The floor of the royal court is light-colored, the further you go inside, the darker the color, and finally it becomes pure black, and the military boots will make a crisp echo when stepping on the marble, and the guards here are all dragonborn, dragonborn strengthened by radiation, and they look not much different from the real pure-blood dragons, just as large and as strong.

Clendor did not squint, meticulously moving forward, after turning the corner is a long and wide marble corridor, painted with beautiful floral patterns, it is not difficult to cross the corridor of the imperial court, the difficulty is to cross the corridor surrounded by so many dragonborn, fortunately, Clendo has been through the wind and rain enough to calm down, and does not show any embarrassment.

Just before he was about to step into the royal court, he saw the top of the empire who happened to come out of it—Wren. The half-lich didn't know what to receive, and seemed to be in a good mood, the soul fire in his eye sockets was surging, and when he passed by Crondo, he muttered "Angelamo" but nodded at him in a friendly way, which calmed Crondo's nervous mood a lot.

The lizardmen guard pushed open the tall and heavy door for him, and when he walked through, the stone door closed with a "bang".

"Commander of the Ocean Fleet, Captain of the Grip of the Empire, Crondo Statham has come to you, Your Majesty, your majesty reigns supreme."

Clondo knelt on one knee, put his left hand on his chest, and with his right hand, he held the commander's sword he carried with him in front of him, and bowed his head. This is the greeting gesture of the Imperial soldiers.

"You haven't even looked up, how do you know that I am majestic and supreme?"

There was a laugh from the throne ahead, and the voice sounded like Crondo remembered the thunder of the clouds gathering on the sea, "Get up, Commander." I'm glad to see you back. ”

Crondo stood up, raised his head, pupils constricted and then dilated, and then returned to normal, holding back the turmoil in his heart caused by the meeting of the real dragon.

"I think we have a lot to talk about, Commander."

As he cautiously surveyed the dragon, the dragon was scrutinizing him, and Clondo guessed that perhaps it was because His Majesty the Emperor had so many people to meet every day that it would take him a moment to remember.

"We landed in Villeste on 275 June 1660 and made a 180-day exploration of the New World, bringing back hundreds of detailed information from the ocean-going fleet. I also submit a debriefing report to the royal court, which I hope will not disappoint you, Your Majesty. Crondo said calmly.

"Well, I think I'll go and see it."

The black dragon seemed to be distressed by the written reports and materials, he rubbed his head, and then changed his words: "But before that, I want to hear your description, Commander, what happened to my fleet when they discovered the New World?" Also, what is your personal opinion of Veloster. ”

"There are many things that have happened in this, and if Your Majesty is willing to listen to them, I will be happy to tell them one by one. But before that, there is a situation that I must explain to you. ”

"Huh?"

"Our fleet can reach Veloster."

"Isn't that obvious?"

"No, Your Majesty. This was something that only the great Northern Empire was able to do. ”

Crondo licked his lips, the familiar topic made him confident, and his words became smooth and neutral: "As we all know, Vloster is a lawless land. And in our observations, a million miles away from Lost, the Dead Magic Zone has already begun to appear. ”

"This means that the other nations of Elradia – such as the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, the trading city-states, and the Transriver nations – are unable to sail into the Veloster Sea with their magically powered warships, and they will have to rely on ancient ocean-going ships to get there."

"Unlike us, despite all sorts of failures along the way, and the stability of the ship without the assistance of magic technology is questionable, with the joint efforts of the crew, the Imperial Grip finally sailed off the coast of Villeste." When he said this, Crondo's eyes twinkled with pride.

"You're saying that at this stage, no country in Eladia can compete with the Empire for Villeste, do you?"

"It will be the same."

"I know that those countries will learn and find ways to learn from them, but as long as the Empire does not change its support for the Dockyard Workshop, the Northern Empire will always be one level ahead of them in terms of the core technology of non-magical warfare, and our ocean-going fleet will always be an era or even more ahead of them," Crondo affirmed. ”

"Perhaps." Caesar nodded lightly, looking unconcerned.

He knew very well that steam power was not an insurmountable problem in the Third Age, and if the Northern Empire wanted to truly form technical barriers to other countries, it had to wait until it entered the era of internal combustion, and this was the technical problem that the Northern Empire was currently facing, which would take time to accumulate.

The black dragon raised his huge jaw, signaling that Crondo could sit down on the iron chairs on both sides of the hall and speak slowly, but don't think about it when you expect someone to make tea and pour water, many of the etiquette rules of the royal court are in the way that dragons are used to, which is very different from humans.

Even so, after the imperial officials had the opportunity to learn about this, they all competed to imitate it, trying to make the etiquette habits somewhat similar to those of dragons, and it is bold to guess that if the black dragon one day expressed his love for long-legged human girls in public, then the status of long-legged girls everywhere would immediately rise and be pursued, which could be regarded as a disguised followership.

Putting the sword in his sheath, Crondo sat down on a chair fit for a man (the seats on either side of the court were of a variety of shapes, some of which were clearly not made for humans), and continued: "Velluster is a land of disgust, but the climate is mild, fertile, and abundant, and I have to admit that the land is more fertile than the Northland, and the terrain is gentle, and suitable for large areas of arable land, and for the cultivation of farms, pastures, and plantations. ”

The tip of the Black Emperor's claws struck lightly on the iron chair, sending out a steel echo of metal clashing: "I know this, there are similar records in the investigation reports of other countries on Villeste, and the shapeshifters told me. So, first tell me about the ecology and native species of Velloster. ”

"As with other nations' investigations, there is an unknown number of indigenous people in Villeste, a red-eyed, dark-skinned, sparsely haired race, tall and strong, generally over two meters tall, and roughly similar in stature to orcs, whom our crew calls 'little giants'."

"Have you had any contact?" Caesar asked.

"We're trying to have friendly conversations with them."

Clendo lowered his head: "But it's difficult, no matter how we meet, these natives will attack us with bone spears and feathered arrows at the first time, the warriors of the indigenous race are some strong and some are weak, and the several coastal tribes we have come into contact with seem to worship a god named Artuso, and let the tribal warriors gain strength through bloody sacrifices." Later, we searched through all the texts related to the gods, but we could not find the name of Artuso, a false god who did not exist. ”

"Or maybe it's an evil god." Caesar said that through Crondo's description, he gained a general understanding of the natives of Villelost, sketching a first impression in his mind.