Sword of Dawn

Page 412

"Maybe they realize it, so what does it matter?" Byron said indifferently, "A trend has already formed, and to reverse this trend will have to pay a higher price than the original one, and the current situation obviously does not allow them to do so." Do—the Wilder family will not help them, the Empire will not help them, and no one will help them, even their actions have already stepped on the red line with one foot, and they will continue to take another step towards this line A leg? Most likely not. Of course, I personally wish they would go a step further—the beach isn't very scenic, and the Construction Corps flagpole needs some embellishment."

Victoria finally put away the absurd and speechless feeling in her heart before. She looked at Byron as if re-examining, and said slowly after a few seconds: "I thought I knew enough about everything on this land. But now it seems... I am not as good as you, a newcomer."

Byron glanced at the Duchess in front of him, and suddenly grinned: "Grand Consul, this is normal—you know the northern border, but I know the common people."

Seeing the nonchalant expression of this gray-haired middle-aged knight, Victoria suddenly remembered his background again, and for the first time carefully sorted out the things that had been ignored by others behind this seemingly careless imperial general——

He used to be a mercenary leader, a person who needed to deal with all kinds of people, and even had to do "business" with bandits, lords, merchants, and civilians at the same time, and it was impossible for a really careless person in this line of work survive.This man became a knight with a humble background, and quickly integrated into the new order created by Gawain Cecil. "Soldier Knight" wasn't even rumored to be feuding with anyone.

On the contrary, Byron is friends with the chief executives of every department, and has good popularity among almost all middle-level officers and lower-level soldiers, even those traditional knights who usually ridicule him for lack of "true chivalry". The officer, in fact, has a good relationship with him.

And such a person, who firmly abides by his duty as a soldier-loyal to the empire, loyal to the emperor, and will never exceed his authority, he has been stationed on this coast for a month, and his soldiers even Never set foot outside the camp.

"I finally fully understand why His Majesty sent you here..." Victoria took a light breath and said slowly.

"I don't think about it, I just want to build the North Port as soon as possible," Byron said casually, "Typhon is already ahead of us—we have now got accurate information, and the Typhon people have restarted their Mobiu In Sigang, there are still a lot of magicians who are building new types of high-sea warships. His Majesty said that with the support of 'money ability', Typhon's man-made things are not slower than us at all.

"And let Beigang take shape as soon as possible, we can also start the next step as soon as possible to turn this place into a bustling and lively port city - what a wonderful place this is, the largest ice-free port in the north, a calm and safe coastline, St. The peninsula of the Dragon Principality and the islands of the Violet Kingdom help us block the wind and waves on the east and west sides, but the people here can only rely on the barren land and hunting seals to survive. They shouldn't be so poor.

"My next step is to open the market and merchant passages in the southern area, and I may need your influence to help at that time—try to get more merchants to come over, which will help the city to take shape. That's what His Majesty did in the Dark Mountains back then. .

"When the camp is fully established and Beigang's influence expands, I will use the normal method to recruit local people, and the people you saw today can come here to work in a dignified way.

"The only thing I am worried about now is the power of the local family... not the kind of big nobles, but the kind of small nobles who will incite the common people to make trouble and directly control the scattered land around Beigang, even the 'manor owners' who don't even have the title of nobles They have shown enough caution and cunning now, and most of them have figured out the bottom line of the Construction Corps, so it is very difficult for me to really do anything to them, and it is obviously not good for you as the Grand Consul and the guardian of the northern border to suppress them directly ...

"These 'head snakes' may become a long-term, hard-to-clear trouble in Beigang."

Byron babbled a lot, and when he finally finished speaking, Victoria broke the silence with a cool voice and an unhurried pace: "You don't have to worry too much. The Wilder family is here Having ruled the land for 700 years, I still have some experience in dealing with some 'sporadic problems'.

"And you also overestimated the troubles those local families might cause—they are indeed stubborn, but they are also very good at observing the situation. Now the old aristocratic order in the northern border has been almost disintegrated by me. Although those local families have not met the big liquidation, but watched the order of this land change, their current actions seem short-sighted and blind, it is because they are only panic but do not really understand the new rules of the game of the empire, or are using old experience to avoid 'trouble' ——After they figure out the real rules of the game and find that the 'new neighbors' in Beigang are strong and cannot be driven away, they will probably become hospitable immediately."

Hearing Victoria's flat words, Byron took a deep look at the Ice Duke, and smiled happily after a while:

"If it's what you said, then I don't have to worry about it."

After the words fell, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the distant sea again.

Under the clear sky, the sea illuminated by the bright sun is gently undulating. In this position, the manic and unpredictable storms and the strange and unpredictable magic tides are still far away from the human world, but a trestle bridge has passed from the coast. Extending out, the trestle bridge fixed on the magic ice is like a spear pierced by a knight, pointing the determination and courage of human beings to the sea.

……

A bright arc hangs down from the sky, sweeping across the turbulent sea like a lick, with frightening bush-like branches at the end of the arc. In the deafening roar, the huge waves are vaporized by energy turbulence , The pungent breath permeates between the sky and the sea.

A ship whose whole body is covered with magic-guiding metal, with countless runes shining on its surface, and equipped with a large number of magical devices is moving forward in the terrifying waves. Waves of electric arcs in the sky kept attacking the seemingly crumbling ship, but they were constantly resisted and dispelled by the magic circles and layers of magic shields that emerged on the surface of the ship.

The whole ship seemed to be protected by more than ten magic walls. In that powerful energy field, the ship was still moving forward through the waves.

Typhon Empire One Ocean Exploration Vessel - Spirit.

In this advanced ship protected by layers of magical power, the self-appointed captain, Earl Owen Dyson, stood solemnly in the command room, and the illusion maintained by the magician was clearly projecting the scene outside the ship onto this Before the earl.

"Is this the 'disordered turbulence' in the ocean..." Earl Owen Dyson said to himself, "It's really an eye-opener..."

Then he straightened his expression and looked at the control mage beside him: "How is the ship?"

The high-ranking mage in charge of monitoring the status of the whole ship was surrounded by layers of runes, floating above the magic circle in the center of the cabin, he opened his eyes, and the eyes filled with arcane brilliance were so calm that they were almost mechanical: " The first to third layers of shields were penetrated, and the shield controller temporarily lost the ability to cast spells. The augmentation circle needed at least six hours to repair, and the rest of the shields were intact; the outermost anti-magic shell was broken, and there were signs of elemental erosion in the bilge , has been repaired urgently with mithril cladding—the anti-magic shell in the inner area is still intact, and there will be no problems for the time being.

"All the sails have been retracted and the external wind is isolated. All the trial-type mana engines have been shut down—serious mechanical failures and cannot be started. Currently, the power of the ship is maintained by the second echelon of sailors."

Earl Owen Dyson frowned: "How long will it take us to get out of this storm?"

"The boundary of the unstable energy field has been sensed - it will be reached in 15 minutes. The ship can support until then."

Earl Owen Dyson nodded, and said in a deep voice: "I hope we don't encounter 'disordered turbulence' again when we return..."

"My lord, you shouldn't have carried out this voyage yourself," the first mate standing next to Owen Dyson couldn't help whispering, "You are the ruler of Port Mobius, and even the entire ocean exploration plan." of……"

"Call me captain here—I think my navigational talents are at least worthy of this position," Owen Dyson interrupted the first officer. The closest colony to the mainland—if I have to hide in a safe port for such a short voyage, then the empire's ocean exploration plan may never be on the right track."

The Typhon nobleman with gray-blue eyes and resolute eyes spoke in a solemn tone, and then shook his head: "But we did underestimate the power of the ocean... The things recorded in ancient books 700 years ago have been messed up and broken. , while the more recent data are full of errors and omissions. The Dyson family should be responsible for this. Records, but the investment is far from enough, so that there is a lack of truly reliable information, and now we have finally tasted the bitter fruit..."

"A year ago, no one thought that Aldernan would suddenly decide to restart the Port of Mobius and the ocean exploration plan," the first officer shook his head, "It's not your fault, my lord."

Owen Dyson looked solemn: "If this ship sinks, it will be my fault."

At this moment, the mage in charge of monitoring the ocean situation suddenly yelled, interrupting the conversation between the captain and the first mate——

"The wind and waves are weakening!"

"We have entered the safe sea!"

Chapter 0871 Ocean

The chaotic magic turbulence and violent wind and waves are like a huge forest, stirring up a vast sea area in a terrifying manner, but the "forest" always has a boundary-in the curtain of monstrous waves and energy turbulence, a A ship covered by a powerful shield rushed out of the waves. It was thrown up by a sudden uplift of the current, and then staggered and crashed on an undulating sea, and finally arrived at a calmer sea.

The bright sunshine and the gentle sea breeze gathered together to welcome this challenger who has broken through all kinds of difficulties and dangers.

A sailor crawled out from his hiding place, and then used the flying technique to come to the upper deck. He looked towards the stern of the ship, and saw a gray-black cloud wall rapidly receding from his sight. The bright and brilliant sun shone on the Spirit On the surrounding sea, this stark contrast is like two worlds.

"...Goddess of Magic..." The sailor muttered to himself, "This is much more terrifying than the turbulent flow of magic power I saw in the mage's tower..."

"We need to recalibrate the course." Another sailor also came to the upper deck. He looked up at the clear sky, and several light blue shimmering rings suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. In the "lens", the light of the stars kept flickering. After a while, the sailor frowned, "Tsk... We have deviated from the course, fortunately, the deviation is not too much..."

In the command room of Spirit, the control mage floating in mid-air looked at Earl Owen Dyson: "Captain, we are recalibrating the course."

Owen Dyson nodded: "Go back to the right direction as soon as possible-the disordered turbulence on the ocean will reappear at any time, and the longer we stay in this area, the more dangerous it will be."

Powerful magic energy flows between the various cabins of the ship. The magic circle almost covering the entire ship and the crew members stationed everywhere have been operating at the highest efficiency. Due to the damage of a large number of equipment, even the trial type magic energy engine Serious failures also occurred in the previous storm. At this moment, this advanced exploration ship can only rely on manpower to sail, but fortunately, the amplification circle of the main body of the ship is still intact, and the strong anti-magic shell has also encountered the impact of the turbulent magic power before. The spellcasting personnel on the ship were protected at the right time, and the ship can still continue to perform missions in a better state-this is the only good news among all the bad news.

"We have to re-evaluate the 'disordered turbulence' in the ocean." After the situation was a little safer, Owen Dyson couldn't help but began to reflect on the voyage. The combination of wind and waves and magic turbulence is so simple - it appeared without warning before, and this is the most dangerous place."

"We imitated the Holy Relic of the Church of the Storm to create the 'Early Warning Planetarium', but now it seems that it doesn't work—at least not stably," the first officer shook his head, "It fell into the storm on the 'Spirit' Then there was a frenzied agitation, but it was only upsetting."

Early warning planetarium...

Earl Owen Dyson couldn't help looking at a long table near the porthole. On the long table depicting complex runes, there was a complex magic device fixed in the center of the magic circle. It consisted of a core Composed of a sphere and a large number of orbits and small spheres orbiting the sphere, it looks like a celestial instrument used by astrologers to deduce the stars, but the core sphere does not symbolize the earth, but is filled with sea-like blue shimmering.

This is a "Church of Storms Magical Artifact" restored by analyzing ancient relics and technical data. Seven hundred years ago, storm priests used this instrument to warn of changes in the sea environment and find safe routes. The headquarters of the Church of the Storm is located, and the Dyson family is closely related to the Church of the Storm. Therefore, a large number of technical documents related to it are preserved in Mobius Port. After paying a certain amount of manpower and material resources, the scholars of the empire successfully restored the It worked—however, on this voyage, it did not work satisfactorily.

"After all, the environment in the laboratory is different from the reality. The real ocean is far more complicated than we imagined, and this magic weapon...obviously needs the cooperation of the storm magic to really work," said a scholar on board. Sighing softly, "The mage's mana can't directly control the magic device... In this era, where can we find a sane priest of the storm?"

Owen Dyson didn't answer, just looked at the scene outside the ship projected by the magic phantom, and said in a low tone: "Just to break through the first storm zone near the sea, the Spirit was forced to this extent-it turns out that relying on It is not feasible to use shields and anti-magic shells to forcibly break through the storm, at least at this stage we do not have this ability. The only safe way...is still to find a safe route in the storm."

"However, the safe route changes at any time. The farther you go, the more complex the disordered turbulence becomes, and the more difficult it is to control the safe route," said the scholar on board. "We currently have no effective means of observation or prediction."

"Then continue to work hard in this direction," Owen Dyson said in a deep voice, "Although the early warning planetarium did not play its due role, at least it was activated after entering the storm area, which shows that the Church of the Storm Technology is not completely uncontrollable by outsiders. The Cecilians can transform the alchemy of the druids into industrial technology, and there is no reason why the Typhons cannot do similar things."

After listening to the admonition, the scholar's expression became serious: "...you are right."

Owen Dyson exhaled lightly, and turned to the mage who was monitoring the situation of the ship: "How is the situation of the magic engine?"

"The water ingress and elemental erosion in the mechanical compartment have been ruled out, and the maintenance personnel are assessing the situation," the mage floating in mid-air, surrounded by runes, replied immediately, "...the core does not seem to be damaged, but the transmission device was damaged before. They got stuck in the turbulence. If we can dock in a safe sea area, we have a chance to fix them."

"Fix the engine if you can," said Owen Dyson. "The ship needs the power of the engine—the sailors reserve their strength for the perils of the sea."

"It would be great if we could get the engine technology of the Cecilians..." The first mate next to him couldn't help sighing, "It is said that they have already created an engine that can run stably on a large ship, and they know how to Making machines resistant to harsh elements..."

"They built river ships, not sea ships," Owen Dyson shook his head. "Of course, their engine technology is indeed more advanced than ours. After all, the magical machinery was originally developed from them...but they It’s not like giving real good things to the people of Typhon with good intentions.”

At this moment, the mage in charge of observing the external situation suddenly shouted: "Captain! There is land ahead!"

"Give me the chart!" Owen Dyson immediately said to the first officer next to him.

The first mate quickly fetched the sea chart—this is a newly drawn sea chart, but most of the content in it comes from ancient book records hundreds of years ago. The former Typhon offshore colonial islands are marked on the sea chart Between the criss-crossing lines above, a shimmering red bright line trembles on the blueprint. At the end of the bright line, there is a vivid projection of a ship condensed by magic power. That is the Courage .

The astrologer in the sailors and the ship's own astrology array jointly confirmed the position of the Courage on the ocean, and this position was projected to the bridge in real time by the mage who controlled the ship's core. In the magical environment of the bridge, the Courage was marked on the pale yellow parchment - one of Owen Dyson's missions on this voyage was to confirm whether the various marks on the chart from 700 years ago It still works, and whether this new technology for locating ships at sea is feasible.

Considering the risks in this mission, Spirit is not too far away from the mainland, and the target island it wants to explore is also the colony point closest to the mainland of Typhon, but everyone underestimated the danger of the ocean, where it is almost Speaking of its offshore location, Spirit still encountered enormous challenges.

Owen Dyson's eyes moved slowly on the magic parchment, the shimmering boat swayed slightly among the ancient coordinates, perfectly reproducing the current state of the Spirit, and in front of it, an island The outlines of the man are emerging from the parchment.

"If our route has returned to the correct position...that is Thassos," the Typhon nobleman tapped the table lightly with his fist, and his tone was a little heavy in excitement, "We had to give up territory……"

"It's our destination," said the first mate. "It is said that in the hundreds of years after the end of the age of sailing, the Son of the Storm occupied that island and the surrounding coral reefs..."

"Those dark believers should have gone farther away from the land now, to the depths of the eastern ocean," Owen Dyson shook his head lightly, "but maybe there are some traces of them left on Thassos Island... there is a Help us figure out what happened to those crazy cultists all these years."

As he spoke, he raised his head and ordered loudly:

"Put on sailors and head towards Thassos at full speed - the sea around the island is safe, we can repair the engine and anti-magic shell there!"

……

In the depths of the far sea far away from Loren Continent, a large-scale archipelago is quietly dormant in the waves and breeze.

On the largest island in the archipelago, the towns built by humans are bathed in sunlight. The high and low buildings are arranged in an orderly manner. The port facilities, lighthouses, clock towers, and the pyramid-shaped temple in the center keep watch over each other.

However, this supposedly prosperous settlement is now shrouded in an unusual tranquility——

The streets were deserted, the port facilities were left unattended, the clock tower and lighthouse stood lonely in the sea breeze, and the fallen leaves on the ramp leading to the Great Temple had not been cleaned for many days.

Between the dead streets and alleys, only a few terrified and dazed eyes occasionally flashed in the doorways of some houses that have not yet been abandoned, and the only remaining inhabitants of the island could not bring much to hide in them. A home with a sense of security seems to be waiting for the approach of an apocalypse, waiting for the end of fate.

A gust of sea breeze blew through the streets and alleys, rolling up a few scattered pieces of paper at the corner of the street. These "paper pieces" exuding the fragrance of seaweed and made of extremely special materials fluttered up and down, and some of them stuck to the nearby walls.

Something was written on the piece of paper with common human letters and some kind of undulating alien script that looked like waves, and only part of the content could be vaguely recognized in the dirt:

"...After research by authoritative scholars, the mutation is harmless, please don't panic..."

"The queen has decided to accept the mutated humans, we will help you tide over the difficulties..."

"Don't rush into a dead end, the deep sea is actually friendly..."

"House with sea view near Sunny Beach can be rented or sold, and the first [-] new Naga who sign up can enjoy no down payment..."

"Limited processing of urban resident status in Antavien..."

"... Haigou City is sincerely recruiting construction workers. The queen promises free vocational training and work arrangements for deep-diving promotions. High-frequency resonance excavator technology packages include teaching packages and distribution packages..."

These things are invitations from sea monsters, temptations from the deep sea, and terrifying murmurs from that indescribable ancient sea.

Since a month ago, those sea monsters have used some kind of flying device to spread these "letters" all over the entire archipelago, and now, they are waiting openly near the island, waiting for the last human beings on the island to transform into the terrifying deep sea biology.

At first, the Sons of the Storm still had the power to remove these leaflets and appease people, but now, there is no healthy resident who can stand up to do these things—instead, more and more people left the island after the complete transformation, which has already accounted for More than half of the former residents.

The rest are just lingering on their last legs before being completely eroded and transformed by the deep sea.

On the edge of the island, under the calm sea surface, phantoms in the water swim briskly, walking through the changing light and shadow formed by the sun.

The Krakens are waiting.

Wait patiently.

Chapter 0872 Transformation...Complete

Sirens, visitors under the deep sea, the rulers from the indescribable dark abyss, they are waiting quietly and patiently in the water outside the island at this moment.

The grand and ancient Great Temple was silent, and most of the priests who used to be bustling here had disappeared. The last converts were hiding in various rooms, waiting for the day of fate to come.

In the deepest room of the Great Temple, an old man wearing a triple storm crown stands in front of a bed depicted with waves, clouds, and lightning, and looks down at the person lying on the bed.

That was the last Priest of Storms in the temple besides him, the Pope, a powerful and determined Transcendent.

However, now this powerful man can only lie on the bed in a daze, weakening little by little in the great panic and anxiety. His skin has already turned a grayish blue visible to the naked eye, and some kind of scales like sea fish cover his neck. And all the skin on the limbs - in fact, the storm priest's legs have even "melted" and deformed, and the original human limbs are gradually merging into a form between fish and snakes, which makes him He can no longer even wear human clothes, but can only wrap himself in a thin blanket.

"Your Majesty the Pope..." The chief priest of the storm who was lying on the bed moved his lips suddenly, and murmured, "Are you still alive..."

"I'm here," Storm Pope Saul Storm said in a low and gentle tone, "Can you still hear my voice?"

"I can...although it sounds far away," the Priest of the Storm whispered, the scales around his neck undulating as he spoke, "Are we at the seaside now?"

The Pope of the Storm shook his head: "Have you forgotten, we are in the temple in the center of the island, which is far away from the sea..."

"Is it... I can't remember, I heard the sound of the waves, very close, I thought I had reached the sea..." The storm priest said slowly, "There is also the sea breeze blowing on my face, I feel... very comfortable .”

The old Pope's expression darkened, and his speech slowed down: "...there is no sea breeze here."

"Probably because my time is almost up..." The chief priest of the storm was silent for a moment, and said with a trace of relief. He slowly raised his severely mutated right hand. Between the slender and light blue fingers, there was a tough web The shape is connected to the original human limbs, "I have heard their calls more and more clearly, as well as the call from the sea itself...it was a very gentle voice, and I think she...has no malicious intentions."

Faced with such low murmurs, the Pope did not speak for a while, and an unspeakable silence condensed between the two.

A few seconds later, the chief priest of the storm who was still lying on the bed broke the silence: "We have been persistent on this road for too long... Maybe it is really time to choose to give up."

The old pope shook his head: "This is not like what you usually say."

"But this is not an 'ordinary' day," the Priest of the Storm said in a low voice, "We persistently go to the deep sea, trying to find answers from the deep sea, but a god who has fallen can't give us any answers... Our initial persistence is in the deep sea. These 700 years have changed, you, me, and many priests, we started with a persistent pursuit of truth, and in the end 'searching for truth' has become an excuse for all kinds of paranoid behavior... Now it is happening to us The thing about it is probably the price of everything, paranoia...caused even more paranoid mutations..."

The old pope was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "...you are called a 'philosopher', so you are still thinking about these things up to this moment."

"Thinking is the instinct of human beings, it is the talent and birthright of human beings..." The priest of the storm called "The Philosopher" said in a low voice, "I only hope... when I completely become 'their' After becoming a member, I can still think as I do now, as I do now..."

His words stopped suddenly, and an unsettling noise replaced the human language, continuously murmured from the depths of his throat, the sound seemed to be mixed with the faint sound of ocean waves, and seemed to have invisible water flowing in the room There is a damp, seaweed-like smell in the air, the water element is enriched, forming visible stains on the bed, floor and wall, and in this terrible vision, lying on the bed The man began to rapidly transform towards the last stage of mutation——

The last distinctive feature of him as a human being, those light blue eyes, are being quickly covered by a light golden chaotic color, and the original pupils have gradually become a pair of vertical pupils. Pope Saul Storm heard the barely recognizable human language coming from the other party's throat: "Ah, I heard... that voice in the waves... Your Highness, I heard the dark abyss There is a call, there is a voice, there are many voices overlapping..."