Chapter 721 "The Weight of Knowledge"

Blackburg district in Leipzig, the city of knowledge.

A long, long time ago, when Leipzig was not yet called the "City of Knowledge", it was a naval port fortress of the Horasr Empire.

For the Herasil Empire, there were no enemies to the south. Instead, it was the north—be it elves, giants, or dwarves—who were all enemies to be wary of.

Therefore, the port style here is completely different from that on Glass Island.

There was no sight of the workers and cranes coming and going to unload goods, nor of the various low warehouses filled with the smell of fish, with peeling walls and rusty locks.

In its place stood a pitch-black, cold iron and stone fortress, dotted with watchtowers and sentry guns—those hideous, terrifying machine guns densely packed on the walls. Even a special kind of anchor-grabbing machine gun could be seen...

"What is that?"

Aleister asked casually while standing on the deck.

Captain Elwan, who was guarding her, immediately replied, "That was a device once used to capture and control dragons."

"...Have the Star Antimony people ever fought dragons?"

"Maybe, but that's not important."

The ferocious-looking half-lizardman captain smiled and replied, "The key is to make people believe they are protected. Look, our mighty port is even prepared to fight dragons! How majestic, hahahaha!"

Hearing the captain's words, the other sailors also laughed.

According to the rules of the Theocracy, there can be no local people from Star Antimony on the crew of a passenger ship that travels between the Theocracy and Star Antimony.

This is to prevent active or passive smuggling... After all, as long as they take the things from the Church home and put them down and take a break, it can also be considered smuggling.

Because of this confusion, local authorities who wanted to investigate smuggling would encounter a lot of confusion and resistance. The Theocracy would also be easily blamed for the mess, so they simply took a blanket approach.

The sailors naturally had no resistance to hearing such a ridiculous joke.

"I first sailed this route eighty or ninety years ago," joked the second mate, an elf. "These grappling hooks were there back then. In all these years, I've never heard of a dragon attacking Leipzig... I guess the hooks have never been deployed, and the mechanisms inside must have rusted away."

"Yeah, it's at the seaside after all!"

Someone laughed, and then there was a burst of laughter.

Their tattered boat stayed at the entrance of the lock gate. After waiting for a long time, the lock gate finally opened slowly.

“…Huh?”

Selene was curious. "Aren't they coming to question us? Then what are we waiting for here?"

"It has been reviewed, Miss."

This was obviously not the first time Captain Elwan had responded to this question: "When foreign ships are about to enter the port, they will be observed by the Eye Demons inside the port with their X-ray eyes.

"There are two beholders in total. Once both beholders have confirmed that there are no ambushes lurking within the ship, no bombs planted, or dangerous ritual objects planted, and that the captain and crew are not being controlled or threatened, and that they possess no special supernatural powers remaining—such as the mind-controlling abilities of the Path of Love—they will notify their master to open the gates.

"And only when both gates are confirmed to be open at the same time will the gate be confirmed to be raised; only when both gates are confirmed to be lowered will it be lowered..."

As Captain Elwan spoke, the heavy, massive black stone gate began to creak and slowly rise, the accumulated ocean currents washing out from within. A brand new and magnificent world gradually unfolded before his eyes, like a scroll.

"It sounds... quite troublesome."

She narrowed her eyes slightly and looked up at the heavy black stone gate: "Isn't the customer flow here high?"

This massive obsidian gate, its thickness alone exceeding ten meters, resembled an inkstone resting on water rather than a thin door. Opening it would consume considerable energy and significantly impact the lifespan of the device.

"Only large ships go here, Miss Crawley."

The ugly and fierce Captain Elwan was standing beside Aleister like a pug.

Aleister had only casually brought up the topic, and he immediately eagerly picked it up: "Those small boats all go through a different small door - but in fact, they are essentially the same, all these solid black pillars."

"Just a show of force, huh?"

Aleister said with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, I admire your wisdom."

Captain Elwan flattered, "If you do something like this, people will be frightened... and it can also be considered as 'suppressing the force without suppressing the people.' You can't cause them any trouble."

"Because it's not about causing trouble for any particular person, nor is it about having to follow some annoying process—it's just about going through a door. This door is right there, everyone goes through it, so there shouldn't be any problems.

"But in reality, if the port guards deem something is wrong, they can lower the gates at any time... In a sense, it's like handing your life over to someone else. Once you've passed that checkpoint, you'll develop a certain respect for Leipzig."

As Captain Elwan spoke, the tattered ship swayed and passed through the fully raised lock gate.

This thing just hangs high in the sky, bringing a strong sense of fear to people - especially when foreign ships sail in, because of the improved sound insulation performance, they suddenly sail from the bright sea into the dark and silent area.

If such a heavy block of solid obsidian were to fall suddenly, it would act like a pestle and mortar, crushing the ship below into scrap metal.

The passengers inside are probably in no healthier situation than the patties in a hamburger.

This quiet and oppressive feeling made the passengers in the cabin fall silent.

Aleister clearly felt Selene suddenly grab her arm, and her breathing became heavy. She glanced back and saw that Selene's pupils had turned horizontal.

When he was completely engulfed by darkness, Captain Elwan's grinning mouth looked even more terrifying.

"—This gate was called 'the weight of knowledge' by Count Leipzig."

"It does sound quite heavy, so heavy that it's unbearable for a lifetime."

Aleister's voice sounded faintly.

"Hahaha, you're right!"

The captain's cheerful voice rang out, his pupils reflecting a dark golden light in the pitch-black environment, while Aleister's eyes also lit up with a faint red light.

“So it actually has another name…

"—We usually call it the guillotine of the arrogant."

When the ship had been sailing into darkness for a long time, the heavy stone door suddenly fell with a roar, slamming heavily on the riverbed and stirring up a wave.

There will be a second chapter later, but it will be after midnight, so there is still a lot to go.

I can’t finish writing it, I really can’t finish writing it…

I've really tried my best not to ask for leave for the meeting. At least the word count will be enough. I guess it's just like I've been fully present...

(End of this chapter)