In the Alliance's all-out counterattack on the wasteland, the northern front, maintained by the main force of the Cecil Empire, was perhaps the most striking aspect of the vast battlefield. The striking aspect here was not because of Cecil Empire's mechanized legions and endless new weapons, but because throughout the entire war, there was always a lush 'forest' advancing with the Imperial soldiers …
The 'distant derivative' of the Thorin Giant Tree. This living forest started from the southern foot of the Gloom Mountain Range and spread both on the surface and underground at the same time, extending into the wasteland in a gentle but steady manner. Now, it had advanced with the main force of the Empire to the highlands south of the magic scorch mark. Wherever the living forest went, even the corrupted wasteland began to show a state of 'vitality'.
At least on the surface, the lush forest was much more refreshing than the barren wasteland. As for the less' beautiful 'parts buried in the depths of the forest … the Imperial soldiers said that they had gotten used to it after seeing so many of them …
As the curtain of night fell, the scorching battlefield had cooled down. The giant cannons and engines that roared for the whole day had quieted down in the evening. The soldiers had built temporary fortifications at the edge of the living forest and began to recharge for tomorrow's operation. Philip walked in the newly built camp. The voice of the soldiers in the distance and the buzzing of the dragoons in the sky were the sounds that he was most familiar with these days.
He looked past the energy barrier in the southern part of the camp and saw the vast and barren land stretching all the way to the horizon. The filthy land was devastated, with scars from cannonballs and flames everywhere. The gray ashes of the aberrations and the torn remains of the biochemical behemoths were scattered in the craters. Smoke and dust were still rising from the hot craters like gauze under the feeble sunset.
When he turned his eyes to the other side of the camp, he saw a vast expanse of lush forest. Countless indescribable towering trees filled his vision. The roots of the giant trees dug deep into the purple-black soil in a powerful manner. At the foot of the giant trees, there were dense bushes and all kinds of low-growing flowers and plants. If he did not know the truth, he would have thought that this was just an ordinary, vibrant forest.
When one's eyes were focused on the forest, no one would have thought that beyond the forest was the forbidden land of Gondor, the wasteland of life.
Even Philip felt a sense of absurdity when he saw the living forest that was advancing with the army. It was as if the wasteland had been healed, and the pollution that was just a few feet away from the forest had lost its sense of reality.
But he knew that the 'vitality' created by the living forest was just a temporary illusion. The pollution in the wasteland was still spreading. Even under the most lush plants in the forest, there was a constant 'fight'. Bertilla's life force was fighting against the toxins in the wasteland. Her roots were fighting against the network of roots of the dark priests. The fight was endless, and only the purification devices built along the way could really stop the spread of the pollution.
Footsteps came from the side. Philip heard Leit's voice ringing in his ear. "It looks incredible … A world full of vitality is advancing with us. To be honest, when I first learned of the Solin Tree's involvement in the battlefield, I did not expect the situation to develop like this."
Philip nodded slightly to the leader of the Church of Holy Light, and then said with a sigh, "Do you know? The Dark Forest at the southern foot of the Gloom Mountains had completely disappeared yesterday afternoon. "
Leit looked a little surprised. Before he asked, Philip took the initiative to say, "In order to replenish more biomass and reduce the production pressure of the biomass synthesis plants along the way, Madam Bertilla had been competing with the Dark Forest for nutrients. It turned out that the barbaric Dark Forest could not compete with the tactical Bertilla. The terrible forest that had sealed off the territory of civilization for 700 years had finally 'starved to death'. Some of the trees we see now are probably taken from the wreckage of the Dark Forest."
Even the usually mature Wright did not know what to say at this moment. In the old Ansu era, the Black Forest at the foot of the Gloom Mountain Range had been a well-known 'hopeless place' in the northern countries. As the terrible legacy of the 'demonic tide' and the proof of the decline of human civilization, the Black Forest played the role of the dragon's lair, the dark city, and the wizard's castle in the mouth of countless bards and adventurers. Parents would use it to scare disobedient children, and reckless mercenaries and adventurers would brag about their courage and knowledge in the 'Black Forest Adventure Stories'. But now, such a thing that was once regarded as a hopeless place was gone just like that, and it was because they could not snatch the soil of the Sorin Giant Tree and starved to death … What kind of logic was this?
Leit did not know how much of a far-reaching impact this incident would have in the future, but he was sure of one thing: the adventurers would definitely not be able to brag about the Dark Forest in the future.
"Anyway, this is a good thing." Leit finally shook his head. "Now our transport troops will be very safe when crossing the Dark Forest, and the engineers at the South Gate Fortress will not have to send out two or three times a year to burn the spreading plants."
Philip nodded. At this moment, a slight rustling sound suddenly came from nearby. Leit looked towards the source of the sound and saw a brownish-black 'vine' with a wrinkled skin moving quickly along the bushes at the edge of the camp. Then, the brownish-black vine seemed to have noticed them, turned around, and quickly came to Leit and Philip.
Philip saw that the vine was curled up, and its thick and powerful end structure was tightly 'grasping' a large piece of flesh that looked like a beast's limb. This should be the remains of the biochemical chimeras in the wasteland army, because normal mutants would quickly turn into ashes and dissipate after death. Only the chimeras cultivated by the dark priests, using some unknown magical beast as the blueprint, would leave such 'corpses' behind.
The vines wrapped around the large piece of "loot" and shook it up and down a few times in front of Philip. The young commander was a little confused for a moment, but Leit reacted quickly. He picked up the heavy burner, adjusted the output to the minimum, and pointed it at the piece of meat. Accompanied by the sound of flames, the meat was roasted by the flames, and it was quickly cooked to a state of seventy to eighty percent. Leit was very careful to avoid the vines that wrapped around the meat.
The vine wrapped around the cooked meat and shook it up and down in front of Leit a few times as if to express its gratitude. This scene stunned Philip. "Wait a minute … Madam Bertilla has started to eat cooked food?"
"Sometimes," the vine could not speak, so it was Leit who explained. "At first, a White Knight casually threw the burnt remains of the biochemical chimeras to the vines that came out to 'forage' for food. Madam Bertilla seemed to be very satisfied with this, and then more soldiers began to give the grilled meat to the passing vines. Sometimes, Madam Bertilla herself would also pick up the meat from the battlefield and give it to the soldiers with the burners to grill it for her. Don't you usually pay attention to this?"
"… I don't know at all!" Philip said.
The young commander was stunned for a moment, and then the corner of his mouth suddenly twitched. "Why do I feel that this is weird … So, our soldiers and this living forest are getting along quite … well?"
"We are all comrades who fight side by side," Leit said with a serious face. "What's more, the forest usually provides some fruits and disinfected clean water for the soldiers. This is a very precious resource at the front line, and the soldiers are very grateful for it."
The corner of Philip's mouth twitched again, and he thought to himself that this should be a friendship of feeding each other.
At this moment, the portable magic network terminal hanging on his chest suddenly vibrated. After the communication was connected, a soldier's hurried voice came into his and Leit's ears. "Sir! The reconnaissance team that went to the southeast to survey the terrain found something! "
Philip and Byron were stunned at the same time, and then Philip frowned slightly. "What did you find?"
"It seems to be an abandoned ancient facility. The main structure is unbelievably intact, and there seems to be a weak energy flow in the depths." The soldier's reply came from the magic network terminal. "There are no mutants around the target site, and the reconnaissance team did not rush in. They are currently on remote alert around the facility."
"Very well, let them wait there. The team of experts will be there soon," Philip quickly said into the communication device, and then looked up at Leit. "I think I have to see it for myself … What do you think it is?"
"No matter what it is, it is very unusual for a 'heritage' to be able to maintain its structural integrity in this wasteland." Leit's expression was serious. "Either it is extremely lucky, or it is protected by some kind of higher power … You have to see it for yourself."
…
The location reported by the reconnaissance team was not far from the frontline base, and it was even within the range of the base's artillery. So it did not take long for Philip, who left the base with the team of experts, to find the reconnaissance soldiers who were on standby in the wasteland. Then he saw the 'ancient facility' that the soldiers had described.
It was a large building on high ground. It consisted of a cylindrical main body with a curved dome and several small ancillary buildings. It stood under the dusky sun, and the yellow light of the sky coated the surface of the main structure with a rust-like texture. Hundreds of years of erosion and constant accumulation of sand had made the whole complex appear as gray and black as the surrounding land, and part of it was buried in dust. This also caused the dragoons, who were scouting in the air, to not be able to distinguish it from the craggy boulders around it at a glance.
But these traces of weathering only affected the appearance of the building. Most of its structure was still intact on the land. From the towering main body's outer wall and the simple and elegant roof of the building, Philip could still vaguely see the once glorious appearance of this thing. As a technological crystallization of the ancient Kingdom of Gondor, it was surrounded by a desolate and mysterious atmosphere.
"When we found it, the magic sensor began to show a weak and intermittent wave." The soldier who first discovered the facility came to Philip, saluted, and took out the sensor device that he carried with him. This small machine with a magic detection rune array and a small focusing crystal was projecting a constantly changing light screen, but the lines on the screen were blurry. "There may be something still operating in the depths of the facility. We found an entrance on the side, but we did not rush in."
"You did the right thing. All suspicious facilities found in the wasteland should wait for the experts to arrive and deal with them." Philip nodded and looked back at the technicians who came with him. They were experts in the field of archaeology and classical magic, and they were obviously more professional than the ordinary soldiers and the general when it came to the strange things found in the wasteland. "What do you think? This facility … What could it be used for? "
"The specific purpose of this facility needs further investigation," a middle-aged man with white hair said. His eyes fell on the building not far away from time to time, and the gleam in his eyes showed that the scholar was a little excited at the moment. "But judging from the structure, this facility should not be for military or civilian use. The military facilities of the Kingdom of Gondor usually have a huge energy spark tower, and even if the tower is destroyed, there would be traces of a large base left behind. Civilian facilities would not be set up in the wilderness so far away from the city cluster … The energy reaction in the facility is particularly eye-catching. After all, in theory, all facilities in the Gondor era rely on the Deep Blue Energy Network to provide magic power, but we all know that the network has long collapsed …"
The middle-aged scholar rambled on excitedly, but he soon realized that his general might not want to listen to such a long list of theoretical knowledge, so he immediately restrained his urge to continue. "All in all, we need to investigate further. This is the first thing we have found in the wasteland that is so well-preserved, and there is even an energy reaction in it!"
Philip looked back at the soldiers behind him. These soldiers were well-trained, well-equipped, and had gone through all the harsh trials of the battlefield. But even with these soldiers by his side, he had to be extremely cautious.
It was an ancient facility from the Gondor era. No one could tell what kind of dangers lurked in such an ancient ruin. A magic trap left behind by the ancients? A leaking energy conduit? Or was he a crazy iron man soldier?
It was possible.
In this wasteland full of death, completely destroyed ruins were dangerous, but those that were still 'alive' … were often more dangerous.
"Sala, take your team in and see what's going on." Philip reminded the soldiers who were about to enter the facility as the vanguard. "Everyone, be alert. Do not touch anything that should not be touched. Maintain communication and send back images at all times. After entering the facility, do not rush in. Wait for the advice of the technical experts at the rear. If there is any sudden danger, immediately abandon the mission and retreat."
"Yes, General!"
The young warrior named Sala immediately saluted, and then led a small group of soldiers into the facility.
Philip, who stayed by the command vehicle, motioned for the technical sergeant to open the magic network terminal, and what Sala and his team saw appeared on the holographic projection above the terminal.
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