Sword of Dawn

Page 433

"Very good..." Gao Wen exhaled, and finally felt a rare sense of relief in his heart, "In this way, the magic net of the entire empire can finally be connected to the net and become a real 'net'..."

There was also a trace of emotion in Kamel's buzzing voice: "That's true, Your Majesty."

Gawain didn't speak for a while, but he just stared at the flickering dots and lines in the holographic projection, and couldn't calm down.

The integration of the magic net throughout the empire... This is one of his most ambitious plans, and it is also the plan that takes the longest time to implement, uses the most manpower and material resources, and has the most far-reaching impact.

The light spots on the projection are all large and small mana obelisks or hub towers. From the day the empire was established, even before the establishment of the empire, projects in related fields had already started.

Some of them were built by the teams sent by the Principality of Cecil at the beginning, some were built by nobles from various places when the Principality exported its technology, and they were standardized and upgraded today, and some were built in the past one or two years under the leadership of the highest government office of the empire. After completion, large and small nodes are distributed in the main cities and transportation hubs of the empire, and based on them, they extend to the surrounding areas, covering the "first-level urban areas" as much as possible, thus forming the prototype of a "network".

The separate "regional magic net" and the magic energy obelisk are not really magic "nets". They are just small-scale energy stations and regional communication stations. Only by connecting them all, the "empire" envisioned by Gawain The "magic net" can be regarded as a real "net". The instructions from the Supreme Government Office and the information sent back from all over the country can be quickly spread throughout the whole territory through this network. The energy supply of the entire Cecil will be guaranteed. And the wilderness between cities and cities will be protected. Where there is a magic net, there will be energy, information, security, and productivity, all of which are prerequisites for the further development of this country.

And this ambitious plan had already been launched when Cecil was still a principality. Gawain had been laying this net for almost three years—these three years still had convenient magical power in this world, and each The underlying technology already exists.

In order for this huge network to operate, one of the most critical facilities is the "main hub" device located in important cities throughout the empire.

That is an extremely large-scale array of magic energy crystals, which are installed on special high towers (or a certain tree). Their coverage is very wide, but the wide coverage is only one aspect of their effect, and their greater effect is It is to coordinate and balance all the secondary hubs connected to it, and control the lower-level basic nodes through the secondary hubs. Now the final step of Gao Wen's "Empire Demonic Network Integration" plan is to wait for all these main hubs to go online.

——Currently, each major city in the empire relies on a series of relay towers to maintain a single-line connection. This level of "connection" is obviously not enough. From the bearing capacity to the anti-risk ability to the actual performance, it can't meet Gao Wen's requirements at all.

"The first phase of this project will not be completed until the whole territory of the magic net is connected to the grid," he said slowly after a long silence, "The next step is to continue to increase the number of basic nodes and secondary hubs in various places... "

"Do you want to increase it?" Rebecca next to me couldn't help but said in surprise, "I feel that the coverage area is already very wide..."

"Not enough, not far enough," Gawain shook his head, his gaze never leaving those light spots and lines, "Not even half of it."

What he said startled Rebecca, but he was completely serious - the scale of magic net nodes established in various parts of the empire may already be unbelievably huge in the eyes of people of this era, but Gawain knew that In just three years, what he built was a "basic project". Those seemingly large-scale node coverage areas actually only included major cities and large-scale towns, lower-level villages or more remote areas. The settlements are actually powerless to cover.

However, in the eyes of many people in this era, this level of magic net is far beyond imagination-allowing every town to use magic power anytime, anywhere, with strategic shields and instant messaging, with modern lighting and based on The entertainment and working conditions of magic technology are enough. As for covering the lower level of villages with the magic net, or even remote mountains and wilderness...they don't understand the need for it at all.

This made Gao Wen couldn't help but think of a joke he often heard in his previous life: the village connects to the Internet.

The village network... This is a great thing.

Gao Wen took a breath, and said slowly: "Continue to cover, cover every village, cover every inhabited place, this is our next goal, it may take another three years, but it is very necessary."

Rebecca blinked her eyes. She is very talented in the field of technology, and she is not stupid in other areas, but she still can't think too much beyond the current era like Gao Wen. However, this does not affect her showing a With a bright smile, he nodded vigorously: "What you said must make sense! Then do this."

Gao Wen looked at the silly roe deer dumbfounded.

This child...is barely a viscount. If he inherits the throne...forget it, let's use it for posthumous title.

On the contrary, Kamel seemed to understand Gawain's thoughts. His eyes full of arcane brilliance looked at the entire holographic projection map, and then nodded slightly: "Popularize as much as possible, cover as much as possible... It means a lot to the future of this country, and to everyone on this land."

As he said that, the magister from 1000 years ago suddenly laughed at himself and shook his head: "If the Gondor Empire hadn't relied too much on the Deep Blue Well, if we had a way to distribute magic power at will and Covering the entire territory... all foundations will never be destroyed just because an energy well is blown up. Even in the face of a demon tide, the civilization that human beings will eventually preserve will definitely not be the same as it was 700 years ago."

Gawain nodded lightly, and then the room fell silent for a moment.

After half a minute, he broke the silence: "After the matter here is over, you go and call Veronica, and find me at the government affairs hall."

……

Before noon, Kamel and Veronica arrived at Gao Wen's office in the Government Affairs Office.

As soon as they entered the door, they found that Hetty and Amber were also there.

"Sit down," Gawain nodded to the two ancient disobedients, gesturing for a seat near the desk, "I called you all here because I have received some news about Typhon - now I suspect it may Have a little connection with the gods."

Chapter 0913 is related to God

Hearing "a little connection with the gods", Kamel and Veronica immediately felt [-]% to [-]% nervous.

In the past year or so, Cecil has faced enough "a little connection with God" things.

Gao Wen saw that the atmosphere had been successfully mobilized by himself, so he didn't continue to show off, but said straight to the point: "Daniel has a report that there have been several incidents of God of War priests dying in churches in Typhon recently. ——He has not been able to find out the specific situation, but it is certain that the death toll has definitely exceeded five—and they are all concentrated in the past half month.”

"The mysterious death of the priest?" Hetty frowned first when she heard it, "If it's just the mysterious death of the priest...it may be some kind of assassination attack against the church...In places where the antagonism of theocracy is relatively serious and the folk customs are fierce, similar things It can happen, especially in more remote areas."

"Basically ruled out this possibility," Gawain shook his head, "More than one church was involved in the incident, including the area where the God of War sect dominates, and if it was attacked by heretics, the Church of God of War would definitely use it as an opportunity to publicize the martyrs. Come out—but the fact is that all the deaths were not made public, and even the scene was sealed off, and Daniel got the news from a special channel."

Hearing such an answer, the people in the room immediately looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Typhon regards the God of War belief as the mainstream sect, and the priests of the God of War occupy a high position in their society. In the past hundreds of years, there are actually many priests of the God of War who died, but they all died in various places because they followed the teachings. On the battlefield in China, there are only a handful of cases of assassination and other attacks that are inconvenient to make public after the death—there are only twelve records that I can find here, and those twelve incidents are distributed over two full days. In the time span of a century," Amber broke the silence on the side, talking about the information analyzed by the Military Intelligence Bureau, "One of our views is that there is something wrong with Typhon's God of War sect, and the death of the priest may be caused by some The result of this kind of internal struggle, so it is difficult to make public, but..."

"It's just that this speculation still lacks support," Gao Wen took Amber's words, "First of all, according to the information we have, the Church of God of War in Typhon has always been united and stable over the years, and the current pope, Malm Dunit, is in good health. , There is no problem with the bishops' control of churches at all levels, and the domestic situation in Typhon is also very smooth, so the Church of God of War has no reason to fight internally."

"So this direction is difficult to establish," Veronica said thoughtfully, her eyes falling on Gao Wen's face, "but only from the mysterious death of the priest, why do you think it might have something to do with the gods?"

"...Someone is crazy." Gao Wen said flatly.

Veronica's eyes became serious in an instant, and the fingers holding the platinum scepter tightened slightly, while Kamel next to her suddenly increased the brightness, so that everyone else had to squint their eyes.

"Several priests who had been in contact with the death scene fell into madness afterwards. Judging from the time, they should have witnessed the death process of those priests who died, or... saw some 'changes' that should not be seen. Although the Church of God of War tried hard to block news, but there are still some rumors spreading, which is corroborated by the fact that the God of War Cathedral in Aldernan suddenly held a closed-door meeting and closed the external corridor on the open day..."

"The external corridor was closed on the open day, and after these incidents..." Veronica suddenly narrowed her eyes, "This... is really unusual."

"So, I want to hear what experts like you have to say." Gao Wen looked at Veronica and Kamel, "especially your opinion on Veronica—you should have some opinions on the operation of the church in modern society." learn."

"Judging from the worst possibility, the priests who died strangely all died of 'God's Punishment' or similar divine power. Their death must have signs of blasphemy and pollution, and will cause uncontrollable secondary pollution , so the churches around the world will block the news," Veronica immediately said her opinion, "there are usually only two reasons for the priests to encounter 'divine punishment' or the backlash of the power of the gods, or they did it on purpose Or, some kind of powerful force interfered with their belief benchmarks, causing them to lose the favor of the gods-priests whose minds are controlled by powerful evil spirits often encounter such an end."

Then she paused, and then added: "But neither of these two points is possible—first of all, the Church of God of War in Typhon is stable and has a solid foundation of belief. It is impossible to have several priests in different regions in a short time Abandoning the gods, secondly...the evil spirits that can control the minds of the priests are afraid of the power of the holy objects, they will only haunt the wilderness, but those priests died in the church."

Gawain nodded, and then suddenly mentioned something: "By the way, there is a detail. According to what Daniel inquired about, the priests involved in the accident seem to have encountered accidents while praying alone."

Veronica's face changed a little in an instant: "When you pray alone?!"

"That's right." Gawain replied with a serious expression.

"Then... I'm afraid it's the third possibility," Kamel said after being silent for a long time before finally speaking in a deep voice, "It's also the possibility we're most worried about..."

Veronica held the platinum scepter tightly, closed her eyes slightly, and said what Kamel wanted to say: "The God of War...something happened."

"It's too early to draw such a conclusion, but we must be vigilant," Gawain said with unprecedented solemnity, "Typhon doesn't need us to warn, if the Augustus family is not stupid, it should be already Noticing that something is wrong, they are suffering from the curse of the gods, and there is vigilance in this regard-the key is that we have to be prepared.

"The belief in the God of War in Cecil is not strong. Although there are a certain number of believers, there are no strong churches and priests. Moreover, it has also accepted the transformation of the Government Affairs Office, and the supervision is relatively easy - this aspect is left to Amber. , we must pay attention to observe the troubles of the domestic gods of war priests;

"In addition to monitoring the priests, we must also pay attention to the situation of the believers. Although the news from Typhon's side is currently concentrated on the priests who died strangely, it is hard to say whether the believers will also be affected. In this regard, Hetty You go arrange it.

"Kammel, your and Jenny's research on siren runes has been fruitful, and the mental protection system has been tested in actual combat. Now is the time for them to continue to work—we need more and more effective ones. The mental protection system must at least meet the supply of all the troops. Many soldiers believe in the God of War, and many of them are devout believers. We must prevent this from happening..."

Gao Wen finished his arrangement one by one, and after he finished speaking, he began to think about what else he had missed, and at this moment, the Magic Net terminal beside his desk suddenly turned on. Standing up, there was a buzzing and clicking sound, and then, a figure with long white hair dragging to his ankles appeared in the room out of thin air.

"Naritel?" Amber looked at the figure that appeared out of nowhere in surprise, "When were you here?"

Naritil immediately shook her head: "I didn't eavesdrop..."

"Ah, I called her here, but she was hidden, and I almost forgot." Gawain patted his forehead lightly, and looked at the former god in front of him, "Naritel, what do you have?" What do you want to say?"

"That rune can be placed in the neural network," Naritel nodded, and said seriously, "I remember it was very useful, and it blocked me from entering the real world for a long time..."

The words of this "God of the Past" who has now symbiotically coexisted with the Internet immediately made Gao Wen's eyes light up - as a satellite spirit who traveled from the earth, he didn't even think of this!

Of course, the main reason why his eyes lit up was not because he suddenly realized it, but because Kamel really lit up.

"This is a very good way! The magic net connects all the terminals, and the main effect of the mental protection system is actually those runes. If a specific set of runes can be broadcast throughout the entire territory, even if the direct invasion of the gods cannot be prevented, We can also prevent the most affected group of priests and believers from being mentally polluted," Kamel said with a hint of excitement, which was the joy that erupted after researchers discovered new uses in the field of technology, "If the 'mad god' If it really appears, as long as you maintain your sanity in the first wave of attacks, the biggest crisis will be overcome!"

"But the prerequisite for this idea to take effect is that the entire empire has been connected to the grid." Hetty, who had not spoken all this time, said next to him, calming down everyone on the scene. "Now the neural network is still limited to the southern border, and the masters in other regions If the hub is not online, there is only one line connecting each place, and that line cannot withstand the pressure of broadcasting throughout the country."

"...Then we can only hope that what happened to Typhon is just an early omen... I hope our nationwide network can be completed sooner," Veronica lowered her eyelids slightly, with a soft and reassuring voice The tone said slowly, "Relax, we are just making the worst plan, and we do have many effective means."

At this time, Amber couldn't help but sighed: "Alas... At this time, what I'm most worried about is the Typhon people... I admit that Rosetta Augustus is a talent, but how much can he prepare for?" It's an unknown... Typhon people don't have a neural network, and they don't have mental protection technology. If they blow up there, we might have some impact here..."

"However, no matter whether we are warning Typhon or providing help, we must first explain the source of the information..." Hetty shook his head helplessly, "It's really unexpected that we have to worry about them sometimes."

"This is what I said a long time ago. In the face of certain disasters, mortals are regardless of national boundaries. Natural disasters will not tell you about your nationality or race, nor will you care about your ideas and beliefs. Before the tide, mortals are a community "Gao Wen glanced at Heidi, said while thinking, and then said as if thinking, "I still have to find a way to remind... But it needs to be a little more roundabout..."

……

The icy wind blew through the frequency shield over Tarrond, but the dragon kingdom under the cold wind was still as warm as spring.

In the mountain city of Agondor, the headquarters of the Tallonde Council, and the internal medical center, Melita Purnia in the form of a dragon slowly opened her eyes.

She is on a circular mechanical platform, bright lights are shining from above, making it as bright as day, and a large number of mechanical arms and observation probes around the platform are still busy, doing the final finishing work, and with The giant dragon receiving treatment in the center of the platform opened its eyes, and these busy machines completed their tasks one by one, and began to retreat silently.

A figure in a white dress came out of the shadows not far from the platform, and slowly came to Melita, raised his head and said casually: "Are you awake? We've already blown you up on a mission." Three Hearts' disease cured..."

"Don't make such sad jokes in front of a broken-hearted dragon," Melita murmured feebly, her voice booming, "ahhh—I've got a headache and I'm cold..."

Noretta shrugged her shoulders: "It's the sequelae of excessive use of the 'Giant Wave' booster, but don't worry, I've injected you with the relieving 'Grey' booster, and it should take effect in a few minutes."

"Hey... overdose of booster, treat with booster, then overdose with booster for treatment, treat with booster for overdose of booster for treatment..." Melita couldn't help muttering, "I feel I don't have much blood in my veins, except for the symbiont oil, which is a synergist..."

"Basically, when you were sent here, your blood system was seriously polluted—one of the three exploded hearts had a pressure coupling reaction, leaking out a large amount of toxic substances, and we had to replace all your blood. For safety considerations, we will only infuse you a little above the safety line when reinfusing new blood, to prevent your three new hearts from being damaged due to excessive pressure..."

Melita listened to her friend's words in a daze, then suddenly threw her head on the platform, and shouted dejectedly: "I'd better die..."

"Stop complaining—do you know how much work it took to fix the parts of your body?" Noretta immediately glared at Melita, "The cost of the replacement parts alone is enough for your entire year's salary!!"

Undoubtedly, these words immediately dealt a blow far more terrifying than a heartbreak to Miss Blue Dragon who was in a low mood—when the word "salary" entered her ears, Melita felt that she had just put on Her heart was on the verge of exploding again, and her voice trembled: "I...can I ask...how much will I be charged for this replacement..."

Noretta raised her eyelids to look at her friend, and deliberately kept her mouth shut for a few seconds, as if admiring Melita's tangled and panicked expression, until the other party might breathe out at any time, she said unhurriedly : "Put your heart back - you don't have to pay yourself. And not only that, you should have a small subsidy, the amount is not much, but it is enough for you to replenish the booster consumed by this mission and you can still have some balance. "

At this moment, Melita seemed to be unable to believe her ears: "...Ah?! You didn't lie to me, did you? All... all reimbursed? There are even extra subsidies? Why?"

"The senior members of the jury think that the loss of your mission is special. Firstly, it is force majeure, and secondly, it also brings some special...benefits to Tarrond," Noretta explained, "In short, you and Gao Vin Cecil's talk brought us something we've been waiting for. So the jury has decided to give you an extra grant.

"In addition, this kind of subsidy is not one-time. If you suffer losses due to similar tasks later, you will still have full reimbursement and additional subsidies..."

For a moment, Melita seemed to be living in a dream. She tried to resist the temptation of money, but in the next second she showed her true nature as a dragon and lowered her head to life. She had some expectations, but she inevitably asked a question One sentence: "What about the name of the subsidy? Which category should I go to check my income?"

Noretta thought for a while, and said casually: "Since this was incurred after you talked with Gawain Cecil, Speaker Andal added a new claim item for you—phone fee."

Chapter 0914 Dragon and God

Inside the medical center under the name of the Council of Tarrond.

Melita was obediently lying on the circular platform, some medical machines were buzzing around her, and several scanning probes were slowly sweeping across her torso from above, while she squinted her eyes slightly, letting the These Omega-controlled machines are busy in their vicinity.

"This is the last inspection," Noretta's voice came from the side, with a hint of relaxation in her tone, "You can leave this place after the inspection is over."

"Actually, I'm not in a hurry to leave now..." Melita's lazy voice sounded on the platform, "Let me tell you, after knowing that all expenses here are paid by the jury, I even want to be here. Pitch a tent..."

Noretta gave her friend a look of contempt: "You can try—I guarantee that the team at the medical center will let you lie here for a century, and you won't be able to leave when the time comes."

While speaking, the last group of medical machines busy around the platform suddenly let out a low hum, and then all the scanning probes retracted into the machine slots above the platform, and Omega announced in the room. The sound of the announcement that the medical examination is completed.Melita immediately shook her head, muttering to herself while getting up: "Forget it, I don't plan to be dismantled into parts and then identified as a minor medical injury..."

Before the words were finished, a light curtain enveloped Melita's whole body. As the light curtain slowly expanded and contracted, the huge blue dragon figure disappeared little by little, and the human body gradually took shape in it. In less than a moment, Miss Lanlong then switched to her usual human form. She moved her joints slightly to confirm her sense of balance and then walked towards the edge of the platform.

Noretta went forward: "How do you feel? Is it better?"

"Basically recovered—there is some residual weakness and incoordination, but it will get better soon after the parts in my body are fully adapted to each other," Melita said, exhaling softly , "Oh... what I regret the most now is that I shouldn't have listened to your propaganda, and replaced it with a third auxiliary heart - it was scrapped after just using it, and it turns out that those light rings have no effect at all..."

"Don't say that, I read your inspection report, at least it was the last one to explode," Noretta showed a smile, "The improvement brought by the light ring is closely related to the mind, you have to believe first... "

Melita interrupted with a wave without waiting for the other party to finish speaking: "Stop, stop, I don't want to hear you continue to promote the theory that lighting effect is equal to performance-and I have business to do."

"There is still business..." Hearing the last sentence of her friend, Noretta originally wanted to make a few more jokes to help the other party cheer up, but was replaced by seriousness, her brows were slightly frowned, and her steps slowed down , "You... are you going to meet our god now?"

Melita smiled: "He said that I can go to him anytime after I come back... This is an extraordinary honor."

"Yes...it's an honor," Noretta repeated softly with a complicated expression, and then looked up into her friend's eyes, "You haven't said why you took the initiative to meet the gods, nor have you talked about your own experience. , You... What exactly did you encounter? Can't you really tell me?"

"Maybe, but I don't dare to say it now," Melita responded to the other party's gaze, and shook her head slightly after a two-second pause, "Some things can't be confirmed until I get an answer from the gods." You can say it. But you don't have to worry - I'm fine, at least for now."

After she finished speaking, she didn't give Noretta a chance to continue asking, but turned her head and strode towards the exit of the room, leaving only one sentence: "I'm going to the upper church, I'll treat you to dinner when I get back. "

……

In the upper area of ​​the mountain where Agondor is located, there is a special architectural structure standing between high walls and towers. It is covered in gorgeous gold, with solemn and thick domes and exterior walls covered with reliefs, giving it a sacred and lofty atmosphere. It seems that eternity is shrouded in the sky above the dome, and the never-ending singing and chant seem to linger around the building as if they have symbiosis with the air.

This is the sanctuary of the dragon god, an important facility that every city in Tarrond will have, and every dragon clan is familiar with it—in the society of Tarrond, religious activities are like implants and augmentations. Potions are generally an important part of a dragon's life, and these three things stay with them for the rest of their lives, whether they like it or not.

Under the action of the weather controller, the clouds near the top of the mountain were properly condensed at the foot of the church. Melita walked step by step through the slope in front of the church, passed through the layer of clouds, and came to the magnificent dome building—— The door was already open to her, and she walked directly into it without anyone notifying her.

The interior of the huge and solemn sanctuary was brightly lit, and the light from an unknown source illuminated the large-scale building. There was nothing in the rotunda, except for a high platform in the center of the hall, and eight directions in the hall. There are balconies extending to the sea of ​​clouds outside, and a dusk-like light curtain hangs at the connection between each balcony and the hall. It seems that there are many pairs of eyes hidden in the light curtain. The moment Melita entered the sanctuary, Melita immediately I felt a vague peep.

She didn't care about this normal sense of peeping, walked to the high platform, bowed her head respectfully: "My lord, I'm here."

Before the words were finished, a sacred and majestic aura suddenly appeared out of thin air, and a beautiful woman with a golden vent and elegant appearance appeared on the high platform in front of Melita, and she quietly looked down.

"Melita, raise your head," Dragon God Enya said lightly, "Today is not a day of worship, you can relax a bit."

"Yes, my lord," Melita raised her head and boldly glanced at the god on the stage—the latter just watched calmly, and there was even a little gentleness on that flawless face, but This trace of gentleness really made her feel a little relaxed, "I...I came here to ask you some questions..."

"I know," said the woman on the high platform, "you want to ask about the incident 600 years ago—the mortal man you brought to Monitoring Tower No. [-], what happened to that mortal man, and your lost memory."

"Yes... yes," Melita nodded immediately, "600 years ago, I really...really brought a mortal to Monitoring Tower No. [-]? Could it be that I was..."

"Yes, you were polluted, maybe it was because of a flight that accidentally deviated from the route, or maybe it was the tower's secret initiative to attack. In short, the 'reverse tide' affected your cognition at that time, making you temporarily forget Taboo, brought a mortal to that tower, fortunately you have not been polluted to an irreversible level, and that mortal’s contact time with the tower was even shorter, everything can be restored in time—only I need to do it myself. "

"So, you erased my memories of those few days?" Melita's eyes widened. "You want to... erase the pollution I received?"

"Has this troubled you?" Dragon God looked at her calmly and asked.