Sword of Dawn

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After these thoughts flashed through his mind, Gawain looked at Pittman with strange eyes.

Pittman shrank his neck uncomfortably.

"Your opinions are not like those of a low-level druid, half-baked antique appraiser, crappy stalker, or fake and shoddy hermit," Gawain said unhurriedly. Most scholars may not be able to say these words."

Pittman was taken aback immediately, and then had a bitter face: "I just said I shouldn't say it, it's a disaster..."

"I didn't say what to do with you," Gao Wen changed the subject, "Everyone has a little secret, you have it, I have it, and Amber has it, it's no big deal."

"Why does this suddenly involve Amber?" Pittman curled his lips, feeling a little more at ease in his heart, "But you just said that those scholars who are full of knowledge can't say these things... I don't agree with that."

While talking, the little old man chuckled twice: "The history of druids is not a secret, nor are magic and magic. Ordinary people may know little because of their status, but those who belong to various sects At the top, couldn't the big shots who can look up all the information and have a particularly good brain think of the same thing as me?

"The smartest people know it in their hearts, but no one says it.

"After all, they can't reach God..."

Chapter 0120 Alien...

The communication with Pittman did not achieve Gao Wen's original goal, but it had unexpected gains.

He didn't understand anything related to the essence of magic from the druid's ritual spells - he originally thought that with the brain hole of his traveler and Gawain Cecil's insight, he witnessed the druid spells This "magical wonder" will lead to some epiphanies later, but it turns out that this is really a bit much to think about.But on the other hand, he heard Pittman's "a little insight" about divine arts and magic.

It is not that human beings have stolen the authority of the gods, but that the gods have cut off the power that originally belonged to humans.

To be honest, although Gawain Cecil claims to be half a polymath, it is also a blessing of bragging. He does know a lot of things, but it is only because he has seen a lot and made a lot of friends during the pioneering journey. A lot of knowledge In his memory, they all belong to the category of broad but not refined.For example, the history of Druids - Gao Wen knew from his memory that Druids were a complete and unified religion 3000 years ago. Because of the "White Star Fall" event 3000 years ago, the religious organization disintegrated and transformed into several academic factions. At the same time, in this process, the natural magic has also transformed into the current druid magic, but in the details of this period of history, the memory I inherited is obviously not as good as that of Pittman, a druid who has received orthodox inheritance (although always looks very unscrupulous).

Since each druid sect attaches great importance to the inheritance of knowledge, such things as "school history" are the basic homework that druids must master. In addition, the druid inheritance relies heavily on the elves, and their inheritance is not Not affected by the magic tide 700 years ago, and the time difference of 3000 years makes Gao Wen, an "ancient man", have no special advantage compared with Pittman on historical issues, so what Pittman knows, Gawain does not necessarily know .

It is precisely because he clearly knows how the druid priests used divine magic 3000 years ago, and also knows the evolution process of divine magic to magic, that Pittman can make the conclusion that "it is not human beings who have stolen the authority of the gods, but the gods have cut off the power of the gods." The power that belongs to human beings" is such an astonishing conclusion.

Of course, Gao Wen knew that this conclusion was just Pittman's one-sided statement, so naturally he couldn't take it seriously, but as a way of thinking about gods...it seems to be okay.

……

After sending the Knights of Byron out for a few days, the plan to increase the population of the territory finally started to improve.

Just as Gao Wen expected at the beginning, compared with recruiting refugees, recruiting craftsmen, promoting the introduction of immigrants, etc., the only reliable and stable way to bring in people is to buy serfs and slave labor.

Everyone is not stupid, but who would come to the foot of the Dark Mountains to open up wasteland and farm if there is a way to survive?

Far away from the border of civilization and next to the wasteland of Gondor, the entire New Cecil Territory was built at the gate of hell. The continuous decline of the southern border for a hundred years and the dark stories that have been circulated among the people have dyed this land with a strong sense of terror. Color, everyone firmly believes that this place is a deadly wasteland, and the ancestor of the Cecil family led people here to open up wasteland, probably because he was lying in the coffin for too long and his brain changed a little--the brain is fine people will come here?

Oh, someone posted two notices and then stood up a propagandist and yelled loudly, announcing that this place is safe and livable, and it also includes food, housing and distribution, is it a lie?

In this era, the numbness of the people is beyond imagination, and their ability to endure poverty is also beyond imagination. They would rather stay in their own homes that cannot maintain food and clothing than take risks in a legendary fierce place to make a living, because they both They can't see or imagine what life in a distant place will be like, and for most people, the cost of leaving their hometown for an adventure is too high for them to bear-once the wrong choice is made, it will be irreversible.

So the first batch of people who came to the territory were the slaves purchased by Knight Byron and his men from nearby territories—serfs, slave laborers, indentured slaves, all kinds of slaves, thanks to the abundance of funds, The number of people sent in the first batch reached as many as three hundred.

And many more slaves are still on the way, or in slaver cages.

Of course, Gawain did not directly let these slaves enter the camp and mix with the locals. He had ordered people to level a large open space near the forest on the west side of the territory in advance, and built a large number of tents and simple fences. The slaves transported from the pier first had to go through basic identity registration and physical examination in a temporary quarantine camp on the river bank. After recording their names and roughly confirming their health, the soldiers brought them to the new camp.

After that, these newly added population will stay in the independent camp for at least two months. During the day, they will be led by the supervisors to various work sites, work with the people on the territory, and use their personal experience in the process. Learn the basic order and laws of this land, and be sent back to their independent camp at night. Before falling asleep, they must listen to the "Cecile Basic Law" and the "General Chapter of the Labor System" read by the soldiers to them, To understand the new personnel management system in this land, and most importantly——

The way to freedom.

Gawain calls this process "buffering."

After two months of adaptation and learning, the slaves who have expired will receive a simple inspection. In fact, they will repeat what they are taught on weekdays. In addition, they will learn about their work from the mouths of the people who work with them on weekdays. And adapting to the situation, if both of these two aspects meet the standards, a foreign slave will be officially accepted into the Cecil Territory, and if one of them fails to meet the standards... he will return to the "buffer camp" to continue his education.

The buffer system that Gao Wen came up with was just a prototype, and it was used to prevent a large number of immigrants from rushing into the territory and destroying the order he had finally established. However, he knew that this system must still have many imperfections. Whether it is the time required for buffering, the content of education and training, or the standards and accuracy of follow-up evaluations, all need to be gradually adjusted and improved, but as long as this buffering system is in place, at least the risk of the situation getting out of control can be avoided.

The wharf along the Whitewater River is busier than ever before. The cargo ship hired from Tanzania Town is unloading a new batch of serfs and mine slaves. The Cecil combat soldiers in full suit of extraordinary armor are staring intently at Watching the scene and maintaining order—although there is a lack of "humanism", the fact is that only when these soldiers draw their swords out of their sheaths will those chaotic serfs and slave laborers know how to line up and pass honestly in order The reserved gap in the pier fence.

Hetty led a group of people selected from the [-]-member aid and construction group who could read and count to register the basic information of the slaves. When another slave left in front of her, she couldn't help rubbing her forehead.

This is already the third "Sam" she has seen today.

Few of the slaves have decent names, and no one seriously names them (including their parents). Usually, only when they find a buyer, the slave trader will give them a casual name, and What good names could those equally uneducated slave traders think of?

The better ones are called "Sam" and "Holm", and the worse ones are called "fool" and "big man".

Moreover, the slaves couldn't tell their age and place of origin. When asked what they were good at, what they could think of was not skills, but various things like "strength", "resistance to beating", "fast eating" and so on. answer.

But she still has to continue the population registration work, because it is better to register a lot of information than not to register.

Fortunately, the ancestors had the foresight to think of numbering these people—even if their names are varied and have a high repetition rate, they will not be afraid of repetition if they are numbered, and they only need to remember their own numbers at the moment. You can't forget it, right?

Hetty lowered her head, sorting out the several forms that had just been filled, when an extraordinarily tall figure blocked the sunlight in front of her.

She raised her head, and what she saw was Gawain's face.

She hurriedly wanted to stand up: "Ancestor, you are here!"

"You sit down," Gao Wen waved his hand, and looked back at the pier, and found that there were a lot fewer people gathered. It seems that today's registration work is coming to an end. "How do you feel?"

"To be honest, I feel more and more that the 'organizational management' you told me before is really necessary," Hetty almost wanted to cry, "I never thought that writing a few forms would be so tiring ...How good would it be if this kind of thing could be handed over to someone else?"

"General education and night schools have already started, and more and more people in the territory can read and write. I have already sent a letter to Knight Byron to find clerks and teachers. Even if the salary is high, I have to find a few. The situation It will improve."

"I hope," Hetty thumped her waist. "You have planned a large set of management organizations for me, but [-]% to [-]% of the positions above are empty. God knows how long it will take to fill them up."

Gao Wen smiled, and changed the subject: "Today are there still only serfs and slave labor?"

"That's right, there are only serfs and slave laborers." Hetty glanced at the form in his hand, "ah no, there are also refugees... a family of three, probably with no way out, dying in the dark mountains and starving outside the town I boarded the ship arranged by the Knights of Byron with the mentality of no difference, and I have arranged accommodation for them according to the standards of the free people."

Gao Wen frowned: "There are only three people..."

"It can't be helped," Hetty sighed softly. "Even if they are homeless refugees, very few people are willing to come to the Dark Mountains. They don't know the real situation here, so they dare not come."

"I have asked Byron Knight to use his 'channels' to spread the news." Gao Wen's brows relaxed quickly, "For many people at the bottom of society, the news spread in taverns and tramps is always better than that of nobles. The news posted on the bulletin board is more reliable, and I believe that after those gossips spread, there will be refugees willing to come here to try their luck."

Hetty blinked, and her face suddenly became strange: "It's the... way you sent people to spread rumors when you went to the capital?"

She actually wanted to say a "trick", but considering that it might be embarrassing to be chased and beaten by her ancestors at such an age, she used a neutral term.

"Please call this influencing public opinion." Gao Wen reminded solemnly.

At this moment, a lazy voice suddenly floated from the air next to it: "You really can come out of these weird words~~"

Gao Wen didn't need to turn his head to know who was talking: "Amber, can you use a more normal way to drive? Every time you have to run around with shadow steps?"

As his words fell, an amber gradually appeared in the air, and the half-elf lady jumped out of the shadow state, not paying attention to Gawain's lesson at all: "Let me tell you, the camp over there But it's almost time for dinner, I kindly came over to invite you to eat..."

This guy really can only show up according to the meal time.

Gao Wen looked at Amber dumbfounded, and was about to say something, but at this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from not far away.

Gao Wen followed the prestige and saw that the last registered slave was standing in front of another registration gate not far away, and the noise came from the recorder in charge of registration, and the recorder was very loud : "Name, I'm asking you for your name—don't just dangle around!"

However, the slave standing in front of the recorder just stood there blankly, shaking his body slightly on the spot as if suffering from some kind of illness and making it difficult to maintain his balance, turning a deaf ear to the sounds outside.

The recorder's voice became louder: "Hey, is there something wrong with your ears?! I asked your name! Or do you not understand Common Language?!"

The slave seemed to have finally reacted, but he just glanced at the recorder with cloudy eyes, and his body shook more violently, and even began to tremble obviously.

The recorder was stared at by the other party's muddy and lifeless gaze, and couldn't help but feel a little hairy: "You... what do you mean?! Soldier, soldier!"

And at this moment, Gawain suddenly sensed the extremely unstable magical energy that rose suddenly in the slave's body!

Chapter 0121 All things die

The moment Gawain sensed the sudden surge of magical energy in the slave's body, Gawain realized that the situation was not good. He rushed forward, activated the knight's charge skill at the same time as he started, and shouted at the slave who still hadn't reacted. The recorder warned: "Dangerous! Get down!"

The recorder's reaction was half a beat slow, and at this time the slave's whole body was already inflated violently, an ominous red light permeated from his swollen and torn flesh, and countless chaotic and vicious runes quickly crawled Covered with his skin, the poor man who had already lost his mind finally let out a cry of pain, but just before he turned into a bomb and completely exploded, Gawain finally arrived.

The iron gauntlet wrapped in white light slammed from the side, pushing the live bomb away from the crowd, and then a vague shadow flashed past Gao Wen, and Amber appeared from the shadow, and sent the living bomb away from the crowd. The completely stupefied recorder was roughly knocked to the ground.

Then there was an explosion, and the blown slave exploded like a balloon inflated to the limit, and all the flesh and bones instantly turned into deadly shotguns, splashing out in all directions, even if they were far away from the crowd, some hard His bones still crackled on the wooden table at the registration entrance, leaving pits of different depths on it—if Amber hadn’t just knocked the recorder to the ground just in time, this unlucky guy would have been disfigured even if he died.

It wasn't until this time that other people reacted one after another. The soldiers standing guard in the distance ran towards this side. Hetty also immediately propped up the magic barrier and activated the "Detect Distortion" magic to check whether there were other dangers on the scene. And the recorder who escaped the catastrophe climbed up from under the table tremblingly, with a very clear shoe print on his face.

"Seal the site and prohibit irrelevant personnel from entering or leaving." Gawain glanced at the crater left by the explosion on the pier, and ordered loudly and quickly, "Wharf guards, go and stop those ships, and control the slave traders—— Bring back all the slaves who completed registration in the previous batch! Hurry up!"

Under the clear and clear order, everyone took action quickly, while Hetty quickly ran to Gawain's side and looked nervously at the latter's whole body: "Ancestor, are you all right?!"

"It's okay, an explosion of this magnitude can't hurt me," Gao Wen waved his hand, "Is there any remaining breath at the scene?"

Hetty shook her head, and just when she was about to say something, another voice suddenly came from nearby: "What's going on, what's going on—could it be that you are still testing art here?!"

Gao Wen followed the reputation and saw that it was Pittman running towards this side: this druid was in charge of checking the health of the slaves who came to the territory, and he and his newly recruited pharmacy apprentices were waiting on the other side of the pier , ran over immediately after hearing the movement here.

Amber yelled in shock: "I don't know what's going on! Someone here just blew himself up suddenly! It didn't scare me to death!"

"A poor slave, who is suspected to have been made into a living bomb by magic and sorcery," Hetty explained with a gloomy face, and gave a rough description of what happened just now, "...It's like a corpse explosion, but that People were clearly alive before the explosion and could even walk around."

After hearing Hetty's description, Pittman's face darkened in an instant, and there was some kind of complicated and deep fear in his eyes. He didn't say anything, but walked quickly to the center of the explosion.

Although a large living person exploded on the spot, there was not much flesh and blood here—the moment the magic was activated seemed to generate extremely high temperatures, and it heated up from the inside out, and all the exploded wreckage had been carbonized. There are only a lot of black and hard debris near the explosion crater.

Pittman squatted down near the carbonized wreckage, the wrinkles on his face were tighter than ever before, and his expression was terribly serious. This druid, who always shows off his hippie smiling face and incongruous posture, has never had one before. With such a performance, even Amber was taken aback by his expression, but immediately after, Miss Half Elf's attention fell on the unrecognizable wreckage.

She turned her face away: "It's really... crazy."

"It seems that you know something." Gawain came to Pittman and squatted down like him. "Have you seen this kind of magic?"

Pittman picked up a scorched black fragment from the ground, it was a distorted bone, he removed the black carbide on the surface of the bone, and then chanted a few short incantations, a gleaming green light suddenly emerged from the bone , but those green lights were only fleeting, and soon dissipated.

Gawain was startled when he saw the residual magic in the bones: "Druid spell?!"

Pittman nodded slightly: "Everything will die, also known as the Doomsday Society, have you heard of them?"

Gao Wen frowned. He had a vague impression of this term, but he couldn't remember it clearly. He tried to recall it before he realized it: "That degenerate druid faction? The one formerly known as the 'Holy Spirit School'?"

"You really know," Pittman dropped the skeleton in his hand, "this is their method."

Amber looked at Gao Wen and then at Pittman, with a question mark in her head: "What is the end of all things? Is it a cult?"

"It is indeed a cult," Hetty had already walked over at this time, and she heard the conversation between the three, "They were originally a sect among the druids, called the Holy Spirit School, which advocated that the natural gods still care about the world and should continue Only by fulfilling the covenant can the harmony of all things in nature be restored. They were originally the most orthodox and preserved the most complete ancient Druid religious knowledge among all the druid sects, but 700 years ago, this school suddenly broke with all orthodox religions Nearly half of the members rushed into the wasteland of Gondor in madness to destroy themselves, and the remaining members renamed themselves "The Society of the End of All Things", degenerated into a cult, and were publicly expelled from the druids by various druid schools group……"

Gao Wen knew more about this period of history than Hetty: "Strictly speaking, they became a dark sect after they made a sacred covenant. At the beginning, there were many religions and many sects were in a state of hostility, but the sacred covenant made all sects give up their hatred And vowed never to be an enemy again. Naturally, many sects could not accept this, and those who could not accept it became the so-called dark sect. It's just that the death of all things will be very special. It was originally a druid faction, it is One of the many druid schools, no one thought that there would be a dark sect in the druid sect that had transformed from a theocratic organization to an ordinary superhuman organization... This surprised many people at the time."

"The Holy Spirit School is the closest to the original belief among all the Druid sects. Even after the fall of the white star, they still maintained the church structure and code of conduct 3000 years ago. Therefore, even without divine magic, they were completely orthodox at that time. Even before the conclusion of the sacred covenant, when the leaders of the various sects communicated with the gods on the peak of the ancestors, the leaders of the Holy Spirit sect were present," Pittman added to Gao Wen's words, "so they walked like other dark sects. It's not too surprising that you've fallen into the path of corruption."

"When I died last time, the End of Everything was just a small organization," Gao Wen frowned, "I thought they would disappear during the 700 years of strangulation and suppression..."

"The fact is just the opposite. They not only survived, but also became one of the most powerful dark sects," Heidi said in a low and serious voice, "Druids are professions that are good at surviving in harsh environments, and everything is eventually The organization of the Necromancer is extremely mysterious, and their way of inheritance is hidden and strict, and they are rarely exposed to the eyes of the world, but as long as they act, it will be an extremely terrifying and ruthless attack..."

Gawain's eyes flickered: "Like throwing a living bomb at the newly built New Cecil Territory?"

While speaking, he couldn't help but glance at the carbonized fragments all over the floor, anger and sorrow welling up in his heart at the same time.

Simply inhuman.

Pittman stood up, looked around at the soldiers who were on full alert, and shook his head slightly: "No, if it's really the end of all things, it wouldn't be such a small-scale and aimless action. Their purpose is always very clear. , and the attacks will be chained together..."

Amber scratched her hair vigorously: "Why do you all seem to know this death meeting very well, but I alone don't know?"

Pittman glanced at the half-elf angrily: "Because you fell asleep every time you told you about history when you were young!"

"Nonsense! I can attend lectures while I'm asleep, so you and my dad must have never told me about this!"

Gao Wen easily pushed the amber back, and looked at Pittman with a serious face: "You can recognize the magical reaction of the death of all things, right?"

"Strictly speaking, it is to distinguish the traces of the druid's spells," Pittman nodded. "Are you worried that there are living bombs hidden in the slaves that were just sent here?"

Gao Wen nodded slightly: "You have to worry."

"It is right to have such precautions."

Soon, the slaves who had passed the physical examination and registered before were brought back to undergo Pittman's magic induction test, and those inland riverboats that were about to return after unloading their "cargo" were also stopped. The slave traders accompanying the ship were all left for inspection, and the original owner of the "living bomb" was quickly identified.

Gao Wen dealt with this matter directly in the wooden shed next to the pier. He first found the documents of the place of origin of the serfs and slave labor sent this time from Hetty.

The person who exploded was a mine slave worker named Sam from Tanzanian town.

"This batch of slaves were purchased from various places, including the Viscounty of Leslie and the Viscounty of Kant and Carroll in the north. They were first sent to Tanzania Town, where Byron Knight organized a At the distribution point, slaves from all over the country gather together a few ships, and then their respective slave traders board the ship and send them here," Hetty explained the situation, "and the deceased was a local slave laborer in Tanzan Town. The owner is a slave trader nicknamed 'Golden-Eyed Pigle', and he has been brought under control."

At this time, Pittman also walked into the wooden shed: "It has been checked, and there is no trace of magic on the other people, so they are safe."

"Is everything safe?" Gawain confirmed with concern.

"It's safe," Pittman replied confidently, "I'm quite confident in magic induction."

Gao Wen rubbed the space between his brows: "An organization like the Doom Society, which is so easy to act... specially sent a living bomb to my territory. How did this brain circuit grow?"

Then he raised his head: "Bring that 'Golden Eye' here. Also, check to see if the dead serf has any relatives, friends or acquaintances, and bring them here too. I want to find out about the situation."

Chapter 0122 I'm In Trouble