Elemental Magnetic Star

Chapter 145 The Nuwa Control Center

lame Wave and Aurum Aspire had never deployed an awakening charm, so they were clueless about where it might have been placed.

"You wizards craft various charms, and you, Silver Wolf, really don't know where to deploy them?" Aurum Aspire frowned at Flame Wave.

"You, designated by the Scholar's Pavilion as the city lord of the City of Benevolence, must know. You could ask her," Flame Wave, uninterested in mentioning that he had never made a rebirth charm himself, simply suggested a solution.

Aurelia Leaf was confined by Aurum Aspire in the former city lord's mansion. As the longest-serving city lord of the City of Benevolence and backed by the Auric Forest family, her old residence was transformed into her private domain for convenience in future operations, and subsequent city lords were not entitled to live there.

However, the privileged captive Aurelia Leaf was not content to wait passively for her fate, so when Aurum Aspire and others came looking, they found she had vanished.

"How did she escape?" Aurum Aspire had ordered strict surveillance to ensure she couldn't escape.

"If she didn't leave through the door, could there be a secret passage in the room?" Flame Wave speculated, "Is that why this city lord's mansion was preserved, to facilitate 'their' future scheming?"

Pondering briefly, Aurum Aspire found the idea plausible, "Let's go, check it out."

After a thorough search, they indeed discovered a very concealed passage, nearly impossible to find if not for the traces Aurelia Leaf left in her hasty departure.

Exchanging glances, both harbored the desire to explore further. Leading the way with Flame Wave following, they entered the dark passageway.

The dimly lit passage twisted and turned, but its direction was consistently downward, and soon, the sound of water became faintly audible.

"Where are we?" In the darkness, visibility was almost nil, but their senses sharpened, Aurum Aspire growing increasingly puzzled, "This feels familiar."

"We must have been here before." Mixed emotions in Flame Wave's memory fragments – darkness, panic, haste, suffocation, despair – made it difficult for him to clarify, but one thing was certain: they had indeed visited this place before.

As the sound of water grew clearer and light seeped through, they reached the "end" of the tunnel, staring in disbelief at the sight before them — a hidden underwater world revealed at the depth of the tunnel!

It was a magnificent and real underwater world. Exotic corals and plants were scattered across the seabed, colorful fish swam through the water, and seaweed swayed with the gentle currents. Not far off, a massive coral reef stood on the ocean floor, emitting a mysterious glow.

"How is this possible?" Aurum Aspire murmured.

Indeed, how could the sea not flood the tunnel? And how could real coral reefs emit light? Unless... Flame Wave stepped forward, confirming his suspicion that this was not a real underwater world; he seemed to have entered another space...

"Don't..." Aurum Aspire tried to stop him, but was surprised to find Flame Wave unaffected. Flame Wave's feet remained firmly on the ground, though it appeared he was surrounded by water. In reality, he was inside a giant transparent space, as if enclosed in a crystal bubble.

"This transparent space is connected to the tunnel, but since it's completely sealed, sea water can't enter," Flame Wave explained to Aurum Aspire, questioning himself, "But what kind of material can withstand such pressure from the sea floor and be made into a transparent space? What's the purpose?" As he spoke, he reached out and gently touched the edge of the bubble. His fingertip created ripples, distorting the scenery within the space.

Aurum Aspire focused on the scene, searching his memory for clues while posing a question, "If it's sealed, why can we hear water?"

What had they overlooked? Flame Wave's gaze deepened as images flashed in his mind: Aurelia Leaf slipping out, Aurum Aspire reaching for her, both getting swept away...

He wanted to pull Aurum Aspire back, but someone forbade him. "Don't go... no energy left..." that person shouted.

But he couldn't just watch Aurum Aspire and Aurelia Leaf drown and insisted on pulling them. Amid the struggle, he inadvertently fell out, the space sealing behind him. Engulfed by the vast sea, his lungs filled with water. In the agony of suffocation, he nearly lost consciousness, hallucinating...

"Do you know how to get in?" It seemed Aurelia Leaf asked, a giant, colorful flower blooming behind her...

His head throbbed, pointing to a spot. She reopened the door for them, her radiance too blinding for him to open his eyes...

The fragmented memories halted abruptly. Suppressing his confusion and loss, Flame Wave followed the direction indicated by his memory towards the left side of the transparent space, observing carefully, wary of inadvertently activating something that would let the sea in.

In a corner lay a seashell, motionless. After a long gaze, Flame Wave tried touching it, confirming it was a disguised switch. Memory recalled someone using it to open a door. Gripping the shell, he twisted it forcefully, and a rumbling sound echoed from the tunnel behind.

Aurum Aspire, surprised, immediately turned to inspect, "There's a space here!" His voice sounded muffled, as if emanating from a tomb.

Flame Wave followed to check, and before getting close, heard Aurum Aspire shout, "So you were here! What are you... come back quickly!"

"What's wrong?" Flame Wave rushed over, only to see Aurum Aspire alone, "Where's Aurelia Leaf?" He thought Aurelia Leaf was hiding there.

Aurum Aspire's hand remained outstretched as if to grasp something, but Flame Wave only saw a metal wall and a control panel glowing in that direction.

"She fell out," Aurum Aspire withdrew his hand, blankly stating, "I saw her disappear in that direction when I arrived. I thought she was escaping, but she cried for help, and I realized she had accidentally fallen."

"Fell out? Into the sea?" Flame Wave envisioned them drowning in the deep sea, "From where? Is there another exit?"

Events unfolded too quickly for Aurum Aspire to react. "I could see the sea outside. But that space seemed isolated by some energy field, maybe the energy couldn't sustain, so it closed quickly..." Aurum Aspire tried to recall and explain.

But he quickly shifted focus from Aurelia Leaf's disappearance to the dimly lit control panel, dazzled by the flowing geometric images. "Is this the control center?"

This nearly forgotten control center, akin to high-tech ruins, contained images outlined by light, depicting galaxies, planets, starships traversing space, interstellar gates warping time, and distant planetary projections...

Aurum Aspire touched a console, a faint blue light flickered at his fingertips, then quickly dimmed.

Flame Wave touched a holographic projection in the air, which suddenly became clear, showing cosmic beams entwining between galaxies, spacecraft voyaging through space, and the twisting of time at interstellar gates...

Aurum Aspire experimented, finding that slight gestures could adjust the projection's size and angle, feeling as if he held control over the entire universe, a truly astonishing experience.

However, in moments, everything vanished from sight.

Aurum Aspire and Flame Wave exchanged looks, as if they had experienced a dream of a technological civilization's rise and fall...