And just two days after the order was issued, before the storm completely swept the human continent, Lightning and Maisie returned to Neverwinter.
When the two walked into the office, Roland couldn't help but be stunned.
Maisie hasn't changed much, but her body has grown a bit stronger than half a year ago. When squatting on top of her partner's head, she doesn't look like a pigeon, but a bit like a goose.
What surprised him was lightning.
Her hair has grown a lot, from her ears to her shoulders, probably because she has been on a long-term reconnaissance mission and has almost no time to take care of it, she looks a little messy. His face was also dirty, his flight suit had several patches, and there were several simple and ugly cloth bags on the sides of his legs, chest, and arms, as if he had sewed them on. Although the current appearance is much more cumbersome than the beautiful and novel coat at the beginning, it is more like an explorer.
But the biggest change was the eyes and her expression.
It was as if she had changed from the image in her memory overnight, and she was no longer the little girl from the past.
"Your Majesty, do you have anything to do with me?"
asked after lightning salute.
Roland suppressed the emotion in his heart, and roughly recounted the deciphered information and Edith's speculation, "If the devil really has this plan, the consequences will be unimaginable, so I hope you two can go to Eternal Winter, to the north. Reconnaissance in the mountainous areas where no one has ever set foot. The devil cannot do without the supplies of the red mist, and if they want to enter the mountains, they will inevitably leave traces."
"How could such a thing happen..." Lightning couldn't help frowning. "Fortunately, Maisie found the letter. But Your Majesty, what if the enemy went underground? My ability is limited, and it is difficult to detect deliberate intentions in the air. Hidden target."
"That's the worst case." Judging from the results of Operation Torch, the devil's digging ability is far less than that of humans with worm-eating worms. However, it is unlikely that the devil, who stretches the perspective to the overall situation, invades half of the dawn realm, and has more in-depth research on magic, has not found an underground civilization relic. Since the Federation can obtain the worm carrier by exploring the relics, the enemy will also There must be such a possibility. The fact that no trace of the carrier was found in the decisive battle of Taquila does not mean that there is no carrier in the spine of the continent. "The witches of God's Punishment will set off from Shoal Harbor with a magic core. If you don't find the enemy, that is the last resort."
"I see, I will do my best." Lightning nodded.
"However, it will take at least a month to travel from the southern end of Greycastle to the northern part of Everwinter. During this period, you may not be able to receive support and supplies in time. In addition, the residents there may still have prejudice against witches, even if they stay in the city. It must be safe, you have to be careful."
"Surviving in the wild is exactly what an explorer is capable of, Your Majesty," she said without hesitation, "not to mention a month, but a year and a half."
"Cuckoo!" Maisie spread her wings in agreement.
"Sorry," Roland sighed, "you just came back, and I let you go further afield..."
"Your Majesty, you are serious..." Lightning turned her head away, and her voice became a little low, "Compared to those who sacrificed to fight against the devil, compared to Sister Ash... This is nothing at all." But she recovered after just a moment. Spirit, "Since this is a new expedition, as usual, can you…"
Roland was slightly startled, then responded, "Of course." He stood up and walked out from behind the desk.
Lightning raised his hand, and after seeing the stains on his sleeve, he suddenly shrank back, "Ah, no, no need... I forgot to change my clothes first, and the smell on my body is also unpleasant, so that's fine."
However, before she could finish speaking, Roland had already stretched out his arms and hugged her.
"Thank you for your hard work. I will ask the tailor to make you a few more flight jackets according to the current style. You can wear them in rotation when you are in the field."
Lightning suddenly quieted down, and it took a long time before she made a low, nasal sound, "Hmm."
"And I'm goo." Maisie raised her head.
"You've worked hard too." Roland stroked her plump neck and smooth wings back and forth.
Nightingale also stepped forward and hugged the two of them, "Be sure to pay attention to safety."
"We will."
After they left the office, Nightingale said with some emotion, "Lightning never used to say that he was 'limited'."
Roland nodded with a deep sympathy, changing to the former little girl, I am afraid that after he finishes explaining Edith's speculation, he will pat his chest and say everything to me.
He heard Ye Zi mentioned that after Ashes and Ersruk perished together, Lightning burst into tears and could not recover for several days. But looking at her appearance now, there is no trace of her being immersed in grief and unable to extricate herself. Even when she mentioned Ashes, she would still feel sad, but that sadness would obviously no longer hinder her progress, but turned into her motivation.
"She's grown up." Roland sighed softly.
…
Although the quicker the immigration, the better, but the distance from Greycastle to Wolfheart and Eternal Winter is measured in months. No matter how hard the Executive Office and the First Army try, the population problem in Neverwinter cannot be solved in a short period of time. Improved.
This not only made many long-conceived new projects temporarily difficult to launch, but also limited the further expansion of the existing industrial scale, plus the threat of the devil did not dissipate with Taquila's victory as expected, all kinds of problems Accumulated together, it caused a lot of pressure on Roland.
Fortunately, the successful imitation of the ritual Rubik's Cube provided him with a way to declare his power. As long as there was no plan for him to confirm, he would stay in Anna's North Slope Laboratory and try to create a new generation of power sources with the Rubik's Cube as the core. . After sending away Lightning and Maisie, and the "Roland" carrying the magic core, he devoted most of his time to it.
After all, once the magic-powered steam engine achieves a breakthrough, the benefits it will bring will be much greater than any project.
In addition to Anna, Celine also volunteered to join this epoch-making research. Due to the remote location of the laboratory and the layers of guards, there is no need to worry about being accidentally bumped into by the residents. And the assembly ability she showed in the development is really amazing. The dozens of auxiliary whiskers are not only powerful, but also more flexible than fingers. It is effortless to install large components such as flywheels and pistons. Lightened Anna's burden.
For a while, the sight of a man, a woman and a tentacled monster tossing around a machine became the norm here.
Soon, the first weird-looking prototype appeared in the laboratory.