Chapter 1 Charlotte the Queen Becomes Empress?

"Queen Charlotte became Empress? And then she opened a planar gate on her own?"

"Yes. The situation is very bad. The planar gate is in the Zambra Iron Falls mountain region in southern Mafa. Although Mafa is concentrating its military power to resist with all its might, the battle situation is not optimistic. After the planar gate stabilizes, the top powerhouses from another plane will be able to descend on a large scale. The time left for our Alchemic Plane is running out..."

"..."

It had been thirty years since Black Sam the Pirate King's crew left the Luying Empire for the far western Dragon Country waters.

Although Bartolo the Dragonslayer had heard of Charlotte's name, she was still just a queen back then.

He listened to Soren recount the events, his expression solemn throughout.

Although he was a wanted pirate, he didn't want to see the alchemy that had made him who he was destroyed by an alien civilization.

However, what happened has already passed, and the planar invasion has become an irreversible fact.

After listening, Bartolo muttered to himself, "No wonder I felt that the laws have become much more complete recently. I thought there was another problem with the Hell Volcano, but it turned out to be like this..."

After Soren finished speaking, he said directly: "Now the magicians of the Celestial Plane have established a teleportation camp near Rainbow Island in the south, which used to be the habitat of the Naga tribe. At least tens of thousands of people have already come over. They are looking for the Mímisbrunnr, and perhaps have other purposes. So, I hope Senior Bartolo can give us some information. If possible, we in the Dawn Society will try our best to prevent them from achieving their goals."

Bartolo finally understood the reason he spoke up, and asked, "So, you guys were fighting those people from the Celestial Plane before?"

He had previously heard adventurers describe the strange noises and guessed that they might be artillery fire.

Later, he met Soren and Qian Tiao in Atlanta City and confirmed this idea. He just didn't expect that their artillery fire was not aimed at sea monsters, but at planar invaders.

Soren: "Yes."

Bartolo listened, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "What information do you want to know?"

Soren thought for a while, there was too much information he wanted to know, but he first asked, "I heard Tani say that Black Sam's crew robbed the Hais Marquis' fleet more than thirty years ago, and then obtained the Daru tribe's biological artifact, the Fahr Holy Grail? I need to find that grail."

Bartolo listened and recalled for a moment, obviously knowing, "Are you referring to the magical cup with Daru tribal greetings engraved on the cup body, which can calm the mind and soul?"

As soon as Soren heard this description, it was exactly the same as what Yuta had said, and immediately said, "Yes!"

This was the most important thing to solve his mental distortion and break through the Divine Wandering Realm.

Now it seemed like there was hope!

"Oh, I almost forgot about that cup. After all, there were too many strange things on the ship back then..."

Bartolo seemed to recall the experience of adventuring with his companions.

That cup was also a small trophy from countless robberies.

Because alchemists couldn't use it, it was just an ordinary cup gathering dust in the treasure vault.

There were many like that.

A dreamy look appeared in his eyes, and he sighed slightly.

Memories surfaced, and the experience of adventuring with his companions was vivid, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.

Soren confirmed that the grail was indeed on the Pirate King's ship, so he wanted to know where the ship was even more.

He asked, "Senior Bartolo, can I ask..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bartolo interrupted him, his tone slightly apologetic, "I may have to disappoint you. That cup is probably impossible for anyone to find."

Soren's expression instantly froze, "???"

Bartolo seemed to have recalled something, his gaze obviously dimmed, and he explained, "That cup is on the Saint Mary, but it has been swept into the endless undead hell along with the ship and its captain..."

As soon as Soren heard this, his brows furrowed immediately, and he faintly felt that something was not good.

......

Bartolo looked over and asked, "Don't you want to know what happened back then?"

Soren nodded, with an expression of listening intently.

Bartolo's eyebrows rose slightly.

Between his eyebrows, Soren saw what looked like Saito Misaburo the Sword Demon on the wanted notice from more than thirty years ago.

Bartolo said, "Back then, our Black Sam crew was already the 'Pirate King Crew' in people's mouths. Not to be too boastful, no one on the sea was our opponent, not even the Luying Empire could do anything to us. Our footprints were farther than any royal adventure exploration team. We explored countless dangerous places, drew the 'Black Sam World Sea Chart' in your hand, and completed the greatest circumnavigation route that the world's greatest adventurers had never completed. We went to the North Sea to fight the legendary Kraken, went to the West Sea to salvage the legendary 'Lolovensa's Golden Shipwreck', and went to the Devil's Sea in the South Sea to find the underwater city... At that time, we thought we owned the whole world. Sailing adventures brought us joy and illuminated the meaning of life..."

"..."

Soren listened silently.

Many of these legendary stories are still circulating in pirate circles today.

The sea chart also records the Black Sam crew's past glory.

But spoken by this firsthand witness, it was as if he was witnessing the glorious times of a legendary pirate crew.

Bartolo continued, "Later, we obtained some ancient nautical charts during our sailing adventures and learned that there might be ancient civilizations, ruins of god battlefields, dragons, and strange creatures in mythology in the far western sea... The captain said, let's go on an adventure! Everyone cheered. Then we brought sufficient supplies and went all the way west, crossing the Black Sea of Eternal Night, and came to the Dragon Country..."

Soren listened silently, with only admiration left in his heart.

It takes courage to explore unfamiliar sea areas, because you don't know where the end is.

Just some uncertified ancient sea charts are very likely to be a one-way ticket with no return.

But the Black Sam crew successfully crossed the Sea of Eternal Night and came to the Dragon Country.

Bartolo's tone did not diminish his pride at all, this was originally the pride of their Black Sam Pirate Crew.

He said, "We discovered that there are still human civilizations here, and we were overjoyed. Discovering new continents and opening up new sea routes are the most joyful and historic feats for any sailing adventurer. We sailed around and explored everywhere, discovered many ancient ruins, and finally determined the location of the ruins of the Ancient Dragon Country. We had the best captain, Black Sam the scourge of the ocean, the most excellent navigator, Alick the storm-favored, the most skilled ship doctor, Miss Elsa the bloody witch doctor, and Solomon the wine jug with a bad temper but super delicious cooking... We fought dragons, killed Titan sea monsters, and were chased by Cyclops... My partners and I overcame countless difficulties..."

Soren heard the names that were like thunder in the pirate circles, and his eyes were full of respect for these pioneers.

What an excellent and powerful pirate crew this was.

If their experiences were written down, they would definitely be a glorious page in the alchemic plane's sailing history!

Speaking of this, Bartolo's tone suddenly changed, the light in his eyes suddenly dimmed, and he said again, "Until we found the Ancient Dragon Country and saw the ancient battlefield where the legendary ancient gods fought and fell... we realized that human power is too small. I still remember what the captain said back then: below the gods, all are ants."

Listening to his tone becoming heavy, Soren's brows also furrowed slightly.

Qian Tiao next to him also looked over.

The two were very curious about what happened back then.

"Alas..."

Bartolo pondered for a moment before saying, "There is a volcano there that connects to hell. It is said that it was a 'planar hole' left by two supreme gods fighting and breaking the plane. There are chaotic and disordered laws there, as well as countless powerful undead, seventh-order, eighth-order, ninth-order, and even indescribably powerful ones. The Hell Volcano erupted unexpectedly, covering millions of miles, and there was no way to avoid it. Undead creatures swept across the entire ancient battlefield. In the face of those terrifying hell creatures, human power seemed incomparably pale and weak. We were swept into the ancient battlefield and fought fiercely. Although we repelled countless undead, we were also contaminated with hell energy. Before long, everyone was distorted, and my partners were left there forever..."

As he spoke, the old swordsman paused, as if calming the grief in his heart that grew stronger as he got older.

After a long time, he continued: "As for me, because I fused the implanted gear Hell's Maw and Xiu's Destruction Domain, I had some resistance to hell energy, and my distortion symptoms were the mildest. At that time, there was also a space treasure on the ship that could break through planar teleportation. The captain and my partners gave me the only chance to survive. I teleported out, survived, and have been eking out a living until now."

"..."

When Soren heard this story, he and Qian Tiao exchanged glances unconsciously.

The two of them felt that this was very similar to when they were swept into the Land of the Yellow Springs.

They were both undead worlds, and being contaminated with Yellow Springs energy also made it impossible to leave. The only difference was that the monsters in this Dragon Country ancient battlefield were of much higher order.

Being able to wipe out a top-tier team like the Black Sam Pirate Crew was indeed extremely dangerous.

But the so-called Hell Energy and Yellow Springs Energy are essentially a type of death-based spiritual energy.

It was not unfamiliar to Soren now.

Many more thoughts immediately came to his mind.

The current Dawn Society is not weaker than the Black Sam Crew back then, it is even much stronger!

Not to mention the combat power of the members, Soren's Small Void Realm had almost all of the world's top alchemic technology, personnel, and knowledge reserves. This foundation was simply unmatched by ordinary teams!

Moreover, having experienced the Land of the Yellow Springs, Soren could more accurately appreciate the danger described by Bartolo.

He could also accurately understand the situation of Hell Energy eroding and distorting.

Soren himself had been distorted after being eroded by Yellow Springs Energy. It was only after advancing to the sixth order, fusing with the implanted gear Titan's Might, and possessing the Blood Devour ability that he slowly solved the problem of distortion.

Moreover, others couldn't come out of that ancient battlefield, but that didn't mean that he, who possessed the God King artifact Ouroboros Time-Space Ring, couldn't come out.

Bartolo could teleport out, and Soren himself could definitely do it too!

Even the entire team, Soren could take them into the Small Void Realm and then bring them out together.

Fear comes from the unknown.

Now that he knew that the ancient battlefield was very dangerous, Soren instead breathed a sigh of relief.

Based on the current information, although those ultra-order monsters were invincible, as long as he prepared adequately, it was not necessarily a dead end.

......

After Bartolo finished telling his Black Sam Crew's experiences, he saw that Soren and Qian Tiao's expressions were solemn, but it didn't seem to dispel their desire to go on an adventure.

At this time, he lifted his upper garment, revealing his upper body.

Although old, his body did not appear to be deteriorating.

His well-built bronze muscles had a strong visual impact, and his arms had large red and green cherry blossom tattoos. His scarred skin also witnessed the achievements of a legendary swordsman along the way.

Suddenly, he turned around.

What was very strange was that there was a terrifying, blurry human face growing on his back.

The ghost face seemed to be alive. It smelled the breath of living people, and the nose on the face moved. It immediately became ferocious. It struggled as if trying to break free from the restraints of the skin and rush out to bite Soren and Qian Tiao.

Soren and Qian Tiao's expressions changed slightly. With the All-Knowing Eyes, he roughly knew what was going on.

As expected, the distortion of top professionals was also very terrifying. It seemed that Bartolo had already raised a distorted monster in his body that could seize his will at any time.

This was because his implanted gear, Hell's Maw, had absorbed too much hell energy and then become distorted.

Bartolo showed it off, then put on his clothes again and said very calmly: "As you can see, my body has been distorted. I'm still thankful that I encountered a wizard from the Silver Dragon Country when I was traveling and obtained a dragon blood secret medicine that has allowed me to suppress it until now. Otherwise, I would have been distorted long ago. But you can also see that it has reached a point where it is almost impossible to suppress and may distort at any time."

For alchemists, distortion was a word that people talked about with fear.

But he had already seen the end of his life and had accepted that ending, so he said with an extremely indifferent tone: "Unfortunately, I won't live long. Otherwise, I could have done my part in the face of the planar invasion."

Soren listened and pondered for a moment, his mind thinking about something.

For other people, this level of distortion was indeed irreversible.

But in the Dawn Society, it was not an unsolvable problem.

Dr. Banks had done a lot of research in this area, and general distortion was really not a problem.

At this time, Bartolo thought that the shock Soren and Qian Tiao showed was fear of the distorted monster in his body, and smiled easily again: "You guys hunted that blue dragon before, right? If possible, I would also like to exchange some dragon blood, after all, pure-blooded dragons are very rare, and I need dragon blood to suppress the distortion..."

Dragon blood was the main material of that wizard's secret recipe, and this was also one of the most important reasons why he had been hunting dragons.

"Of course, no problem."

Naturally, Soren was not reluctant to part with a little dragon blood and agreed immediately.

Thinking about it, he said again: "Senior, if possible, I need a piece of flesh tissue from your distorted area. My partner has a lot of research on distortion and may be able to completely reverse the distortion of your body, or develop an inhibitor."

Bartolo's expression froze for a moment. He thought he had misheard and asked, "Distortion can be reversed?"

"Yes."

Soren nodded and said Dr. Banks's catchphrase: "The essence of distortion is just the human body's inability to withstand the mutation caused by alien energy. Understanding the essence can actually solve the root cause..."

It was not convenient for him to explain in detail, after all, people in Bartolo's era could not understand the concept of biotechnology at all.

But Soren did not make a conclusion before he was sure.

As he spoke, he took out several advanced distortion potions and said, "These are general distortion potions, which should be able to be used by Senior for emergency use."

The two sides had only met twice, and Soren did not think that the other party would definitely trust him, even if there was a relationship with Tani.

Being cautious made it easier for both parties to get along.

Bartolo looked at the several potions, his eyes slightly doubtful.

But he did not refuse and put the potions away.

......

Now that the topic had been opened up and Bartolo was willing to provide information, Soren was not polite.

He took out the Dragon Country Sea Map and said, "Senior Bartolo, you are very familiar with the Dragon Country, can you please help me mark the dangerous areas on the map?"

Bartolo looked at the complete sea map and was obviously surprised for a moment, but what surprised him even more was something else. He asked, "You still plan to go on an adventure to the east?"

Soren shrugged noncommittally and said, "It hasn't been decided yet. But if the information is known in more detail and we have a certain grasp, we may still have to go and take a look."

It was still hard to say now.

He wanted to go to the Silver Dragon Royal Capital again to get more information before making a decision.

And there was another factor that determined whether they would set sail, and that was the progress of those magicians from the Celestial Plane.

If those guys went to scout out the dangers first, their Dawn Society would naturally have to go too.

If they were wiped out, they would not be in a hurry.

Bartolo looked at Soren's attitude, smiled slightly, and did not try to persuade him any further.

Young adventurers still had to have this kind of courage, otherwise they would not have been able to get here.

He did not hide anything and pointed at the sea map, marking out all the dangerous places in his memory that he had not forgotten until now.

"We once saw that Horseshoe Island from afar. It is the territory of the Cyclops. That sea area is very dangerous..."

"I remember there is a red dragon near this island, probably an eighth-order. You must avoid it."

"There is a Siren tribe in this sea vortex. They are very troublesome to deal with. If you really encounter them elsewhere, remember to use oil..."

"..."

Soren listened as Bartolo pointed at the sea map and said little by little, and he carefully took notes.

Before long, hundreds of dangerous areas were marked on the sea map.

It could be said that the Black Sam Crew's voyage eastward was almost never peaceful.

Because there were too many powerful monsters in this sea area.

In addition to the apex predators such as dragons, the creatures at the low end of the general food chain were also lord-level monsters elsewhere.

Soren listened to those dangerous points, and those wonderful adventure stories seemed to be right in front of him.

After a long time, the sea map was marked.

Bartolo said very clearly about the habits, characteristics, combat power, and weaknesses of some dangerous sea monsters that he could remember.

Soren got too much useful information.

This information was precious information that could not be bought with money, and might even save his life at a critical moment.

After putting away the sea map, Soren casually asked one of his curiosities, "Senior, you have the title of Dragonslayer in the Dragon Country, you must have hunted a lot of dragons, right?"

Bartolo had an expression that was not worth mentioning and said, "Most of them were just wyverns. I have only killed three real pure-blooded dragons over the years. There are also some dragon tribes with higher blood purity, about dozens. Anyway, the further east you go, the higher the possibility of encountering pure-blooded dragons."

"..."

Soren's eyes twitched when he heard this.

Three was not much?

The seventh-order blue dragon before took all their efforts to hunt down. Three pure-blooded dragons, you killed them alone?

But obviously, this was not the point.

Soren listened to him say this and asked with anticipation, "May I ask, do you have dragon crystals in your hand? I mean, I can exchange them for materials, or buy them."

"I have them."

Bartolo casually flipped out two fist-sized luminous crystal cores from his storage ring. They were dazzling and exuded rich energy fluctuations.

One was red and one was green, like two oversized gems.

Soren's left eye was shining, and he kept staring at the seventh-order red dragon wyrm crystal and eighth-order green dragon wyrm crystal that were appraised.

Bartolo handed them over very casually and said, "I don't need wealth now, and these things are no longer useful. If you need them, I will give you two."

Soren was impressed by the generosity of this old senior when he saw that the dragon crystals, which could be called treasures, were given away like this.

But his expression was slightly embarrassed, and he still opened his mouth again: "Well, I have a very presumptuous idea... If possible, I need more dragon crystals."

He looked at Bartolo's obviously stunned gaze and explained: "To be honest, I am a puppeteer. I need dragon crystals, this top-level perfect crystal, to make energy crystal cores. So, the more the better."

Bartolo listened to this explanation and instead sized Soren up as if he was very surprised and asked, "You are a puppeteer?"

No matter how he looked at it, he felt that this physique must be a melee professional.

He did not expect that he was actually a puppeteer.

Dragon crystals are indeed excellent materials for making high-level puppet energy cores, but puppeteers only need a few to make puppets. Judging from this tone, how many does he want?

How many puppets is he going to make?

"Yes."

Soren nodded and casually summoned dozens of gargoyles, and then said in a rather helpless tone: "I am a successor of the Weird Puppet Master lineage, so the amount I need is very large."

Bartolo's eyebrows could not help but twitch when he looked at Bartolo.

Casually controlling dozens of puppets, this method could not be faked, he must be a puppet grandmaster.

This young man's profession is very strange.

......

Soren really had to speak up.

He now had enough Living Silver to make gargoyles, and the War Workshop had also produced many basic puppets.

But the high-level puppet's burst technique needed energy support.

The general energy core could not support the sixth-order or higher technique at all.

So, although Soren had many gargoyle puppets, there were only a few that had the combat power of the sixth order or higher.

The War Workshop had now almost restored the batch production method of the top-level core Four-Color Elemental Heart, but the only thing missing was enough crystal cores to be used as the main material.

And dragon crystal was the most perfect choice, there was no other.

The higher the level of the core, the more it could support the higher level technique.

As long as there were enough dragon crystals, Soren's puppet army would truly have the power to destroy the world.

However, high-level materials were indeed difficult to find.

Now that he had finally encountered a Dragonslayer, he naturally had to ask.

Looking at the perfect shape of the gargoyle, Bartolo had never seen such a puppet, but he also saw its extraordinaryness and praised it: "Good puppet!"

Soren then said: "I have a large shortage of materials now, so, if possible, I would like to exchange all the dragon crystals in your hand. And those dragon and monster materials, if possible, I need them all. Of course, I will pay enough exchange items."

Dr. Banks's laboratory needed a lot of biological samples to study the gene sequences of the Titan and Dragon bloodlines in this sea area.

Only with enough samples could the research progress be faster and more accurate.

If he relied on the Dawn Society to hunt them down himself, he did not know when he would go.

Dragons were something that could not be found even if he wanted to.

Now that he had a ready-made one, it was naturally the best.

Looking at the entire Dragon Country, probably no one except the royal treasure vaults of the three kingdoms had more dragon materials than this Dragonslayer Bartolo.

Moreover, these materials were good things for the War Workshop to research, make implanted gear, and puppets, and he could not buy them elsewhere.

"You want so many materials?"

Bartolo did not know Soren's strength, and his expression became more and more strange when he heard this.

He had thought that he understood Soren before. This was a very excellent young man.

But at this moment, he seemed to feel that he completely did not know what kind of existence he was facing.

A team of adventurers, how could it have a material demand of a kingdom level?

He faintly felt that this Dawn Society was much more powerful than he saw and expected.