Sword of Dawn

Page 310

A stream of light flashed across the surface of the metal ring, and the voice of artificial intelligence came out of it: "Identity verification...expatriates, observers, first-level agents of Mithril Treasure...Melita Pernia, identity verification passed, Welcome home, countrymen."

The blue dragon was obviously in a very happy mood, and greeted the central artificial intelligence behind the ring: "Hi! Omega, what's going on in Tarrond recently?"

The ring paused for a moment, and then the surface flashed light again: "Retrieval completed - the environmental control tower No. 72 power unit was successfully replaced 6 days ago, and the Senate issued a commendation to the construction personnel; the dome control center has recently completed upgrades, The Senate issued a document commending; the shell-breaking health laboratory of the third hatching center successfully improved the 2+12 deformity screening process for synthetic dragon eggs before breaking the shell, making it more ritualistic. The head of the laboratory expressed his reluctance at the press conference This incident alarmed the Senate, but hoped to get [-] years of paid leave, the Senate rejected the request, but still issued a document in recognition of its outstanding work..."

"...Ha... There is really no news worth hearing... How many tens of thousands of years has this piecemeal 'result' been going around?" Melita Purnia in blue dragon form sighed He took a deep breath, and sighed while flying towards the big shield with the ring, "Is there any news about the jury?"

In Tarrond, there are two crucial management groups for the dragons. The largest and most powerful is the Senate, which is responsible for managing all internal affairs on the continent and controls Tarron with the assistance of "Omega". All the ancient technical facilities in Lund, and the other is the highest council responsible for managing foreign affairs, and Melita, as a senior cadre of Mithril Treasury, usually deals with the elders of the council most often.

The circle paused again for a moment, and then responded: "Three days ago, the jury made a decision to deduct the ten-year bonus of Melita Purnia, the first-level agent of Mithril Treasury, to punish her for unauthorized destruction..."

Melita's wings were crooked and almost fell, and after finally stabilizing her figure, she took a deep breath: "Okay, you don't need to talk about it, I knew about this three days ago..."

"Grasp the news of your hometown in time to help expatriates relieve loneliness," the ring made a monotonous synthetic voice, and gradually slowed down to fit on the opening of the large shield, "Welcome home again, Melita, I wish you joy."

"I shouldn't have asked you the last question, it's a ghost if you can be happy!"

Melita muttered, retracted her wings slightly, and passed through the thin light film in the middle of the ring with ease, completing a series of procedures such as sterilization and quarantine necessary to return to Tarrond in an instant. , Then she circled inside the big shield, and after recalibrating her sense of direction, she quickly flew towards a magnificent city built among the mountains not far away.

It was a huge city made of stone and metal, stretching along the towering mountains all the way to the sky. Its thick, majestic, and complicated architectural style was completely different from most cities on the Loren continent, and it was the most distinctive What's more, the building specifications in this city are divided into two completely different types: one has an extraordinarily large size, with a gorgeous and solemn structure, like the residence of a legendary giant, and its porch windows are often 30 meters high, while the other is Distributed between these large buildings, they are built on the roofs or walls of giant houses like some kind of "decorations" attached to large buildings. Their structures are exquisite, and they have rather elegant decorations and colors. style, but compared with those giant dwelling-like houses, it looks delicate and "cute".

Melita slowed down slightly over the city, then flew straight towards a familiar direction, and landed firmly on a huge gray-white terrace. After landing, she raised her head and made a loud voice unique to giant dragons: "Noretta! Noretta! Leta! I'm back! Are you home? Are you home? At..."

Just in the middle of shouting, a slightly annoyed voice came to her ears: "I'm at home!! Don't shout so loud!"

Melita looked around: "Where are you?"

A voice came from directly below her: "Under your feet! Put your toes up!"

Melita hurriedly lowered her head, her two huge eyes were almost squeezed together, and after careful identification, she hurriedly moved her paws, looking at a woman in a white dress with long pale blond hair and a mole in the corner of her eye Embarrassed, she got up from where she had stepped on.

"Oh... Noretta!" Melita was astonished, and carefully pinched her friend with her front paws, "It's the first time I saw you maintain a human form when you were not in a light sleep—I completely Didn't see you!"

"That's because your eyesight is bad!" Noretta waved her arm, easily broke free from the dragon's claws, and jumped firmly on the ground, "And of course I have to maintain my human form—today is a sacred ceremony, this time the ceremony The ceremony is held in our city, do you want me to go to the gods in the form of a dragon?"

Melita's huge dragon body was shrouded in a layer of light, and her figure shrunk rapidly in the light, and almost instantly transformed into a human form. Hearing what her friend said to her, she was taken aback for a moment, and then her expression turned pale. He said in a slightly complicated voice: "Ah... the holy ceremony... I almost forgot, today is the day to meet the Dragon God..."

Noretta, with long pale blond hair and moles at the corners of her eyes, noticed Melita's expression. She pursed her lips, and finally smiled: "She will always be the god who protects us."

"Yeah, it's 'our' god after all..." Melita said, shaking her head slightly, "Let's not talk about this, I want to see the Andal Speaker, I brought back a special 'Mithril entrustment '."

"Mithril entrustment?" Noretta glanced at the old friend curiously, "What entrustment is worth seeing personally by the chairman of the jury?"

"Gavin Cecil, do you remember the name?"

"The human being who came back from the dead?" Noretta blinked, "Are you still taking his order? Last time he came alive to pick up the goods, the Mithril Treasury was tossed enough, and later he dug graves all over the world to confirm Those dead clients won't crawl out to find us to fulfill their orders..."

"Isn't that the sound of asking for money from other graves didn't come from other graves at the end!" Melita waved her hand, and then her expression became slightly serious after perfunctory, "I'm not joking with you, this entrustment is really serious. It's a little special, that human being is more interesting than you and I imagined, and the power he is building has also developed beyond the initial expectations of the jury—and most importantly, he has noticed now..."

Melita closed her mouth suddenly at the end.

But in Tarrond, among the dragons, the sudden silence was a signal in itself.

Noretta frowned slightly, and then she couldn't believe it: "Are you sure?"

Melita nodded lightly: "Do you still remember that crazy human empire? And their crazy rebellious plan-we all thought that a wave of magic completely destroyed those daring mortals and their ambitions, but in fact ...their tenacity and courage are beyond the imagination of all dragons..."

"Disobedience..."

White Dragon Noretta's face changed slightly after hearing the special word, and then he repeated the word softly with a trace of emotion.

She recalled the evaluation made by the Supreme Speaker when the jury first learned that the Gondor Empire was suspected to be studying the power of anti-god:

Because of their short lifespan and full of variables, and because they are born weak and fearless, human beings are braver than dragons before God.

"Okay, there is still some time before the ceremony, I will arrange for you to meet with Speaker Andal."

……

In the center of this dragon city, on the top of the towering mountains, the majestic temple reaches straight into the clouds.

The land in the extreme north is in the extreme daylight stage, and the sky is shrouded in the sun for half of the time every day. This extremely brilliant radiance spills into its resplendent inner hall through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of the temple, and every inch of the ancient floor tiles Mottled shadows and bright spots were cast on every vicissitudes of the pillars. A woman wearing a pale golden dress, with blond hair hanging down to the ground, and a bright and graceful woman was standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window in the palace, looking at the The rays of light in the distance, overlooking the sea of ​​clouds below the temple, and the faint city buildings and lights everywhere in the sea of ​​clouds.

She has seen such a scene for almost a million years.

"No matter how beautiful the scenery is... there will always be a day of boredom," the blond woman sighed softly, turned her head and said to the high-ranking dragon priest standing respectfully behind her, "What do you think? Heragor ?”

The dragon priest known as Heragor lowered his head slightly, his pale golden pupils were hidden in the shadow of the crown: "This is because your eternity has surpassed all landscapes, my lord."

"...Maybe," the blond woman's mouth curled up slightly, but it was almost impossible to tell whether it was a smile or not. Her voice was gentle and friendly, but the voice was so perfect that it was terrifying and intimidating. Resisted, "Hragor, you are the priest who has accompanied me for the longest time, and you don't have to be so flattering anymore—it is tiring to speak against your will, both for the speaker and the listener."

The dragon priest didn't look up: "My respect for you comes from the bottom of my heart."

The blond woman narrowed her eyes slightly, still smiling: "What about the hatred? Is it from the heart like everyone else?"

"..."

"I put a lock on you, you should hate me, but sadly, even this hatred is locked," the blond woman turned her head and looked at Yunxia in the distance and said, "It's like this million years without Changing scenery...From the day you failed to disobey, you have been locked here forever, locked in this eternal alternation of day and night...Hate me from the bottom of your heart, this is what you should do of."

"..."

"But it doesn't matter, I am still your protector, I will protect you as always, yesterday, today, forever..."

The blond woman said softly, she turned and left the floor-to-ceiling windows, and walked towards the depths of the temple.

"Poor creatures, you are going to be trapped to death on this planet."

Dragon Priest Heragor raised his head, looked at the back of the god, and followed closely with a blank expression.

Chapter 0689 Andal Speaker

On the mainland of Tarrond, in the giant dragon city of Agondor, in the magnificent palace where the jury is located, the blue dragon Melita Pernia and the white dragon Noretta walked through the extremely spacious palace corridor, toward the jury. Go to the room where the supreme chairman of the regiment is.

The magnificent ancient palace has stood on this land for thousands of years. The inside of the palace is a familiar scene that Melita has seen since she was a child. She saw the majestic golden columns supporting those complicated arch beams. Some kind of giant skeleton-like structure, the dome made of limestone covers the arched beams, each roof is carved with complicated and complicated patterns, depicting memorable moments in the history of the dragon clan, and on both sides of the corridor, crystal-like The translucent synthetic material hangs down along the columns, and the light of stars floats on those crystal films, waiting for visitors to read and interact at any time.

Probably because of the influence of the sacred ceremony, there were very few visitors in the palace of the jury, and there were only three or five staff members walking in the huge corridor except Melita and the two, and there were more automatic service machines than people. The "Iron Servant" light wheel with a golden or light blue shell is spinning, silently passing through the gates and pillars along the energy lines on the floor, maintaining the complex and ancient technical facilities in the palace, or executing With other orders from "Omega", he is busy, as if he is never idle.

Complicated, exquisite, majestic to palpitating, advanced to unbelievable.

However, under this exquisite shell is a technical quagmire that has sunk.

Melita raised her head, looked at the complicated patterns on the dome and the energy pipelines hidden between the patterns, and couldn't help muttering softly: "The biggest upgrade is just a change of pattern."

When technology reaches its limit, a wall stands in front of all researchers, and all the knowledge and tools at hand cannot shake this wall, so society comes to a standstill, civilization enters a bottleneck, no new theories are developed, and no new The principle is discovered, and all scientific and technological progress is tinkering with existing technological products, and it is even difficult to achieve even tinkering in the end—they have reached the limit of the civilization level in terms of technology and operating principles, reaching Without the "perfect" state of the current technical level, changing a screw is retrogression and destruction, so the only thing left and that can be developed is art and aesthetics, and the dragons can only do it. Use patterns, reliefs, decorations and complex and exquisite shapes to reflect the upgrading of products.

Eventually, the dragons, who once favored a rugged, down-to-earth style, built these ornate temples in their realms, where they remain today.

White Dragon Noretta shook her head, with a faint and helpless smile on her face: "The age of perdition, isn't it?"

"The outside world is changing rapidly, and the feeling of vitality fascinates the dragon," Melita said softly, "Almost every day, people are rejoicing for new things, and every day people have to face new changes, whether it is Good or bad, change is always their theme."

"Before touching the fence, the sheep always think that the yard is vast and boundless. Haven't you seen enough of the so-called new things and changes in the past season after season of civilization?"

Melita raised her eyebrows, and glanced at her friend: "Noretta, I'm a young dragon, and my curiosity hasn't been satisfied yet."

The white dragon Noretta chuckled: "Probably—I hope that what interests you so much can also interest the Supreme Speaker. He is an old dragon, and his curiosity has long since calmed down."

The corridor has come to an end. The gorgeous alloy gate senses the approach of visitors. The access control system immediately reads the identity data of the two humanoid dragons. The entrance is open.

In a large circular hall, a light golden platform is placed in the center of the room, and a large number of crystal clear "crystal curtains" hang down from the platform, and a large amount of data and patterns are constantly refreshed on its surface. On it, a golden dragon as huge as a human house is quietly lying prone on the "throne" made of countless cables, pipes and fabrics.

Even by the standards of a giant dragon, he is already quite old, and the once beautiful scales have lost their luster, covering his huge body like inferior copper sheets. The hanging cables are connected, and the traces of mechanical and biochemical transformation are all over the surface of this old body. Under the skin is a bionic skin with flickering lights, and the cold and hard alloy skeleton is connected to the sharp claws.

Melita walked towards the half-mechanized dragon elder, and bent down in front of the platform: "I salute you, Speaker Andal."

The old golden dragon lowered its head, and a mechanical prosthetic eye embedded in the skull stretched and adjusted the focus, but the other slightly cloudy biological eye still shone with wisdom and warmth. A gentle voice came from the surrounding Came from the speaker: "Ah, Melita...the best agent of the Mithril Treasury, good boy, do you want to revoke your bonus punishment?"

Melita's eyes lit up immediately: "Is it possible?!"

"No."

"..."

After a brief and embarrassing silence, Melita returned to her normal state, and took out the things that allowed her to return to Tarrond this time: "Your Excellency, I got a special entrustment, I hope you can see it yourself, and Regarding the recent changes in Loren Continent, I also have some reports."

"Consignment? It's rare to see a consignment that can be presented directly to me... from the Elven Royal Court, or a certain elemental lord?"

"Gavin Cecil."

"...Uh-huh," Speaker Andal was silent for a moment, and let out a chuckle, and the stack of manuscripts in Melita's hand floated into the air, spreading out one by one before the speaker's eyes, "...Hope This time it's not a permanent preservation... oh? The content seems to be very interesting."

The chairman finished scanning and reading all the contents of the manuscript almost instantly. Several connection terminals near his spine were flickering, and an auxiliary thinking unit near the skull also came to life, apparently being aroused by the contents of the manuscript. interested—albeit only a small one.

"Including the understanding of productivity and production relations, as well as the deduction of social change... It's not very profound, but you say this is something that Gawain Cecil summed up in the current era?"

Melita lowered her head: "It should also include his experience in the Gondor Empire."

"Ha... The productivity structure of the Gondor Empire is deformed, and their social system can't produce experience in this area," Speaker Andal chuckled, with a slight red light in Mechanic's eyes, "I'm a little interested Now, what does Gawain Cecil want the Treasury to do with this manuscript?"

"This is exactly what I want to report..." Melita raised her head and said with a smile.

Her report was very detailed, including not only the contents of Gawain Cecil's commission, but also her own observation and evaluation of the "pioneering hero". Finally, she also mentioned the current development of the Cecil Empire, And the continuation of that ancient disobedient plan in this day and age.

"...In summary, I think Gawain Cecil and the order he created may become a valuable variable. We should pay more attention to it and further increase the contact level when necessary."

Speaker Andal was silent for a few seconds, his auxiliary thinking unit ran at high speed, and conducted a series of data exchanges with "Omega" that outsiders could not know, and finally said: "The current contact level is enough It's high, there is no need to raise it for now, but the 'variable' you mentioned...does have some value."

"That……"

"But he is not necessarily the only variable, child," the voice of Andal Speaker continued, "There are reports from other agents that the human Typhon Empire is also undergoing huge changes in scale, breakthroughs in technology and culture They are all going on, and the silver empire of the elves is also gradually 'unfreezing', trying to start developing again. Although they have also fallen into a technical quagmire similar to ours, they have not been 'locked' after all, and there is a possibility of breaking the seal. In addition, the Violet Kingdom, the Dwarf Royal Court, and the Gaoling Kingdom all have signs of social changes or technological breakthroughs...these can all be used as variables."

Melita blinked, nodded after a short thought: "...I'm a little too concerned about the Cecil Empire."

"This is your area of ​​responsibility, you should pay more attention, and..." Speaker Andal's voice paused slightly, as if he was considering his vocabulary, "The variable of Gawain Cecil is indeed a bit different, he Who was the guide for that voyage back then, we have not yet investigated clearly, and I am quite curious about the mystery hidden in this human being."

"About this, it seems that Gawain Cecil himself doesn't know about it," Melita said, "I have talked to him many times, and his memory about that secret voyage seems to have been cleared by some factors, including before the voyage. All the memories related to him after the voyage were wiped clean, and all the people who acted with him back then did not leave the slightest clue, and it was impossible to even find out who was traveling with him."

"There are not many 'people' in the world who can hide from the eyes of Mithril Treasure..." The voice of the old golden dragon was deep, steady and powerful, "Keep in touch with Gawain Cecil, this entrustment , Mithril Treasure House accepted."

Melita saluted respectfully: "Yes."

A part of the lights in the room flickered, a secret door in the corner of the room opened, and a mechanical servant flew out from it, taking over the manuscripts that had been rearranged, and Speaker Andal nodded to Melita: " Melita, is there anything else?"

Melita was about to say goodbye and leave, but stopped hesitantly. Under the gaze of the old speaker's mechanical prosthetic eyes, she finally couldn't help but speak: "Your Excellency, I met a gene in Loren Continent. The flawed dragon..."

"Oh? Have you gone to the Holy Dragon Principality?"

"No, it's in the territory of Ansu—of course it's the Cecil Empire now," Melita exhaled, and her words became smoother again, "It's a black dragon with half-developed wings, but because The genetic defect stopped her development, and her body was deformed to a certain extent. For some reason, she left the Holy Dragon Principality and chose to live in human society, and it seems that she has lived for many years..."

Speaker Andal's gentle voice interrupted Melita's narration: "And then?"

"Your Excellency, the black dragon is normal except for the deformity of the body. She has a sound mind, and her human form is also very healthy, enough to be able to do all the jobs that don't require flying, so I'm curious..."

Noretta, the white dragon who was silent all the time, couldn't help reminding softly: "Melita, you have asked this topic before..."

However, Melita seemed to have not heard her friend's reminder, and she still asked persistently: "I am curious about the reason why people with genetic defects are exiled, is it just because they are born with deformities? I have been exiled in the cold north for so many years, isn't there a deadline?"

"...The Dragon Empire has never required the exiles to build their nests in the icebergs. The Senate just let them leave Tarrond. It is their own decision to settle in the northern end of the Loren continent. As for the reason for the exile... Genetic pollution That's enough."

Melita raised her head and looked at the majestic and old ancient dragon, but the latter was only calm.

After a full 2 ​​minutes, Melita looked away under the gaze of the mechanical prosthetic eye, and she lowered her head: "I understand, Your Excellency the Speaker."

Speaker Andal stared at the young junior in front of him, and the many devices connected to it in the room made pleasant low-pitched beeps, and his voice came from the speaker: "Melita, you are young and full of vigor, you are very young among the Dragon Clan. Precious quality, I don’t mind you asking some reckless questions because of this, on the contrary, I hope you can maintain this curiosity for a long time, and may it accompany you throughout your life—but there are some things that you are destined to be unable to change now, and it is not appropriate to I know, I hope you can understand this."

Melita replied respectfully and sincerely: "Yes, Mr. Speaker, I understand."

"Go back, take a rest, and then make some preparations for the audience ceremony. God will dispel your fatigue and pain. After you fully recover, return to your post."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Speaker."

Chapter 0690 The Node of Survival

The two young dragon descendants left, leaving only one ancient dragon who has completed mechanical immortality in the huge prototype room, and countless mechanical equipment accompanying the dragon.

Amidst the melodious chirping of various equipment in the room, the golden dragon Andal slightly shook his head. Hundreds of alloy joints and electronic nerve bundles assisted him to complete this simple movement. His eyes turned to the There was a crystal hanging curtain, and a low voice that seemed to be talking to himself came from the speaker next to the platform: "What do you think of this matter?"

The crystal curtains around the platform stopped refreshing data and images at the same time, and the flowing light spots quickly combined into clear images, and majestic dragons appeared on those thin display media—some of them Maintaining the form of a giant dragon, some are human images, some have undergone a thorough mechanical or electronic transformation like Andal, and some are young and natural.

The elders of these councils seem to have been paying attention to what happened in this room. When Andal’s voice fell, a giant blue dragon immediately responded: “The development route and range of changes in this season’s civilization are indeed beyond the past, but We have no way of knowing what their final outcome will be, and we can only wait and see in view of the special circumstances in Tarrond."

"We have been watching for tens of thousands of years, and many civilizations that had some hope are going to perish under our watching," another giant dragon couldn't help but said, "Maybe we should take some positive measures this time. means."

"We must be alert to the lessons brought about by the anti-tide chaos. All our positive actions may lead to greater backlash..."

The Rebellion against the Tide seems to be a sharp sword hanging over the heads of the Dragon Clan forever. When the word was uttered, even Speaker Andal's eyes narrowed slightly.

In the short silence, another elder broke the silence: "The silver empire of the elves once reached a technological critical point, and the god of nature who had the greatest influence on them has fallen. I think the silver empire is the most worthy of attention among all the variables. ..."

"But the elves have the same flaws as us, and it's hard for them to break through that lock...their average lifespan is too long."

Listening to the conversation of the jury members, Speaker Andal just closed his eyes slightly and said nothing, until the surrounding discussions gradually subsided, he opened his eyelids and looked forward slightly: "Omega, what do you say to Baiyin?" What is the estimated value of the empire?"

The discussion in the room fell silent for a while, and a crystal veil in front of Andal suddenly dimmed, and then a ring image that was constantly breaking and reorganizing appeared on the display medium, accompanied by a mechanized synthesized voice: "...[-] percent, Andal."