Ch.300The Path to the Leision Continent (1)

“Well done, CEO. If things continue like this, by the time I reach Centrum, every continent will have built and offered me a throne.”

[I am merely your faithful servant, Luminator.]

“Indeed. And as your master, I should bestow a reward upon you. What do you desire?”

[…if possible… I would like additional fusion reactors. I have sufficient orichalcon ore, but lack the facilities to melt it down again.]

“Don’t worry, I’ll allocate additional satellites to you… Is that done?”

[Ah… yes. I can feel it. Thank you very much, my lord.]

“It’s nothing. Your loyalty deserves as much. I’ll end the call now. Keep up the good work.”

[Of course. Safe travels.]

Beep!

The communication device turned off, ending the connection with the CEO of Turianic Industries.

He had allocated additional satellites and resources to Karl, and Turianic Industries, having received his investment, would grow into an even larger corporation.

And when that happens, the armament status of the soldiers fighting for Victor’s Victorian Empire would improve further, and they would fight like fierce battering rams loyal only to Victor’s commands, destroying the enemies of the empire.

“Now I’ve conquered five continents… Is this a fast pace… or a slow one…”

Victor muttered as he left the communications room, kneading his wife’s cheek.

It had been three years since they began their adventure. At this rate, it would probably take another 2-3 years before reaching Centrum, and he was quite worried about how the political landscape of the continents would have changed by then.

He couldn’t use the trick of establishing an empire and continuing the pilgrimage. If he did that, it would no longer be a pilgrimage but an inspection tour.

Naturally, the curse of infertility placed upon them by the Moon would not be lifted, so the pilgrimage had to be completed for the eternity of the empire.

Of course, since they had become immortals, they didn’t necessarily need to resolve the infertility issue, but if they happened to die unfortunately, the empire would collapse instantly.

They didn’t need to look far… well, actually quite… very far—the imperial family of the empire proved this point. Even now, if one truly wanted “immortality,” it could be achieved by continuously transferring consciousness or uploading it to machines, but what about the imperial family during the empire era?

They achieved physical immortality by simply taking a few pills, but they too eventually chose to produce heirs and continue changing generations.

This was because they believed it was much more efficient to adapt to changing realities by continuously changing generations rather than having one leader rule eternally.

And Victor’s opinion wasn’t much different.

“Once the curse is lifted, you won’t be able to leave the bed until I’m pregnant.”

“What.”

And that was Raisha’s opinion too.

*

Faerun. Miriam. Meridia. Yenisei. Hyacinths.

The Iron Walker Party had now successfully completed five continents.

In truth, it was a bit of a stretch to call it “completion” when they had only visited famous landmarks, but Victor could no longer afford to spend ample time on the pilgrimage.

With the founding of the empire imminent, he needed to expand his influence as much as possible, and for that purpose, it was far more efficient to target the four most influential places on each continent—the famous landmarks—and secure loyalty oaths from them.

It’s not for nothing that these landmarks are called the 52 Wonders of the World. Like it or not, they were registered as landmarks because they wield enormous influence within their continents.

And now, the Iron Walker Party was heading to the sixth continent, Raysion.

“What are the landmarks of the Raysion continent?”

When Victor asked Simon, Simon looked at the map for a moment before beginning his explanation.

“First… the birthplace of a great achievement is Icarus Cliff.”

“What achievement was born there?”

“During the late Empire era, when the imperial family, stained with tyranny, was handling all popular revolutions with bloody suppression, a saint stepped forward and resolved the situation peacefully by defeating the army. Through self-immolation.”

“Oh my.”

Just hearing about self-immolation made the party members’ brows furrow.

“The saint sat on Icarus Cliff, poured oil on himself, and declared that if his body fell down the cliff, it would be the empire’s victory, but if his body remained on the ground, it would be the people’s victory. Eventually, his body caught fire, and despite the tremendous muscle contractions and burning pain, he endured through sheer willpower to uphold his conviction. It was literally a victory of will. His remains are still there to this day. His followers preserved them until the end of the Eclipse Era.”

“Truly a remarkable achievement.”

The late period of the Empire was when the Empire’s power had swollen to extremes.

Rebellions were rampant everywhere due to tyranny and oppression, and the imperial legions grew correspondingly massive to suppress them.

Moreover, all the satellites in space that Victor was currently using were produced during the Empire era, and most were lost during the Eclipse Era.

Yet, literally billions of satellites were still functioning normally, making one wonder how the Empire had fallen in the first place.

In any case, if even the Empire in its mighty days acknowledged his will, one could imagine how noble his self-sacrifice must have appeared.

To choose death oneself, and to do so while experiencing the most intense pain a human can feel—burning—without bending one’s spine until the end, was a spirit that even the imperial government of the time had to acknowledge. His grave certainly deserved to be a landmark.

“Next is a religious landmark. Hargal Plains. The ascension site of Moneta.”

“Oh ho.”

“Hargal Plains was a famous granary region even during the Empire era. That hasn’t changed. There’s research suggesting that without the grains produced in Hargal Plains, grain prices across the Raysion continent would increase tenfold.”

“That significant?”

“Well, though it’s called a plain, it’s enormous in size. Probably thousands of times larger than Scofield Plains.”

“Wow.”

Victor sighed upon hearing this.

Scofield Plains was already incredibly vast, so how immense must this plain be if it’s thousands of times larger?

“I can already see why Moneta became the goddess of abundance.”

“I agree. To distribute, sell, and process the grains from this plain requires very delicate work and tolerance. Moneta learned commerce here. The rest, everyone knows.”

The party members nodded.

In truth, not much was known about Moneta, the goddess of prosperity.

It was only vaguely known that she was an incredibly wealthy merchant when she was mortal.

“She probably wouldn’t view the empire negatively either. After all, when the world is unified, wealth increases accordingly.”

Unification brings stability, and stability brings development. This was a true proposition proven by the Eclipse Era and the Renaissance of the Mortality Calendar.

Chaos might bring short-term benefits, but from a macroscopic perspective, it was ultimately self-destructive.

“Next, the historical place is Gaylord City.”

“What happened there?”

“It’s where the first ascension of a mortal occurred, excluding the Sun, Moon, and the Four Great Gods. This event led to the Adventurer’s Guild establishing the Gem rank beyond the Metal rank.”

“Oho…”

Ascension refers to a mortal becoming immortal.

More precisely, ascension means abandoning one’s physical form and sending one’s essence into the universe to become an eternally shining star. Therefore, someone like Simon, who took the elixir, is not described as having ascended.

The ascension of mortals began in earnest during the Eclipse Era, and now in 1203 of the Mortality Calendar, one could see the sea of stars beautifully adorning the night sky.

During the Empire era, only the moon shone lonely in the night sky.

“Now for the last one. Where is the most beautiful place?”

“Ah… Crater Night Mountain.”

“Night Mountain? What does that mean?”

“Just as it sounds, it means the mountain of night.”

“Is the night view beautiful?”

“That’s right. Luminescent algae flowing from the mountain range follow the river streams and burrow into the terrain below the mountain. And they shine when they see the moonlight. Green. Blue. White. All these colors mix to create a beautiful spectacle, they say.”

“Oho…”

Hearing the description, Victor’s eyes lit up as he imagined the scene.

He still remembered the day he had touched the clouds at the Crucis Mountain Range.

“Then, this continent will be quite an exciting adventure too. Very enjoyable.”

“Your eyes aren’t smiling at all.”

“How could you understand how I feel working at a resort?”

“Oh dear…”

The other party members sincerely sympathized with Victor, who was shedding invisible tears.

After all, someone who goes alone to receive loyalty oaths while others go sightseeing can’t really enjoy tourism.