It was late at night, but no stars could be seen in the sky. Only a thin fog shrouded the sky above the city, making the huge imperial city appear illusory.
The weather had turned cold. Although there was still some time before the Frost Moon, the fog had already descended on the plains in Oldenheim, which was the most prone to fog. In the past week, there had been fog for five out of ten days. Judging from the weather of previous years, there would be more and more fog on the plains in the next half a month to a month.
Daniel put on a coat and left his room. He walked through the dark corridors of the mansion and strolled to the balcony. He looked at Aldernan Street in the distance, which was shrouded in a thin mist.
The bright light of the magic stone street lamps pierced through the fog, outlining all kinds of silhouettes in the night. Silhouettes of buildings appeared in the darkness, and lights were on in many windows. Patrolling soldiers with dogs passed by the nearby streets, leaving elongated shadows beside the street lamps.
This was a wealthy district. Whether it was infrastructure or public security, it was second to none in the entire city. As for the civilian district a few blocks away, the number of public security soldiers would be reduced by half, and the street lights were not as bright as here. As for the slums … it was no different from a few years ago. At most, there were a few new street lights, and some of them had been destroyed by the local gangsters.
But even so, the ordinary people living in this city could clearly feel that it was gradually becoming prosperous. This era was becoming prosperous — especially for the "citizens" who had the opportunity to go to the Magic Theater to watch plays, buy imported food and shoes, and subscribe to fashionable magazines.
Daniel saw it all build up with his own eyes.
The old mage gently rubbed his fingers, and a layer of almost transparent shield shrouded him, creating a warm and cozy little space in this cold autumn season. He looked up towards the southwest, and saw that there were bright lights shining in the depths of the night and fog, and there was a faint bustling noise coming from that direction.
That was the district of Faneul'Ensharon, the 'upper world' built by the visionary Count of Faneul'Ensharon at a great cost. There were casinos, theaters, shops, stock exchanges, and salon clubs at the heart of the district. The rich of Aldnan, including the so-called 'New Townspeople', now regarded that district as their paradise on earth in this prosperous era. They indulged in the novelty of social activities with the theme of competing for wealth and finer living. It was incredible that both the rich and the petty nobles could find a place to spend their money from the entrance to the exit of Faneul'Ensharon.
And just one block away from the bustling lights was the slums of Oldenheim. It was so dark that it seemed to have disappeared from the night, and the silhouettes of buildings that occasionally emerged from the darkness were as eerie as ghosts.
Venna Salon might be seen as a microcosm of the rapidly expanding "new wealth community" in Oldenheim, but Daniel was not interested in it and always forbade his apprentices to go near such places.
"It's just a poor imitation."
The old mage muttered to himself in the night, and then took a step back and left the balcony that was being blown by the cold autumn wind.
…
On the morning of the next day, Gwen did not show up in the government office or deal with government affairs in his study as usual. Instead, he went straight to the Arcanotech Research Institute, where Daniel and Rebecca were already waiting.
In the large laboratory, various devices used to control the runic system were placed on the four walls of the room, and there was only one wide metal platform in the middle of the room. There were no complicated experiment instruments on the platform, only a set of adjusted crystal projectors. Above the projectors, a light-blue, translucent diagram floated, with the outline of the Cecil Empire briefly marked on it.
"Ancestor!" After Gwen appeared, the first to greet him was the excited Rebecca. "You're finally here!"
"You're an adult now. Be more mature." Gwen looked helplessly at his great-great-granddaughter, who was always so excited. Although he knew that it was useless to lecture her, he could not help but remind her.
Compared to five years ago when they first met, the "downtrodden viscountess" had grown up into a girl who at least looked mature on the outside, but her personality had hardly changed. Heti seemed to be worried about it, but Gwen felt that it was not a bad thing. After all, he was probably going to confer the silly roe deer as king …
Rebecca shrunk her neck and replied, not knowing how much she took in Gwen's words, but the latter did not care. Kamel broke the silence. "Your Majesty, we have adjusted the diagram."
Gwen nodded and came to the metal platform in the middle of the room. His eyes swept across the magic projection floating in the air. In his vision, he could clearly see the labels of Cecil City, Ten Forest City, Tamudul, Solin Fortress, Saint Sunil, Winter Fort Academy, and so on. There were also bright lines connecting the cities, and around the lines, there were dim light spots.
"These light spots are the nodes of the magic network that have completed the basic construction. The lines are the communication lines that are currently in use. Other than the southern border, the other cities are basically single lines. The triangles beside these few hub cities represent the progress of the construction. The completed ones are blue, and the almost completed ones are red …"
Kamel floated beside the holographic projection and explained the labels on the image to Gwen. At the same time, he kept adjusting the projection device to change the angle of the image and show all kinds of details.
This made Gwen sigh at the convenience of magic, and he quickly focused his attention on the last red triangle on the diagram.
"Currently, only the node of Winter Fort Academy is not completed yet …" he said softly.
Kamel nodded. "Yes, the climate in the northern border is cold, and the start time is a month later than other places. Furthermore, there are more mountains, which are not convenient for construction. Therefore, the construction progress is the slowest. However, under the call of the Great Governor of Victoria, many of the local Extraordinaries directly invested in the construction of the frontline. The mountains where large construction machines could not enter were built by mages who were as efficient as machines. Therefore, all the nodes have already reached the deadline, and the main hub of Winter Fort Academy will be completed in a week. "
"Very good …" Gwen breathed a sigh of relief, finally feeling a rare sense of relief in his heart. "This way, the magic network of the entire Empire can finally be connected and become a real 'net' …"
Kamel's humming voice could not help but have a hint of emotion. "Indeed, Your Majesty."
Gwen did not say anything for a while. He just looked at the flickering light spots and lines in the holographic projection, his heart unable to calm down.
Connecting the magic network of the entire Empire … This was one of his most ambitious plans. It was also the plan that took the longest time, used the most manpower and resources, and had the most far-reaching impact.
The light spots on the projection were all large and small magic obelisks or hub towers. Since the day the Empire was established, or even before the Empire was established, the related projects had already started.
Some of them were built by the teams sent by the Duchy of Cecil, some were built by the nobles themselves when the technology of the duchy was exported, and some were built in the last one or two years under the leadership of the Empire's highest government office. Large and small nodes were distributed in the main cities and hubs of the Empire, and with them as the base point, they extended to cover the 'first level town area' as much as possible, thus forming the prototype of a 'network'.
The 'regional magic network' and the magic obelisks alone were not a real 'network'. They were just small-scale energy stations and regional communication stations. Only by connecting all of them could the 'Empire's magic network' that Gwen envisioned become a real 'net'. The orders from the highest government office and the information returned from various places could be rapidly spread throughout the Empire through this network. The energy supply of the entire Cecil would be guaranteed, and the cities and the wilderness between cities would be protected. Where there was a magic network, there would be energy, information, security, and productivity. And all of these were the prerequisites for the further development of the country.
And this ambitious plan had already been launched when Cecil was still a duchy. Gwen had laid out this net for almost three years, and these three years were under the premise that this world had convenient magic power and all kinds of basic technology already existed.
And in order to make this huge network work, one of the most critical facilities was the 'main hubs' located in the important cities of the Empire.
These were massive magic crystal arrays installed on special towers (or trees). They covered a wide range, but the wide range was only one of its functions. Their greater function was to coordinate and balance all the secondary hubs connected to them, and through the secondary hubs, they controlled the basic nodes at the lower levels. Now, the last step of Gwen's plan to 'connect the entire Empire's magic network' was to wait for these main hubs to come online.
At present, the major cities of the Empire relied on a series of relay towers to maintain a single line of communication. This level of 'connection' was obviously not enough. From the bearing capacity to the risk resistance to the actual performance, they did not meet Gwen's requirements at all.
"When the entire Empire's magic network is connected, the first phase of this project will be considered complete," Hao Ren said slowly after a long silence. "The next step is to continue to increase the number of basic nodes and secondary hubs in various places …"
"Increase?" Rebecca could not help but ask in surprise. "I feel that the coverage is already very wide …"
"Not enough, far from enough." Gwen shook his head, his eyes never leaving the light spots and lines. "Not even half."
His words startled Rebecca, but he was completely serious. The nodes of the Magic Net that had been established in the Imperium might have been unbelievably massive in the eyes of the people of this era, but Gawain knew that what he had built in only three years was merely a 'basic project'. The seemingly massive nodes actually only covered the major cities and large-scale towns. They were actually unable to cover the villages or the more remote settlements.
However, in the eyes of many people of this era, this level of the magic network was far beyond imagination. It allowed every town to use magic power at any time, have strategic shields, instant communication, modern lighting, entertainment, and working conditions based on magic technology. This was enough. As for covering the villages and even the remote forests and wilderness … they did not understand the need for that.
This reminded Gwen of a joke he often heard in his past life: 'Villages have access to the internet.'
'Villages have access to the internet … This is a great thing.'
Gwen exhaled and said slowly, "Continue to cover every village and every place with human habitation. This is our next goal. It may take three more years, but it is necessary."
Rebecca blinked. She was very talented in the field of technology and was not stupid in other areas, but she still could not think too much beyond the current era like Gwen. However, this did not stop her from showing a bright smile and nodding vigorously. "What you said makes sense! Then let's do it. "
Gwen looked at the silly roe deer, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
This child … could barely be a viscount. If she were to inherit the throne … forget it, it would be better to give her a posthumous title.
Carmel, on the other hand, seemed to understand Gawain's idea. His eyes, which were filled with arcane light, looked at the holographic projection map and nodded slightly. "Popularize it as much as possible and cover as much as possible … It's of great significance to the future of this country and to everyone on this land."
As he spoke, the sorcerer from a thousand years ago suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly and shook his head. "If the Kingdom of Gondor did not rely too much on the Deep Blue Well, if we had a way to freely distribute magic power and cover the entire land … we would not have destroyed all our foundations because of the explosion of an energy well. Even in the face of the Great Mana Tide, the civilization that the humans ultimately preserved would not be what it was seven hundred years ago. "
Gwen nodded slightly, and then the room fell silent for a moment.
Half a minute later, he broke the silence. "After this is over, call Veronica and find me at the government office."
…
Before noon, Kamel and Veronica came together to Gwen's office in the government office.
As soon as they entered, they found Heti and Amber were also there.
"Have a seat." Gwen nodded to the two ancient rebels and gestured to the seats near the desk. "I called you all here because I received some news about Typhon. Now I suspect that it may have some connection with the gods."
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