Amber blinked as she looked at the phrase that Gawain had written on the paper as if unconsciously, and she could read a few words, but when they were combined, she had never seen them before—the half-elf's head rumbled for a moment, and finally confirmed that the thing didn't seem to understand, so she simply withdrew her gaze and began to look out the window at the scenery in a daze.

Gawain raised his eyelids and glanced at the guy, "I thought you would ask." ”

Amber suddenly became proud: "I guessed you would say." ”

"Then I won't talk about it, anyway, there is no shadow of this matter," Gawain waved his hand without any psychological burden, and then as expected, he saw the half-elf in front of him puff out his face - which made him even more pleasant, and immediately changed the subject, "Have we received a response to the invitation we sent to the neighboring countries?" ”

"It's only been a long time since it was sent, how can it be so fast-even you have just returned to the imperial capital," Amber wanted to continue to ask what Gao Wen's words meant, but as soon as the other party changed the topic, she had to answer, "They must discuss, discuss, discuss, and maybe conspiracy theories, guess if this is the two human empires planning to divide the interests of the entire continent......"

"Indeed, they have to weigh it up, after all, no one has ever done this before," Gawain smiled, the expression on his face rather nonchalant, "but they will most likely agree in the end, or at least send a representative to check over and confirm what this is all about - Cecil and Typhon are now the 'leaders' of the two major settlement areas on the continent, and all the kingdoms that trade with the two empires cannot ignore this invitation, even if they don't pay attention to the previous war, they will have to pay attention to the economic operation of the settlement area after that... … The real headaches are those countries that are outside the settlement area. ”

"The Violet Kingdom, as well as the Dwarven Kingdom, are there several city-state associations in the southeast corner of the continent......" Amber's eyes rolled, and the corresponding information had already surfaced in his mind, "They are all relatively closed countries, or countries that have a natural geographical barrier with the interior of the continent. In fact, the alliance of the dwarf kingdom and those marginal city-states can be said that sooner or later, the maritime trade route will pull them into the settlement area of the two empires, and only the hermit-like violet kingdom is ...... It's hard. ”

"Hermit-like kingdom......" Listening to Amber's words, Gawain's expression couldn't help but become a little complicated: when many countries on this continent began to gradually open their doors to this new era, but there was one country that maintained a mysterious lockdown posture as if it was still in another world, it would inevitably make people curious, "This country built on a huge island will always maintain a posture of separation from the countries on the mainland...... But the number of mages who have traveled to the mainland from the Violet Kingdom is not small, and there are also merchants in the northern region who do business with the other side of the sea, and they don't seem to be completely closed......"

"Yes, the people are not completely closed, the Violet Kingdom does not prohibit its citizens from traveling to the countries of the continent, nor does it prohibit the cities of the coastal region from carrying out foreign trade, but their capital, the City of a Thousand Towers, is never open to anyone, and their royal family does not contact the people of the continent of Loren. So far, all our communication with them has been done indirectly through the Violet Council or the Second Legacy. ”

“…… This makes people even more curious," Gawain muttered as he touched his chin, "so close to us, but even the Holy Dragon Principality is open to us now." ”

"Shouldn't we take a more proactive approach to communication? Well...... Or an investigation? Amber thought for a moment and gestured with her hand, "I mean send some spies or something......

Gawain glanced at the half-elf, who also looked at him with wide eyes, as if he was a full-fledged intelligence leader who was ready to do something.

"You are indeed already a qualified Minister of Intelligence," Gawain sighed, "but haven't you usually tried to infiltrate the Violet Kingdom?" Does this work? ”

"This ...... Well, the MIA did send some people, and we tried to investigate the situation in the Violet Kingdom under the cover of merchants or adventurers, but it didn't go well, and we were basically limited to their coastal cities, and it was difficult to infiltrate inland - and those coastal cities looked no different from the rest of Loren. But if you give the order, I can come up with some new plans on my side......"

"No, that's enough," Gawain shook his head, "we can't treat every country that doesn't want to open its doors as our enemies, it's an offense to go beyond what is necessary to try beyond – they have their way of being, it's their freedom to close their borders, and we can't demand that everyone in the world live by Cecil's values." ”

Amber shrugged: "Okay, you have the final say. ”

Gawain snorted and was about to ask about something else, but before he could speak, the magic net terminal set up next to his desk suddenly rang.

After the terminal was connected, the holographic projection in mid-air shook twice, and Veronica's figure appeared in mid-air, her expression looked a little strange: "Your Majesty, we are analyzing the remains of the god of war recovered from the battlefield here, and we have made some discoveries. ”

Gao Wen suddenly put the previous topic on the back of his mind for the time being, and his expression suddenly became serious: "Wait a minute, I'll go over immediately!" ”

……

Deep in the Dark Mountains, a fortress of disobedience.

The continuous development of the empire and the improvement of Cecil City's various facilities did not cause the ancient fortress to be abandoned, but with the resumption of the Disobedience Project and the various research projects on the gods, the facility that was once dedicated to the study of gods and demon tides was once again put to use.

The space has been re-entrenched over the centuries, the old corridors and rooms have been cleaned and painted, new laboratory equipment and staff have been moved in, and many laboratories and warehouses are now in use. Led by Veronica and Carmel, and with Gawain's permission, the middle and lower levels of the Fort of Disobedience have become the new "god research base" of the Cecil Empire, dedicated to solving the mysteries related to the gods.

To this end, Gawain even set up a neural network computing node in the Dark Mountains to channel the power of Naretil into the interior of the Rebellious Fortress - the former "upper narrator" itself could provide the necessary data analysis services for the laboratories here, as well as a powerful security barrier to protect the vulnerable ordinary people in the facility from the god's legacy.

At this moment, in a large laboratory in the deepest part of the Fort of Disobedience, a group of technicians are analyzing the dangerous wreckage collected from the battlefield of Winter Keep.

The rectangular experimental hall was brightly lit, and various magic devices buzzed around the room, and in the center of the room were several neatly arranged platforms, each of which at the moment placed a number of fragments of wreckage from the god of war - some of them were iron-gray armor fragments, some were tangled and growing dark red fibers, some were stones that seemed to have been thoroughly soaked and corroded by blood, and all of them exuded strong magical fluctuations and eye-catching aura.

Around each platform, four metal cylinders engraved with intricate runes floated between the columns, a thick magical halo that was used to isolate the dangerous samples from the outside.

More than a dozen researchers were busy everywhere, recording the fluctuations of the magic released by the wreckage and the changes they manifested over time, each with a solemn and faint excitement on their faces, and Kamel, the director of the laboratory here, floated among the researchers, directing and supervising the operation of the scene, Veronica, who held the platinum scepter in her hand, stood a little farther away from them, the light beside the princess rose and fell slightly, but her expression was already lost in thought.

Gawain and Amber entered the room at this moment.

Veronica immediately sensed Gawain's breath, and she immediately woke up from her contemplation and turned around: "Your Majesty, you are here." ”

"Well, I'll take a look at the situation." As he spoke, Gawain first looked up at the entire scene - in addition to the busy technicians, he also noticed some extraordinary "existence" for the first time:

On the roof of the laboratory, some hazy and faint lines spread out of the air, weaving into a cobweb-like shape over the entire room, this almost transparent cobweb sheltered everything here, and in the center of the cobweb, Gawain faintly saw a lazy white spider lying on it.

It was the "upper narrator" who had shrunk down an unknown number of numbers - she looked bored, and she might have fallen asleep.

"When technicians need direct access to a relic of the gods, Naretil will be on site to provide shelter and contamination warning," Veronica immediately explained, noticing Gawain's gaze, "This is one of the experimental processes designed by Carmel, and it has proven to work. ”

"Well," Gawain nodded, casually as he walked forward, "tell me about the situation, what did you find?" ”

"In short...... Kamal floated over from the side, bowing slightly in front of Gawain, a buzzing voice coming from within, "We found these wreckage...... Now there is no mental damage to mortals. ”

Gao Wen's footsteps stopped halfway through, and the whole person seemed to be stunned on the spot.

Amber, who was walking forward behind him, slammed her head directly into his back - and bounced off nearly a meter away with an oops.

"No mental damage?" Gawain didn't seem to feel the impact from his back, and he glared at Kamel, "Is this conclusion reliable?" ”

"Reliable, we conducted direct and rigorous testing," Kamel said with a grim blue glow, "and this includes human testing – the subject came into direct contact with the sample while under close observation, and nothing happened.

"Of course, we've done a good job of protecting it - Naretir has entangled the subject's mind with spider silk, and once the mental contamination occurs, the subject will be instantly 'pulled' back and purified and healed."

"Have you even tested this......" Gawain finally recovered from his shock, he listened to Kamel's narration in disbelief, but his eyes involuntarily fell on the platform closest to him - between the well-guarded rune pillar and the energy barrier, there was a fragment of armor flowing with iron-gray brilliance, due to the original size of the god of war, it was no longer possible to see which part of the armor this fragment once belonged to, but only one thing was certain, this thing ...... Once it was enough to put it in front of a mortal to drive the most determined warrior into madness.

Originally, when he entered the laboratory, he saw the fragment directly on the stage, and the people around him did not seem to be affected, at that time he thought that it was the various protection systems in the laboratory and the Naretir on the scene was working, but now it seems that ...... This is not the case.

The wreckage was harmless.

So, what exactly has changed on these pieces?

"After the fall of the God of War, have all the fragments left behind by him lost their 'divinity'?" Gawain whispered to himself, "Because the fall was complete, the fragments left behind became mortal?" ”

"We also guess that these fragments have changed, but Naretir doesn't think so," Veronica's voice came from the side, "She used spider silk to 'hunt' before the fall of the god of war, and she remembered the breath of the god of war at that time, and just now she analyzed the residual breath on these fragments, and confirmed that the nature of the two breaths has not changed in nature, except for some weakening and escape. Miss Tyre also helped to confirm this......"

Without the need for others to explain, Gawain knew how Tyr helped to confirm, but he couldn't help but ask: "Is Tyre's examination reliable?" ”

"I think you can trust," I don't know if it's an illusion, Veronica, who has always been calm and breezy, also hesitated a little at the moment, "Although she 'consumes' a lot of samples, she is really an expert in this area." ”

“…… I see," Gawain rubbed his eyebrows, "In short, the remaining divine power on these fragments has not diminished, and theoretically the spiritual pollution they carry has not disappeared, but now this pollution has lost its effect on mortals. So it's not these fragments that have changed, it's ......"

Speaking of this, he subconsciously stopped.

It's not that he can't reach a conclusion, but the conclusion that comes to his mind at the moment is really a bit bizarre, and even a little challenging to the three views.

But behind him, Amber, who was rubbing his nose and dangling over, obviously didn't think too much, and the half-elf almost subconsciously spoke: "These fragments haven't changed, so can it be humans who have changed......

The whole laboratory was quiet, and Amber, who was rubbing her nose, immediately felt the change in the atmosphere, her movements stopped, she looked around a little fearfully, and finally her eyes fell on Gawain: "I just said it casually, you don't have to take it seriously if you say it casually......"

"No," Veronica shook her head, and said slowly in a deep tone, "what we speculated...... Exactly. ”

Amber's eyes widened, and she was stunned for a long time: "...... Mom? ”

"This is not the final conclusion, everything needs more testing and analysis," Kamel on the side couldn't help but say, the arcane light on his body was also a little uncertain, "Yes, more testing and analysis...... The significance of this conclusion is too great for us to design a more elaborate ......"

"We can be careful to verify it a hundred times, but before that, we can make a bold guess," Veronica interrupted Carmel, her fingers holding the platinum scepter straining slightly, and the tips of her fingers were a little white, "Perhaps...... Our battle on the battlefield of Winterkeep had an impact that went far beyond the fall of a god. ”

(Why are so many people brushing up on the first season of the anomalous creatures that the first season of the animation has been played...... It wasn't made by the production team that reorganized the readers...... ）