Sword of Dawn

Page 235

The strong wind suddenly blew away the smoke and dust at the bottom of the impact pit. The blue dragon descended from the sky, and with a heavy landing sound, the huge body stopped firmly in the impact pit.

"I'm still pretty stable."

The blue dragon underestimated softly, and then stepped forward to the bottom of the impact pit, before the group of still hot metal wreckage.

It was an alloy device with a length of about two to three meters and a diameter of less than half a meter. Although it experienced the extremely high temperature when it entered the atmosphere and the terrible impact when it fell to the ground, the basic shape of the wreckage was still intact. It was roughly cylindrical. Both ends have been broken, and many charred cables and tube bundles extend from the fracture, while some raised structures can still be seen on the surface of the cylinder—all kinds of features indicate that this wreckage is from a larger individual peeled off.

"...Oh... Sure enough..."

The blue dragon let out a sigh, and then she stretched out her huge claws, and grabbed the alloy device that still had amazing heat.

"Recover the wreckage."

The huge wings beat the air and the magic power in the air, bringing the giant dragon's huge body to a high altitude. After reaching the signal transmission altitude, she first hovered in place for a while, as if hesitating whether to explore further After a while, but after a moment of hesitation, she still opened the communication.

The light-gold rune light screen appeared in the air again, and a slightly hurried voice came from inside the rune light screen: "How is the situation? Have things been confirmed?"

"The falling object has been confirmed. It is the fragments that fell off from the first or second station of the glow. It looks like a part of the gravity calibrator. The energy blasted a huge pit of astonishing scale here. Sigh, the scholars really said it was right."

"It really is the glow space station..." The voice in the rune light screen paused for a moment, "The devices left by the voyager... are all about to reach the limit of their lifespan."

"It will be broken one day. We have already been mentally prepared for it."

"Being mentally prepared is not the same as being prepared," said a helpless voice from the light screen, "The key issue now is that the legacy left by the sailors may be destroyed before the end of this season cycle, but until Right now, the various races of this season’s civilization still don’t see the slightest hope of breaking through…”

The blue dragon fell silent. She hovered in the high-altitude wind, seemingly speechless, but half a minute later she suddenly broke the silence: "Not necessarily."

"Ok?"

"Maybe this time there is a turning point."

The voice from the light screen was suddenly a little surprised: "Turning opportunity? Which one are you talking about... let alone those elves or those sea monsters in the far sea, the inheritance of those elves has long been interrupted, those sea monsters...God knows who Sirens are thinking about something all day long."

"It's not them, it's human beings." Blue Dragon shook his head from side to side. "Strictly speaking, it's the kingdom established by the resurrected human beings...it seems interesting."

"That human named Gawain Cecil?" The voice in the light screen was slightly surprised, "Ah, his resurrection is impressive, and his development is indeed unexpected...but you saw a broken situation from him hope? Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure, but there's a phenomenon that might surprise you when I tell you about it," Blue Dragon said, "In his Principality of Cecil, the power of the Holy Light is developing, but the power of the God of Holy Light... Decrease."

"……incredible!"

"But it's true." Blue Dragon said firmly, but just when she was about to continue to say something, a strange palpitation suddenly interrupted her.

Under some intuition beyond human comprehension, the blue dragon immediately determined the source of the palpitations. She fluttered her wings suddenly and left the hovering position, and then tried to raise her head while circling, looking at the sky.

"No way, come again?!"

The dragon opposite the light screen heard the blue dragon's shout, and immediately asked about the situation: "What happened?!"

"Another sense of prying eyes from unknown sources... from directly above!" Blue Dragon rampaged high in the sky, his tone was a little crazy, "Damn... I still think it's coming from the direction of the satellite... Do you really confirm that the Voyager Didn't come back?"

"It can be confirmed—in short, you need to leave your current location as soon as possible. Get rid of the tracking and go to the western assembly point. There will be people there to meet you."

"I want to get rid of it..." Blue Dragon yelled while desperately changing his flight trajectory in the air, "The key is not to get rid of it...Damn it, I'm afraid I have to perform that again..."

"Ah?! You have to think about it..."

"There is nothing to think about. If you hesitate, you will crash-I think I will definitely succeed this time."

……

Gao Wen cut off the satellite connection slightly tired and frustrated.

Lost again.

The situation was exactly the same as last time: after continuing to monitor for a period of time, the giant dragon sensed the spying from outer space, and then it quickly changed its flight direction in an incomprehensible maneuvering manner, completely disappearing from view.

But there is one thing Gao Wen can be sure of: the giant dragon that appeared this time should be the same one he saw when he was monitoring the Contracting Fort last time.

Chapter 0549 Scouting

The appearance of the giant dragon made Gawain more interested in the mysterious impact crater at the southern foot of the Dark Mountain Range.

Whatever it was, it obviously got the dragon's attention - so what was the last thing that caught the dragon's attention?

It was Cecil who was polluted by the magic tide.

After exiting the satellite connection mode, Gao Wen quietly thought for a while in the study, and then ordered Amber to call Hetty and Byron.

When he heard that Gao Wen was about to go to the southern foot of the Dark Mountain Range to investigate the situation, Heti was startled: "Are you going to the southern foot of the Dark Mountain Range?!"

"I'm very concerned about what happened over there," Gawain couldn't explain what satellite monitoring is to the current Heidi, so he could only say, "The overload of the Great Wall happened not long ago, and now there is another explosion near the wasteland." There's a new movement, and we have to figure things out."

"But it's too dangerous over there," Hetty worried, "Crossing the Dark Mountains is tantamount to facing the wasteland..."

"I've faced it more than once," Gawain interrupted Hetty, "and even if you cross the Dark Mountains, it doesn't mean you've entered the wasteland—there's also the Black Forest and the Belt Plain in between. Strictly speaking, the Darkness The southern foot of the mountain range is still part of the 'Civilization Territory', with my strength, and with a team of elites, there is no problem in moving there."

Seeing Gao Wen's resolute attitude, Hetty realized that she might not be able to dissuade him.

The ancestor has always been far-sighted in doing things, and he cares so much about this matter, there must be a very important reason behind it.

But just when Hetty was about to nod his head and Gawain was about to discuss manpower matters with Byron, a voice suddenly came from the direction of the study door, interrupting everyone's movements: "Old friend, I'm afraid you don't have to cross the mountains for the time being. ——There are some situations in the rebellious fortress."

Gawain raised his head and saw Soldering standing there.

……

When the "earthquake" happened, Soldering immediately received an order. He led a group of elite steel rangers into the disobedient fortress, and checked south along the main corridor of the fortress to confirm whether this ancient Gondor building was damaged. Effects of mountain tremors.

Facts have proved that this order is not only timely, but also very necessary.

The magic spar lamp powered by the modern magic net system illuminated the long corridor of the ancient fortress. Gawain took Amber, Byron and Hetty, and followed Solderling to the southern depths of the fortress.

A group of fully armed Iron Ranger warriors walked with them, and on both sides of the corridor, you could see sentries standing at intervals. The further you moved to the south of the fortress, the more sentries on the road.

"After the earthquake, the person in charge of the arsenal of the disobedient fortress sent a report, saying that there was a loud noise from the southern corridor," Soldering said in a calm tone as he walked beside Gao Wen. Workers in this work area also heard loud noises and obvious vibrations. I was worried that the entire southern area would collapse, so I evacuated the workers in this area and checked along the main corridor..."

The long corridor gradually came to an end, and an extraordinarily heavy and huge isolation door appeared before everyone's eyes.

This is the southern isolation gate of the Rebel Fortress. Opposite this heavy gate is a huge cave called the "Shadow Experimental Field". Fort, witnessed the assassination of Francis II, and also brought back key evidence of the secret collusion between Prince Edmund and the believers of the end of all things.

Since the development and exploration of other areas of the fortress have not been completed, the current "Dark Zone Industrial Zone" does not need such a large area for the time being, so after that incident, the "Shadow Experimental Field" was temporarily sealed up.

Solderling came to the gate of the Shadow Experimental Field and activated the magic mechanism of the gate. Accompanied by a creaking sound of mechanical operation, the newly installed magic mechanism drove the heavy isolation door to slowly open to both sides. The opposite scene was presented in front of everyone.

"To be honest, I was also taken aback," Soldering said.

Opposite the gate, there was a thin layer of mist floating in the wide cave, and at the end of Gawain's line of sight, a piece of skylight was pouring in from the south of the cave—there was an extremely wide opening, from which the skylight and mist obviously penetrated of.

"It may be caused by the collapse of the mountain - the second collapse caused by the previous 'earthquake', part of the rocks peeled off, connecting the originally closed cave of the Shadow Experimental Site with the outside," Soldering said unhurriedly He said, "The infiltrated mist has a faint magical breath, but fortunately it is very thin, and belongs to the 'boundary mist' that has declined to almost harmless."

"...South of the Dark Mountain Range..." Byron stared dumbfounded at the gap at the end of the cave, and muttered to himself, "My God...it was actually opened..."

Amber was equally dumbfounded: "So this shadow experiment site is so close to the southern mountain wall?"

"Immediately mobilize a brigade, carrying light and heavy artillery, and deploy it near the gap," Gawain suddenly turned to Byron, speaking quickly, and then looked at Hetty, "Mobilize the engineering team, build fortifications near the gap, set up Shield generators, and...bring enough Rebecca crystals."

If the situation deteriorates, he doesn't mind blowing up the entire southern fortress area directly to seal the gap.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Byron and Hetty quickly responded to Gawain's order: "Understood!" "Yes!"

"I want to go to the south of the Dark Mountain Range..." Gawain turned his head to look at the Shadow Experimental Field, which has been connected to the outside world, with a deep sense of helplessness in his tone, "But I didn't want to go there like this..."

……

The soldiers and engineering team urgently dispatched from Cecil City soon arrived at the Shadow Experimental Field area. With the cooperation of the Iron Ranger fighters who arrived earlier, they established a line of defense in the cave as quickly as possible, and They began to rely on this line of defense to build temporary fortifications, and during the whole process, Gawain never strayed from the breach.

It wasn't until the magic cannon was set up near the gap in the cave, and until a large amount of weapons and ammunition were sent to the corridor of the south gate, that Gawain, Hetty and others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gawain brought Amber to the south end of the cave, and the two climbed up the collapsed boulders, looking out at the vast scenery outside.

A purple-black hillside covered with thin mist stretched out in front of their eyes. This is a relatively gentle mountain in the middle of the southern foot of the Dark Mountain Range. At the end of the hillside, it extends down the mountain and is boundless black forest.

The towering giant trees showed a distorted and mutated posture under the erosion of the chaotic magic energy. All the flowers, plants and shrubs were no longer familiar to people. Those plants mixed with thorns, poisonous sacs, decayed limbs and swollen glands were blown by the dirty wind. There were constant rustling sounds, some of which were even slowly crawling between the rocks, and some particularly disturbing shadows flashed between the mutated and twisted plants, causing every witness to create countless ghosts out of thin air. Terrible associations.

That is the Black Forest, which is described in all epics, biographies, and poems. It is the product of the pollution of the demon tide, and it is the result of the compromise of the normal natural world with the Chaos Demon. It can swallow all uncautious explorers ——However, it is only the most fringe area of ​​the demon tide.

There are even hundreds of kilometers away from the magnificent wall.

"Is this the border of the civilized world..." Amber stood beside Gao Wen. This half-elf, who had always been fearless, couldn't help becoming nervous after seeing the Black Forest with her own eyes—even though she had also stood in the Dark Mountain The outpost at the top has overlooked the Black Forest at the southern foot, but the view from a high mountaintop at a safe distance is obviously incomparable to the impact that is so close at hand.

Now she is standing here, only a few hundred meters away from the nearest border of the Black Forest, and she can even smell the decaying air coming from the south—although this is mostly an illusion caused by psychological effects.

"We had the opportunity to push this border south. 100 years ago, when the tide of magic ebbed, if the pioneering spirit was still there, the Ansu people could push the southern border all the way to the magnificent wall, and then there Build a more controllable barrier—it's a pity that Ansu missed this opportunity, and humans handed over this place," Gao Wen sighed, "The Black Forest is hopeless, and it has become so corrupted that it may be the giant deer Amo Eun can't save it even if he gets up."

While talking, Gao Wen raised his head and looked to the southwest.

According to the satellite view comparison results in my mind, the mysterious impact crater should be not far to the southwest.

The gap caused by the landslide is indeed a huge hidden danger, but this hidden danger is not without benefits-now, the Fortress of Rebellion has connected Cecil with the southern area of ​​​​the Dark Mountains. This facility was built by the ancient Gondors 1000 years ago At this moment, it turned into a passage through the mountain. Through this passage, he can reach the southern region without climbing the steep mountain road.

Moreover, with the help of the convenient passage inside the Rebel Fortress, a large amount of supplies can be sent directly to the southern foot of the Dark Mountain Range. After the fortifications here are stabilized, it may be a good idea to transform the entire "Shadow Experimental Field" into a forward fortress.

Seeing Gao Wen suddenly looking into the distance, Amber fell into deep thought. After holding back for a long time, she finally couldn't help breaking the silence: "Hey, what are you looking at?"

Gao Wen said casually, "Since we've arrived here...you can just go over and check the situation."

"...Haven't you forgotten about this?!" Amber was taken aback, "Isn't it just a landslide—look around here, isn't it?"

"This place collapsed after the first 'earthquake'. The original 'shock' was not here." Gawain glanced at Amber. "According to my perception, there seems to be abnormal magic fluctuations in the southwest."

The legendary powerhouse's "perception" is a universal reason. Amber can only trust Gao Wen's judgment, but looking at the daunting denseness in the distance, it is full of all kinds of crazy mutant plants, and it is unknown how many dangerous monsters are hidden inside. In the Black Forest, the half-elf lady felt her scalp tingling: "You don't mean to ask me to go with you... I'm allergic to the Black Forest..."

"Of course you have to follow," Gawain glanced at the coward, "but I have to make a point first—Knight Byron, come here."

Byron quickly ran up to Gawain: "My lord, are you looking for me?"

"I'm going to investigate that direction," Gawain pointed to the southwest hillside, "it should be within the Black Forest."

As a half-way knight who was born as a mercenary and has rich adventure experience, Byron immediately reacted: "Oh, okay, I will organize a group of people who are good at scouting..."

"No, just let the scouts ask Soldering to prepare," Gawain interrupted Byron, "You call in eighteen medium-sized 'justice' rail guns, and I'll give you a few parameters, and you go over there Blast a way..."

Byron was stunned: "...My lord, didn't you mean spying..."

"Yes, Fire Reconnaissance."

When Amber next to me heard this, she circled her face cutely: "Why do I remember that the fire reconnaissance you told me last time didn't seem to mean that..."

"But this is beyond the borders of civilization, the edge of the wasteland," Gawain smiled, patted Amber on the shoulder, and looked at Byron again, "Remember, in this wasteland, the only way to survive is To destroy all threats, the only security criterion is that nothing is safe, and the only reconnaissance is fire reconnaissance."

Chapter 0550 The Dragon and the Big Pit

To be honest, Amber is no stranger to the adventurer's expedition process—although she is not an adventurer herself, the adventurers she has worked with (flicker) are almost enough to take down a viscount ——In her concept, when encountering exploration targets like magic forests, ancient caves, secret underground palaces, etc., the most normal process usually starts with organizing a team, preparing supplies, and collecting information, and then cautiously enter the target area and scout along the way , Draw a map, disarm traps, fight against monsters... Basically, nine out of ten adventurers will do this, and the remaining one who is stubborn will basically die on the way...

However, now, Gao Wen has proved with facts that most of the above-mentioned processes can basically be condensed into half the ammunition base...

The deafening roar of gunfire broke the barbaric order of the Black Forest for thousands of years-the fire of civilization, which was more barbaric than barbarism, directly burned all the vegetation on the border of the forest, and wiped out all the dangerous monsters within the range, poisonous plants, cunning Fierce monsters, greedy meat eaters and treacherous spirit eaters...all of them are sublimated together with art, and the sublimation is clean.

Safe, efficient, clean, no hidden dangers, no traps in the flattened secret realm, no monsters in the burned black forest.

Gawain stood on the high ground in front of the cave in the Shadow Experimental Field, looking with satisfaction at the avenue that was flattened by the artillery fire—of course, this avenue full of bomb craters is not so "flat", but it is much easier to walk than the Black Forest, And beside him was Hu Po who was stunned and had a "you're kidding me" expression on his face.

"You really did that..." Miss Half Elf felt that she had seen a whole new world again, "Aren't you afraid of attracting monsters from the Black Forest..."

"The monster? It should have been killed by the bomb," Gao Wen said indifferently, "I'm not indiscriminately commanding - no one knows the situation of the demon tide pollution area better than me. This is an area of ​​thin pollution, and the main harm is these mutations. There are plants and poisonous water sources, as well as some weak monsters that are not climate-friendly, truly powerful monster creatures will not gather in this kind of area, and the thin chaotic magic energy here can't support their long-term activities."

As Gao Wen said, he also gave the order after thinking about it. He chose to open the way with gunfire after confirming that the environment was suitable. In this dangerous black forest, the most suitable way to open the way is basically the gunfire.

A team of elite Iron Rangers was quickly organized, and under the personal leadership of Soldering, this team set off with Gawain and Amber.

Although Gao Wen's "fire reconnaissance" always makes people feel that there is something wrong, but Amber must admit that the Black Forest that has been plowed by artillery fire seems much safer after all. She saw countless fragmented plant remains scattered among the gravel and craters Those plants were dangerous poisons that could kill people at any time not long ago, and some daunting monster remains were mixed among the plant remains. Those twisted and mutated flesh and blood were billowing in smoke, some of which were even Wriggling slightly - but now they can't jump up and attack themselves.

With a shortbow in his hand, Soldering led the team forward while guarding the surroundings: Although the artillery fire flattened a large area, most of the nearby monsters should also be photographed by the power of the magic cannon and dare not approach here for the time being. However, many monsters under the influence of the demon tide cannot be judged rationally. Maybe there will be mutated monsters who are not afraid of death rushing out of the distant dense forest-there are not a few pioneers who died under this kind of surprise attack back then.

Gao Wen confidently handed over the security work to Solderin and the Iron Rangers, while most of his energy was put on the satellite view in his mind.

The impact crater was very close.

The "safe passage" bombarded by artillery fire has come to an end. In front of it is a staggered cluster of ancient trees and shrubs. The team has entered the interior of the Black Forest at this moment. This is the edge of the area covered by artillery fire. The artificial thunder fire stops here. Almost everywhere there are towering giant trees and tall bushes that grow wantonly - this is not because the range of the "justice" magic cannon is not enough, but because Gawain deliberately let the artillerymen of Byron Knights control the range of fire bombardment, He worried that a round of shells would blow up some vital clues.

But it doesn't matter, here is almost to the edge of the impact crater.

Gawain raised his head and looked into the depths of the dark forest. At this moment, the sky had gradually dimmed. The already not very bright sunlight penetrated through the thin mist of magic energy, and then passed through the layers of tree crowns and branches. There was a hazy glimmer of light left, but with the vision of the transcendent, he could still see the situation in the distance clearly.

"In that direction," he pulled out the pioneer sword, and said to Solderin beside him, "keep going."

Solderling nodded, raised his hand and gave an order to the Rangers beside him: "Go ahead—open the eyepiece and stay alert!"

This high-ranking ranger had already seen what his old friend was looking for. His determined attitude and tone of voice without hesitation were not as simple as "sensing abnormal magic power fluctuations", but to confirm what was ahead. Only things would respond, but the tacit understanding 700 years ago made him not ask more questions, but immediately carried out Gao Wen's order.

The Iron Ranger soldiers activated their tactical eyepieces one by one. The soldiers on the outer layer held up their shields, while the soldiers on the inner layer activated the insurance of the magic terminal, so as to be ready to deal with the hidden threats in the dense forest at any time. In the depths of the dense forest where the shadows of the trees intersect and spread, the figure of Amber is constantly disappearing and shifting in the air.

Gawain looked at Amber who was investigating the situation in front of the team with a bit of dumbfounding—this half-elf would complain all over the world no matter what the situation was, but as long as she was in the working state, she never delayed her business. Knowing whether this Shame of the Elf's usual passive sabotage is real or just pretending.