Sword of Dawn

Page 475

A piece of green that shouldn't have appeared in winter quickly caught her attention and occupied her sight.

It was a canopy of trees that covered the sky, a green city that seemed to be floating above the plain, a plant, a... a miracle that challenged the imagination of ordinary people.

"What is that?!" Andersa even forgot the pain on her upper body for a moment, subconsciously raised her arms and pointed outside, her face full of astonishment.

"That's where we're headed," said Sister Marianne, "Fort Thorin—the one you see is the 'Tree of Thorin', which covers the whole of Thorin, and the original castle is now in her canopy Below, it only occupies a small area to the east. Our train will drive directly into the outer edge of the tree canopy, next to the old castle is the newly built station."

"The giant tree of Sorin..." Andersa murmured to herself in astonishment, and then the thoughts roiling in her mind finally calmed down, and some information in her memory also emerged, "I have heard of this name before, and it is in some documents in your Cecilian newspapers and magazines. I know there is a 'tree' that grows out of the ground, huge like a castle... but I always thought that was an exaggeration... "

"That's a euphemism—in fact, she has been bigger than any castle since half a year ago," Sister Marianne shook her head, "but now her growth has slowed down to stagnation, theoretically no longer It's going to go on, or we're going to have to worry about the whole plain being covered in her canopy... and while that looks grand to me, the people at the Department of Agriculture don't see it that way."

Andersa looked at the ever-approaching scenery outside the car window with the mentality of witnessing a miracle. Listening to the sister's narration, she suddenly noticed a detail in the other party's vocabulary: "'She'? You said that tree... "

"Oh, didn't the giant tree of Thorin be referred to as 'her' in the information you saw?" Sister Marianne raised her eyebrows, "Well, it's understandable, after all, not everyone knows Ms. Bertila's Circumstances...including the journalists and novelists who have written countless articles about the Tree of Thorin."

Andersa was still confused: "...?"

Cecil's place... there are too many things that people can't understand.

……

On the top of the giant tree, a group of vibrant flower vines grows from the branches and leaves. Surrounded by the flowers and vines, the figure of a young woman gradually gathers into shape.

Bertila controlled her humanoid mimicry to the edge of the flat area of ​​the canopy. On the highest viewing platform of the Holy Spirit Plain, she looked far and wide, looking in the direction of the boundary between the mountains and the plain.

In fact, her gaze is meaningless: since she became a plant, her perception has long been non-human. She perceives the world through the huge root system and the branches spreading towards the sky, and the human being she simulated for herself In fact, the body has no vision at all, but in many cases, Bertila is still used to doing this kind of "overlook"-this will give her a feeling of "fullness".

The artificial brain hidden deep in the canopy chamber is running powerfully, and the simulated nerve signals maintain Bertila's personality stability. She uses the mimic body to take a deep breath——the vigorous photosynthesis of the entire canopy makes her feel emotional. cheer up.

She "saw" a magic energy train coming from the east, and had entered the edge area covered by the tree canopy. The vines set up near the station had received the signal and were transmitting the images there.

There were footsteps approaching from behind the mimic body, and the shoes knocked on the hard blade surface as if they were stepping on concrete ground. Bertila knew who was standing behind him without turning his head.

"She's here," said a slightly hoarse voice from Bertila's body, which was essentially made of wood, "won't you go and see?"

The middle-aged man standing behind Bertila was silent for two seconds before breaking the silence with complicated emotions: "...I don't know how to face her."

"You have to face it," Bertera said slowly. "She's going to be here for a long time, and you can't escape from it forever."

Bud twitched the corner of his mouth: "...and who caused me to be in such a situation?"

"...We agreed not to mention this."

Bud smiled silently, and shook his head lightly: "Anyway, the generals on the front line and the chief consuls in the government affairs office really gave me a big problem... When I first heard the news, my whole body They were all dazed, and even now there is still a feeling as if they are dreaming."

"I can imagine - you're half way through monitoring and someone calls you out and tells you your daughter is one of the first prisoners of war and is coming to Solimbo in a few days, just imagine I know you The chaotic mood at that time," Bertila's slightly rigid tone was slightly teased, "Aren't you worried? I heard that she was seriously injured."

Bud was silent for a while, and then whispered: "She is a soldier, and some things are her bounden duty."

"She is a soldier, but you are a father. Her vocation does not conflict with your worries." Bertila shook her head, then turned to face Bud Wendell, "After finishing the work at hand, go to Take a look, you have to face it. I believe that with so many days of preparation, you should have thought about how to meet your daughter."

"...It's really not like you," Bud glanced at the former "Master of All Deaths" in front of him, "In the ten years I've known you, 'Ms. Bertila' has always been mean. The embodiment of cunning and danger."

Bertila didn't respond, and Bud didn't care about it. He just shook his head and mentioned another matter: "I came to you to report a situation."

"The situation? What's the situation?"

"This is the record left by the monitoring team in the recent period," Bard handed over a stack of documents in his hand. "We still haven't traced that signal, but we found some other traces, which may be of some value."

Bertila actually didn’t need to use her “eyes” to read the materials Bard brought, but she still reached out and took the papers, and put them in front of her eyes seriously—after all, life needs some sense of ritual, a plant It was no exception—her "eyes" swept across the forms and records on it, and her expression became serious little by little.

In fact, she is not an expert in magic net communication, signaling and cryptography, but since the last time she successfully deciphered the geometric figure from the mysterious signal, her value in this aspect has been valued by the upper management. Now if the monitoring team finds Valuable clues, in addition to submitting to the higher research department, will definitely give her a copy.

"These randomly appearing weak noises are not normal fluctuations in the magic net...does this mean?" Bertila shook the document in his hand and looked at Bard.

"Exactly—we have compared all the waveforms, and those noises really shouldn't appear in the magic net."

"These noises are very weak and chaotic, completely impossible to decipher—even the 'spotting method' I discovered before doesn't work," Beltira pinched his chin, "What do you think?"

"We now suspect that the signal has been broadcasting non-stop, covering our transceivers every second, and that this noise is its trace - but for some reason, the signal is missing most of the time. are severely interfered and weakened, so we are completely unable to decipher its content, and we didn't even notice its existence before we increased the sensitivity of the transceiver device," Bud said slowly about the thoughts of himself and his colleagues, " Proceeding from this line of thinking, we have received a signal a few times before, but it was not a signal that 'appeared' suddenly, but a short-term loophole in something that produced interference and shielding effects..."

Bertila's face couldn't make an overly vivid expression, but there was still a hint of seriousness in the slight changes in her face: "This sounds...a bit disturbing. Has the information been submitted to the imperial capital?"

"It has already been sent. Master Kamel personally responded that he will take this matter seriously. At the same time, he will also coordinate the working groups of listening stations in Shilin City, Winter Castle, and Luan to try to find evidence of the existence of these noises in various places. , " Bud nodded, "If this kind of noise is found everywhere, then our guess can be further confirmed."

Bertila didn't speak for a while, and after more than ten seconds of thinking, she nodded slightly.

"If there's nothing wrong here, then I'll go back first," Bud said to Bertila, "The monitoring station is still waiting for me to reply."

Bertila hummed, and Bud turned around and walked towards the elevator not far away, but just as the latter took a few steps, Bertila stopped him suddenly: "Wait a minute."

"Anything else?"

"Andersa Wendell has been transferred to the west building of the old castle," Bertila said, looking at Bard's back, "there will be her exclusive 'rehabilitation area', if you want to visit, I and Margarita can help arrange that."

Bud turned his back to Bertila, neither answering nor leaving, he just stood there for a long time, finally just nodded slightly, and continued to walk towards the direction of the elevator.

Chapter 0992 Reunion

Now, the plant called "Shorin Giant Tree" was already in front of Andersa's eyes.

She was lying in a recuperation room specially prepared for herself. This room was located on the west side of the old Solinburg. It used to be the property of the local lord. Most of the exquisite decorations of the past are still preserved, only in those gorgeous household items. Some modern furnishings were added in between, and there was a tall crystal window on her side, through which she could see the boundless green.

That is the crown of the giant tree of Sorin, strictly speaking, it is the bottom of the edge of the crown, where unimaginable large-scale branches and leaves spread layer upon layer, filling Andersa's sight like a green ocean hanging upside down in the sky, Its scale is so large that the sunlight is completely covered by the canopy. The closer to the center of the giant tree, the less sunlight becomes, and the entire area directly below the canopy is shrouded in a long night. It should be so.

There are actually a lot of light sources that drive away the shadows under the canopy.

On the trails and several villages and towns on the surface, the Cecilians set up a large number of artificial lights, illuminating the human settlements like a city that never sleeps, while in the canopy above and on the wooden pillars extending from the canopy and hanging down , there are many luminous vines and fluorescent fungi entwined, so that the wilderness area under the canopy of the giant tree of Sorin will not fall into complete darkness.

On one side are artificial lights and on the other side are luminous natural plants. The two merge in a wonderful symbiotic way in this land that was once destroyed by war, and are sheltered by giant trees together.

This is a view Andersa has never seen anywhere.

After settling down, she stared out of the window for a long time, looking at every detail in this wonderful scene.

She knew she was going to be here for a long time, even when she was well enough to "retreat" in the old castle, and outside this cozy room stood a whole bunch of people in every hallway and by every door. Armed soldiers, there are magic organs running day and night everywhere inside and outside the castle, she is a distinguished guest here, and also a prisoner here, the young wolf general is very clear about this.

But if being a "prisoner" is accompanied by such a wonderful scenery... it seems to be not bad.

The young General Wolf sighed softly, and a little fatigue surged up again—the physical fitness and recovery ability of the high-level powerhouse allowed her to survive the terrible air strike, but the ensuing pain and rapid body repair The wear and tear caused afterwards is not so easy to recover. Now she feels tired very easily, so that she will be tired if she looks up at the scenery outside the window for a while.

She lay down, ready to take a nap, and waited for Sister Marianne, who was going to give a report, to return.

But a sound of footsteps from outside the door interrupted her movements.

Andersa turned her head slightly, and saw a man in a white robe push the door and enter the room.

It seemed to be the standard uniform worn by the technicians of the Cecil Empire - Andersa couldn't help but looked a few more times curiously, but she didn't see the man's face.The other party was wearing a thick coat with a high collar under the robe, and the collar was pulled up to cover most of his face. After he entered the room, he immediately began to sort out some sundries and medical supplies on the nearby shelves, busy, It seems that there is no meaning to communicate with myself.

But Andersa still decided to take the initiative to say hello to the other party: "Hello, sir."

The man's movements suddenly stopped, as if he was frightened by his sudden greeting, and then he continued to work on the work in hand, while maintaining a sideways posture and nodded lightly, a hoarse voice came from behind the high collar. Deep voice: "Well, hello...Miss."

Andersa frowned subconsciously, but soon relaxed her brows. She watched the other party busy there, and the weird thoughts that had just arisen in her mind quickly dissipated—this seemed to be just an ordinary staff member.

Such a staff member should also be appointed by Cecil's military, and may even be a "technical soldier" himself. Such a person probably won't talk much with himself, a "special prisoner".

While thinking in her heart, Andersa looked at the other party's actions - when she had nothing to do, she always had to find something to pass the time.She saw the man pick up the items on the shelf one by one, check the labels on them quickly, and put them back skillfully. She couldn't see the meaning of such checking, but judging from the other's skillful movements, he obviously Been working here for a long time.

"Sir, are you... a technician here?" Andersa was a little bored, so she couldn't help asking.

The man stopped again, and after a while he seemed to hesitate and said, "I... I'm in the druid department... I'm a medical staff."

"Are you in charge of taking care of me?" Andersa was a little curious. She had never seen such a weird "doctor", and the other party's hoarse and deep voice was indistinct, so she couldn't help but continue to ask, "Where is Sister Marianne?"

"The main thing is that she is responsible for taking care of you," the man said in a low voice, "I... come to help from other departments."

"Oh, I see," Andersa said casually, then raised the corners of her lips, "You Cecilians are always very efficient in managing personnel."

The man fell silent again—he always seemed to be so inexplicably silent, as if he needed to think for a long time to answer every question.Then he raised his collar a little higher, came near Andersa's bed, and began to check the contents recorded in the handover manual on the small desk next to him.

Andersa had just arrived here, so there was not much to read in the manual, but he read it carefully for a long time.

"How is your injury?" He asked suddenly.

"If you're talking about comparing with when you were just injured... then I almost feel like I've recovered," Andersa said with a relaxed tone, "but if you're comparing with healthy people... As you can see, it's still far from recovery. There is a long way to go.”

"Your eyes..." the man asked hesitantly.

"...Fortunately, I have one eye intact. It is said that this is very lucky," Andersa hesitated for half a second this time, and her original relaxed tone was a little bit lost, "It is said that it is impossible to cure—— — But Sister Marianne still persuaded me to be optimistic, she said that a thing called blood regeneration technology might still be effective for me... To be honest, I didn’t believe it much.”

For some reason, she talked a lot more than she expected—she shouldn't be talking so much to a stranger, especially in these circumstances.

Since she came to Cecil's land and became a prisoner of war, she hadn't had this kind of ordinary daily conversation with strangers for a long time: she only chatted with the relatively familiar nun Marianne, and it was limited to that one.

Andersa felt a little strange, she couldn't figure it out, but she always felt that this strange man in front of her always brought her an inexplicable familiarity...and a sense of peace of mind.She frowned, wondering if she had lost her vigilance in the unfamiliar environment, but at this moment, the man suddenly spoke again.

"The flesh regeneration technique can regenerate mutilated limbs, even a tongue that has been severed for ten years, but the eye is a difficult organ to deal with. The connection between it and the brain is delicate and complicated, and it is also very fragile...The flesh regeneration technique is temporarily There's nothing you can do about it," he said in a low voice, "but I don't think Sister Marianne meant to deceive you, she just doesn't know the field—medicine isn't a nun's specialty."

Andersa didn't know if she felt lost in her heart. She suspected that she might not be as free and easy as she imagined. At the same time, she couldn't help but asked curiously: "Sisters are not good at medical treatment? Cecil's priests don't study healing." What else are you training for?"

"Comprehensive martial arts, shooting, gunnery, physical training, and battlefield survival," the man said seriously, "War nuns like Marianne will also receive basic commander training."

Andersa: "??"

The man didn't seem to notice the momentary dull expression on Andersa's face. He just continued to hide his face in the shadow of the collar, and after thinking for a while, he suddenly said: "The flesh regeneration technique will still develop... there is no way now, but It could be used to heal your eyes one day."

His tone was very serious, as if there was a bit of firmness, as if he was making a solemn promise to the stranger in front of him.

Andersa glanced at the other party with a strange expression. She tried to observe something from the other party's hoarse voice and the little face revealed, but she couldn't see anything.She only felt that some very old, yellowed memories seemed to be beating in her mind. They were almost vague impressions from her childhood. They were so long ago that she didn't dare to confirm their details.

The man noticed her observation and turned away, turning his back on the bed to do something else.

He is actively avoiding himself?

Andersa immediately noticed this, and amidst doubts and guesses, she couldn't help but propped up her upper body slightly: "Sir, may I ask..."

"It's time for you to rest," the other party interrupted her directly, "Sister Marianne should be back soon, you just need to tell her that I've been here."

He put down the things in his hands, and seemed to be about to turn around and walk towards the door not far away. Andersa felt her heart beat half a beat suddenly, and she subconsciously called out to him again: "But I don't know your name yet, gentlemen--"

The man's figure paused for a moment, and he turned his head slightly, but he didn't say anything, but walked towards the door the next moment.

But between this side of the head, Andersa felt as if she saw a pair of somewhat familiar eyes.

She felt her breathing and heartbeat quicken - she still didn't think about it, but she saw that the other party was about to walk to the door.

Andersa felt a strong feeling in her heart. She felt as if she was about to lose something important to her again—she saw the man's hand on the doorknob, before turning the handle , he lightly pressed the handle twice with his thumb. This tiny movement caused some yellowed and long-lasting pictures to pop up in Andersa's mind——

This is a small action that my father is used to.

"Sir! Please wait a moment!!" Andersa yelled loudly, her unhealed lungs began to ache, "Please wait a moment!"

She felt that her thoughts at this moment were simply absurd, and that her expectations at this moment were like an unrealistic joke, but she finally decided to replace the rationality and logic she had always insisted on with sensibility and impulse, and she stretched out her hand, And that person is still standing at the door, like a sculpture frozen in the memory of the past, without moving at all. The distance between them is only a few meters, but at the same time they have been separated by more than ten years.

The next moment, Andersa lost her balance—she rolled from the bed to the ground in a panic.

The man rushed over like a gust of wind.

The distance of a few meters and the time of more than ten years were instantly reduced to one point.

The man came to Andesa, with one knee on the ground and one hand on her neck, as if he wanted to help her up, but at this distance and angle, Andesa could almost see the other party hiding behind The entire face is covered in collar shadow.

Compared with the memory, the face was much worse, not only the aging and vicissitudes brought about by age, but also many changes that she couldn't understand at the moment, but she still knew those eyes.

"Is this a dream?" She couldn't help but whisper.

"You are in reality, my boy," Bud lowered his eyes, "I am your father—I am right here."

"……why?"

"I'm now a researcher in the Cecil Empire."

"That's not what I asked," Andersa closed her eyes, she could feel herself trembling, "Why..."

What is she trying to ask?

Ask the other party why they haven't shown up for so many years?Ask why the other party is loyal to Cecil?Ask the other party why he changed from an extremely powerful knight lord to this appearance?

She simply closed her eyes, as if she was avoiding some answers that she didn't even know existed.

Bud was silent, and then he slowly pushed An Desha up from the ground and helped her onto the bed.

"I have a lot to tell you."

……

In the corridor outside the door, a blond young nun was lazily leaning on a window sill, with a powerful Holy Light blaster beside her, and a heavy book she had read again in her hand.

She raised her head, glanced at the room not far away, turned her mouth up, and then lowered her head and returned to the interesting reading.

A rustling sound came from the side, and the vines and flourishing flowers growing along the wall climbed up the window sill. Bertila's figure was condensed among the flowers and vines. She walked through the open window and came to the side of Sister Marianne , the latter had no choice but to put down the book, and nodded to the incarnation of the giant tree of Thorin in a relatively solemn posture: "Good day, Ms. Bertila."

"No need to be formal, I'll take a look at the situation," Bertila said casually, and at the same time glanced at the room not far away, "Fortunately... finally took this step."

"It wasn't until yesterday that I received information that a researcher in the Sorin area turned out to be Typhon's former wolf general, the long-lost father of that 'Miss'," Sister Marianne said, "I was really shocked." big jump."