In the Lundberg base, Gawain met the group of royal soldiers rescued by Solderlin.
Leading these soldiers is a northerner of medium build, short brown hair, and a high nose. He has replaced his original broken armor and put on comfortable clothes provided by the base. Although his face is still There is still a trace of fatigue, but his mental state has obviously improved a lot.
When Gawain walked into the slightly crude barracks, the knight who had escaped from death immediately stood up. He led several soldiers with slightly confused faces beside him, who were slightly nervous. He bent down and saluted in panic: "Sir, I am Barna Mitchell from the royal capital. My soldiers and I are very grateful for your generous shelter..."
"Please sit down, Mitchell." Mr. Er, I have some questions to ask you." Gawain gestured to the knight in front of him to sit down, and he casually sat on the chair next to him. "First of all, introduce yourself - you should be able to guess, I am Gawain Ser. Cyr."
This is the legendary knight who only appeared in legends and historians' books a few years ago. Now he has returned from the kingdom of the dead and once again took charge of the rule of the South. who.
The nobles of the royal capital have all kinds of descriptions and speculations about the southern ruler. Most people choose to stay away from him, a few people regard him as a threat, a very few people harbor the malicious intentions of conspiracy theorists, and almost One thing everyone recognizes is that this legendary pioneer is out of tune with this era - he has the arrogance of the Gondor people, the ruggedness of the pioneers, the savagery of the first generation of nobles, and the unreasonableness of those who have risen from the dead. This is what comes from All the impressions Barna Mitchell of the Royal Capital has established on Gawain Cecil in his own social circle.
Mitchell briefly looked at the legendary Duke in front of him with the most impolite look. When the look was about to exceed the rules, he lowered his eyes and made a gesture of waiting for instructions.
The pioneering hero in front of us did not wear strange clothes that were not in line with the times, nor did he exude a disturbing atmosphere. He was just as recorded in the most orthodox history books, tall, majestic, and wearing armor, as if Always on the battlefield, his eyes are sharp, but not cold.
“Are you used to living here?”
This first question was a bit beyond Mitchell’s expectations. He was stunned for a moment and quickly answered: “Yes, thank you. The comfortable environment you provided..."
There is clean hot water, a clean room, clothes, food and precious medicines, and most importantly, safety - just recovered from a desperate situation. It is really impossible for those who escaped to complain about such an environment.
"Very good," Gawain nodded slightly, "I want to know the specific situation of the 'Crystal Infection' and the final breakout route of the northern armies..."
...
On the outskirts of Pompeii, a temporary camp was set up.
Barbed wire fences and repeating gun towers are stacked on top of each other. Heavily armed soldiers are guarding the surroundings at sentry posts, inside and outside the camp, with overt or covert magic monitoring and warning equipment.The equipment was humming. Although the camp itself was not big, the astonishing level of protection made it look like a fortress armed to the teeth.
There is only one reason for such strict protection: this is the place where the pollution of gods is studied.
Deep in the camp, in a spacious and bright laboratory, Kamel is suspended ten centimeters above the ground. On the platform in front of him, there is a shield-generating device and solid steel bars. The cage composed of bars is firmly embedded on a base made of reinforced concrete. Inside the cage is the core of the laboratory's mission - a creature that has completely mutated and lost human cognition. Crystal Giant.
The huge three-meter-high humanoid creature stood quietly behind a solid barrier composed of energy shields and physical fences. It was not at all as violent as the "monster" that most people recognized. In fact, it was On the contrary: its eyes were calm and rational, even with a kind of detachment. It stared at the great mage outside the barrier without saying a word.
"I heard Pitman say that you refused to talk to the 'weak old-time humans'," Kamel drifted closer and hummed, "So I came - I'm curious. , in your perception, my form is not considered the old era."
The Cluster Giant did not respond.
"It seems that you still refuse to talk - do you think anyone will come to save you? This is far away from the front line, and you are far away from your deformed compatriots..." Kamel continued, "I I know that you are rational, you can still think, but you have been replaced with a new world view. In your perception, perhaps the crystal cluster infection is a normal life form, and uninfected humans are actually some kind of human beings. It's a disease... But what I'm curious about is, after going through such a transformation, do you still remember your thoughts and emotions when you were a human being..."
In another After a round of silence, the giant finally spoke, with a low tremor in his voice: "When the new era comes, you will realize the shortcomings of pure flesh and blood - extinction will come naturally, and we are helping ...You."
The giant was obviously a little hesitant when it said the last word, because it was not sure whether the floating luminous spirit in front of it should be included in the category of "you". .
No matter how you look at it, Kamel doesn’t seem to have human organs that can be mutated...
Kamel doesn’t care about the sensational parts of the other party’s words, he just uses Two groups of shining arcane light stared at the mutant in front of them, with a low voice: "What you call a new era is the demonic tide."
The crystal cluster giant waited in silence.
"As far as I know, individuals with special powers and complete sanity like you belong to the commanders of the 'Crystal Giants', and the remaining Druid dark spells on your body indicate that you were originally supposed to be A priest of the Church of the Death of All Things - or a martyr"
"..."
"You were once.Which class does it belong to in the Society for the Death of All Things? Imam? Or a lower-level blighted priest? Or a herder? "
"..."
"Where did you get the information about the demonic tide? "Why are you so sure that you can survive the demonic tide by changing into this form?" "Have you ever heard of the word 'god'?" Do you know its meaning? "Where did you get this transformation technology?" "
Kamail's questions came one after another, but the cluster giant never said a word. Finally, after a period of even more unbearable silence, Kamel suddenly said: "Do you know? , this road was also traveled by the Gondor Empire back then - I was a member of this plan. I witnessed its failure with my own eyes, and your self-proclaimed evolved form is just the first failed plan we eliminated..."
He thought that such words would touch the prisoner in front of him to some extent, but that The Crystal Giant just looked over calmly, and said after a moment: "I have heard that a Gondor-era fortress was unearthed in the south..." For your I'm not surprised at all.
"But you got one thing wrong. Ancient Magisters, your failure was not due to technical factors or problems with this route.
"Your failure is because your disobedience was not thorough enough..."
After saying this, the cluster giant retreated two steps and returned to the cage. In the middle, he sat down and refused to accept any conversation.
Kammel’s efforts were fruitless and he finally left the laboratory helplessly.
Outside the laboratory, Pittman, who was wearing a gray robe, and several researchers had been waiting for a long time.
"It said a few words to me, but almost no useful information was revealed," Kamel sighed and said to Pittman, "As you judged before, this kind of command Most of the top-level crystal cluster giants were transformed from die-hard martyrs of the Society for the Death of All Things. They maintain control of the cluster army in this way, and the mouths of such fanatics are almost impossible to pry open.
"As the Crystal Cluster Legion expands, sooner or later they will select new commanders from the extraordinary beings who have accepted the transformation. The mouths of such commanders should be able to be pried open, so we don't have to worry," Pittman said, Then he seemed to notice something strange about Kamel's mood, "What else did he tell you? You don't look good..."
Kamel was surprised: "You can tell that I His face?"
"You can't tell, the color is quite obvious, it's quite green now..."
"...It's nothing serious, it's just the last thing the guy said. It makes me a little concerned," Kamel shook his head. "The Society for the Death of All Things indeed got part of the legacy of the 'Disobedience' plan. They created the evil in the process of continuing to implement this plan, but that crystal cluster The Giants said they were doing something more 'rebellious'... I don't understand what that means."
"Can it be more 'rebellious'?" Pitman raised his eyebrows., although he was once a member of the Society for the Death of All Things, but he obviously did not understand the evil plan of the Society for the Death of All Things. “Back then, you dug up the grave of the God of Nature, cut off the flesh, and cut off the god. The flesh of the blood god has been refined into medicine to vaccinate the whole country. Is there anyone in the world who is more rebellious than you? Even if they really created a false god, in my opinion, they are not as rebellious as you..."
"So I can't understand," Kamel said hummingly, and then shook his head, "What about you? What are the results of your experiment?"
"Transform ordinary people into After the cluster-infected persons were isolated from the 'commander', all the experimental subjects showed obvious signs of weakness and stagnant activity, and the remaining thinking ability was rapidly disappearing. It seemed that the mental activities of the lower-level cluster-infected persons must be relied on Only a 'commander' can maintain it..." Pitman spread his hands and sighed, "In short, it is hopeless - the mutations from body to spirit are irreversible. But those who have not mutated yet, just. Individuals carrying the infection may still be able to be saved. The most recent batch of infected people sent here are now in very stable condition. Conventional methods for treating plague and curses are useful for them. I am looking for the most effective purification plan and what causes them to die. The key reason why 'carriers' mutate into 'mutants'"
...
In Cecil City, a spring rain washed away the rows of rooftops and criss-crossing streets. , in the gradually dimming skylight, the city is still as prosperous as daylight.
A graceful snake tail climbed up the tallest Magic Network broadcasting tower in the city, wrapping around the amplifier antenna at the top of the broadcasting tower. Till's body clung to the magical mechanism made of steel, and she leaned out , his eyes swept across the distant city, past the factory workshops that had lights on and were running around the clock.
The war is spreading in the far north. Although the land of Cecil Principality is still safe, the impact of the war will still penetrate into all aspects of people's lives. People began to discuss the war in pubs and coffeehouses, news and commentaries from the north began to appear frequently in newspapers, and factories, which had entered the so-called "wartime state", were operating with unprecedented efficiency.
Countless war machines lined up to leave the workshop. The gears and bearings had not yet cooled down before they roared to the front line. The technicians, doctors and non-commissioned officers who had just graduated from various colleges were full of energy and went to their respective places. position and life; because it did not face the war directly, the commercial operation within the principality was not affected at all, but became more prosperous than before. This city, which is driven by the power of magic industry, is so vibrant and endearing that even the lazy Tire can’t help but be aroused by it and stir up some reveries about the Kraken’s hometown——
Tear doesn’t know what the Kraken’s hometown looks like. She was a new generation born after the Antavien crash-landed in this world. After the “Great Crash”, the Kraken Empire has declined. , no longer regains its former glory, but in the teaching machine, in the broken data stored in the memory chip, in ancient timesWhen the old siren recounted their distant and vague memories, Tyr heard the description of his hometown more than once -
It was a vibrant world with oceans covering the entire planet. Deep in the sea, the world of Kraken is prosperous. Machines run day and night. Cities controlled by artificial intelligence shine on the seabed. Undersea trains gallop between trenches and ridges. Aircrafts jump out of the water from the deep sea. Satellites Clusters and orbital facilities surround the planet, overlooking the beautiful water world...
The Krakens may really not be able to go back.
But Tyr's eyes swept over Cecil - these creatures on the land, they have a hometown, and they are building this place with enthusiasm.
Maybe one day, they will build this place as beautiful as that "Beautiful Water World".
The lost siren took a gentle breath, opened his mouth, and sang softly.
The invisible power is soaked in this ethereal song, shaking the surrounding magic, shaking the amplifier antenna of the broadcast tower, shaking Cecil's magic network - and then passing through Cecil-Black Forest - Countless relay towers between the Magnificent Wall, shaking the Sentinel Tower, shaking the Magnificent Wall.
The song rides on the ripples of space, spanning endless storms and oceans.
In the eastern part of the Endless Sea, the Siren City "Antavien" has been bathed in starlight. The night watch listeners looked at the strange frequency that suddenly jumped out on the communicator in surprise.
A moment later, a deep-sea maid swung her fish tail and swam into Queen Petia's bedroom -
"Your Majesty! The missing Tide Master has been found. She She traveled in the wrong direction when she returned, and is now in the Western Continent!
“She found human allies there!
"She asked you if you want some cookies?"