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Even Alaric thought that kind of megastructure was excessive. If he hadn’t been focusing his senses, he might have needed mechanical assistance just to notice the massive structure beyond the sky.

Structurally, it wasn’t a single, isolated entity revolving in satellite orbit, but rather a continuous, integrated system.

It resembled more of a chain.

Its altitude was about 2,000 kilometers above sea level, in satellite orbit, and it was about five kilometers wide.

Its exact function was unclear, but what most intrigued Alaric was how they managed to launch such a thing.

The farmers responsible for farming still lived in houses that even Da Vinci couldn’t compliment, yet the domain of the sky had already fallen into the hands of the Emperor.

“If that Emperor really is Qin Shi Huang, it actually makes sense.”

Da Vinci remarked, “The Qin Dynasty absolutely implemented advanced reforms for its time—standardizing laws, measurements, currency, and more.

Even though this land has seen dynasties rise and fall, from the perspective of civilization, that cycle of prosperity and decline was just going in circles.

If the Qin’s rule had remained unshakable and continued to suppress and absorb surrounding states, constantly developing, perhaps the clock of human history would have spun even faster.”

Alaric added, “If Qin Shi Huang, like Ivan the Terrible, had achieved immortality, and history had skipped all the wars and arrived directly at the modern era, it wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Exactly, if that momentum carried all the way to the 21st century—”

Da Vinci nodded. “Then building massive things in satellite orbit wouldn’t be so far-fetched.”

“Now I really want to see what kind of person this Emperor actually is.”

Alaric dispersed the farmers and local officials gathered by his hint, then turned to Da Vinci, “So, Lady Da Vinci, are we surveying the area next?”

“I’ve already started.”

After getting out of the vehicle, Da Vinci began covert reconnaissance of the area with drones and said, “But this place is huge. The drones have been out there a while and are still just flying over wheat fields. Just how much land have they turned into farmland?”

With Alaric by her side, Da Vinci didn’t have to worry about her safety—unless the Lostbelt King intervened directly, she had great confidence in Alaric.

So after leaving the offroad vehicle, Da Vinci activated several small drones mounted on it to survey the environment.

These were magical devices Da Vinci had crafted during three months in Russia—a testament to her genius.

It wasn’t just her intellect but also her masterful hands.

Although, due to other factors, her workshop’s performance was far less impressive than it had been at Chaldea. Otherwise, Da Vinci could have hand-built a Shadow Border submarine just like at Chaldea.

Of course, while she couldn’t replicate the original, a low-tier version was possible—

That was how the offroad vehicle Alaric and Da Vinci were riding in came to be.

With Alaric’s marble phantasm support and Da Vinci’s exquisite craftsmanship, they built a Shadow Border on the same scale.

It just lacked the Paper Moon and couldn’t dive into imaginary space.

Leaving aside the offroad vehicle, Da Vinci, seeing there wasn’t much intel in the wheat fields, soon returned to the vehicle and started using the control panel to monitor the drones.

After nearly an hour of high-speed travel, Da Vinci, using telescopes on the drones, finally spotted something unusual.

“Found it—”

Da Vinci raised an eyebrow as she zoomed the image. “Let me enlarge the image for you. See for yourself.” With that, Da Vinci projected the image onto a light screen in front of Alaric.

Beneath the blue sky, something Alaric couldn’t comprehend stood silently on the land.

At its top were structures resembling wings, while its main body was an entanglement of mechanical, gleaming appendages, twisted yet exuding an indescribable majesty.

Around this construct was a radiating metropolis, but it was clearly just an appendage.

A city existing solely for the central construct.

“This world already has the technology to build such a metropolis. Even more, that massive structure has no visible support—it’s clearly floating.”

Da Vinci continued to magnify the image. The structure was so large that just by looking at it, you could tell it weighed hundreds of tons. “It’s obviously not a hot air balloon or hydrogen balloon. How does something that massive float?”

She was deeply curious.

As a universal genius, Da Vinci was willing to call it architecture.

That only made her more eager to understand how it worked—what allowed such mass to defy gravity?

“Are you testing me, Da Vinci?”

Alaric examined the structure too, smiling. “If there are no supports, it’s probably gravity control, but the method matters.

If this is a world where magecraf is openly used, controlling gravity is easy. But if it’s achieved with just science, then their technology far surpasses anything in human history.”

“That’s true—”

Da Vinci nodded. “And that strange line stretching across the sky—I’ve taken a zoomed image. Here, with the lens at maximum, it looks like this.”

Switching the image, Da Vinci let Alaric see the full extent of the object crossing the sky.

Just as Alaric observed, it was a gigantic linked structure, operated as a whole. The main body was simple and rhombic, like scales, with slender appendages extending from both sides.

“Altitude: 2,000 kilometers—barely low Earth orbit. Width: about five kilometers.”

Admiring the megastructure, Da Vinci remarked, “The observable length stretches from one end of the Lostbelt’s cumulonimbus to the other. This kind of thing wasn’t seen before entering the Lostbelt, probably because its boundaries block all intel.

If this massive structure was built inside the Lostbelt, it would be impossible to observe from outside.”

“Is there nothing but this metropolis?”

Alaric flipped through the drone footage but found nothing.

Apart from wheat fields, only the metropolis at the world’s center stood, as if it was the only one.

“That’s right. I tried filming the area with drones, but aside from the wheat fields, there’s just that one metropolis.”

Even Da Vinci couldn’t help but look puzzled. “It makes sense if the wheat fields supply the city, but having only one city is hard to understand.

If the Emperor is in that metropolis, does that mean no other cities are needed? How does he govern such a vast empire?”

Da Vinci couldn’t figure it out, especially since the purpose of the structure was unknown, let alone the Emperor’s ruling method.

After more surveying, Da Vinci still found nothing and finally had to focus on the single metropolis and the giant structure.

“We’ll have to go to the city—”

Alaric rubbed his chin and pondered. With only one city, it was impossible to avoid.

But how to proceed was another question.

The Emperor—Qin Shi Huang—was in that city.

The central megastructure might be his Noble Phantasm, and the unknown construct in the sky was a danger not to be ignored.

Even Alaric, when facing Ivan the Terrible, had spent three months plotting, confirming weaknesses before confronting him directly.

To face the Lostbelt King head-on right after arrival would require overwhelming power and a false identity as an Alien God Apostle.

“Hoh? Seems you’re wary of this opponent,”

Da Vinci teased, reading Alaric’s thoughts. “I thought after conquering that whole Lostbelt you’d think yourself invincible. Guess I was wrong.”

After burning through a Lostbelt, Alaric’s magical reserves had reached staggering levels, beyond what a normal Holy Grail could match.

And that was with Alaric constantly replenishing himself with magical light.

Even the surplus was already at a divine level.

Combined with his own peak abilities, Alaric could even challenge the gods.

That was an achievement beyond humanity.

Yet, Alaric still maintained caution, which pleased Da Vinci.

If Alaric ever became a reckless battle maniac, that would trouble her.

“It’s the First Emperor, after all. Who knows what he’s become after two thousand years?”

Alaric shrugged. “A whole world’s supply, ever-advancing technology—what kind of monster does that create?”

Da Vinci agreed with Alaric’s concern.

“That Emperor might be a creative genius. Just look at those megastructures—super cool.”

Da Vinci crossed her arms, frowning a little. “But... something feels off.”

Something wasn’t right.

There was only one city in this world, and it belonged to the Emperor.

Other humans were all wheat farmers. The population was large, but there was no trace of modern civilization, and the population didn’t match the vast wheat fields.

There was far, far too much surplus from the wheat—the food produced was several or even dozens of times what the current population needed.

Nothing was being stored, at least Da Vinci saw no granaries or similar buildings.

Unable to get any answers, Alaric asked, “Lady Da Vinci, what kind of person is Hinako Akuta?”

He didn’t know much about the Lostbelt King, but at least he knew of the various Lostbelt Crypters.

Chinese Lostbelt’s Crypter was the mysterious girl Hinako Akuta.

Alaric, who hadn’t interacted much with Team A, had to ask Da Vinci, a Chaldea veteran.

“Well, I haven’t interacted much with Team A myself.”

Da Vinci tilted her head. “From my impression, Hinako Akuta is someone who never lets anything slip in any interaction—neither too cordial nor too distant, always unobtrusive.

She avoids leaving a bad impression that might create enemies, but also never tries to get close to anyone. She maintains that persona on purpose.” Da Vinci showed a trace of worry. “Honestly, regardless of her Master aptitude, her personality isn’t suited for combat. Even as a Crypter and our enemy, I still think—after reading her file—she might be the one person we could resolve things with peacefully through dialogue.”

“I see—”

Alaric hadn’t met Hinako yet and didn’t even know what she looked like, but nodded at Da Vinci’s impression. “So she’s—!!”

A sudden sense of alarm surged in Alaric. He sprang out of the offroad vehicle, ignoring Da Vinci, and stood on the roof, looking up at the mysterious structure in the sky.

A gaze was upon them.

There was no doubt—something high above was watching them.

“Is that... a satellite?”

Alaric looked puzzled and called out, “Lady Da Vinci, it seems the Emperor’s noticed us. That structure in the sky is watching.”

“What?”

Da Vinci, drawn over by Alaric’s sudden movement, looked out the window in shock. “So that structure really does have satellite functions.”

Since it was in satellite orbit, its functions were obvious: external defense, attack, or communications—like a satellite chain.

No one could doubt Alaric’s perception, honed by countless battles and adventures.

If Alaric noticed a gaze from the sky, Da Vinci could be sure of the satellite chain’s purpose.

“So what are you going to do?”

Da Vinci, leaning out the window, asked, “It’s almost certain that Qin Shi Huang has noticed us. The observation range could cover the entire Lostbelt! If we keep moving, we’ll always be under surveillance.”

“If we’ve been noticed, we’ll just have to go meet this Emperor.”

Alaric grinned. “If there’s a mountain, I’ll break it; if there’s a sea, I’ll part it. There’s always more solutions than problems.”

With that, Alaric jumped down from the vehicle. “Lady Da Vinci, are you coming, or waiting here?”

“I’ll go with you. Facing an Emperor, we ought to show our sincerity.”

Da Vinci got into the driver’s seat. “Besides, our actions are probably under his watch anyway—there’s no point hiding.”

“Of course there’s no point, visitors from another world.”

A voice full of authority suddenly echoed, making Da Vinci, who was about to start the vehicle, raise her eyebrows. The voice was coming from inside the vehicle.

Had their channel been hacked?

No, after analyzing the sound source, both Da Vinci and Alaric dismissed that idea.

It wasn’t the communications channel being hacked, but the vehicle itself vibrating to produce the sound.

Alaric noticed too, and raised an eyebrow. “How did you do that, Qin Shi Huang?”

“The Emperor’s voice is the voice delivered to all peoples, as natural as the sun’s light.”

Qin Shi Huang declared, “It’s nothing—just focusing a magnetic beam on your vehicle to make it vibrate. As long as it’s solid enough, any object will do, but vibrating your skull directly would be uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?”

“Lady Da Vinci, look, high-tech.”

Alaric rapped on the vehicle. He didn’t quite understand the principle, but could tell it was advanced.

“Super scary. Did I just hear something about a magnetic beam focus? This Emperor’s technology is a bit too advanced, isn’t it?”

Da Vinci said with a nervous laugh.