After many days of heat, a timely rain covered the vast land between the Firmrock Stronghold and the Gloom Mountain Range. This large-scale rain lasted for an entire day and night. Along with the rain, the heat in most areas began to fade, and the smell of autumn gradually became more real.
The window facing the garden was open, and a cool breeze blew in from the window. The wind was mixed with the fresh smell of the earth, and the bright sunshine that had finally cleared up shone through the window, casting a dazzling light on the windowsill. Gwen stood in front of the wide window, his eyes sweeping across the lush grassland below. He saw a long Tyre lazily nesting in a small flower bed surrounded by bushes. The siren's upper body was lying on a thin blanket, basking in the sun, while the tip of her tail poked out of the bushes and slowly stirred in a puddle beside the garden path.
She would probably lie there until the sun went down, and then she would curl back into the house and continue to lie there.
"Sometimes I really envy that saltwater fish." Gwen could not help but have a strange smile on his face. "How can she have so much free time every day?"
Amber stood behind Gwen and also looked in the direction of the garden. She curled her lips and said, "It's not that she has nothing to do. The amazing thing is that she doesn't delay the work of the ship's technical consultant even though she's just lying there every day. There's news from the north port today, saying that the stabilizing flaps that Tyre helped to design are working very well on the new frigate. But from my daily observation, I feel that she's just sleeping in all sorts of places."
Gwen shrugged helplessly and said casually, "Let's continue with the investigation from the north. Where were we?"
Amber nodded. "Several of our elite officers have successfully infiltrated the Violet coastal city of Plandel, which is the city that Duchess Victoria mentioned earlier. The preliminary information we collected confirms the clues that Victoria mentioned. Some of the locals still remember the batch of Loren's apprentices who landed in Plandel more than a decade ago, and some clearly remember the situation when the apprentices left.
"Our officers have also found the 'road' that the apprentices used to go to the City of a Thousand Towers. Just like what Victoria described, there was no road there. There was only endless fog and dense woods in the fog. An officer who was good at field operations ventured into the forest. He found that all the navigation devices and pathfinding spells immediately lost their effectiveness after entering the fog. There seemed to be a strange magic field in the fog. To prevent any accidents, the officer could only retreat from the forest.
"In addition, we have also successfully established relations with some of the Violet mages who are active in the coastal cities. Although the 'Hermit Kingdom' is generally very isolated, the residents living in the border areas are still very interested in the new things from Loren. Through business and knowledge sharing, some of the sorcerers are willing to tell us some local customs and legends … But basically, these 'marginal sorcerers' are also very marginal in the entire Violet society, so the information they can provide us is still very limited … Let's put it this way, we've made some progress in the intelligence work over there, but probably don't expect to have any breakthroughs in the short term. "
Speaking of this, Amber paused and continued, "There is also news from Tarlonde. The support team sent there by the Alliance has successfully settled down and started the construction work. The mission in the wasteland of Dragons seems to have brought them additional … motivation. Almost all the progress of the project has exceeded expectations. The naval forces led by Byron will return in a day or two, and the first batch of support team will stay in the area and continue to carry out the construction work for a year.
"In terms of intelligence, we have confirmed that the post-disaster situation in Tarlonde is basically the same as what Ambassador Melita brought. The situation of Agundor's interim government is better than we thought. The assessment of the intelligence department is that the order in Tarlonde will be restored soon, at least there won't be a large-scale loss of control or a second turmoil. The Giant Dragon is more tenacious than we thought, which should be good news for the Loren countries."
Amber reported the latest information she had, and Gawain listened attentively. Occasionally, he would ask some questions, and every time, he would get a proper answer. In the end, he couldn't help but sigh. "You've really grown a lot over the years …"
Amber immediately crossed her arms in front of her chest and raised her eyebrows. "So I got a raise?"
Gwen looked at her and did not say anything. The two just stared at each other until a few seconds later, they laughed at the same time. There was a tacit understanding in their laughter that could only be achieved after a few years of joking.
"To be honest, it's not easy for you to get a raise at your current level. And do you really care about the raise now?"
"Of course I care. What else can I do?" Amber pursed her lips and said matter-of-factly, "I'm counting on the income from the government office. After all, the law stipulates that official staff in the government are not allowed to have side jobs. I've almost forgotten my skills in the past two years. Two days ago, I wanted to open a lock to reminisce about my childhood, but I couldn't open it with my first two tries."
Gwen did not pay attention to Amber's nonsense. He just looked a little surprised. "… I didn't expect you to be so strict with these rules. I thought with your character, you would at least try to find some loopholes in these regulations."
Amber was still laughing and laughing, but when she heard Gwen's words, she suddenly stopped smiling and her expression turned serious. She looked at Gwen and said slowly, "These regulations were dug out by all of us little by little, and it took many years to finally be able to smoothly implement them. I used to be a petty thief, but if I still want to find loopholes today, then too many people's efforts will be wasted."
Gawain didn't expect his casual remark to make Hu Po so serious all of a sudden. He couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so serious all of a sudden? That's not like you … "
"Buck-teeth Bobby was arrested yesterday. I personally gave the order." Amber shook her head. Her eyelids drooped slightly, so that Gwen could not see her true expression at the moment. "Do you still remember? He was one of the earliest members of the Military Intelligence Bureau. I brought him over from Kant's side. He was the same batch as Anton and the others. He was a guy with a lot of ideas, but I didn't expect his ideas would one day affect collective discipline. The Special Task Force found evidence of his seven major economic violations. "
"Anton came to me early in the morning the day before yesterday. What could I do? I could only arrest the old subordinates who were no longer loyal, just like how I dealt with the guys who broke the rules in the Black Alley. He didn't want to be loyal, so I had to be loyal for him.
"After that, I will also take responsibility according to the rules. After investigating Buck-teeth Bobby, Anton and I will prepare the report."
The corridor by the window quieted down. After a while, Gao Wen sighed softly. "When we're all in trouble, it's not a problem for most people to cut through the thorns together. But when the days get better, those companions who have gone through hardships together may not necessarily be the same from beginning to end … Some people will want to make up for what they've done in the past, some will want to be superior to others, and some will stop in a comfortable environment and become the kind of people they've worked hard to eliminate … That's why a continuous self-renewal and self-correction mechanism is so important."
"The Special Task Force catches people every week. I just didn't expect that one day the guy I personally brought out would be one of the people on the list. Sigh …" Amber said and suddenly shook her head. "Forget it. Let's not talk about this. It's also a good thing. If even the veteran of the Military Intelligence Bureau can be found and dealt with, it means that at least the 'correction' mechanism you created at this stage is not a problem. Just like you said — the Special Task Force's list is not scary. It's scary if the Special Task Force's list is empty."
Gwen nodded. He wanted to say something, but a series of familiar footsteps suddenly came from the other end of the corridor, attracting his and Amber's attention.
He looked up in the direction of the sound and saw Heti in a red and gold-trimmed dress walking quickly from the other side. After noticing the hurried footsteps and the serious look on her face, he realized that she might have brought some important news. So, without waiting for her to come closer, he took two steps forward and asked, "What happened?"
"There's a first-class communication from the Typhon Empire. It's a direct message from Obsidian Palace." Heti stood in front of Gwen, took a breath and said quickly, "They have made a breakthrough in the study of the God of War's fragment. Now they hope to have a high-level academic cooperation with us to complete a bold … project together."
"An academic cooperation proposed by Typhon? And it has something to do with the God of War's fragment? " Gwen was a little surprised because this was the first time Typhon officially proposed such a cooperation project after the last 'war'. It came much earlier than he expected. This could only mean that the scholars of Typhon had really come up with something that even Emperor Rosetta Augustus could not sit still. "This should be the Theocratic Council's business … What did those Typhon people do?"
Heti seemed to have not calmed down from the news she had just heard. She took a deep breath and finally calmed down a little. "In short … they seem to have found a way to open the door to the divine realm — to open a door to the divine realm of the God of War and let the mortals in to explore."
Gwen: "…?"
The corridor was silent for a moment. Even Gwen could not react at this moment. He stared at Heti for a few seconds before he finally sorted out his thoughts. A few syllables popped out of his throat at the same time. "What the hell?"
The next second, he quickly coughed twice and tried to restore the dignity of the ancestor. "What did you say? Open a door to the divine realm? Are those Typhon people serious? "
"Obsidian Palace directly contacted us. If Rosetta Augustus is not serious about this matter, then I'm afraid there are not many people in the world who are serious about this." Heti sighed. She obviously understood Gwen's reaction at the moment. After all, her reaction was similar to the ancestor's not long ago. "They sent a simple technical document and an 'inspiration report' about this project. It mentioned their research on the God of War fragment and the basic idea of opening the door, of course, including why they plan to do so. I've read the document, and from the perspective of a former technical staff … I don't think there's a problem. "
"To put it simply, they discovered the characteristic of 'one body and two sides' between the god and the divine kingdom, and they found the path of 'resonance' between the god and the divine kingdom. They confirmed that the divine kingdom would not disappear immediately after the death of the god, but would dissipate for a long time. They found a way to materialize and temporarily stabilize this' path ', and have conducted a considerable degree of feasibility verification.
"The document does not clearly describe how the Typhon scholars found this' method ', but between the lines, I feel that this matter may be related to Rosetta Augustus himself."
"Rosetta Augustus himself …" Gwen softly repeated the name that Heti mentioned. He had vaguely guessed something. The Augustus family, this respectable family, had been entangled with the ancient "God's Eye" for the past two hundred years. After paying a huge price generation after generation, they successfully stole useful knowledge from the "gods", achieving a feat that was unprecedented in the history of mortals. And this knowledge … was a wealth that even Cecil's advanced technology could not replicate.
Cecil's research on the gods started very early, and he inherited part of the legacy of the ancient Gondor rebels, so his advantage in this field was obvious. But Typhon's side controlled the knowledge directly from the gods, which meant that in certain fields, the Typhon people also had their own advantages. The fragments of the god of war were not monopolized by either Cecil or Typhon. After the battle of Winter Castle, the fragments of the god of war were scattered everywhere, and the fragments that were successfully recovered were divided between the two sides. After that, the two countries immediately began to study these fragments, but it was clear that Typhon's research was a step ahead.
But now it seemed that Oldenheim did not monopolize these results. They carried out the resolution of the 112 meeting, and the consensus reached by the leaders of all countries at the founding meeting of the Theocratic Council: the results of the analysis of the gods should be shared by all mortals, and before that, the specific technical projects should be undertaken by the countries with the corresponding research ability in the council. Now the "invitation" that Typhon sent to Cecil was in accordance with this.
"Typhon people are the first to follow the rules," Gwen said with a sigh. "That's good. Then we should also respond directly. But before we agree, let's see what Typhon people are up to … Heti, send the document from Oldenheim to my study, I'll go over now. Also, inform Kamel and Veronica, I should need their 'professional opinion' soon. "
Heti bowed her head. "Yes, Ancestor."
Heidi turned around and left quickly. Amber, who was beside Gawain, began to babble, "Those Tiphons really did come up with something that could scare people to death without a sound... Opening a gate to the divine kingdom? We don't even dare to think about it … "
"Actually …" Gwen glanced at Amber and said a little awkwardly, "I've thought about it, but I don't have a clue …"
Hu Po was dumbfounded. After a long while, he said, "… What kind of train of thought is this? Are you related to that Rosetta Augustus?!"
"… If you want to put it that way, it's not impossible." Gwen touched the tip of his nose and sorted out the content of the memory. "Seven hundred years ago, my wife was a distant cousin of Roland Augustus …"
(End of Chapter)
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