Sword of Dawn

"She will calm down, but what happened today is too much for her," Gao Wen said, "I have some questions for you."

Veronica nodded: "Please tell me."

"Sally Randolph took orders from Francis Moen and went to the Dark Mountains to find the Shadow Fortress—why would Francis II know the existence of the Shadow Fortress?"

This is a very critical question. The rebellious plan is one of the biggest secrets left by the ancient Gondor Empire, but not many people know this secret, so why did the young Francis II know the existence of the Shadow Fortress?He even has a pair of Shadow Signet Rings used to open the fortress - Surrey Randolph's mission has a very high level of secrecy, even the Duke Regent at the time did not know about it, does this mean that Francis II Have a secret contact with an ancient rebel, so as to grasp the clues of the Shadow Fortress?

Although Ansu's royal power had come to an end, and the secrets that Francis II had had are no longer important today, but this matter involved a rebellious plan, and Gao Wen couldn't help but ask a few more questions.

"My 'Royal Father'..." Veronica had an obvious exclamation on her face when she heard the name of Francis II, she sighed softly and shook her head, "I don't know where he got it He knew about the 'Shadow Keep', but according to my observation and judgment, he didn't know about the rebellious plan."

"Your observation and judgment?" Gawain keenly grasped another meaning in Veronica's words, "Have you ever suspected that he knew about the rebellious plan?"

"He has a Shadow Signet Ring in his hand, which is enough to interest me," Veronica said indifferently, "but after investigating, I found that he only regards the Shadow Signet Ring as a powerful extraordinary piece of equipment, so I At one time, he thought that he just obtained an ancient heritage by chance—the creations of the ancient Gondor Empire were brought out of the wasteland with the pioneering troops, and there are still many scattered everywhere. Similar situations do not Not special. But after hearing these things you said today, I have a new guess..."

Gao Wen raised his eyebrows: "A new guess?"

"He has the Shadow Seal Ring, and knows that the ring is the key to open the Shadow Fortress, but just as he doesn't know the connection between the ring and the rebellious plan, he probably doesn't know the secrets behind the Shadow Fortress—he probably only knows the secrets in the Fortress. Hidden powerful power or some kind of treasure, these two things are very attractive to the young king, not to mention that he was eager to change his puppet situation," Veronica said clearly With his own guess, "And these incomplete clues and the two seal rings...maybe someone with ulterior motives specially revealed it to him."

Gao Wen frowned: "A person with ulterior motives?"

"...Maybe there are rebels other than Kamel and me," Veronica said, "We, people, dare not die until the ultimate goal is achieved—even if the tide of magic breaks out and the empire is destroyed , There will also be more than one stubborn ghost crawling out of that wasteland and continue to carry out the plan of the year. If these 'ghosts' exist, they are probably the most dangerous."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

Although what Veronica said were inferences, after all, she had been in contact with Francis II as a "daughter" for so many years. Her judgment was highly credible in Gao Wen's opinion, and what she said The situation... really does seem to be the most likely explanation.

There are other rebels still active in the world, she or he secretly contacted Francis II, but he obviously does not want to find an ally like Veronica/Ophelia - he just took the young king as a step Chess, wanted to open the ancient Shadow Fortress through the hands of Francis II, and get what he wanted-but the omission of information led to serious consequences. The Royal Shadow Guard carrying the Shadow Signet never returned. The disobedient cut the line neatly.

Afterwards, Francis II did not receive any follow-up information about the Shadow Fortress and the rebellious plan, and his private actions could not be known by the Duke Regent at the time, so the matter was finally left alone. No one knew that the king had sent The royal shadow guards have gone to find some ancient relics, and the shadow seal ring with special power has also been packaged by the king as a powerful magic item obtained by coincidence—if Francis is better at making up stories, he may even use that ring The ring was packaged as a treasure handed down by the family: before the Second Dynasty, the Moen family spread widely and held a large number of Gondor relics. Although Francis II was a descendant of an illegitimate child, he was also entitled to a part of the Moen heritage. Therefore, lies in this area are very difficult to expose.

If all this is true, then there is a very important question: Who wants to get the "inheritance" in the Shadow Fortress through the hands of Francis II, or to put it more directly-who, after dozens of Want to play Amber's idea years ago?

Veronica saw Gawain's thoughts, and said casually: "Just think about the greatest value of 'Artificial Human No. 36' in the field of technology, and it's not difficult to guess who is playing her idea." .”

"...the highest crystallization of biochemical technology," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, "it is the end of all things—the clues are finally connected."

The clues are finally connected——

Gao Wen already knew that there was a shadow of a rebellious plan behind the death of all things. The crystal cluster disaster they set off is a clear proof. Those crystal cluster giants are essentially the continuation of the "Abominable" project, so there is no doubt that there is a rebellious plan inside them. A partial inheritance of the plan!

It is precisely because of this that it is not surprising that there are one or two ancient rebels who have survived to this day, and these ghosts who have survived the demon tide... have tried to contact the Ansu royal family decades ago, They not only recruited and used Edmund Moen, but also shot Francis II!

And all of this changed the fate of Surrey Randolph by coincidence, and brought Amber from that subspace fortress to the real world...

Several years later, Amber accidentally loosened the coffin board of Gawain Cecil, and released Gawain who happened to be possessed and reborn—Gauwain who emerged from the coffin finally led to the death of all things. destruction.

"Fate is really an inexplicable thing," Gao Wen's mind flashed the chain of countless coincidences and inevitability, and he couldn't help sighing, "But anyway...everything will eventually die. Still perish."

"It is the end of all things that perish, but the 'ghost' can always return from death," Veronica reminded, "Please don't let your guard down so easily... A huge dark sect will be destroyed after it is destroyed." There are countless stumps and broken arms that continue to move in the ruins, and if there is a patient enough ghost to survive, these broken limbs and broken arms are likely to gather together and be reborn."

"Your analogy is very special, but what you said does make sense-the empire will continue to destroy those cultists, and I will never let down my vigilance in this regard," Gao Wen said with a serious expression, then raised his head and glanced at the hanger. The mechanical watch on the wall said, "...it's almost time, I should check on Amber's situation."

Veronica bowed her head deeply: "Please do what you want."

"Yeah." Gao Wen hummed, turned around and was about to leave, but before he took a step forward, he heard Veronica's voice coming from behind him again:

"From your point of view, what do you think of our behavior in the Shadow Fortress?"

Gao Wen didn't look back. After thinking for a while, he said in a deep voice: "Do you still remember what you said to me? About sacrifice—"

"The appearance of every victim can only prove our incompetence."

"Remember this, even if you are experimenting on yourself."

"This is the principle of the disobedient."

Gawain nodded, and left the hall with strides.

Veronica stared at the direction where Gawain left, and the platinum scepter in her hand was slightly emitting white light under the stirring of the holy light.

She spoke softly, with a low voice that seemed to be whispering: "If it was in the age of Gondor...you would definitely be an excellent disobedient..."

Pittman raised his eyelids slightly, and glanced at Veronica: "You 'rebels' are all very persistent in your career."

"We are all ghosts who have long been damned, and we are still stubborn and refuse to leave, precisely because of this persistence."

"Then when will you ghosts die completely?"

"...when you die without regrets."

Pittman shrugged his shoulders, put his hands behind his back, and slowly walked away with his stooped body, leaving behind a low mutter: "In short, don't trouble Amber."

……

The night wind blows the flags over the terrace, the cold air from the north swirls between the towers and the gates of the castle, the music and celebrations from the banquet hall and courtyard echo in the wind, with a hint of The sense of distant distance came to Gao Wen's ears clearly again.

He came to the unmanned terrace, walked straight to the edge, and said casually: "Is this what you call blowing hair?"

Amber's figure emerged from the darkness. She sat on the ground with her knees bent, without raising her head: "Is there any problem?"

Gawain glanced at the "half-elf", and then looked around her. He didn't know how much effort he had to keep his tone calm: "If I had known that you had brought three plates of cake and four plates If you get peanuts, four plates of melon seeds, two plates of candied fruit, five servings of barbecue meat and three bottles of wine, I will definitely not come."

Amber looked up at Gao Wen, raised her hand, "I also took two chicken legs - you came just after eating one..."

"...so I should leave you here overnight," Gawain glared at the guy, "It took a lot of work to go around the inner and outer banquet halls to collect all these things and pack them up?"

"Actually, it's okay, I ordered my subordinates to help..."

Gawain stared at this "half-elf" with incredible action patterns for a long time, and finally couldn't figure out whether he should throw this guy off the balcony, so he could only sigh dumbfoundedly: "You are thinking about life. ?”

This time, Amber finally fell silent for a few seconds, and let out a rare sigh: "I was thinking, but I haven't figured it out yet..."

"What are you thinking and don't you understand?" Gao Wen came to Amber's side, "Tell me about it."

"Artificial man..." Amber muttered, "Tell me, am I still a normal person?"

"That depends on how you feel—have you encountered any abnormal situations in your life so far because of your status as an 'artificial human'?"

"...There are things I have to say, my shadow talent is so strong, stealing and stealing..."

Gao Wen: "..."

Chapter 0683 What's Happening

In all fairness, at this moment Gao Wen really felt that he could not keep up with Amber's train of thought - as a traverser who can always occupy the commanding heights of train of thought, such cases are really rare.

But after a moment of astonishment, he still realized that Amber is really a little tangled now—the behavior of running the train with his mouth full is just a habit, or he is covering up his true thoughts, but after all, such a big thing happened, even if it is A person whose nerves are so thick that they are close to peripheral necrosis should be somewhat worried.

"Actually... I don't really care about the identity of the so-called artificial human..." After a few seconds of silence, Amber finally couldn't help saying, "I have been a 'hybrid' with a mysterious origin since I was a child. I have lived in slums, fought with people in dark alleys, slept in stables, and slept in cemeteries. In fact, I always knew that Pittman was probably being hunted down by those cultists. He was probably a defector like my adoptive father. Or... If you are with them, there is no safe life.

"People who grab a bite of food in the gutter and dark alleys don't have extra thoughts to consider the so-called blood and origin issues, you know? The most difficult people don't even think about whether they are human, because they only think about tomorrow's food It's already exhausting. Some people even envy the knight's dog from the bottom of their hearts. This is not an exaggeration at all.

"Of course I've had a better life than the hardest ones, but I'm well aware of that existence and have been greatly affected.

"I don't care if I'm a cyborg—although it does scare me a little bit, but I really don't care. I'm a person with a blank background, and the word 'artificial' is better than blank... …Like you said, it doesn't affect my ability to live like a normal person."

Gao Wen lowered his head and glanced at Amber: "What you care about is how to face Veronica?"

"She once ordered me to be destroyed—it just didn't work," Amber responded to Gawain's question sideways, "and when she talked about the Shadow Project and artificial human embryos, she calmly seemed to be talking about stones. Although I also I know, she didn't have the slightest malice in doing this..."

"Does this attitude make you uncomfortable?"

"A little bit, but more of a worry - a lot of the Rebels' plans seem to me to be overly paranoid and dangerous, especially since I've been a part of their plans myself. For the continuation Humans, they don't mind putting some people on the scale as weights in exchange for results. Although they seem to have their own bottom line, the biggest problem is that you can't be sure if you are also on the scale when you cooperate with them above……"

Gao Wen looked at Amber quite unexpectedly, he didn't expect that this guy was really entangled in such a serious and serious matter.

After thinking for half a minute, he said: "The believers of the God of Commerce often say a word - everything in the world is on the balance of the gods.

"I don't believe in the god of commerce, but this sentence seems to me to be half true - all of us, from birth, inevitably stand on the same balance, but it is not necessarily the god who holds the balance, it is It may be an ordinary person who is stronger than you, it may be the laws of the country, it may be the laws of nature, it may even be the so-called illusory fate, the only thing is certain: as a member of all living beings, as long as you are born in this world , your value must be measured by something.

"As a weight, we can't expect the mercy of the scale, so you either have the ability to forge a new scale yourself, or you keep yourself worth enough to keep from falling off the pallet of the scale.

"Your doubts about rebels are normal, and I have doubts too, but under certain stages and conditions, the value of rebels is enough for us to take certain risks. Remember what I told you about the classification of friends and enemies Is it? A rebel like Veronica is a friend we can win over at a certain stage and under certain conditions—if there is a balance, it is also the result of the balance.”

Speaking of this, Gao Wen took a deep look at Amber: "Of course, there is another premise for Veronica, that is, the 'Shadow Project' back then is a thing of the past, and she will not pester you on this issue, we and her cooperation can continue.”

The terrace fell silent for a while, and it wasn't until a minute later that Gao Wen heard Hu Po let out a long breath: "Old Zongzi, what you said is exactly..."

Then she raised her head and handed the greasy chicken leg to Gao Wen: "Here is the chicken leg."

Gao Wen didn't keep up with Hu Po's train of thought for a while, and after he realized his reaction, he gave this guy a hard look: "How dare you say this word—why are you laughing, now you are also an old rice dumpling!"

"...Oh my god, it seems to be according to the definition," Amber thought for a while, her eyes widened suddenly and she realized it, and then she started to associate with no bounds, "Wait, if you want to put it this way, my adoptive father dug me up back then. I dug it out, then I dug you out, and you dug out Kamel and Nicholas eggs... Is this some kind of ancestral handicraft?"

God TM ancestral craftsmanship... Is the word ancestral craftsmanship used here?

But the association of Amber really surprised Gao Wen. Only then did he realize that this "chain of fate" was actually connected by digging graves. The so-called shovel for digging up ancestors' graves connected me and you—— Where did the devil's inheritance come from!

He shook his head vigorously to shake the shocking chain out of his mind, and then noticed that Amber was still holding a chicken leg in his hand - half of the chicken leg was eaten, who can have an appetite?

"Keep it for yourself." He rejected Amber's offer with a little embarrassment, and then glanced at the direction of the lights in the castle.

"That's right, it's almost time." Amber put the chicken legs back casually, wiped her mouth and stood up, following Gao Wen's line of sight, "...this boring and long banquet should be over."

"The pen and paper for signing are ready," Gao Wen nodded. "After tonight, the order of the land and the lords will come to an end."

……

This long banquet is finally over. For most of the nobles who participated in the banquet, it was a party that was not at all relaxed and joyful, and did not have any sense of extravagant enjoyment. In the ceremonial process, it was difficult to adapt to the atmosphere , After the anxiety of various factors, they finally ushered in the ultimate goal of today.

Sign the "Imperial Reform Declaration" that fully accepts the restructuring, surrenders privileges, and surrenders land.

Gawain returned to the castle. In the Golden Oak Hall, the nobles who moved here will complete the signing ceremony under the witness of him and the three archons.

The Earl of Bahrain held a light dip pen, but the light pen holder seemed to weigh a thousand catties. He glanced at the steel-like words on the manifesto document, and sighed in his heart.

Beside him, the Earl of Cromwell White Mountain had already picked up a pen, and as the nib moved, the knight lord with dwarf blood solemnly wrote his name.

"Sign it, this is the fate of the nobles," Cromwell turned his head, and whispered to the Earl of Balin, "The nobles in the southern border have already signed, and they have not ushered in any end."

The Earl of Bahrain raised his head and saw familiar faces. Some had bowed their heads to sign, some were still frowning in thought, and some of them smelled strongly of alcohol.

The drowsiness brought on by alcohol was an effective aid in making up their minds - and the men were flanked by court servants in red coats to ensure that the names they signed were legible.

The Earl of Bahrain has always been keen on banquets and good wine, but tonight, he didn't drink a drop.

Those glorious and rotten times have passed.

He raised the pen, the tip of the pen fell on the paper, and wrote a line of neat and sharp words.

……

Typhon Empire, Obsidian Palace, Rosetta Augustus was sitting behind a large desk, concentrating on reading the documents in her hands.

The magic net unit runs silently in the hidden place between the roof and the wall, and the constant magic power lights up the magic spar lamps in the study, making the room brightly lit, and the melodious music comes from the nearby magic device, bringing The melody is refreshing, and Emperor Rosetta put down the document in his hand amidst the music, and whispered to himself: "... Cecil Empire..."

The document in his hand is the urgent news from the intelligence department-although there are nearly no cost Griffin Knight relays and communication tower transmissions in the empire, due to the border isolation and the chaotic situation in the east of Ansu, the information is being transmitted It has been delayed for half a month before entering the Typhon Empire, and the timeliness has been greatly reduced. The information mentioned that the news of the establishment of the empire has just spread in Ansu, but according to Rosetta's calculations, by this time today, " "Ansu" is probably completely past tense.

Even if that Gawain Cecil has not been officially crowned, he should have completed the control of Saint Sunil at this time, and completed the integration and suppression of the nobles of the Old Kingdom.

The violent turmoil that occurred in that ancient land exceeded the Typhon ruler's estimation, and it also made him hesitate a bit in judging the situation.

The end of Ansu's royal power seems to be good news in itself. The most chaotic and weak state of a country is the collapse of the ruler. If there are no other variables, the civil war and the impact of the cluster disaster will destroy Ansu's ruling group at once. Typhon's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but the problem lies in this "variable" - Anzu's royal power did not collapse and disintegrate, but ended smoothly after the siege of Saint-Sunil, and it was smooth under the leadership of Gawain Cecil. transition.

This means that the chaos that the country will face has been suppressed to a minimum, and both those who hand over power and those who receive power have made all preparations-Gauwen Cecil is not a stupid person, he will never be in the To do such a big thing without preparation.

As the ruler of the Typhon Empire and the implementer of the New Deal for nearly 20 years, Rosetta Augustus certainly knew what the word "empire" meant.Regardless of the conditions required to declare an empire, just from the perspective of its operation method, the biggest difference between an empire and a kingdom is a higher concentration of power, a higher efficiency of operation and execution, a more stable order, and a strong understanding of emerging things. A higher ability to accept and use—and all this means one thing, that old and decaying country, is about to break free from the quagmire.

So far, all the information from Anzu revealed something that made Rosetta Augustus very disturbed: that country did not suffer enough severe trauma in the previous civil war and crystal cluster war, even On the contrary, the rising power in the southern border greatly exceeded Typhon's estimate. This power controlled the situation before the disaster on the Holy Spirit Plain expanded and preserved Ansu's vitality.

Perhaps it is for this reason that Gawain Cecil dared to reorganize the country after a war... But it may also be a bluff...

Rosetta Augustus leaned back in the large seat, quickly integrating all the recent news in his mind, but suddenly, he frowned slightly, and turned his gaze to the not far away at the window.

Two identical nightingales were standing outside the window, tapping the crystal glass with their beaks.

Noticing Rosetta's gaze, the two nightingales raised their heads and looked at the ruler of Typhon quietly.

After a long time, Rosetta showed a smile that lacked warmth, and said casually: "As people who have suffered a crushing defeat, you have outstanding courage."

"Accidents are inevitable in experiments." One of the nightingales spread its wings, and its crisp voice penetrated the window and entered the study.

"The project will inevitably fail." Another nightingale also spoke.

"Your concepts of accident and failure are quite novel," Rosetta said coldly, "but unfortunately, I am no longer interested in your novel concepts."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, ready to call the royal mage to arrest the uninvited guest tonight, but before that, the two nightingales had already spoken at the same time: "Then, are you interested in hearing the historical story about the Gondor Empire?"

Rosetta frowned, and with a wave of her hand, the window opened a gap wide enough.

Two nightingales flew into the room one after the other. As their wings fluttered, light green light shone out of thin air, condensing the figures of the twin elves.

Rosetta Augustus looked at the two elves with exactly the same appearance indifferently: "What do you want to say?"

"Have you heard of the Disobedience Project?"