When Ziff saw the "Great Master" again, the first floor of the Tower of Babel was almost completed.

This huge base layer is filled with countless boulders and rammed earth, leaving no space. On the current base layer, except for the forbidden area in the center of the tower, which is isolated, there is almost no obstruction around it to form a large circular platform. The platform is so vast and flat that it can even be used by hundreds of carriages to gallop in it.

Ziff didn't understand the point of building a building like this, because in his opinion, it was a waste to spend so much material and manpower to build a building that could not accommodate a single person. He even thought that if the tower was built in this way, although it was huge, it would be nothing more than a mountain of artificially piled stones.

Ziff sat on a large stone slab hoisted by sets of pulleys, and he was making a final examination of the important sign of Azor, --- a sun with eagle wings. He had to make sure that every feather on the sun's wings was up to par so he could get back to Gutrive and wait for his examination.

After work, Zifu secretly looked into the distance, and he saw the giant master and his entourage, still wearing simple clothes of gray linen, and were now walking on the flat tower site under the escort of a team of elite guards. He also saw that with the giant master, there was also Gutrive who had changed into gray linen clothes, and he was pointing out the construction site with the giant master and others, talking about something.

"Zif, Zif!"

Ziff suddenly heard his name called under the slate, and he came back to his senses from the distance, slowly leaned on the edge of the slab, and looked down. He saw that it was none other than the young Huron boy who often played in the mason camp and looked like a Cardo, Zekinia.

The people of the stonemason camp said that Zekinia was Gutriv's illegitimate son, and that was the only way he could come and go in and play in the stonemason camp so freely. Although Zekinia did call Gutrive his father, Ziff always felt that Zekinia was more like Gutriv's adopted son, the apprentice. This is not because Zekinha has the face of a Khaldoman, but because Zif feels from the bottom of his heart that Gutrive is not like a normal person, who would marry a wife and have children. Because he was so obsessed with architecture and work that it took up almost all of his life.

"Zekinia, how did you get here?" Zif waved at Zekinia when he saw him, and before Zekinia could reply, Zif shouted, "It's dangerous here, little one, you shouldn't come here." ”

"Remember who you asked me to help you find? The two Southlanders, one named Kulibaly and the other Oumunelli. The little boy shouted at the top of his voice.

"Yes, I remember." Ziff looked around, and he noticed two Yasol soldiers nearby. However, the two soldiers were already familiar with Zif, and although they saw Zif chatting with Zekinia, they did not pay much attention to it. After all, they also knew that it was Gutrief's child.

"I found them." Zekinia said with a smile.

Although Zif knew that the nearby soldiers of Athore could not understand the Huron language at all, he said to Zekinia, "Oh my God! Thank you little one. But now you're leaving here, you can't stay here. When it's time for dinner to start later, how about we talk about it at the dinner tent? ”

"Okay, old fellow."

Watching Zekinha run away from the construction site, Zif continued with the work at hand. After one final inspection of the carvings on the stone slabs, Zif got up and walked to the scaffolding on the side of the tower's wall. He gestured to the Garland worker who was controlling the pulley, and the Garland worker quickly and thoughtfully lowered the stone slab to a groove in the tower wall. After an alchemist from Xidu applied a mixture of clay grass, brown rock ash, yellow tar, and seashell chips to the back of the slate, the slate was firmly embedded in the tower wall by the workers of Garland.

Ziff stepped down from the scaffolding, and he watched from a distance as the slate was placed. Just as he was engrossed in watching the placement of the stone slabs, he suddenly heard a heavy muffled sound in the distance. He followed the sound and turned his head to look to the side, only to see a puff of smoke and dust rising from the ground.

As the smoke cleared, there were already many people on the construction site shouting and running there, Zif couldn't understand what they were shouting, but he first realized that maybe it was a construction accident that had just happened, and something should have collapsed.

Ziff glanced at the slate twice more to make sure it was securely placed, and walked towards the place where the noise had just sounded.

When he got closer, he found that the noise was caused by a decorative stone slab falling from the pulley. And the slate, which was now lying to the ground, saw from the corner of the slab that there was a man whose legs were exposed. It is clear that the fall of the slate caused a serious accident and someone died as a result.

Led by several Assor foremen, the workers struggled to re-rope the slabs and pull them up with pulleys. Zif knew that the man under the slate would die, and when he saw that the exposed legs of the slate were wearing the boots of the soldiers of Athore, he hesitated for a moment and did not step forward to help lift the heavy pulley rope.

The slabs were pulled up by the workers and placed in place. After the slate was lifted from the ground, Ziff walked into the crowd of onlookers and looked under the slate. To his astonishment, he found that there were four people who had been hit by the slate. Moreover, of the four, three were Asol's elite guards, and the other was a craftsman of Asol dressed in gray linen clothes like those of the "Great Master" and Gutrif.

Although the four people who died were all Athors, the tragic situation of the four people being stoned to death still made Zif feel sad and sick to his stomach. He shook his head, and slowly left the crowd of onlookers with some sadness, and returned to his work area. When Ziff got back on the scaffolding, he saw a large number of Yasol soldiers hurrying from the side to the place where the accident had just happened.

However, to Zif's great surprise, the soldiers who rushed to the scene cordoned off the area, in addition to carrying away the four bodies that had been killed by the accident. In the cordoned off area, the soldiers captured a lot of people who stayed at the scene of the accident, as well as controlled all the people who worked in that work area.

Seeing this, Zifu was glad that he left the scene in time and was not implicated. But he soon realized that the accident would have a series of ripple effects. As he had expected, at noon, outside the dinner book, he received a notice from Gutriff that the work of the stonemasons on the tower wall had been suspended in the afternoon, and that all the stonemasons were to return to the camp en masse after lunch, to be called and inspected.

While eating in the dining tent, Ziv did not see Zekinia, and he asked Veymus, who was sitting next to him to eat, "Brother Vimos, have you seen Zekinia?" ”

"That little ghost? How did he come here. I didn't see him. "Have you heard about the accident this morning?" ”

Ziv looked around, nodded slightly, and whispered, "I even saw it with my own eyes." ”

"Did you see that?" Vimos also lowered his voice and whispered, "Did you see one of the dead who was dressed in the same gray linen clothes as Gutrive and the others?" ”

Ziff tore a loaf of bread open, then nodded and whispered, "Yes, I saw that." ”

"Brother Zif, I now feel that they are not only the command team of the entire project. It's still a tight organization. Vimos said mysteriously.

"Are you talking about the people in the grey linen clothes, including Gutrief?" Ziff asked curiously, "You said they were a... Organization? ”

"Yes, an organization. Gutrive was certainly one of them. Vimos said.

"Oh." Ziff dipped the torn bread in jam from the purple woodlands of Atholl, and said, "Is it because he's a member of that organization that we're being taken care of because of that?" ”

"I think the members of that organization have a lot of power." "I feel that on this huge construction site, they have the final say. ”

"Well, maybe that's the case." Ziff said, chewing on his bread.

After a moment of silence, Vimos suddenly said to Zif, "Brother Zif, I want to join them. ”

"Vimos?" Ziff looked at Vimos with some surprise, and he asked him, "You're not kidding, are you?" ”

Vimos picked up a small piece of cheese and stuffed it into his mouth with the bread, but did not speak.

"Don't forget, we're all Hurons, slaves of the country." Ziff reminded him, looked around cautiously and then whispered to Vimos, "Don't forget, this is in enemy country. ”

"So did Gutrive." Vimos said categorically.

"He's a traitor." Ziff didn't finish speaking, he hesitated for a moment, and then said, "He's different. ”

"Listen to me, Brother Zif. I took a closer look at the entire site, and here I found an interesting rule. "It doesn't matter who you are, whether you're a slave of Huron or a nobleman of Athore. Here, all they care about is whether you have the brains and the skills. As long as you have the knowledge, the technology, and an extraordinary skill, then you will get a job here to match it. And if your skills are good enough, it will even change your living conditions and even gain a certain amount of freedom. You see, we are also a living example. That's why Kalidou Koulibaly and Ugunelli didn't come here with us. Now I understand that this is all because of the knowledge and technology we have. The people here recognize these. ”

Ziff was silent for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully and said, "What you said seems to be right, and it is, Wimos. Here, I do feel that the person who is called the Great Master is the highest level of existence. And Gutrief, even compared to the nobles of Asor, he is not inferior and very authoritative. There were even many nobles of Azor who had to pay homage to him, not to mention the guards and generals. ”

"That's right. Brother Zif, to be honest, I feel like I'm skilled enough to be no worse than Gutrive when it comes to construction, especially in practical operations. "Of course, you are the same, Brother Zif. ”

"Brother Vimos has won the prize, and Gutrive is not bad. But even as you have analyzed, I don't think it is possible for ordinary people to reach the status of Gutrive again. "After all, he is now the leader of many stonemasons. ”

"I don't want him to be in the same position, Brother Zif. You know, the man who died in the accident today was the inspector who was responsible for overseeing the carving of the entire exterior of the building. ”

"Is it really him? The Ombudsman? "Oh my God, I didn't even identify him from that corpse. ”

"It doesn't matter." Vimos whispered, "Do you know what I just said means, Brother Zif. That means that if it's really like I've analyzed, people only value knowledge and technology, then the job of the person who died, I also have a chance to get it. ”

Ziff was stunned for a moment, and he asked in surprise, "What do you mean, Vimos...... Do you want to fill the position of the dead man? ”

Vimos took a bite of the bread and nodded vigorously, "Yes." But I guess that should require a recommendation from Gutrief. ”

"Brother Vimos." Ziff said incredulously, "I remember when you were in the quarry, you hated Gutrief. ”

"That was before." "Now many of Huron's compatriots even see him as our leader." ”

Ziff exhaled, and he slowly lowered the bread in his hand.

After nightfall, Zekinia found Zif, who was resting in the barracks. They came to a campfire in the camp that was about to burn out. A few of the soldiers patrolling by Azor passed by, looked at them twice, made a joke at Zekinia, and went straight away.

"I didn't meet you at the dinner tent today, little one, where have you been?"

"Old fellow, I didn't want to miss the appointment, but I've been waiting for you near the dinner tent today." Zekinia said helplessly, "But then my dad passed by and he saw me, and he called me back. I had to come back. My dad also told me that he would never allow me to run around again, and that he wouldn't let me leave the camp again. ”

"That's pathetic, little one." "But I think your father is doing this for your good." Today, not long after you left, there was a horrific accident on the construction site. ”

"I've heard that. Old guy, that's terrible, I heard that four people died, right? ”

"Hmm..."

"It's pathetic.... I heard my father say that one of the dead uncles was still well acquainted with him, and I had seen him before. It's unexpected. Ay..... Zekinia said sadly.

"I guess that person must be your dad's friend or something, right?" Ziff asked tentatively.

"Sort of my dad's friends, they used to draw together, and sometimes they were in the house all day long." Zekinha put his hand on his cheek and said, "Dad is in a terrible mood today, I can feel it, he's sad. ”

"Alright, little one, don't be upset. Do you remember what you wanted to tell me this morning? Ziff patted him on the back and said, "Tell me about the two people you helped me find." ”

"If you don't say it, I almost forgot, the two Nanlu people you said..." Zekinia looked up and said, "They asked one of my father's guards to help me find out, and the guard's uncle said that those two men are now working in the workers' camp of the Great Division." ”

"Giant? Is it even the great teacher that your father is going to obey him? The young man with black hair and a beard and big sparkling eyes? Ziff asked, somewhat stunned.

"Yes, of course it's him." Zekinia asked curiously, "Old fellow, have you seen the Great Master too?" It's hard to see him. Listen to my father, everyone should listen to him. ”

"Oh! Yes, I've seen it once. Ziff nodded, and he said, "Thank you, little one, for telling me where they are, I don't know how to thank you, little one." ”

"No thanks. The task you gave me this time is actually quite simple. I haven't been able to find the Sammy guy you mentioned last time. Zekinha said.

"Really..." Ziff lowered his eyes slightly and said, "Thank you for remembering him." ”

"Don't always say thank you, old fellow." "If you always say thank you," Zekinia said, "why don't you teach me how to build a castle out of rubble?" ”

Ziff smiled slightly and said, "It's easy, little one. I can teach you tomorrow night. ”