The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

In the 987th year of the Imperial calendar, at the end of the first millennium of the Empire, a magnificent space mothership floated in the boundless universe.

The ship has a perfectly circular hull surrounded by a ring. If the circular hull is like a complete planet, then the ring is like the planet's rings, floating around it.

The entire mothership was like a mobile star fortress, sailing through the boundless universe.

The Empire had already ventured into the stars during the middle to late part of the first millennium, but the Winter War at that time severely damaged the Well of Eternity, resulting in the loss of data on the affinity between magic and waves and social chaos. Therefore, it was not until the establishment of the Second Empire that humanity resumed stable exploration of the stars.

The war was said to have broken out because of the uneven development and lack of unity among the civilizations of the other continents beyond the mist, leading to violent conflicts.

If we were to pinpoint the objective reasons, it would be the early death of the emperor of the empire, the succession of his young son, the malfunction of the Well of Eternity on the continent of Mu, which delayed the construction of the Well of Eternity promised to other continents. With various negative factors piling up, and amidst internal and external turmoil, ambitious individuals began to stir, ultimately igniting a war that spanned the continents.

Because the war began and ended in winter, it is commonly referred to as the Winter War, in addition to its official name, the Transcontinental War.

Finally, the Winter War was ended by a descendant of the fourth son of the First Emperor, who was then a commoner and came from the Northern Church, and he established the Second Roll Empire.

The empire crashed and restarted, successfully reshuffling the organization and making the entire empire more united and cohesive. People regained their faith, built more Wells of Eternity, and once again set foot on the stars.

Perhaps it was truly the protection of our ancestors in the sea of ​​consciousness that led to the discovery of a colossal ark in the vast universe, even though no new habitable planets were found during this human space voyage. Of course, this colossal size is relative to ordinary spaceships.

People who like classical futurism might really like this ark.

The mothership first attempted to communicate using known means, but received no response, suggesting it was an unmanned ark. Some scholars immediately thought of the arks that had escaped from Earth during the ancient Golden Age, and excitedly pulled the Lars Knights onto the sub-ship, wanting to board the ark to investigate.

"The design, the propulsion system—so retro, yet so meticulous!"

Under the protection of Knight Lars, the gray-haired scholar was using an analyzer to continuously praise the ark.

"It's so beautiful, so gorgeous! It's like the best answer made under spatial constraints! I never expected to find such a well-preserved working propellant spaceship. Can I go up and take a look?"

At this moment, the investigator's voice rang in everyone's ears:

"Report: No signs of biological activity were detected, but there were slight fluctuations in the consciousness network. There may be an artificial intelligence creation similar to the 'Goddess' on the Ark, but the signal is weak and we cannot dock with it."

Knight Lars, who was protecting the old scholar, replied, "Find a weak point in the space, bring a portable magic pod, and we'll use spatial magic to enter directly."

After generating temporary magic using the portable magic pod, the team of Lars knights quickly led the excited old scholar into the interior of the giant ark.

"They are so exquisite! These designs are still worth appreciating even now!"

As soon as the scholar finished speaking, the knights of Lars grabbed him, and at that moment a red light began to sweep towards the group.

"Don't worry, this is just a routine check by an old system and is harmless."

"I know, of course I know!"

After the red light swept across, some of the doors inside the ark slowly opened, but there was no light, as if the ark was running out of energy. So the Lars Knights helped the scholars turn on the lights.

"That's why I'm so excited! It's almost certain that this is the ancestral ark that set sail from Earth during the golden age of the past!"

After saying this, the scholar glanced at one of the knights, Lars, and said, "Sir, please activate the lightweighting feature! We don't know if this ark is still sturdy. What if you flatten the floor of the Golden Age like this?"

Then, the scholar pounced on the floor of the ark and exclaimed, "Truly worthy of the Golden Age! Such materials and structures! Although the materials seem outdated now, the layout is ingenious. It not only saves space but also effectively dissipates stress—it's beautiful! It possesses the beauty of classical mechanics! May the First Emperor and the Queen of Wisdom bless this ark, and may its internal structure be preserved intact!"

Seeing the fanatical scholars, the Lars Knights could only scratch their helmets, turn on a switch, and their heavy power armor was teleported to a certain space, leaving only the most basic auxiliary equipment behind.

This is also a spatial magic spell modeled after the original dragons.

After checking it with the equipment, it was finally confirmed that this was one of the arks that had escaped from Earth. Everyone who discovered this ark could go down in history, especially the first team that boarded the ark. No wonder the scholar was so excited. These old guys from the golden age could write countless papers.

No, that's not the right way to put it. It should be said that this will be an important milestone in the restart of space exploration.

But soon, the smiles disappeared from the team's faces. When they boarded the ark, the surrounding artificial intelligence made everyone believe that some of the ark's functions were still working properly.

It was that initial scan that gave everyone the illusion that the interior of the ark was still functioning, but that scan was like a last glimpse from the Golden Age. After seeing that the people who came were human, the entire ark safely lost its last bit of power.

The scholar led the Lars Knights to the control room of the ark, and as soon as they entered, the screens in the control room began to flicker.

"The above are the languages ​​of various countries during the Golden Age."

The usually fervent scholar's face showed an unusual calm.

"It's saying to us: 'Welcome to the universe, children.'"

Although it was a welcome, it felt like the old golden age was saying its final goodbye to the new generation.

"There are no living people left on this ark. It has reached its limit of operation, and even the artificial intelligence in charge of this ark has just exhausted its last bit of energy."

The old scholar's expression was somewhat saddened. Clearly, throughout this long period of time, the ark had maintained its last bit of energy, seemingly believing that someone would eventually board it, and perhaps even wanting to give future generations a small surprise.

A squad leader from the Lars Knights looked at his military terminal and said, "A faint fluctuation of consciousness was detected inside this ark just now, but it has now ended."

Inside the ark, everyone held their breath, time seemingly frozen. The millennia-long chasm was smoothed over in those few words; they seemed to be looking directly at their distant ancestors, hearing messages and blessings that transcended eras.

How long did this ark endure in the boundless universe just for this one sentence? The lonely ark drifted in the universe, waiting for the arrival of mankind.

How long will it take for humanity to rebuild civilization after the disaster, travel to space, and find this ark? It may never be found, or the probability may be infinitely close to zero.

For the Imperial fleet, which now possesses spatial magic and warp drives, reaching the location of this ark would take approximately five to ten years, and this timeframe is constantly decreasing with technological advancements. However, for this ark from the Golden Age, this place is already a thousand years away.

The solitude of thousands of years finally dissipated in the echoes of the universe.