The Giant Ruler Mountain is just a signpost, and the real Merlin City is built around the mountains. The huge city is built on the mountain, the ink-black city wall highlights a kind of calm and solidity, the left and right ends of the wall are connected to the mountain wall, the whole city is like an ink seal deeply embedded in the hinterland of the mountains.

It wasn't until they approached Merlin City ten steps away that Zhang Liang and Han Xin deeply felt the strangeness and magnificence of this huge city wall, which looked like a black city from a distance—the entire city wall was built with obsidian walls of completely different sizes, lengths and widths, and tens of thousands of square obsidian walls of different sizes were built together to form a complete rectangular wall.

The unpretentious façade of the city contains some kind of peculiar mathematical logic. At the same time, because of the different scales, the gaps between the masonry and stone form a jagged group of lines, which seems to be a very irregular arrangement, but it gives people a sense of regular beauty.

Zhang Liang obviously deeply appreciated the beauty of the rules hidden in the irregularity, and his bright eyes did not hide his surprise at this city wall.

But Han Xin's expression was a little different, the angle was different, he was not a sage who had been thinking about the world for a long time, but a battle-hardened warrior, and his keen eyes made him immediately realize a real problem - this wall has no city gate!

Yes! The wall was made entirely of obsidian, and there was nothing superfluous or mutilated - and of course there was no gate—but aside from the practicality of the wall, it would be a kind of destruction of the beauty of this strange wall if it were to be forced to add a gate.

So Han Xin moved his gaze to both sides, but he didn't see anything resembling a "door". I just saw that at each end of the city wall stood a defensive tower that was a few feet higher than the wall, and the defense tower was also inky black, apparently also made of hard obsidian.

At the top of the tower is a crystalline sphere the size of a human head, called the Light Prism, which can continuously absorb the sun's light energy as a storage energy source and convert the energy into an attack in the form of light - the Light Cannon.

Beneath the Prism Orb are five tower-ring mechanical eye guards, constantly scanning their surroundings, probing for anomalies and identifying enemies. The attack system of the Prism Bead is connected to the detection system of the Eye Guard - this unguarded, self-operating, self-defending Zero Tower is a landmark masterpiece in the history of mechanical arts, and its inventor is the world-famous Divine Craftsman Mozi.

Just when Han Xin noticed the defense tower, the mechanical eye guards on the tower also detected him and Zhang Liang who had come to the city wall. Immediately after, a voice came from within the city walls. It was inside the city, not on the city wall, Han Xin had specially observed before, this strange city wall also did not have the traditional meaning of the wall top, and there were no defenders on the wall at all.

"Who are you? What are you doing in Merlin City? ”

Hearing this question, Zhang Liang also came back to his senses, at this time, Han Xin said loudly to the city wall: "I am Han Xin, the vanguard general under the command of Xiang Yu, the king of Chu, he is my brother-in-law Zhang Liang, I was ordered by the king of Chu to come to Molin City to ask to see the god craftsman Mozi!" ”

"What proof is there to prove your identity?" After a while, the voice inside the city walls continued to ask.

Han Xin paused for a moment, and then said, "I have a token determined by the official title. ”

"Lift it up!"

When Han Xin heard this, he raised the token in his hand, and deliberately aimed at the direction of the eye guard on the defense tower, he flipped the token in his hand, so that the eye guard could scan the front and back of the token - the front of the token is engraved with a mighty and domineering "Chu" word, and the back is engraved with the five words "Pioneer General Han Xin".

After a moment of thought, the voice in the city said, "Okay, let's go into the city!" ”

Although they heard the permission, Han Xin and Zhang Liang were still at a loss, they really didn't know how to get by with this impermeable wall.

At this moment, a low and clear sound of the operation of the mechanism sounded, and after a brief sound, the inky black strange city wall underwent an indescribable change - those obsidian bricks of different scales moved along the irregular line gaps, some protruding outward, some turning inward, after a strange change, the city wall seemed even more mysterious and indescribable, the masonry and stone advanced and retreated, and the wall was uneven, like a giant building block built haphazardly.

However, a closer look reveals a striking clue to the intricacies of the irregularities – the outwardly protruding masonry has formed a strange circular staircase that one can walk up until one reaches the top of the city wall, where a huge obsidian brick recedes into the wall, leaving a square entrance ten feet long and wide—the only entrance to the city!

- Qin-Chu border, Longshun City.

Xiang Yu stared at the bat with the word "Mi" that fell on his hand with a serious expression, and the previous decadent laziness was swept away.

"What does that mean? Where did you find this bat? ”

Liu Bang looked at Xiang Yu and said with the same serious face: "One night, I woke up from my sleep, and when I woke up, I saw this bat at the head of the bed. ”

Xiang Yu listened to Liu Bang's words while carefully looking at the patterns on the bat's wings, as if he wanted to see something flawed from them.

"You don't have to look at it, before I came to you, I had carefully observed it hundreds of times, and there was no mistake, it was the real Gourded Bat!" Liu Bang said to Xiang Yu.

"But you and I both know what kind of meaning this bat-patterned bat symbolizes!" Xiang Yu turned his gaze back, and the seriousness between his eyebrows deepened a little, "This is a magic bat that can only be condensed by consuming the vitality of the Empress Dowager Miyue!" ”

Mi Yue, the imperial concubine of Emperor Qin Chu, the nominal mother of Yingzheng, is also the Empress Dowager Xuan of the current royal family, and at the same time, she is also the equalizer of the current emperor Yingzheng.

And the Miwen Bat is a kind of secret token belonging to the Empress Dowager Xuan, and only those who really know her know it.

Mi Yue is a natural demon wizard, who has comprehended and practiced the most bizarre demon path, so she has mastered some unimaginable transformation abilities that ordinary people can't imagine, and looks like demons. Among them, the most special thing is that she can condense her own "Mi" character bat through the magic path - Mi pattern bat.

This strange life form has many mysterious effects, and it is not any other substance itself, it is a part of Miyue itself, and it is the vitality of Miyue herself condensed with magic blue energy! Therefore, even if there is magic power, if it is not a major incident, Empress Dowager Xuan Miyue will never easily sacrifice her life to condense that little Mi pattern bat.

"I know...... It is precisely because of the significance of this bat that I dare not be careless, so I brought it to discuss with you. Liu Bang looked at Xiang Yu and said seriously.

"Does this bat have any information?"

"No, no information, just a bat."

"Didn't bring any information?" Xiang Yu's eyes became puzzled, "That is, the meaning is unknown......

"So what do you think about this...... ...... to this unknown bat of unknown origin"

"I'm afraid something happened to the palace...... Liu Bang looked at Xiang Yu's eyes and said in a deep voice word by word, "If it weren't for something uncontrollable, the equalizer wouldn't have used the Gouge Bat to warn us......"

"The guess...... It's too bold......" Xiang Yu said in a deep voice, his eyes faintly moving. Although he said so, the thoughts in his heart were actually similar to Liu Bang's, and he also knew very well that if it wasn't for what happened, Mi Yue would never use the Mi Pattern Bat to remind them......

"It's not right...... Xiang Yu thought for a while and said, "If something really happened in the palace, why didn't Ying Zheng write anything in the political document sent every month, and the envoy who came just now didn't mention it?" ”

"This is also what makes me suspicious...... Liu Bang said, "but the only explanation for the significance of the Silky Bat is that His Majesty doesn't want us to know about the matter, so that we can guard the border with peace of mind......"

"—But the equalizer and his opinion are not in agreement, so they use the Striped Bat to warn us ......?" Xiang Yu looked at Liu Bang and said.

"Hmm...... This is probably the most plausible explanation. Liu Bang said.

"So what do you want to do? Face this situation. Xiang Yu looked directly at Liu Bang's pupils and asked him about the most important topic of his trip.

"Go to Xianyang Palace! Whatever happens, we need to know what's going on. Liu Bang also stared at Xiang Yu's pupils and said word by word.

"To Xianyang Palace?" Xiang Yu was shocked and asked rhetorically, "What reason do you think you can go back to Xianyang Palace - since Yingzheng didn't write anything in the political documents, and you have the heavy responsibility of guarding Huyao City, and you go back to Xianyang Palace without permission—this kind of thing will only show that you have bad intentions!" ”

"I know, so, you can't go openly, you can only go secretly!" Liu Bang said in a deep voice.

"Dark? How to get there? Where to? Empress Dowager Xuan's bedroom? Xiang Yu asked sharply, smashing a series of questions at Liu Bang, "Let's not talk about whether we can go or not, and don't say whether it can be done, put all this aside - you just went, have you considered the problem of Huyao City on the border?" Do you just leave it alone? ”

"Do you remember the responsibilities on our shoulders? As the two protectors, the responsibility on our shoulders is no lighter than that of Yingzheng! ”

"Is this a place? Qinchu border city! Outside the border city, you can't walk for five miles, and it's a desolate place! It was the oldest land in the Three Realms, and all kinds of powerful wild monsters that had sprung up since ancient times inhabited there, not to mention that there were hundreds of Tyrant Dragons alone! And Qin Chu Kingdom is completely a plate of fat in front of those ancient giant beasts, if it weren't for the perennial guards of the previous kings, Qin Chu would have been eaten up by the wild monsters that swarmed up - it is because we are here to guard the pass that we maintain the harmony and stability on the surface of Qin Chu! ”

"Where do you think you can go? You can't take a single step! Xiang Yu looked at Liu Bang with a solemn face, and made a final rejection of his proposal. We can't even walk a single step! ”

Liu Bang did not refute, what Xiang Yu said was right, their positions must not leave their posts without permission. Previously, he was too sensitive to the matter of the bats and selectively ignored their situation.

But Liu Bang still felt that this matter had to be resolved, he thought that there must be something behind the Mi pattern bat, and Mi Yue would not use his vitality to make such a big joke.

It's just that as Xiang Yu said, they really can't go anywhere, and now, they can only continue to think about the meaning that the Pattern Bat wants to convey.

"Maybe Mi Wen Bat didn't want to convey any other meaning at all, just to warn them that Mi Yue's own situation has changed, and as the equalizer of Emperor Qin and Chu, Mi Yue's situation has changed, which means that the situation of the entire palace has changed......" Liu Bang suddenly thought of this, but he didn't say it.

Maybe something really happened in Xianyang Palace, and the situation was worse than they imagined, so that Miyue could only condense the Mi Pattern Bat and could not send any more news to it, which conveyed the symbolic meaning of the Mi Bat itself...... Something big has changed......

At this moment, an extremely terrifying idea appeared in Liu Bang's thinking...... If all this is true, then could the enemy hiding in the shadows be taking advantage of his and Xiang Yu's situation—taking advantage of their holding on to the border city and not being able to respond......

Qin Chu, Merlin City.

"Here, please, I'll take you to see Uncle Mo." A young man in his early twenties stood at the end of the square passage to greet Han Xin and Zhang Liang.

The man was the one who had spoken to Han Xin inside the city wall before, and he called himself Ah Peng, the captain of the garrison of this city wall, and he was obviously a young man. He greeted Han Xin and Zhang Liang warmly, and then led them into the city. After the two entered the city, the strange wall of the mechanism was immediately closed again.

Han Xin should be in harmony with the man's enthusiasm on the surface, but he didn't feel cold in his heart, this is not aimed at this man, but this organ city did not leave a good impression on him - obviously now in the era of integrity and peace, the country is also prosperous and developing, and the cities between the countries should be relatively open and allow free passage.

Instead of doing so, Merlin City also put a lot of effort into the defense of the city walls, so that the entire city was in a state of strict defense. However, whoever sees this kind of city will inevitably have a cold and hard sense of estrangement in their hearts. But Han Xin didn't say anything, he just hoped that these defense facilities were built in the early years and couldn't be changed for a while.

Although Zhang Liang didn't care, he also faintly felt that the Organ City was a little weird. Although he didn't know much about the situation in the world, he also felt that the defenses of the city were a little too tight, and it seemed as if the city was in a tense state of war. But he didn't care, so he didn't say anything, just silently followed the captain of the guard.

But soon, both Han Xin and Zhang Liang's attention was attracted by the wonders in the city.

First of all, the buildings, no matter how big or small the houses in the city are not traditional pillar and beam structures, there are no columns, sorghum, wooden frames, rubble, but square buildings of different sizes, which look simple and unpretentious and harmonious and beautiful.

The cube-shaped house is made of a variety of rocks processed into special masonry, the masonry has grooves and protrusions, and they can be combined together in a certain way to build a square house, as simple as building blocks.

These square buildings of various sizes are arranged in a special way in the city, close and scattered, and seem to follow a special layout principle and mathematical logic like the walls of the organ city.

Secondly, on the roof of each square building, there is a light mirror body similar to a light prism, which absorbs the light energy of the sun and uses it for heating and lighting the lives of the residents.

Then, in the center of the city, in the heart of the mountains, there was a huge trap fan. The fan has no energy supply, and its huge blades rotate naturally in the deep valley winds, which not only adjust the convection of the air in the city, but also collect a large amount of energy contained in the mountain wind.

"Most of the residents in the city came with Uncle Mo more than ten years ago, and so did I, but I was still a kid at that time - at that time, this was still a wild mountain group, and there were no traces, and then Uncle Mo led everyone to build a city here-"

"The high peaks rose one after another, and we built walls along the steep ramparts and bricks, and surrounded the city with earth; The icy mountain stream flows along the mountain, so we build a canal with the stream and build it as a water vein; The valley is deep and the wind is surging, and the mountains are high and the sun is scorching, so we use advanced mechanisms to collect the energy of the mountain wind and the scorching sun to maintain the operation of the city. ”

"In the end, Merlin City was built, and it is developing better and better......" The man excitedly introduced the city to the visitors, and finally did not forget to sigh sincerely, "It's all because of Uncle Mo!" ”

Han Xin and Zhang Liang listened to the man's narration, and at the same time were amazed by the otherworldly appearance of the city, but what moved them the most was that no matter how young or old they were, there were real smiles on their faces, the kind of smiles that lived in a peaceful society.

Paying attention to the strange things in the city, before they knew it, they had come to Mozi's home.

Mozi's house is located in the north corner of the city, and his house looks quite different from other buildings in the city. Mozi's house is not square-shaped, but an octagonal shape, and the building materials of the house are not ordinary stone bricks, but obsidian like the city walls. This huge inky black building has eight faces, like a black gossip platform standing on the ground.

Walking into the Mo house, Han Xin and Zhang Liang saw a white "ink" on the main entrance of this eight-sided building.

"Okay, I'll send you here, Uncle Mo is inside, you can go in and find him yourself." The man pointed to the door under the white word "ink" and said to Han Xin and Zhang Liang, and then left, and reminded them inexplicably when he left, "Uncle Mo has a strange temper, don't you care too much......"

Han Xin and Zhang Liang were surprised by this, "You shout so kindly to Uncle Mo, I think Mozi should be a very good person to get along with." However, Han Xin and Zhang Liang didn't think much about it, and walked into the house.

I thought that this huge eight-sided room should have many rooms, but when Han Xin and Zhang Liang walked into the first compartment, they saw Mozi.

As soon as they walked through the door, they felt a wave of heat blow towards them. As far as one can see, the first compartment is a smelting shop for metalwork, with several large furnace shafts burning in it. Although there is a special heat dissipation device to regulate the temperature in the room, the whole compartment is still very hot.

Except for a few burning fire wells, there are a few half-formed or discarded metal materials cluttered inside. And next to the largest fire shaft in the middle, a shirtless middle-aged man was wearing a pair of dark blue machine gloves in both hands, holding a piece of red-burning metal and forging in the golden-red high-temperature flames.

The man is over forty years old, but his body is very strong. His dark-skinned expression was cold, and he didn't notice the visitor who walked into the room, just looked intently at the metal block in his hand that was gradually changing shape in the flames