In the fountain garden square in front of the main entrance, the crisp sound of jingling bells can be heard from time to time, Rebecca is happily riding on her "new toy", is circling around the flower bed, helpless attendants can only stand not far away or try to follow nearby, ready to help the princess who fell to the ground.

It's just that compared to the beginning, Rebecca is obviously much more proficient at the moment, at least she won't plunge into the flower bed again.

Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study, Gawain silently withdrew his gaze towards the square.

"Two-wheeled vehicles...... The people of Typhon really made up something interesting," Amber's voice came from behind him, "There is an assessment made by scholars and advisors from the Government Affairs Department, this seemingly simple means of transportation has great potential value, it is flexible, convenient, and low-cost, and any ordinary person with sound hands and feet can use it proficiently after a short period of study, as long as it is an area with relatively flat roads, it can be used, and the threshold for promotion is lower than that of the magic guide device...... It's a good thing. ”

Gawain didn't say anything for a while.

He had something in his head that no one could know.

Although the form did not look exactly like the "bicycle" he remembered, the principle and general structure of the thing were no different from the things he was familiar with, except that they ...... Before he could spread the word to Cecil, the Typhonians were already ahead of the curve.

Amber saw that Gawain didn't speak for a while, so she couldn't help but say, "What? Typhon people are ahead of the curve in 'technological innovation', and don't feel comfortable? ”

"Of course not," Gawain shook his head, "To be honest, during the Ansu era, the Typhonians themselves were always at the forefront of the technological field, and we were just a few years ahead of the curve with magic technology. And from the actual situation, it is also a necessity that the Typhonians made this flexible and convenient means of transportation before us......"

"Oh? What does this say? ”

"Their road renovation and leveling project started earlier than ours, and when Ansu was still busy with civil strife, there were already new and wide roads between the towns and villages of the Typhon people, and even if we start work with full force now, we can only ensure that the roads between the big cities and the major towns meet the new standards," Gawain turned his head, "In the final analysis, the birth of a new thing does not come with a clapping hand, and without the support of the environment, there will be no new thing that adapts to the environment.

"What I care more about than these is when did the prototype of this 'two-wheeled vehicle' appear? It's pretty well done right now, so it shouldn't have just popped up recently......

Amber blinked, quickly recalling the information: "...... There was indeed an earlier 'prototype', a dozen years ago there was a craftsman Typhon who made a wooden moped, but not much attention was paid to it at the time, it was only regarded as some kind of novelty, and later there were craftsmen who improved it several times, but still not much attention was paid to it. Until half a year ago, the number of factories in Aldernan had proliferated, a large number of workers had to go to work in the factories, and many people related to the factories had to run around, and there were more and more factories, more and more workers, and the areas where the workers lived were getting farther and farther away from the city center - and then, the 'two-wheeled bicycle', which had not been much of a concern for many people, was noticed by some discerning businessmen.

"According to the information sent by the 'Trajectory' intelligence line, this means of transport is currently rapidly becoming popular among the mid-level citizens of Aldernan, who are mainly skilled workers with stable incomes, foremen, small and medium-sized lawyers, and decent business people. As for the grassroots workers, they cannot afford the price of two-wheeled vehicles for the time being. However, several Typhon aristocrats launched the 'Two-Wheeler Welfare Program', which called on factories to pay for cheaper versions of two-wheelers and then lend them to workers, who could own the car 'for free' as long as they had worked in the factory for more than a certain number of years. ”

“…… The factory owner always recovers the cost from the workers, and the workers also feel that they are relieved of the pressure of traveling, and in the end, capital always stimulates the ingenuity of the capitalists," Gawain thought for a moment and said with a chuckle, "but in any case, things are indeed good, and we can use them...... The road situation in most parts of the south has improved a lot, and this two-wheeled vehicle can come in handy, but it is not too technically difficult, and it can be copied at the factory. ”

At this point, he paused and fell into a brief thought.

Magic machinery and factory production, they have a single, one-sided impact on a society, industrialization is a chain reaction, when its source begins to operate, all the links related to it in the society will inevitably begin to change.

The factories needed ordinary people as workers, and their role in the functioning of society was magnified, so that Typhon's upper echelons would look at ordinary people, whether they wanted it or not—if only as cogs and money bags.

The two-wheeled cart made for ordinary people was just the beginning—it represented not only a few clever Typhon merchants discovering new business opportunities, but also a change in the thinking of a part of the Typhon upper echelons who had mastered the knowledge and means of production.

And as long as this change happens, their ability to use magic technology will inevitably improve rapidly, which is pressure for Gawain, but it is also what he wants to see.

Once again, he fell into a contradictory state of tangle and expectation.

Amber looked at Gawain curiously, "What do you want?" ”

"Typhon Man...... It's a bit more flexible," Gawain said slowly with a hint of exclamation, "but it's a good thing." ”

“…… I don't know how many complicated things you've been thinking about in the past few seconds, but I remember you said that it's not a bad thing for others to develop, we just need to make sure that we always develop faster than others," Amber took a temporary look at the top of her recorded "Gawain Cecil the Great's Sacred Words", and then changed the subject, "Since we are talking about Typhon now...... Counting the time, that Princess Matilda should be almost there. ”

"Matilda Augustus......" Gawain put his finger to his chin thoughtfully, "According to the information from Maryland and Philip, that princess is a person who pays a lot of attention to magic techniques, although it is not ruled out that this is her deliberate attitude, but she does know a lot about some more professional magic skills. ”

Amber glanced at Gawain, "Are you worried about what she can see from Cecil's magic channeling skills, which will affect the concealment on the 'Twenty-Five' side?" ”

"It's not, Twenty-Five' has always been very cautious, the technologies he has released have all been mutated, and he has also prepared a very complete 'research and development evidence', and there is nothing suspicious," Gawain shook his head, "I'm just a little curious, that Princess Typhon's attention to magic technology is just a show of Typhon's royal family's attitude...... Or maybe it's really her personal preference. If it's the latter...... I'd rather get on good terms with her, and then lend her hand to give them some of the 'gifts' that I was going to give to Typhon in a more natural and reasonable way......"

Seeing the classic calculating look on Gawain's face, Amber wanted to roll her eyes on the spot, but she was afraid that she would really roll her eyes by being slapped on the wall, so she could only forcibly suppress her thoughts and change the topic: "Speaking of Typhon's royal family, the Military Intelligence Agency has recently been investigating information about the Augustan family's genetic 'madness', and we have found something interesting. ”

"Oh?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, "Let's hear it." ”

Knowing the opponent is the basis for protecting oneself, based on this, Gawain has been paying attention to Typhon's Augustus family since the Southern Unity War, especially their family's famous "mad curse" legend, and collecting information in this area is also the focus of the Military Intelligence Agency's mission in Typhon.

"According to the relatively open information that has been collected before, we already know that the 'madness' of the Augustan family did not always occur, but appeared two hundred years ago, after the event known as the 'Great Collapse,'" Amber began to report, "Two hundred years ago, the old imperial capital of Typhon collapsed due to a major earthquake, and the whole fell into the ground, but before the collapse occurred, the then Emperor Typhon foresaw the disaster in advance and evacuated in advance, thus avoiding casualties, and after that, The members of the House of Augustus were only beginning to be plagued by the curse of madness......

"In our latest intelligence, there is an explanation for this 'curse' that appeared in the aftermath of the Great Collapse.

Some of Typhon's upper-class aristocrats and scholars have a theory that the collapse of the old imperial capital two hundred years ago was not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster, and it was the Typhon royal family at that time who tried to draw some forbidden power from the earth, which caused the backlash to cause the great collapse, so the Typhon emperor at that time did not foresee any disaster, but knew that the ritual was out of control and carried out the evacuation.

"As for the so-called madness, it is the after-effect of this backlash - it is the uncontrolled forces of the depths of the earth that have polluted the souls of Augustus, and have passed this pollution down from generation to generation to this day."

"Man-made disaster...... Trying to draw strength from the depths of the earth? Gawain frowned, "That sounds more like an absurd court fantat." This kind of legend that denigrates the reputation of the royal family should be a taboo in Typhon, right? ”

"Of course, no one dares to discuss these legends publicly, and public discussion is basically not far from death—the royal family of Typhon has always been tough, unlike the royal family of Ansu in the past," Amber nodded, "but this kind of thing will always be kept secret and circulated among some not-so-honest nobles and scholars."

"Rosetta Augustus's early years of hard work in order to implement reforms, but not as thoroughly as you did due to the domestic situation, led to a large number of resentful nobles within Typhon, who may not oppose Rosetta's rule, but certainly do not mind discussing some 'little story' about the Augustan family in private.

"This kind of little story does sound absurd, but since it dares to involve the royal family, and it can be circulated among many scholars and transcendents, then there must be a part of it that is true......"

Gawain glanced at Amber: "What you told me, it seems that it has been screened and confirmed?" ”

"I've stripped away the overly absurd and malicious, and retained the parts that mirror the various versions of the rumors," Amber said, nodding her head, "but it's mostly true that the Augustus family did something two hundred years ago, and that it caused the family to inherit madness." ”

“…… I'm now a little curious about what lies beneath their crumbling old imperial capital," Gawain said faintly, "Beneath the deep sea lies the Lord of Storms, the Dark Mountains bury the Rebellious Fortress, and beneath the Thorin Giant Tree is the legacy of the Rebel Empire...... In this world, it's not safe to burrow into the ground. ”

As he spoke, he couldn't help but have another slightly strange thought in his heart:

Does the soon-to-be-visiting Princess Matilda Augustus also carry this curse that will eventually lead to madness?

……

In the City of Dreams, in the rotunda of the central temple, Selena Gerfen's figure had just condensed in the air when she heard the voice of Archbishop Yuri beside her:

"Archbishop Selena, we've found out for the first time in Sandbox One."

"I know," Selena looked at Yuri in a white robe, "what's going on?" ”

"The first Spirit Knights to enter Sandbox One arrived in the deserted city, where they found a record of madness and confusion that the world had come to an end and that all beings in the world had escaped the meaningless cycle - after exploring the city's perimeter, the operatives confirmed that there were no more inhabitants in the area," Archbishop Yuri said quickly, "With the help of that team of Spirit Knights as a psychic signer, we finally re-established the surveillance of Sandbox One, and then found ...... All the minds in there are literally gone! ”

Selena Gelfen's expression instantly became serious: "All - including real test subjects, and all virtual personalities simulated by the sandbox? ”

"Yes, all," Archbishop Yuri nodded, "There are no more 'residents' in Sandbox One, and it is likely that it was 'emptied' in the early days of the Sandbox closure, and the Phantom Town we explored before was empty, and we once guessed that it was an 'anomaly' caused by projection distortion, but now it seems that the empty state is not a 'distorted vision' at all, but the real state of Sandbox One—it is idling!" It's been idling."

The No. 1 sandbox, which has been out of control for a long time, the No. 1 sandbox that should have housed tens of thousands of "residents", has been undergoing high-speed evolution inside, and the No. 1 sandbox that projected the illusion of residents in the early days of loss of control has long been empty.

The mind inside...... Where did it go?

The "inhabitants" of its early projections, the "priests" in the Phantom Town...... What the hell is it?

Despite having lost her real-world entity, Selena Geldfen felt an inexplicable chill suddenly rush over her.