Sword of Dawn

Melita was noncommittal, but took two steps forward to Gawain's desk, and put a stack of manuscripts on the table.

"Have you read it?" Gao Wen glanced at the manuscript, "It seems...do you have something to say?"

"Frankly speaking, I underestimated what you called 'knowledge' before," Melita said lightly. 'Delegation'."

Gao Wen looked at the other party quietly for two seconds, and said, "You don't understand why I keep this thing?"

"You tried to teach people how to tell whether your empire is functioning normally, and suggested that they overthrow it after it decayed, and even left behind detailed procedures and methods of operation," Melita met Gawain's gaze, that The pair of lavender eyes were deep, as if they couldn't see the bottom, "People who are sane can't do this, but people who are insane can't write these things, so I'm curious... What is your reason for doing this?"

"First of all I would like to correct that I am only writing here what I know, there is nothing prescriptive or indicative in it - even if one reads the chapter 'The Nature of State and Class' The structure of the Cecil Empire has been questioned, and that is also due to their spontaneous awareness, not because of the emperor's order," Gao Wen said slowly, "Secondly, the reason I did this is very simple-to give myself an explanation. "

Melita blinked: "Give yourself an explanation?"

Gao Wen didn't answer right away, but put his hand on the stack of manuscripts, flipping through them casually.

Several chapter titles appear between the pages—The Creation of the Aristocrats and Their Inevitable Changes, How the Means of Production Are Appropriated, The Nature of State and Class, Why You Are Hungry, Empire , Bread, Guns"...

His fingers stopped, and in the last stanza, the huge handwritten letters spelled out a sentence whose grammar may seem strange to people in this world: Do princes and generals have kindness?

"As you said, the Age of Empires has begun," he finally raised his head and stared at Melita, "I started it myself.

"It is true that the civil war and the cluster monsters buried the old kingdom, but as a long-term observer, you should have already seen clearly that the civil war and the monsters only buried the skin of the old kingdom, and will really bury the royal society. It is Cecil's industrial society and imperial order-wars can break up an army, but the army can be rebuilt. Only a brand-new social order and more advanced productivity will start from the foundations of social structure, production relations, etc. The plane completely replaces the old order, and the result is - the Age of Empires.

"The Age of Empires is better than the Age of Kingdoms, there is no doubt about it, but I am very clear, and you must be very clear, that it will eventually get worse...

"The Cecil Empire is the result of compromise-although many people think that I am a person who will not compromise, thinking that I will use my guns and bombs to destroy everything in the way, but in fact, from the beginning of the Empire Age , I have already compromised with reality - I retained the concept of 'nobility', the monarch, and many hidden dangers of the royal power era, and created a strict and efficient personal centralization system, in exchange for the next few years. Peace and unity for generations, but also because I kept those things, sooner or later we will face the same problems as Ansu...

"The nobles under the New Deal system are still nobles, and the officials in the government affairs hall will sooner or later become bureaucrats, and when this happens, the empire will inevitably rot from the root again, just like Ansu before , and even worse than that—for the empire I built is far more difficult to overthrow than loose kingdoms.

"Before he abdicated, Wales Moen asked me whether the new country would be as rotten as Ansu. In fact, we all know the answer-of course it will, and this kind of rottenness is far from being caused by one or two wise and mighty emperors or a few A grand consul who is determined to reform can stop it. In fact, due to the particularity of the Cecil Empire, if it really rots one day, it must be the emperor and the grand consul who are the most rotten.

"This is determined by the imperial order of the Cecil Empire, just as Anzu's rot is determined by Anzu's noble order.

"At that time, there may not be another rising from the southern border, and most likely there will be no second Welsh Moen in the imperial palace, and I may not be able to rise again."

While talking, Gao Wen patted the manuscript on the table.

"So I want to keep this - if the emperor in the palace is unwilling to roll down by himself, the power of the ancestors will fly."

"Just relying on these manuscripts?" Melita finally said, "Just relying on the inspiration it brings to people, do you think it will really be effective?"

"So I said, I'm giving myself an explanation," Gao Wen breathed out softly, "And to be honest... how do you know it's invalid?"

"It's... a very interesting idea. Choosing to be your friend at the beginning seems to be the right decision," Melita seemed to reveal a hazy smile under the veil, "but I still have a question—are you really Do you not mind that future generations overthrow this empire that you managed to build?"

Gao Wen was silent for two seconds, and suddenly smiled frankly: "Say something irresponsible - I will be dead at that time, why don't you mind?"

Melita continued: "Then let's assume again—what if you come back to life one day? After all, you've already done so."

Gao Wen was quite embarrassed by the other party's question: "...I got up from the coffin, not sit-ups inside the coffin..."

Melita leaned down slightly, and she got very close, a vertical pupil faintly appeared in those human eyes: "Then let me ask another question, what if you won't die? Your body has been tempered by elements , it has now been proven that you will not age at all, in other words, as long as you don't 'die from exhaustion' this time, then you may live forever, but your grand consul and government officials will not, you alone A wise man may be able to stave off the corruption of the Empire, but as long as it works according to this system, it will always corrupt, of course, you may make a second change before then, but if, just if - you fail , you can’t save your empire, but Mithril Treasury will spread these ‘forbidden knowledge’ according to your entrustment, what will you do then? Will you be the second Welsh Moen?”

The agent lady paused for a moment, and continued: "Don't say nice words, if you are impulsive because of a false sense of 'historical mission' brought about by some kind of coronation ceremony, then you still have time to cancel it—— Once the entrustment takes effect, Mithril Treasury does not accept the 'unsubscribe service'."

Some kind of inexplicable pressure exuded from the human-shaped dragon. After one question after another, her attitude was no longer as simple as "asking". Gawain stood up to this pressure and looked up at the other party. It was a moment before he broke the silence: "Wales' choice is admirable...but to be honest, I'm afraid I won't be as free and easy as he is then.

"I'm a stubborn and somewhat selfish person, at least compared to Wales, and if the day you speak of comes, I'm afraid I'll be rotten to the bone.

"So, I probably won't 'roll' off the throne. I will firmly hold on to my imperial power, refuse to admit my failure, and actively organize a team to counter the rebellion—because by then, I will probably have forgotten I forgot the days of pioneering period and the rise of the southern border, and forgot what I told you today.

"At that moment, the rebels in my eyes were all rebels and traitors.

"If that's the case... may the uprising warships be strong and powerful."

At an extremely close distance, Melita stared into Gawain's eyes for a long time.

Then she straightened up suddenly and returned to a normal distance. The always elegant lady agent laughed out loud at this moment.

There was no sarcasm in the laughter, but pure joy.

"Human beings are really an interesting species. Your selfishness and selflessness are surprisingly extreme." Melita finally stopped laughing, but her eyes were still bent, "Since you have mentioned such It seems that there is nothing to confirm. But I am curious about one thing... This kind of thing is almost related to the "national fortune". Is it really all right? Don’t you really feel sloppy?”

While speaking, she picked up the manuscript on the table and waved it in the air: "What if we made it public in advance? What if we tampered with it? We are dragons, alien races in your human eyes...you treat us Is your trust a little too much?"

"If the Dragon Clan really wants to destroy the current Cecil Empire, do they need to make an idea on the manuscript?" Gawain glanced at the other party, "And if you want to use it for something in the future... To be honest, the power of these manuscripts is really great." It’s not that powerful. What I can summarize is just superficial content. One day in the future, there will always be people in the world who can see more clearly and think farther than I do. They don’t need anything at all’ Guidance from ancient manuscripts'. After all, these things are just my explanations to myself."

"It seems that you have already thought about this aspect," Melita breathed out, "Well then, I will continue this commission. But I want to remind you of one thing: the content of your manuscript, now But no one can understand."

Gao Wen nodded slightly: "I know, that's why I want to give it to you for safekeeping, because it appeared too early, maybe even a generation earlier - and what I want to do is to continue to promote education, Continue to transform this society, if I will die of old age like ordinary people, then I hope that at least in my lifetime, people can understand it..."

The room fell silent for a while, and after a few seconds of silence, Melita said suddenly: "Now, I know how to price this special commission."

"Oh?" Gawain looked up at her, and then joked, "I hope it's not such an outrageous price—the current empire's finances are not that rich."

"Just use your promise just now," Melita said, "to promote your civilian education and complete your transformation plan. If your promise is realized, Mithril Treasure House will keep its promise. If you fail Do... these manuscripts will never see the light of day.”

Gao Wen rubbed his chin: "This sounds like a loss-making business."

"No, Mithril Treasury never trades at a loss." Melita said with a smile.

After a short pause, she said, "If you have nothing else to do, I'm leaving. This is a big commission. I need to go back to Tarrond for this."

"There is something I want to ask," Gao Wen said before the other party left, "Do you know the origin of the huge skull in today's ceremony?"

"Of course, I've seen it with my own eyes—and I've seen your recent propaganda."

"There will be more publicity in the future, and everyone will know the origin of the skull and the plan behind the death of all things," Gao Wen said, "Of course, we will pay attention to control to prevent too strong shocks from causing social Chaos. My question is, will doing this... help get rid of the black trap?"

Melita was silent for a moment. In the silence, faint scales suddenly appeared on her cheeks and arms, and her eyes instantly turned into golden vertical pupils. The breath of the dragon escaped uncontrollably, making her The lights in the room were flickering, and in her shadow, it seemed that there was something indescribable struggling to overflow—the body of this humanoid dragon trembled slightly, as if struggling against a sudden will in pain, And just when Gao Wen was about to call to stop, she finally managed to hold on at a certain critical point, and nodded lightly: "Yes."

"That……"

Melita gritted her teeth: "Ask again...more money..."

"No, it's enough," Gao Wen waved his hand, "I've got what I want."

The heterogeneous power descending from Melita quickly receded, the humanoid dragon staggered, then nodded to Gawain, took a deep breath, and left the room.

A moment later, in the video from the monitoring satellite, Gao Wen saw a blue dragon rising from the top of the Silver Fort and flying to the north.

"Looking" at the trajectory of the dragon's departure, Gao Wen couldn't help feeling a little curious—he wasn't curious why the people in the castle didn't notice a dragon flying over their heads. It must not be difficult for the giant dragon to control it. What he is curious about is...

Such a big creature, its shape is not very aerodynamic, and its wings seem to have limited lift. How can it fly so fast?

I'm afraid it doesn't depend on the magic of friendship...

Shaking his head and putting aside those irrelevant associations, Gawain slightly moved his shoulders and leaned back on the chair.

"Black trap...

"The problem really lies with God."

Chapter 0676 Gawain's Way

The celebration is going on inside and outside the castle. After the ceremony in the morning, there will be a grand parade of floats and various traditional celebrations in the square. Almost everyone in the city has the opportunity to relax on this day. And the newly designed ceremony activities will undoubtedly push people's enthusiasm for celebration to the peak.

But the new head of the empire does not have to attend the rest of the event until the dinner begins.

Gao Wen sat quietly in the room. He didn't draw the curtains or turn on the lights. He let himself be slowly surrounded by a dark and quiet environment. It was mixed with music, laughter, dance steps, and the sound of magic fireworks exploding. These sounds were so distant and ethereal that their appearance even more set off the silence in the room.

Through observation and questioning of Melita Purnia, he can finally confirm that the black trap is really related to the gods, and some of the measures in the disobedience plan are indeed effective in avoiding the black trap.

Of course, Gao Wen had already made a guess before this, but it was not until today that the guess was verified.

In the dark and silent room, he curled his fingers and tapped the table rhythmically.

"The dragons are still trapped in the black trap... It's not that they didn't encounter the black trap, but they were 'stuck' in this state after encountering the black trap..." He had various thoughts in his mind, "They Tried 'disobedience', but failed? Was it discovered by God, or...

"It's a pity that there is no way to ask. Judging by Melita's state, any dragon who knows about it may not be able to answer this question... When Melita tried to tell the information about the black trap and the gods, the changes that happened to her what exactly is it?

"Is it the interference of the gods? Or... the materialized spiritual stamp? If the attempt to break through the black trap fails, will the spiritual stamp become a force that can be realized?

"If this is the case, then every step of rebelling against the plan must be more cautious...Even the giant dragon cannot break free from its shackles. Once human beings fall into the steel seal state, they will definitely be doomed."

The unconscious tapping motion stopped, and Gawain turned his head slightly, looking at the open space beside him: "The melon seeds are almost finished? Drink some water and don't eat, there will be a banquet tonight."

Amber's figure emerged from the air, holding the last few melon seeds in her hands, and the skins of the melon seeds were all under her feet. She looked at Gao Wen with wide eyes, with a dissatisfied expression on her face: "Can't you just pretend you didn't notice me every now and then? I A dignified stalker also has professional dignity!"

"You are a dignified guard, you knocked two catties of melon seeds in the room of the head of state in an hour, and you told me that you have professional dignity?" Gawain glared at the other party, "Clean up by yourself, the first day of my coronation, I can't let you There is a strange record in the palace archives that 'the head of state ate two catties of melon seeds for unknown reasons after returning to the room on the first day of his coronation'."

Amber threw away the last bit of melon seed skins, clapped her hands, and then gathered the melon seed skins on the ground with her toes, muttering in a low voice: "I regret that I didn't listen to you to read the things you wrote What the hell did you hand over to that agent?"

"...It's just some knowledge left to future generations."

Amber looked at Gao Wen firmly: "But why did you talk about overthrowing the empire? Even... talking about overthrowing you..."

Gao Wen thought about it, and Yoyo sighed: "Yeah... I didn't expect that I would do these things."

Gao Wen has always been very clear about why he has come to this day, and how he plans to continue walking tomorrow, but on this clear path, not everything develops as he expected of.

From the very beginning, his goal was simple, he just wanted to live. After tens of millions of years of loneliness, he was finally able to stand on the earth again in human form. What a surprise, he wanted to live, to live in human form—but it was not as easy as he imagined to survive in this world.

In order to leave the ruins of Old Cecil alive, he had to fight a bloody road with a few picked offspring and followers; in order to find a place to stand in this era, he had to take the identity of Gawain Cecil with him The refugees have opened up a piece of land; in order to deal with the evil tide that does not know when it will come, and in order to deal with the threats from neighboring countries, he must allow his own power to develop...

This is a road that cannot be stopped, and Gawain himself did not want it to stop.

After all, he is not a peaceful person in his bones, and he is not willing to live with such a rare opportunity to live a heavy life.

But the longer he lived in this world and the more he came into contact with people of flesh and blood, the more he found himself unable to get rid of the influence of "living again".

Responsibility is an innate thing. When he chose to take over the legacy of Gawain Cecil, he was destined to bear the responsibilities that accompanied it. After he personally promoted the fate of many people, The responsibility itself is his own.

He doesn't know when his mentality gradually changed, but he knows that he has done so many things along the way, and his mentality will inevitably change accordingly-if there is no change, it will make him doubt whether he has been "satellite" Completely remodeled, I suspect that I look like a flesh and blood person on the surface, but inside I am a machine without blood and tears.

After conquering the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain and entering the Silver Fort, after having a long talk with Welsh Moen, and looking back at the road he had come all the way, Gawain realized that his goal was not only to "live". easy.

He wants to live, and there are countless people relying on him to live, even at this stage, the entire social order of the magic industry relies on him to live-this is also true in reverse, he can reach this position, Relying on these countless people and things.

It's a massive symbiotic relationship, at least at this stage.

Therefore, Gao Wen did not live in vain if he wanted to do something big, and he was worthy of his efforts so far.

As for other factors besides this, there are other factors that push Gao Wen to continue on this road... Even he himself can't explain it.

He shook his head and smiled at Amber: "Probably because my ambition is too great, and what I pursue is too shocking."

"...I don't understand what you are thinking, but since you did it, it must make sense," Amber scratched her hair, and quickly threw some incomprehensible things into her mind Finally, "Anyway, I'm watching from the side, and I can always see what you want to do."

Gawain glanced at the half-elf: "You are very generous."

Amber puffed up her chest proudly instead of ashamed: "This is my greatest strength."

Gao Wen shook his head with a smile, and then said half-jokingly: "Let's not talk about that, last time you said that you would pray to your god and ask the truth, what did you find out?"

He just asked casually like this, and did not expect any answer from Amber. After all, it is not easy to contact the gods. Even if this guy is really chosen by the gods, it will take a long time to prepare and be good enough to hear the oracle directly. Luckily—at least for every other church.

But he didn't expect Amber to nod immediately: "I asked when I got back! But I didn't get an answer."

"You really asked?!" Gawain stared, and subconsciously stood up, "Didn't ask the answer? The Shadow Goddess didn't answer?"

"I didn't get through, the oracle said 'the goddess is not on duty, I will contact you later'," Amber said solemnly, "According to my experience, this 'later' will take at least a month..."

Gawain looked at the half-elf in bewilderment, but he didn't see the slightest hint of a joke on the other's face.

But the point is... what kind of "oracle" is this?Are all the oracles that the Shadow Cult usually hears in this format?It's unlikely, is it?

"You...is this oracle normal?" Gao Wen felt the corners of his mouth trembling a little, but his tone was calm anyway.

Amber thought for a while, then nodded: "Actually, it's quite common. Although I have a good relationship with the goddess, it seems that the goddess doesn't always have time to respond to me, and most of the time it's this kind of reply."

Gao Wen frowned slightly.

Let's not discuss whether Amber is talking nonsense, let's assume that what she said is true, does this mean... the Shadow Goddess wants to respond to this world, even if it is to respond to her "God's Chosen", it is all the same. A very difficult thing?

With various guesses in his mind, Gao Wen asked again: "Then besides this 'oracle', is there any other content?"

Amber replied with a calm face: "Oh, yes, the goddess left me a recipe in advance, and asked me to concentrate on researching it after I go back..."

Gao Wen: "...Is there anything else?"

"Gone."

Gawain rubbed his forehead, feeling an unprecedented headache. He looked at this half-elf with a calm attitude and an exceptionally natural tone, but he still couldn't hold back his doubts: "Are you really the shadow god? Are you sure?" Isn’t the oracle you are talking about a hallucination caused by drinking too much shadow potion yourself?”

As expected, Amber immediately opened her eyes, and stared at Gao Wen with an expression of "If I can't beat you today, I will die with you": "You can question my strength, but you can't question my belief! Let me tell you How many times have I been..."

"I'm mainly curious," Gawain interrupted before the other party finished speaking, "Well, to be a God's Chosen, you must at least have some extraordinary qualities, even if you cast a magic spell in the shadow domain or perform a miracle OK, can you?"

"I can jump into the Shadow Realm with a backflip, what kind of miracle do you want in the Shadow Realm?" Amber hunched her waist and leaned her upper body forward, as if trying to show a little aggressive aura, but this caused She had to raise her neck at least ninety degrees to see Gawain's face, so that the overall posture was extremely funny, "Could it be that you want me to run into the shadow world and drag a shadow dweller out to perform in front of you? The shadow dwellers beat up?"

"That's true, your shadow talent is a miracle..." Gao Wen waved his hands, and then he looked confused, "But why do you have to perform and be beaten?"

Amber put her waist on her waist, and said plausibly: "Nonsense! I can't beat it again!"

"you……"