The night is deep, but there are no stars in the sky, only mist hazily shrouding the entire city, making this huge imperial capital seem illusive and ethereal.
The weather has cooled down. Although there is still some time before the Frost Moon, in Aldernan, where fog is most likely to occur, fog has descended on the plains one step ahead. In the past week, ten There are five days of fog in the day - and judging from the climate in previous years, there will be more and more fog on the plains in the next half to a month.
Daniel put on a coat and left his room. He walked through the dark corridors of the mansion and strolled to the balcony, looking at Aldernan submerged in the mist in the distance. street.
The bright light of the magic crystal street lamp penetrated the fog and outlined various outlines in the night. There were silhouettes of buildings emerging in the darkness, and there were many windows with lights on. Patrolling soldiers with dogs passed by nearby streets and alleys, leaving a gradually lengthening shadow beside the street lamp.
This is a wealthy area, and its infrastructure and public security management are second to none in the entire city. However, in the civilian area a few blocks away, the number of security soldiers will be less than half, and the street lights are not as good as this. Bian Mingliang, as for the slum area... it is no different from a few years ago. At most, there are only a few new street lamps, and some of them have been destroyed by the local gangsters.
However, even so, ordinary people living in this city can still clearly feel that this place is gradually becoming more prosperous, and this era is becoming more prosperous - those who have the opportunity to go to the devil This is particularly felt by "citizens" who watch movies in theaters, buy imported food and shoes, and subscribe to fashionable magazines.
Daniel watched these being built bit by bit.
The old mage rubbed his fingers gently, and a nearly transparent shield enveloped him, creating a warm and comfortable small space in this cold autumn season. He raised his head Looking to the southwest, I saw bright lights lighting up deep in the night and fog, and a vague bustling noise came from that direction.
That's the neighborhood where the "Salon of Vernarion" is located. The visionary Count of Vernarion spent a lot of money to build the "upper world" where there are casinos, theaters, shops, and stock exchanges. , and the salon club as the core - the wealthy people of Aldernan, including the so-called "new bourgeois class", now regard it as their heaven on earth in this prosperous era, and they put some novel and Social activities with the theme of competing for financial resources and exquisite life are used as a means to show one's dignity, and they indulge in it endlessly. From the entrance to the exit of the Vana Lyon Salon District, wealthy citizens and small nobles can find a suitable place to spend their money. It is true. Incredible.
And just a block away from the bustling lights is the slums of Alder South. It is so dark that it seems to have disappeared from the night, with the occasional silhouette of a building emerging from the darkness.It's also as eerie as a ghost.
The "Fanalyon Salon" may be regarded as a microcosm of the rapidly expanding "new wealth group" in Aldernan. However, Daniel is not interested in it and has always prohibited his apprentices from using it. They are close to similar places.
"It's just a poor imitation."
In the night, the old mage muttered to himself, then took a step back and left the place where the cold autumn wind blew over and over again. balcony.
......
The next morning, Gawain did not go to the Government Affairs Office or handle government affairs in his study as usual, but went directly to the Magic Technology Research Institute So, Kamel and Rebecca were already waiting here in advance.
In a large laboratory, various devices used to control the rune system are placed on the four walls of the room, and there is only a wide metal platform in the center of the room. There are no complicated experimental instruments on the screen, only a set of adjusted crystal projection devices. Above the projection device, a light blue translucent diagram is floating, with the territorial outline of the Cecil Empire briefly marked on it.
"Master Ancestor!" After Gawain appeared, the first person to greet him was the cheerful Rebecca, "You are here!"
"You are already so old. ——Be more prudent in your work." Gawain glanced helplessly at his great-great-great-granddaughter, who was always in high spirits. Although he knew that preaching was useless, he still couldn't help but give a reminder.
Compared with the first time they met five years ago, the once slightly green "Miss Viscount Viscount" has now grown up and turned into a girl who at least looks mature on the outside. However, her personality But there was almost no change. Hetty seemed worried about this, but Gawain felt that this was not a bad thing - anyway, he was probably going to make this silly roe deer king...
Rui Beka curled her neck and responded, not sure how much she had listened to Gawain's words. The latter didn't care much about it. Kamel broke the silence beside him: "Your Majesty, we have already debugged the demonstration diagram. ”
Gawain nodded and came to the metal platform in the center of the room. His eyes swept over the magic projection floating in the air. In his sight, he could clearly see Sai There are labels for cities such as Sil City, Shilin City, Tamdul, Solimburg, Saint-Sunil, Winterburg, etc. There are also bright lines connecting the cities, and around the lines you can see the Points of light in the dim state.
“These light points are the magic network nodes that have completed the infrastructure construction, and the lines are the communication lines currently in use-except for the southern border, there are basically single lines between other cities. The triangle next to the hub city represents the construction progress. The ones that have been completed are blue, and those that are about to be completed are red..."
Kamail was floating next to the holographic projection, explaining the annotations on the image to Gawain. , while constantly adjusting the projection device to change the angle of the picture and show various details.
This made Gawain sigh at the convenience of magic, and quickly focused on the last red triangle on this diagram.
"Currently, only the node of Winterfort has not been completed..." he said softly.
Kamail nodded: "Yes, the climate in the northern region is cold, and the start of construction is one month later than other places. There are many mountains, which is not convenient for construction, so the construction progress is the slowest. However, under the call of the Grand Consul of Victoria, many local extraordinary people directly invested in front-line construction. In mountainous areas where large-scale construction machinery cannot enter, mages who are as efficient as machines are doing the construction. Therefore, all The nodes have all met the construction deadline, and the main hub of Winter Castle will be completed within a week."
"Very good..." Gawain breathed out, and finally felt a rare sense of relief in his heart." In this way, the magic network throughout the empire can finally be connected and become a real 'network'..."
There was a hint of emotion in Kamel's humming voice. : "That's true, Your Majesty."
Gawain didn't say anything for a while, but looked at the flashing light spots and lines in the holographic projection with some trance, and it was difficult to calm down.
Integrating the magic network throughout the empire... This is one of his most ambitious plans. It is also the plan that has taken the longest time to implement, used the most manpower and material resources, and has the most far-reaching impact.
The light spots on the projection are all large and small magic energy obelisks or hub towers. From the day the empire was established, or even before the empire was established, projects in related fields have been start up.
Some of them were built by teams sent by the Cecil Principality in various places. Some of them were built by nobles from various places when the principality's technology was exported. Today they have been standardized and upgraded. Some of them were built in the past one or two years. It was built under the leadership of the Empire's Supreme Government Affairs Office. Nodes, large and small, are distributed in the empire's major cities and transportation hubs, and extend to the surrounding areas based on them, covering "first-level urban areas" as much as possible, thus forming a " The prototype of the "Network".
The individual "regional magic networks" and magic energy obelisks are not real magic "networks". They are just small-scale energy stations and regional communication stations. Only by connecting them all, The "Imperial Magic Network" envisioned by Gawain has truly become a "network". Instructions from the Supreme Government Affairs Office and information returned from various places can be quickly spread throughout the country through this network, and the energy supply of the entire Cecil All will be guaranteed, cities everywhere and the wilderness between cities will be protected. Where there is a magic network, there will be energy, information, security and productivity, and all of these are prerequisites for the further development of this country.
This ambitious plan had already been launched when Cecil was still a principality. Gawain spent almost three years laying this net - these three years are still in this world. Convenient magical power and various basic technologies already exist.
And in order to make this hugeFor a large network to operate, one of the most critical facilities is the "main hub" device located in important cities across the empire.
That is an extremely large-scale magic crystal array, which is installed on a special tower (or a certain tree). They cover a wide range, but the broad coverage is only one aspect of it. Their greater role is to coordinate and balance all the secondary hubs connected to them, and to control lower-level basic nodes through the secondary hubs. Now the last step of Gawain's "Empire-wide Magic Network Integration" plan is to wait These main hubs are all online.
——At present, major cities in the empire rely on a series of relay towers to maintain single-line connections. This level of "connection" is obviously not enough. From carrying capacity to risk resistance to actual efficiency, it has fully reached Not up to Gawain's request.
“The first phase of this project will be completely completed when the entire magic network is connected to the grid,” he said slowly after a long silence. “The next step is to continue to increase the basic nodes in various places. And the number of secondary hubs..."
"Will it be increased?" Rebecca next to her couldn't help but said in surprise, "I feel that the coverage area is already very wide..."
"Not enough, far from enough," Gawain shook his head, his eyes never leaving those light spots and lines, "Not even half of it."
His words Rebecca was startled, but she was completely serious - the scale of the magic network nodes currently established in various parts of the empire may have been an unbelievable behemoth in the eyes of people of this era, but Gawain knew that only three What he built over the years was just a "basic project". Those seemingly large-scale node coverage areas actually only include major cities and large-scale towns in various places. In fact, lower-level villages or more remote settlements It cannot be covered.
However, in the eyes of many people in this era, this level of magic network is actually far beyond imagination - allowing every town to use magic power anytime, anywhere, have strategic shields and instant communication , have modern lighting and entertainment and working conditions based on magic technology, which is enough. As for covering the magic network to lower-level villages and even remote mountains and wilderness... they don't understand the necessity of this at all.
This made Gawain couldn't help but think of a joke he often heard in his previous life: Every village is connected to the Internet.
Every village has access to the Internet... This is a great thing.
Gao Wen exhaled and said slowly: "Continue to cover, cover every village, cover every inhabited place, this is our next goal, this may require more It will take three years, but it is necessary."
Rebecca blinked. She was very talented in the technical field and was not stupid in other areas, but she still couldn't be like Gawain. Such dedication is too much and beyond the thinking of the current era, but this does not prevent her from showing a bright smile and nodding vigorously: "What you said must make sense! Then do this"
Gao WenHe looked at the silly roe deer with a dumbfounded look.
This kid... can barely be a viscount. If he succeeds to the throne... forget it, let's use it as a posthumous title.
On the other hand, Kamel seemed to understand Gawain's thoughts. His eyes filled with arcane brilliance looked at the entire holographic projection map, and then nodded slightly: "Make it as universal as possible. Covering it as much as possible... is of great significance to the future of this country and everyone on this land."
As he said this, the magister from a thousand years ago suddenly laughed at himself. He smiled broadly and shook his head: "If the Gondor Empire hadn't been too dependent on the Deep Blue Well, if we had a way to distribute magic power at will and cover the entire territory... we would never have exploded an energy well. Just destroy all the foundations. Even in the face of the demonic tide, the civilization that mankind will eventually survive will definitely be more than what it was seven hundred years ago."
Gawain nodded slightly, and then the room became quiet for a while.
Half a minute later, he broke the silence: "After the matter here is over, you go call Veronica and come to me at the Government Affairs Office."
… …
Before noon, Kamel and Veronica arrived at Gawain’s office in the Government Affairs Hall.
As soon as they entered the door, they discovered that Hetty and Amber were also there.
"Sit down," Gawain nodded to the two ancient rebels and gestured to the seats near the desk, "I called you all here because I have received some news about Typhon here. ——Now I suspect it may have something to do with the gods."