cabin, beyond the glass window, he saw the desolate world blanketed in gray ash, endless darkness, withered life, imbuing the world with a melancholy atmosphere.
Carlotta asked Caius to serve as her guide, leading her to explore this world.
"There’s really not much left to explore. All life has withered, no beautiful scenery remains. There’s hardly anything worth seeing."
Still, he began giving directions to show Carlotta the willing conditions of various places.
Although the world had decayed, some ruins still hold historical value and were worth viewing.
Thus, the alchemical airship drifted away.
In the following days, the massive airship appeared across different regions of the world.
There were enormous alchemical factories, sprawling like entire cities, once beyond imagination, now reduced to ruins.
There were also the grand palaces of a glorious empire, where rulers once stood face-to-face with deities, now overrun with weeds, walls collapsed and broken.
And vast forests that were once magical creature paradises, now barren wastelands, with scattered dead trees and the rotting bones of monsters barely visible.
Finally, Carlotta arrived at a region filled with numerous murals. She discovered that the people of this civilization particularly favored using murals to record their history.
However, due to the passage of time, most of the murals in this massive museum-like area had been severely damaged, with only a few remaining intact.
"I spent a lot of time studying these murals and eventually reached a conclusion: this world once had contact with other worlds. For a considerable period, there was even frequent exchange."
Caius shared his discovery.
Although most of the mural content was destroyed, the remaining fragments still revealed astonishing information.
This world once had close communication with another world, and the passage between them naturally came from the Tower of Babel. That exchange brought abundant knowledge to this world. Naturally, the other world also gained much.
According to the murals, the Gem Path originated from that world. Only that world possessed those special gems.
That world brought many gems to this civilization, some of which were planted and produced more gems, allowing the Gem Path to take root and flourish in this world.
"Unfortunately, too much has been destroyed. Many key details are missing."
Carlotta felt regretful. Time always erodes everything.
After circling through various sites, time advanced to the early hours of the next day.
Carlotta sat in a cabin, silently opening her intelligence report.
[ 1: The third world, which once had contact with the second world, can be accessed by returning to the Tower of Babel in the first world and reaching floor 208, where the passage can be found (a map).]
Carlotta was stunned.
It seemed the report designated her current world as the first world, and subsequent worlds were numbered in the order of encounter.
She glanced at the map. It was currently pitch black, she needed to return to the Tower of Babel in the first world and reach floor 208 to activate it.
She wanted to go and see.
[ 2: Caius Peake’s true name is Trenton Martin, from the first world. He is the long-missing leader of the Stellar Spire. He murdered the Life Tree’s leader Caius Pick, then used a treasure artifact to impersonate him, plundering vast wealth from the Life Tree. To this day, the others in the Life Tree remain unaware that their missing leader has long been replaced.]
Carlotta stared in disbelief.
She had suspected something was off about his identity, but never imagined his actions were so audacious, impersonating the leader of another Transcendent organization, and going undiscovered for decades?
Of course, this was also due to the fact that the original leader had disappeared for decades.
Truthfully, she had never heard outside that the leaders of the Stellar Spire and the Life Tree had gone missing. The members of these two organizations... were quite good at keeping secrets.
[ 3: White Goat Menon Bronson, Azure Fox Wesley Ackerman, Night Cat Arianna, and Toby Diamond, are deeply puzzled by the disappearance of Rose Carlotta White, suspecting she met with an accident. They are now highly vigilant, fearing some terrifying presence might be lurking in the shadows.]
Carlotta hadn’t expected news about her former teammates. She didn’t particularly care about these people, so she merely glanced at the intelligence report before withdrawing her gaze.
[ 4: At the bottom of the abyss in World Two, High Priestess Bova Hernandez, whose remains were preserved by the divine artifact Eternal Heart, began gradually reviving decades ago upon Trenton Martin’s arrival. After decades of restoration, she is now nearing full revival following renewal stimulation from an outsider.]
[ 5: Divine artifacts are objects used by deities. The Eternal Heart maintains a person’s state in perfect stasis, immortal and indestructible. However, it was damaged during the ancient divine war, leaving flaws that make complete protection impossible.]
[ 6: High Priestess Bova Hernandez is in extremely poor condition and unable to display the strength she once possessed as an Exalted.]
Carlotta was shocked.
She never expected the following pieces of intelligence to be so revealing, mentioning an actual Exalted.
"Does this world actually still have someone surviving? And... this person is at an Exalted level?"
Carlotta murmured softly.
The strongest beings beneath the gods were known as Exalteds.
As for divine artifacts, they surpass even alchemy creations, alchemy artifacts and alchemy items, they were objects exclusive to deities themselves. Only a god could fully utilize a divine artifact. Normally, even an Exalted wouldn’t possess such an item. These weren’t things that could be created through conventional means.
Carlotta grew intensely curious about this world’s past, what exactly had happened here? Her curiosity burned fiercely.
Because whatever happened in this world might one day happen on her own. She needed to understand it thoroughly; otherwise, when disaster strikes, she might face serious trouble.
Without hesitation, Carlotta disregarded the guidance of her "tour guide" Trenton Martin and steered toward the abyss where the High Priestess resides.
"That’s not the direction. We should go that way, there’s a decent ruin over there."
Trenton corrected from inside the cabin.
"I know, but I’ve made another discovery. I want to investigate."
Carlotta’s voice came through. Follow current novels on noveⅼfire.net
Trenton Martin grew puzzled, glancing toward the direction Carlotta’s alchemical airship was heading.
Moments later, his expression changed drastically. He quickly said, "Stop! Ahead is an abyss, I suspect it’s the largest fissure in this world, harboring extremely terrifying supernatural phenomena. Getting too close could be fatal."
Over the past few decades, he hadn’t approached this area entirely, but each time he neared it, an overwhelming sense of dread gripped him. He had labeled this place as extremely dangerous.
Carlotta replied, "It’s exactly that abyss I’m heading towards. I seem to have found something. Don’t worry too much. If you’re truly afraid, you can choose not to follow."
After saying this, Carlotta directly opened a door beside Trenton’s cabin, allowing him to exit immediately.
This left Trenton speechless. Ultimately, he gritted his teeth and decided not to leave.
The alchemical airship quickly reached its destination.
A massive abyss lay before them. The enormous fissure stretched endlessly, no one knew where it began or where it led.
Deep within the crack, pitch darkness reigned. Ash drifted ceaselessly through the air, while violent magical fluctuations roiled without end.
Since arriving in this world, Carlotta had barely sensed any magical elements in the environment. Instead, they were continuously draining away through millions of cracks in the world, nearly reaching complete depletion.
Yet here, magical elements still surged, though chaotically violent.
Using her Listener ability to perceive them, she could hear the elements raging, angry, roaring, screaming kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
Suddenly, the abyss trembled.
Trenton’s expression shifted instantly. Instinctively, he exclaimed, "Wha— what’s happening?"
He had come here before, sensing only danger, but had never witnessed any actual activity. This sudden movement within the abyss turned his face pale.
Even a Weaver wasn’t fearless. Trenton was now prepared to flee at any moment.
Carlotta, having received prior intelligence, remained relatively calm. She stared intently into the abyss.
She knew the High Priestess had awakened.
A terrifying aura began rising. It surged for just a short while before a figure slowly emerged from the depths of the abyss.
Trenton felt a chill run through his body, his scalp tingling as he stared fixedly at the emerging figure.
Carlotta also focused sharply on the figure.
It was a woman clad in white priestly robes, though now tattered and stained with dust.
Her long brown hair hung wildly, yet she still wore a priest’s hat crookedly perched on her head.
She floated upward, her eyes glowing with an eerie purple hue, filled with intense madness. One glance was enough to make anyone feel deeply relieved.
Although calling it "madness" might not be entirely accurate. Her gaze also carries a sense of derangement, something only extreme trauma could produce.
But then again, considering this world had already withered into desolation and all life had fallen silent, the trauma endured by this High Priestess couldn’t possibly have been small.
Judging from the fragmented murals observed earlier, in a world that once hosted actual gods, the High Priestess held the highest status among humans, ranking even above emperors within the empire.
"Was she once the highest being beneath the god in this world? Yet now, she’s the only one left."
Carlotta whispered softly.
Then, through the alchemical airship, she transmitted a message: "I am from another world. I deeply lament the current state of this world. May I ask, what exactly happened in the past? Would you be willing to speak with me?"
At this moment, even Trenton felt admiration for Carlotta. Facing someone clearly in such a disturbed state, she could still speak so calmly.
Still, he pricked up his ears, equally eager to learn what had happened in this world’s past.
The High Priestess Bova emerged from the pitch-black abyss. What met her maddened eyes was a ruined, dying world on the brink of extinction.
One glance was enough to ignite unbearable sorrow, and she let out a series of agonized screams.
Carlotta heard the woman speak, but couldn’t understand the words. She quickly activated the airship’s translation function to interpret the speech.
"The god is dead. All life has been withered. Why should I still live?"
When a world dies, leaving only one living being behind, that survivor’s existence is undoubtedly filled with unbearable pain.