Babel Tower

This landship was far more advanced than Roy had imagined. Some of its structures could not have been easily manufactured even in the era he had once lived in. Yet, like the Venus de Milo, this landship had its flaws.

Clearly, this landship was likely not a product of the current era. After his employer unearthed it, some people had repaired and modified it using contemporary technology. Even now, the repair and modification work was still ongoing.

That was why Roy could see so many incongruous details along the passageways leading into the landship.

However, he did not question the man leading the way, who called himself Scout, about it. Setting aside whether Scout even knew the relevant information, asking might put Roy in an unfavorable position. After all, he was an outsider.

Under his restraint, Lemuenia obediently floated behind him, like a sword sheathed in an invisible scabbard.

"Perhaps I should prepare another weapon?"

He touched the broken sword at his waist, which had only its hilt and a small piece of blade remaining. The thought surfaced in Roy's mind. After all, if he kept holding Lemuenia, she would be unable to fully display her combat abilities.

She had her own will and her own fighting style. Perhaps it would be better to let her fight on her own?

After stepping into an elevator and arriving at the fifth floor, the two reached the uppermost level of the landship. As he exited the elevator, Roy saw rows of transparent windows. Through them, he could clearly see the surroundings outside the landship, but this was not their destination.

Still, they were not far now.

After walking for several more minutes, Roy and the Operator calling himself Scout finally reached the end of their brief journey: a compartment that looked like a command room.

There were quite a few people in the compartment, most of them operating all sorts of equipment. A white-haired Feline dressed predominantly in green, a white-haired, pink-eyed Sarkaz, and a person clad in black whose entire body was completely concealed.

As Scout and Roy entered, all three turned their gazes toward them. It was clear that they had been waiting for him.

"Welcome to Rhodes Island. Though should I address you as Sir Roy of the Lungmen Guard Department, a rising star among Kazdel's mercenaries, or..."

"Someone from the past?"

The first to speak was neither the female Feline nor the female Sarkaz, but the person whose body was fully concealed. From his voice, he was a man.

Roy was not surprised that he knew of his past experiences. Roy had not disguised himself when leaving Lungmen or arriving in Kazdel, nor had he used another identity. Naturally, it was no surprise that one of the largest powers on the land known as Kazdel knew this much.

However, the final words made Roy frown slightly. There were not many ways to interpret the phrase "someone from the past," but words spoken by someone in this position would never carry the most superficial meaning.

Roy needed to wait for the other party to reveal more information. Only then could he make further judgments and find the most accurate answer.

Perhaps noticing the confusion on Roy's face, the man in black continued.

"We come from similar eras. Your time may be somewhat earlier than mine."

The information in his words was enough for Roy to judge the meaning of that phrase. However, his attention was no longer on those four words.

The language the other party used was one Roy knew all too well. It was the language he had once spoken, the language used by the country where he had once lived.

"Were you the one who had that guy called Scout bring me here?"

Without pausing, Roy spoke the moment the other man finished. He too used the language from his previous life.

At that moment, the Feline beside them showed a trace of surprise. Yet it vanished in an instant, and she soon returned to her composed expression.

"Yes and no."

"Then why did you say I was someone from the past?"

The other party did not answer Roy directly. He merely raised a hand and pointed at Lemuenia floating behind Roy, as though he had seen this sword before.

"That is not an object of this world. Only awakened Origin Shards can project such things, things that should not exist, into this world."

Perhaps worried that Roy would not understand what he meant, the man explained.

As Roy listened, a trace of realization appeared on his face. Although he had heard the words "Origin Shard" only once before, he had never forgotten them.

When the system he possessed had first awakened, he had heard a notification: "Hostility detected. Origin Shard awakening." Clearly, an Origin Shard was equivalent to the system.

At that moment, a faint hostility rose in Roy's heart as he looked at the man in black. Since the other party knew about the system, he might also know how to counter it. If he allowed this man to remain, Roy's greatest trump card would cease to exist.

In that instant, Lemuenia shot straight toward the man in black. Yet, when she was only a few centimeters away from him, she stopped.

It was not because the man in black had done anything. Roy had simply stopped her.

"Then what is your purpose in bringing me here?"

Roy asked this as Lemuenia returned to hover behind him.

"Join Babel Tower and become one of us. Your abilities and your identity should not be wasted as an ordinary mercenary. Your strength should be used elsewhere."

"Such as?"

Roy countered after hearing his words.

Perhaps joining the organization known as Babel Tower would be a good choice for Roy right now, but that did not mean he would join without giving it any thought.

He was not that foolish.

"Change this world."

"..."

The other party's words plunged Roy into silence. It was not because the sentence sounded overly melodramatic, but because he could not glean much useful information from it.

Joining Babel Tower on the basis of those words alone was impossible. Roy also hoped that the world could change, but he could not determine whether the other party wanted to make it better or lead it down a worse path.

He understood that their conversation had only just begun...