Without the slightest hesitation, Newland only exchanged a glance with Link before instinctively wanting to charge forward with the main force.
Sigefin reached out to grab Newland, but Newland shook him off. Anxious, he hurriedly said, "Hey! The members of our advance team have almost used up all their magic. Why are you still charging forward? Are you planning to go up there and hold Lord Link Flamel and the others back? Or do you really want to die?"
"You're the stupid one! Don't tell me you still think Sky City has the ability to resist? Right now, Sky City is a piece of meat in our bowl, and it's already cooked soft. If we don't rush up and take a couple of bites now, when will we get another chance?"
Newland cursed disdainfully, then grabbed Sigefin and charged toward Sky City with him.
The surviving members of the advance team around them excitedly followed as well.
They all felt that Newland's words made a lot of sense.
Although these survivors had already completed their mission and earned a considerable amount of merit, who would ever complain about having too much merit?
With such obvious merit within easy reach right now, if they did not go and take it, they would probably regret it so much that they would curse themselves in their dreams later.
After all, the British Ministry of Magic was currently flourishing under the leadership of Lord Link Flamel!
Even if this merit was not enough to make them some high-ranking official at the British headquarters, becoming a person of status in that colony in the French magical world would still not be a problem.
Seeing the appearance of the surviving members around him, Sigefin could only give up resisting and let Newland drag him into the charge.
Fortunately, the whole process was basically no different from what Newland had expected.
With Dumbledore and Link opening the way at the very front, and the main deployment port of Sky City already destroyed by Link, Sky City indeed no longer had the power to organize a large-scale attack like before.
In only a few minutes, the huge wizard alliance army had already charged into the blasted-open deployment port under Link's leadership.
Many people in the allied army had already prepared themselves to meet the enemy before entering.
But to their surprise, there was not even a trace of an enemy in the huge space farther inside the deployment port.
What appeared before everyone at this moment were countless spatial shattering devices, as well as mechanical conveyor belts leading straight into the depths of Sky City and used to transport them.
There was not even the slightest trace of magic inside the entire Sky City deployment port. Instead, it looked more like the inside of a spaceship from some Muggle science-fiction movie. Steel-made instruments and walls were everywhere, covered with densely arranged wiring patterns that looked somewhat like PCB circuit boards.
"If the Kennedy siblings saw this scene, they'd probably go crazy with joy."
Newland muttered to himself.
As a wizard born in Muggle society, he knew very well what everything before his eyes meant to the Kennedy siblings, and even to the entire wizard and Muggle worlds.
If all the technology here could be fully understood, the way this world operated would probably undergo a huge change.
Because even without taking Sky City apart, just looking at these things before him was enough for Newland to clearly realize that this was not simply magic or technology, but a perfect fusion of the two.
The successive rulers of Sky City had a much farther-reaching vision than the wizards on the ground.
They had probably mastered Muggle technology a very long time ago, tried to integrate it into magic, and had already achieved a certain degree of success.
Following this conclusion further, could it be that when the International Confederation of Wizards implemented the Statute of Secrecy on the ground back then, aside from wanting to protect the relatively weak wizarding population, they had also not wanted the ground-based wizarding population to come into contact with Muggles and learn technology like they had?
The moment this thought arose, Newland felt a chill in his heart.
He shook his head hard, throwing the frightening speculation out of his mind.
As for these thoughts of his, Link had actually already thought of them the first time he entered Sky City.
It was just that the focus of his thinking was completely different from Newland's.
He did not care about Sky City, or rather, he did not care what motives the founders of the International Confederation of Wizards had when they created the Statute of Secrecy and began building Sky City.
Because no matter what those so-called 'sages' had intended back then, the person truly benefiting now was Link Flamel.
As long as he could take Sky City, all the technology inside Sky City, as well as the magic reserves accumulated over hundreds of years, would all belong to him.
And by then, as long as they carried out some development and improvements on this foundation, perhaps wizards would be able to completely break through the limitations of gravity and even space and travel to other, better worlds.
That way, the development of wizards, which had been restricted by the depletion of supernatural resources on Earth, could once again return to its original explosive pace.
Just imagining the scene at that time made Link's blood boil.
He took a deep breath and calmed his emotions before giving the order, "Everyone, continue deeper! But pay attention. On the premise that you remain safe, preserve Sky City as much as possible. What I want is Sky City, not a ruin called Sky City!"
The Aurors around him immediately acknowledged the order. Even Krell was banging the hunters on the head, warning them that if they deliberately damaged the property belonging to Young Master Link Flamel, he would take them to mate with sphinxes.
Dumbledore also nodded at Link in satisfaction.
His original intention in following Link on this expedition was to end the war in the shortest possible time, thereby keeping the war within a limited area and preventing further sacrifices among wizards and Muggles.
Although the order Link had just given everyone, when taken to a deeper level, was based on an entirely different intention from his own, that did not matter. As long as fewer casualties were caused, Dumbledore was very happy.
Thus, under Link's instructions, the huge wizard alliance army began splitting into wizard squads of ten and carrying out reconnaissance inside Sky City.
This step was quite necessary.
Because before this, Link had not obtained any internal structural map or city layout map of Sky City.
The last time they had come, they had been restricted to the headquarters building of the International Confederation of Wizards the entire time. Apart from looking at the scenery outside from a distance through the windows, they had been completely unable to communicate or come into actual contact with the outside world.
Even Sigefin, who had grown up in Sky City from childhood, actually only understood the residential area where he lived, which was specifically reserved for the families of the elders' descendants.
This had once caused many people, including Link, to believe that Sigefin still had some ulterior feelings toward Sky City. After all, it had once been his home.
But after carrying out a series of investigations afterward, everyone was astonished to discover that Sigefin had not been lying.
The reason this 'prince' knew nothing about his 'territory' was entirely because Sigefin was not a spoiled heir.
He had always followed the creed of a knight. He did not drink or indulge in pleasure. Every day, aside from practicing magic, he practiced swordsmanship. He never stepped through the front door or the back door. For such an outstanding person who was so strict with himself, it would have been strange if he had had an in-depth understanding of the cyberpunk streets outside and the classified defensive areas of Sky City.
This conclusion raised the British Ministry of Magic's respect for Sigefin to another level, even to the point where they respected him from a distance.
Whenever the old hunters of the Hunter Group encountered Sigefin, they would also walk around him.
After all, being ruthless toward other people was actually not difficult, but being this ruthless toward oneself was something an ordinary person could never accomplish.
Link did not have the same ridiculous attitude toward Sigefin as the others.
But he was also quite speechless about it.
Fortunately, perhaps because they were so arrogant as to believe that the autonomous defense facilities at the bottom of Sky City had already become so advanced and powerful that no one could force their way through them, even after several hours of in-depth exploration, the wizard alliance army still did not discover any defensive troops in the lower region of Sky City.
The only things that existed here were various laser cannons arranged in the corners and on the ceilings, various sealed doors made from ultra-strong alloys, and various magical traps set up in hidden corners.
The first two had not been able to cause any substantial harm to the wizard alliance army.
Link and the others even suspected that these two arrangements were actually meant to deal with dangers originating from inside Sky City.
Rebellion, for example.
Because the density and power of those laser cannons were simply incomparable to the huge cannons Sky City had installed at the bottom to defend against external enemies.
If even those huge cannons outside could not completely eliminate the existence they were meant to defend against, why would they fear these small-caliber laser cannons intended for internal defense?
The ultra-strong alloy sealed doors worked the same way.
Although these sealed doors were distributed relatively densely, their strength was only slightly greater than that of the armored outer shell at the bottom of Sky City.
Link and the others could even break through the armor outside, so how could these doors stop them?
The only things that truly caused casualties among the wizard alliance army were the magical traps that used spatial energy to inflict damage while being concealed in hidden places.
By the time the wizard alliance army had finished exploring the entire bottom of Sky City and followed Link, Dumbledore, and the others to the 'near-ground passage,' the number of casualties caused by magical traps had already reached more than a hundred.
This number was not large compared with the terrifying total number of the wizard alliance army, so everyone's morale remained high.
Of course, an even more important reason was that when everyone passed through the pitch-black 'near-ground passage' and truly entered Sky City, a magnificent scene that none of them had ever seen before appeared before their eyes.
Unlike the clear skies outside,
it was midnight inside Sky City at this moment.
Yet this city was still as bright as day. All kinds of lights shone from within the city, even making Link and the others, who had just walked out of the 'near-ground passage,' feel that the light was somewhat glaring.
Countless lights dotted the densely packed high-rise buildings. Some were even entire walls that had been turned into giant screens, broadcasting various advertisements and slogans at extremely high brightness.
And under the flashing glow of the neon lights, the city's three-dimensional transportation network was also fully displayed before everyone.
Those broad roads, which had no physical form and were made entirely of light, repeatedly stacked over one another in three-dimensional layers, like strips of decorative lights that constantly wound and intertwined, occupying every remaining inch of space in the city and connecting one building to another.
All kinds of strangely shaped flying vehicles powered by magic traveled between the roads.
Perhaps to prevent aerial traffic accidents when flying at night, or perhaps simply to look cool, almost all of these flying vehicles were equipped with various kinds of luminous devices.
Those multicolored lights moved through the 'lightways,' as if worker ants were transporting all kinds of supplies through an anthill.
It was only when the neon lights from the giant billboards between the surrounding high-rises shone onto them that the wizard alliance army discovered in surprise that this was not the case.
Because the people on those flying vehicles were cheering and shouting wildly, with some even drinking and partying.
Their cheers mixed together with the intense music playing throughout the city. Combined with the layers of flashing and swaying neon lights, they filled the entire city with an atmosphere of madness and revelry.
"This is Sky City?"
A young man who had only just graduated from Hogwarts and had not been in the Auror force for long murmured.
His voice melted into the night wind and slowly drifted away, receiving no response.
Because the vast majority of the people in the wizard alliance army, just like him, had already become completely immersed in shock. Many of them could not even speak and could only stand there with their mouths hanging open.
The true appearance of Sky City's interior had shocked everyone far too much.
This shock was different from the terrifying sense of vastness they had felt when seeing Sky City's main body from far away outside. It was an astonishment at the high level of development of its civilization.
Only by truly entering Sky City and witnessing the scene before them could people genuinely feel the tremendous achievement created by the countless layers of technology and civilization that had been built up in Sky City.
Facing such a magnificent city, only Link, Dumbledore, and Sigefin were still able to maintain a calm and rational state of mind.
Apart from them, even Newland and the others, who had followed Link and Dumbledore to visit the International Confederation of Wizards before and were seeing such a scene for the second time, could barely conceal the excitement in their hearts.
If one had to make a comparison, it was roughly similar to how envoys from an ancient eastern country might have felt when they first saw a modern city filled with high-rise buildings.
The only difference was that the people who had broken in this time and were deeply shocked by what they saw were the true strong ones.
Every one of them had a 'sword' in their hands!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…"
One burst after another of hurried breathing sounded from among the soldiers. Countless people tightened their grips on their wands and swallowed excitedly, already somewhat unable to contain themselves.
At the same time, the ruler of Sky City seemed to have finally discovered these intruders.
As deafening alarms began to sound, the originally colorful giant city slowly began to transform.
Large numbers of gun barrels protruded from the surfaces of several high-rise buildings on the outskirts of the city. The huge moon simulated by the 'sky dome' split open, and countless white-robed wizards riding standard-issue brooms poured out from within, rushing toward Link.
"Hehehe!"
Link kept sneering, slightly raising the wand in his hand as he shouted, "Take your positions! Prepare to meet the enemy!"