When the rising sun shines on the earth, the city that has been sleeping in the night gradually wakes up. The light golden sun with a hint of bright red slants across the undulating boundaries of the dark mountains, casting a continuous line between the plains and hills. And the brilliant light and shadow, the intersection line of light and shadow gradually moved to the tallest tower of the Imperial College, and a majestic and solemn bell rang just at this time.
The magic mechanism drives the gears and levers in the tower, the rotating bearings pull the chain made of fine steel, the counterweight swings in the bell tower, and the sound of the bells floats in waves, first of all What woke up was the Imperial College, and then gradually the streets, squares, houses and shops around the college woke up...
Several bell towers in the city rang, and soon, something different from the bells A loud, clearer and more urgent ringtone appeared again in the streets and alleys.
Children and young people wearing felt hats and short coats set off from various post offices and newspaper distribution points, riding "two-wheeled bicycles" that have become increasingly popular in Cecil recently. On every street, those crisp car bells are the second "alarm clock" that wakes up the city.
They are the newsboys and postmen of this city. In most modern cities in Cecil, the citizens’ whole day life basically starts with the crisp ringing of these newsboys and postmen. .
Sir Gorosh put on casual clothes and walked on the streets of this foreign city with Asarena, who was also dressed in casual clothes. They looked at the entire city in the early morning sunshine. Waking up from their slumber, the two dragonborn were surrounded by buildings and residents that were completely different from Longlin Castle.
"There is a book in the room I live in now, which describes the city like this - Cecil City wakes up in the morning with the 'sound' of modern industry, the sound of mechanically driven bells , the bell of the two-wheeled vehicle, the whistle of the public magic vehicle..." Sir Gorosh said casually, "Now it seems that you can only understand the meaning of these sentences by seeing them with your own eyes."
" The human world in my memory is not so prosperous and...fast," Asarena shook her head, "Of course, it feels good like this now."
A crisp and slightly childish voice came from the side. came, interrupting the conversation between the two dragonborns: "Sir, madam, would you like a newspaper? The latest news, the most interesting news! Only two ells! Two copies for three ells!"
Sir Gorosh turned around and saw a boy wearing a dark blue plaid coat standing in front of him. The boy had a beaming smile on his face, his eyes were big and bright, and the large satchel on his waist was full. It's full of newspapers.
Ah, another "Cecil View" that cannot be seen anywhere else.
Jazz laughed and couldn't help but asked casually: "What is the biggest news?"
"The Empire and the Holy Dragon Principality are about to establish diplomatic relations, sir!" The boy was happy He said quietly, raising a newspaper in his hand, "The meeting in the big chamber has ended successfully, and we now have another ally - maybe we can expect some friends from far away soon.Specialties from the north, or a new market - there are many more! Come on, sir, you seem to be a person who cares about current affairs. You can't miss more big news in this newspaper! "
A trace of surprise flashed in Sir Gorosh's eyes. He was briefly stunned. Asarena next to him had already taken out two coins - Cecil's new coins. She smiled. He handed it over: "A newspaper, handsome young man. "
"Thank you, madam~"
The boy selling the newspaper ran away, and Asalena waved the still-bringing newspaper in front of Gorosh's eyes as if showing off a trophy. There was a newspaper with the fragrance of ink, and a smile on his face: "Now we are all part of the news, Sir. "
"...What word did you use just now? Ah, 'Quick'," Gorosh had a dumbfounded expression on his face. He spread his hands and glanced at the newspaper, "It just happened yesterday... Even the children know about it now. "
"...The negotiations lasted for nearly a week, and the inclusive and frank attitude allowed the two countries to finally come together, and the empire will work with new allies in the economic and cultural fields..." Asarena He scanned the headlines on the front page of the newspaper, read a few sentences casually, and showed a slightly emotional expression, "Twenty years ago, a human lord would hire twenty spies and assassins to spy on such a piece of 'intelligence'. Use hundreds of silver coins to bribe the cooks and maids in the opponent's castle..."
"There will still be rulers who do similar things, but the things they want to spy on must have changed," Goro Shi said casually, and then glanced at Asarena, "But you are quite familiar with the 'market' in this area back then. ”
“I did similar work when I was a mercenary - working for the nobles made me money quickly, but Byron didn’t support his partners in dealing with the nobles. He was more interested in hunting monsters. And collecting precious materials for the mages," Asarena said, shaking her head, "But no matter what job you do, it is a time of freedom. Dealing with monsters in the mountains is better than dealing with those shrewd and cunning Sai. Dealing with Cyr diplomats was much easier. "
Sir Gorosh laughed: "Anyway, it's finally over. We have opened the door. The dragonborn will enjoy the industrial products of the human world and be exposed to new knowledge and new knowledge. technology, and humanity would gain a northern market—and more importantly, a powerful ally. "
......
Hetty walked into the study room with blue carpets. Bright sunlight was shining in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows. She saw the burly man The ancestor was standing in front of the window, and the sunlight cast a layer of glow on his tall figure.
"Ancestor," the eldest princess of the empire lowered her head and said respectfully and gently, "and the Holy Dragon. The principal's business adjustment plan has been drawn up. "
Gawain nodded slightly: "Well, let's leave it to Padrick to implement according to the results of the last meeting. ”
Hetty came to Gawain and watched with himLooking out the window - against the background of the increasingly bright skylight, several dark figures appeared in the southeastern sky. The silhouette of two cone-shaped aircraft and a flying dragon were flying from east to west along the border of the dark mountains.
"Today the flight technology team has a series of test projects - Rebecca is leading her team to collect more data on Steel Wings and accumulate more information for subsequent mass production versions."
"We finally got the Dragonborn on board this ship..." Gawain said softly.
"Yes, it's unimaginable... we will have an army of dragons," even at this time, Hetty's voice could not help but contain a hint of disbelief, "Frankly speaking, even if the Wings of Steel On the day the test flight was successful, I didn’t even dare to imagine that this thing would really succeed..."
"Don’t take it too seriously, Hetty," Gawain turned his head, "The armed dragonborn might They are very powerful, but they are not Cecils. No part of the empire's military force can completely rely on foreign mercenaries - not to mention that these mercenaries are very expensive and not in large numbers. Our own air combat troops are in the empire's sky. Basically, Dragonborn is just a support."
Heti immediately lowered his head: "Yes, ancestor, I will remember your teachings."
"Don't be so serious." Looking at Hetty, who was always so serious, Gawain couldn't help but shook his head, "You can't get married if you are always so tight."
"Ancestor...?"
"Don't be so nervous, I'm just kidding you to relax," Gawain laughed, "Oh...it would be great if you could balance it with Rebecca. As a transcendent, you are actually still young, but you are Too mature, Rebecca has grown up a lot over the years, but her character is always so reckless.”
Hetty wanted to say that her ancestor’s joke made her even more nervous, but she didn’t. Afraid of accidentally bringing the topic back to the direction of "you are no longer young", I had to quickly change the topic in another direction: "You value the relationship with the Holy Dragon Principality so much... is it because you consider the Dragon Clan? Are you making some kind of 'preparations'?"
"There is a reason for this," Gawain saw Hetty's little intention to change the subject, but did not point it out, "The Dragonborn claimed to be exiled. Judging from their current situation, this is indeed the case for deformed people. Even most of the Dragonborn seem to think so. However, I feel that...the relationship between them and the Dragon Clan is not that simple.
“From Melita Purnia’s attitude towards the dragonborn, and from what I observed about the strange state of the dragonborn themselves, I think there is another hidden reason behind this ‘exile’.
"According to my guess, the top ruler of the Dragonborn, the Dragon-Blooded Grand Duke, and the group called the 'Dragon-Blooded Council' should have some understanding of this. It’s just that for some reason, this secret is not made public.
“At this stage, we are not able to investigate anything, but at least there is no harm in having a good relationship with the Dragonborn - in the future. One day, this orIt may also produce unexpected effects.
"Of course, there are other reasons besides that that force me to pay attention to the Holy Dragon Principality."
Heti blinked and quickly reacted: "You mean... …They rejected a lot of your initial proposals, and then re-adjusted many of the contents of the business cooperation?”
Gao Wen nodded slightly.
"What Rosetta Augustus couldn't see, they could see," he said solemnly, "This is obviously not because the emperor of Typhon is stupid - but because the dragon The descendants exceeded my expectations.
“The so-called ‘closed and exclusive, closed in the mountains and glaciers’ are all false.
“Dragonborn have a very long lifespan, and it seems that the closer their bloodline is to the original dragon race, the longer their lifespan is. For a race with such a long life, their civilization may be slow, but they will never be closed-minded and ignorant—— Even if they only look outside occasionally, the long years are enough for them to accumulate enough wisdom and experience.
“The change of human dynasties is as fast as a drama on the stage in the eyes of these long-lived races. , as soon as a scene has passed, a dynasty has passed. And if they still have a secret card that is enough to fight against the demonic tide, then they have definitely seen much more 'drama' than you and I imagine.
“Our magic technology and marketing plan may be novelties to them, but many of our ideas are probably not new in their eyes.
“Facing With such a race, we can no longer use the same method of thinking when dealing with Typhon and the Ogure tribe..."
Listening to Gawain's unhurried words, Hettil said: Thinking and understanding: "Because it can't be collected? "
Gawain: "...it's not your style to talk like this. Where did you hear it? "
Hetty quickly lowered her head: "Amber said she compiled a set of nouns created by you, which can be used in various situations related to new things..."
Gowen The corners of his eyes twitched: "Don't learn from her in the future, sooner or later I will find out all the little notebooks she hid and burn them. "
Then he cleared his throat to resolve the moment of embarrassment: "In short, the Dragonborn are a group worthy of attention - even though they call themselves a 'principal', few people in this world should despise them. Such a 'principality'. They can be troublesome as enemies, but if they can be brought together, they can be extremely valuable allies.
“This kind of alliance is worth spending more sincerity and cost to maintain.”
“Yes,” Hetty replied seriously, “I will keep it in mind. "
Gao Wen nodded with satisfaction, then glanced at the mechanical clock on the wall next to him, and said thoughtfully: "According to the schedule, I should go to the acceptance calculation center today..."
p>"Yes, there is still half an hour before departure," Hetty replied, "Yuri is already ready."
Gawain hummed and turned his head , his eyes glanced at a map on the desk not far away, and collected it.After looking back, he said casually: "Go and make arrangements, we are ready to go."
Gawain and Hetty left the study.
On the large wooden desk, a map depicting the entire Cecil Empire was spread out quietly.
On the map, strange tower-shaped icons are depicted at key locations in the South, North, East, West and Holy Spirit Plains. There are also smaller icons drawn around those towers, red. Lines connect each node like spider silk.
The main hub of the south, the main hub of the north...the imperial capital control center...the main hub of Thorin, the main hub of Saint-Sunil...
At the bottom of the map, a line of handwritten letters is It seems to be glowing under the sunlight:
The Empire's Magic Network Global Connection Plan.