Sword of Dawn

Page 213

"I don't care what's in your body... You can't stop this plan.

"Human beings will live forever, even if they rebel against the gods."

Chapter 0505

"In summary, the situation in Lu'an City has basically stabilized. Through publicity and guidance and several effective work-for-relief efforts, the government officials we sent have gained the initial trust of the local people, and the large-scale renovation of the church area It is regarded as the victory of the "heroic struggle" operation, and has won the praise and support of almost all Luan citizens."

Hetty put a report in front of Gawain, and said with a look of relief on his face.

"In this way, even if there are diehard members of the old church who want to make trouble, it will be difficult to make any waves."

Gao Wen flipped through the report in front of him, and nodded slightly: "Very good... But we still have to be vigilant against the resurgence of the ashes. It's not terrible for the remnants to make trouble on the surface. It's the most difficult stage to deal with when they turn into ambush. This aspect will be left to Amber, the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau are very good at this kind of thing. By the way, how is the demolition of the inner city wall going?"

Hetty thought for a while: "According to the plan, two thirds of the city walls on the west and east sides of the church area will be demolished, and the remaining walls will be kept only for commemorative and decorative purposes. At present, the demolition of the west city wall has begun——Lu The citizens of An certainly support this, but to be honest... ancestors, is this really necessary?"

"The inner city wall of Luan City is different from other places. For hundreds of years, that wall is not only a city wall, but also a symbol. Absolute gap, as long as the wall is still there, even if we tear down the cathedral, the "church area" in people's minds will still be an area that ordinary people cannot set foot in, and this is completely contrary to the holy light theory promoted by Protestantism. Gao Wen patiently explained, "I know what you're thinking about—the inner city wall is a part of the city's defense, and demolition of the inner city wall may reduce the ability of Luan City to deal with disasters. Regarding this, you can take a look at it... "

While talking, Gao Wen took out a copy of the documents at hand and pushed it towards Hetty who was standing across the table.

Hetty looked down curiously, and immediately found that it was a sketch of some kind of large-scale rune array—the details of the runes on it were not listed due to space limitations, but in the roughly circular general structure diagram, it was clearly The landmarks are marked with words such as energy extraction array, resonance area, functional area, amplification area, and projection area.

"What is this?" Hetty looked carefully at the content on the information, "The scale...is this big?!"

"It's the city-level shield of Rock Fortress." Gawain picked up the teacup next to him and took a sip, "We found the most original design of the city shield in the library of Rock Fortress. The staff also dug up the foundation and saw the rune array 100 years ago—after the information was retrieved, Jenny took her apprentices and assistants to study for more than half a month, and this is their result."

Hetty's eyes widened suddenly, and the hand holding the blueprint even trembled slightly—for a mage, this is an unimaginable wealth!

Although this mage is now almost full-time engaged in urban construction and internal affairs...

"The city-level magic shield is a strategic-level creation...There are less than ten shields of this level in Ansu..." Hetty's tone was unbelievable, "The Rune Institute... Even this kind of thing can be produced?!"

"The biggest problem with city-level shields is energy consumption and stability. Because it consumes a lot of energy, it must be built on a natural magic focus. Because stability needs to be ensured, it must consume a lot of expensive magic materials. These two points limit Its application, but now Jenny has optimized it in two layers, and directly integrated the magic net and the base structure of the city-level shield, which makes it possible for mass production," Gao Wen said, " I plan to install the first verification shield in the city of Luan, which can be constructed simultaneously during the large-scale renovation of the church area. If the effect is as expected, then every city on the land of Cecil—even every town All super units will build this kind of shield."

"Build...a strategic-level shield in the town?!" Hetty exclaimed suddenly, and at the same time, a large wave of budget went through her mind instantly, and she planned to kill her ancestor's shocking idea on the spot. Remonstrated back, "Ancestor, you have to calm down! This is a giant shield system, not a magic street lamp..."

The butler Cecil, who is in charge of the financial power, lost his mind the moment he faced the budget problem, and even complained about his ancestors like Rebecca—it turns out that the top talent of the Cecil family is mostly a genetic factor. But some people are dominant, some people are temporarily recessive...

Gawain looked at Hetty's expression that almost died on the spot, and he could probably guess why the eldest granddaughter lost her composure—anyway, Hetty's gaffe was due to two reasons, either working overtime or lack of money, looking at it now She is in good spirits, and there is no smoky makeup on her eye circles, so she probably has no money—so he shook his head: "Don't be so nervous, the cost of a giant shield optimized by Jenny is lower than you think, and this kind of Once a large-scale project is started, it means the rise of a large number of auxiliary industries, the by-products of manufacturing shield units, new construction machinery, and a large number of jobs. These things will be beneficial in the long run."

"Funds are valuable only when they flow. Is it just ore ingots stored in the treasury..." Hetty helplessly thought of what her ancestor had said to her, and then she looked at Gao Wen and said with some hesitation, "Ancestor, you Is there another reason to spread this shield to every town..."

Gawain looked into Hetty's eyes, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart that this great-great-great...great-granddaughter is really a smart person, and her intelligence is different from Rebecca's. She can always find the key to the problem keenly, which reduces the (Of course, Rebecca can sometimes find the key point of the problem by mistake, but the upright roe deer always tries to hit the key point with his head): "As you think, the magic tide — we always have to face it.”

Hetty exhaled, thinking that it was indeed so.

The cost of installing this huge shield system in every city and town-level settlement is not cheap, even as the ancestor said, Jenny has reduced its cost to a level that the Principality of Cecil can afford , that is still a huge expense - at the current stage when the situation in the principality has just stabilized and there are countless infrastructure projects waiting to start, a considerable part of the infrastructure capacity is used for this expensive shield that has no direct economic output, Then there is only one possibility...

The tide of magic can come at any time.

"I understand." Hetty bowed slightly and said solemnly, "I will make a plan in this regard."

Looking at Hetty, who looked as heroic as if she was about to die, Gao Wen was also thinking.

The situation in the Principality has stabilized, and internal and external troubles have basically settled down or there is no possibility of an outbreak for the time being. Next, Cecil will undoubtedly usher in a stage of rapid development. With the start of four new industrial cities, there will be Countless infrastructure projects, countless basic education projects, countless talent recruitment plans... In order to ensure the smooth development of all these, Cecil will consume a lot of funds and resources.

At present, the internal economy of the Principality is indeed developing rapidly. Thanks to the promotion of the new decree and the support of merchants from all over the country, the river of trade that was originally bound by the old aristocratic system is unfreezing, and gold coins are beginning to be sold on newly built roads and newly opened roads. flowed through the waterways of the river, but these... still weren't enough.

Magic Industry is a beast with an insatiable appetite. It has to devour more things to grow. Gao Wen must at least let it grow to the point where it can sustain its development before it can be initially at ease, and relying solely on the economic dividends of the new reforms within the Principality, this The development of the beast will become very dangerous: a single economic support is unstable. Once there is a slight problem in the economic chain, the Principality of Cecil may collapse at any time.

Especially now that there are so many big projects...Gao Wen doesn't want his hard-earned foundation to be dragged down by a few big projects that develop too fast.

Hetty noticed that her ancestor hadn't spoken for a long time, and couldn't help asking curiously, "Ancestor... what are you thinking?"

Gawain sighed leisurely while thinking: "Lack of money and resources...is a problem."

"Who do you want to cheat this time?"

"You said Wang Guojun's side..." Gao Wen said casually, but he reacted in the middle of speaking, "What did you just say?"

It was only after Hetty said the words that she came to her senses, her face flushed immediately, and she quickly bent down: "I'm sorry ancestor! I... I was a little distracted just now..."

Gao Wen was a bit stunned to be honest, he had never seen the mature and prudent Hetty lose his composure twice in a row in such a short period of time—it seems that he really has no money recently, as long as the topic related to the budget is mentioned The granddaughter immediately lost control.

He coughed twice and knocked on the table: "Be careful next time—we never cheat people, we are an upright business. Back to the topic just now, although the Principality of Cecil closed the gate of the Rock Fortress, we cannot It is completely closed, and it cannot be closed forever. As a fortress city, Panshi City was originally designed as a trade transit area. Although the fortress is not yet completed, the merchants... can already take action."

The ancestor was keen on doing business, and the facts proved that the business of the ancestor can sometimes bring more considerable benefits than war, so Hetty immediately reacted: "Are you planning to start a trade with the Holy Spirit Plain?"

"Strictly speaking, it's doing business with the royal family," Gao Wen nodded. "What do you think the Royal Army lacks?"

"...I'm afraid there is no shortage of alchemy potions," Hetty said while thinking, "The crusaders have joined the Royal Army camp, and priests and Holy See knights will not be stingy with magic power on the battlefield. With the support of holy water and holy light, the Royal Army is very strong against alchemists. There is not much demand for potions, what they lack...should be more powerful weapons."

Speaking of this, Hedi paused, and continued: "The Royal Army has almost never been able to defeat the same number of Eastern Border Legions on the battlefield. Therefore, they are almost all veterans of wars, and it is said that in the Kingdom Army, except for the mountain corps from the north, ordinary soldiers need two or three people to deal with a person from the east... It is difficult to improve the quality of soldiers in a short time, but If there are more sophisticated weapons, the Royal Army can close the gap with the Eastern Legion in a short period of time."

"Then it looks like we can make a batch of 'Foreign Trade Weapons'..." Gao Wen touched his chin and said, "We have to let Nicholas Egg design it..."

Hetty looked at Gao Wen with some hesitation: "Ancestor... are you really going to sell weapons to the Royal Army?"

Gao Wen answered with certainty: "We need funds, as well as the rich minerals in the Holy Spirit Plain."

Before Hetty could speak, he continued to speak thoughtfully: "Also... since the Holy Light Sect, which is best at healing, has completely fallen to the Kingdom Army, then do you think that the Eastern Border Legion...is in short supply of potions ?”

Hetty: "???"

Chapter 0506 Rebecca's Hunt

This is a dark age. The light of the once glorious civilization is scattered on the ground. The iron-like theocracy and kingship bind the land and the people like chains. There are demon tides in the wasteland far away and wild beasts in the wilderness nearby. Survival is the key to survival. A matter of great courage and hard work.

But this is also an era of "innocence" - the iron-like aristocratic order maintains the iron-like "aristocratic spirit", and the rule makers indulge in their own "glory" and "orthodoxy" and stubbornly enforce those dogmas Humanized morality and rules, the existence of superhumans has established the law of "strength is better than wisdom", everyone is used to using strength to distinguish between superiors and inferiors on the frontal battlefield. It has been stagnant for thousands of years.

Therefore, people of this era are doomed to be unable to deal with an old ghost who has been hanging in the sky for tens of millions of years outside the battlefield.

Of course, Gao Wen himself thought that every one of his plans was upright...

Heidi has been following Gao Wenxue for two years, but she still can't keep up with her ancestor's thinking. She didn't turn around for a while: "You... are you going to do business with the Eastern Border Army and the Kingdom Army at the same time?"

"They have gold coins and resources, while we have industrial products. This is a very profitable business." Gao Wen said naturally.

Hetty was a little hesitant: "But it is very likely that the Eastern Border Legion has secretly colluded with the cultists... If we sell the potion to them, will it be the same as helping those cultists..."

Gao Wen looked at Hetty: "First of all, don't forget that before the outbreak of the civil war, some retailers in the Cecil Chamber of Commerce had already been in contact with the East Territory. The small-scale potion business has been doing it, but it has not expanded. Secondly...do you think they will really benefit from selling the potion to the East Territory?"

As soon as Hetil thought about it, the faces of the last batch of "friendly trading partners" whose industrial products were dumped by Cecil appeared in his mind...

Ah, the grass on Viscount Carroll's grave should be a foot high, right?Earl Hossman's body seems to have not been assembled yet...

"Broaden your horizons and broaden your thinking," Gao Wen said unhurriedly - although Hetty in front of him is already an adult, I don't know if it's because he is called the ancestor all the time, and he really likes to educate people more and more recently "Don't stick to the immediate interests, there is a lot of knowledge between gains and losses."

"I understand," Hetty nodded earnestly, "I will contact Patrick."

"Let Patrick organize a group of businessmen who are smart enough and relatively low-key to take charge of this matter. We want to do business with everyone, but some businesses can't be done with too much fanfare," Gawain nodded, "In addition, send people Go to the weapon design institute and study how to do 'foreign trade weapons'..."

……

While Gawain and Hetty were discussing plans for the "foreign trade" of the Principality of Cecil, in the depths of the dense forest on the west side of Cecil City, a special team was swiftly and carefully walking through the vines and bushes. with.

In various stories, the ancient forests that have been formed for thousands of years are often full of dangers, and the deeper you go, the more this is the case. In those areas that have not been touched by human civilization, there are countless horrors that parents use to scare their children. Legends - bloodthirsty wolves, weird wizards, ancient trees that can move, and cruel witches, it seems that all things that can make ordinary people frightened will live in the hinterland of the forest, and are ready to devour everyone who enters it. one person.

Of course, the real depths of the forest will not be as absurd as described in the story, but there are indeed many dangerous factors here. In the vast shadows covered by towering ancient trees, wild animals and poisonous insects are the main residents. And in some more special areas—such as near the focus of magic power, there are even monsters and spirit creations that can make well-trained soldiers and knights afraid of them.

So you have to be extra careful when you act in it.

The soldier in black light armor stepped on thick fallen leaves and dead branches to the observation position. He pressed his hand on the side of the fully enclosed helmet and adjusted the mode of the tactical eyepiece. A moment later, the soldier spoke to his teammates behind him. Make a gesture: "Safe."

One after another, black-armored warriors came out from behind the bushes, followed by Solderin who was also wearing light armor but no helmet, and the one who came out behind Solderin was wearing Rebecca was dressed in a short mage robe that was easy to move, and held an iron staff in her hand.

"Ha——" Rebecca stood on a rock protruding from the ground, and breathed out while watching the situation in the distance, "I've never been to such a deep place..."

Solderling glanced at the Viscountess, but he didn't remind her to pay attention to safety - when he first entered the forest, he also reminded that "the mage's physique is weak, so don't leave the protection of the warriors", but seeing this with his own eyes After the girl beat a sneaking Timberwolf to death with a stick, he realized that the women of the Cecil family were as tough as they were 700 years ago.

This girl who is suspected of being a sorcerer might be able to defeat everyone in the scene except him after wearing the magic armor...

"Stay vigilant, switch your observation hand—the shield hand, pay attention to vigilance." Soldering gave instructions to his subordinates, and then looked down at the talisman he was holding in his hand—this magical item from his hometown A layer of light is floating on the surface, which shows that the team is very close to the magic focus in the forest. In this position, the chance of monsters appearing will be much higher.

Then he looked at Rebecca—the Viscountess initiated the team's action today, and the target of the action naturally had to be listened to by the other party.

"We're not far from the magic focus, right?" Rebecca jumped off the rock and came to Solderin's side, "Wow—your pendant is shining!"

"Strictly speaking, this is already the area of ​​influence of the focus of magic power," Soldering nodded. "The monster you are looking for should be around here."

"Well, I also heard that it is in this area..." Rebecca nodded, and then sighed, "It's better to grow up... When I was young, my father and aunt never let me run into the depths of the forest..."

"The depths of the forest are dangerous, and it's not a place for children to come," Soldering said seriously. "Even we, the Silver Elves, don't allow children to run into the heart of the forest casually."

Rebecca curled her lips, and walked forward: "Anyway, my aunt made up a lot of stories to scare me, saying that there are such and such things hidden in the forest... what kind of witch, man Witches, ghosts, fallen elves and mages, trees that can run and jump, bears that are bigger than houses, etc..."

While ordering the team to move on, Solderin glanced at Rebecca who was walking beside him with a little smile—although this descendant of my friend was a bit independent in his mind, his childhood was not much different from others. He also grew up being frightened by adults with ghost stories. As Gao Wen’s old friend, when he sees Rebecca, he can’t help showing a hint of love as an elder. At this moment, he couldn’t help but say: : "You should be quite scared after hearing those stories, right?"

"Huh?" Rebecca was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, "No - I ran to the forest to play after listening."

Solderin staggered on the spot—as a silver elf who grew up in the forest, he almost fell out: "Why?"

Rebecca took it for granted: "Think about it, so many strange people and animals live in the forest, what kind of excitement is there in the forest? I like to join in the fun."

Solderin walked very steadily this time, but a Steel Ranger soldier who was walking beside him staggered...

Solderin glanced at the team member who was almost tripped by a dead branch, and then looked at Rebecca in astonishment—he found that he couldn't tell what was wrong with the girl's logic: "You... Well, what about after going to the forest to play?"

"I didn't run very far, and I found a few wolves, and I lost a fight—then I was found by the knights in the castle and brought back," Rebecca said, and couldn't help but hiss. I was so angry, "I was really beaten up that time... I later realized that my aunt told me those stories not to tell me that the forest is very lively, but to tell me that the forest is very dangerous."

Soldering: "..."

I don't know whether the girl was talking about being beaten badly by the wolf or by the elders after returning to the castle, but according to the rumor...it's probably the latter.

After a while, the team reached a deeper place, and the small talk between Rebecca and Solderin gradually stopped.

There was a damp smell in the air, mixed with a slight smell of soil. The Iron Ranger warrior who was observing the situation ahead cautiously made a gesture, and the whole team stopped quietly beside a dead giant tree. down.

Rebecca and Soldering moved forward cautiously for a certain distance, and then poked their heads out from behind the bushes to look at the situation on the opposite side.

In the depths of the dense forest, the perennially dark area covered by huge tree canopies, large swathes of muddy puddles and the ground covered with dead branches and rotting leaves form a hidden monster kingdom. Resting in the open space, they occasionally raised their eyelids to glance around, and the eyes as big as copper bells were filled with the brilliance of arcane magic.

No ordinary beast dared to approach this place occupied by monsters. In that vast forest clearing, apart from the dangerous demonized beasts, the only living creatures were a few puddles wriggling slowly in the mud and rotting leaves. Grey-brown ooze monster - this weak and non-aggressive monster is devouring mud and rotten leaves. They are so low-level that they are almost natural phenomena, and they are obviously not worth the wild beasts to drive them away.

Soldering counted the number of those wild beasts and heaved a sigh of relief: This magic focus was formed recently, and the gathered monsters were not very troublesome.

The Iron Ranger soldiers quietly raised their weapons - high-power thermal ray guns, arcane missile launchers, and small individual howitzers. These deadly weapons pointed at the monsters in the distance, and those who didn't The reckless beast, which is good at perception, is still ignorant of all this.

"Be careful, only kill the beast, and don't spread it to the side," Rebecca said in a low voice, "Don't use the howitzer."

The soldiers who used the howitzers regrettably put away their weapons and replaced them with conventional heat ray guns, while Solderin understood Rebecca's words: Do not use too powerful weapons, obviously to prevent damage to this place. Being a natural focus of magic power, although Rebecca can only make big fireballs, she is more or less a mage and needs a focus of magic power.

It seems that the Viscountess's goal today should not only be the beasts, but also the focus of magic power here - what is she researching recently?

Solderin decided to ask after the mission was over, and now...the first thing to do is to get rid of those beasts.

After a short, murmured command to fire, the Iron Rangers attacked.

The sound of thermal energy rays and arcane missiles piercing the air suddenly broke the tranquility of this dense forest, followed by the angry roars of demonized wild beasts and the dying cries that followed.

The fight lasted just a minute—not even a minute.

Brutal beasts are indeed dangerous monsters - but that's for ordinary old-style soldiers and low-level knights who are ill-prepared. For Iron Ranger fighters who are armed to the teeth, use magical weapons, and use sneak attack tactics, these powers are powerful The slow-moving monsters only need one or two rounds of focus fire.

The fierce and near-miss battle was over, the sound of weapon shooting gradually calmed down, and finally a dying beast struggled and fell to the ground, a fast flying enchanted feathered arrow pierced its head, ending all kill.Holding the shortbow (he was still accustomed to using this weapon that had been with him for many years), Soldering led the soldiers out of the natural cover and walked towards the clearing in the forest, followed by Rebecca.

A rustling sound resounded around, and Soldering looked in the direction of the sound—those frightened ooze monsters were trying to escape from this place, but judging by the speed at which they squirmed, it would take a long time before they left the place of the soldiers. Line of sight.

"Wow——you guys are amazing," Rebecca praised with satisfaction as she watched the results of the battle, "We killed them all!"

"My soldiers are well-trained," Soldering smiled reservedly, "is it time to collect samples?"

"Ah, yes," Rebecca nodded, and the surrounding warriors immediately came to those beasts, ready to strip the samples according to the instructions, but then Rebecca waved her hand, "Go and catch those ooze monsters!" .”

"Go..." Soldering was stunned just after repeating a word, "Huh?"

"Catch the slime!" Rebecca blinked, "Why are you still standing there?"

Soldering was bewildered, but at any rate he ordered the steel rangers who were also bewildered to quickly execute the order - to catch the ooze monsters that were still slowly creeping towards the distance - and he After giving the order, he looked at Rebecca in confusion: "You brought us here... just to catch those slime monsters?"

Rebecca nodded, "Yes."

For the first time, Solderling felt that his brain was not enough: "What's the use of grabbing that thing?"

"As long as you use it properly, even an ooze monster has its own value," Rebecca said mysteriously, her eyes fell on the Iron Ranger fighters in the distance - they easily caught I saw those low-level monsters crawling around in the mud, but they looked quite embarrassed because they were covered in mud, "In your eyes, the ooze monster is just a pool of moving mud, but in my eyes... ...they might be industrial raw materials."

"Industrial raw materials..." Solderin couldn't connect the useless ooze monster with the magical magic industry, but looking at Rebecca's shining eyes, he was inexplicably I felt a kind of persistent power, so that I didn't say any more doubts, "Okay, I look forward to your results. But the slime monster caught it... What about these beasts?"

Rebecca looked around at the dead ferocious monsters (although they were super fierce, but they died unjustly), and thought for a while: "Can I eat it?"

"...Although I haven't eaten it, it is said that the ribs of the beast are delicious, and the bone stew is very nourishing."

"Then cut a part and take it back," Rebecca slapped her hands, "I'm going to make soup for the ancestors!"