The two young dragon descendants left, leaving only an ancient dragon who had completed mechanical immortality in the huge prototype room, and countless machines and equipment that accompanied the dragon.
Amidst the pleasant chirping sounds from various devices in the room, the golden dragon Andal slightly moved his head. Hundreds of alloy joints and electronic nerve bundles assisted him in completing this simple action. , his eyes turned to a crystal curtain in front of him, and a low voice, as if talking to himself, came from the speaker next to the platform: "What do you think of this?"
The channels around the platform The crystal curtain stopped refreshing data and images at the same time, and the flowing light spots quickly combined into clear images. Dragons full of majesty appeared on the thin display media - some of them maintained the power of the dragons. Some of the forms are human, some have been completely mechanically or electronically transformed like Andal, and some are young and natural.
The elders of the jury seemed to have been paying attention to what was happening in this room. When Andal finished speaking, a blue dragon immediately answered: "The development path of civilization this season and The scope of change is indeed greater than before, but we have no way of determining their final outcome. In view of Tallond's special situation, we can only wait and see."
"We have been waiting and watching for hundreds of thousands of years, so to speak. The civilization that originally had some hope perished while we watched," another dragon couldn't help but said, "Maybe we should take some positive measures this time."
" We must be alert to the lessons brought by the rebellion against the tide. All our positive actions may lead to greater counterattacks..."
The rebellion against the tide seems to be a handle that will always hang over the dragon clan's head. Sharp sword, when the word was spoken, even Speaker Andal narrowed his eyes slightly.
In the brief silence, another elder broke the silence: "The Silver Empire of the elves once reached a technological critical point, and the God of Nature who had the greatest influence on them has fallen. I think the Silver Empire is The most noteworthy of all variables..."
"But the elves have the same flaws as us, they have difficulty breaking through the lock...their average lifespan is too long."
Listening to the conversation of the panel members, Speaker Andal just closed his eyes slightly and said nothing. It was not until the discussion around him gradually subsided that he opened his eyelids and looked forward slightly: "Omega, what are you talking about? What is the estimated value of the Silver Empire?"
The discussion in the room fell silent for a while, and a crystal curtain in front of Andal suddenly dimmed, and then an image of a ring that was constantly breaking and reorganizing emerged. On the display medium, accompanied by a mechanized synthesized voice: "...0.33 percent, Andal."
"Where is the new Cecil Empire?"< /p>
"Insufficient data, unable to estimate, Andal."
"What was the highest estimated value of the Gondor Empire back then?"
"Query historical data... 0.42%."
Andal expressed his gratitude. After Omega's data connection returned to standby, the ancient The dragon raised his eyes and looked around.
"It is too early to discuss the final assessment now. Friends, whether it is the Silver Empire or the Cecil Empire, if they want to become a 'variable', they must at least survive first."
As Andal spoke, his mind reflected on the changes in the situation in the Loren continent countries that had been reported back by agents at all levels in the recent period.
A new Cecil Empire that is in urgent need of recuperation, and a Typhon Empire that has reached a critical stage of development and is in urgent need of breaking through its bottlenecks.
In the world outside Tallond, changes never stop. In the land dominated by humans, dynasties change and countries change. In this fierce and turbulent year of the turn of the era, can the new country survive? Come down? Or... it will become the nourishment of another huge empire...
...
At the border of Cecil Empire, Changfeng Fortress, Commander Maryland led his most trusted lieutenants We arrived at the military barracks area on the south side of the castle area.
Several groups of new recruits are lining up for training in the open space outside the castle. These farmers who were recruited from the fields were summoned to an open space by their instructors and carried out some of the most basic orders from morning to night - lining up in an orderly manner. , walk in line, stop, look left or right, turn around, walk in line again... The training lasts for several hours, and it goes on for several days.
They were trained by Cecil Corps instructors from the south. These instructors had experienced the most severe battlefield test on the Holy Spirit Plains, but what they had to face here was another kind of test: poor discipline. The ignorant Eastern Region conscripts are duller than stones. They can't even tell the difference between their left and right feet, let alone understand the instructor's orders. Letting them march in formation is a test for everyone - everyone here, including Acceptance The soldiers who trained also included the instructors who performed the training, and even veterans and commanders of other companies who were watching the process.
But the instructors still have full patience and various effective methods: in this era of extreme poverty for the bottom farmers, the reward of an egg or a bowl of meat porridge is enough to make those stupid conscripts immerse themselves in training. Throughout the day, various simplified instructions and clumsy methods of memorizing instructions allowed the illiterate soldiers to understand the commander's intentions as quickly as possible. When Maryland walked through the training ground, he saw a team The soldier was standing on a narrow slope. The instructor was holding a long bamboo pole and shouting commands to the left and right -
When you shout left, the bamboo pole will knock from the left side of the slope, and when you shout right, The bamboo pole will knock on the other side when the command is coming. If you lift your leg according to the order, you can avoid the knock. Soldiers who can't understand the order will roll down in confusion and beat for a whole day, and they will know where to go the next day.
If beating for one day doesn't work, then beat for two days. If it doesn't work for two days, then beat for three days.
The method is clumsy, but effective. Under the premise that most soldiers are illiterate, this can almost be said to be the most effective method.
The performance of those soldiers who have received training for about a week is obviously much better than that of the conscripts who have just arrived. They can at least keep walking in a straight line for one or two circles. , and almost never bump into each other when they stop and line up - this simple and low standard may be ridiculous in the eyes of a Cecil veteran, but Maryland knows what these draftees looked like when they first arrived, and even more Knowing how difficult it is for a group of illiterate soldiers to understand the two commands of "start and walk" and "stand still", in his opinion, those recruits who can walk in a straight line are already a miracle.
He saw the instructors leading the trainee recruits who could line up neatly around the edge of the playground, leading them with their heads held high past those who were still training "left" and "right" "In front of the conscripts, the former team all held their heads high because they had put on neat cloth training uniforms. The neat and uniform uniforms seemed to bring some incredible sense of pride to these recruits.
The initial sense of honor was established in the uniform and appearance on the training field.
Those uniform, crisp and handsome dark blue cloth training uniforms were issued recently. Ordinary fabrics cannot bring any battlefield protection like enchanted metal, but the imperial emblem on the training uniforms And the "unity" of a large number of uniforms is enough to bring some encouragement to the soldiers on the training ground. Even setting aside these two points, for the conscripts who mostly come from poor farmers, joining the army can get a strong and beautiful uniform. New clothes are a great thing in itself. Under normal circumstances, a poor farmer would not have new clothes to wear for a whole year.
Maryland heard from Philip that the cost of these uniforms was quite low. Part of the fabric used to make them came from textile mills in the south, and the other part came from Typhon. Driven by industrial production, the once expensive cloth And its products have already become cheap. In two years, more textile factories and garment factories will open all over the East (because there are large cotton fields in the East), and cheap ready-made clothes will soon be available on this land. Things that people can have, just like what has happened in the South.
"At least, these recruits already have a 'frame'," Maryland said to the people next to him after walking through the training ground, "This way they look like soldiers standing on the wall. , rather than a group of farmers who have just replaced their pitchforks with knives and guns.”
“The new training code can indeed help recruits master basic discipline in the shortest possible time, but it’s just a frame after all, and I don’t know. Can you scare the Typhons?" the adjutant said next to him. "The previous 'reinforcement' operation did have a certain effect, but it may have also aroused the suspicion of the Typhons. Recently, they have been frequently sending spies around the fortress. , seems to want to inquire further."
"It doesn't matter, there is more than one part of our plan..."
Maryland smiled and shook his head.With his head, he left the training ground with his cronies and returned to the private room in the castle. After excluding all irrelevant personnel except the adjutant, he opened his own special magic terminal...
...
Cecil City, Machinery Manufacturing Factory, on the central platform nicknamed the "Mechanical Throne", the round Nicholas Egg is floating in the center of his domain, controlling a lot of floating objects around him. parts, happily assembling various structures required by the blueprints, and the sounds of various machine tools and magic devices operating surrounded him. This sound that sounded almost like noise to ordinary people's ears, to him sounded like It's like some kind of rhythmic music that puts the ball in a good mood.
The most talked about topics among the mechanical bachelors and magic technicians in the manufacturing plant recently are the establishment of the empire and the impressive coronation ceremony. Passers-by in the city are also discussing it. Recent market changes and news on the radio, but Mr. Nicholas Egg is obviously not as interested in these things as machines and metals. He is more obsessed with the new blueprint for aircraft that Minister Rebecca recently sent to him, as well as the The construction plan of two armored trains "Iron Throne-Mortal Python", for him, there is really nothing more interesting than dealing with metals and machines.
But an unexpected communication interrupted his happy work plan today - a mechanical bachelor in work uniform hurried to the Mechanical Throne and shouted: "Director ! Your magic network communication!”
Nicholas Egg always muttered a few words, and the metal parts floating around him slowly fell to the ground. Yuantai, while telling the assistant beside him: "Don't move things here, I will come back and continue."
Leaving the busy workshop, Mr. Nicholas Egg came to the quiet communication room, the Magic Network Terminal The machine was flickering in the center of the room, and the figure of Maryland, the commander of Changfeng Fortress, appeared on the holographic projection.
Seeing the commander who had been looking for him to push for orders, the Iron Star took the initiative to say hello: "Oh, Maryland - the Iron Throne has been repaired, but we have to wait until the railway is laid. Drive to you."
"I know, I'm not here to rush the Iron Throne," the fortress commander in the holographic projection said with a smile, "I'm here to place a new order with you."< /p>
"Order?" The huge metal ball floated in mid-air, "What order?"
"Order a batch of magical armors and combat backpacks, as well as matching melting swords And the magic terminal, delivered within five days."
"Oh, it doesn't sound like a big problem. How much do you want?"
"Seven to eight thousand sets, ten to twenty thousand if possible. It’s not like I don’t have a set..."
Nicholas Danzong trembled and almost fell to the ground: "Oh my god, this ball will take off and land vertically and hit your head! Are you bored and want to play football?"
"I haven't finished yet," Maryland interrupted hurriedly, "I want it to be 'special'.”
“Specially made? What kind of special method? "
"As far as I know, the most complicated and time-consuming process of making magic armor and matching magic weapons should be the process of inscribing runes and inlaying crystals. Isn't that right? "
"Well...that's more or less it," Nicholas Egg calmed down from the frightening state just now. After realizing that the commander of the fortress opposite was not joking, he began to think seriously, "In addition, there are There is adjustment and testing of the calibration structure. In the case of magic terminals, the assembly of the internal movable mechanical structure is also a time-consuming process. This part of the process is still completed manually. ”
“What if we only make a set of shells? No runes, no inlaid crystals, no internal mechanical structures..."
"It's just like a stamped metal plate! "
With a smile on his face, Maryland nodded vigorously: "It can even be simpler. It can be molded in one step with iron sheet, or it can be processed into defective products that are ready to be re-melted, even if the quality is poor. Even if it can only be fixed with iron wire, I want it all. "
"...What are you going to do? "Nicholas Egg looked confused (although he still looked funny on the surface), "Wait a minute, does your order superior agree? "
"I have submitted an application to my superiors. You should receive the news before this evening. As for what I want to do..." Maryland smiled slightly, "I plan to dominate the country with thousands of troops... …”