Chapter 16

The aqueduct resembled a grayish-black giant python, already winding its way across the wasteland. Two meters wide and one and a half meters deep, the channel was entirely lined with hard rubble quarried from the landing zone. Several scholars from Sumeru were carefully using small brushes to apply the last bit of gold-like, precious waterproof paint—squeezed from Inazuman supplies—onto the inner walls, striving to make them as smooth as a mirror to minimize water resistance. Mika, a blond, blue-eyed young knight and observer sent by the Knights of Favonius, faced the wind, hoisted an exquisite anemometer high, and shouted out the readings, his voice cutting through the din: "Level four gale! Wind direction stable! Continuing to stabilize!" All eyes instantly converged on Limeng. The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the sound of the wind and their own heartbeats. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the scent of mixed soil, metal, and sweat. Walking over to the massive windmill base, he reached the heavy hardwood wedge jammed there—the final safety insurance locking the entire transmission system.