The cold wind blew from the direction of the sea, rolling the imperial flag flying high on the coast, and under the sword and plough emblem with gold patterns on a blue background, soldiers and technical craftsmen were welding the third fixed stake of the day with the steel frame - the unsealed magic net runes shone with a faint halo on the ground not far away, and the sparks splashed when the thermal beam swept over the steel fell on the ground that had just been hardened not long ago, and inside the metal frame more than ten meters high, a part of the copper pipes and thermal conductive fins had been fixed in a specific position, Just wait to connect with the rest of the heat pipes.

The sprawling device is part of the "Waste Heat Recovery Center", which collects waste heat from several nearby facilities, including an alchemy reactor, a rune casting factory, and a Ooze Monster waste incineration center, through the alchemy solution circulating through the pipes, and distributes it to the camp's heating system through efficient heat exchangers to heat parts of the western side of the coast.

Techniques like this are essential to survive in the cold north, much cleaner and more efficient than cutting down the slow-growing boreal trees at the foot of the mountains to keep them warm, and with minimal disruption to the lives of the local population, which could one day even be used to heat nearby settlements – a long, of course, matter.

Farther away, on the open flat ground near the coast of Beigang, simple houses, military tents, towers and some of the newly built brick houses have been scattered, the materials on the material stack yard are piled up, the large construction machinery that has recently arrived at the construction site is busy, a temporary trestle extending to the sea has been erected, and near the trestle is a large area that is planned to be used for the construction of dry docks in the future.

The temporary trestle was not fixed to the seabed offshore, nor did it use pontoons, but was built on several huge ice piles, which were as thick as clock towers, frozen from the bottom of the sea and extended to the surface, and a large number of branching icicles pierced deep into the seabed, and the whole was unusually strong.

Standing on a large rock near the makeshift trestle, Byron smiled happily in the sea breeze, and he couldn't help but say to the Archarchon Victoria beside him, "Your ice spells are truly amazing—I've heard that the Wilder family has taken the art of ice magic to the extreme, but I didn't think it could be so powerful...... When you raise twelve icy 'pillars' in the ocean, it's almost art. ”

"You're overdoing it, it's just a rough use of magic," Victoria shook her head indifferently, the "Queen of the North" still dressed in a long dress in the cold wind, and the flying snow and ice protected her like a barrier, "and I never thought that I would one day use these magical skills for ...... Building things, it's a novel experience, and I'm glad I didn't mess up the first time I tried it. ”

"Magic is a convenient thing, and it is far more cost-effective to use it to improve life or advance technology than to waste the power of mages on the battlefield - it's not what I said, it was Your Majesty who said it," Byron said with a smile, "Although I don't know much about the magic realm, I have always highly approved of what His Majesty said, because at least after Princess Rebecca used her strength in the laboratory, there were many fewer inexplicable explosions and fires elsewhere......"

Victoria thought for a moment and said very seriously: "But in my opinion, Her Highness Rebecca's magical talent is actually far higher than everyone imagined - her ability to shape fireballs into life-sized sculptures of His Majesty is the real 'magic art'." It's just that I can't understand how it works...... If I have the chance, I'd love to work with her to study the mysteries of the field of plastics......"

The Grand Duke of Ice would always get serious in strange places, and Byron was no longer surprised by this, and instead of letting the outlandish (and seemingly suspected of defamation of the royal family) topic continue, he casually mentioned another matter: "As the ruler of the North, is it really okay for you to stay in the 'Northport' every once in a while?" ”

"The ruler of the northern realm is the government office of the northern provinces, and the authority of the archon is only a part of the government office," Victoria said lightly, "as for the North Harbor side...... The North Harbor is currently one of the most important projects in the entire northern region, and the eyes from the imperial capital are always watching this side, and I often come here to show up...... It is also to show the attitude of the Wild family in this matter. ”

Byron shook his head, "Hopefully, the families in the North will one day understand your good intentions—you're doing everything you can to keep them from being on the 'list.'" ”

Victoria didn't speak, she just stood there quietly, her cold gaze slowly sweeping over the entire coastline and the rolling hills beyond.

Byron's "Northern Construction Corps" has been stationed on this cold coastline for a month, and for more than 60 days, the construction equipment has been working day and night, and a steady stream of supplies has been sent from the rear.

But it is no surprise that the huge construction activities and the large scale of the construction corps have attracted a lot of attention.

This is the North, the cold and stubborn North, far from every civil war, away from every political shuffle, away from the magic industry, and in the depths of this frozen mountain, the ancient families and the fierce and stubborn winds that are soaked in their blood have hardly changed as they did centuries ago.

They instinctively refuse to allow anyone to "make a move" on the land where their ancestors have lived for generations, even if these people are here to help them build the land, and even if the traditional rulers of the land have publicly expressed their attitudes and issued warnings, there are still many people who are secretly resistant to the Beigang project.

The people here have not yet developed the concept of "the empire is a whole", and it is useless to tell them what state planning is.

Although Victoria has made it clear to Byron that she will support the construction of the North Harbor and does not mind "knocking" the local families who are not aware of the current affairs, at the end of the day, she also does not want to see too many people hanging on the flagpoles outside the North Harbor - too many flagpoles erected in one port are not "beautiful" for the entire North.

Therefore, she, the "Grand Duke of the North", can only choose to come here a few more times in the early days of the Beigang project, at least ...... The majesty of the Wild family still works in this land.

Byron's gaze was on the distant sea—on this clear and cloudless day, a transcendent could look far, far away, his gaze crossed the slightly undulating sea, over the foam that shimmered in the sun, the "peninsula into the sea" of the Principality of the Holy Dragon and part of the border of the Violet Kingdom were faintly visible, but farther away, there was only a white expanse.

That's a distance that even the eyes of the transcendent can't reach—it takes powerful magic items or extra spell effects to see that far.

"The direction of the storm circle...... Victoria noticed the direction of Byron's gaze, she nodded slightly, "On a rare day, the weather is clear enough, and the storm is just large enough to be visually observed, but it should not be visible during this time - the storm circle off the coast north shrinks in the summer, and the outermost cloud wall is farther away from land than usual, and it cannot be observed with the naked eye under normal circumstances." However, Wintercastle has a large Mage's Eye device that can see across the peninsula at any season, and I occasionally use it to observe the storm. ”

Byron glanced at Victoria curiously: "Did you observe anything famous?" ”

"Nothing has been discovered other than to confirm that it really won't dissipate, and to confirm its cycle of change," Victoria shook her head, "that ocean is not calm, it has reached an area where humans cannot tread, and legendary powerhouses will die in the sea outside the storm circle - no one knows how that storm was formed, let alone its internal structure." ”

"Your Majesty seems to think that this is one of the defenses of the dragon kingdom 'Talrond', and that crossing the storm is the territory of the dragon," Byron said casually, "and if I were to say it, he could speak directly to the dragon lady who often visited...... It seems to be called Merry or something, talk to the dragon lady, maybe you can find out something. ”

Victoria said expressionlessly, "...... There are many legends about dragons in the northern region, most of them from the Principality of the Holy Dragon, and in our opinion, dragons are not easy to deal with. ”

Byron snorted noncommittally, and then said slowly and thoughtfully while looking at the sea: "It's not easy to deal with...... But according to this trend, when we step out of this land and send ships out to the open sea, sooner or later we will have to deal with all races......"

Victoria glanced at Byron and opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could speak, a faint commotion came from the southern part of the camp, interrupting what she was about to say.

Following the prestige, she saw that a large group of people had gathered near the checkpoint in the south of the camp, people outside the separation line were dressed in civilian clothes, and the soldiers at the checkpoint had already gone to maintain order, and the sound of noise and shouting came from there from time to time, mixed with a thick northern dialect.

Victoria's brows furrowed immediately, she vaguely guessed what was happening over there, the ice and snow around her instantly condensed, like cold ice blades swirling and flying in the air, and her tone was as cold as winter: "I'm here, there will be someone ......"

Before the Duchess could finish speaking, Byron suddenly raised his hand to interrupt her, and the mercenary-turned-imperial general just glanced over there and knew what was going on, with a strange smile on his face: "Don't get too excited, archon, those are just civilians, and some familiar faces - you've missed something lately, but I know what the situation is, it's not like you think, it's a minor problem." ”

As he spoke, Byron jumped to the ground and walked in the direction of the checkpoint, while saying to Victoria, who was following him, "Don't show up later, they might be too nervous - just watch me deal with it." ”

Victoria nodded in confusion and casually released a warp light force field to cover her figure, and she and Byron went to the checkpoint in the south of the camp, where the nearly 100 civilians had gathered were already standing in two rows with the soldiers at the checkpoint.

"The general is coming......" "The general is coming......"

Someone in the crowd saw Byron's figure, whispers of reminders came and went, the soldiers moved out of the way, and the civilians who had gathered took two steps back in unison.

Victoria, who had disappeared with the warped light force field, immediately set her eyes on the civilians - they were wearing coarse old clothes, but the clothes were still clean and warm, and judging from their expressions, these were the mountain people who lived nearby and worked all year round, and the most interesting thing was that there were not only sturdy men, but also women and children among these people--they were completely dragged by their families.

While Victoria was guessing in his mind which family had instigated the gathered civilians, Byron had already taken a few steps in front of the crowd.

Those dressed in coarse linen looked at the heavily armed, tall and majestic Imperial General in front of them with some awe, but they did not retreat any further.

Byron glanced at them and said casually, "What are you gathered here for?" ”

The tone is flat and natural, as if he has long been used to it.

Several men in the crowd stood up, they first subconsciously glanced back, and then boldly came to Byron: "General, we have something to say......"

Byron raised his eyebrows: "Or is it the same as before?" ”

"Yes," the men nodded, then took a breath and shouted in a gong-like voice, "Southerners, don't touch our land!" You guys are digging our veins and water!! ”

The civilians gathered behind them shouted as well, and the sparse shouting lasted for a few seconds before all stopped.

The leading man looked at Byron with a hint of anticipation, and the latter pouted and waved his hand: "I heard you all - get these people together, and send them to the west to dig a drain, the women to handle the potatoes and jerky, and the children to help out in the kitchen, after which there will be an hour of literacy lessons...... Who brought this one who looks less than five years old!? ”

A tall, thin man came out of the crowd with an embarrassed smile: "I, my son...... He's got a lot of light! And he's actually almost seven years old, so he just looks skinny......"

"I'm not blind, if he can be five and a half years old, I will be your son!" Byron glared at the tall and thin man, and then waved his hand angrily, "Go in and take care of the child, you are not allowed to bring it tomorrow." ”

A group of civilians in front of the checkpoint immediately walked forward with joy, very cooperatively accepted the soldiers' inspection and body search, and then walked towards the camp under the leadership of several soldiers. ”

"Or else?" Byron glared at the other party, "The soldiers of the empire will never deceive the people, saying that the end of the day is the end of the day!" ”

"Okay, that's good......"

The man nodded happily and hurriedly followed the group that was already far away, and entered the camp.

Victoria watched dumbfounded.