Meanwhile, aboard Noah's Ark high above, Rene and Jacob watched Alva with deep concern, having overheard his earlier conversation.
"Monsieur Alva, don't worry too much. I'm sure your Teacher will be alright," Rene reassured him.
Alva shook his head slightly, then forced a smile.
"I'm fine. I'm perfectly calm now."
"Whatever the outcome, I've already prepared myself mentally."
"And I know my Teacher has made his peace with it as well."
Alva turned to gaze at the distant horizon.
"Monsieur Rene, Monsieur Jacob, it seems my earlier prediction has come true."
"Now we're the main characters," Rene said.
"Monsieur Alva, what do you want to do?" Jacob asked after Rene finished speaking.
"Maybe I should try to rescue them," Jacob suggested.
Alva stared at Jacob silently for a long moment before replying, "But Jacob, with your current strength, you can't even defeat a modern Gardemek."
Jacob felt like he'd been stabbed in the chest. The mere mention of it darkened his face. How could he have known that while the appearance of Clockwork Mekas hadn't changed much over the years, their combat capabilities had become worlds apart?
Yesterday, when someone wanted to test the strength of the Gardemek, Jacob thought his moment to show off his muscles had finally arrived. He immediately volunteered to assist with the test, but the results...
The process was too embarrassing to recall. After the test, he limped away, not even daring to meet the other person's gaze. He hung his head and scurried off.
This morning, Jacob even considered changing his face before returning to the Academy for work.
He had been deeply moved when Neuvillette assigned two Gardemeks to monitor them, assuming it meant Neuvillette trusted them implicitly.
Well, that was a waste of sentiment.
"Monsieur Alva, could we please stop talking about this?" Jacob asked wearily.
Alva merely smiled, then stepped aside and began typing rapidly with both hands.
Soon, a red button appeared before him. He pressed it.
Immediately, a piercing alarm blared throughout the Ark.
"Fellow colleagues!"
"A rebellion has broken out below! My Teacher has been taken hostage! We must unite and rescue him together!"
Upon hearing that the Head of the Research Institute had been taken hostage, chaos erupted in other sectors of the Ark, causing the entire vessel to shudder violently. However, order was quickly restored.
Soon, Rene observed their system taking control.
This development astonished both Rene and Jacob. The others showed no skepticism whatsoever toward Alva's words, not only refraining from questioning him but actively ceding control.
Simultaneously, all sectors continued operating normally, indicating that no teams had abandoned their posts. Their actions served as tangible proof of their support for Alva.
Such profound trust and synergy between geniuses reminded the two of Alain from years past. Before their relationship fractured beyond repair, they had shared a similar dynamic.
I wonder how Alain is doing now? Rene thought. If I could see him again, I'd apologize. I shouldn't have belittled his research back then. After these past few days at the Academy, I realize how incredible Clockwork Technology truly is!
As Rene and Jacob reminisced, Alva began issuing commands.
"Activate the attack modules."
Due to previous restrictions, weapons exceeding a certain power threshold had been disabled, rendering nearly all of the Noah's Ark's armaments unusable.
But now, with the military exercise clearly beyond salvaging, it was time for real action.
"Acquire ground targets."
Through visual feeds, the crew aboard the Noah's Ark could clearly observe the chaos unfolding below.
It wasn't just the Gardemek fighting among themselves; members of the Cult of No. 6 were also involved.
This marked the Cult of No. 6's first large-scale operation after a long period of silence following their previous incident.
With the ground in complete chaos and the Noah's Ark's firepower overwhelming, Alva simply targeted clusters of Cult members and issued the order:
"Open fire."
As his command echoed, numerous small apertures opened along the Noah's Ark's hull, from which cannon barrels extended. Then, fiery blasts erupted.
The cacophony on the ground was instantly silenced as searing beams of light struck multiple locations, causing earth-shattering tremors.
When the light dissipated, massive craters scarred the landscape, and everything within them had been utterly obliterated.
Witnessing this awe-inspiring display, the people froze in stunned silence.
When they finally snapped out of their daze and realized the spacecraft was aiding them, they erupted into cheers and jubilation.
However, after just a few more salvos, the Noah's Ark tore through space and vanished, leaving them utterly bewildered.
"What's going on? Why did it stop firing?"
"Exactly! There are still plenty of Cult of No. 6 members left!"
"Damn it! Where did these guys even come from? At first, I thought it was part of the exercise!"
"Brother, you're quite the character! Have you ever heard of an exercise where the audience gets to participate?"
-
Seeing the Noah's Ark vanish, the crowd, who had been itching for a counterattack against the Cult of No. 6, immediately turned tail and fled, terrified of being too slow and facing retribution from the cult when they realized what had happened.
The Maison Gardiennage Captain, responsible for maintaining order, was tearing his hair out. He had initially believed that a few Gardemek would easily handle the Cult of No. 6 members. But when several engineers betrayed their posts, he realized the cult had infiltrated their ranks.
Dozens of newly upgraded Gardemek had been reprogrammed and were now locked in fierce combat with the unaffected units, even gaining the upper hand.
Just as the Captain was at his wit's end, aerial reinforcements arrived.
In an instant, most of the corrupted Gardemek were annihilated, prompting him to wave his arms and cheer.
At that moment, Duke Hubert appeared before him, flanked by the remaining nobles.
The Maison Gardiennage Captain immediately adopted a wary expression upon seeing these high-ranking figures.
However, as Duke Hubert explained the situation, the Captain gradually lowered his guard.
"Your Grace, it's not that I don't want to contact Monsieur Neuvillette, but the signal in this area seems to have been cut off."
"How strange. The Cult of No. 6 has never made such a commotion before. They've prepared so thoroughly this time."
The Maison Gardiennage Captain's casual remark suddenly sparked a realization in Duke Hubert's mind.
Perhaps the Cult of No. 6 has formed an alliance with Dark Furina.
This incident might not be a mere act of rebellion by the Cult of No. 6, but a meticulously planned operation.
It's highly likely that Dark Furina, upon learning of the military exercises, collaborated with members of the Cult of No. 6 to devise this scheme.
Their true enemy might not have even made their official appearance yet!
The thought weighed heavily on Duke Hubert's heart. He immediately turned to the Captain and asked urgently:
"How can we contact Monsieur Neuvillette? If we don't act quickly, it may be too late!"
Seeing the Duke's grave expression, the Maison Gardiennage Captain also grasped the gravity of the situation. But contacting Monsieur Neuvillette was truly beyond his capabilities.
"Perhaps we should try higher ground? There might be a signal there."
In the end, the Maison Gardiennage Captain, desperate for a solution, voiced his idea.
Hearing this, Duke Hubert made an immediate decision and addressed the group.
"I'll go!"
"The rest of you stay here and evacuate the civilians. Minimize casualties at all costs!"
Though the captain couldn't guarantee the method would work, trying something was better than waiting helplessly.
As the captain watched the aging Duke Hubert, a flicker of respect appeared in his eyes.
Just as he was about to offer to take the mission himself, the Duke had already grabbed a stack of communication devices and strode off.
After a moment's thought, the captain ordered a Clockwork Hound to follow and protect the Duke's safety.
Beyond that, he couldn't spare any more Clockwork Mekas. All he could do was pray nothing went wrong.
Moreover, the Clockwork Hound was originally meant for his own protection, leaving the area completely undefended. If danger struck, he would have to rely on his decade-honed muscles to protect himself and the others!
The Maison Gardiennage Captain felt a surge of responsibility.
But as he considered informing the other nobles, he glanced at them wiping sweat from their brows, their faces pale with lingering shock. He immediately abandoned the idea.
Meanwhile, as Neuvillette waited for the Aquabus, an ominous feeling began to creep into his heart.
"What's wrong, Neuvillette?" Furina asked, sensing his unease.
"Nothing, just a little worried," Neuvillette replied, shaking his head. He tried to suppress his anxiety, but the feeling only intensified.
"What's there to worry about? All the other nobles are here, aren't they?" Furina continued. "Even if they're not reliable, surely nothing can go wrong with so many of them together?"
"They're administrators, after all. You can't fret about every little thing, Neuvillette."
Furina's words touched him. He thought she was finally understanding his struggles and was about to respond when she continued,
"If you collapse from exhaustion, won't everything fall on my shoulders?"
Neuvillette's gaze remained calm as he looked at Furina, but his hand gripped his cane tightly, clenching and unclenching repeatedly.
To have such a delusion... it seems my current state is indeed somewhat compromised.
Yet her words weren't entirely without merit. If it were just a single noble, Neuvillette wouldn't have entrusted them with today's affairs.
The probability of so many people experiencing issues simultaneously was exceedingly low, especially after he had thoroughly screened them using the device provided by the Academy earlier today.
Of course, given Furina's situation, he couldn't immediately rule out the possibility of a malfunction in the device, but he assumed any issues would be minor.
If Dark Furina were to lose patience, he had contingency plans in place.
He had established a barrier near the military exercise grounds. Should an Archon-level entity breach it, the barrier would activate defenses, and he would immediately sense the disturbance.
As for enemies below Archon-level, Neuvillette was confident that the weaponry demonstrated at the site would be sufficient to handle them.
Neuvillette couldn't pinpoint the source of his inner unease, but every time he felt this way, a major incident would inevitably occur in Fontaine.
This thought only amplified his anxiety.
"Neuvillette, if you're really worried, why not just watch the live broadcast?" Furina suggested.
Neuvillette paused, taken aback.
What day is it? he wondered. Furina's actually making a useful suggestion for once. Has she been replaced or something?
Ignoring Furina's smug, expectant expression for the moment, Neuvillette decided to take advantage of the Aquabus's remaining travel time and find the nearest live broadcast point.
The massive screen that should have been displaying the live footage remained blank, while the crowd in front of it buzzed with speculation.
"What's going on? Why did the feed suddenly cut out?"
"Exactly! We were getting so into it!"
"I can't believe the Academy researchers built such an incredible behemoth! It's absolutely mind-blowing!"
"With ships capable of breaking through the World Barrier, will Fontaine be expanding into the New World soon?"
"That's so cool! I'm signing up for the Expeditionary Force right now!"
From snippets of conversation among the crowd, Neuvillette overheard something that shook him to his core:
Ships capable of traveling to other worlds?!
The Academy's researchers have actually developed something like this?!
He was speechless. The Academy had quietly produced something so utterly unbelievable.
Moreover, he recalled that their initial report had only mentioned a warship.
At the time, he had thought that restricting the warship's high-powered weaponry would suffice, focusing solely on weapon limitations. He never imagined the vessel could also breach the World Barrier!
"What?! The Academy has developed ships capable of traveling to other worlds?!"
Furina was equally stunned at first, but her shock quickly turned to excitement.
"Neuvillette, doesn't this mean that even if we can't find an effective solution to the Prophecy, everyone will still be saved?!"
Neuvillette watched Furina, her face beaming with a smile. Even she understood the importance of the flying ship, let alone the others.
Coupled with the sudden interruption of the live broadcast, Neuvillette was certain something major had occurred at the scene.
Finally understanding the source of his inner unease, Neuvillette hastily told Furina, "We need to get there immediately."
With that, Neuvillette enveloped the still-confused Furina in Hydro Element energy and propelled them toward the site at breakneck speed.