CHAPTER 226: 99%

This bargaining didn’t last too long, as Alex fulfilled one after another of Carlotta’s demands.

Mainly because the Wendell Empire was vast and immensely wealthy, capable of satisfying all kinds of requests, allowing Carlotta to gain substantial benefits.

Alex immediately left to arrange compensation for Carlotta.

After Alex departed, Carlotta pinched Elora’s cheeks again and smiled, saying, "Thank you for choosing to handle this peacefully, Lady Elora Thorne."

Elora’s forced smile instantly stiffened on her face.

The other party knew her identity?

She actually knew who she was?

Elora took a deep breath and stepped back two steps, "You know who I am?"

Carlotta replied with a bright smile: "The human powerhouse famous across the world, Lady Elora Thorne, how could I not recognize you?"

Elora said in a disbelief, "Then you still dared to pat my head and pinch my face?"

Carlotta laughed, "Because it’s such a rare opportunity. When chances like this come, they shouldn’t be missed."

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll get angry?"

Elora asked.

"Not at all."

Carlotta deliberately used the same cute tone Elora had used earlier, causing Elora’s expression to waver slightly.

Elora pinched her nose and said, "Alright, alright. I get it, you have an Exalted backing you, no need to be so confident."

Although she felt somewhat speechless and conflicted, she truly wasn’t angry.

Then she asked about the High Priestess, wanting to know her origins. An Exalted suddenly appearing, no one could simply ignore that, especially since Exalted possessed terrifying power capable of altering an empire’s fate.

Carlotta asked, "What do you think, Lady Thorne? As one of this world’s highest existences, you surely know far more than ordinary people, don’t you?"

A sudden thought struck Elora, "Based on my guess, that Exalted should be from another world. Am I right?"

Carlotta hadn’t expected Elora actually knew this, so she asked curiously, "Did the Central Ruins leave information about this?"

Elora nodded, immediately realizing her guess must be correct, otherwise Carlotta wouldn’t have responded this way.

Carlotta then asked further questions, learning a little more.

At the same time, she briefly explained the High Priestess’s origin.

"I arrived in another world, encountered her, and brought her back with me."

"What kind of world was it?"

Elora was extremely curious.

She had never been to any other world. Hearing that Carlotta had actually reached a different world, she couldn’t help feeling curious, almost envious.

Still, she knew such worlds could only be traversed through the Tower of Babel as the central conduit. With the Tower now closed, and no idea when it might reopen, there was likely no way to go.

Carlotta said: "It was a world of end."

"End?"

"Yes, on the verge of destruction."

Carlotta sighed faintly, describing the remnants left in that doomed world and revealing much information to Elora.

In that moment, Elora realized just how little she had truly understood before, as she listened with intense focus to what Carlotta was saying.

After learning about the state of the second world, Elora’s heart was deeply shaken.

A world on the brink of annihilation, where only one person remained alive, what a desolate scene that must have been.

"Gods truly exist, but they’re simply too distant."

Elora sighed.

Having learned about the Divine War, she couldn’t help feeling awestruck.

Then she asked why her own world remained unharmed, and upon hearing the answer, fell into silence.

Because this world was merely an experimental ground.

"Actually, I had long suspected this. The Central Ruins’ various clues all point to one thing, proving that every region of that ruin was just an experimental ground. Perhaps even this entire world is nothing but an experiment."

Elora sighed.

She had long suspected such things, yet could never confirm them. Now, she finally received confirmation from Carlotta.

"The Central Ruins... I really should go see them someday."

Carlotta murmured softly.

"Why not come with me to the Central Ruins after you receive Alex’s compensation? Perhaps you’ll discover something new."

Elora immediately extended an invitation.

She explained that although she and other Exalted, along with Weavers, had explored the Central Ruins for years, the portion they understood was still extremely small, most areas remained unknown.

"I will go, but not now."

Carlotta politely declined.

Then she inquired about the situation there, what were the various factions’ stances toward each other within the Central Ruins?

"What do you think? Whatever their relations were outside, they’re the same inside the Central Ruins."

Elora shook her head.

She also mentioned the previous imperial war.

The war between the Wendell Empire and the Velmoria Empire erupted due to many factors, but the immediate trigger came from the Central Ruins.

There, Weavers from both sides had perished.

"For a kingdom, Weavers are already the strongest beings. Even for an empire, Weavers rank among the top-tier powerhouses. When such figures die, an empire cannot simply do nothing."

Elora said.

Hearing this, Carlotta’s expression turned slightly complex, "Is that so? Then, regarding Achilles..."

"That’s fine. That was internal conflict. After all, you’re still a subject of the Wendell Empire."

Elora said.

"I won’t obey that Emperor’s orders."

"I know. I understand. I wouldn’t either."

Elora’s expression didn’t change. Once a powerhouse reaches a certain level, they naturally aren’t mere subordinates of an empire, more like mutual cooperation, helping each other.

Carlotta continued: "I also killed Velmoria Empire’s Toby Diamond. Will the Velmoria Empire seek revenge against me?"

Elora paused, her expression, "Since he was from an enemy nation, of course they’ll seek revenge. But if you don’t publicize this, probably no one else will know."

Suddenly, she recalled how many Weavers Carlotta had killed in the Bass Archipelago.

With Vampire Princess Elisa Griffin’s death, how could the Vampire let it go?

And with Rodrigo of the Beastmen dead, powerful figures from the southern continent might already be on their way.

Not to mention other Weavers...

"It’s fine. You have a Exalted backing you, that’s enough to resolve most issues."

In the end, Elora could only say this.

Carlotta chatted with Elora for a while, and the atmosphere between them remained pleasant. This powerful human didn’t put on any airs; to an outsider, she would truly seem like nothing more than a neighbor’s little sister.

Finally, Carlotta asked about the other Exalted from the Wendell Empire.

That Exalted, Suarez, practiced Word Magic, where spoken words instantly became reality. It was an extremely terrifying ability.

If he wished someone died, they would die. Who wouldn’t fear such a power?

When Toby had once copied Suarez’s Word Magic, he’d even managed to wound Carlotta and make her bleed.

None of the other skills used against her back then had been able to harm her at all. This clearly shows how extraordinary Word Magic truly was.

Elora said, "Suarez is somewhere within the Central Ruins. You should know how vast the Central Ruins are, it was originally a God’s testing ground. I can’t locate him either."

Of course, no one can find Suarez now.

Otherwise, Emperor Alex wouldn’t have brought back only Elora.

After learning a little more about Suarez, Carlotta didn’t ask further.

Soon after, Emperor Alex returned, his expression deliberately painful.

Earlier, Carlotta had demanded a large compensation, and he had agreed to everything. But while gathering the materials, he suddenly realized, had he agreed too easily?

So upon returning, he purposely put on a show of heartache and reluctantly handed several spatial items over to Carlotta.

The items Carlotta requested were indeed numerous. She’d made demands based on constructing a third-tier ship, far too much to fit in just one spatial container.

After receiving several spatial items, Carlotta peered inside each one and immediately broke into a satisfied smile.

"Our past matters are like that passing gust of wind outside, once it blows by, it’s over."

Carlotta said with a gentle smile.

She couldn’t easily move against an emperor of a great empire. Ending things this way was acceptable enough.

After that, she didn’t linger in the palace for long. She chatted briefly with Emperor Alex about how the Carlisle family would be dealt with, and upon receiving a satisfactory answer, Carlotta left.

Back at the Fenwick family estate, Carlotta and Amelia immediately found a room and closed the doors and windows tightly.

"Let me see, can we really build the third-tier ship now?"

Carlotta said, full of anticipation.

She took out the New Moon, currently miniaturized to only the size of a palm, and placed it on the table.

Next, she placed the Stellar Workshop beside it.

Then came the multiple spatial provided items by Emperor Alex. These spatial items varied in appearance, some shaped like books, some like gemstones, others like pieces of jewelry...

Carlotta opened each spatial item and began taking out materials one by one, placing them on the floor nearby. Most of the alchemical materials were rare and precious substances rarely found in the outside world.

As a true Emperor, the alchemical materials Alex offered as compensation couldn’t possibly be common or low-grade.

Amelia picked up these alchemical materials and quickly transported them into the Stellar Workshop.

Using her memory magic to generate telekinetic force, she rapidly moved the materials into the workshop, quickly filling its furnaces.

Before long, on the large wall screen of the Stellar Workshop, the progress bar for the third-tier ship steadily climbed, rising at an astonishing speed.

One spatial item, two spatial items...

Materials were continuously taken out from the numerous containers and fed into the Stellar Workshop.

After a long while, all the alchemical materials were completely consumed, leaving nothing behind.

"What’s the progress?"

Carlotta came over to check.

The materials from an entire empire were enormous, sufficient to provide tremendous support to the construction progress.

After a glance, Carlotta couldn’t help but showed surprise on her face.

third-tier ship progress: 85%.

"Was my request still too small?"

Carlotta frowned.

"No, the material requirements for a third-tier ship are simply too great."

Amelia said, bringing over the second-tier New Moon.

When the second-tier New Moon was first completed, they had already placed it into the Stellar Workshop to see how much it would boost the progress toward building the third-tier ship.

The result back then had been 20%.

Now that the progress had reached 85%, adding another 20% theoretically meant they could complete the third-tier ship.

Both Carlotta and Amelia were filled with anticipation. Without hesitation, they immediately placed the second-tier ship into the Stellar Workshop.

The next instant, the progress bar for the third-tier ship on the workshop’s wall screen jumped again, reaching 99%.

"Huh? Why is it only 99%?"

Carlotta was puzzled.

Amelia was also confused. Previously, the second-tier ship had clearly contributed 20% progress, why had it only provided 14% this time?

They immediately began investigating, and didn’t take long to find the issue.

Carlotta discovered that even if she removed certain alchemical materials from the furnaces, the 99% progress remained unchanged, proving that some materials were surplus. The missing 1% could no longer be filled by ordinary materials.

"I see."

Carlotta nodded in understanding. "Although the Stellar Workshop can convert many materials, filling in for those we lack to make construction easier, there are still some materials so exceptionally rare that even the Stellar Workshop cannot replicate them. If any of these are missing, there’s simply no way around it."

"Do you know which material is missing?"

Amelia asked.

"I don’t."

Carlotta snapped. "Perhaps we can collect more unique, one-of-a-kind materials in the future and add them. Maybe one day, we’ll finally meet the requirements."

She didn’t seem at all anxious about the problem.

After putting everything away, the two walked out.

"It’s been a while since I’ve wandered around Kestholm. Amelia, come with me and take a stroll outside."

Carlotta said, relaxing.

Amelia had no objections.

This time, they didn’t boldly walk the streets as themselves. Instead, they wore Illusory Masks to conceal their identities, so as not to cause any commotion.

The two of them, hand in hand, walked unhurriedly down the street.

Meanwhile, a message soon spread from the palace, the Empire’s official decision on the Carlisle family: their noble title will be stripped, and from this day forth, the family will vanish completely.