As Ebner pondered on his own, he explained one piece of shareable intelligence after another to Xio and Edwina, causing the latter two's impression of the "Night Emperor" to deteriorate instantly.
"So that means the 'Night Emperor' and the 'Primordial Demoness' colluded in secret long ago, selling out the ancestor of the demoness family 'Monica,' who had defected to Him and sought His protection, to the 'Primordial Demoness.'
"And that's not all—after that, He even 'sacrificed' the 'Monica' who had narrowly escaped death and fallen to Sequence 2, turning Her into the 'Ghost Empire'?
"Then in that case, it's only natural that the 'Ghost Empire' suddenly disappeared and didn't allow the Trunsoest descendants to board!
"But speaking of which, where did the 'Night Emperor' get the confidence to sell 'Monica' and still expect Her to transform into a ghost ship and continue serving Him?"
Xio found it unbelievable. If she herself were treated like that, then even if it meant the annihilation of her soul, she would never let the other party have an easy time.
Edwina, on the other hand, felt that the "Night Emperor" must have possessed some means of controlling "Monica," though it later failed for unknown reasons.
Ebner's speculation was close to Edwina's. Combined with the fact that after the death of the Night Emperor's empress, the "Blood Moon Queen" Olniya, her "Beauty Goddess" characteristic fell into the hands of either the Mother Tree of Desire or the Primordial Demoness, he couldn't help but suspect that the "Night Emperor" had also conducted transactions or reached tacit understandings with Outer Gods.
After all, when the "Night Emperor" came into contact with Mr. "Door," the latter had most likely already been "corrupted" by an Outer God.
Additionally, the ancestor of the succubus family was named "Monica"… and the "Black Saintess," who came from the succubus family, was named Medea… this naming style carried a very strong sense of "me."
Of course, it was also possible that "White Maker" had chosen the names… but His naming style didn't seem to be like this.
Just as Ebner's thoughts drifted farther and farther away, time quietly reached eleven o'clock, and visible changes appeared in the several-dozen-meter-tall ruin at the foot of the mountain.
Ripples spread within the half-collapsed massive stone gate, and immediately after, a jet-black warship, forged entirely of steel, entered the sight of the three.
At first, it was only the size of a finger, but as it gradually approached, its majestic and grand "figure" slowly unfolded before Ebner's eyes.
First, its sheer size. Living up to the name "Empire," even the newly launched ironclad Priz of the Kingdom of Loen looked like a model toy before it, utterly incomparable!
By Ebner's observation, its surface length and width were almost on par with the entire urban area of Backlund, and inside were countless "hidden spaces" created by a "Planeswalker." Its true area was probably close to half of Loen.
Second was the overwhelming "science-fiction" feel of the hull. It was completely different from the ship styles of any Fourth Epoch nation. Its structure was entirely enclosed, with no deck. Rather than a seafaring vessel, it looked more like a cosmic warship from a science-fiction novel of Ebner's previous life!
Who knew where the "Night Emperor" had gotten such inspiration…
Seeing such a transcendent warship, even Ebner—who had long been mentally prepared and had seen it in memories—felt deeply moved, let alone Xio and Edwina.
Xio was fine. Whether it was the "Dream Maze Tower" or "Daniel's Maze," ever since following Ebner, she had seen plenty of "spectacular" things. One more giant ship hardly mattered.
But Edwina, as a "Pirate Admiral," had her eyes gleaming with brilliance… What captain wouldn't wish for their vessel to be such a ship?
The "Ghost Empire" moved extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, the three could no longer see its full form.
A second or two later, the dozens-of-meters-tall "stone gate" barely aligned with one of the ship's "portholes"…
"Now!" Ebner shouted, then stretched out both arms, wrapping one around Xio and the other around Edwina, and leapt straight into the "stone gate."
—the so-called "docking" of the "Ghost Empire" lasted only this single instant. Miss it, and there would be no chance to board.
Thus, in the next moment, the anomaly of the "stone gate" completely vanished, and its degree of collapse advanced even further.
...
Within a long, narrow corridor, the lights flickered between bright and dim. On both sides were numerous identical doors, one every meter or two, stretching endlessly beyond sight.
Moreover, there were no markings on any of these doors. Even Edwina, a "Prophet" with excellent memory, could no longer distinguish them after passing several.
After entering the "Ghost Empire" through the "porthole," Ebner and the others appeared in this seemingly endless corridor and were now observing and investigating.
Even Ebner had activated the "Pure White Eye," because during his "previous visits," he had not appeared in this corridor.
"They seem to be 'deceiving' my senses?" Edwina said thoughtfully.
"It's not 'deception,' but the use of the authority of 'Balance,' making them appear indistinguishable," Ebner shook his head, then continued. "If I'm not mistaken, behind every door here is a 'world.' Then we need to find, within that 'world,' the entrance to the next 'world,' repeating this process."
Previously, whether it was Alvin, Daniel, or Giuseppe, they had all appeared directly within a certain "world."
"Won't each 'world' also have more than one exit?" Xio asked with a strange expression.
She was clearly reminded of Daniel's Maze, where each "mirror world" had six doors.
Ebner naturally guessed what she was thinking and nodded. "Yes… Daniel also entered the 'Ghost Empire' back then, so he borrowed some ideas.
"It's just that he didn't have the ability to expand a 'mirror space' into a full world."
Edwina, who had also experienced Daniel's Maze, asked while thinking, "The 'mirror worlds' in Daniel's Maze ultimately led to his palace… then what about here?"
"I don't know… but I suspect it's the 'Ghost Empire's' core, or the captain's cabin," Ebner replied.
He truly didn't know. Alvin, Dannett, and Giuseppe had all failed to persist to the end. The difference was that the first two were "experts" in traversing the spirit world and mirror worlds and had gods backing them, allowing them to leave the "Ghost Empire" at any time. Giuseppe, who had no skills and no backing, could only be trapped to death within some world.
"Then shall we just pick a 'door' at random?" Xio thought for a moment before asking.
"In theory, which 'door' we enter doesn't make much difference…" Ebner first nodded, then walked to a door on the left and stopped, continuing, "But I've decided to start here!"
Through the "Land of the Unknown," he could sense that Giuseppe's "soul stone" after death was within the "world" corresponding to the door before him.
(End of the chapter)