(Thank you very much to Shao Feng Ye, Kaede no Chōrei, and Lei Xiang for your rewards!)
This was an expansive open-air platform located at the very top of the Heart of the Eras.
The platform's floor was paved with crimson stone tiles, red as blood yet strangely not frightening. Instead, they carried a subtle beauty, like the carpet in some luxurious hall. The entire place exuded an air that only high-end consumers could enjoy, making people feel restrained without realizing it.
There was no ceiling above the platform. Instead, rows of ceramic-like railings formed a cage that covered the entire open-air platform. Canopies had been installed on both sides; once opened, they could cover the railings and become a ceiling.
Surrounding the platform were exceptionally peculiar walls. Unlike the stone-brick floor, the walls seemed to be made of water, rippling continuously like sponges and giving people the feeling that the platform had been submerged in the deep sea.
But in truth, the platform's walls had not originally looked like this. They had taken on their current appearance only because the master of the Heart of the Eras—and indeed the master of the entire City of Different Eras—had set up a barrier around them.
Naturally, the reason for setting up the barrier was very simple: to protect the lake situated atop a platform in the central area, raised roughly a meter above the ground.
More accurately, it was to protect the beautiful girls in the lake, all naked, their lovely eyes tightly shut as they sat or lay soaking in the water.
These beautiful girls had maintained that tranquil posture in the water for quite some time now.
But today, that tranquility was destined to be shattered...
At a certain moment, the door at the entrance to the open-air platform