Amber's first impression of the wasteland was a 'foreign land'.
The light gray sky was like some kind of viscous liquid rolling over her head. Magic turbulence was almost visible to the naked eye, flowing in all directions between the thick clouds. The chaotic wind swept across the barren and twisted land irregularly, and the land — the land — was covered by some kind of purple-black 'substance' that looked like a mixture of molten matter and mud from a volcanic eruption. It was like a festering sore of the world, extending to the end of the line of sight and into the magnificent energy barrier in the distance.
She had never seen such a scene anywhere.
She finally understood what Gwen meant when he said that the wasteland was beyond the territory of the civilized world.
The Black Forest may be rotten and twisted, but at least the trees were still trees, and the monsters were still monsters. No matter how gloomy the sky was, the sky was still clear between the clouds. But here, at the end of the Black Forest, at the foot of the magnificent wall, the whole world was different from what she knew.
She even felt that the power of the shadows here had become unfamiliar.
"According to the sirens, the Demonic Tide is the process of the world's' shuffling '. The Demonic Tide 700 years ago was just an incomplete outbreak, equivalent to a kind of' prelude 'to the shuffling …" Gwen looked at the wasteland before him, and suddenly remembered what Tyre had told him. He could not help but whisper to himself, "So the changes here … can actually be seen as a precursor of some kind of' new world '."
Amber looked at Gwen in horror. "You're saying that this wasteland … is what the 'new world' looks like after the Demonic Tide outbreak?"
Gwen nodded gently. "Should be."
"… The new world is really scary." Amber stuck her tongue out. "What kind of life can survive in this' new world '…"
"Scary is only relative to our aesthetic." Gwen glanced at Amber. "Perhaps in the eyes of the new world's life, this twisted and rotten land is a paradise, and the blue sky, white clouds, clear water, and green mountains that we are familiar with … is probably no different from purgatory in their eyes."
Sonia came to Gwen and Amber's side. She overheard their conversation and could not help but say, "Seven hundred years of slumber has made you more emotional than before."
Gwen said casually, "After all, there's nothing else to do while sleeping in a coffin."
"If there's a chance, introduce us to that siren lady. We elves have always been interested in the ancient knowledge of sirens."
"I will, when she wakes up next time." Gwen nodded and looked around. "And now … let's build the last forward base here."
They were still a short distance away from the sentry tower. Although it was not far, the Decaying Plains were fraught with danger. To ensure the safety of the frontline personnel and to ensure the path through the Black Forest, Gwen ordered the establishment of the last forward base at the southern border of the Black Forest.
Including the First Base in the north of the Black Forest and the Second Base in the depths of the Black Forest, this was the third base.
The transport vehicles loaded with important supplies drove out of the forest and formed a loose ring on the open ground at the edge of the forest. The multipurpose chariots parked steadily and accurately in the space between the large transport vehicles, filling the gap in the loose ring.
The steel armor and bodies of the vehicles formed a temporary protective barrier, while the cannons pulled by the tractor chassis were set up inside the barrier, becoming the initial self-defense firepower of the base.
After the initial defense was set up, the pathfinders and escorts began to unload the supplies and set up the base.
The cornerstone of Cecil's magical engineering industry was the Mana Net, so the Mana Net was the first step to be set up.
The prefabricated Mana Net units were moved down from the first two trucks. They were large metal plates more than two meters in length and width, with a large number of Mana Net units pre-assembled on them. These units were connected to the prefabricated buckles on the edge of the multipurpose chariot chassis, and connected to the driving spine of the chariot itself. Finally, with the chariots as nodes, a large area of continuous Mana Net was formed inside the protective barrier. As more and more Mana Net units were connected, the multipurpose chariots began to play a new role — becoming a Mana Obelisk.
"External energy of First Chariot has reached the threshold — crystal powered on!" "External energy of Second Chariot has reached the threshold — crystal powered on!" "Third Chariot …"
As the mechanical soldiers reported loudly, the crystals on the top of the chariots set up in various parts of the base lit up one after another, and abundant mana quickly spread out with the activation of the Mana Net energy field, instantly covering the entire open ground.
Gwen picked up a magical terminal and saw the runes on the side that represented charging had lit up. He nodded slightly.
These lightweight "multipurpose chariots" were new things designed after the Warhammer I main chariot was finalized. They did not have much technical content, but they were specially designed for this mission, and in the foreseeable future, they would certainly be of great use.
On the edge of the wasteland, the environment was harsh, and all kinds of uncontrollable factors would threaten the safety of the frontline personnel. And how to deal with these threats was a problem that Gwen had to consider. The Warhammer I was powerful and had strong survivability. It could deal with most of the challenges in the wasteland, but it could not solve the survival problem of the entire construction team in the wasteland. And to solve this problem, the designers of the Machinery Manufacturing Institute and the Magical Engineering Research Institute designed this lightweight multipurpose chariot based on the framework of the Warhammer I.
Gwen named it the Steel Ambassador.
When the Steel Ambassador was first born, it was positioned as a powerful support platform, not an attacker. To allow the team that was far from the stable rear and in the wasteland (or the frontline) to quickly gain a foothold, the interior of the Steel Ambassador was equipped with a larger area of Mana Net units and a greater load power ridge. An enchanted crystal was fixed on the top of the chariot — the core component of the Mana Net Obelisk. This crystal and the specially designed "cannon" of the Steel Ambassador combined to form a complete enchanted obelisk.
On the frontline far from the rear, the Steel Ambassador's enchanted obelisk could provide vital energy coverage for the front, ensuring that the front facilities could start operating as soon as possible. At the same time, its powerful power ridge also allowed it to support a more powerful shield system and switch between two shield modes. When its own survival was the priority, it would use the "Erect Mode" that had powerful defense but could only protect the chariot itself. When it needed to protect its allies, it would activate the enchanted runes to enter the "Peacemaker" mode. In this mode, its shield range could be expanded to dozens of meters. Although the shield's defensive power would be greatly reduced, it could still protect a large area, thus displaying a powerful battlefield support ability.
Apart from providing energy and shield replenishment, the enchanted crystal of the Steel Ambassador could also serve as a relay point for Mana Net communications. While its power was far less than a fixed relay tower, it was enough to ensure communications on the battlefield. Just like how the cutting-edge magic-powered warship 'Pathfinder' could provide communications coverage for the entire fleet, the Steel Ambassador could also ensure that a land force would not lose contact with its allies in the frontline.
Apart from those fixed functions, the Steel Ambassador, as a 'multi-functional support' chariot, had reserved the ability to expand its module in advance. Its chassis was equipped with card slots and runic chains that were directly connected to the chariot's power ridge, allowing for external Mana Net units to increase energy output. It could also use the runic chains to provide rapid recharging for heavy units like the White Knight …
Of course, there was a price to pay for those convenient functions. In order to install the massive crystal and to support the energy-consuming shield system, the chariots modified from the Warhammer I had their main cannons removed, leaving only a few heat ray guns and a single grenade launcher at the front of the chariot as self-defense firepower. The number of passengers it could carry had also been reduced from six to three, with the space saved to install additional Mana Net units and an oversized power ridge. Those modifications had almost made the chariot lose its offensive capabilities. But Gwen knew that in a complex battlefield, a multi-functional chariot with outstanding support capabilities could play a far greater role than a single main cannon.
That was especially the case in this wasteland.
On the open ground where the forward base was located, above the 'wall' formed by the large transport vehicles and multi-functional chariots, the soldiers had formed a temporary line of defense using the carriages as cover. Inside the wall, the pathfinders were unloading prefabricated tents and makeshift houses from the following trucks and seizing the time to set up camp. The 'Steel Ambassadors' at various points of the wall lit up the magical crystals on the roof of the chariots. As the crystals lit up, a layer of shimmering shield had also completed closing up around the convoy.
"Arcanotech, huh …" Sonia could not help but sigh softly as she watched the camp's defense mechanism being built up. "At first, I thought it was just some sort of modification and … restructuring of Gondor's magical technology. But now it seems that it has taken a completely different path."
"The fall of the Kingdom of Gondor has taught us a lesson. No matter how advanced the technology is, as long as it is limited to a few elite individuals, limited to a small area, and unable to be popularized, it will inevitably lack reliability and anti-disaster ability, and it is destined to be difficult to break through its own development bottleneck." Gwen smiled. "Of course, one of the reasons why we took the path of arcanotech is also because of the situation. After all, we don't have the Deep Blue Magic Well."
"The Deep Blue Magic Well, huh …" Sonia said softly. She looked at the 'Steel Ambassadors' that were activating their shields and broadcasting their magical energy. Her eyes fell on the crystals on top of the chariots. "Perhaps … the value of these things is no less than that of the Deep Blue …"
This was undoubtedly a very high opinion of them.
And this sentence from an elf from the Silver Empire who had witnessed the glory of Gondor added a layer of meaning to it.
Gwen just nodded slightly. Then he looked up and looked at the majestic tower in his field of vision.
The huge sentry tower stood at the border of the former human empire. The hexagonal tower was hundreds of meters tall, and it relied on powerful anti-gravity devices to float above the hill-like base made of special alloy and runic stones. Countless complex runes and energy streams flashed around the tower and the base. Powerful magical energy was projected into the air under the power of these runes, and at the edge of the wasteland, a thousand-meter-tall energy barrier was formed.
"The glory of the ancient empire …"
Rosetta Augustus looked away from the top of the tower and sighed softly.
Behind him, a busy construction site was undergoing intense but orderly construction. A large number of low-level mages from the Royal Mage Guild were using evocative hands and all kinds of shaping and summoning spells to build the walls of the camp. Huge stone walls were growing out of the polluted and decayed soil at a speed visible to the naked eye. The emblem of the Tiphon Empire had been raised to the top of the flagpole. In the chaotic wind of the wasteland, the golden-red flag fluttered in the wind.
The sound of horse hooves came from not far away, and a valiant gray-haired female knight came to the front of the Typhon Emperor. Rosetta Augustus looked up and nodded to the talented "wolf cub" from the Wendell family. There was an almost imperceptible smile on her usually gloomy and stiff face. "It seems that there is news."
Andesha Wendell dismounted from her horse and bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty. The eagle-eyed sentinels have confirmed that a team has appeared at the edge of the Black Forest in the northwest. The team has the emblem of the Cecil family."
"As we expected, the Ansu's Eastern Region and the Royal Family are fighting, and in the end, only their ancestor who walked out of the grave can come forward." Rosetta nodded, then turned his eyes to the northwest and looked at the hazy shadow of another tower in the distance. "It's really close …"
(Presumably, many of you already know that the Little Eye has been born, and both mother and child are safe =. And this is also my last chapter. Wish me peace when I update …)
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