The Lebold family's homeland is in the federal state of Felix, east of Liberty City, a federal state that is neither small nor small, rich or poor, with a remote edge of the Raging Sea, but only a short stretch of coastline. Most of the land is fertile for farming, and there are large areas of pasture that can be used for grazing, which should be considered a habitable place.

Lebore's family's farm is not "fertile", but is located in a river valley on the outskirts of the town. The fields here are enough to feed a large family, and there is still a small surplus. On both sides of the valley there are high mountains, there are woods. Living here, you can ride horses, hike in the mountains, and fish by the river.

In federal families, children usually grow up to be independent, but this is not absolute. In a farm-like life, many people have lived in one place since childhood, and this lifestyle is not unusual. At Leibold Farm, Weiss met one of Nikolai's sisters. The family did not live here for a long time, but came back from time to time to stay with the old man for a while.

Since they are sisters, they naturally look a little godlike. While at Mason, Weiss had seen Nikolai's female make-up appearance, and her sister was undoubtedly full of the charm of a mature woman. If Nikolai returns to her original appearance, and in a few years she gets married and has children, she will probably be the same as this sister! In comparison, I still think that her current appearance with short hair and simple clothes is more spiritual.

When Weiss and Nikolai arrived at the farm, the old man was fishing by the river. After greeting their sister, the two got on their horses, and after a while they came to the place where the old man was fishing. Seeing Nikolai, the old man, who had just stepped down from the presidency, seemed very happy. He exclaimed, "No wonder I have caught a lot of fish today, it seems that this hook predicts that there are rare guests coming today!" ”

Although he has stepped down from his position as federal president, Lebold still has two bodyguards by his side, apparently staffed for him by the state security services. Obviously, as the head of the Federation who led the Confederacy through the difficult war, he held a very high position in the eyes of the people of the Confederacy. If something happens to him, it will have an immeasurable impact on the hearts of the people of the Federation, so it is also right to have bodyguards for him.

Nikolai led Weiss to the old man's side, and without much greeting, he went straight to the point: "We are here today for the matter in the north, Long said that his father-in-law went to the north with the team as an expert in geology and geography, and hinted in the letter to her daughter that the situation was not very good, but it is inconvenient to disclose what the specific matter is. ”

Seeing Nikolai talking to the old man like this, Weiss was very surprised, even in his current position. In the Clumber-Haysan family, he was polite when he spoke to the Lords and Princesses. Speaking of which, this kind of politeness is also a kind of birth, and Nikolai's talk to his father is also a manifestation of intimacy.

The old man snorted and looked at Weiss, who quickly explained: "It's not a father-in-law yet, she and I are still trying to get along, at least so far there is no marriage contract." However, I think Professor Yang's character is still very reliable, and he will not make something out of nothing. ”

"He's an expert in geogeography?" The old man asked unhurriedly.

"Yes, Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Geology and Geography at Ulster University of Technology." Weiss replied.

"Oh, I remember......," the old man nodded, "I dealt with him many years ago. I've heard that he's a great success in his professional field. Well...... He had a daughter who could inherit his mantle, also became a professor, and later married an officer, who died on the battlefield. I also wrote a letter to her at the time to express my condolences. ”

Listening to the old man's words, Weiss couldn't help but admire his memory. You must know that as the president of the Federation, he has handled countless things, which is really a small matter for him.

"Things in the North. Any questions? The old man then asked again.

"That's right, Professor Yang and Professor Yang have a habit of communicating with Professor Yang, if a few specific words appear, it means that the situation is not quite right, and this time he appeared in the letter. According to our analysis, the discovery in the north is likely to be a conspiracy carried out by the Normans and the Wessexes, and the purpose may be to deceive our top experts and scholars. ”

The old man didn't beat around the bush and said sharply: "So, you think that it is an illusion concocted by the Normans, but in fact it does not exist at all, this is a trap for them." ”

"Yes, we're worried it's a trap they've dug to trick us into jumping in." Weiss replied truthfully.

The old man did not seem to be agitated at all, he exhaled a long breath, and said in a tone full of vicissitudes: "Before I became president of the Federation, there were many things that I thought were impossible. Because the president has the highest right to know about all matters, I have been exposed to a lot of confidential things over the years...... Well, probably a dozen years ago, we found something very strange in the depths of an iron mine in the northeastern part of the Federation. At a depth of about 7,000 to 8,000 feet above the ground, the ore there was anomalously condensed, and among the ore, we found a strange thing. ”

After saying this, the old man picked up his cane and drew some kind of figure on the sand by the river, and he sketched it one by one, and it took him several minutes to draw the image of the memory in his mind. Painting in the sand is certainly not as intuitive as sketching or painting. Weiss stared at the graphics for a long time, and suddenly realized that it was like a sophisticated electrical component, or an enlarged integrated circuit, which was a technological product that had not yet appeared in this era. He was amazed at what the old man had seen, and if it was a Norman forgery, they would have been too imaginative.

The old man saw that Weiss was no longer staring at the figure on the ground, so he pulled the sole of his shoe a few times and erased the figure.

“”

Our top scientists had been studying these objects for a long time, and they told me that if we could crack the secrets, the Federation's technology would be able to advance by at least a hundred years. If we can master these technologies, then we may never need to worry about the threat of war, because the enemy is not worth mentioning. We were expecting that at the time, but unfortunately, this thing is in a really bad condition, and it is likely that it was severely traumatized during the landing on our planet, so it is very incomplete. Judging from its form, I also think that it is part of a spaceship, and we can't guess how big the spaceship that carried it back then, but I think that maybe all the star stones on this planet were split from that spaceship, and it can be imagined that it may be millions, tens of millions of TA, and the elements it carries that can provide levitation force may be hundreds of thousands of pounds. These things that we have been trying to collect and refine for many years add up to less than a tenth. So, I wasn't surprised to hear about the discovery of spaceship ruins in the north. I believe it was probably another part of the huge ship, and that it had fallen into the northern sea of ice, and that it might be more intact than the one we had previously discovered, and that there was a better chance of extracting valuable technology from the wreckage. Even if the Wessex people don't invite us, we'll do everything we can to find this technology, to protect the interests of the Commonwealth, and to protect the freedoms we've been trying to defend. ”

Before listening to the old man's words, Weiss wanted to warn people to beware of the Norman traps, but after hearing this story, his thoughts suddenly expanded. Perhaps, the discovery in the north is not entirely imaginary, and Professor Yang reminds that maybe it is really another aspect...... If the Normans have discovered the secrets and taken them away, it is also something for the Federation to be aware of, and if there is a terrible danger hidden in the deep seas of the north, then it is also worth reminding. Something is wrong and can be explained in many ways, these are not absolute.

What did Professor Yang find? Weiss pondered for a long time.

"There's a very interesting play recently, I don't know if you've heard of it, it looks like it might be staged at the Liberty Theater next month. Its main line is to talk about the glory, the downfall and the revival of a race. To put it simply, they believe that our civilization is a continuation of the race that migrated from the vast starry sky, when two space fleets were at war and the weaker side fled to the planet Orens. In the process of escaping, their spaceship crashed and their lives died, but their bodies and souls brought this otherwise barren and lifeless planet to life. After tens of millions of years of evolution, a higher level of life has been re-derived, and this is where we come from. ”

Weiss reflected in his contemplation, and the old man didn't seem to stop thinking. After a while, he took the lead in speaking: "The reminder you brought today has given me an idea, and one of the views that has been hotly discussed in public opinion recently is joint defense. I don't know where this idea was originally derived, but if in the end, under some invisible push, countries agree to form some form of joint defense, then that means that our military, our defense forces, will have some form of cooperation. Since there is cooperation, there will be exchanges, and the closer the exchanges, the deeper the understanding of each other, then in this case some people with ulterior motives are likely to take advantage of this opportunity to create certain incidents. I don't think the Normans need to go to such great lengths to spy on our military intelligence, and if I were their commander and I had devised this event, what was my goal, to organize a large-scale exercise after establishing a joint defense mechanism, to annihilate the main forces of the rivals in one fell swoop, and then to start a war? At that time, there will be much less resistance to their aggression, and as for the fact that it may make them bear the burden of moral crimes, who cares in the real interests of success and defeat? Especially in those highly centralized monarchies, the concept of imperial supremacy is deeply ingrained in everyone's heart, and it is not impossible if they manipulate public opinion and accuse us of evidence of intent to subvert them, or if they come up with some artificially concocted evidence that we are all a threat to their safety on this planet. This is a very bold conjecture, but we should not be too surprised if the Normans did do such a thing, because they have never lacked genius schemers. The conspiracy events they have created in history are eye-opening. If this is a real conspiracy, we can only marvel at their imagination. ”

At this time, the fishing line in the river moved, and the old man quickly grabbed the fishing rod and fished the big fish out of the water in three or two clicks. It was a big silver fish that sparkled in the sun, and it jumped out of the water and immediately got into it, swimming desperately into the river.

With a snap, the line broke, and the broken part fell from the top of the rod to the water, drifting weakly with the waves.

A big fish ran away, and the table was still full of river fresh at dinner. The old man fished alone, and he fished such a big table, and it seems that his skills are very good. During the banquet, they did not talk about the topic from the north, the truth of some things is there, no matter how much speculation there is, it is only around the truth, and if you want to know what the truth is, you have to take certain means to explore.

At the dinner table, except for the old man, no one seemed to pay attention to Nikolai, as if she was originally one of them, every day, not a "rare guest" who came back once in a long time. Her sister was more focused on the two children, while his brother-in-law spoke to the old man and Weiss in a sophisticated tone, and Nikolai was free at the meal, without the restraints she was tired of.

After the meal, the old man asked Nikolai to accompany him for a walk, and Nikolai did not refuse. Weiss stayed behind and watched the two children play around the room. This family does not look like those upper-class families are strict, but give the children as much space as possible to show their natural instincts. If not, Nikolai would have been allowed to exist in the family in such a rebellious manner, and everyone acquiesced in her admission to the Barston Military Academy under the name and identity of a boy, and then served in the army. Although there may be some conflicts and stalemates within the family during this period, and everyone finally can't survive Nikolai to let her succeed, this is fundamentally a great tolerance.