I inched closer to Icetis without batting an eyelid. Then, I suddenly remembered that there was no need to do so while we were connected mentally. Thus, I opened the public channel in my mind and started discussing with her, "Forbidden books? What's that? "
"It looks like an ancient book that was left behind before the first Dark Moon War." Icetis pretended to be admiring the roadside scenery as she replied through the mental connection. "I had the first batch of lice spirits that arrived at the Imperial City to search for places such as churches and palaces. One of them accidentally discovered a book vault under the city. It seems like the people from the Church didn't completely destroy the ancient books from before the first war. I don't know what their intentions were, but they left behind a great help for us."
"Perhaps it was to protect the intangible cultural heritage." I laughed dryly at the sky. Fortunately, the Iron Knight trio didn't see my actions. Otherwise, they would definitely treat me as a lunatic if I laughed foolishly at the sky without making a sound. "What clues did you find in the forbidden books?"
"I'm still sifting through them. The most valuable ones should be books on the local customs, history, and culture before the first war. As for the rest of the books on agriculture, production, and geography, we can put them aside first. "Icetis's blood-red eyes had specks of golden light moving slowly. It was obvious that she was keeping pace with the lice spirits. I was very curious about what the world looked like from the perspective of a flying lice. However, Icetis herself definitely wouldn't answer my question." Oh, I found some useful things. I had the lice spirit copy those things and send them over here. When we have time, we can gather together to study them. The history before the war is more interesting than we imagined. It really wasn't that harmonious back then. "
I acknowledged her words and looked at the sky. The sun had already set a third of the way down the mountain. However, I still hadn't seen the small teleportation station that the Iron Knight trio mentioned. I was also too lazy to release my spiritual power to scan the surroundings for any spatial collapses. I just had to follow them. In the end, I placed all my interest on the lice spirits that Icetis had released. "What about the other two groups? Are there secrets in the Earth-Moon Bridge and the Northern Fortress? "
"Yes, the Earth-Moon Bridge is confirmed to be a large-scale teleportation portal. It's very ingenious, but it isn't Protoss technology. It is most likely an interstellar exploration facility left behind by the previous civilization of this world. However, its core is temporarily sealed, and the lice spirits can't enter. We can go and take a look when the time comes." Icetis nodded. "There isn't much worth paying attention to in the Northern Fortress. It is just a military base. However, there are already dozens of new bases around the Northern Fortress. It seems that the Gondor Empire is really going all out. Their knights and their generals aren't cowards. The most interesting thing is … I saw the Pope of the Goddess in the Northern Fortress. "
I was speechless. "… The Pope?"
Icetis revealed a playful expression. "Yes, I didn't expect this person to personally come to the frontlines. At first, I guessed that this human was plotting something, so I thought that he would stay in a safe place and watch the entire world fight for their lives. Then, he would wait for the Goddess to descend and consolidate his church's rule. However, he came directly to the Northern Fortress and is now living in the Northern Fortress as the frontline commander of the church's army. If this isn't a farce, then … perhaps we have overlooked something in our guesses about the Goddess."
I didn't continue, but I thought of an even more bizarre guess. There was another possibility, and that was that the Dark Moon War was really a farce controlled by the church. If that was the case, the Pope would naturally know that he wouldn't be in danger. That would explain why he personally led the church's army to the Northern Fortress. Of course, this guess was also built on the foundation of the church's conspiracy theory. I reckoned that Icetis could think of this as well.
It wasn't our fault for keeping the church's conspiracy theory in mind. The main point was that there were too many suspicious points about the Dark Moon War and the Goddess's religion. Now, I felt more and more that the Dark Moon War and the Goddess's rhythm were somewhat in sync. In such a situation, no one would be able to stop themselves from thinking that the church was plotting something. How did the saying go again? If you met a Pope who ruled the world with human rights in the name of divine authority, you had to be as cautious of him as you were of Amway …
If only I had brought Liliana with me. I had full confidence in that lass. She would be able to infiltrate the inner circle of the church in a few days …
"Oh, we're here. The teleportation station is right in front!"
Joseph's loud voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and saw that there was indeed a stone building that looked like a sentry tower by the side of the main road in the distance. At this moment, the sky had already darkened. There was a huge ball of light floating above the 'sentry tower'. It was like a small sun, making the surroundings of the sentry tower as bright as day. It also made the tower look as eye-catching as a lighthouse on land.
Blockhead was silent along the way. He was a little depressed after leaving the village. At this moment, when he saw the mysterious tower, he finally smiled. "Hey, I've seen that kind of thing when I was wandering outside in the past. It can send people far away in an instant! I know that the ball of light above is used to repel wild beasts! "
"Not only does it repel wild beasts," Joseph waved his hand to signal us to hurry up. As he saw the teleportation station, he seemed to be in high spirits. "It can also repel the Dark Moon Natives. The ball of light above the tower is made from the Church's holy relic. It contains the Goddess's power. This power controls the teleportation circle at the base of the tower. This way, the Dark Moon Natives can't use the teleportation station of the people on land. Otherwise, wouldn't it be bad if they used these small stations to directly attack the fortress? "
As we spoke, we quickly arrived in front of the tower. I realized that the stone building was quite large. It was built with greyish-white rocks and looked like a round archery tower. It was about 20 meters tall. At the top, there was a metal structure that looked like a crown. I guessed that was the so-called 'Church's holy relic' because it was emitting a gentle halo of light, providing energy to the ball of light at the top of the tower. The base of the tower had been carefully flattened. There was a series of deep circular marks on the ground. That should be the teleportation circle that Joseph had mentioned. So these things were set up outside the tower. However, I didn't know anything about magic, so I was just curious. On the other hand, Shallow Shallow observed the marks for a while and then nodded like an expert. "Yes, they are quite round."
At this moment, a small door at the bottom of the tower opened. Two knights dressed similarly to Joseph and the other two, but with green battle robes over their armor, walked out. One of them waved to the visitor. "Are you going to the fortress? Horses can't be teleported, so it's a restricted period at noon. "
Anna took down the sack from the back of her horse and handed it to its original owner. Pandora and Visca also nimbly jumped down. After that, the three iron knights carried their military sacks and weapons on their backs. Joe hung his short sword on his belt while asking, "Why did it suddenly enter a restricted period? Didn't you say that it would take a few days? "
"The rear temporarily transferred a group of monks to the frontlines. The flow of people these two days has been too high, so it's temporarily restricted. Only humans are allowed to pass through the teleportation points. Livestock and horses are allowed to move on their own." The soldier at the teleportation point checked the name list that Joseph handed over and nodded. "Oh, these are freelance mercenaries. You guys can vouch for them, right? Alright, it just so happens that there's a shortage of people at the front. "
Joseph took back the pass that had some kind of mark on it and patted the neck of his horse to bid farewell to his old friend. Before the soldier at the teleportation point activated the magic circle, he suddenly remembered something and said to the two soldiers, "Oh, right, the horses haven't been fed yet. Could you please give each of them No.0 fodder that costs 30 Copper Eagle Coins and brush the red horses? There's a monthly card on the horses' necks. Just check it and it'll be fine."
The two soldiers at the teleportation point waved their hands as they led the horses out of the teleportation circle. "Got it, got it. Oh, right, the price of No.0 fodder has increased recently. It just increased at 1: 30 pm, so it's still free to brush the horses for now."
Just as Joseph opened his mouth to say something, the circular magic circle beneath our feet rapidly lit up and his words dissipated in the light.
A second later, the teleportation was completed. Only then did I hear what Joseph had said out of habit. "… Why did the price increase last month, and now it's increasing again … Oh, we're here."
I regained my senses from the momentary feeling of weightlessness and confirmed that the teleportation distance wasn't too far. The distance between the Northern Fortress and Pine Forest Village seemed to be only about 40 to 50 kilometers. However, the scenery around us had changed drastically. We had completely left the forest and were now on a rocky beach. In front of us was the majestic Longqiao Mountain Range. Vegetation was sparse, and the craggy mountain was like a barrier that cut through the sky. The Northern Fortress was spread out majestically along the mountain. It was a dusty military fortress that wasn't built on flat ground. Instead, it was built vertically along the entire mountain. Almost all of the stone buildings were half-buried in the mountain, and it looked as though this stone fortress had been carved out of the mountain. Even though it couldn't be compared to the facilities of the Empire that could easily cover the sky, I was still impressed by the fact that this was a fortress built by a feudal native civilization that relied on manpower and wisdom to transform nature. Facing the Northern Fortress was a vast, flat plain. There weren't many ups and downs in sight, and even the mountains and forests stopped abruptly in the distance.
Judging from the terrain, the Northern Fortress was in a position that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. At least, it was so for the native armies of this world. However, I wasn't sure if this advantage would be effective against the legendary Dark Moon Demons who could fly in the sky and dive into the ground.
Our teleportation point was similar to the previous' teleportation station '. The main structure was a stone tower, and on top of the tower was a' man-made sun 'that was used to disperse the Dark Moon Demons. Below the tower was a rock base that was engraved with magic runes. It seemed like this tower-like teleportation station was a' standard facility '. Icetis raised her head to look at the tower, and suddenly thought of something. "The energy flow of these teleportation stations doesn't seem to be very smooth. How long has it been since they last maintained it?"
Joseph was teaching Blockhead how to take deep breaths to alleviate the dizziness of teleportation. When he heard Icetis, he looked up and said, "As expected of a cursemancer. Are you interested in teleportation stations as well? I heard that this station hasn't been repaired for 25 years. Originally, all the teleportation stations were left behind before the Third Dark Moon War, and the technology used to build them was also before that. After the Third Dark Moon War, no one knew how to build new teleportation stations. After the Fifth Dark Moon War, even magic stone cores became a rare item. I heard that the teleportation stations on the surface can only be maintained with the cores left behind before the Fifth Dark Moon War. They can only be used day by day, and if they can't be used … then perhaps the future generations can only run on the surface and fight the Seventh Dark Moon War. "
I silently noted down another new situation: The technology of the people on the surface is gradually being discontinued!
When I saw the small teleportation station, I was still curious why the people on the surface even had this kind of extradimensional military station, but they didn't understand the nature of the bridge between heaven and earth. In the end, this was what happened: the teleportation gates did exist, but they were all antiques left behind before the Third Dark Moon War. As the Dark Moon War continued, these technologies were gradually being lost. Even now, the teleportation towers that were still operating on the surface were all operating beyond their age. For example, the one in front of us — Icetis could tell at a glance that its energy circuit was in a worrying state. The locals and even the ordinary soldiers knew about this, but they just didn't have any new parts to repair this tower.
Shallow Shallow and Lin Xue didn't say anything. This was already a common occurrence for us. A long war might not always bring about technological advancement, and many times it would destroy the foundation of a civilization, especially a periodic world war like the Dark Moon War. No civilization could be strong enough to withstand five Dark Moon Wars without being discontinued. Right now, the people on the surface could still use weapons, armor, and magic to fight against the Dark Moon Citizens. They could even use ancient facilities like teleportation stations, which was actually quite good. If we didn't come, they would sooner or later brandish their clubs and charge at the Dark Moon Demons.
"Those camps over there don't look like regular soldiers, do they?" Shallow Shallow looked at the foot of the Longqiao Mountains from afar. Under the night sky, we could see lights on both sides of the North Fortress. If we looked closely, we could see that those were temporary camps. I recalled the information I obtained previously and couldn't help but blurt out, "Are those the freelance mercenaries?"
"Not all of them are freelance mercenaries." Joseph waved his hand to signal us to follow as he explained in front of us, "Because only the National Knight Order and the Imperial Church Order are stationed in the North Fortress. Other than that, the second-class armies and the armed forces of the various churches are also camping outside the North Fortress. Those regular camps that have a plan usually fall into these two categories. The freelance mercenaries' camps are located at the periphery of these regular camps. Because they don't belong to anyone, other than the fact that they can issue freelance missions to them, they are basically a pile of loose sand. So, they are free to camp as long as they don't affect the movements of the regular army. You can follow us to the North Fortress to register and then look for a place to set up camp outside. Oh right, do you have a superior mercenary group? Or you can have a group name of your own. I can register you according to the size of your group so that you can receive more supplies. "
"We do …" I blurted out a few words, then looked at Icetis hesitantly, "You still don't have one?"
There was no helping it. The lice spirits were all controlled by Icetis. This female rogue was the one who understood the local situation the best. With the ability of those lice to infiltrate every nook and cranny, I suspected that Icetis was already half a local …
"Alright, alright." Icetis waved her hand at Joseph. "I know how freelance mercenaries register. Just report your name to show that you have been here before. You don't have to worry about the rest. After all, we have traveled around the world and we can take care of ourselves. You can register as a group. "
Joseph nodded and handed over an oval-shaped metal plate. "Oh, then I will register you as a group freelance mercenary. When you set up camp outside, remember to put this plate in your main tent so that I can know your location. I will look for you tomorrow morning. Also, does your group have a name? I need to report it. "
Bryndis took the magical GPS tracker and rolled her eyes as she thought about it. She looked at the Pandora sisters who were competing to see who could make a rounder fireball, and she also made a big fireball. She seemed to have made up her mind. "These two and I are both good at making fireballs. The three of us are called the Doomsday Great Red Lotus Flame Trial Spell Group. We believe in fiery, fire, flame. You can call me the FFF Head Judge …"
"…"
Joseph was dizzy as he listened to Icetis spew out a bunch of strange terms. However, he still paid attention to some details. He pointed at me, Shallow Shallow and Lin Xue. "Then aren't the three of them together with the three of you?"
"They are together, but they betrayed the Doomsday Great Red Lotus Flame Trial Spell Group. Therefore, they are the heretics who are in charge of being judged. If you continue to talk nonsense, I will blow your face with a big fireball."
Josephine, Anna and Charle shrunk their necks at the same time. They were finally convinced that Icetis was a chuunibyou. Then, Charle pulled the silent blockhead and said, "Big guy, come with us. You are considered a new recruit of the knight group. You have to report to the fortress."
The blockhead subconsciously took a few steps forward before he noticed that we weren't following him. He slowly pointed at us and asked the Iron Knight trio, "Are my friends going to spend the night outside?"
Joseph patiently explained to the blockhead, "They are freelance mercenaries. They will set up camp outside. Tomorrow, they will register with the person in charge of the mercenary camp."
Shallow Shallow and I waved at the blockhead, telling him to leave in peace. Shallow Shallow also promised him seriously, "Big guy, don't worry. We will go to the fortress to find you tomorrow."
The blockhead finally left without turning back three times after every step.
Watching the group of four people and a cat disappear into the huge gate of the North Fortress, Icetis let out a long sigh of relief. "Alright, we are finally the only ones left. Chen, choose a good place to set up camp."
I looked around the huge plain of gravel and looked for the tents of the freelance mercenaries that were far away from the camp of the regular army. It was easy to find a rather large group of them.
According to Joseph, although the freelance mercenaries could set up camp at will, there was a requirement that they could not cross the area where the regular army was active (this was to prevent disrupting order). The place where the freelance mercenaries were gathered definitely met the requirement.
It seemed that we would be spending the night there. Shallow Shallow was quite excited. This girl seems to be quite interested in camping in the wild!
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