Sword of Dawn

Page 456

"That has nothing to do with this!" Melita immediately widened her eyes, "You just envy my classical temperament!"

Gao Wen: "..."

He wasn't actually listening to the bickering and interaction between Melita and her friends, because what he saw and heard here had already plunged him into deep thinking.

Is this why the dragon god Enya insisted on letting him visit Tarrond first?Is this what the god wants me to see?

While thinking, Gawain exhaled lightly, then he shook his head, and saw that this softly lit and unusually wide passage seemed to have come to an end, and there was a trapezoidal door standing at the end of the corridor ahead.

This visit to the hatchery seemed to be coming to an end, but before he left, he couldn't help but ask Melita: "By the way, you are also here... were you hatched?"

"I'm not, I was hatched in an incubation factory in another nearby city," Melita shook her head, and then pointed to Noretta, "but she was hatched here."

"You were hatched as a member of 'Upper Tarrond'?" Gawain asked again, "Are your parents also members of the Council or Mithril Treasury?"

But Melita shrugged, and gave an answer that Gawain didn't expect: "I don't have parents, and members of the council like me and Noretta don't have parents—the upper layer of Tarrond is also divided into many different parts. Among them, the members of the council, the elders' house and the temple group are quite special. Noretta and I are not ordinary dragon eggs 'claimed' by our parents, but 'ordered' directly from the factory by the council, and the genetic factors come from some Laboratories of large life groups. Large corporations of this type specialize in serving Upper Tarrond.

Then she paused, and then continued: "However, Noretta and I don't know which laboratory we come from-this part of the information is confidential, and only the speaker and Omega have access and reading permissions. Of course, we Don't care about that either."

Amber stared wide-eyed, looking up and down at Melita and Noretta in disbelief, and it took her a long time to say: "This... is a bit beyond my imagination..."

Gawain glanced at Amber. In fact, he wanted to say that this half-elf is not qualified to say anything about others. Her own birth method is even more bizarre than these "dragons of Tarrond", but he still didn't say anything. Export.

What he saw and heard here was too unexpected, and there were so many things worth thinking about, that the swear words became dull.

After a few minutes, they left the hatchery and came to the landing platform area outside the factory.

Noretta took Amber and Veronica to the adjacent platform, while Melita turned into a dragon again in front of Gawain, and stood at the center of the landing platform.Looking at the vast night outside the platform and the dense city lights at the foot of the mountain like a river cast by light, Gawain couldn't help but raised his head and asked, "Where shall we go next?"

"Let me take you to the downtown area—there is a block I often go to, and the environment there is not bad," Melita said as she lowered her wings, "Come up, the night is getting late, we were delayed at the hatchery It's been a little long."

Gawain walked towards Melita, but before stepping on the Dragon Wing, he took out his close-fitting mechanical watch and glanced at the time on it, then raised his head to look at the star-studded night sky above his head.

This small action made Melita curious: "What? Do you have other arrangements?"

"No, it's nothing, just looking at the time." Gao Wen put away the mechanical watch, smiled and shook his head, "Not only is Amber here, even my time is a little confused."

Melita did not have any doubts, but waited until Gao Wenan walked steadily on her back, then slowly took two steps towards the outside of the platform, and then flew into the sky with the ups and downs of magic power—and not far from her On another platform, the elegant white dragon Noretta also flew into the night sky.

The city lights of Tarrond flashed backwards in Gawain's vision.

It was a short flight, from the towering tower of the incubation factory to the block that Melita said, it only took a dive and glide to decelerate. Gawain soon saw a block rapidly zooming in in his field of vision, many Towering buildings with a style completely different from the human world rushed towards us.

Those are extremely sturdy and exquisite buildings. If they were placed in the Loren Continent, perhaps even kings and dukes would not be able to live in such houses.Exquisite residences are lined up in rows in this block. The lights in the streets and alleys are flickering, and the advertisements and short art films presented by holographic projections are full of eyes. It seems that the prosperity has reached the extreme, and the advanced has reached the extreme.

However, Gawain already knew that this was actually the "lower Tarrond".

It is spacious and grand for humans, but narrow and cramped for dragons.

There is no special take-off and landing platform in the block. Melita and Noretta landed directly in an open space that looks like a small square, and on the streets near this open space, there are many lines of "people" going back and forth.

When the dragon landed, Gawain felt a slight tremor under his feet, and then he breathed out and was about to walk to the ground, but the moment he took a step, he suddenly felt something in his heart.

Under the traction of some "intuition", he subconsciously raised his head and looked around.

Countless shadows like black chains floating in his sight!

Almost like a conditioned reflex, Gawain immediately raised his head to look above his head, but he did not see the huge "Dragon of Confusion" again as expected - he only saw the polar night sky, and the artificial lights of the city near and far were in his eyes. The edge of the field of vision is filled with mottled colors like light pollution.

The indescribable "Dragon of Chaos" did not appear, but the countless black translucent chains seemed to be floating in mid-air, floating in the streets and alleys of the lower city.

Gawain saw far more "black chains" here than in the upper layer of Tarrond. They connected the bustling "people" around the square and the dragons in the lower layer of Tarrond. Floating straight to the sky, to the invisible dragon of chaos...

……

"My lord, the guests have entered the lower floor of Tarrond," Heragor said with his hands down, "and are visiting the streets of the lower city accompanied by the two young dragons named Melita and Noretta."

There was no response from the holy seat shrouded in light, and the entire hall of the temple seemed a little quiet.

The dragon god Enya is sitting quietly on a gorgeous seat, seemingly staring into the distance with some ecstasy.

"My lord?" Heragor raised his head curiously, and couldn't help calling softly.

The god on the Holy Throne finally turned his gaze and said lightly: "I see."

"My lord," Heragor hesitated, but still said, "Is there anything wrong with this? The lower floor of Tarrond... is more messy, and maybe it's not suitable for showing to guests. In comparison, the upper floor area The view is better, and it is enough for guests to visit."

"It was my instruction," Dragon God said lightly, "I asked Andal to make the arrangement, so that our guests can see a complete Tarrond."

For a moment, Heragor seemed to want to ask something, but finally he lowered his head: "...Yes, I understand."

……

A friendly-looking middle-aged "person" was chatting with Melita, while a little girl who looked a bit shy, about five or six years old in the eyes of humans, hid aside, looking up and down with somewhat curious eyes Gawain and Amber——Veronica tried to show some kind and warm smiles to approach the little girl, but the other party cleverly avoided it.

The "Princess Saintess", who always used her smile to create a friendly personality, looked a little depressed, but soon returned to normal and returned to Gao Wen's side.

The amiable, middle-aged "man" is a downtown resident who runs a "scale polishing boutique" on the corner of the street, and the shy-looking little girl is his daughter, who just turned 120 this year .

Still a baby dragon.

The father and daughter are one of Melita's few friends in the lower city, and they know Noretta. The "business" they run is one of the few "job industries" in lower-level Tarrond. It is also an industry with great dragon characteristics, but none of this is important to Gao Wen.

What's important is that Gao Wen could clearly see a chain extending from the top of the middle-aged "man" all the way to the sky, and even the head of the little girl who looked only five or six years old was connected with a chain. There are few chains.

Chapter 0958 Invitation alone

The baby dragon hatched in the factory, accompanied by a lifetime of implant modification and synergist addiction, everything under the control of the giant artificial intelligence, the upper and lower worlds are clearly separated, the temple, the lower city, the factory, the block, the priest, the councilor, the elder , civilians, cities that operate automatically, and employees customized by enterprises.

Tarrond.

"Dragon" Kingdom.

Everything here left a deep impression on Gao Wen, and the impact even surpassed what he saw and heard after he stepped out of the grave for the first time. All impressions have been completely subverted.

All the impressions about the mystery, strength, elegance, and majesty of the dragon clan were shattered by reality. The world built in the imagination of bards and playwrights fell apart, leaving only a grotesque residue, a distorted and absurd impression, and There are countless thoughts and speculations.

In front of such Tarrond, the stories about knights wielding swords and slaying dragons, dragons making contracts with heroes, and castles and kingdoms fighting with dragons suddenly became lovely, even glowing with warm luster.

Gawain seemed to suddenly understand why so many "travelers" from the Dragon Kingdom came to the human world to become bards, and wrote so many bizarre legends about dragons that were completely different from the facts. An "upper dragon" like Rita would be so bored that he would write a bunch of made-up "Dragon Quest" novels, and put his friends as prototypes in the novels.

He used to think these were boring and inexplicable quirks, but now... he couldn't help but suspect that maybe it was some kind of nostalgia, nostalgia for what dragons once had, not relying on boosters and implants, not relying on artificial The idyllic life of a smart and autonomous city—or maybe it's just some fancy fantasy.

Extreme Arena, one of several large arenas in Agondor, a "competitive game" that is simply incomprehensible to Amber and Veronica is going on fiercely.

It was an ellipsoid-shaped three-dimensional field—a large number of solid alloy materials and high-strength polymer shells formed a shape like a "giant egg". In this transparent giant egg, twelve giant dragons competed for a so-called "big egg". The honor symbol of the "Championship Ring", and those participating dragons have even completely surpassed Gao Wen and others' impression of the "Giant Dragon".

They boldly used a large number of external implants, covering the bones outside the bones, and covering the skin outside the skin. The alloy armor and the turbo injection device made the original flesh and blood look like a stage. Flying machines with weird shapes, they fight, fight, and even fight in the dome—except for the powerful dragon breath and magic attacks, this so-called "competitive game" allows almost any form and degree of melee combat, And the dragon's hand-to-hand combat...is completely destructive in the eyes of humans.

A participating black dragon was eliminated. He was besieged by his opponents in mid-air. After a brutal fight and fight, he was almost torn into pieces and thrown down. His wings, limbs and torso were torn apart. Those heavy wreckage fell to the " On the alloy floor at the bottom of the "Athletic Dome", dazzling arcane sparks and out-of-control frost, flames, and lightning flickered in the fracture. His chest cavity burst open, and a heart that was still functioning fell out, and the sealing device failed. In time for action, hot, shimmering fluid gushes from the black dragon's body—more oil and boosters than blood.

A rescue team rushed into the arena, quickly recovered the black dragon's torso including its head, and threw the rest of the wreckage directly on the field.

There was a huge booing in the auditorium, as if ten thousand thunders exploded inside and outside the arena, numbers jumped on the scoreboard above the competitive dome, and the losers left the game in the form of points.

Gao Wen, Amber, and Veronica were sitting on the frontmost "premium seats" outside the arena, watching the competition before them in astonishment. Melita and Noretta were standing next to them, looking completely Immersed in this game, it wasn't until the only remaining team members on the field successfully rushed to the stasis force field where the championship ring was placed, successfully took out the ring and activated it, that they were greatly relieved and returned all at once. the "real world".

"The black dragon that was eliminated just now will suffer a lot!" Melita said loudly, "Almost all parts of his body have to be replaced—hope he bought everything in insurance."

"He shouldn't be trying to wrestle with three opponents at the same time - it's over immediately when surrounded, black dragons are not good at dealing with attacks from behind, especially with an extra layer of joint armor added to his spine... I don't know what to think."

"It's just that I have used too many boosters," Melita shrugged, "I have the illusion that I am number one in the world."

"...makes sense."

The two dragon friends were discussing the just-concluded game enthusiastically, but even Amber, who was usually the chatterest, didn't seem to have any intention of interrupting at this time.

It wasn't until more than ten seconds later that Melita seemed to realize something suddenly. She hurriedly turned her gaze around, and looked at Gao Wen and the others with apology: "Ah——sorry, we accidentally got too involved..."

Gao Wen didn't know what expression to make, and for some reason, at this moment, he actually remembered the scene when he first met Melita Purnia—the one who visited at night, wearing a purple gauze dress, wearing She was an elegant and mysterious woman wearing a lavender veil, but this image was quickly shaken away by the almost deafening roars in the arena.

In front of him was only Miss Blue Dragon, who was watching the gladiatorial match.

"It's okay." Gawain shook his head, "I can see that you like this very much."

"Actually, I don't like it that much-extreme sports are still a bit too noisy for me," Melita smiled awkwardly, "but once you enter this atmosphere, you will inevitably be overwhelmed by the surrounding emotions." Infection... Actually, I don't usually watch this."

Noretta on the side noticed that Gao Wen and the others seemed not interested in this arena: "The competition here is... a bit boring for you?"

"It's just a little... well, a little too exciting," Amber finally said, scratching her hair, with an awkward and impolite smile on her face, "As a competitive game, isn't this thing too bloody? ?”

"Well, this may seem a bit inconsistent with human aesthetics... This is our mistake," Melita lowered her head sincerely, "Extreme racing is an entertainment that has only recently become popular in Tarrond, we are too Eager to show you something 'relatively new' in this land."

"Let's leave this place first," Gao Wen said casually, and finally raised his head to look in the direction of the competition dome - a work team in charge of finishing has already entered the venue and started to clean up the discarded parts and stumps there Severed his arm, and began to use some kind of large-scale cleaning machine to clean up the engine oil and blood all over the floor, and there were some teams that looked like small teams guarding a few exits below the dome. Gawain saw one of the teams go up Before handing over to the staff, I loaded the scrapped parts and living biological tissues recovered from the arena into the car, "...this place is indeed a bit too noisy."

Under the night, the blue and white dragon took off again, hovering above the Extreme Arena.

Looking down from this height, Gao Wen saw that the "dome" made of alloy and high-strength polymer was being illuminated by countless lights inside and outside. The large number of steel support structures and intricate streets around the arena seemed to be intertwined The twigs of the nest tangle and spread.

The loud roars and passionate music turned into a faint buzzing in the distance, and the feeling of irritability that weighed on his heart gradually faded away, and the competitive dome had a sense of beauty in Gao Wen's eyes.

It is like a crystal egg illuminated by lights, lying quietly in a nest made of metal and cement, in which blood, oil and steel are bred.

It was Tarrond who "laid" this egg... so what gave birth to Tarrond as he is now?Those dragons reveling around the arena...are they intoxicated by the revelry, or intoxicated by the intoxication itself?

Gawain's thoughts spread uncontrollably for some reason, until Melita's voice suddenly sounded, as if a low thunderclap woke him up from his thoughts: "Still thinking about that arena just now? Sorry... now carefully Think about it, Noretta and I only care about letting you see the 'complete Tarrond', but we don't consider the aesthetics and worldview of Loren humans. In fact, there are some things that are seriously inconsistent with human preferences and should not be shown to you. of."

"No, I don't care about this," Gao Wen shook his head, "I was just thinking about other things."

"That's good." Melita seemed relieved, and then shook her head, "Actually, Noretta and I were a little...overly excited, and there are very few dragons who have the opportunity to bring visitors like you openly. A visit to Tarrond . . . I hope that what we have been hastening to present to you has not made you feel bad."

Gao Wen immediately laughed: "That's not true, in fact, I'm quite... happy."

He was really not being polite, but he really felt novel and interesting about this trip to Tarrond. Apart from the occasional deep thinking and worries about the situation behind Tarrond, this eye-opening trip It was even a pleasant surprise for him—after all, he never waited for "Cyber ​​X 2077" until his death in his last life...

This trip was a dream come true.

Of course, Noretta didn't know what was going on in Gao Wen's mind. She obviously felt that the other party's words were mostly polite, so she could only reply with an awkward yet polite laugh.

And the brightly lit land of Tarrond receded quickly amidst Miss Blue Dragon's embarrassing laughter, and gradually receded into the deepest part of the night.

In the next two days, Melita and Noretta became the "professional guides" for Gao Wen and the others.

Led by the two dragon ladies, Gawain, Amber, and Veronica visited almost every corner of the metropolis of Agondor, and even visited two nearby cities and the coastal area. After the shock and surprise on the first day, Gao Wen and the others also calmed down, and began to really visit this strange world to them with a mood almost sightseeing.

Amber seemed very happy—even though she couldn't figure out what was going on with the group of dragons who were completely different from those in the legends, she had obviously given up thinking about this issue. On the premise of relaxing, she began to seriously Enjoy the courtesy of the dragon family and the fun of visiting.

Even Veronica showed her curiosity to the fullest, and began to treat this journey with the mentality of a tourist and a "scholar". She actively chatted with the newly-acquainted dragons and asked about the terroir of Tarrond favors, or borrow some Omega-translated classics from Melita, and try to understand the cultural changes and legends of the Dragon Clan—everyone can see that she is really enjoying all of this, not like usual Wearing a mask of perpetual peace and perpetual smile like in the picture.

But Gawain knew that this "visit" trip was not the whole of his trip to Tarrond. The really important part of this trip... was still the meeting with the dragon god Enya.

He didn't wait too long.

On the fourth day after arriving in Tarrond, the high-ranking dragon priest with golden vertical pupils and serious temperament appeared in front of him again. Overlooking the scenery from the mountain peak, under the night sky, there are lights and stars in Tarrond, and a large-scale aurora curtain is just formed in the sky. Emerged, as if using some kind of teleportation technology.

"My lord wishes to have a private meeting with you." Heragor came to Gawain, conveying the wishes of the Dragon God Enya.

"Meeting alone?" Amber, who was watching the scenery, came over in surprise, "You won't bring us this time?"

"Please forgive me." Heragor seemed to maintain the most perfect manners for everyone, he smiled at Amber, "This is the will of my lord."

Amber and the narrator Veronica immediately frowned slightly, but Gawain was not surprised by this situation. In fact, he had been thinking about when this moment would come since yesterday—he showed a smile and said to He Lagor said: "It seems that He is finally going to talk to me about some more in-depth topics. When are we going to leave?"

"If it's convenient for you, you can do it now," Heragor said immediately, "I can take you directly to the upper temple."

Gawain thought for a while, then reached out and took out the mechanical watch he was carrying with him, opened the watch cover and glanced at the time on it, then put the watch away and nodded to Heragor: "I'm very convenient - the time is just right now."

Heragor's gaze stayed on Gawain's mechanical watch for a moment, but he quickly averted his gaze and took a step forward. He opened his hands slightly, and a pale golden halo emerged out of thin air, The area Gao Wen was in was completely enveloped: "Then, let me take you for a ride."

In the next second, the pale golden halo suddenly expanded and turned into a beam of light connecting the sky and the earth. After the beam dispersed, Gao Wen and the high-ranking dragon priest had disappeared in front of the others.

Chapter 0959

When the pale golden light in front of him disappeared, Gawain found that he had left the high mountain overlooking Agondor, and the large and resplendent murals and magnificent columns of the upper temple stood in front of him.

The corridor leading to the hall of the temple stretched in front of him. The temple guards on both sides of the corridor stood silently like sculptures. The high-ranking dragon priest Heragor stood beside him, and the powerful fluctuation of magic power was gradually subsiding beside him.

"Was that some kind of space teleportation just now?" Gawain looked at the high-ranking priest in surprise, "You have already mastered the technology of distorting time and space?"

"That's the realm of the gods, I'm just imitating it poorly." Heragor said gently.

"It seems that the priests of the Dragon Clan also borrowed their power from the gods," Gao Wen nodded thoughtfully, and then looked towards the wide corridor ahead, "Just go straight there?"

"Yes, please follow me," Heragor said as he stepped forward, leading Gawain forward, but this time he only brought Gawain to the end of the corridor and stopped at the entrance of the hall. Stopped, "Forgive me for not being able to accompany you next time."

Gao Wen raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Don't you need to stand beside your god?"

"This is an 'alone' meeting," Heragor said meticulously, "His Majesty Gawain Cecil."

This seems to be a bit interesting...

A strange feeling and some speculations suddenly appeared in Gao Wen's heart, and then he said nothing, stepped over Heragor who was guarding the door, and stepped across the open door covered with more than ten doors. Mi's giant relief, golden glyphs, and a grand gate made of unknown materials.

The soft and comfortable light shines on the holy hall. The hall is still as empty as the previous visit. Except for a circle of columns and the crystal curtain hanging from the top of the column, there are almost no other furnishings in the entire space, and in the hall In the center, the holy seat of the gods has long been put away, replaced by a silver-white round table.