A constantly expanding light blue halo rippled out from the detection door. With the voice of the artificial intelligence Omega, the barrier opened and the door to Tarlonde stabilized in front of Noretta.
The white and elegant Giant Dragon flapped her wings and glided through the navigation light ring in front of the door. The entrance of the barrier closed behind her, isolating the cold air from the Arctic Ocean.
Noretta lowered her head and enjoyed the comfortable temperature created by the weather controller. The green mountains and hills extended in her vision. The low-altitude transportation network between cities intertwined on the ground. In this familiar scenery of her hometown, she took a deep breath and soaked her four biological lungs and two sets of mechanical lungs in the clean and warm air.
Tarlonde was like spring all year round, at least for the last four thousand years. But earlier, the continent was also covered in snow or lava. The Giant Dragon was a race trapped in a cage. Their long civilization was as boring as their long life. In the thousands of years, the Senate would reset the weather controller almost every ten thousand years to change the "appearance" of the continent. And in the current cycle, the "theme" of Tarlonde was spring.
This change was one of the few "mischievous" behaviors that were allowed under the watch of the gods. It was meaningless, but the dragons were never tired of it.
Some meaningless thoughts flashed through her mind. Noretta began to lower her altitude. She circled the outer mountain barrier for a while and flew straight to Agundor, the headquarters of the Mithril Vault in the middle of the mountains.
Amidst the lofty mountains, the magnificent city of Gondor was basking in the dim sunlight. The long day was coming to an end, and the giant sun that had dominated the sky for nearly half a year was about to sink into the horizon as it rose and fell day after day. The white Giant Dragon flew in the sunset towards a beautiful palace on the top of the mountain. The wall on one side of the palace had automatically opened and a wide landing platform extended out …
Noretta landed smoothly on the landing platform and stretched her wings that were slightly tired from the long flight. Then she heard a sharp cry from under her feet. "Hey, you're stepping on me!"
The white Giant Dragon paused for a moment and slowly looked down at her feet. She saw a figure in a lavender dress trying to get out from under her huge claws. A few seconds later, she slowly said in an unsurprised tone, "Melita, why are you standing on the platform?"
"I just landed here. I haven't had time to leave yet!" Melita finally got out and immediately looked up at her friend of many years and shouted, "Your eyes are fine. Didn't you see me?"
The white dragon lowered her head. "… I didn't see you."
"… This is revenge. You're too vengeful." Melita suddenly complained loudly. "I just accidentally stepped on you last time. You actually stepped on me back …"
Noretta did not say anything. She just quietly looked down at her friend who was complaining non-stop. When she finally quieted down a little, she said slowly, "I saw a book in the human world. It's about Knight and the dragon. Some of the stories in it look very familiar."
Melita who was complaining loudly suddenly stopped. After a while, she looked up awkwardly. "Probably … probably the story that the bards of the human world made up in the past two years?"
"It's a story from hundreds of years ago. Republished." Noretta looked at the small figure under her feet without blinking. Her dragon claws moved as if she did not care. "And it seems to be very popular."
Melita immediately muttered, "Damn it … Didn't they say that humans are very forgetful …"
Noretta just looked down at her friend and then shook her head. "Forget it. Let's talk about it later. I've met Gwen Cecil and brought back some things for the president to look through. How's the mission on your side? "
"Gwen Cecil?" When Melita realized that the other party was no longer pursuing the story of the hero fighting the evil dragon, she heaved a sigh of relief. Then, she heard a familiar name and subconsciously raised her eyebrows. "What a coincidence … In a way, the thing that I want to report this time is related to him as well.
"We found the legendary shield that the Cecil family lost a hundred years ago. It's the shield that Gwen Cecil once carried all the way out of the wasteland. Guess what it's made of?"
Looking at Melita's obviously suspenseful expression, Noretta just shook her head indifferently. "I'm not guessing. Are you going to tell me or not?"
Melita choked for a moment. But she quickly shrugged and said casually, "Other than some clumsy additional parts, the main body of the shield is very likely to have fallen from the 'Firmament'. If we're not wrong, it's part of the mainframe array."
Noretta's calm and indifferent look was instantly broken. On her scale-covered Giant Dragon face, there was an expression of surprise that could be recognized by humans. She could not help but exclaim in a low voice. "Firmament … Are you sure?!"
"Basically, I'm sure. You know, although I'm a young dragon, Carador who went on the mission with me is a knowledgeable old Giant Dragon."
"… This is … an unusual discovery … A human who has been holding a fragment of the Firmament for more than ten years … It's hard to imagine what kind of impact it would have on him … No wonder he died so early back then. But how did he come back to life … "Noretta muttered subconsciously. But suddenly she frowned again." Wait, that's not right. If the fragment fell from the Firmament, it should have fallen near the equator. No matter how far it deviated, it couldn't have deviated to the north of the Loren Continent. How did it fall into the hands of Gwen Cecil who led the northern expeditionary force at that time? "
"If you really let your imagination run wild, there are too many possibilities. Maybe the fragment did fall near the equator and then moved to the north of the Loren Continent? For example, it fell into the hands of the elves and was then brought to the north by the traveling elves. It could also have something to do with the collision three thousand years ago. That collision … Tsk, it was really a fragment … "
"The collision three thousand years ago …" It seemed that Melita's words had suddenly triggered Noretta's thoughts. The latter showed a thoughtful look and could not help but mutter and shake her head gently. "We still don't understand why the God of Nature did that … It really alarmed too many extraordinary beings, even our God was alarmed …"
Melita was about to speak when she suddenly felt a faint sense of being stared at and a sense of uneasiness from the depths of her soul. She immediately shook her head. "Noretta, let's not talk about this anymore."
"… You're right." Noretta also shut her mouth sensibly. At the same time, a layer of constantly changing light curtain began to cover her body from top to bottom. "Let's go and see President Andal first. This world … Maybe it's really starting to become interesting."
…
In the circular hall surrounded by ornate columns and embossed walls, the lights lit up one by one. A crystal-like transparent light curtain descended from the air and the fluorescent light shone on Andal's huge body that was full of implants. The awe-inspiring ancient Giant Dragon woke up from his light sleep. He looked at the entrance of the hall and saw Noretta and Melita, who had already transformed into human form, walking to the front of his Throne of Mind.
"Ah … Two talented young dragons." President Andal's old and gentle voice rang in the hall. There seemed to be a smile in his tone. "You're here."
Noretta took a step forward and bowed slightly. "President, we have completed our respective field missions. If there's any special situation, we need to report directly to you."
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
Noretta and Melita looked at each other. The latter then nodded and motioned for the former to speak first.
Noretta then looked up and looked at the ancient Giant Dragon on the Throne of Mind. "The Cecil Empire of the human world has built a large-scale, magic-based communication system. Their highest power antenna has recently captured a group of mysterious signals. I think this signal is worth paying attention to."
"Mysterious signals?" One of President Andal's mechanical eyes turned to Noretta. "Is it made by the elemental creatures in the far eastern sea? They have been trying to repair the spaceship and often create some strange … 'movements'. "
"Probably not." Noretta shook her head. "I have already recorded a copy of the signal. I hope you can use your authority to let Omega's advanced mental stratum analyze it directly."
Andal thought for a moment and nodded slightly. "Okay."
As his voice trailed off, a piece of the floor in front of the Throne of Mind changed. The metal cover closed up with a faint sound of friction. A pale gold alloy column with faint lights on its surface rose from the opening of the floor. At the top of the column was a series of interfaces, chips and flashing runes.
Noretta took a step forward and groped around the back of her neck. With a soft click, she opened the bionic skin cover hidden behind her neck and pulled out a slender cable. The end of the cable was flashing faintly. The next second, it was connected to the alloy column in front of the Throne of Mind.
Within a thousandth of a second, Noretta had transferred the signal sample stored in her auxiliary electronic brain to Omega.
Melita could not help but frown as she looked at the scene. "Even the human form is modified like this … I can't accept it …"
"This will help in the rear support mission." Noretta turned to look at her. "You are a young dragon, but your thinking is so old. Even the implant modification is more conservative than most Dragons."
Melita was just about to say something when she heard President Andal coughing on the Throne of Mind. She immediately shut her mouth.
"Now, let us listen to the primitive rhythm of this signal."
As President Andal's voice trailed off, a soft humming sound began to ring in the large circular hall. Then, the crystal curtain around the Throne of Mind trembled and jumped at the same time. A sound became clearer in the humming sound.
It sounded like a rhythmic hum, mixed with the low echoes of a heartbeat. It was as if an invisible singer was humming some kind of song that was beyond the comprehension of the mortal mind. After playing for more than ten seconds, it began to repeat, and it went round and round.
The sound reverberating in the hall suddenly stopped, and President Andal's voice rang again. "I can't hear anything after converting it to audio. This may be some kind of psionic singing, or it may just be the human antenna resonating with the magic in the atmosphere. We need to do further conversion and interpretation. Omega, let's begin. "
Omega's voice rang in the hall. "Begin to translate the primitive signal into a combination of numbers, into a geometric figure, into a standard spectrum, into a polynomial code … Begin to test the possibilities of all combinations …"
As Omega began to work, President Andal's gentle voice rang in the ears of Melita and Noretta. "No matter what the signal is encoded or encrypted with, mathematics must be its universal language. The rules are contained in the numbers, unless the signal is sent out by a creature of chaos, or a mind beyond the comprehension of mortals …"
Melita and Noretta nodded as they listened, accepting the wise teachings. However, all of a sudden, an indescribable sense of awe and fear that came from the depths of their souls captured the hearts of all the dragons present. Noretta and Melita's expressions changed at the same time, and the lights on Andal's implants flickered in an instant —
"Omega, stop the analysis." The president immediately shouted.
"Omega, understood. Stop the analysis. Suspend the mission."
"Just now …" Melita struggled to raise her head, her face was covered in cold sweat as she muttered.
"God is watching us, a warning …" President Andal's face was unusually grim. "We can't continue."
Then, he slowly took a few deep breaths before he finished his sentence.
"This is not something we should listen to."
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