Thorderlin, who went to the north to investigate the situation, sent back information - with the help of hidden relay devices set up along the river banks along the way, the Iron Ranger advance team has always maintained communication with the magic network in the south, and with the support of convenient long-range communication, Gawain was the first to know the situation of the "crystal cluster monsters" encountered by the high-level rangers.

Truth be told, he would have liked the report never to be delivered to him.

“…… We encountered those monsters in the Dolan Hills northeast of Pompeii...... It looks like a human made of flesh and crystal, but stronger and taller than a human. They seem to have a strong physique and some spellcasting ability, but their exact combat power is unclear - only the Burner is known to be very effective against them.

"Based on the remaining clues, those monsters must have wandered from a direction further north...... A village was found to have been attacked, but the villagers showed no signs of infection and the source of the contamination should not be nearby......

“…… The local lords and their troops went to the front in response to the royal call, and it is said that no news has been heard for a long time......"

Thorderlin, in the holographic projection, meticulously reported the situation in the north, and behind him was a makeshift camp built at the foot of the leeward rock, and the Steel Ranger warriors were on guard not far away, and the communication screen was slightly distorted due to the lack of relay nodes, but Gawain could still see the obvious worried look on the face of the high-ranking ranger.

Large areas of communication have been cut off, the whereabouts of local lords are unknown, and strange flesh and blood monsters have roamed out of areas where they have lost contact...... Either way, it points to the worst possible.

After completing the debriefing, the High Ranger asked for the next order, "Do we want to move on?" ”

"Continue to the perimeter of the Giant Tree Crossing—but if you encounter too many 'Crystal Cluster Infected', return immediately," Gawain commanded in a deep voice, "Beware of relays and small nets along the way...... Do you have enough magic net units and small relay devices to carry? ”

"The relay device is enough, the magic net...... We can install some of the relay devices directly in the mills and manors of the local lords, and the central and eastern regions of the plains have a higher popularity of magic nets, so energy is not a problem here. ”

Gao Wen nodded, and then made some more detailed inquiries and arrangements before hanging up the communication.

He looked up at the people gathered in the room.

Hetty, Byron, Philip, Amber, Rebecca and others were of course present, and in addition to that, there were also "techies" like Carmel and Pittman, who were also called here.

"Now it is certain that the large-scale destruction of the Society of the End of All Things has begun, and the situation is probably worse than we thought - no matter how incompetent the nobles of the northern regions are, they will not be able to allow hordes of monsters with no concealment of their whereabouts to pass through their territory, this situation can only mean one thing - the noble lords of the eastern region of the Holy Spirit Plain have lost control of the situation," Gawain said solemnly, as his gaze looked at the A precise map of the entire Ansu territory, on which the eastern part of the Whitsunday Plains was marked with a large red circle, "The biggest problem now is that we are not sure how big the out-of-control area is, how many 'crystal clusters' are infected, and what the situation of the royal family and the eastern realm is. ”

As he spoke, Gawain's mind was not only a hand-drawn map of Ansu, but also a top-down perspective from the satellite.

However, even with the help of a satellite perspective, he was limited in what he could see this time.

Since last week, the entire area of the giant tree crossing has been shrouded in a thick fog, and now although the fog has dissipated, the clouds still affect the view of the satellite from above, and at the same time, there is serious picture interference and distortion in the top view, it seems that the entire eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain is shrouded in a powerful energy field, and similar situations...... He had only encountered it when he was looking down on the Gondor Wasteland.

Of course, he couldn't see anything, and in areas where the distortion was not so severe, and the clouds and smoke were relatively light, he could see the traces of the outbreak of battle, and see some messy battlefields - but because of the lack of clarity, he couldn't be sure if those battle traces were attacked by monsters, or if they were caused by a normal battle between the Kingdom Army and the East.

"The latest news from Baisha Mining is that the social order in the East is quite normal at the moment, but there is indeed a disturbing atmosphere spreading," Hetty said at this time, "Marquis Belk Loren has not returned since he left for Solinburg, and many of the nobles left behind in the East have been frequently gathering, exchanging visits, and sending messengers, and it seems that they have also cut off contact with the front. Holm, who is in charge of the White Sands region, believes that the situation could deteriorate further – even without a foreign attack, the remaining nobles in the east could fall into civil strife and threaten the safety of the mines if they lose control. ”

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but add with a strange expression: "The local nobles near the White Sand Hills seem to be ...... I've never liked the way we mine. ”

"White Sand Hills...... It's a gap in the immediate vicinity of the Gülen region," Gawain muttered briefly, then looked at Rebecca, "Is the Iron Throne refurbished complete?" ”

Rebecca's eyes lit up and she looked excited: "The armor plate has been welded, and the railgun crew and incineration device have also been installed!" It's now being controlled and balanced tested at the depot – but if you feel the need to do so, you can drive it straight to Gülen and the rest of the tests will be done there......"

After a short period of thought, Gawain nodded: "Drive to Gülen and be on call at any time." ”

Then he paused again and turned his head to Byron.

"Where are the Trailblazers, Aurora, and Morningstars now?"

"Arrived at Rock Harbor."

"You go at once, and in three days you set sail over the Rock Fortress and north along the Dolgon River into the plains of the Whitsunday, ready to support the Ranger advance party, regardless of whether or not there is new information coming from Sölderlin. In addition, I have ordered Sir Wald to prepare a fleet of mechanical ships for the refugees, which are still on standby in the harbor, and which are under your command - if the worst goes for you, you will use them. ”

When this order was given, even the old fritter knight, who had always been grinning and not in shape, had a serious look on his face.

If the MIA operatives were just intelligence officers, and if the Steel Rangers were just squads of spying soldiers, then once the three magical mechanical warships crossed the Rock Fortress and entered the Dolgon River, the meaning would be very different.

Since the end of the Southern War, since the Rock Fortress hung the flag of the Duchy of Cecil, this land has closed its gates, and the nobles of the Plains of the Holy Spirit and further north have speculated about what kind of power is brewing in this mysterious land, guessing what kind of world is behind the steel wall, they have sent all kinds of spies, and made all kinds of efforts, but in the face of Cecil's strict social system, all attempts to pry open this gate have been in vain-

Now, its doors are finally about to open.

The nobles of the plains, who stared at the south and saw the present, will be able to see what is behind the gates.

"Yes," Byron said in a deep voice, but after a brief moment of seriousness, he couldn't help laughing, "I guess the nobles of the plains along the Dolgon River will panic if they're all alive." Of course, it is more likely that they do not know our advanced warships at all......"

"This is a serious occasion," Philip immediately interrupted Byron's words with a straight face, and then looked at Gawain, "My lord, what about the Army Combat Corps?" ”

"Stand by for now."

At present, the intelligence is still insufficient, and Gawain is not sure how serious the pollution or "curse" is in the eastern part of the plain, how the strange "crystal cluster" is spreading, and the situation of the kingdom army or the eastern army in those areas, and it is not wise to rush to send ground troops in a state of serious lack of intelligence.

On the other hand, the powerful Magic Command Battleship has almost insoluble power and excellent survivability in this era, and at the same time, the warship sailing on the surface can also greatly avoid the threat of "plague" from land, and even if it does encounter a situation, it has the ability to quickly return home.

Considering these two factors, he decided to let the magic warship enter the Dolgon River first, and while going north along the river to confirm the situation in the Whitsunday Plain, he also established reliable naval artillery support in the river to provide access conditions for the land troops in advance, and after that, until Sölderlin gathered more information, he would consider letting the subsequent chariots and infantry enter the "polluted zone" that could be very dangerous......

- The area of confrontation between the Kingdom Army and the Eastern Frontier is located at the Jumu Road Crossing in the east of the Whitsunday Plain, although it belongs to the eastern part of the plain, it is actually very close to the central region, and the Dolgon River passes through the vicinity of that area, so the naval guns in the river can provide effective support for the ground forces on the land on the eastern bank.

The meeting ended, and most of the people left the room, but Kamel and Pitman were left behind by Gawain.

"What do you think about the 'Cluster Infected' that Sölderlin mentioned?" Gawain's gaze swept between the two masters (although one of them seemed to be very wet), and finally fell on Carmel, "That does sound a lot like the 'gods' of the past, but it seems to be different in details?" ”

"That's right, it's not the same as the gods I remember," Kamel nodded, making a buzzing sound, "The gods we created back then, even the ones with the most serious crystallization infections, only the main joints appeared crystals, and at the same time, the body was swollen and twisted, but according to Sölderlin, the crystal coverage rate of the 'infected' on the body surface of the 'infected' was even more than fifty percent, and it was almost a biological ...... made of crystals and organic matter."

At this point he paused, then added, "It gives me a very strange feeling. Our research on sin back then was an effort to reduce the 'alienation' tendency of carriers, so that they could become more human-like while carrying the sin factor, and the ones that Soldling saw were ...... But it's going to the other extreme, and it's trying to make people ...... Inhuman. ”

"This may be what they call the 'Great Evolution' - abandoning the human body and embracing the new form brought about by the mutation," Gawain shook his head and turned his gaze to Pittman, "Based on your understanding, how do you think this 'infection' may be transmitted?" In other words, what kind of prevention is most effective? ”

"The 'Plague Spell' of the Society of the End of the World, no matter how strange it may seem, is still a plague in nature, and the plague spreads in several ways - water, food, air, and contamination with the corpse carrying the curse. Airborne transmission is the most efficient route, but it usually only spreads the weaker plague and is easily dispelled by ritual spells, followed by water and food, both of which are preferred by the End-of-Life Society, though boiling water and thoroughly heating food are effective against it. As for the last one...... Cursed corpses have the strongest polluting power, because flesh itself is an excellent spell casting material, so our various types of burners are necessary: all corpses must be burned, whether they are friend or foe, whether they are high or low, it is always safest to burn them to ashes in the shortest possible time, and before burning, close or direct contact should be minimized - if contact is not necessary, it must also be isolated, and at the same time, it is safe to use detection spells. ”

Gawain touched his chin: "It doesn't sound like anything special......"

"To us, it may be true for the people of the South, but on the plains of the Holy Spirit, any of these routes of transmission are deadly enough," Pitman sighed, reassimilating his usual indecent appearance, rubbing his beard, "It takes enough firewood to boil a pot of water for half a loaf of bread, and that's because of it...... A plague of water can kill thousands of people. ”

There was a moment of silence in the room.

"We don't have enough information about those 'crystal cluster infections' right now that I can't make a sufficiently accurate analysis," after a brief pause, Kamel suddenly broke his silence, "If there are more samples, I should have some progress." ”

"Thorderling will send a team to bring back those crystal fragments - after confirming that they do not carry activated magical properties and have no tendency to spread pollution," Gawain nodded, "I will give you a laboratory to study it, and it will be our focus until this incident subsides." ”

……

After Kamal and Pitman left, the room fell silent.

Gawain sat in his chair, quietly thinking about the next arrangements and developments.

This silence lasted for an unknown amount of time, and Gao Wen was suddenly awakened by the slight movement coming from the door.

He looked up and saw that the door to the room had crept open a narrow slit, and a guy he had almost forgotten about and such a person had poked his head in.

Tyre.

Gawain had been out of the realm since last fall and had been busy working near the wasteland, and he hadn't seen this guy in a long time.

But even if he stayed in the territory, he didn't have much time to see Tyr - since the cooler weather last year, the sea caterpillar had gone into hibernation in a grand manner, sleeping in the pool for twenty hours a day, and occasionally crawling out just to bask in the sun on the balcony, completely forgetting where he was coming from...... Anyway, why did this product come all of a sudden?

Gawain had a burst of doubt in his heart, and at the same time watched Tyr climb in one arch after another, and the Kraken looked around, his face was blank: "Ah, didn't you mean a meeting?" ”

Gawain: "......"

"It's already over," Gawain used all his strength to keep his expression from collapsing, but he still couldn't help but look at the saltwater freak with a strange expression, "You...... Do you even know about meetings? ”

"Yes, Rebecca told me, but I took a nap," Tyr shook the tip of his tail with a look of frustration, "and you're done." ”

At this time, Gawain suddenly remembered that Rebecca seemed to have notified Tyre before, because this salted fish was more or less a technical adviser in the military industry, but at that time, Gawain went in and out of his left ear - he never believed that this fish would come......

I have to say that although Tyr didn't help at all, watching this confused sea caterpillar arch around the room, Gawain's mood was still inexplicably happy.

Probably this is the power of the Deep Sea Harmonic God.

He shook his head slightly, removing associations such as "Deep Sea Harmony God" from his mind, and then stood up, ready to leave: "I'm leaving, if you're okay, you can go back to sleep." ”

"Hey—I'm not going to wake up for a while," said Tyre, stretching three or four meters long, then lifting his upper body and looking in a certain direction with a curious expression...... Is something going on up north? ”

Gawain's intention to leave immediately stopped.

Tyr was looking at the direction of the east-north, the front line of the confrontation between the Kingdom Army and the East.

So far, no one has mentioned the situation to Tyr in detail, and even if anyone did, it would be impossible for her character to remember.

Why did she suddenly focus on that direction?

Intuition told Gawain that the fish's reaction was probably to feel something!

"The battlefield over there is deteriorating, and we're trying to figure it out," Gawain said, "Did anyone tell you?" ”

"Not really, but I feel it...... There's a little bit of food in that direction," Tyr blinked, then lifted up harder, looking harder to the north, "a little like a big squid......"

Gawain's eyes froze slightly: his instincts were correct, the Kraken, who had been dealing with the corpse of the God of Storms for a long time, had a perception that humans could not understand, and his satellite perspective was disturbed when overlooking the giant tree crossing, indicating that the area was covered by a special energy field, and Tyr suddenly looked north...... It means that she senses that energy field!

He immediately asked, "Food?" Are you sure it's food? ”

"Sort of," Tyr said with a wrinkle of her nose (though she didn't rely on her nose to sense the "breath"), not quite surely, "but it always felt a little bit of a cross-hair......

Gawain: "......"

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