Lorraine, Somsonas. In the sky, a green-painted Federal Express Mail plane flew in from the northwest, referencing the blue flag flying at the top of the Château Clumberg-Heisen, with its nose aligned with the straight runway, completing a smooth landing in a standard position.

Next to the runway, Weiss, dressed in formal suits, waited for another guest to arrive. This is the 11th meeting of the Federal Union of Mechanical Technology Protectors under the name of the "Capital Seminar for the Machinery Industry", and the second in Lorraine. Under the secret organization of the Federal Ministry of Industry, this conference is held 3-4 times a year, sometimes in a city with a developed machinery industry, sometimes in a scenic resort area, and the internal information of the seminar occasionally flows out, giving people the impression that this group of people is trying to adapt to the changes of the times, so that the development of mechanical technology can return to the mainstream track based on flying ships.

As host, Weiss should have greeted his old friend, Chief Evans from the federal state of Niederwell, with a cheerful face. However, when the two met, they both had solemn expressions. Just the day before, Dr. Selball, a mechanic expert, had died in a car accident, and there was one less familiar face to attend. In the past two years, among the members of this secret alliance, 9 people have been injured or even killed due to various accidents, far exceeding the social accident casualty rate of the Free Federation in peacetime.

During the same period, a series of unexplained deaths occurred in the far north, the first of which were scientists who traveled to the kingdom of Wessex to carry out joint research work. In the past two years, 17 people have died unexpectedly, among these people, Dr. Casson, the top historian of the Kingdom of Falaine, Dr. Umosat, the top chemist of the Free Federation, and Dr. Maison, the first-class physicist of Wessex himself, are the most famous. A few months ago, the Joint Staff sent a joint special forces to formally take over the security of the joint research team, but it didn't take long for five staff members to die in an explosion at the exploration site. A rigorous investigation ensued, but only half a month later, the joint investigator of the Free Federation drowned drunk in the pool, which made the incident even more confusing......

"The more crazy the enemy, the more we must be calm and persistent."

"Whether it is the teasing of fate or the trickery of the enemy, we must face it bravely, even if it is stormy!"

Weiss and Evans clasped hands tightly together, encouraging and cheering each other on.

On the runway behind them, the grass green painted Federal Express Mail plane showed a heavy metallic texture in the sun, a corrugated aluminum alloy casing that, while not as strong as the armor steel plates of flying ships, was a big step forward from the old planes that used textile skins in the past. In terms of structure, it abandons the traditional double-layer wing, adopts a lower single-wing structure, a twin-engine configuration, a metal three-bladed propeller, a modern square fuselage with neat round portholes, capable of carrying 3000-4000 pounds of cargo and 12 passengers, and flying 2000 miles at an economic speed of 400-450 miles per hour. With the rise of the Rapid Mail network, as the competition between cars and trains, airplanes have carved out their own place in this era of flying ships "dominating the sky" – the efforts of the Federal Union of Mechanical and Technical Protectors are not the decisive factor, but objectively speaking, they do play a vital role in protecting and promoting.

The Château de Klumber-Heisen, which was renovated after the war, has a level of warmth and warmth that no hotel can match, although the living conditions cannot be compared with those of a high-end hotel. The location of the meeting was chosen to the satisfaction of the heads of the Ministry of Industry, leading industry experts and governors. In fact, with the "bad luck" of colleagues, such a relatively independent fortress building far from the town has much less pressure on security. Just in case, the special forces sent an entire detachment to work with the local security forces in Lorraine to set up a temporary security system. Not only that, Weiss and his companions also came up with measures to prevent enemy attacks during guerrilla warfare, and even if they suddenly encountered a strong enemy attack, they still had a backup to deal with it.

Of course, in the eyes of any person in their right mind, such a thing would never happen here and now.

When Weiss and Evans entered the castle hall, the guests who had arrived in advance, including three governors, four industrial experts, two senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Security, and two officials of the Ministry of Industry, were standing, sitting, drinking tea, and tasting wine, and the radio in the corner was on and broadcasting the news of Federal Radio One. In recent days, the focus has been on the regrouping of the Combined Flying Fleet, with dozens of warships heading to the Berserk Seas for military exercises. It is worth mentioning that after the formation of the Joint Staff, the Norman Empire opened the island bases they established in the Furious Sea as promised, which gave the activities of flying ships in this area a key fulcrum. In the eyes of most people, the complex turbulence and the storms of the sea are like nightmares, and how many ships have died here since ancient times, and although flying ships can soar in the sky, they are still vulnerable to the forces of nature. The Normans, however, did not seem to see it that way—their overconfident commanders or their arrogant and ignorant staff officers believed that the Berserk Sea was a unique training ground for sharpening the courage of the soldiers and forging the skills of the officers and soldiers. The Norman Empire's military spokesman said that the fundamental reason why they had built island bases in the heart of the Furious Sea at any cost was to overcome the bad weather in terms of equipment, technology and spirit, and to create an "invincible armada" capable of all-weather combat missions.

In the face of the ostentation of their Norman counterparts, the soldiers of small countries either sighed or swallowed their anger, and the Wessex people, who had always been strong, became powerless due to the great reduction of national strength and military strength, and only the Free Federation had the conditions to compete with them. However, out of the necessary caution, the commanders of the Federation fleet had rejected the Normans' "invitations" several times before, which was not a bad thing, but the military top brass was always worried about the Normans' military deployment in the Furious Sea, feeling that these guys were "unprofitable and could not afford to be early", so painstakingly and costlessly, they must have some plan, maybe they wanted to stab the Federation in the back. Therefore, by virtue of the role of the Joint Staff, they sent personnel to visit the Norman base several times in an attempt to make a more accurate judgment on the intention of the Normans to deploy here for a long time. After a period of observation and speculation, they found that the Normans seemed to have another hidden motive in this move: on the one hand, Norman ships did not move freely in the furious seas except for specific routes, which was different from the so-called "special training"; On the other hand, the Norman island bases seem to be mainly military, but they have built a large number of research facilities, equipped with a large number of research equipment, and stationed a large number of researchers. How can the changing sea of rage in the east and the remains of spaceships under the solid ice in the north not make people reminisce?

At the urging of the General Staff, the Federal Air Fleet decided to "march" into the furious seas. They took a step-by-step approach, sending a task force first and then a detachment to scout the air lanes of the Furious Sea in a joint drill. Not only did the Normans not turn away, but they also shared with their Federation colleagues the safe routes they had explored in the Raging Seas. However, these safe routes are neither coherent nor absolutely safe, and require flying ships to move in and out quickly, otherwise they are prone to get into trouble. It is said that after several joint exercises, the Federation Flying Fleet submitted a hypothetical operational analysis to the General Staff, deducing that the Norman army was capable of launching a sneak attack on the east coast of the Free Federation through the Berserk Sea in wartime, but could not establish a stable transportation and supply line in the Berserk Sea, and the use of the Berserk Sea was only at the level of tactical attacks.

Does this mean that the East Coast of the Free Commonwealth is safe?

No, it's obviously not that simple. During the joint exercises in the Furious Sea, the officers and soldiers of the Federation saw huge double whirlpools appear on the surface of the sea more than once, and for such a strange sight, they immediately found an apt nickname, "The Gate of Hell". Hell is a myth, but these terrifying whirlpools are real. Reasoning with science fiction thinking, this is likely to be a special passage to the unknown world, or perhaps an interstellar gate established thousands of years ago by space visitors? Where to go into these whirlpools, to know or not to know, is just to satisfy curiosity, but whether or not something will emerge from these whirlpools may be a matter of life and even the survival of the race.

Once a huge whirlpool appears on the surface of the sea, the air flow in the air changes violently, and then there is a high probability of heavy rain and thunder. At this point, the Normans' flying ships always took the lead in rapid transfer, and it seemed that they were aware of this strange situation, which may have been an important reason why they had established a base in the Berserk Sea. In order to find out the truth, the Free Federation sent an inquiry to the Normans through the Joint Staff, but the Normans said that they were also trying to find out, but there was no real gain so far.

For the average person, once they are attracted by the ruins of spaceships found in the north and the strange sights of the raging seas to the east, they will naturally ignore the bizarre deaths that deserve to be investigated.