Aldenan swept away the gloom of the summer, and the brilliant sun, which was rare several times a year, was slanting through the sky, and the light penetrated through the window, and then swept over the silver lampposts and the delicate carvings on the window frames, leaving a series of shadowy spots on the ground, and Rosetta Augustus sat behind her desk, his gaze moving from those spots, and he did not speak for a long time.

In those spots of light, he seemed to see the mortal kingdoms at this moment—the light was connected by dark shadows, and the intertwined and isolated parts seemed to be inevitable, but no matter what, a brighter era had finally arrived, and under the sun, all the light and shadow still converged together into this lush summer.

"Have you really decided not to bother with this?" Diana, the titular head royal maid and the actual leader of the wanderers, looked at the monarch to whom she was loyal, and asked in a non-wavering tone, "Bard Wendell was once an Imperial general in charge of the Winter Wolf Line, and his father and daughter now have a significant influence in the Empire's military system, and now he is loyal to Cecil, this matter ......"

"He's the wolf general of twenty years ago, and the wolf general of twenty years ago is dead," Rosetta glanced at Diana calmly, "For this era of drastic change, a wolf general who has been out of the military system twenty years ago and has deviated from normal society for many years is meaningless, he can neither return to Typhon's military system nor get his place in the rest of the empire. And ......"

He paused, and in the afternoon sunlight he seemed to recall fragments of his youth—but those fragments quickly faded into delicate trade-offs and judgments.

"And I care more about the allegiance of the Wendell family than the value of Bud Wendell himself - Bard has left Typhon, but Ferdinand and Andesa are still here, and the other members of the Wendell family, the military nobles and nobles who are connected to it, are still here, and the empire needs the loyalty of these people more than ever in this period when the turmoil has just subsided."

Diana lowered her head: "I see, your judgment is really long-term." ”

Rosetta just shook her head, and then suddenly let out a sigh with a strange look on her face: "But in this way? One of the ancient ancestors of the House of Augustus turned into a tree in the land of Cecil? Typhon's former most promising wolf general became a researcher under the tree...... The direction of the world is really unexpected. ”

The ruler of the empire said with a strange expression, but he couldn't help but think of what kind of "surprise" the other party would come up with when he met Gawain Cecil next time - could it be true that he had to check the tightness of the royal tombs and the cemeteries of the major noble families? It is said that after Gawain's "resurrection", Ansu had many nobles to strengthen the coffin of the family mausoleum? He just thought it was a stupid joke? Now I can't help but think about the rationality of it......

He didn't mind the sudden return of a long-deceased Augustan ancestor, but it was another thing for the ancestor of the family who had returned to the world to suddenly become a Cecil......

"Your Majesty?" Diana noticed that Rosetta suddenly fell silent? I couldn't help but ask, "What did you think of?" ”

"No? It's nothing? Don't talk about that," Rosetta shook her head, her gaze retracting from the light on the floor, "Cecil just sent a summons?" About the Gondor Wasteland? You should already know about it. ”

"Yes," Diana nodded, it was difficult for the Iron Soldier's face to change much, but the momentum on her body still looked more serious than just now, "I saw the transcription early in the morning?" Its contents...... It's amazing. ”

"Deep in the ruins of the Deep Blue Well, there is still a working legacy of ancient Gondor, including the serving Iron Man Corps? And an unmonitored cult of the Dead is operating in the depths of the wasteland, and may have stolen a considerable amount of energy from the Deep Blue Well......" Rosetta muttered? His fingers subconsciously rubbed the gemstone ring in his hand, "Such an unsettling threat...... It's been under our noses for hundreds of years. ”

"The wasteland has always been under our noses? Just for a long time? Everybody thought it was 'dead'? Diana said in a calm tone, "Even if there have been distortions breaking through the barrier and invading the human world in the past two years, many countries have not taken it seriously - after all, the wasteland has not shown clear 'malice' to the people in the safe zone, and everyone subconsciously thinks that it will always be in this state of security lockdown." ”

"I now understand more and more the vigilance and vigilance that Gawain Cecil has maintained in the Gondor wasteland since his resurrection," Rosetta said in a deep voice, "As long as that thing exists, the world will not be truly safe, and it is ridiculous that until the eve of the Alliance, many people still called Cecil's new outposts and fortresses in the southern foothills of the Dark Mountains 'an old man who has lost his time's nerves to old threats......

“…… I don't know what to say about the subtle tendencies of the human mentality, but I agree with your judgment about Gawain Cecil and the Wasteland of Gondor," Diana asked, after a moment's thought, "and what do you think of Cecil's proposed plan?" ”

"They have come up with a long-term plan to counterattack the wasteland, hoping that the three empires of Cecil, Typhon, and Silver will call on the forces in their respective areas of influence and advance from the north and south sides of the Gondor wasteland, with the first goal of establishing a forward base at the foot of the Great Wall, followed by a purification zone and more forward positions within the barrier - just like the pioneers did seven hundred years ago," Rosetta recalled the details of the previous communication from Cecil's side, "At the same time, He also wanted to establish some kind of communication and transportation that could directly cross the wasteland, replacing the current instable Sentinel Data Link and the 'Ring of Gondor Land Corridor'...... This matter should have been supported by the Silver Empire, or at least tacitly.

"On the whole, it's an ambitious project, and I hate to admit it, but I'm afraid that only someone like Gawain who has gone through a second frontier would dare to come up with such a thing—a determination that those of us who live in comfort can hardly do.

"As for my attitude...... I'm inclined to support, at least for his first phase, which is that we need to rebuild those strongholds and pioneer camps within the Great Wall, whether or not we want to counterattack further into the Wasteland in the future, or at least not let the current state of ignorance of what's going on in the Wasteland continue. ”

Diana looked at Rosetta's expression and nodded slowly: "Wise enough judgment, and enough caution." ”

"I'm curious now what you think about this," Rosetta said suddenly, "not in the capacity of the so-called 'head maid' or 'commander of the loiterers,' but in your ...... The identity of the Iron Man of Gondor, what do you think about this? After all, it's your 'home' in a sense, and there's probably an entire Iron Man Corps still in operation deep within the wasteland. ”

“…… I don't know what I should think, it's not on my list of duties," Diana seemed to think for a moment, a little confused by Rosetta's question, "I was born in the Gondor Empire, but the creators who built my production facilities and mentally tuned me in the first place have all been wiped out by that tide, and I don't have any feelings of 'nostalgia' for the polluting dust and toxic water that are left after the tide." As for the 'Iron Man Corps' you just mentioned...... I do care, after all, it's been a long time since I've seen my own kind - if they're still functioning, maybe I can update some useful data from their mental cores to improve the health of my core.

"Of course, if you're asking me what I think of the Counter-Wasteland plan, I'm very supportive of it - it's a very wise and positive plan, and it's really meaningful to face it and try to resolve it once and for all rather than sealing the deadly threat inside an energy barrier and pretending it doesn't exist."

Rosetta stared at Diana for a moment, "What would you do if—I mean, you reconnect with that Iron Man Legion deep in the wasteland, and they or someone with command authority behind them asks you to 'return'?" Does this command contradict your oath of 'allegiance to House Augustus'? When two directives conflict, how do you decide on their priority? ”

“…… Once upon a time, when your great-grandfather was very young, he used to try to guide me down with logical conflicting questions to escape the midday session or afternoon workout," Diana looked at Rosetta with a blank expression, "Are you trying something similar now?" ”

Rosetta was equally expressionless: "I'm just a little curious. ”

"Iron men are mechanical soldiers who obey the logic system, but we are far more flexible than the so-called 'puppets'," Diana said, "If the conflict you are talking about does arise, I will explain my actual situation and seek forgiveness to my superiors, and I will also explain to my superiors why I left the Iron Man network seven hundred years ago, in any case, there is no shortage of old observatory guards in a running Iron Man Corps today, and you must need my experience accumulated over hundreds of years- I'm never going to get caught up in what you assume is a command conflict and go down. ”

"Okay, so I said it, just 'if'," Rosetta spread her hands, while suddenly a little curious, "but you just mentioned when my great-grandfather was young...... Would he really use this kind of logic to try to lead you down? I never knew anything like this...... How did you cope? ”

"I restarted faster than he could escape the room," Diana said quietly, as she looked behind Rosetta, the arcane runes used to detect spirits in her high-precision crystal-made eyeballs were rapidly refreshing, "And I should remind you that your great-grandfather is listening. ”

Rosetta was stunned for a moment, and looked sideways slightly, seeing the ancestors of Augustus, who had been cursed by the Vision two hundred years ago, standing expressionlessly behind him, while his great-grandfather was looking down at him from the nearest position.

Rosetta was silent for a few seconds, then turned her head back and returned to her upright position.

The curse that lasted for two hundred years was lifted, but the sequelae ...... It seems like it's going to be going to be going to be a while longer.

……

Over the Plains of the Holy Spirit, an anti-gravity vehicle much larger than a regular dragoon was skimming the bottom of the clouds in the sun, and several dragoon fighters serving as escorts and two heavily armed dragonborn warriors lined up on both sides to escort the formation, and the bright sunlight shone through the thin clouds in the sky on the steel and crystal shell, glowing with a layer of dazzling silver light, and at the same time revealing the energy shield covering the aircraft and the dragonborn soldiers.

In the large aircraft in the center of the queue, the cockpit that is much larger than the regular dragoons is divided into two parts, the rear half of the cockpit is semicircular, several seats are arranged on the edge of the curved bulkhead, and in front of the half-circle seat is a magic net terminal device - at this moment, the shading barrier outside the cockpit has been opened, blocking the overly bright sky above, and only the most comfortable light is left in the cockpit, and the scene of the Holy Spirit Plains is projected above the magic net terminal: it is a real-time overlook from outside the cabin.

The Silver Empress Belsetia sat on one of the seats, looking at the holographic projection with a curious and amused expression, while occasionally surveying the internal structure of the aircraft and the inconspicuous magic devices, while Elaine, the maid next to her, looked a little nervous, sometimes clutching the armrest of the chair, sometimes frowning and listening carefully to the hum of the anti-gravity ring under the floor.

"I've heard about these magical flying devices since I was in the royal court, and my great star magician has been full of praise for your groundbreaking progress in the field of anti-gravity, and for your rune optimization and efficiency enhancement techniques...... To be honest, I thought her reaction was a bit exaggerated, because the anti-gravity realm has always been the home of elves," Bersetia said to Gawain beside her, "but now I'm starting to believe what she says about you...... I can sense the flow of energy near the anti-gravity ring, your use of magic is incredible, and it's so stable......"

"Mathematics is the cornerstone of the world, and the greatest characteristic of the cornerstone is stability," Gawain said, "but compared to the Star Sanctuary of the Silver Empire, these small-scale anti-gravity devices should not be anything in your eyes." ”

"It's different, Uncle Gawain," Belsetia smiled, "The Templar of the Stars is indeed a great legacy, but its biggest problem is that it's only a 'legacy'—it's not even us Silver Elves who created it, but the older Primordial Elves. If we can build a second Star Temple, it will be the pride of the Silver Empire. ”

The legacy of the primordial elves......

Gawain couldn't help but sigh a little in his heart, sighing that an incredible miracle creation like the Temple of the Stars has now become a "lone one" - Rebecca has coveted the elves' "ancestral technology" for a long time, and she even has a grand dream of building an air fortress similar to the Temple of the Stars, in fact, this is even Gawain's dream, but unfortunately...... With Cecil's current technical strength, it is far from enough.

"How far are we from the Thorin Tree?" Belsetia asked suddenly.

"There's still about half an hour to go," Gawain said, "and you can take advantage of this time to gather some more information to say to Bertila—you haven't seen each other in hundreds of years." ”

Belsetia hummed softly, memories of centuries ago, and out of the corner of her eye, on the holographic projection ahead, a very distant green suddenly appeared at the end of the horizon.