Chapter 1297： Winter is here

A pleasant ringtone like a wind chime came from the nerve link, and Belcetia, who was sitting on the seat of dominance, slowly opened her eyes.

There is not much activity in the huge control hall at this moment. The Temple of Stars, which is cruising in low-power mode, is slowly returning from the border area of ​​the Gaoling Kingdom, among the graceful supporting structures with pale golden arcs on the edge of the hall. , A faint light stream is flowing slowly, among the low and soothing mechanical vibrations, occasionally a slight buzzing from a certain system can be heard,

And compared to the sounds that human ears can hear, Bersetia can hear the deeper "echoes" of the temple from the nerve links directly connected to the core of the fortress: the echoes sound low, gentle and gentle.

Since Master Verania led the astrologists to overhaul the depths of the Temple of the Stars, replacing those ancient systems that have completely failed with new energy arrays, this place has experienced thousands of years of wind. The wind and rain of the ancient aerospace fortress finally broke away from the countdown of continuous decay and collapse. The overwhelmed energy system had a chance to take a breather, and the anti-gravity engine group that was overloaded all year round also gained auxiliary power. Improvement—In Belsetia's memory, this is almost the lowest and comfortable whisper of this fortress that she has heard from the nerve link since she sat on the seat of dominance.

But she knows that this relief is still only temporary... The Temple of Stars is too old, and the problem it faces is far from being repairable by replacing a part of the energy array and engine. Although the magical technology is useful, it is by no means a panacea.

The technicians have delayed time for this aerial fortress-it is only time delayed, someday the elves will still have to find a way to find a really long way.

But that is not something to be considered now.

Belsetia gently rubbed her forehead, so that the perception of "dislocation" due to the long-term connection to the temple system was restored a little bit, and at the same time looked at the maid Elaine who was standing next to her: "Time is almost up-let the unrelated personnel retreat. under."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Elaine, the personal maid, responded softly, then turned and waved to the attendants under the throne and the royal guards outside the inner ring. The personnel who received the instruction immediately saluted the seat of dominance, and then They filed out in order, and in a short period of time, only the Silver Queen on the throne and the maid Elaine on the throne were left in this huge control hall, as well as a large number of fortress monitoring systems that were running automatically.

"The main control is transferred to the self-discipline mode, and continue to cruise at low speed." Bersetia gave orders to the control system of the Temple of Stars in her mind, and then curled her fingers to gently tap the armrest of the throne, a nerve connected to the throne. The cables brightened, the lights in the control hall dimmed, and windows were quietly closed and locked. In the next second, the floor in front of the throne slid to the sides with a slight rubbing sound, and a crystal altar-like The communication device rose from it.

The device was activated, and the responsible crystal array embedded on the top quickly became bright, and two beams of light were released from it, forming a clear magical projection in mid-air. The figures of Gawain Cecil and Rosetta Augustus appeared Projecting.

"Very well, the meeting started as scheduled." Gawain looked at the two figures in front of him. He was sitting in his study at the moment, while images of Belcetia and Rosetta were sitting opposite him, except for the edges of the screen. Except for a little light trembling, this feeling is almost the same as talking face to face, "Good afternoon, two."

The three empire leaders greeted each other without any excessive greetings. Rosetta Augustus, who was thin, black-haired and black-eyed, immediately spoke directly: "I heard you are exploring the Kingdom of God of War by yourself. When I boarded an ancient spacecraft to the depths of the'deep sea', and returned to this world two days later, now you convene this meeting for the first time...what did you find?"

"That ship is a legacy left by the sailor, belonging to an ancient guard system called the'sentinel'," Gao Wen didn't hide it, and said directly-the matter about the sailor was once a secret under the sole control of the Cecil Empire. Intelligence, but with the establishment of the alliance and changes in the world situation, especially the imminent common threats faced by mortal nations, this part of the content has now been made public among the alliance members, and according to the weight of each country, each country has a different control. Information about the sailors to a degree, and among the three empires, this part of intelligence is shared in accordance with the highest standards. "I think you are not unfamiliar with the warning of'careful sentry'-yes, that's that." sentinel'."

Gawain told everything he had seen in the depths of the sea, the intelligence he had obtained in the sentry home port, and his observations and speculations about the strange situation of the spacecraft—in the face of a crisis that could threaten the world. , This information is not necessary to be hidden, and to clarify the critical situation of the matter can more effectively enable the comrades on the same front to come up with sufficient strength.

In the process of Gawain’s narration, Rosetta and Bersetia’s expressions remained solemn and solemn almost all the time. Their brows were furrowed, and they listened without falling to the floor. Only occasionally would they speak out because of doubts. Interrupt, until Gawain's narration came to an end and calm in the communication system was restored, Bersetia broke the silence first: "So not long ago, the sea monsters salvaged the'mysterious cube' from the deep blue network. It is very likely that they are sentinels. A signal to act?"

"If we only suspected that the activities of the wasteland cultists were related to the Deep Blue Netway before then, now we can almost be sure that the'sentinel' is behind this incident," Gawain nodded and said, "It The cubes thrown are likely to be some kind of magic control device. A large number of that device will form a huge system in the deep blue network. Once that thing takes shape, then the sentry and the cult controlled by the sentry will almost control ours. The lifeblood of this planet-its danger does not need to be emphasized by me."

Rosetta Augustus looked at Gawain: "Then what are your thoughts on this?"

"To mobilize all the power we can use to the foot of the magnificent wall, now is not the time to continue to preserve power. After the border defense line is completed, immediately let the various advance bases march into the wasteland, build bridgeheads in the contaminated area, and start searching Traces of those cultists. At the same time...find a way to get in touch with the Wasteland Center."

"Get in touch with the Wasteland Center?" Bersetia couldn't help but frowned. Gawain's last sentence obviously caught her attention, "What can be there..."

Gawain's gaze slowly swept over the Empress Silver and Emperor Typhon. After a moment of silence, he slowly said in a low voice: "The last legion of the ancient Gondor Empire... is still in the ruins of the Deep Blue Well. They will be our firmest allies when we counterattack the wasteland."

Bersetia's eyes widened in an instant, and she subconsciously looked at Rosetta Augustus, but from the face of this serious middle-aged human who was always stern, she also saw a shocked expression similar to her own. It took more than ten seconds before she heard Rosetta speak: "I can't remember how many times I have been shocked by you, my Majesty Gawain—how many secrets are you still hiding?"

"That's too much, Augustus, who has no secrets?" Gawain opened his hands and said, "But the secrets in us people should ultimately serve the safety of this world and the survival of all mortals, just like Now, we are facing the biggest security problem in the world."

Bersetia quietly stared at Gawain in the holographic projection, and then slightly adjusted her posture, leaning her upper body forward: "I agree with this statement."

…

Winter is here, and the cold wind dominates the lofty mountains in the north. With the expansion of the snow belts of several major mountain peaks, the city at the foot of the winter castle walls has gradually become one with this icy world. In the snow, the land protected by the Wilde family for hundreds of years has been wrapped in pure white—and this is the most familiar scenery in Victoria, which was born and raised in Winterberg.

She stood on the terrace at the highest point of the Winter Fort, letting the cold wind whizz by her side, snow was blown down from the high tower, and it was blowing up outside the terrace. She turned her head and looked towards the station. An extremely rare smile appeared on the face of the old man beside him: "This mountain and the vast fields and valleys outside the mountains are the refuge of the Wilde family for generations-of course, with the establishment of the Cecil Empire, The new order began to be implemented. The old land aristocratic system has been disintegrated on this land. The mountains in the north now belong to all the people living on this land. The administrative office authorized by the empire is responsible for managing this land. As one of the three governors of the empire, I have returned the ownership of all northern lands except Winter Fort."

Modil Wilde walked to the edge of the terrace and carefully poked his head and glanced down. He saw the city built on the hillside extending in his field of vision. There was smoke rising from the city, shining with a faintly gleaming giant guard. The shield enveloped all the crowded places. He knew that he should have seen this scenery before, but he searched his memory and couldn't find a trace of this scenery.

So in the end he could only shook his head, gave up the meaningless memories, and asked curiously: "But you still seem to be in charge of managing parts of this place?"

"This is one of my work as the Grand Archon, and each Archon is responsible for a'province directly under the Central Government' that is the center of the imperial industry and military," Victoria explained. "I am in the central province of the North. The power to issue orders comes from the authorization of the empire, not from my innate power over these lands-in fact, the next Northern Archon may not even have the surname'Wild', and my family heirs can inherit from me , Besides the title, there are only family properties such as the castle at your feet."

Modil has never been exposed to this level of things, at least in his memory. Listening to Victoria’s explanation at this moment, he was both curious and surprised, and after a moment of thinking, he said seriously: "Then your Does the heir have no opinion on such a thing?"

"We had a frank and in-depth exchange, and he had no opinion on it," Victoria said seriously. "In fact, Fendier is a very good young man. He has the keen thinking and accepting ability unique to young people. He understands the necessity of the new order very well, and is willing to embrace His Majesty’s New Deal-don’t you know it? He entered the Imperial Academy for advanced studies a long time ago, and graduated from the Non-commissioned Academy with very good grades. Now he has taken the initiative Please go to the wasteland border in the south and prepare to take his first step as a soldier there."

The duchess, who always had a cold face in front of outsiders, said, with a slight smile on her face: "I believe he will use his abilities to gain a place in the empire for himself, instead of inheriting something from me. Other than titles and castles... this is also the way out of his own choice."

Having said that, she stopped, and after a few seconds, she continued thinking slowly: "It is not easy for the remaining nobles who survived the drastic changes to accept this change, even if they have decided to stand by. The'right side', some things are worse than death for some people when it's really their turn, but if a family like Wilde is the first to stand up and use real actions to support your Majesty Decide, then things will become much easier, at least...we can drastically reduce the number of people hanging on the flagpole."

"...This is very good," Modil thought for a while, and said, "I mean the current order is very good-in Beigang, I have contacted the local government affairs office and procedures, and I have also communicated with local governments before. The nobles have dealt with, and the contrast between the two is obvious. Some stale things really need to be replaced by new things. There is nothing wrong with it."

After hearing this, Victoria looked at her ancestor quietly for a while, and then said in a weird tone: "In fact, I was worried that you would be angry just now-when I mentioned those'new orders', such as what I gave up Those lands and powers, such as the current changes in the Wilde family...I thought you would complain about the family’s "decline" in my hands."

Modil was taken aback, with a complicated expression on his face. He turned his head and glanced at the distant mountains and the smoke rising from the city in the mountains, before responding after a long silence: "I know what you mean, but... I don't feel it. This huge castle, these mountains and snow, and the "antiques" you showed me, you said there are many things in it, even the artifacts I used back then? But I still don't have any impression. I only remembered my first name and the origin of this surname, but my connection with this land... seems to have been completely separated into'another place'. Sorry, Victoria, my answer must be You are disappointed."

"No, don't say that," Victoria said immediately. "I don't mean anything else. I just hope you can have a better time here. If you really can't remember your impression of this place, you can also treat it as a place. A comfortable place to stay—every door here is still open for you, even if you don’t remember them."

"I'm very happy if you can say that," Modil laughed. "Actually, I am very happy to live here. Victoria, in the wilderness, there is no such good room here-and although I still can't remember myself I used to live here, but I still found something I like here, such as the soup from yesterday’s dinner. You said it was a traditional delicacy from the North. What is it called..."

"Mossack Assorted Soup."

"Oh yes, that's the bisque, I like the taste."

"Okay, I will tell the kitchen to make it again for dinner today."

"Very good," Modil said with a smile, "I think I can start with that bisque and treat this place as a ‘home’ again."

(End of this chapter)