Sword of Dawn

Before waiting for a response from another mage on duty, he quickly walked towards the window on one side of the hall, and the robes, canes, hats and other things hanging nearby flew by themselves one after another, covering the middle-aged mage as if alive , when the cane finally fell into the palm, the crystal window depicting many runes has been slammed open——

The middle-aged mage jumped straight into the still dark night sky outside the tower.

Under the starlight, the mage in robes was like a bird, and quickly passed the high ground where the communication tower was located. Behind the mage, the ring on the top of the communication tower was still spinning quietly, and more runes lit up in sequence. Another on-duty mage in the center has taken over the magic circle. This expensive and sophisticated magic creation is buzzing in the night, and has begun to forward the orders from Aldernan to the next communication tower...

……

The steel wheels crushed the guide rails embedded in the ground, the repulsive runes emitted a faint gleam on the bottom of the car and the surfaces of the carriages on both sides, the power ridges released surging energy, and the magic device hummed while running at high speed , The mechanical giant python made of metal crawled on the ground, stirring the mist on the ground in the early spring in the dark night, rushing towards the border at high speed.

The mechanical noise of the wheels, certain bearings, and levers in operation echoed in the quiet carriage. After the lights were turned off, the interior of the truck was completely dark. The tense and depressing atmosphere kept everyone in a tense state of sobriety. Yuri raised his head , the extraordinary vision allowed him to see clearly the pairs of eyes in the darkness, as well as the worried look on Wendy's face nearby.

"We have already passed the Shadow Swamp checkpoint, and we will reach the border soon," Yuri whispered, "Even if Aldernan reacts quickly, it will take time for the magic communication to go through layers, and this line is at most It can only be transmitted to the communication tower next to the Shadow Swamp—the number of Typhon’s communication towers is limited, and the end messengers can only be borne by manpower, they can’t catch up.”

"I'm worried about the people who stay in the country," Wendy said softly. "The informers appeared earlier than expected, and many of them may have been too late to transfer. The identities of middle- and lower-class believers can easily be exposed by reporting each other...and the empire Population registration management began a few years ago, and it may be difficult for compatriots who have been exposed to hide for too long."

Yuri frowned, and suddenly said softly: "...The exposed compatriots may not necessarily be life-threatening."

Wendy cast a curious look upon hearing this: "Why do you say that?"

"If it's Rosetta Augustus..." Yuri lowered his voice even more cautiously than before, "He's more likely to try to recruit the Eternal Sleepers, especially those who have mastered dream magic and nerve cord technology Middle-level priests..."

Wendy's eyes changed slightly, and she heard Yuri continue to say: "The Royal Association of Mages is completely loyal to him, and the great magicians should have found a way to disconnect the eternal sleeper from the psychic network, the 'informant' who left the psychic network ' is the evidence, and the Eternal Sleepers who are separated from the psychic network...will become technicians controlled by the Augustus family."

Wendy opened her mouth subconsciously: "You..."

"I used to live in Aldernan, and..." Yuri suddenly showed a complicated smile, "I have a certain understanding of Rosetta Augustus, and as a former nobleman, I also Know how the ruler of a country thinks when faced with things that help to rule... The royal family will soon issue an order to appease the order of the eternal sleeper, and Rosetta Augustus will arrange for it A series of high-sounding reasons, in order to eliminate people’s resistance to the dark sect, the noble council will fully support him - some of our priests will become the secret advisers and staff of the Aldernan families, and others will join the Royal Wizards Association or It won't take long for all of this, the Guild of Craftsmen."

Wendy looked at Yuri quietly.

She doesn't understand the nobles, but she knows that Yuri used to be one of them, and what the other party said should not be a lie. These...seems to be the rules followed by the power groups at the top of the empire, and how this set of rules operates. The inevitable result of the following.

"Have you thought of this before?"

"I thought about it before the evacuation operation started," Yuri said softly, "and I believe several people also thought about it, but we all tacitly didn't say it-some people were to prevent people from being shaken, some People . . . they are probably already waiting for an invitation from Aldernan."

Wendy couldn't help biting her lip: "...I thought the deterrence of wanderers from outside the territory was enough..."

"Wanderers outside the territory need a psychic network to extend his power, and the psychic network is not enough to carry this power now-the priests at the middle level and above understand technology, they know this, and they also know the strength of the Royal Mages Association... Even if this There are huge risks in the middle, and some people are willing to take risks," Yuri said slowly, shaking his head helplessly, "There are too many speculators, and staying in Typhon is very attractive to many people—especially those who are destined not to be accepted. Those accepted by the 'Cecil Order'."

Wendy fell silent for a while, in the darkness and silence, she heard Yuri's voice with a sigh——

"Separation is inevitable, Ms. Wendy, especially after we overinflate... Now is the best situation, at least there are no traitors among the archbishops."

"I used to think that the spiritual network connected us all together..." Wendy sighed softly, "but it has come to this situation."

Yuri didn't speak.

A few gleams of light passed through the narrow air holes on the side of the carriage, tearing bright lines in the dark freight carriage.

A few figures swayed between the crates, their eyes stuck in front of those air holes, and a bishop muttered in a low voice not far away: "It's dawn outside..."

Yuri approached the gap behind him, and put his eyes on the narrow gap. He saw that the morning sun was rising from the end of the wilderness, and the brilliant corona was illuminating the entire plain and the mountains at the end of the plain, and the lakes inlaid on the plain. The golden light glowed with the river, and the nearby vegetation receded quickly beside the railway, forming a phantom.

The mist has been dispelled by the sun at some point.

"We are approaching the border," Yuri immediately reminded, "Attention, there is a checkpoint—"

There was a sudden shaking, and the ear-piercing sound of steel wheels rubbing against the rails sounded from the bottom of the carriage. At the same time, there were obvious tremors from both sides of the carriage. Outside the walls on both sides, there was a "click" of some kind of mechanical device running. The sound instantly rang out.

The braking device is pressurizing the wheels, and the repulsion mechanism outside the carriage is adjusting the polarity one by one—the train is decelerating.

"Don't be nervous," Wendy immediately turned her head and said, "We are approaching the border post, and it is a normal stop."

"I'm going to check the condition of the carriage in front," Yuri said in a low voice, getting up gently, "It's close to the connecting section, so we must be extra careful."

……

The sun was shining on the outpost near the Typhon-Cecil border, and a slightly cold wind was blowing from the direction of the plain. Several heavily armed Typhon soldiers were waiting on the high platform, watching the car from Butterfield County The freight train coming in the direction gradually slowed down and steadily approached the stop indicator line in the inspection area. The commander of the small station squinted his eyes, forcibly controlling the urge to yawn in this cold morning, and commanded the soldiers to step forward and face the train Do routine inspections.

During the short time waiting for the train to open, the commander of the outpost took a deep breath of the cold air on the plain, and looked not far away while boosting his spirits—two battle mage towers stood on both sides of the railway, and the mage tower The huge Arcane Focusing Crystal on the top was shining brightly in the sun, and several low-level battle mages and knights were standing guard nearby, watching the train stop.

His gaze continued to move into the distance, crossing the fence, crossing an open field, crossing the low wall on the border and the blockade on the other side, and finally landed on another checkpoint - that was the border checkpoint of the Cecilians, Several square houses were built on the concrete platform, the magical crystal device was floating in the center of the open space, and several weapons called "rail guns" were placed on the top of the fence, with their muzzles pointing high into the sky.

Officer Typhon glanced at the soldiers who had already started to perform inspection tasks, then turned around, pulled out a small dagger from his waist, and with the sunlight reflecting on the blade, he shook it twice towards the Cecilian outpost.

A few seconds later, a similar flash of light swept across his eyes.

The young officer grinned, then put away his dagger and walked towards the train.

Leaning outside was a man with a beard and a blue uniform. He was the commander of the train, a Typhon.

"It's full of textiles and alchemy materials," the bearded man said to the young officer with a smile, "Go and exchange some yellow gold for our emperor."

The young officer stretched out his hand: "Show me the list."

"It was given to the soldiers just now..."

The officer frowned: "I haven't seen it yet."

The bearded man had no choice but to find out the documents with him and hand them to the officer in front of him: "Hey, yes, here you are."

The officer took the list, then turned around and walked towards a few carriages not far away.

The bearded captain glanced casually not far away, and suddenly, a faint black spot appeared in the eastern sky, and flew towards this side as quickly as a bird.

The captain's eyes changed, and he immediately turned and walked towards the officer who was leading the soldiers to inspect the carriages one by one, with a smile on his face: "Mr. Knight, these carriages have been inspected just now."

The young Typhon officer looked at the soldiers beside him: "Have you checked?"

"Checked, sir," replied the soldier promptly, "conforms to the list."

Officer Typhon looked down at the list in his hand, glanced slightly at the bearded man next to him, and then grabbed the handrail of the door of the side car, stepped on the door pedal with one leg, and looked in with his upper body unhurriedly.

The black shadow in the sky was getting closer and closer, and even the outline of a human figure could be vaguely seen.

"Mr. Knight," the bearded man stepped forward and smiled flatteringly, "here are alchemy materials..."

Officer Typhon's gaze swept across the compartment slowly. In the dark freight compartment, a large number of crates were piled up together, but there was nothing else.

It would be a waste of time to go through all those crates again.

The captain stood outside the carriage, smiling, but staring at the officer without blinking.

He didn't dare to bribe the other party, and he didn't dare to make any verbal inducements, because these two behaviors would immediately arouse suspicion-the guards here are the reserve knights of the Black Steel Knights, who have noble blood and regard the Black Steel Knights as The target soldiers are different from other places, they are very vigilant.

"Mr. Knight, we have to undergo an inspection at the Cecil's side..."

Officer Typhon finally withdrew his body from the door of the carriage, and his military boots fell on the ground with a click.

"To be honest, it's a little unreasonable to have to stop and check twice on both sides of the border," the officer said casually, "What do you think?"

"I don't dare to say that," the bearded man hurriedly waved his hands, "It must be reasonable for the big shots above to design this set of rules, we just follow it..."

"Sooner or later, it needs to be optimized," the officer chuckled, "after all, everything is just beginning..."

"Who knows..." the bearded man spread his hands, "Anyway, for me, just understanding the big guy behind me is already dizzying."

"Okay," the officer seemed to feel that it would be a waste of time to discuss these matters with the person in front of him, and finally waved his hand, "The inspection is passed, and the docking time is almost up, let's go!"

The bearded man suddenly smiled, bowed like a gentleman, and then turned around and climbed onto the railing of the carriage. The next second, the signal bell rang inside the train.

This huge and complicated steel machine began to accelerate slowly, and gradually left the outpost of the Typhons, crossed the fences and low walls, crossed the wide buffer zone, and drove steadily towards the territory of Cecil...

It wasn't until the train crossed the border that a middle-aged mage in black robe finally landed on the Typhon outpost.

Chapter 0840 New Mission

A figure in a black robe flew over from the direction of the Shadow Swamp and landed on the checkpoint of the Typhon people. Immediately, soldiers and garrison officers approached and asked the mage why he came - the mage who mastered flying and those who The "battle mages" trained in mass production are different. They come from the Royal Mage Association, have received systematic education and years of training, and are usually stationed in places such as the Communication Tower or the Mage Association branch. Coming here in person obviously has something important to do.

"You should stop that train just now!" As soon as the black-robed mage landed, he looked at the magic train that had crossed the border in frustration—it didn't enter a state of full acceleration, but moved on the rails as if gliding But the national border is an invisible wall. After crossing the border, even if the speed of the train is slower than a snail, it is something that the Typhon people cannot catch up with. Those who sneak across the border!"

The knight stationed at the outpost widened his eyes, and immediately turned his head to look in the direction of the train, and then turned around: "We have already checked, and there are only goods on the train that meet the list and registered crew members."

"You checked it yourself?"

Looking at the stern gaze of the mage, the young Typhon officer was not afraid, he puffed up his chest: "I checked it myself, the soldiers checked it, I checked it myself."

"...Well, I hope you are right," the mage sighed, "Listen, Aldernan has an order..."

……

The train stopped at the checkpoint on Cecil's side, and the soldiers began to inspect the goods on the train according to the regulations, and handed over the necessary customs clearance documents to the person in charge of the train. They did it meticulously, and there seemed to be no abnormalities.

A commander wearing an officer-style melting sword on his waist walked into the carriage and glanced inside.

Between the crates, there are many silent figures.

The commander nodded slightly, turned and left.

The door of the car was closed again, and the freight car was once again dark.

"We are safe," a voice came from the darkness, "This is the Cecil checkpoint..."

"We still need to hold on for a while," Yuri said in a low voice, "We can only get off at the White Sands Station——there, we will mix with the employees of the White Sands Mining Company, and we will not be able to truly set foot on Cecil. land."

Wendy's voice sounded from the side: "You just used mental interference to affect the knights and soldiers who boarded the vehicle for inspection, will you show your feet?"

"No, that knight is only low-level," Yuri shook his head, "As for the battle mages stationed at the site...the kind of mages trained in batches can't see through high-level spiritual spells. But Orr The situation will be different after Denan's order arrives at these border posts, and they will definitely send more powerful official mages to check the checkpoints."

"Then it has nothing to do with us," a priest muttered in a low voice, "I just hope that the compatriots who cross the border can pass smoothly..."

Wendy glanced at the priest who spoke last in the darkness, closed her eyes slightly, but said nothing.

After this train...how many of our compatriots will cross this border to Cecil under the rule of the "Outlander Wanderer"?

As Yuri said... perhaps many people will stay in Typhon.

Although the Outlander Wanderer is powerful, there are only a few archbishops who have truly understood and faced this power. Besides in the dream world, the Outlander Wanderer is only a mortal emperor in reality. Coupled with the "loyalty" brought about by power deterrence... it has always been fragile.

The Order of the Eternal Sleepers, which has lasted for 700 years, is destined to be torn apart, and will become the nourishment of the two human empires. Where will it go in the future... who knows.

The "future" may be like this train, rumbling forward, constantly going to the distant place, and what the distant place looks like, for the current Wendy, Yuri and others, they can only imagine.

In the darkness, someone whispered to himself: "Cecil... here we come..."

……

The morning sun shone on the lawn in front of the Cecil Palace, and the smell of fresh soil wafted slowly along the wind. Gawain was walking along the path as usual, and Amber was taking a small morning jog beside him as usual.

This is Gao Wen's most leisurely time of the day.

When the melodious and resonant sound of the mechanical clock tower sounded for the first time, Gao Wen suddenly said: "Late last night, the first successful informer appeared."

Amber didn't react for a while: "...Huh?"

Gao Wen casually reminded: "The Eternal Sleeper."

As the person in charge of intelligence, Amber immediately understood what Gao Wen was talking about, and she frowned subconsciously: "So fast? Didn't we predict that it would take at least a week before someone successfully disclosed the news to Rosetta August?" Stu?"

"It seems that we have underestimated Typhon's Royal Mages Association," Gao Wen shook his head, "They have thought of a way to successfully block the mind network in a very short period of time, even if it is only a small-scale application, it is enough to understand a lot Something happened."

"...Then it seems that we have to take some measures in advance," Amber curled her lips. "The number of eternal sleepers who can successfully reach Cecil may be less than half of the expected number. Fortunately, the core personnel and most of the technical materials should not If something goes wrong... the rest will fall to Rosetta Augustus."

"Of course it will fall into his hands, and he will immediately try to analyze and apply the technology of the eternal sleepers, and if he is open-minded enough, he will gather those eternal sleepers who were intercepted in Typhon like me, and try to put They dug them out and stuffed them into his construction association... Maybe... No, he will definitely do that," Gao Wen said indifferently, "They may soon find a way to improve the communication tower..."

Amber looked at Gao Wen suspiciously: "Is this also in your plan?"

"This is not my plan, it's an inevitable change in the situation. Neither Megore III nor I can reverse it, but fortunately, I don't mind letting things develop in this direction," Gawain said casually, "It's like As I said a long time ago, we can't expect our opponents to stand still forever, especially opponents like Typhon - it will definitely develop rapidly, and all we can do is to develop a little faster than them and let them There are more pits on the road of development.”

Amber curled her lips, and muttered while trying to keep up with Gao Wen's pace: "All in all, the most important thing now is that you, the 'behind the scenes', must have been exposed to Rosetta."

Gao Wen was silent for two seconds when he heard the words, and then he exhaled lightly, and looked into the distance: "Yes..."

"Do you want to deal with public opinion as soon as possible?" Amber asked, "Typhon may make a fuss about it-although I don't think they will have any clever means in the area of ​​'public opinion'."

"Just look at the arrangements," Gao Wen said casually, "You should already be very experienced in this area."

"understood."

Amber nodded and replied simply, and then she saw that Gao Wen didn't intend to continue speaking, so she couldn't help asking: "In addition, your involvement in the Eternal Sleeper Cult has exposed traces of your activities in Typhon. , there should be other reactions from Typhon—the trade plan and ambassador plan we just made..."

"Believe me, from now on, business will continue, ambassadors will continue to be dispatched, and peace will remain as before. Typhon and Cecil will still be good neighbors," Gawain smiled and glanced at Amber. There have never been many spies. Your military intelligence bureau has been sending out excellent operatives, and we have caught Typhon spies in the east and several provinces in the northeast... How many have you already had?"

Amber rolled her eyes: "It's enough to build a city, and it's rich to form a mining group."

"Isn't that enough?" Gao Wen smiled lightly, "It's just a daily life in a big country. Of course, Rosetta Augustus will be more vigilant towards us than before, and he should also make some changes in future business orders." There are certain restrictions, but what about the overall situation? Behind the peace agreement, who really underestimated the other, Typhon or Cecil—it’s just that in the face of sufficient national interests, everyone has a tacit understanding.”

Seeing Amber's thoughtful expression, Gao Wen just let out a soft breath, he stopped talking, but thought of something else in his mind.

What he and Amber talked about were only matters at the level of the two countries, but on a personal level, he didn't know how Rosetta Augustus would feel about himself as a "wanderer outside the territory".

There is only one thing he can be sure of: he cannot expect a person like Emperor Rosetta to be panic-stricken and nervous when facing a so-called "outsider wanderer".

It is even more likely that Emperor Typhon never regarded himself, the "ancient hero" who "revealed the coffin" as an ordinary human being from the very beginning. It is probably meaningless for the rulers.

Because Gao Wen himself has the same mentality——