The Treant Leader's scolding didn't change any reality, as the plant vines that had crossed the border and attempted to infiltrate the interior of the crater had been devastating by the Navy's Well garrison, and as the last bits of ash drifted away in the wind as the beam swept away, the little temptation ended in failure like dozens of previous attempts.

Another treeman beside the leader stepped forward, his branches shrunken and twisted, but with a powerful magical power wandering through its dry canopy, the tangled branches tangled and growing on top of the treeman's head, forming a structure that looked strange and unsettling.

The twisted creature with the "brain canopy" looked down at the crystal pillars in the explosion crater, watching the magical brilliance between those crystal pillars gradually dissipate, he shook his canopy, and the glimmer of light swimming between the canopies flickered for a while: "We have successfully controlled several echelons of iron men, but through these iron soldiers, we can only penetrate the outermost layer of defense...... The revenant in the deepest part of the Deep Blue Well is too vigilant, and she has been constantly reconstructing the security mode inside the ruins, even if this place has not been invaded for seven hundred years......"

The Grand Imam snorted, his voice low and gloomy: "Paranoid, stubborn, delusional of victimization...... That dead soul has been entrenched in this tomb for seven hundred years, and it may have gone insane long ago. ”

"A thinking matrix doesn't go crazy...... Steel and crystals are much more stable than yours, Mr. Grand Imam," two female voices that rang out at the same time suddenly came from not far away, with a slight hint in their tones, interrupting the Grand Imam's low curse, "We just heard you cursing here - this is not like your usual demeanor. ”

The Grand Imam turned around, his yellow-brown eyes reflecting the figures of the two elves who were walking not far away.

"Relna, Filna......" he said in a deep voice, "are you here to see the fun?" ”

"Calm down, Grand Imam," the Elven Twins bent slightly as they approached the leader of the treants, the sisters with the same appearance smiling gently and sweetly, "As a plant, you should have a more peaceful mind—too much excitement can damage your roots and crown. ”

The Grand Imam snorted dissatisfiedly, and the dry branches rattled: "There is no need to play with quips here—you might as well pay attention to the facts in front of you." Look at this ruin, the energy of the Deep Blue Well is right in front of our eyes, and yet after all this time, we can only wander around the outer defensive circle, you promised to have a way to penetrate the ancient defenses here, but it seems to me...... Your promises have not been fully fulfilled. ”

"What we promised was only to infiltrate a portion of the Iron Man's mind, not the entire defense system," the Elven Twins said in unison, their faces calm, "We believe your memories shouldn't be so bad. ”

The Grand Imam's yellow-brown eyes stared at the Elven Twins, but after a few seconds of staring, he withdrew his gaze: "You're right, but you've also said that it's possible to bypass the Matrix through the Iron Man Corps' mental network - it's clear that you've failed, and the truth is that even if we control several Iron Man echelons, we won't be able to get into the depths of the ruins." ”

"No, it's a viable idea, it just takes some luck and timing, so we're telling you to be patient," Raina said immediately, "but rest assured, we're here to tell you the good news today - forget about that little failure, it's time for us to take the next step of infiltration." ”

"Huh?" The Grand Imam's eyes became serious, "What do you mean......"

"We've been indirectly observing the inside of the Deep Blue Fortress through those captured Iron Heart Cores, and based on the data we just collected a few hours ago, we can be sure of one thing......" Filna smiled sweetly, and her tone couldn't help but rise, "The Ophelia Matrix is running less efficiently, Your Excellency the Grand Imam." ”

"The efficiency of the Ophelia matrix has dropped?!" The Grand Imam was stunned for a moment, and then there was a hint of disbelief in his tone, "Are you sure?" ”

"We have confidence in our judgment, Grand Imam," Rainna smiled, her expression serious, "Since two days ago, we have noticed that the Ophelia Matrix is experiencing abnormal fluctuations, and it seems that there is an unusually large amount of data exchange and reorganization within her - we don't know exactly what she's doing, but since that data exchange, her efficiency has been declining, and it was not until a few hours ago that the decline was completely stabilized, and it has remained at a low level until now. ”

Relna paused at this point, and Filna took over without delay: "According to the calculations we have just completed, if the Ophelia Matrix continues to operate at its current efficiency for forty-eight hours, she will have a very small vulnerability when she reconstructs the internal defense security model, if it lasts longer...... The vulnerability will become exploitable, and we will be able to push the infiltration line into the impact crater, and possibly even take over the outermost part of the energy conduit in the Deep Blue Well. ”

The Grand Imam's gaze fell on the elven twins, the wooden, gloomy face was indistinguishable, but the glint in those eyes showed that the already severely distorted life was in a more agitated state, he let out a hoarse laugh, but soon he questioned: "Wait, since the change happened two days ago, why didn't you report it at that time?" ”

"We need to make sure that the Ophelia Matrix, while it has been running smoothly for seven hundred years, is also likely to have short-lived, normal fluctuations due to internal self-maintenance or partial node failure, so we need to make sure that something really is wrong with her before we can report it to you," Filna said calmly, "unless you want to be bothered by frequent and meaningless trifles again and again, in which case we sisters can report all the details in detail." ”

The Grand Imam stared at the Elven Twins for a long time, and it wasn't until a dozen seconds later that he withdrew his gaze again.

"Well, I don't care about your 'details', I respect the 'partnership' between us," he said lightly, "then show some sincerity from your collaborators, and tell me how to penetrate further—we need the energy of the Deep Blue Well, and even if we can only control one of its outermost conduits, it will be a huge improvement." ”

Relna and Filna smiled.

They looked up at the deep blue well in the distance, watching as the pure energy that erupted from the top of the crystal pillar rushed into the sky like a greatsword, piercing the filthy clouds and stirring up the gloomy cyclone that covered the wasteland.

"Of course," the Elven Twins said in unison, "we'll get the power of the Deep Blue Well." ”

……

The connection with the land was completely cut off just now.

Gawain got up from the dragon's back and looked at the special devices that had been placed behind Melita's shoulder blades—those devices were no longer relaying signals from land, the holographic projections were showing signs of error, and the base runes had partially dimmed, a sign that the basic response signals had completely disappeared, and it was all happening faster than the technicians had expected.

He frowned: it seems that even the most powerful and sensitive special aircraft will not be able to maintain contact with the land after crossing the boundary between the near sea, and if you want the magic network communication to continue to work on the sea, you must set up a relay node on the ocean, or lay some kind of communication facility on the seabed.

As for the launch of communication satellites...... I'm afraid it's too early to think about it.

The howling sea breeze passed beyond Melita's protective barrier, and the whistling sound was faint when it reached the ears, and the sea shimmered in the setting sun, showing a magnificent beauty unimaginable to those who live on land.

Melita had lowered her altitude twice in a row, and now she was almost flying low.

"The signal is cut off," Amber scratched her hair, "the signal decays faster in the ocean area than on land—the large hub on the North Harbor side could be covered by this. ”

"I can lower a little altitude, I'm pretty good at flying at super low altitudes," Melita's voice came from ahead, "Flying close to the surface of the sea will shorten the straight-line distance between your communications equipment and land, and the interference will be a little better." ”

"Then I'll trouble you," Gawain didn't refuse the other party's kindness, after all, he really wanted to collect more data, "lower the height." ”

"It's a trivial matter, just a flapping of wings."

Melita said casually, and then the mighty dragon spread its wings and adjusted its overall flight attitude, and its altitude was once again reduced to the point where it was almost flying close to the surface of the sea - the waves rolled under the dragon's wings, and the sudden flow of air swept up the foam and debris floating on the water, forming a broken white tail mark behind the dragon.

There was a humming sound from the devices, two of which were designed to detect response signals and identify remote hubs, turning on automatically, the holographic projections above them jittering out of character, and as Melita said, the magic interference was improved closer to the surface of the sea - but it didn't last long.

Just a few minutes later, the connection was lost again, this time it really didn't work.

"Do you need me to hover a little longer?" Melita said thoughtfully, "Maybe we can find a more precise 'demarcation point'." ”

“…… No need," Gawain thought for a moment and shook his head, "The device has automatically recorded the relevant data, and the technicians will analyze it when they go back." The situation on the ocean is changing rapidly, and the information you gather from circling around here a few times won't be of much use. ”

"Okay, then I'm going to pull up the altitude," Melita shook her head, "I don't have to worry about the sea when I fly higher, there are a few islands around here, and I'm worried about hitting the mountain if I continue to fly low." ”

As she spoke, the dragon lady flapped her wings vigorously, and with a slight tilt and acceleration, the sea and sky in Gawain's vision began to sink downward, and Amber on the side shouted curiously, "Hey, have you ever hit a mountain before?" ”

"Of course not," said Melita at once, "I'm the best flying skill of my age!" ”

Amber leaned over to Gawain and muttered, "I don't know why, I always feel like she's not telling the truth......"

Gawain remained dignified and silent.

But he felt that Amber had a point......

At this moment, Veronica, who had been closing her eyes behind her and not speaking much the whole time, suddenly stood up.

The "Holy Princess" stepped forward, came to Gawain's side, looked into the distance and whispered, "We are close to the storm......"

"Damn!!" Amber on the other side of Gawain also exclaimed, "Could it be that we want to go straight through?!" ”

In front of Melita's flight trajectory, a magnificent wall of clouds has stood at the end of the sky and sea, and as the distance gets closer, the details of the magnificent cloud wall are clearly presented in front of everyone's eyes - it connects the sea and the sky, and there are large, laterally moving clouds on the surface, under the sucking of the storm, a large amount of sea water is swept up in the air, and then falls again in the middle of the cloud wall, forming a long storm and rain on the periphery of the storm circle, even though it is still some distance away, Gawain could clearly see the astonishing power of the rainstorm and the storms beyond—a natural spectacle that no doubt would be impossible for humans to challenge at this stage.

Not even the strongest and most powerful warship of the Cecil Empire.

And at this moment, Melita's flight direction is pointing straight at the storm!!

"Passing through, of course," Miss Dragon's deep and thunderous voice came from ahead, her tone full of lightness and indifference, "The scale of this storm is staggering, and it will take a lot of effort and time to get around. ”

As she spoke, she had already agitated her giant wings again, the primordial runes on the edge of the dragon wings lit up one after another, and under the impetus of the magic power, her flight altitude began to climb rapidly, and the storm cloud wall in the distance quickly descended in the sight of Gawain and the others.

"Can you get over this storm from above the cloud wall?" Gawain asked immediately.

"Ah...... If you want to completely cross the storm circle, you have to fly near the dividing line between the turbulence and the steady-state limit layer, which is a height that dragons can't stay at for long," Melita said with a hint of a smile in her tone, "We won't fly that high—just to the middle of the turbulence." ”

Gawain subconsciously frowned, instinctively feeling that the structure of the Eternal Storm would be a little weird if it was according to Melita: "At that height, the power of the storm is relatively weak? ”

"That's right, the storm over there will be a little weaker - it's still dangerous for the average flying creature, but it's already a 'gale' for the dragons," Melita said proudly, "I'll protect you with a magic shield, so just sit back when the time comes." Enjoy the rest of the journey – I think it's going to be spectacular for you. ”

Is the wind weakening at high altitude? Isn't the "power source" of the Eternal Storm the upper atmosphere, but ...... Near the sea?!