Sword of Dawn

Page 231

This is an inevitable phenomenon in the process of promoting magic technology.

Gawain looked at the shop where the crowd gathered in the distance, thought for a while, then turned to Amber and said, "Let your operator guide you a little bit."

Amber agreed casually: "Okay."

Hearing that Amber agreed so happily, Gao Wen was surprised: "Why did you agree so simply this time?"

"Being a trustee is the old profession of many of those bastards," Amber waved her hand, "What can I say to guide you, isn't it just being a trustee..."

Gao Wen: "...You are right to understand that."

The three of them took a last look at the shop that sold civilian magic terminals. Before turning around and leaving, Pittman said suddenly: "Actually, nerve cable technology can not only be used to establish brain-computer connections and allow people to enter the mind network, it There is also a possible application direction."

Gao Wen's tone rose: "Oh?"

"You are committed to allowing ordinary people to master the power of magic - the magic terminal can solve half of the problem, and the nerve cord...maybe can solve the other half of the problem for you."

Chapter 0541 The aftermath in the shadows

Peterman's words made Gawain stop again.

"The other half of what you said was..."

Pittman twirled his somewhat messy beard, and the face of this unprincipled little old man was rarely solemn: "So far, all magic devices can only achieve 'instant release' spells, like the spell of Evocation. There is no way to use spiritual guidance spells like hands, right?"

Gao Wen understood the other party's meaning in an instant, and opened his eyes slightly because of the possible development prospects of nerve cord technology.

Magic technology is flawed—or rather limited, and this limitation has existed from the very beginning.

The "spells" in this world can be roughly divided into two types, one is instant release, as long as the caster completes the spell model, or sets up the rune array in advance, then only need to inject energy, the spell can be released immediately, There is no need for more manual participation-fireball, frostbolt, repulsion tricks and other spells that take effect immediately fall into this category, while the other kind of spell is "spiritual guidance". As the name suggests, its operation requires human use Mental power is used to continuously maintain and control, such as the hand of evocation, and various mental spells belong to this category.

Obviously, the magic technology at this stage can only realize the first situation - by arranging a specific rune array, storing the spell model in the machine in advance, and then pressing a button to release a spell, this is the vast majority The essence of magic devices.

This is also the only way Gawain can think of using his "earth way of thinking" to realize the generalization of magic.

However, there are more than one kind of spells in this world. For those spells that require spiritual guidance, the magic technology is stretched. Ordinary people without spiritual power can't control a complex and changeable spell in real time by pressing a button. Although Zhan Ni has been trying to use the rune array to control the evocation hand to achieve various operations, and in the process to find a breakthrough for "spiritual guidance" spells, but the clumsy, slow, and error-prone prototype system is currently No practical value is seen yet, and no hope of a breakthrough is seen in the foreseeable future.

In addition, due to this limitation, some current magic devices have encountered great constraints during the research and development process, such as the just-completed immersion neural cockpit-it stores internal information to allow users to distinguish the real world from illusions. The "suggestive scene" in the game must be edited by a mage, and technicians with ordinary backgrounds cannot intervene at all. This obviously does not match Gao Wen's research and development ideas.

"The original intention of the Eternal Sleeper to entrust the Death of All Things to develop the nerve cable technology is to expand the religious group, so that those who are not Eternal Sleep priests—such as converted businessmen, minor nobles, and even pagan priests—can also access them The dream world, accepting the transformation of dark teachings, although their starting point is dark, but the goal they want to achieve is very close to our idea: to enable people who do not have some kind of extraordinary talent to use tools to achieve extraordinary power.”

Pittman said unhurriedly, after so many years away from the dark sect, the knowledge deeply imprinted in his memory is gradually emerging, these dark knowledge and the miracles in the magic city in front of him slowly Blending, his thoughts are becoming clearer.

"The nerve cord connects the human brain and the rune, and it replaces the human's 'spiritual induction' process in this process, so we might as well expand our thinking: let ordinary people who cannot sense magic power connect the nerve cord, Will they be able to control the magic power indirectly? If we equip this device with some auxiliary energy devices, spell-casting organs, and auxiliary machinery, then... an ordinary person connected with a nerve cord and a full set of external equipment, and a real Is there any difference between your mages?"

A breakthrough has been found for spiritual guidance spells.

It is actually outside the magical technology, in the cultist's technology tree.

"There's a difference..." Looking at the old druid in front of him, Gawain suddenly laughed, "A real mage may have to practice for several years and have enough luck, talent, and money to advance to the next level. The 'artificial mage' connected to the nerve cord is promoted to one level... I am afraid that it only needs to be replaced with a large magic power capacitor."

Pittman spread his hands: "It will take time to develop a new type of magic capacitor."

"That's true, but as long as it is developed, it can be used on hundreds of thousands or even millions of people immediately..."

Standing behind the two of them, Amber looked at Gawain and then at Pittman. The half-elf had become sleepy since the two of them started discussing technical issues just now, but she still understood what the two old people were discussing. What - when she heard the last few sentences, the half-elf lady couldn't bear it anymore: "Oh my god... are you serious about this?"

"Any technology that challenges the norms will feel like a fantasy before it is realized," Gao Wen said with a smile, "but the 'rules'...is not meant to be broken."

Then he turned to Pittman and said solemnly: "I think this idea is very feasible, you can try it-you are an expert in the field of druids. But pay attention to one thing: we are not eternal sleepers, nor everything Death will come."

"I understand what you mean," Pittman bowed his head deeply, "please rest assured, I am not now, nor will I be in the future."

……

Everything seems to be back on track, the continent is still developing according to the original track, the nobles are still sensual, the countries are still fighting openly and secretly, the civil war continues, the development continues to develop, the abnormal situation of the giant sun and the magnificent wall It caused a little panic for a while, but these panics gradually subsided as the barrier was restored. On the surface, everything in this world was as usual.

But for those who keep an eye on the wasteland, the aftermath of what happened to the Great Wall still lingers.

In the eastern region of Ansu, deep in the underground palace.

The rustling sound of roots rubbing against the stone slab echoed in the deep and dark underground palace. The magic spar lamp was embedded on the ancient stone wall, and the light emitted created pieces of interlaced light and dark areas in this dim palace. Berti Pulling through the long corridor she was already familiar with, she came to the place where the patriarchs held their meeting.

Long tables and seats were placed in the wide hall of the underground palace, and the brilliance of the magic spar lamps sprinkled from the roof, illuminating the faces of those participating in the meeting, and some of them turned towards the entrance. One of the priests saw Bertila Then he couldn't help frowning: "You're late again, Master Bertila."

"As long as you haven't discussed anything useful, I'm not late anytime," Beltera responded with sarcasm, and sat down in his own seat at the long table, "Or... Have you discussed something useful?"

This woman’s way of speaking has always been like this, and the elders at the scene have long seen it strangely, and the elf twins Fierna and Leierna sitting across the long table laughed and said in unison: “Ha, that’s really not—if If you don't come, we might all start talking about dinner."

"We can discuss it later, but for now, let's focus on that wasteland first," Bertila shook his head, "The Grand Priest has read the revelation from the Ultimate Book, and our sun...is indeed a problem , the power it releases is stirring up the magical environment of the entire world, and this will greatly accelerate the speed at which that barrier collapses."

The patriarchs discussed in a low voice, and during the short discussion, someone looked up at Beltira: "We have already speculated on this point before, and the key to the problem now is—how big is the influence of the sun? How long can the wall of the wasteland of Gondor last, if everything has to be advanced...then, how much will it be advanced?"

"It's a pity that the Ultimate Book didn't give an answer. After all, it's just a man-made counterfeit," Bertila shook his head. "And we don't know the specific technical details of the barrier made by the elves."

A tall and thin middle-aged man looked at the elf twins at the scene: "We have two elves here..."

"It's a pity, we don't know shield technology," the twin elves grinned, "but we can at least be sure of one thing - our Queen will definitely take action, maybe she sent to warn the nations , The team to repair the barrier has already set off at this time."

Bertila waited for the twin elves to finish speaking, coughed softly, and stood up: "No matter what actions the elves will take, we must be prepared—in view of the early changes in the wasteland, we have to consider advancing the plan. "

Someone exclaimed in a low voice: "Has it reached this situation?"

"This is the will of the Grand Priest," Bertila looked towards the direction of the voice, "The answer given by the Ultimate Book is not optimistic, and we don't have time to prepare slowly."

A person sitting at the end of the long table stood up: "If the plan is to be advanced, we must contact the compatriots on the other side of the wall..."

"Due to the failure of the communication system of the Great Wall, our connection with the wasteland has been interrupted," said a middle-aged man in a black robe with half of his face mutated like bark. "The elves must be in the process of repairing the barrier. The communication channel will be updated, and our 'hidden bridge' will be completely ineffective, and now we must restore contact with our compatriots in the wasteland as soon as possible—so as to grasp the situation inside the wall."

"I've already sent someone to contact the Eternal Sleepers—their mind projection technology is expected to break through the barrier," Bertila said, "Also, Dean Heaton, what's the progress of biomass collection?"

Tall and thin, Dean Heaton raised his head with a sullen face, "There is still a gap—the change in the situation in the southern border is unexpected."

"...We thought that the war in the southern border would last at least a few years, but we didn't expect that Gawain Cecil directly flattened all the coalition forces of nobles," another dean shook his head, "and he is also promoting it on a large scale in the southern border. Cremation and purification ceremonies, and there are so few biomass sources available on that land."

"Don't complain about these useless things," Bertera interrupted the other party, "whatever is counted—the body of the false god is almost completed, and the lack of biomass...After next spring, the Kingdom Army and the Eastern Frontier Army Nature will make up for us."

the conference has ended.

One by one the figures in the priest's robe got up and left the hall. The huge space quickly became quiet, and Bertila stayed where she was, and the only ones who left were the twin elves.

"Bertera, you've been really restless recently," the elf twins came to the headmistress, and the pair of smiling sisters smiled together as if they were the same person inside and outside the mirror, and said together, "Do you want us to help you?" Do you 'treat'?"

"I'm not so pitiful yet," Beltera rejected the two of them indifferently, "But you, as elves, really don't care about the fate of the Silver Empire after the barrier collapses?"

"Haha," the twins laughed crisply, and amidst the silver bell-like laughter, they turned and left, leaving only one sentence in Beltera's ears, "Don't you also care about Typhon's fate? Ms. Augustus..."

Bertila quietly watched the leaving figure of the elf twins, she let out a very slight sigh, then sat on her seat, raised her head and looked up at the ancient stone roof above.

"Augustus... It's been a long time since I heard it."

On the mottled and ancient roof, the magic spar lamps are still bright. Around the magic spar lamps, the newly inlaid metal plates are neatly arranged, extending to the top of the adjacent pillars. The runes on the metal plates are In the dark, there is a faint light, like breathing.

"In any case, the magic net is indeed a useful thing."

Chapter 0542 Obstruction

The noise of the nobles was disturbing.

Sitting next to Crown Prince Wales, Victoria Wilde had no expression on her icy face. Her eyes swept over the nobles and nobles gathered in the long hall of the castle, and there was a trace of imperceptible disdain in her eyes.

These wine bags and rice bags.

They wear gorgeous robes, and they talk in this castle. They are of noble blood, and their names are louder and louder. When they speak here, they seem to be deciding the fate of the kingdom. However, their impassioned speeches only need one word in the final analysis. It can be summed up: interests.

A righteous voice echoed in the long hall: "...The Kalei family supports the rebuilding of the Kingdom Avenue. We are willing to contribute a hundred labors, and my nephew will personally lead the team..."

"What a great sacrifice! 100 people!" Someone sneered loudly from the side, "I'm afraid there are more than 100 people raising horses for you?"

"The people and food of the Kalei family are on the eastern front. We have given out everything we can for this kingdom—but Earl of Gray Mountain, don't you even have five hundred mules?"

"I don't agree with the rebuilding of the Kingdom Avenue—although what the Duke Regent said is very reasonable, the Kingdom Avenue can bring great benefits in the long run, but now we are fighting a war, rashly spending a lot of manpower and materials on the road, in case it affects What about the battle situation? I think we only need to rebuild the east-west roads, so that we can transport troops to the front line more conveniently..."

"I object!"

……

The noise of the nobles is really disturbing.

Wales Moen sat in the top position like a puppet. When the noise in the long hall was almost out of control, the titular heir to the king finally couldn't help but speak: "Gentlemen, ladies , let's put aside the debate - the project of the Kingdom Avenue can be discussed slowly, after all, it is winter, we can first discuss the town council and the commercial system..."

The voice of Wales finally calmed down the debate in the long hall, but the new proposal he proposed quickly brought a new round of disputes—the nobles, big and small, immediately praised the Duke Regent and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. With a long-term vision, they praised their wise plans, and then, one by one, strongly recommended the introduction of these new institutions in other people's territories.

If it weren't for Victoria Wilde and Franklin Baldwin sitting here, they probably wouldn't just be arguing like this.

This kind of debate was destined to be fruitless, and before the noise in the long hall reached its peak again, before Wales Moen had to speak again, Victoria Wilde finally stood up.

"enough."

The Queen of the North said in a cold voice, and as her words fell, the temperature of the entire castle approached freezing from the inside to the outside in an instant.

"I hope the cold air can calm you down." After a while, Victoria withdrew her huge magic power, and as the temperature in the hall gradually recovered, her eyes swept over the silent nobles.

These are powerful aristocrats, large and small, who control half of the country's extraordinary power, land, and wealth. They are short-sighted, selfish, and they can only hold back the kingdom if they fight together—but even as the regent duke, she It can only be a warning to these people.

"We didn't come here to quarrel." After ten seconds of silence, Victoria continued, "The town council and commercial reform are the destined direction of development, but I understand everyone's concerns—so All of this will not be imposed on any of you. The trial of the town council will be selected from the northern territories and royal fiefdoms, and the business reform will be in charge of the Duke of Franklin’s Western Border Principality.”

Baldwin Franklin, with a touch of bookish elegance, bowed slightly forward in response to Victoria's words.

The nobles and nobles in the long hall were silent for a while, and then they all showed a sigh of relief—but they didn't dare to show too obvious and exaggerated, so they could only try their best to show reserved and humble smiles, and used Messy praises and tributes to cover up their real thoughts—their concealment skills are not uncommon, and the smooth and humble actions and heartfelt praises all reflect their qualifications as nobles, but Victoria Wilder has seen through these masks since he was a girl.

Keeping a frozen face was already the greatest courtesy she could show to these people.

She sat down, but the Duke of Baldwin Franklin stood up, and continued: "All New Deals will not be enforced, but there is one thing I want to explain in advance-please remember that one of the virtues of nobility is Remember your oath, so don't forget your decision today. Those who oppose the construction of new factories on their own territory today, if they want to build factories in the future, they must unconditionally pay [-]% of the ransom to the royal family. This is for the redemption The right to build a factory that you gave up today; those who refuse to allow roads to connect with your own territory here today, any roads built in the kingdom in the future will bypass you, unless you buy the road like buying the right to build a factory; those who refuse to sign a trade agreement here today, No new type of chamber of commerce or company is allowed to be established for ten years—unless you buy back the right to restructure the business.”

With a calm face, the Duke of the Western Territory stated these conditions one by one, and his tone and expression made the nobles who had just started to laugh at the scene quickly confused and uneasy.

They know what they are discussing here today—that is a lot of deviant and sensational things, weird rules from the southern border, the Duke Regent asked the nobles to give up some privileges, and asked everyone to obey the management of the royal family. The establishment of new factories in the territory, the establishment of town councils that could threaten the rule of the lord, the construction of roads, the establishment of companies... These things are taken out one by one, all of which are completely threatened and deprived.

However, the Duke of the Western Territory called them "rights" and announced that every nobleman who raised objections today gave up these "rights". Spend money to redeem these "rights"?

This unimaginable, absurd and weird statement is really hard to understand.

The people in the long hall were silent in confusion, and then discussed in low voices in confusion. Some people seemed to have reacted a little bit, and some seemed to be intimidated by the attitude of the Duke of the West. They cautiously recruited their own The attendant wrote a note and handed it to the Duke, but more people just spread their hands and shook their heads——

Who would want this "right"?The right to cut flesh from the body?

The noisy meeting was over, and the nobles left in all directions. Apart from the attendants and guards in the huge hall, soon there were only two regent dukes and a crown prince in name.

"This is the first time I've seen you angry." Victoria looked at Duke Baldwin and said with a little sigh, "You thought you would never lose your temper on such an occasion."

"I'm really angry, but I'm serious," Baldwin sat on the chair with a tired face, "This can confuse some people, at least they will think about it, while others...they At least one day it can bring some contribution to the kingdom treasury."

Victoria frowned: "How many people are shaken?"

"Less than [-]% of the people," Duke Baldwin shook his head as he recalled the number of people who handed over the notes, "Most of them are nobles who are far away from the Kingdom Avenue and whose territories are not considered rich, as well as royal nobles who have no land. , These people have no worries about wealth and privileges, but are worried about losing the protection of the royal family, and they expressed their willingness to learn more about our New Deal in private."

"Ten percent..." Victoria snorted coldly, but there was deep helplessness in that snort, "It's really a lot."

The queen of the north will also encounter helpless things - which makes Bai Dewen full of emotion.

"As we expected, there are many difficulties," he sighed, and said to Victoria, "We have adjusted the fields involved in the change as much as possible, and removed those items that have the greatest impact on the nobles on the ground, but we still incurred so many problems." Strong resistance, counting the two meetings yesterday and the day before yesterday, and three days of discussions, only five articles were passed, and they were all insignificant parts..."

"As I said at the beginning, no matter how you adjust it, it will have the same result-it makes no difference between taking one gold coin from those people's pockets and a hundred gold coins, because they are not willing to lose even a copper coin," Victoria said. Shaking his head, "You want to build factories, build roads, and set up officials on their land. This is fundamental to them."

Wales Moen, who hadn't spoken all this time, suddenly spoke up: "At least we can start with the lands directly under the royal family—and some of your lands."

"Our..." Baldwin showed a wry smile, "We personally understand the necessity of doing this, but the marquis, earls, and viscounts under our name probably don't think so... Even if we personally promote it, in the Principality The difficulty of implementing change internally remains enormous."

Enfeoffment and separation, each into a country.

Victoria Wilde suddenly thought of the words Gawain said to himself when he evaluated the kingdom's aristocratic system before he left the southern border, and thought of the "new aristocratic" system in the southern border.

The earls and viscounts over there... don't have such great power.

She shook her head, put aside some bad associations, and looked at Wales: "I'm surprised that you can support these new policies so much. I didn't actually take the direct fiefs of the royal family into consideration."

"I know, this is yours to the Moen family..." Wales shook his head, pressing the words "the last ounce of respect" back to the bottom of his heart, "I can see the meaning of these new policies, and I know they are important to this country It's beneficial."

"Actually, those who opposed, resisted, and refused to express their views at the meeting couldn't see it," Victoria said slowly, turning her gaze to the empty long hall, "even if they couldn't see the new factories, new chambers of commerce, and civilian schools. At least they can see the rise of Cecil... But they still want to object, or refuse to express their views."

Baldwin Franklin sighed: "It's not that they can't see the benefits of doing this to the kingdom, they just don't want to pay for their own interests, their idea is very simple: why can't it be someone else, why can't the factory be built in On someone else’s territory — yes, everyone’s thinking that.”

"Think about it," Victoria suddenly said softly after a moment of silence, "At least, the coronation of the new king has gained support."

Baldwin Franklin showed a slightly mocking smile: "Yeah, compared to building a factory on their territory, getting them to support the king is really a trivial matter."

After saying this, the Duke of the Western Territory, who was obviously in a bad mood, stood up. He looked at the exit of the long hall, and after a few seconds of silence, he slowly said: "The town council's plan is likely to fail. This reform is so radical that we can hold off, and so can the schools - but the new factories must be there, at all costs, or we will be forever choked by the Cecilians."

Baldwin Franklin left.

Victoria watched the back of the Duke of the Westlands leaving, and did not speak for a long time.

The voice of Welsh Moen broke the silence of the scene: "Duchess Wilder, did Duke Gawain Cecil really tell you that he has no interest in the throne of Ansu?"