Beltiera stood in front of Belsetia in a way she had never seen before—a yellowed fragment of the Silver Empress's mind that was a memory long ago for the elves' long lifespan, in which the human-born Druid Saintess was always dressed in a priest's robe, and her smile was as bright and gentle as the sun on a spring afternoon, and she ran between the wounds of the expeditionary force, and countless people were brought to life by her.

Her exploits have even been recognized by the Elven Society, the orthodox origin of the Druidic faith, whose icons are hung in the Sage's Ring in the Elven Court, alongside the Druid sages of thousands of years.

But the memories had finally yellowed, and Belsetia blinked, and the figure in front of her, a mixture of flesh and mutated plants, was showing a stiff smile at her, and the tangled vines behind her wriggled like veins, and a voice like a wooden friction came from within her: "Seven hundred years no see, don't you say hello?" Belsetia - Her Majesty the Empress? ”

The Silver Empress completely woke up from her memories, her gaze fell on the other party, and she broke the silence with a slight hesitation: "Beltilla...... Lady. ”

"You have become distant, as you call me," said Bertila, expressionlessly, "seven hundred years ago, you called me Sister Bertila. ”

Gao Wen on the side couldn't help frowning, and said with a little reminiscence: "How do I remember that I was called Auntie at that time." ”

The summer afternoon wind blew through the top of the Thorin treetops, and the sound of clattering blades came from below, and for the next two seconds, the atmosphere seemed a little eerie.

“…… Actually, I don't really care about it," Bertila finally broke her silence, her gaze quickly sweeping from Gawain to Bersetia, "I'm also happy with the title 'Ma'am' - it seems calm. ”

"Ahem," Gawain also broke the embarrassment with a dry cough, he saw that the people who greeted him at the scene were still lined up behind Bertila, and the maid Elaine who had just walked down the long ladder did not look very good, so he quickly changed the topic, "Let's not continue to stand here stupidly - the Silver Empress has the purpose of inspecting the Thorin Giant Tree on this trip, let's go to the resting place first, and we can also talk while walking on the way." ”

"Of course," said Bertilla, with a faint smile on her face, as she turned to the side, the vines spreading behind her stretched like a guide, "I was preparing when I received the news, Your Majesty, you will be satisfied with this journey—there is no one in this world who knows this 'tree' better than I do." ”

As soon as Belsetia took a step, she couldn't help but say after hearing Beltila's words, "Just call me by my name—just like before." ”

Bertila looked at Gawain and asked for the other party's opinion, Gawain nodded when he saw this: "That's it, everything is as before - there are no outsiders here, and letting go of the shelf can make it easier for us." ”

Walking on the flat area at the top of the Thorin canopy is both familiar and unfamiliar to Belsetia - stepping on a wooden platform as solid as the earth, with a view of buildings and fixtures, it is difficult for the visitor to realize that she is actually standing at a great distance above the earth, similar to the feeling of standing on the Temple of the Stars, but unlike the Temple of the Stars, she can feel the great life force at her feet every secondThe depths of the earth rushed and flowed, and a "sound of life" that was completely different from the low roar of the machines filled the Thorin region, and also reverberated in her keen perception.

For the elves who are close to nature, this place is more like a holy place than the "ancestral heritage" in the far south of the continent.

“…… This is the Magic Net Hub in the Thorin Region, and it is also one of the two main hubs on the Holy Spirit Plains," the group stopped under a tall tower in the center of the treetop platform, Beltila raised her head, looking up at the huge crystal array and mechanical devices on the tower, she said to the Silver Empress beside her, "These crystal arrays spread huge amounts of energy to the surrounding areas, and the corresponding areas have lower-level magic net hubs to receive and secondary distribute, The entire Thorin region and a large part of the surrounding area derives its energy from this invisible network, and at the same time, communication is established between these towers and broadcasts to all cities and villages with magic network terminals.

"We have already set up key nodes of the narrator's neural network in several major cities on the east side of the Gorgon River, through which the communication of the magic network in the big cities can be integrated into the neural network - of course, this work has only been started for a short time, and the coverage of the neural network is still very low, but with the current momentum, it will only be a matter of time before the 'network enters the countryside'."

Belsetia looked up at the massive crystal array, the man-made crystals with magnificent surfaces glittering in the sunlight, and a low humming sound constantly coming from the depths of its pedestal, this was another "miracle" that was completely different from the Temple of the Stars, and the endless possibilities behind it fascinated even her, the Silver Empress.

"I know your neural networks...... I've seen it in the documents of the Theocratic Council," she said softly, "and you're trying to use it to create a 'barrier' against the spiritual pollution of the gods, and hopefully this barrier will cover the whole world......"

"Not trying, we've already achieved something of practical value," Gawain reminded, "and you've seen it with your own eyes, don't you remember?" ”

Belsetia was stunned for a moment, and immediately recalled the experience of confronting the god of nature in the courtyard of the Shadow Realm, and she knew that the "anti-divine barrier" had been applied there, and her expression became more solemn: "I remember......"

Gawain watched the Silver Empress's expression change, and did not continue on the topic until now, while Bertila continued to drive the vines that formed her body towards the edge of the platform.

"We're going to rest in one of the facilities in the canopy – unlike the buildings on the surface, every facility in the canopy of the Solin Giant Tree is 'grown' under my own control, and you can feel the most characteristic 'giant tree style' up close," Beltila said with a hint of pride about the results of her days of studying civil engineering (which can also be classified as beauty and body shaping), "You can also visit my biochemistry lab, which is on the lower level of the rest area, More than half of Cecil's state-of-the-art bioengineering techniques were born or prototyped in that laboratory......"

Gawain listened, and subconsciously frowned: "Is your laboratory suitable for us normal people to visit now?" ”

Bertila glanced at Gawain, and although she didn't say it explicitly, there was a look in her eyes that seemed to say, "You god-devouring extraterritorial wanderer, what kind of normal human are you pretending to be in front of me as a vegetative person" - of course, this look is most likely Gawain's own brain.

"Rest assured, I've carefully adjusted the structure and décor of the lab after receiving feedback from other researchers, and everything that is not suitable for display has been encapsulated in a friendly-looking container - although my way of thinking and aesthetics seem to have shifted a little bit due to the change in life form, I am well aware of this, so I can still listen to the suggestions of others."

"Not for display?" The Silver Empress had a confused look on her face, she looked at Bertilla and then at Gawain, "Are you referring to the confidential technology in the lab?" If it's that kind of thing, you can't let me ......."

"No, although it is cutting-edge technology, ordinary visits will not lead to leaks," Gawain shook his head, "and in the long run, I even plan to treat that thing as a foreign trade commodity - what Bertila said about 'not suitable for display' has nothing to do with technical secrets, mainly ...... The image of that thing is not very flattering. ”

The vine behind Berthira rolled a little, she seemed to disagree with Gawain's evaluation, and the Silver Empress became more and more curious about the legendary biochemical laboratory, but before she could ask again, a sudden sound of a mechanical device starting from not far away attracted her attention, she followed the sound in the direction where the sound came from, and only saw that a huge device about a hundred meters away from the crystal array was slowly adjusting its angle, it had a complex metal support, Between those skeletons were inlaid with a large number of hexagonal crystal flakes with gaps left on each other, and countless shining runes slowly moved on the crystal flakes, forming illusory magic lenses, which seemed to be constantly fine-tuning the focus of those crystals.

"What's that?" Belsetia asked curiously—this thing she hadn't seen in the intel, and it was very different from any magic device she had seen along the way, it seemed to be a high-tech device, but the magic fluctuations it released didn't look like any kind of spell model, and even she, the well-informed Silver Empress, was puzzled.

"That's a wide-area listening antenna," Bertila explains, "and there's a set for each main hub, and it's essentially a high-sensitivity receiver — we're using it to search for a mysterious signal." ”

"A mysterious signal?" Belsetia became even more curious, "What mysterious signal?" ”

Gawain thought for a moment and nodded: "Well, it's not a secret, and we're working with neighboring countries to build a series of listening facilities recently, if you're also interested in this, we can talk about it in detail after going to the lower rest area." ”

……

"The No. 2 gain rune group has entered the working mode, the No. 1 rune group has switched to the cooling process, and the main antenna rotates after three minutes, and each listener pays attention to the channel ...... they are responsible for."

The operator's clear, powerful voice sounded not far away, and Bard, who had just sat down and was still a little distracted, quickly lifted his spirits, and he looked left and right in the room, and saw that several of the monitors were already in place, and the magic technicians in charge of assisting the listeners were checking the condition of the equipment one last time.

The large magic net terminal in the center of the room projected the fluctuations in each listening channel, and now the curves in each picture showed a meaningless clutter form, while the sky above the several secondary magic net terminals around the room was only blank.

Bud took a light breath and prepared to start the day's work, while another monitor on the side touched his arm and whispered, "Hey, you know what? Your Majesty and the Silver Empress are here at Soreen today! ”

"I know, the day before yesterday the newspaper said about it," Bard glanced at his colleague next to him, "but does that have anything to do with us?" ”

"You're a man...... It's just boring," the colleague sighed, "That's the Silver Empress!" Aren't you curious? Most people never see each other once in their lives, but this time we have the opportunity to see a real person! It is said that she will visit the trunk area of the giant tree and the eastern sector of the surface of the earth, and it will be a public event, and we plan to visit it then......"

Bard still looked indifferent, it wasn't that he was uncurious about the big man from the Silver Empire, but as a former wolf general, he really couldn't be as excited as ordinary people in this kind of thing related to "big shots", but ......

The Silver Queen's visit didn't have any effect on him - if all of his colleagues had gone to the East Sector, there would probably have been a lot fewer people in the cafeteria at dinner today...... That's the good news.

Bud's thoughts drifted a little away again, but his attention quickly focused as the main antenna operator's thirty-second countdown before the antenna turned around the room.

The interference of the outside world was blocked, and the former wolf general was left with only a holographic projection of constantly refreshing data and curves in front of him, and a low, hollow and soft rustling sound came from the earpiece next to his ear.

The antenna turned, and the listening channel tracked the "sounds" from all corners of the world with great acuity, oscillating in the magical environment, and the low, soft rustling sounds mixed with some non-irritating noises, Bud's mind calmed down further, as if he was absorbed in these gentle echoes, and could no longer hear the outside world.

The listening antenna listens to the frequencies in the magic field, and all the subtle fluctuations are converted into oscillating signals from the antenna, which quietly flow through the vast and even intimidating system of the Thorin main hub, and eventually converge into this monitoring center - in most cases, these reverberations are meaningless, and the work of the listeners is boring and boring, and it is difficult to get anything out for weeks.

But today seems destined to be an unusual day.

After being immersed in the soft noise for an unknown amount of time, a somewhat abrupt whistling sound suddenly woke Bard from his "intoxication".

Bard quickly sat up straight, his eyes wide, and almost at the same time, the subsequent echoes of the whistling sound were filtered and reorganized by the system, and a series of regular, drumbeat-like vibrations and short pauses came from the earpiece, and a regular oscillating line was suddenly projected over the magic net terminal in the center of the room, which was extremely clear and sharp before the monitors!

"Signal received! I-wave is that signal! Bard shouted suddenly, and then quickly turned to the assistant wizard, "Have you brought my channel out graphically and the recording device online?" ”

"The recording device is online, and the conversion is being done – the pattern will be coming out soon!"