The rising sun shone on the earth, and the city that had been sleeping in the night gradually woke up, and a glimmer of bright red sunlight in the pale gold slanted across the undulating boundaries of the dark mountain range, casting a continuous and brilliant light and shadow between the plains and the hills, and the boundary between light and shadow gradually advanced to the highest tower of the Imperial Academy, and a majestic and solemn bell rang at this time.

The magic mechanism drives the gears and levers in the tower, the spinning bearings of Zaza pull the chains made of steel, the counterweight swings in the bell tower, and the bells flutter in waves, the first to wake up is the Imperial Academy, and then gradually the streets and squares around the academy, the houses and shops......

Several bell towers in the city rang out, and soon a more crisp and rapid chime, unlike the bells, appeared in the streets.

Half-grown children and young men in felt hats and short coats set off from post offices and newspaper distribution points to ride through the streets on the "two-wheeled bicycles" that have recently become more popular in Cecil, and the crisp chimes of the car bells are the second "alarm clock" to wake up the city.

They were the city's newsboys and postmen, and in most of Cecil's modern cities, the citizens of Cecil's day basically began their days with the crisp chimes of these newsboys and postmen.

Sir Gorosh dressed in civilian clothes and walked the streets of this exotic city with Azarena, who was also dressed in civilian clothes, watching the entire city awaken from its slumber in the early morning sun, surrounded by buildings and inhabitants that were very different from those of Dragonland.

"There is a book in my room that describes the city as follows—the morning of Cecil is to the 'sound' of modern industry, the sound of mechanically driven bells, the bells of two-wheeled vehicles, the whistles of public magic cars...... "Sir Gorosh said casually, "and now it seems that the meaning of these sentences can only be understood by seeing them. ”

"The human world in my memory is not so prosperous and ...... Quick," Azarena shook her head, "Of course, it doesn't feel good that way now. ”

A crisp and slightly childish voice came from the side, interrupting the conversation between the two brondborns, "Sir, ma'am, do you want a newspaper?" The latest news, the most interesting news! Just two el! Two servings for only three el! ”

Sir Golosh turned back and saw a boy in a dark blue plaid coat standing before him, with a beaming smile on his face, big and bright eyes, and a large satchel full of newspapers in his waist.

Ah, the "Cecil view" that you can't see anywhere else.

Jazz laughed and couldn't help but casually ask, "What's the biggest news?" ”

"The Empire and the Principality of the Holy Dragon [Biqu Island www.biqudao.xyz] are about to establish diplomatic relations, sir!" The boy said happily, holding up a newspaper in his hand, "The meeting in the Great Council Chamber has been successfully concluded, and we now have one more ally—perhaps soon we will be able to look forward to some specialties from the Far North, or a new market—and more!" Have a copy, sir, you seem to be a person who cares about current affairs, and you can't miss more big news in this newspaper! ”

Sir Gorosh's eyes flashed with surprise, and he was momentarily stunned, and Azalena next to him had already taken out two coins, Cecil's new coin, and she handed them over with a smile: "A newspaper, handsome young man." ”

"Thank you, ma'am~"

The boy selling the newspaper ran away, and Asarena shook the ink-scented newspaper in front of Golosh's eyes as if showing off the spoils of war, and smiled with a smile on her face: "Now we are all part of the news, Mr. Sir." ”

“…… What word did you just use? Ah, 'quick,'" Golosh said with a smile on his face, spreading his hands and glancing over the paper, "just yesterday...... Now even the children know. ”

“…… The negotiations lasted for nearly a week, and the tolerance and candor allowed the two countries to finally come together, and the empire will ...... with its new allies in the economic and cultural fields" Asarena swept the front page of the newspaper and read two sentences casually, revealing a look of slight emotion, "Twenty years ago, a human lord would hire twenty spies and assassins in order to spy on one such 'intelligence', and use hundreds of silver coins to buy the cooks and maids in the other party's castle......"

"There are still rulers who do similar things, but what they're trying to spy on must have changed," Gorosh said casually, then glancing at Azarena, "But you know a lot about the 'market' back then." ”

"I did a similar job when I was a mercenary - working for the nobles paid quickly, but Byron was less supportive of his fellows dealing with the nobles, he was more interested in hunting monsters and collecting precious materials for the mages," said Azarena, shaking her head, "but no matter what the job was, it was a time of freedom, and dealing with monsters in the mountains was much easier than dealing with the shrewd and cunning Cecil diplomats." ”

Sir Gorosh laughed, "Anyway, it's finally over, we have opened the door, the Dragonborns will enjoy the industrial products of the human world, access to new knowledge and new technologies, and humanity will get a northern market - and more importantly, a powerful ally." ”

……

Hetty walked into the blue-carpeted study, where the sun was shining through the large floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and she saw the burly ancestor standing in front of the window, the sunlight shining on his tall figure.

"Ancestor," the eldest princess of the empire bowed her head and said respectfully and gently, "the business adjustment plan with the Holy Dragon Principality has been drawn up. ”

Gawain nodded slightly: "Well, according to the results of the last meeting, it will be handed over to Padraic to execute." ”

Hetty came to Govin and looked out the window with him—several dark shadows appeared in the southeastern sky against the background of brighter skylight, and the silhouettes of two cone-shaped aircraft and a wyvern were flying from east to west along the border of the Dark Mountains.

"Today, the flight technology team has a series of test projects – Rebecca is leading her team to collect more data on the Steel Wings and accumulate more data for subsequent production versions."

"We've finally pulled the Dragonborn aboard this boat......" Gawain whispered.

"yes, unimaginable...... We're going to have an army of dragons," even then, with a hint of disbelief in Hetty's voice, "Frankly, I didn't dare to imagine that this would actually work out even on the day of the successful test flight of the Iron Wings......

"Don't take it too seriously, Hety," Gawain said, turning his head, "armed Dragonborns may be powerful, but they are not Cecil, and no part of the Empire can rely entirely on foreign mercenaries for its armed forces—not to mention that these mercenaries are expensive and numerous. Our own air combat forces are the foundation of the Imperial skies, and the Dragonborn are just a help. ”

Hetty immediately lowered his head: "Yes, Ancestor, I will remember your teachings. ”

"Don't be so serious," looking at Hetty, who was always so serious, Gawain couldn't help but shake his head, "I've been so tight, I can't get married." ”

"First...... Ancestors? ”

"Don't be so nervous, just make a joke to relax," Gawain laughed, "Ugh...... It would be nice if you could balance it out with Rebecca. As a transcendent, you are still young, but too old, Rebecca has grown a lot over the years, but her personality is always so reckless. ”

Herty wanted to say that a joke by the old ancestor made her even more nervous, but she was afraid that she would accidentally lead the topic back to the direction of "you are not too young", so she had to quickly pull the topic in another direction: "You value the relationship with the Holy Dragon Principality so much...... Is it because dragons are taken into account? Are you doing some kind of 'preparation'? ”

"There's a reason for that," Gawain saw Hetty's careful thoughts in changing the subject, but didn't break it, "the Dragonborn claim to be exiled deformants, and judging by their apparent state of affairs, this is true, and even most of the Dragonborn themselves seem to think so, but I think ...... The relationship between them and the dragon clan is probably not so simple.

"From Melita Pernia's attitude towards the Dragonborn, and from the strange state of the Dragons themselves that I have observed, I think there is something else behind this 'exile'.

"According to my guess, the ruler of the top of the Dragonborn, the Grand Duke of Dragonblood, and the group known as the 'Council of Dragonblood', they should all know something about this, but for some reason, this secret is not public.

"At this point, we don't have the power to investigate anything, but at least it doesn't hurt to have a good relationship with the Dragonborns - it might have an unexpected effect someday.

"Of course, there are other reasons why I have to pay attention to the Holy Dragon Principality."

Hetty blinked and reacted quickly: "You mean ...... They rejected a lot of your initial proposals, and then reworked a lot of business partnerships? ”

Gawain nodded slightly.

"Rosetta Augustus can't see what they can't see," he said in a deep voice, "and it's obviously not because Typhon's emperor is stupid—it's because the broodlings have exceeded my expectations."

"The so-called 'closed xenophobia, closed in the deep mountains and glaciers' is false.

"Dragonborns have a long lifespan, and it seems that the closer they are to the primitive dragons, the longer their lifespan will be, and for a race with such a long lifespan, their civilization may be slow, but they will never be ignorant - even if they only glance at the outside once in a while, the long years are enough for them to accumulate enough wisdom and experience.

"The change of human dynasties is as fast as a drama on the stage in the eyes of this kind of long-lived race, and when a play passes, a dynasty passes. And if they still have the secret cards that are enough to fight the tide of demons, then they have seen a lot more 'drama' than you and I think.

"Our magic technology and marketing plans may be new to them, but a lot of our ideas are probably not new to them.

"In the face of such a race, we can no longer use the same way of thinking with Typhon and with the Oguray tribal state......"

Listening to Gawain's unhurried words, Hetillo thought about it and understood: "Because you can't get down?" ”

Gawain: "...... It's not your style to talk like that, where did you hear that? ”

Hetty quickly bowed her head: "Amber said that she has put together a set of terms you have created, which can be used in various occasions related to new things......"

The corners of Gao Wen's eyes twitched: "Don't learn from her in the future, sooner or later I will search out the small book she hid and burn it." ”

Then he cleared his throat to dissolve the momentary embarrassment: "In short, the Dragonborn are a group to be taken seriously - although they call themselves 'principalities', there should be few people in this world who would despise such a 'principality'. They will be troublesome as enemies, but if they can pull a front, they must be extremely valuable allies.

"This kind of alliance is worth our extra sincerity and cost to maintain."

"Yes," Hetty replied earnestly, "I'll keep it in mind." ”

Gao Wen nodded with satisfaction, then glanced at the mechanical clock on the wall next to him, and said thoughtfully: "According to the schedule, I should go to the acceptance and calculation center today......

"Yes, there's still half an hour left before departure," Hetty replied, "and Yuri's side is ready. ”

Gawain snorted, he turned his head, his eyes swept over a map on the desk not far away, and after retracting his gaze, he said casually: "You go and make arrangements, we are ready to go." ”

Gawain and Herty left the study.

On the large wooden desk, a map depicting the entire territory of Cecil's empire was quietly unfolded.

On the map, several key locations in the south, north, east, west, and Whitsunday Plains are depicted with strange tower-like icons, and smaller icons are drawn around those towers, and red lines connect nodes like spider silk.

Southern Hub, Northern Hub...... Imperial Capital Control Center...... Solin main hub, Saint-Sunil main hub......

At the bottom of the map, a line of handwritten letters glows in the sunlight:

The Imperial Magic Net Connection Project.