Chapter 64

When Feilin Lisa and the others arrived, they only saw the little zombie working hard to dig with a hoe, while Ang used a wind tornado to blow the sand and soil far away.

However, the buildings below were too massive. Relying solely on the efforts of Ang and the others was like ants digging a beach; they would dig and it would collapse.

"Huh? Sir, you've dug out the divine throne?" Feilin said in surprise.

"Divine throne? Lord Mayor, do you know what's down there?" Esk was shocked, asking, as he had been to this basin many times and never thought there was anything underneath.

"Divine throne?" Negris asked in surprise, "What divine throne? What kind of divine throne?"

Everyone except Lisa cast curious glances at Feilin.

"The Twelve Guardian Thrones, the guardians of the World Transit Station. It's been a long time since I've seen them. The divine thrones are still intact, a testament to the quality of the empire's construction," Feilin said with genuine admiration.

Negris had a look of confirmation, "It really is the Guardian Thrones. Are the guardians still there?"

Feilin replied, "They should be. After the Resting Wind blew, it only took thirty to forty years for the loose soil to bury the entire World Transit Station. The people who lived inside had to evacuate, with most going to Ice City and a few following me to establish Lich City. When I left, the soil only covered the guardians' knees. Decades later, even the divine thrones were no longer visible."

Negris was about to say something, but Esk interrupted him, "Don't just chat among yourselves. Tell us what the Guardian Thrones are, we're dying to know."

Lina and Cragg nodded eagerly, their faces filled with anxiety, while Lightning also leaned in to listen carefully.

Only Ang was uninterested, or rather, he was more interested in digging things out. He continued to dig with the little zombie and the angelic skeleton.

Negris looked at Feilin, hoping he would explain, as Negris himself only had a vague understanding of the Guardian Thrones and couldn't explain clearly. But Feilin didn't answer; instead, he looked at Lisa.

Lisa pondered for a moment and said, "The Twelve Guardian Thrones are the guardians of the World Transit Station. They are powerful soul constructs, with steel bodies, immortal souls, and immense strength and invulnerability. With them guarding the World Transit Station, no enemy dares to invade this place."

"They are powerful beings capable of taking on dragons and titans, and are one of the most feared war machines of the Undying Empire. When I was still a Holy Maiden, I observed them closely and studied them in depth, but I couldn't figure out how to breach the World Transit Station with them guarding it."

"With their presence, even the most brutal demons in the Abyss have to pay the teleportation fee and stay far away. The most cunning goblin merchants dare only follow the law and pay taxes, and the most arrogant noble heirs, well, they get squashed. Once, a noble heir tried to harass me here and was squashed by Guardian Patsy Dorov."

"The divine thrones are the seats of the guardians. The guardians cannot leave their thrones for too long; they must return within a few minutes. This is their greatest weakness. Otherwise, the Twelve Guardians would be the terrifying kings of all realms. They are so powerful that each one weighs several dozen tons, and a Sword Saint like Luther couldn't withstand a single punch from them."

Before Lisa finished, someone was already trembling in fear. Lina said shakily, "Are they that terrifying? Should we ask Lord Ang to stop digging and leave?"

Feilin said, "Don't be afraid. As long as you follow the rules, the Twelve Guardians won't harm anything. They have no emotions and only faithfully execute the orders of the king and the Watcher. Well, except for Patsy. But they haven't been able to move for a long time. A thousand years have passed, and it's uncertain if the souls inside the guardians still exist."

Theoretically, souls are eternal, but before the soil buried them, they were exposed to the Resting Wind for decades.

When Feilin mentioned the Watcher, he subconsciously glanced at Ang, and this glance startled him. A tornado was slowly forming in front of Ang.

Ang continuously used wind tornadoes to blow away the mud and sand dug up by the little zombie. However, he cast them so quickly, two or three per second, without stopping, causing the wind elements to become highly concentrated, forming a wind vortex and eventually a tornado.

A tornado is a sixth-level wind magic, and Ang had managed to create one with a first-level wind tornado.

The tornado sucked away all the sand and soil around the divine throne, revealing a steel sculpture on the throne.

It was a robust steel construct, with a barrel-like body topped by a round head, and long, segmented arms that seemed capable of extending.

Standing at four meters tall, its surface was adorned with intricate magic runes, and it appeared to have no waist, with the barrel body directly seated on the throne.

The so-called divine throne indeed resembled an enlarged high-back chair and was also the main structure of the building. A long walkway extended from the chair's seat toward the center of the basin, and the guardian construct stood on the 'seat.'

Feilin pointed to the walkway and continued, "This is the walkway leading to the center of the teleportation array. Normally, it and the divine throne rise to this position, level with the edge of the basin. Goods can be transported directly through the walkway or transferred to the commercial and residential area below. In case of an attack or danger, the walkway descends to cut off the enemy's advance."

"However, during my decades of work here, and even after I became a lich and worked for another few decades, I never saw the walkway descend until the World Transit Station was shut down. It makes sense; in this desolate world, how could enemies come from outside? If they came, it would be through the teleportation array."

"When the walkway descended and the World Transit Station stopped, the guardian constructs could no longer move. I tried to move them to the underground city for safekeeping, but I couldn't. After being exposed to the Resting Wind for decades, when I returned in the first few years, Patsy still chatted with me. Later, when I came back, it didn't respond. I don't know if it's sleeping or has perished."

"This is Patsy Dorov, the only guardian with a name. We usually call him by his nickname—Spring Hand. His fists can extend up to ten meters, with the power of a war hammer..."

Feilin rambled on, and everyone understood. These were powerful guardian constructs that couldn't leave their fixed range. Due to the teleportation array's shutdown, they lost their energy, and their souls might have perished, leaving them as steel sculptures.

"Lord Mayor, besides these guardian constructs, is there anything else down there?" Esk asked, "Like food?"

"What are you thinking? Even the door panels were removed. The Resting Wind took decades to bury everything. My ancestor, the one who fought for food, was from a thousand years ago. In the blink of an eye, his great-great-great-grandson has become a Sword Saint. Time flies."

Esk's face was full of black lines. A thousand years is a long time, and you call it fast?

Hearing Feilin's words, everyone's faces showed disappointment. No matter how powerful the Twelve Guardians were, and how prosperous the World Transit Station was a thousand years ago, it couldn't solve their current problems.

If there was food in the commercial and residential area below, this place would have value. If not, they had no interest in staying, especially with empty stomachs. Who has the mood to listen to stories when they're hungry?

Even if the guardians were still alive and could move, what use would they be? No matter how powerful, they couldn't solve the problem of hunger.

Feilin also realized this and was about to discuss the food issue with Ang. To be honest, he found it hard to ask, as he had already borrowed food from Ang once and hadn't paid it back.

However, before Feilin could say anything, Ang placed his hand on the guardian construct's barrel body. The Transdimensional Hand, fused with the leather bracelet, trembled, and the tall guardian construct suddenly moved.

"I, the most loyal guard of my king, Patsy Dorov, am here to... to... serve you..." The construct moved once, and a weak soul fluctuation came from inside, but it couldn't finish its sentence before falling silent again.

"Patsy, Patsy, are you still alive? Are you still alive?" Feilin rushed to the construct's side, his soul excited.

In the decades after the teleportation array stopped, Feilin had returned many times but gradually stopped getting responses from Patsy, so he thought the soul inside had perished. He never expected it to still be alive.

A weak soul fluctuation came from inside the construct, "Huh... it's little Feilin... what do you mean 'alive'... I died long ago... now I'm just... an undying soul... so weak, how long have I been asleep? Is there any food... oh oh oh! Where is this energy? Such powerful soul energy, I'm full of power!!!"

When Patsy asked if there was any food, Ang infused soul energy into the construct. Ang had an abundance of soul energy, with a large daily supply, all stored in his left hand.

The massive soul energy quickly revitalized Patsy, and his large body creaked as it slowly rose, revealing two... two short legs.

Compared to the extremely long spring arms, the legs supporting its body were thick and short, raising the barrel body only fifty centimeters at most.

The small head, like a half-dome, creaked and turned, with blue flames igniting behind the grille, focusing on Ang.

"Watcher, Patsy Dorov, at your service!" Patsy supported himself with his hands and leaned forward slightly.

Lisa couldn't help but whisper to Feilin, "Is this a kneeling salute? Is Lord Ang's status in the Undying Empire so high? Is he really the king's projection?"

Feilin didn't know what to say. Patsy's legs were too short to tell if it was a kneeling salute, but Ang's status was definitely higher. Feilin's guess about Ang's identity was confirmed; he was indeed the Watcher.

Ang tilted his head, confused, "What is a Watcher?"

The term 'Watcher' was not an official title but a customary name. No one had ever called Ang this directly, and when he heard it in secret discussions, he never associated it with himself.

This was the first time someone had called him a Watcher.

Patsy trembled, possibly misunderstanding something. He pointed at Feilin with his long arm, which extended to Feilin's face, almost touching his nose, "Humans gave you this name. They call the controller of the World Transit Station the Watcher. We only know you as the Lord."

Feilin, pointed at by a fist-sized head, didn't dare move, but he couldn't help but think, "If humans gave it, they gave it. Why are you pointing at me?!"

Lisa leaned in, whispering with a laugh, "Doesn't it look like an employee trying to shift the blame when caught by the boss? My Lord Ang, are you really the supreme ruler of souls and immortality?"

Feilin, knowing his wife's character, immediately became wary, "What are you planning? Even if he is the king, he is now the Watcher. You haven't seen him use any extraordinary powers. Don't cause trouble for him."

"I wouldn't do that, I wouldn't do that. Do I look like that kind of person?"

"You do."

"Do I or don't I?"

"I don't, not at all."

"Tell me, how does the title of Undying Pope Lisa Augustus sound? Is it nice?"

After a few minutes, Patsy stopped moving. The soul energy Ang infused only lasted for a few minutes, which was the greatest weakness of the guardian constructs. They consumed too much energy, making it impossible for them to leave their thrones for long. If they couldn't return in time, other guardians had to drag them back.

Ang talked to Patsy for a few minutes but didn't get much information, as they were on different wavelengths.

Ang wanted to know what a Watcher was, but Patsy thought he was angry about the name. Ang wanted to know what happened to the World Transit Station, but Patsy thought Ang was blaming them for not protecting it. Ang asked why the station stopped, and Patsy said it wasn't their doing.

Ang found it difficult to communicate with Patsy.

Negris laughed so hard his soul almost came out of his nose. This was how he usually felt when communicating with Ang.

Finally, when Ang was free, Feilin hurriedly said, "Sir, both the underground city and Ice City are out of food. Could you lend us some more?"

Lend food? Ang immediately thought of the surging wave of soul flames from the last time he lent food, and then thought of something else. He mounted Negris, but was pushed off and ended up riding Lightning.

He led everyone out of the basin to the large pit where the food was buried. After digging it up, he pointed to the food in the pit and then to the nearby basin, saying, "People, dig, food."

He wanted people to dig and give him food. It was impossible for him and a few others to dig out the World Transit Station, but the combined efforts of the people from Ice City and Lich City could.

Lina gasped, whispering to Cragg, "The traces we saw on our way here, could they all be from Lord Ang planting food?"

Two chapters combined.