The ruler of the Silver Empire sat silently on the throne forged from ancient technology that had long been lost, the holographic projection in front of the throne had dissipated, and her gaze had crossed the air and landed aimlessly in the distance, as if she was immersed in thought.

After a moment of thought, she tapped lightly on the golden armrest of the throne, and a flash of light appeared in one of the cables behind the throne that connected to her nervous system.

The metal sliding door on the side of the Hall of Domination (Control Hall) opened silently, and a high-ranking maid in a white dress with a tassel walked in with light steps and bowed in the direction of the Throne of Domination: "Your Majesty, you call me?" ”

"Ask Master Vilania to rule the halls," Belsetia nodded slightly, "I'm going to talk to her about the technical realm." ”

More than just a symbol of imperial power, the Sanctuary of the Stars is also an important research facility and sanctuary of knowledge, a magnificent aerial city with its sprawling laboratories and archives, and the headquarters of the Astral Sorcerers' Guild, one of the continent's two major magical organizations.

The Silver Empire is home to a group of top-notch researchers, a team of the best Magisters, the wisest and most knowledgeable scholars, and the best engineers, who are immersed in the infinite knowledge contained in the Temple of the Stars and various ancestral relics, and rely on the vast research facilities of the Temple of the Stars, tirelessly delving into the mysteries of the magical realm.

Because of their outstanding contributions and high academic ability, they have the honorary title of Astrology independent of their own professional system - Astrologists.

One of the most remarkable astrals, the great astral sorcerer Vilania, who has served the Empire for nearly two thousand years, has been summoned by the queen to take a break from the vast amount of data and blueprints and come to the throne of domination.

This wise and learned lady had a tall figure, although she was no longer young, she still maintained a beautiful mature appearance and elegant demeanor, she wore a lilac silver-trimmed skirt robe, her long golden hair was coiled high, and several crystals full of magic floated beside her, acting as her casting medium and recording tool, she bent slightly before Belsetia, saluted and asked the queen's will: "Your Majesty, what do you call me to command?" ”

"Vilania, you're my best magical advisor," the Silver Queen nodded slightly, "I need to make a decision now, and I need to hear your opinion." ”

"Speak, I'm listening."

"We have re-established contact with the northern part of the continent, as you should already know," said the Silver Queen, "I spoke with the Sonia Courier and met with Gawain Cecil—he is indeed resurrected. ”

“…… The resurrection of the dead has happened occasionally in history, but the 'perfect' resurrection of Duke Gawain Cecil is indeed rare, and it may have something to do with the mutation of life forms," Vilania thought as she said, "Do you want me to study the secret of Duke Cecil's resurrection?" But this is not my area of expertise, and the researchers of the Life Faction should be more able to advise you......"

"No, I'm looking for you because Duke Cecil has made me a proposal - about technical cooperation between humans and elves."

"Technical cooperation?" Vilania was a little surprised, she frowned slightly, "This...... It's an unexpected suggestion. The magical skills of humans and elves have never been intertwined, and even in the days of the Gondor Empire, most of the academic exchanges between us and humans were limited to the fields of culture and art, and occasionally involved supernatural powers, and only theoretical and academic discussions, but I think the 'cooperation' that Duke Cecil asked for should not mean that. ”

If it was only an exchange in the above areas, there would be no need for the queen to consult with herself.

"They've found a way to decipher and control the elven spells," Belsetia said lightly, but the indifferent content of her words made the Great Star Sorcerer's eyes widen, "Strictly speaking, they found the secret of the laws of all known runes in the world—they named it: Rune Logic." ”

Vilania's first reaction was "This is impossible", because there are many kinds of runes in the world, and the possibilities of the combination and arrangement of runes are almost endless, and even the most amazing mortals with the most amazing talent cannot perceive the magic fluctuations of all the runes, and it is impossible to control all the magic arrays, not to mention that there is a huge gap between each other, and the rune systems from different races are sorted out into a common law, which is like an uninhibited strange story, but as a rigorous and fearful researcher, The Great Star Sorcerer finally suppressed his instinctive resistance and disbelief, and turned to the Silver Queen to confirm: "Is this true? How did they do it? ”

"Of course Duke Cecil won't tell me the specifics, but they should have really found a way, a ...... A completely different path from the tradition. We already have intelligence confirming that there were magical devices with elven magic characteristics in the war in the southern border of Ansun, and this should be evidence," Beersevia said without hesitation, "and Duke Cecil wants to cooperate with the Silver Empire on a technical level - he wants our anti-gravity technology, multi-layered rune stacking technology, and various ancestral knowledge in the fields of mechanics and engineering, and in exchange, he is willing to share with us the logic of runes, and the information they are using to analyze human spells, Knowledge gained in the course of the divine arts. ”

"Our ancestors know ......," Vilania whispered as she repeated the Queen's words, her expression becoming serious.

"We have never disclosed our ancestral knowledge to other races, and even if we worked with the human nations to build the Sentinel Tower, we have come up with a 'sealed result' that does not include the tectonic process," Belsetia continued, "The legacy left by the Primordial Elves is the guarantee of the Silver Empire's existence to this day, the advice of Duke Cecil...... I hesitated. ”

The Great Star Sorcerer didn't give her answer immediately, she just thought quietly, and the magic crystals that floated beside her, constantly changing positions with slight fluctuations, stopped at some point, and began to shimmer in unison.

This is a manifestation of the great star magician's deep contemplation.

The Silver Queen didn't bother the Chief Advisor's thoughts, she just sat quietly on the throne of domination, listening with her soul and nerves to the whispers or murmurs of the ancient machines in this aerial city, listening to the sounds of each of its engines, every reactor, and every AI node slowly moving towards destruction, her expression calm.

"Your Majesty," the Great Star Sorcerer finally raised his head, breaking the silence, "Did you know that thirteen hundred years ago, I was the head teacher of the Royal Academy, and I was responsible for teaching the advanced techniques of arcane magic to those young elites, teaching them the most advanced knowledge of the Empire in the field of arcane. ”

"I've heard," Belsetia nodded slightly, "There are quite a few members of the Astral Sorcerers Guild who are your apprentices. ”

"Yes, most of them were taught by me thirteen hundred years ago," Verania said, taking a soft breath, "and I went back to the Royal Academy six days ago to visit a friend—on that friend's bookshelf I saw their current textbooks...... It's still what I taught 1,300 years ago. ”

Belsetia's eyes condensed, and she quietly looked at the great star magician in front of her.

"Your Majesty, the Silver Empire has been a giant beast that has been stagnant for thousands of years, and it may still be the largest individual in this forest, but its interior has gradually decayed in these thousands of years of stagnation. We dig for knowledge from the legacy of our ancestors, and in the first few millennia, we used it to build vast empires, but for many millennia, we made no progress. All of our technical achievements are based on minor repairs in several existing areas, and the products we have made with those ancient drawings are becoming more and more refined, more and more durable, and even more efficient, but ...... In the foundational areas behind these drawings, we have always stopped moving.

"Your Majesty, we are nearing no end, we need a second path—there is little hope of finding this path alone, but we may have an opportunity in front of us.

"Humanity's magical prowess may have suffered a heavy blow from the fall of the Gondor Empire, but they are an intelligent and fickle race, skilled at drawing knowledge from all kinds of fields and developing rapidly, and their knowledge is relevant to us—and we need it, and that's what we need.

"That's what I suggest, Your Majesty."

Belsetia listened quietly to the advice of the Great Star Sorcer, and after a few seconds of silence, she spoke, "You're right, we should take this opportunity.

"Great Star Sorcerer, please go back and rest, let the other Great Star Sorcerers get ready, and wait for my summons."

Vilania bowed her head deeply: "Yes, Your Majesty. ”

Vilania left the hall, and the Silver Queen was silent for a moment, before she tapped the handrail again and summoned her maid, "Let Valentine come to me." ”

A moment later, wearing a Mithril crown and a gold-rimmed robe on a red background, the tall, thin and solemn Imperial Minister Valentian Jingu entered the Imperial Hall, and the high-ranking elf who served as the queen's chief confidant bowed deeply in front of the throne: "Your Majesty, what are your orders?" ”

"The Duchy of Cecil in the north will engage in high-level technical cooperation with the Silver Empire, and in exchange for their rune control technology, the Empire will open up some of their ancestral knowledge to them," Belsetia said calmly, "I will convene the Participation Group and all the Great Star Sorcerers to discuss this matter." There will be many opponents, and unnecessary reserve and pride will make many elves refuse to open up their ancestral knowledge to humans. ”

Valendian, the Imperial Chief's Assistant, maintained an eternally unchanging grim countenance: "And what about your orders? ”

"I ask that the bill be passed within two days."

"Yes."

Soon, the hall fell silent again.

In the empty hall where the attendants had been dismissed in advance, Belsetia sat alone on the throne, and only the occasional humming of various instruments and equipment broke the silence in the room, which lasted for more than ten seconds, before a sigh rang out from the throne.

"Hopefully this is really an opportunity."

……

At the same time, the northern part of the continent, the territory of Ansu.

Deep underground, in an ancient palace, a room is brightly lit.

Patriarch Bertila stood in the room, silently watching a few black-robed worshippers inspect the magical device in the center of the room.

It was two black stone pillars, nearly one person high, the surface was engraved with dense runes and pale golden arcane lines, and there were fine crystals and expensive magic materials inlaid between those runes and lines, shining with a faint light, the two stone pillars stood on the ground, less than two meters apart from each other, and on the ground where they stood, you could also see a large magic array that was extremely complex and almost covered the entire floor, the magic array was obviously in a semi-active state, and countless runes and connections were flashing with a faint light, The crystals embedded in the magic circle are also full of energy.

The Elven Twins stood beside Beltila, looked at the two "stone pillars" in the center of the room with great interest, and exclaimed in unison: "The Eternal Sleepers really have some interesting ideas - they can even think of projecting people's minds into the distance, and even directly across the great wall......"

"It's a pity that this may be the last time I will work with them," Bertila said lightly, "and they eventually rejected the path of great evolution in favor of the false world of minds. ”

"They think their path is right, and we think ours is right," the Elf Twins chuckled softly as they walked around Bertila, "and what about you?" Imam Bertila, do you have your own vision of the New World? ”

"I don't like your penchant of talking around people," Bertila unceremoniously dodged the Elven Twins' entanglement and strode towards the center of the room—the cultists checking the magic circle had retreated, and the two black stone pillars were glowing with a constant light, "If you're not willing to help, at least don't make a mess." ”

"Ah, of course we're here to help," the Elven Twins said in unison, following Bertila to the pillar, "We have a lot to say to our companions on the other side of the barrier. ”

The magic array in the room activated, and the light swimming on the surface of the two black stone pillars suddenly became extremely bright.