A brand-new tower-like building stood on the highlands to the west of Winter Fort Academy. The snowy mountains in the north that never melted all year round formed an undulating curtain, becoming the background of the tower.
The tower was built with steel and cement, with a hexagonal base and simple straight lines. Dense streams of light flowed between the runic lines and the magic conductive metal at the bottom of the tower as if it had surging vitality. There was also a large-scale, mechanical support device and a crystal array formed by multiple crystals fixed at the top of the tower. In the cold winds of the extreme north, a layer of translucent magic shield kept the erosion of the wind and frost, while the crystal array at the top of the tower was constantly adjusting its structure and angle within the shield.
It had not been activated yet, and the crystal array was further adapting to the magical environment around Winter Fort Academy.
In the wind and snow, Victoria and several advanced mages slowly descended from the sky. They came to the high ground that was tightly protected by several military towers and a circle of walls. She raised her head and saw the tower shining brightly in her line of sight. It was like a sharp sword piercing through the sky. She could not help but smile.
This was probably the most beautiful main hub of the Magic Net in the entire Empire. The pure white color scheme and simple yet powerful lines may look plain, but it was a perfect contrast to the surrounding environment. When designing the tower, Victoria even personally participated in some of the steps, so that the style of the main hub in the north was synchronized to a certain extent with the white Winter Fort Academy beside it. Now, she was very satisfied with the final appearance of the tower.
And the connection between the tower and Winter Fort Academy was not only that.
Below the highlands right next to the main building of the castle, there was a series of Magic Net relay devices that extended along the mountain, and there was a surge of magic that flowed day and night. This main hub was connected to the magic of Winter Fort Academy.
The Wilde family in the north had been the most outstanding magical family in the country for hundreds of years, and Winter Fort Academy had accumulated centuries of the family's heritage. Victoria did not waste the ready-made and excellent magic foundation here. After seriously studying the knowledge of runic logic and magical technology, she and the technical consultants from the Imperial Capital worked together to design a massive system. This system used the Magic Net as the 'foundation', covering the magic structure of Winter Fort Academy and the entire city area around the castle. At the same time, it solved the problem of energy supply for the city area, energy supply for the Magic Net hub, strengthening the stability of the Magic Net, and upgrading the facilities of the castle.
And now, the system had been activated, gathering the surging and stable energy and injecting it into the tower before Victoria. Soon, it would be further stabilized through the crystal array at the top of the tower, and broadcast the energy to the entire region, and establish stable connections with the Magic Net hub in other nearby towns.
"After completing the last stage of the pressure test, send the news to the Imperial Capital." The duchess hid her careless expression and said flatly to the people beside her. "You can start preparing for the final connection."
The mage beside her immediately took the order and left. Victoria quietly looked at the tower for a moment, then lowered her head and softly chanted, "Mirmina, the Goddess of Magic … May you watch all of this …"
She actually rarely prayed to the Goddess of Magic. In recent years, she had learned a lot about the truth of the gods, and even personally witnessed two 'divine calamities'. She had even reduced the number of times she mentioned the name 'Mirmina'. But in the end, she was still a mage, and some things that were rooted in her habits were not so easy to change. Even if it was purely out of spiritual sustenance, she still maintained her respect for the legendary 'Provenance of All Spells' and 'Lord of Magic'.
There was no response to her prayers, but she could feel a faint concern and a response on a psychological level. It was expected, and reasonable.
…
With a slight buzzing sound and the clicking sound of the mechanical device, a document was slowly spat out from the printer beside the desk. Gwen took the document and glanced at it. He could not help but smile.
"Byron's contact with the representatives of the gray elves and the dwarves at White Feather Port was very smooth. The first voyage of the Curiosity was a success beyond expectations." He smiled and said to Heti, who had just finished her report. "It seems that the dwarves living in the far west of the continent are very interested in Cecil's foreign trade machinery and magic technology. They may offer a very high price."
"Really? Ah … I've been waiting for this good news for days. "Heti blinked, and her tone became very happy." The dwarves have never been short of gold, silver, and magic materials, but the arched mountains of the Dwarf Kingdom have long affected their trade with the continent. If we can open up a sea trade route from the North Port to Forge City, the cost will definitely be many times more cost-effective than land transportation, even if the journey seems a little far. "
"I've long heard that the Dwarf Kingdom is rich in minerals. To be honest, most of the reason why I restarted the northern continental route is to open up a trade route with the dwarves. It's too difficult to build a trade route through the mountains of the Dwarf Kingdom and the Ogre tribal country," Gwen said with a smile. His face was full of undisguised joy and relief. "That's good. Although the Curiosity has only opened up the route from North Port to White Feather Port, it's at least a good start. It shows that our entire plan is feasible."
As he spoke, he outlined the coastline map of the northwest part of the continent in his mind and matched the navigation data sent back by the Curiosity with the details on the map.
He could clearly "see" the location of North Port and White Feather Port, as well as the arched mountains of the Dwarf Kingdom and several natural harbors facing the sea. Frankly speaking, for the gray elves who had opened up a land trade route and were geographically adjacent to the Cecil Empire, the route from White Feather Port to North Port was not very significant. But as long as the route continued to extend, the merchant ships would connect White Feather Port and Forge City, and the gray elven merchants would immediately reap huge benefits. The short sea trade route was definitely easier than crossing the arched mountains.
He believed that the sharp-eyed Madam Wenna Baizhi could also see this. Otherwise, she would not have been so proactive in cooperating with the Cecil Empire's plan to restart the route and agree to open the only sea port in the moss forest to the ships at North Port.
With the further support of the gray elves, his plan to restart the route would undoubtedly become smoother.
At this moment, the humming of the machine and the clicking of the printing device suddenly rang again, interrupting Gwen's thoughts.
He looked at the printing device that was connected to the magic network terminal and saw another document slowly being spat out from the paper outlet. On the half-exposed page, he could see the snowflake emblem of the Wilde family.
The paper fell onto the tray and Gwen reached out to pick it up. Heti looked at him curiously. "Is this a report from somewhere?"
The documents that could be sent directly to the study were usually very unusual. It was rare to receive two reports in such a short period of time.
At this time, Gwen had already glanced at the main part of the document. The short sentences were not long, but the content was big news.
"The main hub of the Northern Territory is ready, a day earlier than expected!" He said happily, even happier than when he received the good news from Byron. "The report from Victoria says that the hub has completed all the acceptance procedures and the final stress test. It can now be integrated into the main network at any time. We are just waiting for the order from the Imperial Capital."
Heti's eyes widened. She had been waiting for this news for a long time, especially as the expected acceptance date was approaching. As one of the people who had watched the development of magical engineering, she knew very well what the integration of the magic network across the Empire meant. After being stunned for less than a second, she showed an extremely happy expression. "Great! We have been waiting for this day for so long! "
"How's the preparation going?" Gawain asked quickly.
"All the departments have completed their preparations the day before yesterday. Most of them are now on standby. We have been waiting for news from the North," Heti said immediately. "From now on, we can start the preparation process of the network integration. The first main hub can be officially activated in about four hours, starting from the hub in Ten Forest City."
"Then let's go." Gwen nodded at Heti. "The next few hours are going to be big."
This was definitely going to be big. He was very sure of it. Just like the activation of the first prototype of the magic network, the civil war in Ansu, and the establishment of the Empire, what was going to happen in the next few hours would be enough to leave a mark on the era. He could even foresee that this matter would be indisputably printed in the textbooks and test papers of the students the day after tomorrow. They would have to study history, politics, and even magical engineering.
Liberal arts must be memorized, and science must also be compulsory.
Thinking of this, Gwen could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth, and a strange expression appeared on his face.
The old ancestor suddenly showed a strange smile. The princess of the Empire was a little confused, but soon Heti threw her doubts to the back of her mind. At such a happy moment, the old ancestor must be feeling emotional, so it was reasonable for him to have a complicated smile.
She explained to herself and turned to leave Gwen's study. She came to the corridor and looked at the neat magic crystal lamps on both sides of the corridor. She sighed softly, then lowered her head, put her hands on her chest, and made a short prayer that she had not made for a long time. "Mirmina, the Goddess of Magic … are you willing to bear witness to everything …"
There was no reply to the prayer, but she could feel a faint concern and a psychological response. It was expected and reasonable.
…
In a brand-new classroom in the Imperial College, the senior students of the Department of Magic Engineering were sitting neatly behind their desks, listening to the new "Neural Network Concept" course this semester.
Erawin, who was wearing the uniform of the Department of Magic Engineering, was looking at the podium attentively. Beside him, a big boy with short brown hair and a few freckles on his face was writing furiously with his head down.
"Storm," Erawin could not help but gently nudge his new classmate and reminded him in a low voice, "don't just focus on your notes. The teacher is talking about the key theoretical knowledge."
The big boy named Storm was startled. The tip of the pen left a crooked ink mark on the paper. He raised his head and quickly glanced at Erawen. There was a nervous and timid look on his face as he said, "I... Okay... Okay..."
Seeing Storm's reaction, Erawin wanted to say something more, but the next second, a thunderous voice suddenly came from the podium. "No talking in class! Mr. Erawin Franklin! "
The loud voice swept through the classroom like a storm, and all the students were shocked. Erawin Franklin was sweating profusely. Even though he was the son of a duke, he was still very nervous when facing this loud voice. In fact, even in the entire Imperial College, there was no student who was not afraid of this loud voice.
He immediately sat up straight and made a gesture of admitting his mistake. He carefully looked at the figure on the podium.
A short middle-aged man with spiky hair stood there. He was floating in the air, and there was a set of Magic Net Projection Crystal under his feet, which was emitting a very soft buzzing sound.
After Magnum finished lecturing the students, he shook his head and turned to look at the diagram he had just sketched in the air. He was ready to continue the lesson. "Okay, everyone is awake. Let's move on to the next part. When multiple brainwave signals are transmitted to a node at the same time, how to ensure that they do not interfere with each other. Listen carefully, because the pioneers who summed up this part of the knowledge spent ten years to solve this problem, but you lucky fellows only need less than half the time of a class! First of all … "
Magnum's voice was halfway through when he suddenly stopped.
In the short silence, the students were inevitably a little restless. Erawin heard people whispering behind him.
"Why did Mr. Magnum suddenly stop talking?"
"Could it be that Madam Selena turned off the communicator again …"
"Shh — Madam Selena might be watching in the classroom."
"Quiet!!" Magnum's loud voice suddenly exploded again. He glared at the classroom and waved his hand. "Okay, it looks like today's lesson will end early. There's a task in the neural network, so I have to shift my attention to other work. The rest of this lesson will be left for next time."
Then he added in a loud voice, "But don't think of slacking off — I've already prepared the test papers for the first part of the lesson! The teaching assistants will send them here in a while. The rest of the lesson and the next self-study period will be left here to do the test papers! "
As soon as he finished speaking, Magnum's figure disappeared from the podium in an instant, leaving behind a pile of formulas and diagrams floating in the air. A group of students was left in the classroom looking at each other.
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