Sword of Dawn

Page 251

"According to Siren, the magic tide is the process of 'shuffling' the world. The magic tide 700 years ago was just an incomplete eruption, which is equivalent to some kind of 'prelude' to the shuffling..." Gawain looked at the waste The soil stretched before his eyes, and he suddenly thought of what Tyre had told him, and couldn't help but whisper to himself, "So the changes here... can actually be regarded as a harbinger of some kind of 'new world'."

Amber looked at Gao Wen with horror on her face: "You said such a rotten place... is the appearance of the 'new world' after the real demon tide broke out?"

Gao Wen nodded lightly: "It should be about the same."

"...The new world is really scary," Amber stuck out her tongue, "What kind of life can survive in this 'new world'..."

"The horror is only relative to our aesthetics." Gao Wen glanced at Amber. "Perhaps in the eyes of the beings in the new world, this twisted and corrupted land is a paradise with pleasant scenery, and the blue sky, white clouds and green we are familiar with. Qingshuishan...in their eyes, I am afraid that it is no different from purgatory."

Sonia came to Gawain and Amber, and she heard the conversation between the two, and couldn't help saying: "700 years of deep sleep has made you more emotional than before."

Gao Wen said casually, "After all, sleeping in a coffin has nothing else to do."

"If you have a chance, please introduce us to that lady siren. We elves have always been very interested in the ancient knowledge that sea monsters know."

"I will, after she wakes up next time," Gawain nodded, and then looked around, "And now... let's build the last advance base here."

There is still a short distance from the Sentinel Tower that needs to be constructed. Although it is not far away, there are many crises on the Corrupted Plain. A forward base.

Including the No. [-] base in the northern part of the Black Forest and the No. [-] base in the depths of the Black Forest, this is the third base.

The transport vehicles loaded with important supplies drove out of the forest area and formed a loose ring on the open ground at the edge of the dense forest, while those multi-purpose tanks docked smoothly and accurately in the gaps between the large transport vehicles, filling in the gaps between the large transport vehicles. A notch on a loose ring.

The steel armor and bodywork of the convoy thus formed a temporary protective barrier, while the artillery pulled by the chassis of the tractor was set inside the barrier and became the initial self-defense firepower of the base.

After the initial protection was established, the road pioneers and the guards began to unload supplies and set up bases.

The cornerstone of Cecil's magic industry is the magic net, so the magic net must be laid as the first step.

The prefabricated magic net unit group was transported from the first two trucks. They are large metal plates with a length and width of more than two meters, and a large number of magic net units have been pre-assembled on it.These unit groups are connected to the prefabricated buckles on the edge of the chassis of the multifunctional tank, and are connected to the power ridge of the tank itself. Finally, using these tanks as nodes, a large continuous magic net is formed inside the protective barrier. , and as more and more magic net unit groups were connected in place, these multi-purpose tanks began to play a new role-becoming a magic obelisk.

"The external energy of the No. [-] tank reaches the threshold - the crystal powers on!" "The external energy of the No. [-] tank reaches the threshold - the crystal powers on!" "The No. [-] tank..."

Accompanied by the loud reports of the mechanical soldiers, the crystals on the top of the chariots set up around the advance base lit up one after another, and the abundant magic power was quickly deployed with the activation of the magic net energy field, covering the entire open area in an instant. .

Gawain picked up a magic terminal casually, saw that the runes on its side representing charging had been lit up, and nodded slightly.

These light "multi-purpose tanks" are new things designed after the main tank of "Warhammer I" was finalized. They don't have too much technical content, but they are specially designed for this mission—— And they are sure to be of great use in the foreseeable future.

On the edge of the wasteland, the environment is harsh, and various uncontrollable factors will always threaten the safety of the personnel in front, and how to deal with these threats is a problem that Gawain must consider——Warhammer I is powerful and has strong survivability. It can deal with most of the challenges on the wasteland, but it cannot solve the wasteland survival problem of the entire construction team. In order to solve this problem, the designers of the Machinery Manufacturing Institute and the Magic Technology Research Institute have based on the framework of Warhammer I. On the basis of this design, this light multi-purpose tank was designed.

It was named by Gawain—Steel Ambassador.

At the beginning of its birth, "Steel Ambassador" was positioned as a powerful support platform rather than an attacker.In order to allow the team far away from the stable rear and in the wasteland (or the front line) to quickly gain a foothold, a larger-area magic mesh unit and a larger-load power ridge are installed inside the Iron Ambassador, and a magic energy unit is fixed on the top of the tank. Crystal - the core component of the magic net obelisk, this crystal is combined with the "turret" specially designed by the steel ambassador to form a complete magic obelisk.

On the front line far away from the rear supply, the steel ambassador's magic energy obelisk can provide vital energy coverage for the position, ensuring that the position facilities can start operating as soon as possible, and its powerful power spine also allows it to support a more powerful Shield system, and switch between two shield modes - when self-survival is the priority, use the "Standing Mode" with strong defense but the projection range can only protect the chariot itself; when it is necessary to protect friendly forces, activate the matching super The magic rune can enter the "Peace Messenger" mode. In this mode, its shield projection range can be expanded to tens of meters around. Although the shield protection will be greatly reduced, it can protect a large area, thus showing A powerful battlefield support ability.

In addition to providing energy and supplementing the shield, the magic energy crystal of the steel ambassador can also act as a relay point for magic network communication. Although its power is much smaller than that of a fixed relay tower, it is enough to ensure communication on the battlefield. For example, the cutting-edge magical warship "Pioneer" can provide communication coverage for the entire fleet, and the steel ambassador can also ensure that a land force will not lose contact with friendly forces when fighting on the front line.

In addition to these fixed functions, as a chariot that is positioned as a "multi-function support", Steel Ambassador also reserves the ability of expansion modules in advance. There are card slots and rune drag chains around its chassis, which are directly connected to the The power ridge of the chariot is connected, and the magic net unit can be connected to increase the energy output, and the rune drag chain can also be used to directly provide fast charging for heavy equipment such as the White Knight...

Of course, the realization of these convenient functions is not without cost. In order to install the huge crystal and support the special shield system with high energy consumption, these tanks modified on the basis of Warhammer I directly removed the main gun. A few thermal energy ray guns and an individual-level grenade launcher at the front of the tank were left as self-defense firepower. Its crew number was changed from six to three, and the space saved was used to install additional magic nets. Units and an overly large power ridge, these changes made this tank almost lose its offensive capability - but Gawain knew that on a complex battlefield, a multi-purpose tank with excellent auxiliary capabilities can play a role far beyond A main gun.

This is especially true in this wasteland.

On the open ground where the forward base is located, above the "wall" composed of large transport vehicles and multi-purpose combat vehicles, the soldiers have used the carriages as shelters to form a temporary defense line, and inside the wall, the road pioneers are placing prefabricated tents and simple The prefabricated houses were unloaded from the subsequent large trucks and quickly set up the camp. The "steel ambassadors" located at each node of the fence lit up the magic energy crystals on the roofs of their respective vehicles, and while the crystals were lit, a layer of shimmering The shields were also closed on the periphery of the convoy.

"Magic technology..." Sonia watched the camp's defense mechanism being established little by little, and couldn't help sighing softly, "At first, I thought it was just some kind of transformation and... reorganization of Gondor magic technology, but now It appears that it is taking a completely different path."

"The demise of the Gondor Empire has taught us a lesson—no matter how advanced the technology is, as long as it is confined to a small number of elite individuals, limited to a small area and cannot be popularized, then it will inevitably lack reliability and disaster resistance. It is also doomed to be difficult to break through the bottleneck of its own development," Gao Wen smiled, "Of course, one of the reasons for taking the road of magic technology is also forced by the situation - after all, we do not have a dark blue magic well."

"Dark blue magic power well..." Sonia said softly, she looked at the "steel ambassadors" who were opening their shields and releasing magic energy broadcasts, and their eyes fell on the crystals on the top of the chariots, "maybe...these things Its value is no less than that of another dark blue..."

This is undoubtedly a high evaluation.

And an elf from the Silver Empire who had witnessed the glorious age of Gondor uttered this sentence, which gave it an extra layer of unusual meaning.

Gawain just nodded slightly, then he raised his head and looked at the majestic tower in his vision.

The huge sentinel tower stands on the border of the former human empire. It looks like a hexagonal monument with a height of hundreds of meters. In the sky above the seat, countless complex runes and energy streams flickered and circulated around the tower and the base. Driven by these runes, powerful magical energy was projected into the air, and on the edge of the wasteland, a thousand-meter-high energy barrier.

"The splendor of the ancient empire..."

Rosetta Augustus looked back at the top of the giant tower and sighed softly.

Behind him, a busy construction site is undergoing intense and orderly construction. A large number of low-level mages from the Royal Mages Association are using the hands of evocation and various shaping and summoning spells to build the walls of the camp. The huge stone wall The rampart grew out of the polluted and corrupted land at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the giant shield emblem of the Typhon Empire had risen to the top of the flagpole. In the chaotic wind of the wasteland area, the golden-red flag fluttered in the wind.

A sound of horseshoes came from not far away, and a heroic gray-haired female knight came in front of Emperor Typhon. Rosetta Augustus raised her head and looked at this talented "little girl" from the Wendell family. "Wolf" nodded, with an almost imperceptible smile on his usually gloomy and stiff face: "It seems that there is news."

Andersa Wendell got off her horse and bowed to salute: "Yes, Your Majesty, the eagle-eyed sentry has confirmed that a team has appeared on the edge of the Black Forest in the northwest, and the team has the Cecil family emblem hanging."

"As we expected, the Ansu East Territory was fighting with the royal family, and in the end they could only let their ancestor who came out of the grave come forward," Rosetta nodded, then turned her gaze to the northwest, looking far away A hazy giant figure in another tall tower said, "It's so close..."

Chapter 0581 The Tower

The Sentinel Tower stands on the ground.

For people who were born in the age of great decline in human beings, the Sentinel Tower is a kind of miraculous building beyond their imagination. These giant magical devices with a body height of several hundred meters and a total height of a thousand meters including the base and floating height are beyond the contemporary The technological limit of any human country (including the Principality of Cecil), the surging energy of each Sentinel Tower is enough to support the simultaneous operation of all the Mage Towers in the entire Ansu King City, and the many technologies they use-including large-scale reaction Gravity field, adaptive shield technology, force field joint projection technology, etc., are what anthropologists today can only look up to.

After establishing the third advance base and ensuring the supply of materials and roads in the rear, Cecil's engineering team continued to march south, and finally arrived at the foot of the Sentinel Tower that needed to be reinforced on Frost Moon 1st. Next to the high ground called "Thunder Hill", engineers laid the first wooden stake for the camp.

"Bruce", a middle-aged craftsman from the royal capital, who was a member of the [-]-member aid team and was born as a carpenter, was the chief architect of this "peak base". This short, middle-aged man stood on a large wooden box in the center of the camp, Holding the blueprints for reference in his hand, he stared at the construction of the workers with wide eyes, and his nose, which was red from drinking too much, was even redder and brighter in the smelly wasteland wind.

"Connect the magic net first - don't rush to turn on the obelisk, connect the base plate first! Those who go to the wall should be careful not to leave the shield range, especially the breeze barrier - the air here is very harmful to your health. It's no good!! Char, Bob, you take three people to erect the jammer, or the obelisk won't be able to turn on..."

Bruce's loud voice echoed in the construction site. This middle-aged man from Wangdu was full of vigor and high morale - he looked at the busy construction site in front of him, at the exotic wasteland outside the construction site, at the nearby The tension in the heart of the huge tower and the dense energy barrier around the tower has all been turned into excitement and excitement, and even a little pride.

This is where the great architect should be.

He is from the royal capital and is a senior carpenter. His ancestors have been carpenters for generations, but he has not been a peaceful person since he was born. Bruce Rock swears by his surname-this surname can tell the dwarf blood of his ancestors at a glance- —He was born to do great things.He yearns for adventure, and yearns to do great things in the extraordinary field, instead of being a carpenter in the stable capital of the king. It's just his strength, so he still inherited the family's brand name in the end, but the development plan of the southern border... let this restless carpenter see hope.

He was one of the few members of the [-]-person aid and construction group who volunteered to sign up.

"Is the jammer in place? Report immediately when it is in place-it is your safety guarantee, don't delay your work!!"

Bruce's loud voice rang out again.

He has indeed seen extraordinary opportunities in the southern border. He has seen the attack of mutants, the rise of a magic city, the establishment of the principality, and the vigorous "Industrial New City Plan". Seizing these opportunities, he proved his strength in front of the great architect Gordon, and today, he finally encountered the biggest opportunity——

Work on the wasteland.

Undoubtedly, this extraordinary "service" will become his greatest achievement. Bruce thinks that he may even be directly named "Great Architect" when he goes back—just like Gordon, who is also a "Great Architect". Like Mr., became one of Cecil's most senior technicians.And there are only a few people in this position, such as "Great Craftsman" Mr. Nicholas Dan, "Master of Magic" Mr. Kamel and Miss Rebecca...

The infrastructure of the camp was quickly laid out, and the magic net units that could be easily assembled were first connected into a powerful array, and several "Steel Ambassadors" were located in the center of these magic net matrices and had already been connected online, but in these Several special devices were first erected throughout the base before the multipurpose tanks that could act as mana obelisks activated their crystals.

Those were poles made of metal. The bottom was deeply buried in the ground, and several parallel "branches" branched out from the two-meter-high place above. A series of runes were distributed on the surface of those branches, and small pieces of crystal It is inlaid on the top of those metal branches like a staff head, exuding a faint light.

These devices are "jammers".

It is very dangerous to use high-power magic devices near the magnificent wall, because the monsters that breed in the magic tide have an irresistible desire for pure magic power, just like the distortions that wander outside will actively approach human towns, The powerful magic energy obelisk is like a lighthouse in the dark night in front of these monsters - this place is already located on the high ground of the Sentinel Tower, and for some monsters with strong perception, this place is already their sniffing point. In the exploration area, in order to prevent the magic obelisk from attracting powerful monsters the moment it is turned on, and to prevent the magnificent wall, which is not in good condition, from being impacted by monsters, the construction workers must do some preparations in advance.

Jammers are made for this.

Its forked branches are engraved with the runes of breath concealment, magic power concealment and elemental disturbance. The effects are actually not perfect, but given the average IQ of wasteland monsters, these spell effects are enough to disturb those distortions at a long distance judged.

Of course, if the enemy is close enough, or is a monster with extremely keen perception and initial intelligence, these simple jammers will have no effect. At that time, the safety of the camp will still depend on the magnificent wall and loyal soldiers Guaranteed by the guns in his hands—but as long as he can filter out [-] to [-]% of the monsters, he has already met Gao Wen's requirements.

On the edge of the camp, Gawain stood on a boulder next to the "Hill of Thunder", watching the trailblazers set up those jammers in several reserved places, and as they were activated one by one, crystals and runes The array shimmered, and the magical aura emanating from the entire camp quickly became weak and chaotic.

This level of camouflage can't hide from high-level or even middle-level powerhouses, but it must be able to filter out more than [-]% of the distortions.

The nearby air was slightly distorted, and Amber's figure condensed out of the air. She came to Gao Wen's side and said casually, "The jammer has been activated."

"I saw."

"To be honest, I was relieved after this thing was activated." Amber wiped the sweat that didn't exist on her forehead exaggeratedly, and then she was a little curious, "But having said that...you must have this ability to survive in the wasteland." This kind of jamming technology... We rely on jammers to protect the camp, so how do other 'tower repair troops' solve the problem? For example, the team on the western border..."

Gawain glanced at the half-elf: "Are you stuck in your mind again?"

"Hey, what do you mean by that!"

"You still need to ask such a simple question?" Gawain casually tapped Amber's head, "The jammer is just a spell-casting device, and it's not a high-level magic—those teams without jammers find a few mages to stick in the camp Just stand in a fixed position and perform breath concealment and magic power concealment for a day, and change people when you are tired, or give a chair to sit on."

Amber blinked her eyes, and couldn't help muttering after suddenly realizing it: "Oh my god, after thinking about that scene, I suddenly feel so stupid..."

"Is it stupid? But before the emergence of magic devices that pursue 'generalization' and 'civilian use', all mages actually did this," Gao Wen shrugged. It is an honor to release it, and to this day, transcendents in most areas outside of Cecil still think so."

Hearing Gao Wen's words, even Amber, who usually doesn't like to use her brain very much, couldn't help but think about it. Gao Wen shook his head, turned around and looked in the direction of the Sentinel Tower.

The huge gray-white tower body is suspended in the anti-gravity field, quietly releasing its huge energy between the dirty and twisted world, and the tower-like base is set up on the top of the hill of thunder, part of it Integrating with the hills, a large number of complex structures are hidden deep in the rocks and soil. There are several raised "ridges" extending from the connection between the base and the hills, like the aerial roots of trees extending out on the ground for a long time. Far—a part of it extends in the direction of the Black Forest, and the camp established by Cecil's engineering team is located near one of the "ridges".

Gao Wen knew that the "ridge" that looked like aerial roots was actually the integrated sensor and engineering pipeline summarization unit of the Sentinel Tower. Each base would extend out six symmetrically, three of which were located outside the barrier, and the other three The Tao is located inside the barrier. They continuously collect the pollution readings inside and outside the barrier, and upload them to the artificial intelligence of the tower for reference, so as to ensure that the barrier can be adjusted in real time with changes in internal and external pressure. The "adaptive shield" technology is actually realized by relying on these complex and huge sensor arrays.

In such a place so close to the human kingdom, there is such a superb technological product - but just because of the blocking of a black forest, a dark mountain, plus 700 years of sinking and decline, the decline of Ansu has already made It's hard to imagine... Civilization is really a fragile thing.

What did the elves who once built the sentinel tower think after seeing the sinking status quo of the human kingdom, especially Ansu?

Will they despise it?Or will they be amazed, just like people on the earth marvel at the great decline of European technology after the fall of the ancient Roman Empire, and marvel at the replacement of civilization by barbarism?Or... They have no time to lament the decline of human beings, because even they themselves can no longer build the core devices of those towers.

An agile figure jumped onto the boulder, and Solderin, holding a short bow, appeared in front of Gawain.

"Sentinels have been arranged in the surrounding area, and no corrupt monsters have been found approaching so far."

"Very well, let the rangers be more vigilant," Gawain nodded slightly, and then said suddenly, "You go and organize a group of elite soldiers, and then call Sonia, and come to see me together."

Solderling froze for a moment: "Call mother? What are you going to do?"

"I want to enter the Sentinel Tower," Gao Wen said, "check the situation inside."

Before Solderin opened his mouth to respond, Amber next to him exclaimed, "Oh my god, are you kidding me, old zongzi?"

"Am I joking about this?" Gawain glanced at the half-elf, "We are here to solve the problem of the Sentinel Tower—if we only build the auxiliary tower and the pressure relief point, an excellent architect will lead Blueprints and engineering teams can handle it, and the significance of our presence here is to find as many clues as possible from the Sentinel Tower."

"I understand." Soldering lowered his head, "I'll arrange the manpower right away."

"Do I have to go with me too?" Amber couldn't help pointing at her nose, "You didn't tell me before you came that you wanted to run into the Sentinel Tower - standing 800 meters away from the barrier is already my limit let me tell you..."

Gao Wen didn't speak, just looked at her with a half-smile, and after seeing the familiar expression of "You can BB anyway, I'll take you under my armpit anyway", Amber's pointed ears were still Drooping down: "Okay, okay, who asked me to take your salary..."

"It would have been better to say no earlier."

Chapter 0582 Inside

The "ridge" made of a mixture of special alloys and rune stones extends from the base of the Sentinel Tower, like some kind of huge roots, and like some kind of pipeline extending from the Thunder Hill to the plains, the wasteland area The long-term erosion of mana has stained the creation of this civilization with the traces of time. The once smooth alloy shell has become rough and pitted, and the solid rune stones blessed by the elements are also mottled.

But the damage to the outer shell is just an appearance. Inside the "ridge", the ancient magic device is still operating faithfully, maintaining the normal function of the Sentinel Tower. The Silver Empire may have declined, but the creations of the elves are still more reliable than humans. many.

A small group of elite Iron Rangers, led by Solderin, arrived at the northern section of No. [-] "Spine". Gawain, Amber, Sonia, and an elf magister named Banner walked in front of the group. They looked up and saw Looking at the raised man-made structure——on the side of the "ridge", an ancient gate is quietly closing, and the mottled writing on the gate is still recognizable: Maintenance Port·III.

"Since the completion of the Sentinel Tower and the retreat of the civilizational territory, this gate has never been opened..." Sonia stepped forward, rubbing the elf-style embossed lines on the gate with emotion, "Wasteland There are dozens of Sentinel Towers on the border, but only one-third of them have been effectively maintained and overhauled in the past 700 years. Towers that cannot be maintained are completely dependent on the automatic repair system of the year to maintain their operation."

"Fortunately, most of the things made by elves are durable." Gawain nodded, looking at the magister named Banner, "Master Banner, it's up to you next."

Banner, who has slender eyebrows and a tall and thin figure, nodded. He came to the gate and took out a metal plate in the shape of a maple leaf with a strange shape. After stuffing it into the surface of the gate, the elves depicting flowers and trees After a certain gap in the relief, he began to inject magic into the relief.

The dense floating light flashed on the gate, and the ancient mechanical device began to operate in the depths. Around the gate, the locks were unlocked creakingly, but the gate itself remained motionless.

Banner looked at the still gate, shrugged his shoulders, took out an elbow wrench from the tool bag at his waist, and slammed it on a lock next to the gate: "Occasionally...these things need a little help."

After smashing it three or five times, there was an obvious clicking sound from somewhere, and the magic door with exquisite reliefs finally opened smoothly, revealing the dark passage inside.

Amber stared: "Hey, I said...you don't match the elegant style of the legendary elves."

"If you look closely, you will find that the arc of my wrench is a perfect quarter-circle—if you have to say it, this is elegance," the elf magister glanced at Amber while putting away his tools, "People in the world have a lot of wrong impressions about elves, and the labeling is very serious. As a half-elf, you can't let these wrong impressions affect your judgment, little girl."

Amber immediately rolled his eyes, while Gao Wen didn't bother with the question of whether the race of elves was elegant or not at all. He walked towards the gate and reminded the people around him: "Everyone cheer up—this There hasn’t been a living person in it for 700 years.”

The soldiers stepped through the gate and stepped into the main passage inside the "ridge", and the moment they entered the passage, the breath of the wasteland was cut off.

Amber immediately sensed this subtle change. She turned her head to look at the direction of the entrance, and saw that outside was the corrupted and twisted demon tide wasteland. However, there seemed to be an invisible barrier blocking the door, and the depressing magic energy breath Nothing goes into the interior of the "ridge".

"The entire Sentinel Tower is protected by a complex protection-filter system," Sonia noticed the surprise on Amber's face, and explained patiently, "This is to prevent the magic tide from invading the core of the tower and interfering with the key spells inside. This is the main sensor and material circulation pipeline of the tower, although it is located on the periphery, the protection level is second only to the core area."

"It's amazing..." Amber muttered in surprise, raised her eyebrows, and looked towards the end of the corridor.

The ancient sensing device finally reacted after being dull for a few seconds, and the magic lamps lit up in the corridor, illuminating the way forward. In the passage that has not been opened for seven centuries, everything seems to be maintained as before. The appearance of time.

The off-white ground and walls stretched out in sight, and the simplicity was dotted with a few elf-style decorations and markers. On the slightly curved roof, in addition to the inlaid magic lamps, several huge pipes could also be seen Embedded in the building materials in a half-buried state, the pipe is translucent, as if something is constantly surging and transporting inside.

Amber became curious again: "What's in those tubes?"

"There is a coolant in the pipeline," Banner said, "In order to control this huge and complex magic tower, a powerful demon mind is placed in the base, which generates a lot of heat during operation. In order to prevent the core from melting , we have designed a very efficient cooling system. These coolants are only part of the system, and there are more complex structures ahead."

"Wow——" Amber dragged out her voice, let out an exaggerated admiration, and at the same time glanced at Gao Wen calmly.

Gao Wen was looking away from the pipes flowing with coolant at this moment, his face was calm, but he was thinking the same thought as Amber:

The biggest problem with the rainbow light generator is heat.

This cooling system can be used.

"To be honest, I'm very interested in a lot of technology here," Gao Wen said casually, "Although this tower was built by human nations and elves, we didn't get much involved in its technology back then... …If possible, can you take me to see its heat exchange structure and cooling core later?"

Hearing Gao Wen's words, Banner and Sonia exchanged glances almost subconsciously, and then the latter smiled: "The Sentinel Tower is built and shared by all races, of course it's no problem."