To be honest, when he saw the handwriting on the table, Gwen was not as calm as he appeared to be. Although he had said a few minutes ago that the Goddess of Magic had to thank him, he really did not expect her to really thank him …
Is this the "personality" of the Goddess of Magic? It feels very different from Amoun or Naretil Duarte …
But even though there were a lot of messy thoughts in his mind, he still controlled the changes in his expression well. After all, there were several people in the room, and he still had to maintain a dignified persona on such an occasion.
"Ancestor," Heti noticed Gwen's movements on the table and could not help but ask curiously, "what happened … Ah? What's wrong with the table? "
Gwen looked down at the table. The newly installed table was first engraved with a "thank you" by the Goddess of Magic, and then he wiped away a layer of the engraving, leaving a big hole in the middle. As an emperor's table, it was no longer useful. He could not help but feel a little regretful. "Just now … there were mosquitoes."
The three Great Consuls present were dumbfounded. "…"
It was obviously not easy to believe, but since the ancestor/emperor said there were mosquitoes … then there really were mosquitoes.
"Ahem, when we go back, this table …" Gwen coughed twice, wanting to end this awkward topic as soon as possible. "Well, change this table."
"Yes … Ancestor." Heti nodded, then quickly and stiffly ended the current topic according to Gwen's intention. "About your plan to go to Tarlonde …"
"That's what I wanted to say." Gwen immediately nodded and continued Heti's words. "According to the previous agreement with the 'representative' of Tarlonde, after the end of the Goddess of Magic's Tomb of the Gods, it's almost time for me to leave. Of course, not immediately. We can still prepare, but after all, it's something that has been promised, and I don't intend to delay it too much."
"You've really decided to go to that … mysterious Tarlonde?" Although Bai Dewen knew that this was something that had been decided, he could not help but ask one more question.
"Don't be so nervous. Tarlonde is not the divine realm nor hell. It's just another country on this planet," Gwen said unhurriedly. "The Dragons are indeed a mysterious race, but they are also a civilization that can be communicated with. We can officially establish diplomatic relations with the Duchy of the Holy Tarlonde, so it's right to treat Tarlonde as a 'country'."
Standing next to him, Victoria, whose expression did not change, broke the silence. "In the Northern Region, there have been many legends about 'dragons' since ancient times. Although most of them are nonsense, the legends themselves can reflect a lot of information. Dragons are a mysterious race, but in fact, they have always been active in the Loren Continent and at the border of human civilization. They have a mysterious purpose, and we know nothing about it … Your trip to Tarlonde may help humans understand what the dragons want to do, but you also have to be prepared to face the risks."
"Of course." Gwen nodded slightly, then looked at Victoria's clear and indifferent eyes that were like ice crystals. "About this trip to Tarlonde, the empire's internal affairs have basically been arranged. I believe that you will handle the daily affairs of the state during my temporary absence. In addition … I have a special task for you."
Victoria immediately straightened up, and a solemn look appeared on her face. "Please instruct me."
"Don't be so nervous." Gwen waved his hand. "I just want you to ensure that all the magic network hub towers in the Northern Region are in the best condition, and adjust all the crystal arrays on the North Coast so that they can listen to the signals from the North Pole with the highest sensitivity. At the same time, I will also bring a set of the most advanced magic network terminals to maintain contact with the North Coast."
"You intend to use this method to maintain contact with the empire?" Victoria frowned slightly. "… With all due respect, this is not feasible. It is completely beyond the communication range of the existing magic network hub, and there is a high degree of interference in the vast ocean, not to mention there is a storm in the middle —"
"Of course, I know." Gwen interrupted her. "I want to take this opportunity to collect data on the magic network hub and the magic interference in the ocean, especially the latter. This part of the data is very useful, and it is also what we are in urgent need of now. The coastal route from the North Harbor to the Moss Forest has begun trial operation, but the data collection in the distant ocean is slow. With our current technology, it is difficult to collect the magic parameters beyond the Violet Strait. It just so happens that the Dragons have provided us with a 'free ride' this time. "
"I see … Then I understand." Victoria lowered her head. "I will do as you say."
"Okay. As for my contact with the empire, you don't have to worry about that. "Gwen nodded." The Dragons have the technology to maintain communication across the Endless Sea. I will leave a 'Mithril Ring', and Heti will keep it safe. If there is any special situation, use it to contact me. "
After that, he discussed the details of the preparations with Heidi and the other two. This was the last time he confirmed the arrangement of domestic affairs before leaving. When the discussion came to an end, Heidi sighed slightly and shook her head helplessly. "No matter how you arrange it, I always feel that you're going on a long journey in a hurry …"
Gwen smiled. "It is indeed a hasty journey, but there are not many things in the world that can develop as we expect."
Heti nodded helplessly, but soon asked like an overly worried housekeeper, "So, for the entourage this time … are you sure you only bring Amber and Veronica?"
"Do I have to bring the whole Praetorian Guard as a 'guest'?" Gwen looked helplessly at Heti, who was obviously a little too nervous. "I am going to Tarlonde as a guest, not to attack the Giant Dragon Kingdom, nor to explore the Dragon Cave. Too many entourages will not be useful, so it is enough to bring Amber and Veronica. Amber is smart and good at investigation, and Veronica knows more about the gods. It is just right for me."
Heti pondered for a moment, and finally bowed her head and said, "Since this is what you want …"
"Let's not talk about this for now." Gwen waved his hand, and then his face became serious. "There is a report from Sorin Castle today, and I want to discuss it with you."
"Sorin Castle?" Heti showed a puzzled look, but almost instantly she reacted and came up with some guesses. "Is it about the mysterious signal that we heard before?"
"Yes, that mysterious signal." Gwen's face was serious as he reached out and pulled out a document from some of the organized documents. "Many scholars in the field of cryptography and writing have studied for a long time, but they could not find any clues from the unknown tremors. However, Bertilla found another way. She seems to have found some kind of pattern from the tremors …"
As soon as Hao Ren's voice trailed off, the three great governors at the scene leaned over. Even Victoria, who was almost expressionless, faintly showed a look of curiosity on her face. Obviously, the experts and scholars were not the only ones who were intrigued by the mysterious signal.
Gwen did not deliberately keep them in suspense. He simply unfolded the organized document and pulled out the most important page from the folder. After turning it around, he placed it on the table and pushed it in front of Heti and others.
"What … is this?" Bodwin Franklin looked at the content on the paper in confusion. In his sight was a strange picture. It looked like a square composed of a series of small dots, and next to the square, there was a short oblique line that seemed to be unfinished. The line was also composed of a series of small dots. In the blank space next to the picture, there were some tremor patterns, marked with the tremor cycle, type of tremor, and so on.
Not only Bodwin, but Heti and Victoria were also puzzled after seeing this thing.
"This is what Bertilla 'restored' from the signal, an incomplete picture," Gwen said and briefly explained the 'technical idea' mentioned in the document. "She directly converted the tremors into a picture, using a 'deciphering rule' that no one has ever thought of. She regarded the tremors and white noise as dots and blank space, respectively, and outlined them according to the clock order of the signal itself …"
Bertilla's method was not complicated, and the people present were all smart people who were good at mathematics and technical deduction (except for Amber, who was standing by the window in a daze). So, Gwen only explained a few words, and the three great governors completely understood the connection between the picture and the mysterious signal.
Heti could not help but widen her eyes as she looked at the picture with an incredulous look. "That's … that simple? The essence of this signal is actually a picture? "
"It's incredible, but I'm afraid it's the truth," Bai Dewen said thoughtfully. "It's impossible to get such a neat picture from a random test. The perfect shape of this square shows that Bertila's thinking is correct. There's a picture hidden in the signal. This is … interesting."
"But what is the meaning of this picture?" Heti frowned. "Who did this?"
"It is obviously not complete. There are unfinished lines next to it. Bertilla thinks that we only received a small part of the complete signal, and that the signals we received several times should be different parts. Unfortunately, the signal was not clear enough or was not recorded in time. So, the sample she could use for analysis was only the signal received on the 32nd of this month," Gwen said casually. "Based on the things recorded and analyzed so far, Bertilla guessed that the complete form of the picture may be some kind of design drawing … Of course, this guess is only for reference. There are too many subjective elements in it."
"Blueprints … Although it's subjective, this theory is quite attractive." Bai Dewen shook his head. "In short, no matter what this thing is, it is obviously made by an intelligent creature. The sender must have a purpose for sending such a signal. The sender wants to convey some kind of message to us … or to an unspecified target, a target who has the ability to receive and translate this message …"
"That's what I think too," Gwen said. "I think this signal is very likely to be a continuous' broadcast '. It continues to announce this' drawing '. The reason why we can occasionally receive some fragments of it should be because our Magic Net crystal array is not specially designed to receive such things. Everything is just a coincidence.
"That's what I want to tell you. We have to find a way to reproduce this' coincidence 'stably.
"These signals are very unusual. I believe you can feel it too. Regardless of whether it's for the sake of academic research or to eliminate the hidden dangers of the Weave, we have to investigate the secrets behind these signals. For this reason, I plan to make the capture, tracking, and research of these signals a formal and long-term project. We will also carry out planned continuous monitoring of the areas covered by the Weave.
"This project is called the 'Listen' project.
"So far, we don't know where to start, so I asked Bertilla to find all the operating parameters of Sorin's main hub, as well as the weather, magnetic field, magic environment, and other data at the time when the signal was captured. There may be many 'coincidental factors' that cause Sorin's main hub to receive the signal. It may have something to do with the orientation or combination of the crystal array at that time, or the working status of the Magic Net in Sorin's area at that time, or even the weather and wind direction at that time. Since we don't know which data is useful, we can only record them all and try them all.
"Without affecting the daily operation of the Empire's Weave, we should adjust the hubs and nodes that still have power to operate in a state as close as possible to Sorin's standard parameters. Let's see if we can detect anything. Even if we don't find anything, we can at least test the entire Weave."
As Gwen spoke, he looked at Victoria who was listening attentively.
"Victoria, the Northern Region is the key testing area. The first abnormal signal was received at Winter Fort Academy. Although you only received it once, and the signal was very poor, we still have reason to suspect that the environment of Winter Fort Academy may be suitable for detecting this abnormal signal. So you have to be careful. "
Victoria immediately obeyed. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Gwen nodded. He exhaled and glanced at the three people in front of the desk. Then, he reached out and took out three identical documents from the drawer under the desk and placed them in front of Heti and the others.
"This is a copy of Sorin Fort's report. It also includes more details of the Listening Plan and the standard parameters that Bertilla had sorted out. You can gather the technicians to take a good look when you get back. While I'm away for the time being, you should start making preparations for this plan.
"That's all for today. If there's nothing else, you may go about your own business.
"The main process of the 'Tomb of the Gods' is over, but there's still a lot of work to be done before the sun sets. I'll leave that to Heti."
The three Grand Governors obeyed and turned to leave. But just as Victoria was about to step out of the door, Gwen suddenly stopped her.
"Victoria, wait."
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