Sword of Dawn

Page 345

Even, it seems that the entire race of sea monsters is still in a daze.

He couldn't help pinching his chin, leaned back on the high-back chair, and let his ups and downs of thoughts spread out.

The news brought by Tire gave him an irresistible urge to go to the deep sea, go to the opposite side of the endless sea, go to the country of the siren to take a look for himself, or go to see the land of the storm for himself. Lord's corpse, to confirm some of his own judgments.

However, he couldn't do it, not only because he couldn't abandon the newly established empire at will, but also because the current Cecil Empire didn't have enough navigation technology to cross the endless ocean.

And thinking of the word "navigation technology", Gao Wen couldn't help thinking of another thing that bothered him: the Cecil Empire currently has no suitable outlets to the sea.

Most of the Cecil Empire is landlocked, without any coastline in the south, east or west, the only coastline is in the extreme north, beyond the mountains of the northern border, which is undeveloped and harsh The climate, the obstruction of the mountains, and the danger of the ocean itself made the Ansu Kingdom never consider developing that place for hundreds of years.

But it can't be abandoned forever.

Gawain raised his head, looked past Tyre's dangling tail tip, and stared at the map of the entire continent not far away.

Beyond the mountains in the far north of Ansu, the farther north of that coastline is not empty.

On the opposite side of a narrow strait, you can see a huge island first. The Violet Kingdom, known as the kingdom of mages, is located on that island. On the east side of the Violet Kingdom, the territory of the Holy Dragon Dukedom protrudes from the Loren Continent. , formed a shape like a horse's head, and turned back to the west to form a peninsula. The end of the peninsula also faces the mountains in the north.

In the past Ansu era, the northern countries were basically synonymous with mystery and remoteness. The closedness of the feudal dynasty itself and the objective factors of inconvenient transportation led to very weak connections between countries in the northern region. Basic exchanges were maintained by the border nobles. In addition, the circulation of a small number of private caravans is already the limit, and the so-called "international activities" of the old era are limited to this.

Take the Violet Kingdom as an example. There is only a narrow "Northern Strait" between the mysterious kingdom of mages and Ansu. That strait itself belongs to the "safe zone" of the endless sea, and there are no storms and magical turbulence. Yes, but the two sides still do not have any fixed "flights". The exchanges between the two countries only rely on a small number of adventurer-like captains to conduct a limited number of "private voyages", or extraordinary powerhouses directly travel across the sea.

As for the Principality of the Holy Dragon, the situation is better. After all, there is a land connection between that country and the Cecil Empire, but the Principality of the Holy Dragon is more conservative and mysterious than the Violet Kingdom, so that even if the two countries are connected by land, the old security In Su territory, there were hardly any foreigners from the Holy Dragon Principality—on the contrary, it was the wandering mages from the Violet Kingdom that were occasionally seen in mage organizations large and small in the capital.

Most of those mages came directly across the strait by relying on the power of extraordinary beings, and a small number of them came to Loren Continent by private boat.

In the old days, these were the norm.

But in the new order planned by Gao Wen, in the upcoming cross-border trade, study abroad boom, and the layout of the North Continent transportation network, this situation will be broken sooner or later.

He has already tried to lay a railway in the Ogure tribal country in the west. In the future, he plans to open the closed door of the Holy Dragon Principality. Settlement area" on this big ship.

The magic train can solve the transportation problem on land, and restarting the route around the North Continent 700 years ago is another problem that Gawain has to consider.

And even without considering the plan of Cecil's settlement area and the need to connect countries from the sea, challenging the sea is a step that the Cecil Empire must take.

People can't keep themselves trapped on land forever, not to mention the existence of sea monsters and giant dragons reminding Gao Wen all the time - this world is still big.

……

"The outside world is huge!"

Sitting at the dining table at home, Byron said to the girl across the table with an exaggerated expression. There was still a bit of bread residue on the corner of his mouth, and he looked triumphant and showing off when he spoke.

"From the rock to the north, along the Gorgon River all the way to the direction of the old king's capital, the plain scene there is quite different from that in the south...

"...I was busy fighting at the time, the east coast was full of monsters, I commanded the warships to hit them with shells and beams, have you seen those cannons on the training ground? The main cannon on Dad's ship is bigger than that...

"Saint-Sunil has a very high city wall, and there are prismatic guard walls outside the city wall, which are much higher than the walls of Tanzania and Kant. I saw Cecil's flag go up there with my own eyes...don't believe it Uncle Philip, you are talking nonsense, I was really there at the time—although the flagship is a bit far from the city wall, I can still see it..."

The girl sitting across the dining table showed a slight smile, leaned over, wiped the bread crumbs from the corner of Byron's mouth with her fingers, and let out a "wow".

This voice represents a small lesson.

More than four years have passed, the thin and unattractive little dumb in the past, now has a slim appearance, good nutritional supplements and training under the guidance of the knight father have made Pea grow taller quickly, and the rough skin has become Healthy and rosy, the messy withered yellow hair was draped softly on her shoulders at the moment, and she could hardly see her original appearance as she sat there.

But she was still the same as she was then, and she loved hearing Byron's embellished and self-showing stories.

"Oh, it's all right—you don't have to worry about these details when you eat at home," Byron waved his hands indifferently, "I finally took a vacation...By the way, Pea, how was your final grade last week?"

Pea smiled proudly, reached out and took a writing board from the side, scribbled a string of words on it, and showed it to the adoptive father across the table.

"Comprehensive...A+, hey, not bad," Byron saw the words on it, and immediately slapped his thigh happily, then rubbed his leg while looking at his adopted daughter, "What reward do you want?"

Pea thought for a while, erased the words on the clipboard, wrote another line of words, and displayed it again:

"Come back safe and sound from now on."

Byron looked at the writing board, was taken aback for a moment, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Haha, you don't have to worry about me. I don't know anything else. My life-saving ability is still very strong. But your Uncle Philip, he is still helping to build the defense line in Changfeng Fortress. The appearance of being ready to die generously, will definitely kill me before..."

As he said that, Byron paused and scratched his chin: "It suddenly occurred to me that you have finished your classes in the general education school, and you must go to Imperial College next. Have you decided which branch to apply for?"

Pea thought for a while, then shook her head slowly.

"It's okay, then think about it slowly, anyway, the winter admissions season has passed, and you are not yet an adult, it will not be too late to make a decision next spring," Byron said freely, and then remembered something, "By the way , You said earlier that you would go to South Street with two friends today, right?"

Pea nodded, picked up the clipboard, and wrote a few lines:

"A new 'Film Films Company' has opened in the south of the Mage District, and is looking for people who know magic.

"I made an appointment with Puffy Li and Poppy to work part-time.

"Go every day during the day and go home at night."

"I've heard of that company," Byron nodded, "Your Majesty approves, and it has received strong support from the Government Affairs Department. It seems that there are heirs from the North and West among the founders. It feels very reliable. Go ahead. Just be safe and don’t come back too late at night—the astrologer said it might snow tonight.”

Pea got up with a smile, went to change the clothes she was going to wear when going out, took her own writing board, opened the door and left the house.

The family was quiet, and Byron was the only one left in the dining room.

The commander of the Imperial Navy stayed at the dining table for a while, and suddenly laughed at himself.

"It's hard to take a vacation, but I'm not used to it when I stay at home...

"Philip went to guard the border, and there are armies all over the empire to control the situation. The fleet has been really idle for the past two months...

"Tsk, when did I become so active?"

While muttering, Byron stood up and was about to go upstairs to take a nap, but just as he got up, he heard the bell hanging at the entrance ring.

He came to the door quickly, and opened the door while muttering: "Forgot to bring something? I told you..."

He didn't finish half a sentence, because it wasn't Peas standing at the door, but a hunched over, sloppy old man who looked like a counterfeit drug dealer.

After thinking for a while, Byron took half a step back and was about to close the door: "There is no one at home, come back tomorrow."

"Don't, don't, I know you're joking," Pittman said while waving his hands and dodged into the house with surprising agility, "I saw Pea go out just now, so I guess you are alone at home now, Just in time to see you."

Byron widened his eyes and looked at the little old man: "Will you observe how the middle-aged bachelor spends a whole day in the restaurant with a sad face after his only adopted daughter goes out?"

Pittman looked at Byron in surprise when he heard the words: "I haven't said anything—how did you sum yourself up?"

Byron stared at Pittman, but was too lazy to continue entanglement with him.

Because this little old man is almost on the same level as him in the level of nonsense and shamelessness. In this regard, this old and immortal guy is not as interesting as Philip who can only honestly pick up the stubble and jump into the pit.

Byron sighed, and while closing the door, he said to Pittman who had wandered over to the dining table to pick out snacks: "Come in, just come in, I just have something to ask you."

Without raising his head, Pittman responded casually while picking out snacks: "Is it about the talk about peas?"

"It seems that you have a real business here today," Byron walked towards Pittman, "that's it - the pea still can't talk, but you are not saying that the bioengineering technology dug from the lair of the end of all things can cure How about her?"

"Let me ask you one thing first," Pittman finally raised his head, his beard smeared with crumbs, "has her tongue grown?"

"...It really grew back, and she hasn't gotten used to it for several days."

"So, from the perspective of flesh and blood regeneration, my team has succeeded. Pea is already a healthy girl in terms of physiological structure. She has a tongue, vocal cords, and nerve problems. You know all of this."

"But she still can't talk," Byron said, staring at Pittman with a serious expression. "What the hell is going on here?"

Pittman was silent for a moment, and finally said: "She had her tongue cut out for six full years... Do you know what this concept is?"

Byron's face darkened.

"Her brain has forgotten how to direct her vocal organs," said Pittman unhurriedly. "Although her tongue has been rebuilt, her speech ability has regressed to the infant stage, which is our conclusion." .”

"But it can still be retrained, right?" Byron asked hopefully, "It's like letting a baby learn to speak, even if she learns a little slower, she can learn from scratch..."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Pittman shook his head. "I've seen similar examples. Facts have proved that this kind of 'rehabilitation' not only requires hard work, but also depends on luck sometimes. There are many unclear factors that will affect The effect of rehabilitation. Pea may retrain her ability to speak, but if she still has some trauma, or her brain persistently refuses to speak, she may never be able to speak again... Unfortunately, although my There is great biotechnology, but little research on these issues."

Byron frowned and stared into Pittman's eyes: "You didn't come to me today just to tell me the frustrating bad news, did you?"

"Of course not." Pittman smiled slightly. "In fact, we have some new gadgets in the field of technology recently... I guess it may have some effect on peas."

Chapter 0752

As a military person who doesn't know much about cutting-edge magic technology and doesn't plan to change careers as a researcher, Byron has entered the Magic Technology Research Institute a handful of times - the last time he came to this place was also for the pea thing .

Pea is a dumb girl, which means deep regret and regret to Byron who has been her adoptive father for several years.

The poor child was once a dumb slave of a big businessman, his tongue was cut off, and he could not speak, and because the tongue was cut off for too long, the conventional druid spells were useless, even if Cecil led him Even if Byron changed from a country knight to the army leader of the empire, there was nothing he could do about it.

In the blink of an eye a few years later, the little mute back then has grown into a slim young girl, and an unexpected turning point also appears at this time——

The legacy of the death of all things dug out from the Thorin area gave Byron the hope of curing pea.

Those incredibly cutting-edge biochemical technologies can be used to create horrific monsters, as well as to heal hapless mortals.

After obtaining Pea's consent, Byron made his adopted daughter the first clinical tester in the druid laboratory under Pittman's name. Pea spoke again but encountered unexpected difficulties.

Today, the middle-aged knight once again came to the Institute of Magic Technology to seek a new solution.

Pittman, who was stooped and white-haired, walked in front, leading Byron to the depths of the Institute of Magical Technology.

After a period of development and perfection, this large facility built by Rebecca Cecil has now become the most advanced research facility in the empire, and there are many new departments and departments in it. In addition to the guidance, mechanical, and mathematical research laboratories, two research laboratories under the name of the Rune Research Institute and a Druid Research Center under the name of Pittman have been established here in the past year——

As Gao Wen originally planned, the Institute of Magic Technology is no longer a pure research facility, it has become a "greenhouse" for cultivating new technologies, providing venues and equipment for various emerging technologies or potential teams , personnel and other services.

After passing through a gate on the third floor, Byron and Pittman entered the area of ​​the Druid Research Center. The walls here are decorated with flowers, vines and leaves, and the magic device at the entrance quietly projects a hologram , a badge surrounded by flower vines floats on the image.

This emblem is the Imperial druid mark.

Many technicians in short green-patterned robes with white backgrounds walked in and out of the corridor, and they all saluted Pittman respectfully—even though they had seen this scene the last time they came, Byron still couldn't help watching it. He glanced at the little old man beside him: "To be honest, I'm quite surprised to see that such a shameless guy like you is respected by so many scholars."

"You're the one talking nonsense," Pittman squinted at Byron, "I saw the soldiers on the road salute you, what did I say?"

Byron curled his lips and didn't speak. He just followed Pittman through the corridor and came to a laboratory with high specifications.

"Put on your robe, go in and stand on that platform," Pittman stood still at the gate in front of the laboratory entrance, pointing to a small round platform inside the gate, "wait for me after entering."

"What is this?" Byron was taken aback for a moment, "Why didn't this step happen in the laboratory last time?"

Pittman stared; "Nonsense, this time the biochemical isolation level of the laboratory is level III, and last time it was level II—you can just understand that the things inside are more expensive than other places."

Byron snorted. Although he was careless on weekdays, he also knew the importance of rigor and order in research facilities, so he stopped talking.

Under Pittman's guidance, he unskillfully completed the steps of dressing and disinfecting, then passed through the gate and entered this rather special laboratory.

After entering, the first thing that catches the eye is a rather spacious room, several large experimental tables are neatly arranged on both sides of the room, and a large number of technicians in standard short robes are busy among the experimental tables— —The robes of those personnel all have druid emblems surrounded by flower vines, but in fact Byron knows very well that according to the old rules, only a small part of them are real "druids", and the rest At best, they are "apprentices" in the supernatural field, or even ordinary people who don't have supernatural skills at all.

But after the development of magic technology, after many druid spells were also summarized into the system of rune logic, the definition of "druid" within the empire was no longer so rigid.

Byron glanced across the room, and suddenly noticed a striking and special figure here.

It was Master Kamel, who was shining with arcane brilliance and wearing a rune armor piece.

He turned his head slightly, and asked Pittman who had just entered the laboratory: "Why is Master Kamel here?"

"He is involved in this project," Pittman said casually, and walked forward, "Just follow along and take a look, and don't touch anything here."

Byron shrugged and followed indifferently.

Pittman seemed old, but his footsteps were fast. He quickly came to Kamel's side and asked, "The test in the morning is over? How is the situation?"

"The neural response efficiency has exceeded 70.00%, and a lot of adjustments should be needed," Kamel said while pointing to the nearest experimental bench. "Let's take a look, is there any problem with the state of its artificial neurons?"

Pittman turned and walked towards the experiment table, while Byron stretched his neck and looked in that direction curiously.

He saw an oddly shaped object lying quietly on a sloping table, and the bright lights made every detail of the object visible.

It was a "ribbon" made of metal parts, less than one meter long. One end of it had a palm-sized diamond-shaped structure made of several metal plates, and some thin, At the end of the dark red, its ribbon-shaped main body presents a ring-by-ring structure, and there are fine metal protrusions. This weird structure...

Byron couldn't help but think of the human spine, or something that fits on the spine.

He got closer and saw a faint red surge between those metal links. After looking carefully, he recognized that it was a fibrous thing like some kind of flesh and blood tissue.

Those "flesh and blood" just grew between the metals, maintaining their own activity in some incomprehensible way.

"What is this...?" Byron blinked and asked curiously, "Why does it look like the artificial nerve cord in the immersion cabin?"

"This is an artificial nerve cord, but it's not used in the immersion chamber," Pittman was carefully observing the nerve terminals extending from the end of the "metal spine", and responded without raising his head. "It's a branch application of the artificial nerve cord." Well... I will temporarily name it 'Nerve Thorn'."

Byron continued to ask: "What is this for?"

"Essentially, it's still a neural connection device, used to connect the human brain with an external magic device, but apart from the most basic connection function..." Pittman finally raised his head, pointing to the artificial The dark red fiber structure at the end of the nerve cord, "It can also be used to break the boundary between ordinary people and extraordinary people, really break."

Byron frowned slightly, with a serious expression: "...can you speak the common language?"

Pittman couldn't help giving him a blank look: "Read books occasionally, otherwise you won't even be able to understand Pea's textbooks when she enters Imperial College."

Kamel on the other side floated over, and after greeting Byron, he said with a buzzing trembling voice: "Your Majesty once pointed out that the current magic technology has shortcomings, that is, all supernatural powers are realized through machinery. , People manipulate the rune trigger to achieve the preset magic effect in the machine. This way of realization has natural limitations.

"Magic machinery can only be used to perform simple spells that do not require 'spiritual power' to maintain guidance, such as fireballs, ice cones, arcane missiles, etc. Once a spell requires the caster's spiritual guidance, such as illusions, dreams spells or larger-scale ritual spells, then the magic machine is powerless."