Gawain was stunned for a moment, then slowly sat down behind his desk with a serious expression, he looked up into Veronica's eyes, and saw that the expression of the ancient rebel was more solemn than ever...... It was even solemn to the point of being somewhat depressing.

That gentle smile that resembled a "mask" had faded from her face at some point, and the real Ophelia Norton was standing in front of Gawain in this place where no outsiders existed.

"There are some things that you don't want to say, so I haven't asked," Gawain looked at Ronica and said slowly, "As an ancient Gondor soul who has survived to this day, you have never explained in detail how you survived the explosion of the imperial capital, nor how you exist now, nor as a rebel who roams the human world, you have not explained where your information about the wasteland came from. ”

Veronica stood silently across from her desk, and after a few seconds of silence she spoke softly, "If you must know, now I can ......"

"No, if you don't want to speak, I still won't force you to speak," Gawain shook his head, "I just want to say that I have given you enough trust and ...... Tolerance, which requires some reciprocal candour. You have the right to keep secrets that affect your privacy or your bottom line, but I want you to be open to those who may pose a threat to the kingdom beyond the barrier. ”

Veronica closed her eyes slightly, and then suddenly bent down slightly, and saluted Gawain very solemnly, her voice was as soft and pleasant as ever, but it seemed to be a little warmer than before: "Please forgive me for my previous arbitrary decisions in this regard, I didn't mean to hide it, but I was too accustomed to logic and data level deduction, but I ignored the variability of ordinary human society in the development process." Now I'm going to tell you everything I know and how to deal with it...... It's up to you to judge. ”

At this point she paused, as if looking for a suitable topic to start with, and continued: "The Deep Blue Well...... Actually, it's still running. ”

Gawain's pupils contracted instantly, and the shocking news made his heart thump, but then he remembered the vision he had observed when he overlooked the Gondor wasteland - although the entire wasteland was shrouded in powerful energy fields and thick clouds, and the satellite's surveillance perspective barely saw any details of the land, at one time when the conditions were right, he did see a strong flash of light appear in the center of the wasteland, and that was the location of the former Deep Blue Well!

The surveillance record from a long time ago was suddenly confirmed, and the shock in his heart quickly calmed down, and Gao Wen's expression changed slightly and then regained his calm? He stared into Veronica's eyes, "How did it survive?" The Big Bang 700 Years Ago...... The Deep Blue Well should be in the heart of the explosion. ”

"You're calmer than I thought? Is it because you somehow have some information? Veronica looked at Gawain with some surprise, but she wisely didn't follow in? Instead, he answered the other party's questions? "The Deep Blue Well is indeed the heart of the Big Bang, but in fact, the details of that explosion are not the same as later generations perceive - this involves the 'essence' of the Deep Blue Well itself.

"In your mind? What is the Deep Blue Well? ”

Veronica suddenly threw out a rhetorical question, which made Gawain think? And give an answer very quickly? It's also the answer most people who know about the Gondor Empire: "It's the energy core of the ancient Gondor Empire, the largest mana foci ever, consisting of four reaction towers, four arcane reflux chambers, and a major mana source vent......"

"It's really a popular perception, but it actually includes reaction towers? Arcane reflux chamber? And these things, including the gushing vent...... It's just 'ancillary facilities' built by humans themselves to facilitate the extraction of energy from primordial magical energy," Veronica nodded, "Before the builders of the Gondor Empire built these things, the energy rifts at the heart of the Deep Blue Well had been gushing across this continent for many years - more than human civilization itself, and even more than the Silver Elves had ever recorded. Is it first and foremost a natural focal point of magic? Then there are the extraction devices that people perceive, and the true scale of this magical focus...... Perhaps far more than anyone imagined.

"The gushing 'fountain of magic' in the former Imperial Capital of Gondor? Should it be essentially just a tributary of the Deep Blue Well exposed to the material world, and its true and complete veins hidden in all the elemental realms, half-planes, and even near the borders of the kingdom of God connected to it? We don't know exactly how far it stretches into the depths of this world, but for sure? Is it part of the fabric of our planet? And is it a large part? And for a planet, even if the kingdom above it is destroyed countless times, even if its ecosystem is reset countless times, the planet itself is not damaged.

"So the explosion of the Deep Blue Well destroyed only those artificial extraction devices, as the body of the 'Well', the energy rift at its core can be said to be intact after completing an unprecedented release of magical energy - more than seven hundred years ago, I detected the anomaly of the Deep Blue Well and its true structure at the last moment, and tried my best to use its own huge underlying structure to buffer and channel those magical energy that had nowhere to be released. Overall, I failed, and the chaotic magic energy that gushed out of the well formed a demon tide shock, which, according to today's point of view, formed a 'small demon tide' and destroyed the entire empire, but in reality I still succeeded in a small part of the ......"

Gawain frowned slightly: "A small part? ”

"I've kept my research base and the main pipe of the Deep Blue Well," Veronica said, "just below the Deep Blue Well. ”

Gawain reacted suddenly, the broad imagination accumulated in his previous life and the many things he had seen in this life made him quickly deduce many things, and he stared at Veronica: "So, you are actually still in that research base now?!" ”

Veronica once again showed a somewhat surprised expression, she looked at Gawain: "Actually, I ...... Well, yes, I'm still in that research base. ”

She smiled as she spoke: "I really didn't expect you to immediately associate this layer, this is not in line with my perception of you, nor is it in line with the way of thinking of ordinary people...... Is your keen insight really the result of wisdom alone? ”

"It just had a flash of inspiration," Gawain said casually, and then asked, "that research base is still functioning?" What else is there? ”

Veronica nodded lightly and replied, "There's also an Iron Man Corps that is still in service - on top of that, I've spent centuries repairing and rebuilding the Iron Man Corps' production and maintenance facilities, and remodeled the above-ground structure of the Deep Blue Well's main pipe, extracting magic from it to keep all the facilities running. ”

Gawain was dumbfounded: "You said that there is a running Iron Man Corps in the depths of the wasteland?!" And you've repaired the relevant production and maintenance facilities, and even partially restored the Deep Blue Well?! ”

"Yes – but you don't have to be so excited, they're all small, smaller than you think."

"So for so many years, while you have been doing these things in the depths of the wasteland, you have somehow projected your spirit onto the human world beyond the wasteland, just like 'Veronica' at this moment to observe the changes in the outside world," Gawain looked serious, and at the same time couldn't help but sigh, "An Iron Man Corps...... To be honest, if it weren't for what you said, I couldn't believe it was true, how did they escape such a strong impact of demonic energy at the beginning? ”

"I've created a massive anti-magic shield in the underground facility—supported by the Blue Well's own lead pipe, which allows it to withstand the powerful onslaught of magical energy at the time," Veronica replied, "and even then, only a fraction of the Iron Men remained. There were sixteen Iron Man Corps stationed as garrisons near my research base, and I placed separate anti-magic shields for each of them, but fifteen of them failed to survive the onslaught, and only one survived. ”

Gawain rubbed his eyebrows, digesting the explosive information that suddenly came to him, and while his thoughts gradually straightened out, he looked up at Veronica: "So you're actually trapped in the deepest part of the wasteland right now - although you've repaired a base as your own shelter and a working Iron Man Guard, these things are obviously not enough for you to retreat from the center of the wasteland to the outside of the Great Wall......"

"I didn't think about getting out of there...... Although in a sense, I am indeed trapped in the wasteland center," Veronica shook her head slightly, "I still have a task to complete, including continuing to study the structure of the Deep Blue Well and observing the changes in the wasteland, and by casting the gods, I can also move in the outside world as I am now, so it doesn't matter to me whether I leave there or not." ”

"Well, it's your choice, and seriously, I can't help you right now," Gawain nodded, not forgetting what the topic was in the first place, "Now that I have a general idea of your situation and the truth about the Deep Blue Well—we can talk about the cultists who are stirring up the wasteland." Do those cultists have anything to do with what we just talked about? Could it be that they are digging the idea of the Deep Blue Well? ”

"It's not just that I'm on the verge of moving, I suspect they're already taking some kind of action," Veronica said with a serious expression, "Recently, there have been some unusual signs in the wasteland core, I've lost the signal of some Iron Man soldiers, and others have been patrolling and spotting signs of destruction or modification of the energy pipes near the base's borders - the technique is so skillful that it can't be the work of wandering aberrants or mindless mana spirits." ”

Gawain's brows furrowed slightly, and he unconsciously tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop, and asked casually, "Didn't you see anything directly?" ”

“…… For some reason, I'm stuck in the base core deep underground," Veronica replied, "The Iron Man soldiers patrolling the surface and the few sensors and surveillance devices near the energy pipes are the only way I can understand the outside environment. This may seem ironic...... In that hostile environment, I didn't even know as much about the things around me as I did about Cecil City, thousands of miles away, because compared to the limited ontology, this interactive medium called 'Veronica' at least had complete freedom of movement and was able to touch the real world. ”

Gawain couldn't help but be very curious about the true state of Veronica/Ophelia's "ontology" now, but he knew that this matter had involved privacy, and it seemed that most of the other party didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't take the initiative to ask. He quickly turned his attention back to the cultists, "Based on the information we've received from Bertila, the branch of the Mortal Order inside the Great Wall must have been operating in the Gondor wasteland for a long time...... Have you not caught them for all these years? Didn't deal with it head-on either? ”

"As I said, my ...... 'territory' in the wasteland is actually very limited, the Iron Man Corps can only operate in the ruins of the old imperial capital and the narrow area around the edge of the ruins, and those sensors along the conduit can only operate in this range," Veronica said with some regret, "Compared to the entire wasteland, my perception range is extremely small, and those cultists should have been operating near the Great Wall before, which is my blind spot. In fact, if you hadn't uprooted everything, I wouldn't have even known that there was a force hiding outside of my shelter. ”

"That sounds a little scary," Gawain stopped tapping on the table, his chin pinching thoughtfully, "You don't know about them, but the cultists obviously know about you, at least they know that the Deep Blue Well is still running—they've been living with it for centuries, like they're deliberately circling you, but lately they've suddenly emboldened it, even stealing your soldiers, stealing your energy...... There must be a reason for this. ”

"Stealing...... Yes, they are thieves," Veronica said in a deep voice, but there was no anger in her tone, in fact, most of her mood swings were extremely light, as if her human emotions had been wiped out by hundreds of years of work, and the gentle and friendly appearance of ordinary times was just a mask simulated by experience, "I can't think of why they took a sudden action recently, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that everything outside the Great Wall will be wiped out." ”

"Half of them have been wiped out, and the other half is starting to take some kind of backup plan," Gawain pondered, and the rumor of the unstable wind of late spring came from the open window, "It seems that this matter needs to be confirmed with Bertila...... But I don't think she's going to be of much help. The Sect of the Dead that operates in the wasteland is too secretive, and many of the secrets are even hidden from the sight of the original Grand Patriarch Franken, not to mention...... If there was any 'backup plan', Bertila should have reported it a long time ago. ”

He shook his head, jotted it down for a moment, and asked, "Do you have any thoughts about the purpose of those cultists?" They were clearly planning to dig the Deep Blue Well...... What do you think they are going to do with such a huge amount of energy? ”

"There's too much speculation and too little definite information to draw useful conclusions," Veronica said, "The power of the Deep Blue Well can do so much, it can give those who have the power to control it second only to the gods, and it can also be used to reshape the environment or destroy specific things, each of which is a reason to risk to the cultists who are entrenched in the wasteland." ”