"How will we even get to space?" Madison asked as the four of them walked through the corridors of Ashariaās main tower.
"Iāll teleport us up there. Naturally, Iāll be providing suits to keep us from dying. Iām not sure how the space here compares to the one Asharia had but if I recall correctly, there was a barrier that prevented things from reaching into space. There was a trick to piercing this barrier so I might have to try to figure that out first." Shiro shrugged as a hologram of a weapon started to construct next to her.
She would glance at the bar at the top before frowning and scrapping the idea and starting anew.
"Iāve already started the construction of the launch pad towards the south end of the tower. Weāll be doing a few test launches then Iāll send a node out there for convenience." Shiro smiled.
"Is there anything we can do while we wait then? Maybe help construct some of the parts of the weapon first." Nan Tian asked as Shiro scratched her head.
"Actually Iām working on the blueprint now. Until I find a proper blueprint that will work, weāre going to be using our time to get to space instead." She replied.
"In that case then why donāt I help you. Iām not familiar with how you use nanobots to construct things but if you want me to balance out the energy usage while making sure that everything wonāt collapse, I can certainly give it a go." Nan Tian suggested as Shiro nodded her head.
"Sure, Iāll make you a terminal so that we can work on it at the same time."
"As for you Madi, I guess you can experiment on focusing your power into this module. I need you to have some prior experience before getting you to power a part of this weapon."
Throwing Madison a small orb, Shiro looked at Lisandra.
"As for you Lisa, I want you to see how much authority you have over the light. Weāll be using the power of the sun so youāll be helping Nan Tian with focusing that power. Once youāre done experimenting, I want you to send me a report so I can keep that in mind."
"Got it."
Snapping her finger, a new doorway appeared as the three saw the newly constructed launch pad with Nanobots already building rockets that Shiro was going to send to space.
To the left was an open area for Lisandra and Madison to practice and to the right was the terminal with an ever changing hologram of a weapon that had tens of new parts added and taken off with second.
Seeing this, Nan Tian couldnāt help but shake his head. She was able to make everything here while talking to them and constructing hundreds of new blueprints every second.
She wasnāt holding anything back as she pushed her mind to the limit.
Staying silent, Nan Tian made his way over to the terminal and started to work on the blueprint. With how quickly it was changing, it was difficult for him to keep up but eventually he got a hang of it.
Naturally, Lisandra and Madison didnāt waste any time either since they knew that there was only a few hours left till the relic appeared.
Cracking her neck, Shiro smiled seeing that everyone was working hard.
Snapping her fingers, a rocket appeared in front of her as it was the same one she used to penetrate the barrier back in Aria.
A holographic terminal appeared in front of her as hexagonal barriers surrounded the chambers, preventing the launch from effecting the three that were working hard.
Launching the rocket, Shiro activated a camouflage so that it couldnāt be spotted.
Watching the rocket increase in speed, tier 6 magic circles started to wrap around the engines as the rocket itself started to flicker from sight.
Narrowing her eyes, Shiro could already feel that the rocket was facing some resistance.
āThereās a barrier already?ā She thought with a frown since the barrier shouldnāt be appearing for a while yet.
Turning a few dials before activating a few more tier 6 magic circles, the rocket bypassed the first barrier without any problems.
āAt least itās still the same as the one back in Aria. If we continue like this we should be fi-ā
Before she could even finish her thought, the rocket was completely halted at the second barrier as the space around the rocket started to collapse.
Watching as the rocket was crushed down into the size of a small box, Shiro frowned heavily since the second barrier was akin to an array. A wrong step and the area around will compress.
āWhat the f*ck is wrong with this planet?ā Shiro couldnāt help but think to herself as the box that was the rocket was thrown back down to earth.
Waving her hand, the box dissembled itself as Shiro crafted a new blueprint immediately. It was one that would halt right after piercing the first barrier. Itāll send out drones to scout out the second barrier and find a solution.
Sending the second rocket to pass the first layer, Shiro started to decrypt the barrier. However, the rocket didnāt even last 10 seconds as it was crushed.
āTch, so if it doesnāt move itāll get crushed as well huh?ā Shiro bit her nail as she started to get annoyed.
Taking this as a personal challenge, Shiro allowed Nan Tian to work on the blueprint as she directed a bit more of her attention to making a blueprint.
###
"Why are there so many barriers?" Gaia asked curiously since this was a bit abnormal.
"Who knows. But the barriers seem to be acting like filters." Chronos muttered while looking at the barriers through the screen.
"What are they filtering out exactly?"
"Stars and constellations. There are constellations that allow other gods or high tier beings to communicate with the mortal races. The barriers are probably to prevent them from calling out to them before the latter half. Though depending on the situation, mortals can get a glance into these constellations. I believe these barriers are also why divination exists within a small portion of people since they have the power to bypass these layers." Tartarus smiled as Gaia nodded her head.
"Why donāt you get Asteria to help Shiro then? Didnāt she already give Shiro her blessings?" Nyx suggested as she was currently resting in a bed, still recovering from some of the backlash.
"But sheās hard to scam." Ouranos frowned as Gaia felt like a vein was about to burst.
"Stupid old man donāt think about scamming every one we mention!" Gaia complained as she had a vine hit Ouranos on the back.
"Iāll go talk to her, she owes me a favour or two." She huffed, jumping off her chair.
"Iāll be right back, I donāt want to miss too many things after all." Gaia said as she opened a portal and disappeared.
"Goodness, violent woman. I donāt even know how I put up with her all those years ago." Ouranos complained as he rubbed his back with a frown.
"Who knows. Setting that aside, did Helios say anything? You did send an avatar to his palace after all." Tartarus asked with a smile.
"Yes, heās on board with the plan. We just need to call him over when we need his help." Ouranos nodded as Helios was rather enthusiastic about helping Zeusā enemy. He was killed by Zeus after all.
"Do we have anyone else that is on board with the plan?" Ouranos asked.
"Atlas is eager about this too. I think heāll be able to help her open a passage to space." Tartarus smiled as he had contacted his old friend during this period.
"Oh thatāll be a great help. Have you tried talking to Prometheus? Heās a fan of mankind and isnāt he an enemy of Zeus as well? Contact him and Iām 80% sure that heāll help." Ouranos suggested.
"Iāve already contacted him, donāt worry, heās getting ready as we speak." Chronos chuckled.
"Is there anyone else?" Nyx asked but the three shook their heads.
"Thatās all we can rope in for now. We can keep trying but I donāt think weāll be able to get anymore. Time is running out too." Ouranos sighed.
"Give me a few moments. Iāll go talk with my daughter. With her powers over day, Iām sure she can give Shiro some help." Nyx sighed as she sat up.
"Are you going to talk to Hemera? Wasnāt your relationship with her a little... strained?" Chronos asked as Hemera had always worked against Nyx before.
"Itās just a rebellious phase, donāt worry about it. Plus, her husband has already come into contact with the party so Iām sure Hemera wouldnāt mind giving them a hand. I just need to rest for a bit before talking to her." Nyx sighed.
"If youāre going to talk to your daughter, I might talk with Hyperion too." Ouranos muttered as Chronos glanced over.
"Alright. Just be careful you donāt get your nuts chopped off again by one of your children." Chronos nodded as Ouranos felt his vein burst apart by that comment.
Without saying anything, he entered a portal and left.