Balogel stood on the platform of the Hall of Dragon Blood, looking solemnly at the twenty-two Dragon Heads lined up on both sides of the hall. The heads, which were almost entirely composed of mechanical structures, seemed to have not finished the previous process of thinking. They bowed their heads in silence, and only a faint and flickering light wandered in the depths of their pipes. The 'hiss' of the circulation pump and gas pipes occasionally came from somewhere. It was one of the few sounds in the entire hall.
Finally, the light behind one of the Dragon Heads lit up, and the head lifted slightly. Under the guidance of the mechanical arm, it turned towards Balogel. A synthetic voice without emotion came from the speaker. "Balogel, refuge administrator, welcome to the Council of Dragonblood."
One by one, the Dragon Heads woke up from their contemplation. Accompanied by a series of light signals and mechanical sounds, they all turned towards Balogel and nodded in greeting.
"Good morning, councilors," Balogel broke the silence and said with a serious look. "About the problem that I asked you to deduce last time, is there any conclusion?"
"Unfortunately, the thought process has been terminated by the Council of Dragonblood," one of the Dragon Heads said. "The trajectory of civilization in this era has completely exceeded the reference base of historical data. The unpredictable factors have exceeded the threshold. We think that even if we force the deduction, we cannot accurately predict the future direction of the 'Alliance' and the Dragons."
"Not only that," another 'councilor' continued. "We think that there is no need to continue to use the Council of Dragonblood to deduce such issues in the future. The Mythological Era is over. Administrator, our old deduction module is no longer suitable for the new situation."
"… I understand. I will consider your opinions carefully." Balogel was silent for two seconds. He then nodded slightly and said, "Then, the other thing … is about our god. It has been confirmed that the remaining part of humanity after the fall of the Dragon God has been reborn on its own and is now in the human kingdom of Cecil. "
"We are aware of this and have completed the assessment 12 hours ago," the Dragon Head, who was closest to Balogel, responded. "This is beyond all our plans, but from the results, it is not a threat. The only possible variable was that humans would have the opportunity to come into contact with a large amount of knowledge related to the gods and the Demonic Tide. This would have a positive bias. Do you want to continue deducing based on this thought process? "
"Continue to deduce," Balogel said immediately. "We need to determine the possibility of establishing further exchanges with other countries, especially Cecil. Almost all the variables in this era started from that land."
"Understood. This process has been added to the mission plan."
There was a moment of silence in the Dragonblood Hall. Balogel stood on the platform as if deep in thought, while the 'councilors' patiently waited for the next interactive instruction from the administrator. After half a minute of silence, Balogel suddenly broke the silence. "I have no more questions. Open the passage to the Nameless Dragon's Tomb."
"Understood, the passageway has been opened. Ten seconds later, the council will switch to work mode. Looking forward to your next visit, administrator. "
The monotonous mechanical synthesized voice rang in the hall as a slight tremor came from below the platform. The lights above the twenty-two Dragon Heads went out one by one as the completely mechanized ancient thinkers lowered their heads one by one. The hall returned to darkness, and only a light at the central axis of the dome shone a cold glow, illuminating a slanted staircase in front of the platform. The staircase went all the way down, and a dim light could be seen in its depths. No one knew how deep it went.
Balogel stepped down from the platform as Eugene and Golos immediately came to his left and right. The three of them did not talk but just looked at each other solemnly, and then walked towards the staircase and went deep underground.
There was no lift on the way to the Nameless Dragon's Tomb, only this long staircase. It was as long as Balogel's distant memory, or the long walk of mortals from the surface to the stars. The surrounding wall material changed from polymer to metal, and then from metal to enchanted stone. Simple and solemn reliefs appeared on both sides of the staircase and gradually covered the roof in front.
Finally, Balogel stopped in front of a door. The door stood solemnly in a wide space carved out from the depths of the ground. There was no decorative pattern on the bare surface. Only on the ground in front of the door, the light from the crystals illuminated a line of words that seemed to be carved with claws. "To the dead, to the dead."
The heavy stone door slowly opened under the push of the magic mechanism, and a spacious underground space appeared in front of Eugene and Golos. They followed behind Balogel and stepped into the most solemn place in the Duchy of Holy Dragon, but only the Dragonblood Archduke himself and a few dragon descendants knew about it — the Nameless Dragon's Tomb.
Huge pillars supported the space that could almost fit an entire castle. The stone floor, which had endured countless years, extended into the distance. On the high dome, many metal pillars carved with runes protruded from the original rock strata. Faint electric light and luminous clouds silently wandered between the metal pillars, maintaining the stability of the cave's environment. Through the blessing of the elements, everything here was able to withstand the erosion of time, and even the entire mountain was able to avoid the destruction of geological activities.
Between these huge pillars, "tombstones" that were based on the Giant Dragon's body shape stood silently in the darkness. They were slanted and embedded into the base made of boulders. Behind each base, there were sculptures of Dragons carved from boulders. However, compared to the real Giant Dragon, these stone sculptures of the Giant Dragon were particularly thin and weak. Most of them had body defects that could be seen with the naked eye. It was as if they were deliberately "differentiated" from the real Giant Dragon. Their forms were adjusted to look like some kind of … subspecies.
Golos' eyes swept across the nearest "tombstone". On the surface of the slanted boulder, there was no epitaph that a normal tombstone should have. There was not even an exact name. There were only a few cold letters and numbers that were deeply engraved on the surface: First generation, 120 – 180 thousand years.
On the next tombstone, Sir Golos' eyes reflected another line of cold letters and numbers: Second generation, 182 – 246 thousand years.
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but Balogel had already stepped forward. Golos temporarily suppressed the words he wanted to say and followed Dragonblood Archduke deeper into the hall. In silence, they passed by the early generations as if they were passing by the ancient history that had long disappeared in their memories. Time had condensed into hard and rough bricks under their feet. One thousand years after another receded under their footsteps.
Behind this tombstone, an unfinished Giant Dragon statue was bathed in the dim light of the dome crystal. It lay prone on the ground, looking up at the closed dome. On both sides of its rugged back was a pair of deformed and shrunken wings.
Balogel stood in front of this nameless tomb, looking at the unfinished tombstone and the Giant Dragon statue that lacked details. Sir Golos' voice came from behind him. "The last time I was here … seems to have been a long time ago."
"After all, we should not disturb the peace of these tombstones … Although there is nothing behind them," Balogel said softly. "But now something good has happened. The good news should be delivered here."
"I still remember the first time you brought me here," the white-haired Sir Eugene Natosh sighed softly. "The real history … At that time, I really felt that the real history was not as good as a dream that I could not wake up from."
Grand Duke Balogel did not speak. He just stood silently in front of the tombstone of the thirtieth generation. Golos looked at the blank part of the tombstone and suddenly said in a deep voice, "Tarlonde's Great Shield has been extinguished, and the gene bank used to restart the Dukedom of Holy Dragon has also been destroyed in the war. No matter what the future of this world is, I am afraid that the thirtieth generation will be the last generation of the 'Dragonborn' race … Do you think that one day in the future, someone will engrave the last number of our people on this tombstone?"
"Every number here is engraved by my own hands. If the day of the end really comes, and our efforts are ultimately declared a failure, I will definitely engrave my last stroke here before bidding farewell to this world … But compared to the hopeless ending, I prefer that the tombstone of the thirtieth generation be left empty forever." Balogel slowly shook his head, then slowly turned around and looked in the direction he came from. He saw those huge and silent tombstones stretching out in his line of sight. Twenty-nine Dragonborn generations that had completely disappeared in the real universe had turned into lifeless stone sculptures, as if quietly watching him in the dark.
Those were the 'descendants' that he had carefully cultivated and taken care of.
"I often feel that I am shouldering a sin, especially when I look at these nameless tombstones," the Dragonblood Archduke said slowly in a low voice. "I have abandoned them twenty-nine times … When the demonic tide came, I let them dissipate in the doomsday, but I was like a coward running away. But after the next reboot, I still have to sit in a high position and be a high and mighty monarch. Isn't it ironic?"
"… As a member of the thirtieth generation, I'm afraid I can't answer your question," Sir Golos looked at the ancient Giant Dragon beside him and said after a brief hesitation, "But I know one thing … there is no such thing as a free lunch in the world.
"In the Mythological Era, the Dragon God and Tarlonde worked together to maintain a difficult balance. The existence of the Dukedom of Holy Dragon was a long-term, open but never acknowledged secret. I believe that the gods knew about the existence of the Dragonborn from the beginning, and even the mission of the Omega System from the beginning. However, for 1.87 million years, all of this was carefully hidden on one side of the balance point, and never crossed half a step.
"Under such circumstances, letting the Dragonborn enter the sight of Tarlonde and even receive the protection of the gods is not salvation, but a complete burial, the burial of all the compatriots.
"I am not qualified to judge the choice of you or Tarlonde on behalf of the previous twenty-nine generations, and I am not qualified to forgive or condemn anything for them. But I must refute your judgment of yourself — a real coward does not have the courage to return to the Dukedom of Holy Dragon after twenty-nine reboots.
"It takes more courage to watch them die than to take them to Tarlonde for protection, Your Majesty."
"Someone once said the same thing as you," Grand Duke Balogel suddenly smiled. "It was also in this place."
"Really? It's a pity that I have no chance to meet him, "Golos said, shaking his head.
Grand Duke Balogel did not respond. He just quietly pondered for a moment, and then said as if he was talking to himself, "You are all right … I shouldn't be obsessed with this, especially after such a long time. Perhaps any generation can choose to hate or forgive, and any individual can choose to forgive or be angry, but in the face of the great power of nature, all of these ultimately have to give way to the only problem … for the continuation of civilization. "
He finally retracted his gaze from the tombs and scanned the entire vast underground hall. Between the dim and ancient walls and pillars, there were actually more than just a few dozen nameless dragon tombs.
"1.87 million years … Our observation records of the Demonic Tide and various failed attempts to protect our minds during the Demonic Tide are buried in the archives on the lower level. Almost all of the data was collected and summarized outside of Tarlonde. Although it was a failure, it is still a valuable reference material," Dragonblood Archduke said in a deep voice. "Now the key is … whether our new allies, the mortal countries in the alliance, are ready to face this' gift. '"
"The Council of Dragonblood can no longer evaluate the new 'alliance,' and what kind of changes Gwen Cecil's actions will bring to the world. In this era, maybe we should try to make some decisions ourselves," Sir Eugene Natoche said slowly. "In my opinion, since we have decided to join this' alliance, 'we should do something equivalent to our status as a member."
…
On the vast and boundless ocean, a large fleet was riding the wind and waves, sailing on the strange sea that had never been visited by humans.
On the towering Cold Winter, the naval commander-in-chief Byron in a cloak stepped on the deck and squinted his eyes slightly in the oncoming cold wind. He looked into the distance and saw that the sea level in front of the bow was splashing with tiny waves. The seawater rose there as if it was alive, forming a striking moving water column. The siren Kassandra, who served as the navigator, sat steadily on the top of the water column. While controlling the surrounding seawater, she turned around and waved at the direction of the flagship.
Byron waved his hand in the direction of the siren lady in response before looking up at the sky. High above in the blue sky, several gigantic figures were flapping their gigantic wings, maintaining the same direction and speed as the fleet as they flew forward. There were also two dragoons hovering around those gigantic figures, their dragon-wing-like propulsion panels raised high, reflecting the bright sunlight.
Those were the Giant Dragon acting as the air escort, and the two reconnaissance dragon cavalry on the Winter.
"Tarlonde …" Byron smiled and whispered to himself.
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