Sword of Dawn

It wasn't until the boat was about to dock that a figure broke the silence: "We're almost there."

Someone beside him echoed: "Yes, it's almost there."

"There is always a time to separate," said the third figure. Although his figure was hazy, his gaze seemed to be on Gao Wen. "The situation is not bad, at least you came back alive."

Gao Wen felt his throat move, and he heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice from "myself" who was overlapping with the memory: "You have paid a huge sacrifice."

"...It's also expected. I just didn't expect that the ocean would be such a dangerous place after completely losing its protection..." A figure said, "As for our sacrifice... don't take it to heart, compare it with us. Wake up, your sacrifice is equally great."

Gawain Cecil's voice was deep and solemn: "I hope it's all worth it."

The figure who was the first to speak before shook his head: "It's not worth it or not, we just have to do it or not. We are small creatures, so maybe we can only do some small things, but compared with sitting still and waiting to die, take some active actions." It makes more sense anyway.”

A figure beside him was teasing him: "Ha, 'sage', you are forcing such deep words again!"

However, the black shadow who was teased and who seemed to be nicknamed "The Philosopher" didn't speak again, and seemed to be lost in thought.

After that, there was a period of silence. In the silence, the boat finally touched the shore, and the four jumped onto the land, looking at each other speechlessly for a while.

This time it was Gawain Cecil who broke the silence first: "Have you ever thought about what will happen in the future?"

"I still can't figure it out yet," a figure shook his head, "...it's gone, at least...find it... my compatriots are..."

The sound and picture in the memory suddenly became intermittent, and the surrounding light also became flickering. Gawain knew that this fragmented memory was finally coming to an end, so he tried to concentrate, distinguishing that he could hear clearly. At every syllable, he heard a vague voice among the crashing waves:

"That wall can still last for hundreds of years, or even thousands of years... maybe before that, our descendants will develop, and the things that trouble us today may not necessarily trouble them."

It was Gawain Cecil's voice.

Then came those inexplicably familiar voices whose names I couldn't remember:

"I hope so..."

"It's time to say goodbye. I always feel that I should say something, but I can't think of what to say."

"Then don't talk about it, anyway... everyone will forget it in a while."

"That's right, then I wish everyone a safe journey..."

All the sounds have gone away, the vague voices, the crackling waves, and the wind in his ears, all gradually fell silent. In the rapidly jumping, darkened vision, Gawain only saw a few blurred and incoherent sounds. screen:

The small boat with the lantern on it returned to the surface of the sea and sailed towards the big ship in the distance.

The only two remaining masts of the ship hung up the sails, turned slowly, and gradually moved away towards the blood-colored sea, gradually entering the darkness.

Gawain Cecil turned around and walked towards the land with heavy and slow steps.

In that direction, it seems that someone has come to meet him.

This emergent memory ends here.

……

Gawain took a light breath, and his consciousness returned to the present. He was still sitting on the magic vehicle, and was already close to the central area of ​​Cecil. On the opposite seat was Victoria, who seemed to be faintly worried.

Gao Wen frowned, those images and sounds still clearly remained in his mind - just now, he entered a strange and wonderful state, those emergent memories engulfed his consciousness like a semi-lucid dream , he seems to be immersed in an immersive scene, but he has not completely lost contact with the real world - he knows that he should have only been in a daze for less than a minute in the real world, but this 1 minute of daze has already caused Victoria to panic. Notice.

Noticing that Gao Wen had regained his senses, Victoria couldn't help but said, "Your Majesty, are you alright?"

Amber's figure immediately appeared on the seat beside Gao Wen: "Don't worry, it's okay, he will do this occasionally."

Then she looked at Gao Wen and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I suddenly remembered something..." Gao Wen waved his hand, indicating that he was fine, and then said slowly, "Amber, do you remember that I mentioned to you that I once went to sea, but the relevant details Forgot all."

"Ah, I remember," Amber blinked, "I also helped you investigate the case file in this area - unfortunately nothing was found. It happened 700 years ago, and it may be a secret operation, there is no trace Leave."

"I suddenly remembered something just now." Gao Wen glanced at Victoria while speaking.

"The outlet you mentioned just now, the location where the Holy Dragon Principality borders on the northeast of Cecil...is called Dragon Fjord, right?"

"It does have such a name - derived from the naming of the Holy Dragon Principality."

"I...that was where I went to sea," Gao Wen breathed out, his brows furrowed tightly, "The ones who went to sea with me were the Sons of the Storm."

This time, even Victoria's usual iceberg mentality was difficult to maintain, and she even exclaimed: "What?! Son of the Storm?!"

"Strictly speaking, they should be the sons of the storm who have not yet fallen into darkness," Gawain said slowly, "and I suspect that they are also the last batch... In my memory, they were already fighting with madness when they set sail with me." confronted."

According to the information currently available, the three major dark sects should have three mental states in the process of facing the gods and falling into darkness:

During a ceremony at Ancestral Peak, the three leaders of the cult were sane before they were exposed to the knowledge of the gods and brought madness back to the living.

After the ceremony, the three major sects were polluted by the knowledge of the gods. Members either rushed into the wasteland of Gondor, or fled away, and disappeared in all directions. They were crazy during this period, and this process probably lasted for several years or even longer. .

After a period of madness, some members of the three major sects seem to have regained their "reason" and regrouped their compatriots, completely converted to the dark sect, and began to implement those "plans" in extreme paranoia. This process continues until today .

According to Gawain's judgment, the figures he walked with in his memory should all be the Sons of the Storm - this is evidenced by the ship and the details in the conversations of those people, and their state...should be from the first transition from one stage to the second.

They are gradually being polluted by the knowledge of gods and are gradually going crazy.

This process should have been very quick. Many believers only took a moment to go from the first stage to the second stage, but those who walked with Gao Wen seemed to last longer.

Something sheltered their minds and helped them temporarily against madness.

Suddenly, the lantern hanging on the bow with blurred outline and dim light flashed through Gawain's mind.

Chapter 0777 The confusion caused by memory

Gawain was basically sure that those people whose figures appeared in the conference fragments and whose figures were blurred in the black mist, those who had sailed with Gawain Cecil, should be a group of children of the storm who had not been completely swallowed by madness and paranoia believers.

Of course, they could still be called "Storm Priests" at that time.

This is also in line with his previous reasoning: 700 years ago, when all kinds of advanced magic technologies of human beings were declared out of order, the one who could help Gawain Cecil complete that mysterious voyage could only be the person in charge of various magical technologies. Priests of storm who are similar to sea magic.

And judging from the timeline, when Gao Wen started that mysterious voyage, the three major sects should have completed the ceremony on the Ancestor Peak, and should have fallen into frenzy.

So who protected the sanity of some of the children of the storm so that they could complete Gawain Cecil's mysterious voyage?

Lantern...

There is only one name that Gao Wen can think of: Selina Geerfen.

The lantern in memory is very vague, but it has a strong sense of familiarity and intimacy. This feeling originated from Gawain Cecil, indicating that the image of "lantern" left a deep impression on the latter's memory.At that time, there was no figure of Selina Gerfen on the boat, but since the lantern was hanging on the bow... Maybe it symbolized that the "power" of Selina Gerfen at that time was in a surreal way. Form accompanies Gawain Cecil.

Gawain rubbed his forehead, remembering the piece of information that Daniel passed to him before——

Although it is not clear about the exact time and process of Selina Geer's death, from the information available to the archbishop's first-level priest, it is basically certain that the "dream saint" died shortly after the Ancestral Peak Ceremony. Those who died within a short period of time, the cause of death was martyrdom, protecting a large number of priests and believers of the Dream Church at the cost of their lives.

If it weren't for her martyrdom, I am afraid that there would be no "Eternal Sleepers" sect left in the future: Dreamland Church specializes in spiritual power. Due to the influence of the nature of magic, the connection between them and the gods is closer and more direct In addition, at that time, Megal III was the first to enter the Kingdom of God and face the gods, and the members of the Dream Church were far more severely impacted than the other two churches.

Since Selena protected most of the members of the Dream Church at that time, then... if she still has the energy left, it is also possible that she temporarily sheltered some Storm Priests "by the way".

The time when Gawain Cecil made that voyage is not clear, but it is certain that it was after the establishment of the Ansu Kingdom, when the defense system in the southern border was basically stable and the rear could be entrusted with peace of mind.

Judging from the timeline, Selina Geerfen should have died in martyrdom at that time, and only the lantern appeared in the memory, but Selina Geerfen was not seen. This may be the reason—at that time Selena "in person" did not appear in front of Gawain Cecil.

She protected the long-distance team in the form of a soul. The so-called lantern should only be a subconscious symbolic impression left in Gawain Cecil's mind.

Gao Wen's eyes became serious: If this is the case, then this matter is interesting.

He has been looking for the clues of that mysterious voyage back then, the records left by the people who sailed with Gawain Cecil or the clues of their descendants, but he has never found anything. He thought that those fellow travelers were already here. In the past 700 years, the traces have been completely erased, and the inheritance has been broken, but now it seems that there is one of the biggest insiders who is still "alive", living in the spiritual network.

Will Selena Geer know the secret of the year?If she knew... then did she know the connection between Gawain Cecil and Gawain?Do you know the possible "soul transaction"?

Gawain Cecil made a deal with his soul during that mysterious voyage, and if Selena had actually been on board in some form then she would have know something.

She probably knew long ago that the soul in Gawain Cecil's body had been replaced by someone. She should have known it long before the term "Wanderer outside the Territory" appeared, as long as Gawain was unmasked.

But according to the information fed back from within the Eternal Sleepers Cult, she seems to have never shown this. Like a person who is completely unaware, she, along with other church members, called Gao Wen an "outsider wanderer"... This is intentional?To cover up what?Still waiting for something?

And according to the conversation at the end of the memory, a priest of the storm said, "Anyway, everyone will forget it after a while." Gawain guessed that this memory of sailing should also be sealed by Selina Geer: The most powerful Transcendent in the realm of soul and dreams other than Gore III, she is fully capable of doing this.

Then why did she try to seal this memory?And it seems that she also sealed the memory of everyone in the entire team at that time—is there any hidden danger in keeping this memory?Will it leak?To whom?Who can pry into these secrets from the memory of a legendary strong man?

Gao Wen vaguely had some guesses, but because of lack of evidence, he didn't dare to take it seriously.

Victoria was just waiting patiently on the opposite side. She knew that Gao Wen was thinking about some very important things, and it would be inappropriate to interrupt rashly at this time.

In the end, Gao Wen took the initiative to break the silence.

"Is the outlet at the junction of the Holy Dragon Principality and the northeast of the empire currently under our control?"

The memory about the voyage was sealed, but now some fragments emerged from the darkness. The opportunity to break the seal seems to be because Victoria Wilde mentioned the estuary, and in order to continue to explore this mysterious past, Also in order to explore the actual needs of the ocean, it was necessary for Gao Wen to learn more about the current situation of that place.

After all, 700 years have passed, the country has experienced two civil wars, the world has been turned upside down, and a small estuary on the far frontier... After all the ups and downs of the years, it may not be the same as it was then.

"Nominally...it is still the territory of the empire," Victoria replied with a nod, "but it has been ignored for many years. As of the last year of the Ansu calendar, there were only a few dilapidated villages there, and the mouth of the sea belonged to it in name In a shabby Viscounty, now that Viscounty has been assigned to Basur Province."

"In name, it is." Gao Wen heaved a sigh of relief, but also felt a bit of urgency and pressure.

The overall situation of the empire is initially determined, but the sequelae caused by the war still need to be healed slowly.

The situation in border areas changes, disputed areas are encroached upon by neighboring countries, or disputes with neighboring countries occur in the process of re-measurement of borders and reinforcement of defenses. These are all possible occurrences.

If there is a real problem in this regard, it can only be "since ancient times".

"On the Huanlong Fjord, an outlet will be built to serve as a foothold for exploring the ocean in the future," Gao Wen said slowly, looking at Victoria. "At the same time, the opening plan on the extreme northern coastline remains unchanged. A 'North Port' will be established to restart the northern circumcontinental route."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gao Wen thought for a while, and then added: "Over Huanlong Fjord, the port foundation must be well established. According to the standards of military ports, some facilities for testing marine warships will be added there in the future..."

Victoria raised her eyes: "Battleship... a magical battleship used for ocean warfare?"

"Yes," Gawain nodded, with a little emotion in his tone, "We are not the only ones who can think of the ocean... Typhon has a much longer and better coastline than Cecil, with a large number of natural ports and offshore resources. They Sooner or later, it will set its sights on the ocean. It may even be doing it now."

On Victoria's usually expressionless face, the eyes could not help but change slightly.

A sense of urgency arises spontaneously.

After Gao Wen gave the order, his thoughts diverged a little:

Calling Dragon Fjord is still the territory of the Cecil Empire, but its geographical location determines that it will be more sensitive between the Holy Dragon Principality and the Cecil Empire.

Setting up a military port there, setting up a large-scale military research and development facility, and even stationing troops and permanent warships, there will be no small movements.

It seems that it is necessary to take advantage of the opportunity of this diplomatic event to establish a good relationship with the Principality of Shenglong.

Great news from Victoria... so timely.

……

Chaotic darkness seemed to envelop the whole world. Above the flat and colorless plain, a woman with a lantern in a white dress stood quietly in mid-air, watching the distant, uninhabited town dormant in the night.

This is the "imaginary area" outside the city of dreams. It is an area that is not marked by the psychic network and cannot be directly addressed. Ordinary residents of the city of dreams (eternal sleepers) cannot even perceive it without authorization. The existence of this area—even if they stood where Selina Geerfen was at the moment, they could only see nothingness and darkness in their field of vision.

This characteristic of the "imaginary number area" effectively avoids the spread of pollution.

But the weirdness of that small town is beyond imagination. It seems to have thoughts and rationality. It is actively seeking a way to break through the blockade, trying to find a way to enter the backbone structure of the spiritual network.

After a long period of silent gazing, Selena suddenly turned her head and looked at the dim sky beside her.

A man in a white robe with a gentle temperament outlines his figure from nothingness.

"Master Selina, are you still monitoring this area yourself?"

"No one is more suitable for this job than me-the ghosts in the network don't need to rest," Selina nodded slightly to Yuri, "Did something happen?"

"The preparations for the second exploration have been completed, and I'm here to inquire about the timing of the next operation."

"Nine next week," Selina said.

"I see," Archbishop Yuri nodded, and then followed Selena to the uninhabited town in the distance. "Is there any change in this phantom town?"

"As always, there is no one there, as if time has been frozen," Selena said indifferently, "That church has never appeared again, and there is no bell in the town—according to the information disclosed by the priest in the previous church, Yesterday should have been the day the bell rang."

Archbishop Yuri speculated: "Perhaps... only when we enter the town will it 'come alive'."

Selena was silent for a moment, and asked, "Is there any change in the No. [-] sandbox?"

"There's no change to the sandbox, and we're not making progress."

"...No news is the best news."

"It's exactly as you said," Archbishop Yuri said with a sigh, then stepped back slightly, his figure gradually faded, "Then I'll go back first, the sandbox control team still has work to do."

"Go on."

After Archbishop Yuri's aura disappeared, Selina lowered her head and quietly looked at the lantern in her hand for a long time.

It seemed like a long time before she broke the silence softly as if talking to herself:

"Are you a glimmer of hope..."

……