As for the Gondor wasteland in the south, Gwen had prepared many backup plans, backup plans of backup plans, and backup plans of backup plans of backup plans of backup plans. His plans were so numerous that even Heti and Rebecca felt that they were completely unnecessary. But as long as there was a chance, he would continue to add 'leverage' towards the wasteland.
The reason for this was the strong impression that Gwen Cecil had left in his memory seven hundred years ago, which made Gwen maintain the highest level of vigilance against the endless wandering monsters in the wasteland at all times. The second reason was Gwen's own judgment. Ever since he knew that the ancient people of this world used a wall to keep the deadly calamity in the wasteland, he felt that it was not very reliable. After all, his countless experiences in his previous life told him that a disaster that was covered up was bound to explode, and a wall used to keep the monsters out was bound to collapse. So, what was the purpose of erecting a barrier that was like a wonder of the world at the border? Was it not for the sake of a big explosion during the cinematic?!
So, since the day he uncovered the coffin, he had been preparing for the day the wall would completely collapse. And now, that day had finally come.
He rubbed his brow as he looked up from the documents on his desk. His gaze slowly swept across the large room. There were many high-ranking government officials, including Heti, sitting in the room. There were also many Mana Net terminals that were projecting holographic images. Many figures, either real or illusory, were gathered here. Some were waiting for updates, while others were waiting for the next order.
"Our soldiers have stabilized the defensive line." Above a Mana Net terminal not far away, Philip's figure floated before Gwen. Behind the young imperial commander was a busy frontline command post. "After the Greenwood Barrier was raised, the enemy's vanguard fell into the hunting zone and were wiped out. We then used our superior firepower to cut off the path of the aberrations' advance. The enemy's rear forces have temporarily retreated into the depths of the wasteland. We have taken the opportunity to push the main force into the interior of the wasteland and set up a few temporary strongholds south of the old site of the Great Wall. Now, we are waiting for the purification device to take effect and continue to send out reconnaissance units to collect the enemy's movements. "
Gwen nodded gently. His gaze then turned to another holographic projection opposite him. A special figure was standing there quietly.
It was Bertilla. In the holographic projection connected directly through nerve conduction, she had mimicked herself as a human, and half of her background was the giant Sorin tree that stood on the plains, bathing in the sun, and the other half was the vast forest that stood at the edge of the wasteland as a barrier. After noticing Gwen's gaze, she immediately nodded and said, "I'm in good condition here. The distal limb has been successfully regenerated. Now I'm transforming the biomass I hunted during the day. It may take some time."
"Alright, you don't have to worry about that. First, you have to ensure that you can take root. Now that there is an irreparable hole in the Great Wall in the North, you are the most important barrier there." Gwen exhaled and said solemnly.
As he said so, he also sighed in his heart that his bold decision back then was correct. Letting the giant Sorin tree spread in the direction of the wasteland was probably the most successful plan he had set up.
This grand and risky plan could not be realized overnight. Of course, Bertilla, who was far away in the Sacred Plains, could not transfer part of her body to the frontline in the southern part of the Gloom Mountain Range in an instant. The 'Sprawl Plan' was first started a long time ago. It was discussed and secretly decided by him and Bertilla. At that time, they discussed the possibility of letting the giant Sorin tree grow continuously in one direction. They also discussed using the synthetic brain to solve the problem of controlling the distal limb of the giant tree, and using the biomass factories along the way to solve the problem of the root system's nutritional deficiency.
He treated it as a trump card. Even within the Imperium, only a limited number of high-level officials and those who were directly involved in the execution of the plan knew about the existence of the plan. Over the past year, Bertila's roots had been spreading in the depths of the earth without anyone knowing. It took her more than half a year to spread all the way from the east of the Holy Spirit Plain to the south, and then from the south to the Dark Mountain Range. It took her another two months to pass through the complex rock formations, underground caves, and mountain caverns in the Dark Mountain Range, and then secretly grew in the plains near the Great Wall. Relying on the nutrients provided by the large number of biomass factories set up along the way, she bred a large-scale "predatory organ" underground.
Of course, this massive 'sprawl' was not completely untraceable. Although Bertilla had tried her best to move her roots deep underground, she still needed some 'nodes' close to the surface to replenish nutrients and communicate with the local operatives responsible for cooperation. Therefore, in the past year, in Pompeii, Cecil, the South Gate Fortress, the Gloom Mountain Range, and other areas of the 'Sprawl Plan', people would find some wonderful phenomena from time to time.
These wonderful phenomena included but were not limited to the unusually lush woods, lush vegetation in winter, and clean flowers blooming in the polluted areas … These things could essentially be regarded as' debris' that Bertilla accidentally dropped during her growth. These 'debris' that could not be explained by common sense left behind rumors like urban legends and rural legends in many places …
Fortunately, rumors were just rumors, and the secret plan was successfully carried out to this day. But regrettably … Gwen did not intend to expose Bertilla so quickly. In his initial plan, Bertilla would always be a 'dark front' that spread deep underground. When the ground forces launched a frontal assault, she would secretly spread underground until the army pushed into the depths of the wasteland and reached a critical point with the enemy. Only then would the 'living forest' burst out of the ground and blossom in the core area of the wasteland, and give the Apocalypse cultists who liked to stir up trouble in the dark a hard slap in the face.
Unfortunately, this was only a matter of his imagination. Who would have thought that the Great Wall would have such a big hole at this critical juncture?
"I'm sorry, Brother Gwen." Bertilla probably noticed the change in expression on Gwen's face. Without waiting for Gwen to speak, she suddenly took the initiative to say, "Burrowing out of the ground was my unauthorized action. I exposed your most important card."
"It's not your fault. If you had waited for my order in that situation, I'm afraid the frontline would have fallen. Even the Typhon defense line next to it would have been completely torn apart. By then, it would have been meaningless." Gawain waved his hand. "I gave you the authority to make your own decisions in emergency situations, just to deal with unexpected situations like this."
At this point, he paused for a moment before changing the topic. "Now that the situation has come to this, we have to look forward. What's the situation under the wasteland? Can you still push forward? "
"I've started to encounter resistance." Bertilla immediately said. "Just as I expected, the cultists are also relying on the network of nerves and roots underground to establish a command system. This is a unique technique of the Doomsday Cult. Now that they are aware of my existence, this network of roots … is in active defense mode."
She narrowed her eyes slightly as if she was sensing the status of some nerve nodes in the distance. A moment later, she opened her eyes and continued. "Now the enemy has concentrated the power of their network of roots towards the north. My roots are facing tenacious resistance in the process of growth. Now we can only break through head-on, it's not possible to go around."
Gwen looked at the former cult leader who was attacking the wasteland alone on the battlefield where normal people could not see. "Do you have the upper hand now?"
Bertilla's expression suddenly showed a hint of pride. "You don't have to worry about that. While their network of roots is tenacious, they are no match for me. They never thought that they would be attacked from underground, and I have been preparing for this for a long time. But it will take some time. I have to find the weakness of their 'underground immunity barrier' first … "
Listening to Bertilla's description, Gwen could not help but imagine what kind of scene it would be. The roots of the Solin Tree were constantly growing and attacking at the edge of the wasteland, while the opposing dark network of roots had built a massive defensive wall. In the depths of the soil and rocks where normal people could not see, living roots entangled and attacked, using toxins and parasitic spores as weapons, underground caverns and underground rivers as barriers, day and night, yet silent …
This was a 'battle' that had already surpassed the understanding of the world. Perhaps even the most outstanding strategist in the world would not be able to find a place to use his skills in this battle. Even Gawain himself … could not come up with any suggestions at this moment.
"Be careful." Hao Ren could only say so. "Do not underestimate the enemy. While your existence is beyond their expectations, the cultists have been developing in the wasteland for many years. No one knows what kind of traps they have in the depths of the old empire. Your 'attack' in the underground is a solo operation. Our ground forces cannot provide you with effective support, so you must be extra cautious in the process of infiltrating the enemy's territory. "
"Yes, I understand." Bertilla said solemnly.
Gwen pondered for a moment and then said, "Next, let's talk about the … discipline of the aberrations during the attack."
"Yes, obvious discipline. Those monsters have a command structure behind them." Bertilla immediately responded. "During the brief contact with the enemy's vanguard … I mean, during the process of 'eating', I also touched the spiritual connection behind them. Those monsters have limited intelligence, but their minds are connected and they are under the command of some higher-level nodes. I also recognized one of the most obvious nodes. His name is Betheim, one of the 'preachers' of the wasteland branch of the All Will Die Order …"
"Sounds like a 'spiritual command network' structure similar to the Crystal Cluster Army." Gwen rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully. "But the scale is much larger, and the efficiency is obviously higher. The Crystal Cluster Army did not have such a shocking number, and there were not so many strange aberrations in the Crystal Cluster Army …"
"The spiritual command technology we used back then is in the same vein as the branch in the wasteland." Bertilla's tone was a little strange when she said this, but she quickly calmed down and continued. "Part of it comes from the Eternal Sleeper, and part of it is the nerve pulse technology of the Dark Druil. But it is clear that the branch of the All Will Die Order in the wasteland did not share all the information with our 'compatriots' on the outside. They kept some of the key information and improved it over the years … and this improvement is likely completed recently."
As soon as she finished, Heti could not help but ask curiously, "Completed recently? How did you know? "
"I briefly invaded Betheim's spiritual world. He only thought that I was tormenting his will and did not notice the invasion," Bertilla explained. "During the invasion, I caught a glimpse of the flow of consciousness in their massive command system. While I could not intervene at the time, I could still see that it was a newly born thing that was still slowly growing."
Heti nodded gently. "You're right. If the cultists had already built this system and successfully controlled the aberrations in the wasteland, they would not have waited until now. With such an army, they could have swept the world years ago."
Gwen then asked, "This is important information. Is there any loophole in their command system that we can exploit?"
"It's hard to say. I need more information." Bertilla shook her head. "It's best if you can capture a few high-level nodes for me to try … Let me analyze it. Maybe I can find a way to further invade or destroy the command system from their mutated nervous system."
"… As the battle develops, we will find an opportunity," Gawain said, nodding slightly. Then, he looked at Bethel with a strange expression. "But then again, you 'ate' a lot of monsters from the wasteland in a moment of desperation. Are you sure you're okay?"
"… To be honest, it was not tasty. It was even worse than the stones in the Gloom Mountain Range." Bertilla's expression became even stranger than Gwen's. "But there was no other way. The monsters were filthy and poisonous. I had to clean up the residual pollution after their death as soon as possible. Throwing them into the biomass splitting pool was the fastest and most effective way. But you don't have to worry about me. The filthy bodies of the monsters have been completely digested in the splitting pool. Their toxins can also be converted and absorbed by me, but … "
Bertilla paused as if trying to suppress the urge to vomit. After a while, she said, "But … it was really bad. It was really bad. It was better to eat soil."
Bertilla's words were full of resentment. But no one knew what to do. The tree lady's life form and way of looking at the world had always been fresh and refined. Others wanted to comfort her, but they did not know what to do. As for Gwen … a strange thought came to Gwen's mind. He had a feeling that he would soon see a new book in the empire, 'Gourmet Encyclopedia: How to Eat Soil in the Empire' compiled by Bertilla.
Fortunately, he did not let this strange thought stay in his mind for too long. Soon, an urgent message from the frontline was delivered to him.
The sentry towers that had been extinguished at the border of the wasteland … had been reactivated.
(Time's up. This time, I recommend 'We Live in Nanjing' by Tianrui Shuofu. It's a sci-fi genre, a story about saving the world from the end of the world. The author's last book is' Dying on Mars. 'Everyone should be familiar with it. This new book has just been published. It's really just a seedling. But you can start collecting it first!)
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