Chapter 1 The Foundation of a Nation

North of Bai City was a high ground, separated from all urban areas and heavily protected by an extra circle of city walls. Taros's most elite guards and most powerful mage corps swore an oath to guard this high ground for generations. A permanent anti-air field had been operating above the high ground for three centuries. Neither dragons nor small birds could fly over it. On the ground, only an avenue extending from the royal district could reach the entrance to the high ground—such strict protection was only for one thing: the foundation of any kingdom of order, the Sunburn Tower.

The tower stood proudly on the platform, its scale more magnificent than any building in Bai City. The top of the Golden Rose Palace could only reach the halfway point of the Sunburn Tower. The white tower was built of the purest enchanted moonstone, its surface engraved with ancient runes that only scholars of the Holy See could fully interpret. Blue and gold crystals were inlaid on the outer walls of the tower according to a certain pattern, forming a powerful energy field that permeated the land around the high ground with magic. At the top of this streamlined white tower, three huge white crystals rotated continuously around the "Yang Yan Crystal" (Sun Flare Crystal) at the tip of the tower, spreading the powerful power of order from inside the tower to the sky day and night.

Unlike other holy objects of order, the Sunburn Tower did not release such a strong and obvious beam of light. In fact, apart from a circle of faint light, this sacred and powerful giant tower did not emit any extra light at all: the Sunburn Tower was not used to light the barrier of order, its main function was to serve as the energy redistribution center and divine power hub for all the order towers in the kingdom (including the Hearth and Kindling Towers). Within a national-level order barrier, all the towers were connected in the dark. Their power formed a sea of energy in another dimension invisible to humans, and the true form of the Sunburn Tower was hidden in this sea of energy, where it shone brightly and commanded all the forces of order.

The above was knowledge constructed by scholars of the Coro world through various calculation models. In fact, in the eyes of humans, the connection between the Sunburn Tower and other towers was completely invisible.

However, Hao Ren could see it.

He came to the Sunburn Tower with Rudolph III, the princess, and the princes. When he looked up, he saw countless pale silver rays of light extending from the top of the tower. These rays crisscrossed in the sky, and the interwoven net almost covered the entire sky above the high ground. These rays gradually faded away from the Sunburn Tower and disappeared into the distance.

Rudolph III came to the gate of the Sunburn Tower. The old king put his hand on the mithril door and whispered the oath left by the ancestors of Coro and the Goddess of Creation. Then, with a rumbling sound, the gate slowly slid open to both sides.

Inside was a space filled with light.

Beams of light crisscrossed in the huge space, refracting out of thin air or curving along invisible mediums, forming complex and varied mysterious three-dimensional patterns. A white crystal was suspended in the center of all the light, and the crystal continuously refracted various strange and bizarre scenes during its rotation. Below the crystal was a pool with a radius of about two meters, filled with crystal-clear liquid that seemed to be solidified light.

Hao Ren carefully observed and found that there was actually something floating above the liquid. After watching it for a long time, he realized that it was an extremely thin and bright, almost invisible, silver-white flame.

The flame burned quietly above the liquid, as if ready to go out at any time.

"This is the Holy Flame of Order of the Sunburn Tower," Rudolph III came to the pool and quietly looked at the phantom-like silver-white flame. "For the past seven years, my blood has been burning continuously here. When it was at its strongest, it could almost wrap the entire Holy White Crystal, but now..."

Hao Ren thought for a while and decided to express his opinion in a more euphemistic way: "I think, it looks like it's about to go out."

"Veronica will ignite these flames, and the inheritance of the Taros Kingdom will continue," Rudolph III said, looking at his only descendant who still retained the power of the Watcher. "Veronica, the moment you ignite this flame, you will take over my scepter. You will become the new ruler of Taros. As a queen, you should use your power cautiously and not be as reckless and willful as before."

Veronica was stunned for a moment. Obviously, this knight princess had never thought so much before: "Ah? Father, you didn't say that before..."

"You should know what igniting the Holy Flame means," the king waved his hand. "I brought you here not for sightseeing, but to let you see the fate of the kingdom. Veronica, darkness has descended. On this continent, even all the order countries on all continents will be extinguished in the long night. Taros is likely to become the last lighthouse in the long night. This is a difficult era, but we have no choice. Perhaps our kingdom will eventually be extinguished one day, but you, you must act as the guardian of the kingdom, at least let them spend the last century in peace."

Veronica moved her lips, and the strong knight princess also rarely showed a bit of retreat: "Father, I... I don't think I can be a good king. In terms of ability, Anya is much smarter than me. I can only go to the battlefield. I'm very stupid at other times."

Rudolph III quietly looked at his eldest daughter. After a long time, a smile appeared on the old king's face: "I know."

Veronica coughed immediately: "Cough cough... Father, you can be more tactful."

Rudolph III sighed: "I thought for a long time and didn't find any potential in you to be a king."

Veronica: "..."

"Ahem," Hao Ren couldn't bear it any longer at this time, coughed twice to interrupt the increasingly strange conversation between the father and daughter. "Well, it's not time to say goodbye yet, right? Didn't we agree before that I'd take a look at the condition of this... Sunburn Tower first? I'm a clergyman after all. It won't be too late for you to discuss abdicating and giving way to the virtuous after I can't do anything about it."

Duke Luen, who had been standing silently behind the king, also stepped forward at this moment. He glanced at Hao Ren expressionlessly and nodded slightly: "What the Guardian said is reasonable. After all, the Sunburn Tower is a technology from the Holy See. Perhaps the people of the Holy See have a way to reactivate the tower's system without using the power of blood."

Rudolph III took a deep breath after hearing this: "In that case, Guardian, please."

There was not much expectation in the king's tone, but a glimmer of hope still flashed in his eyes.

The Taros Kingdom did indeed still have a Veronica who could reignite the flames, but all the descendants of bloodlines in other countries on the continent had lost their power. If this trend continued, the Taros Kingdom would become the last sanctuary in the chaos. Such a future would not be bright even for the people inside the sanctuary: the chaotic power of the entire world would be pressed on this border kingdom, and the result would only be to slightly prolong the time of death. Therefore, even if there was a glimmer of hope, Rudolph III hoped that the Sunburn Tower of every order country could be re-lit. This was not only for the continuation of the entire world, but also for his kingdom to have a brighter future.

Now that contact with the Holy See had been lost, Hao Ren had obviously become the only hope.

In this hopeful gaze, Hao Ren came to the bottom of the huge crystal. He bent down and carefully observed the pool filled with strange liquid.

This liquid was obviously not water, but it was not blood either.

The flame burning quietly above the liquid was not a normal flame—it had no temperature at all.

"Can I put my hand in?" He looked up and asked His Majesty the King. "I washed my hands."

His Majesty the King was stunned for a moment. He had never thought that the technical means of the "Guardian" to inspect the device would be so simple and crude, but after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that there was no such thing in the usage taboos of the Sunburn Tower, so he nodded: "Yes, but be careful when you put it in. The water doesn't look like much, but it actually contains a lot of energy. Ordinary people can't touch it for too long."

Hao Ren nodded and carefully stretched his fingers towards the silver-white water surface.

The moment his fingertips touched the surface of the liquid, he suddenly felt a wave in his spiritual world.

This feeling was fleeting, as short as some kind of illusion, but Hao Ren keenly captured the change just now. He quickly made a judgment: it was not an illusion!

At that moment, he seemed to sense that the spiritual link for his external connection had loosened for a moment!

He pulled out his hand and saw that the silver-white thin liquid on his fingertips was disappearing little by little, as if evaporating out of thin air, and the feeling of spiritual connection established earlier still lingered in his heart.

Hao Ren frowned. This time he made preparations in advance and concentrated his mind before putting his finger into the "water" again.

"...Answer, call, call, the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace is calling the captain, please answer if you hear, call, call..."

Nolan's voice echoed in his mind.

Hao Ren had a big damn in his heart—after all this effort, this Sunburn Tower could actually be used as wifi!

Who are you going to reason with about supernatural things?