Upon careful consideration, the three realized that this was indeed the case; objectively speaking, the Second Holy See's productivity level was among the best in the World of Disorder.
Aside from the fact that the land area is not large enough, there doesn't seem to be any other drawback. In fact, it is precisely because the land area is not large that it is more attractive to investors.
At this time, the Second Holy See was in a state of high momentum, like a newly listed stock with great potential, and there were always people specifically watching its performance.
Guided by the notary, the three traversed the branching staircases and entered the true "core" of the Great Labyrinth City.
"I'll leave you here."
Bobby stood in front of a large gate and spoke to the three players. The players nodded, looking at the towering gray-white stone gate in front of them, feeling as if they had arrived at the entrance to a final boss room.
The Grand Foundry Master can indeed be considered a BOSS, but it is currently in a neutral state and therefore will not launch a direct attack.
The "core" of the Great Labyrinth City was now revealed to the three of them. There was not a trace of green in the world; the entire world was composed of gray-white stone bricks and golden brass, and almost every movable part had a mechanical structure.
Some of the mechanical structures are exquisite and intricate, while others appear simple and unpretentious, giving the entire core a fantastical feel that blends antiquity and futurism.
After verifying their identities, several guards covered in metal parts led the three into the magnificent mechanical palace and began to explain some details they needed to pay attention to during the audience.
The three listened carefully and found that the etiquette was not difficult to remember overall.
Like the Tree Worship Church Theocracy, the Graycast Corridor is a newly emerging power that grew from the corpses of past kingdoms. Therefore, there is no language barrier between them, and their etiquette is basically the same. There are only some differences in details. The Tree Worship Church shows piety to the Tree God, while the Graycast Corridor replaces that with the Grand Foundry Master himself.
As the three approached the core of the palace, a faint but powerful pressure began to act upon them.
The three were unaware of the presence of this power, but Ed, far away, felt that the resolution and frame rate of the image he could see were constantly decreasing, with a trend of dropping from 720P to 480P or even 360P. Even the sound quality was somewhat distorted.
As the three entered through the final door, Ed realized that he had truly lost all contact with them.
Although he could confirm that the three bodies were still functioning normally under the control of the soul, he had no way of hearing or seeing anything happening inside the innermost part of the palace.
Could this be the power of the Grand Foundry Master?
Ed pondered to himself, what should electromagnetic shielding be called here?
Psionic Energy shielding?
He made a note of this idea, intending to discuss the possibility of creating a similar shielded area with Willow later.
After all, there are many powerful individuals in this world, and Ed doesn't want others to have the opportunity to steal his secrets.
Inside the palace, as the last gate closed, the three were finally able to see the scene before them: a long, somewhat dimly lit corridor that stretched all the way to the end of the space.
Before this, although the three of them had not spoken, they had all imagined how this scene would unfold.
Although there are slight differences in the details, the general idea of the three is that the Grand Foundry Master should appear as a king-like figure, with his own magnificent clothes, scepter and Crown, sitting on a throne that is always bathed in sunlight.
However, the reality was quite different. Behind the last towering gate was not a sacred place like a church, nor the solemnity of a royal palace, but rather a magnificent, unimaginably grand circular hall.
Once the three of them had finally passed through the passageway and arrived at the center of the hall, they all began to look around uncontrollably.
The initial models and blueprints of countless mechanical structures were categorized and arranged on hundreds of huge, arc-shaped bookshelves. If each bookshelf is considered as a segment of an arc, then connecting them would create more than a dozen concentric circles in this circular hall.
Each of these bookshelves is tens of meters tall. Just looking up at them gives you a sense of oppressive pressure, making it hard to breathe.
If the Graycast Corridor were to be hit by an earthquake, the three had no doubt that it would immediately turn into ruins. However, they quickly dismissed this idea because they noticed that the bookshelves were not completely stationary. Instead, they were slowly rotating at different linear speeds over time, and the ground did not show any gaps as a result. This indicated that the bookshelves and the part of the ground beneath them were completely connected.
Amidst the rustling of meshing mechanical structures, robotic arms extending from the ground and walls are removing or archiving prototypes and sketches.
The passageway they had just passed through was formed by the simultaneous rotation of the dozen or so segmented, curved bookshelves into empty spaces.
The overwhelming sense of oppression rendered the three speechless, even causing them to overlook the fact that they were the only other living person in the vast circular Great Library.
Amidst those massive, concentric bookshelves stacked upon each other, an elderly man sat quietly, head bowed before his desk.
The rustling sound that lingered in the ears of the three of them partly came from his writing.
By the time the three realized what was happening, the old man had put down his pen.
He casually pointed to the table, and several robotic arms began to clean his desk, sorting and archiving the documents on it, as if each robotic arm had eyes and its own thoughts.
The elderly man, dressed in a gray casual suit, looked at the three of them with an almost imperceptible smile on his face:
Have you seen enough? Did you find it good?
The three of them recovered from their shock and bowed in turn as instructed by the guard.
[ Shit Appraisal Master ]: "I feel deeply shocked."
[ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ]: "It's hard to imagine that humankind could create such a miracle."
[ Lion Hidden in the Eyes ]: "Completely different from what I expected."
The old man in gray slightly raised his hand, and several cracks instantly appeared in the ground behind the three people. Different parts emerged from them, quickly assembling into three chairs, which were then precisely pushed behind the three.
"Sit down, you half-dragon. Tell me, what do you imagine this place to be like?"
[ Lion Hidden in the Eyes ] said:
"I thought this place would be as grand as a palace, but it's more like a library."
The old man in gray smiled and said:
"I am not a king, nor do I have the title of emperor. Those things... I'm not used to them."