"Is this the fragment of the Eternal Slate?"
Looking at the metal shard the size of a palm in front of him, Gao Wen couldn't help showing a look of surprise.
"Yes, I didn't expect it to look like this." Viscount Andrew shook his head weakly, "The fragments of the Eternal Slate are secretly enshrined by various sects, and other forces or individuals who can get the fragments will never accept it." It will be displayed casually, so I didn't know what was dug out at first, but soon my people found the remaining text descriptions in the ruins, and I dared to confirm that this piece of metal was protected by many magical devices The slab turned out to be a fragment of the legendary eternal stone slab... "
Speaking of this, Viscount Andrew couldn't help but shook his head and sighed: "Many magic devices in the ruins have stopped working, but only the ones used to protect this piece of slate... Those mechanisms have been working so far. In order to get it, I took a long time to get in." It’s a big price, but I didn’t expect that after holding it in my hand, it will be the beginning of a bigger price…”
Gao Wen couldn't help but think of a sentence from his previous life on Earth: An ordinary man is innocent, but a pregnant woman is guilty.
He picked up the "stone slab fragment" (by the way, can this thing really be called a "stone" slab?), and confirmed that it was really made of metal. This light golden metal did not belong to any other kind he knew. It is not a kind of magical material or conventional material, but more like some unknown alloy. Its front is extremely smooth, as if covered with a thin layer of enamel, while under the "enamel" are complex and fine lines, and on the back there are some visible patterns. The grooves that don't work, some of which are still embedded with small pieces of crystals.
On the edge of the metal plate, there are neat fractures. The fractures are like some kind of connecting teeth, making the whole fragment into a geometric body with a complex structure, rather than saying that it is "fragmented" from a certain whole. Yes, Gao Wen even suspects that the so-called Eternal Slate itself is made up of a large number of such geometric objects, like some kind of jigsaw puzzle...
It's really interesting.
He looked at the piece over and over again, and said thoughtfully: "It is said that mortals will get enlightenment from the gods after touching the Eternal Slate. Why doesn't it work at all when I hold it?"
"Mere contact is useless, and spiritual power is needed to communicate with it," Viscount Andrew said slowly, "But my strength is low, and even if I communicate, I can only hear some vague whispers, and I can't get any knowledge at all. .But if it's you... Maybe it's possible to gain power directly."
Gao Wen nodded, but he didn't intend to use his mental power to communicate.
In fact, he was deeply afraid of this thing.
The Eternal Slate, a legendary thing that brought the belief of the gods to the world, the first generation of mortal sages created so many religions because of contact with the Eternal Slate, and gained the power to use divine magic. In the eyes of ordinary people in the world, this may be a kind of gift, but Gao Wen couldn't help but wonder if this thing has some kind of power of mind control and brainwashing. What about the mind that takes over the mind? Even if you don't occupy your mind, it's okay to suffer from the problem of hearing the gods whispering bb in your mind every now and then!
"Please take this fragment of the slate away," Viscount Andrew said suddenly. "You can keep it for yourself, present it to the king, or give it to a church you believe in and want to make friends with."
"Are you sure?" Gawain raised his eyebrows. "You should know the value of this thing. Even if you don't dare to keep it, you can get a lot of benefits by handing it over to the king or the church."
"I don't want to have anything to do with this thing anymore," Viscount Andrew shook his head vigorously, "Even if I hand it over, I don't want to hand it over through my hands and if it wasn't for you today, I would It is impossible to survive, so you can take this as a gift."
Gao Wen smiled, "It's really hard to say whether this is a gift or a plague god..."
But despite saying so, he still put away the fragments of the eternal slate without hesitation.
This thing is indeed a time bomb, it can even make a dark organization like the Doom Society take risks against a kingdom noble, but this thing is also a treasure, it may contain the secrets of the gods, and it may even give Gawain a glimpse of this A sliver of truth in the world, no matter what, Gao Wen couldn't turn a blind eye to this thing.
In the case that the Doom Society has just failed once, he can confirm that no one will come up with the idea of this thing for the time being, and it will take time for the news to spread. It is difficult for outsiders to know in time that the fragment of the stone slab has arrived hands. During this relatively safe time, Gao Wen wanted to study this mysterious fragment.
His status as a "nominal legend" is also a strong guarantee for keeping this piece of slate: Although the leader of Cecil is weaker now, the title of a legendary strong man in this era is often more deterrent than a powerful noble leader. Gawain didn't mind taking advantage of this strength.
Of course, he has also considered the hidden dangers of doing so, so if the situation is really critical, he doesn't mind giving this thing to the king or teaching the gods. Knowledge is indeed valuable to some people, but it may not be converted into the productivity he needs , when the time comes to exchange such a sample for other benefits, as long as the benefits are sufficient, it is worthwhile. However, this is definitely an option only in the most desperate situation.
Pittman and the two knights who went to the atrium to save people also returned to the chamber later.
"The power of the cultists has begun to fade from the castle, and it is not difficult to dispel the magic on those poor people." The old druid explained the reason why he managed the large-scale sorcery so quickly, "I and two The knight rescued some people, and then asked those who were rescued to be in better condition to help save them. In addition, by controlling the plants, they dug out all the people who were buried in the ground, but the people who lost their lives were still alive. Quite a few, one-third of them are hopeless, and among the remaining living people, many of them have suffered severe damage to their minds, some of them can recover, and some of them will probably remain in a daze forever."
"This is really a heavy loss." Gao Wen looked at Viscount Andrew with some sympathy.
Andrew could only smile wryly and shook his head: "I'm afraid I'll have to spend a lot of money to deal with the aftermath... But I'm still alive, and I can always recover. What I'm most grateful for now is that my two sons went to the territory to collect them a few days ago. Rented it, their procrastination saved their own lives. But my little girl…”
"Your daughter is still alive," Cavalier Philip said, "but that poor girl suffered severe mental damage and is now in a state of insanity. Perhaps only the gods know whether she has the possibility of recovery."
"It's good to be alive, it's good to be alive..." Viscount Andrew said with a complex expression. This once elegant, confident, and proud nobleman aged at least twenty years this night. His current voice is exhausted except for tiredness. There are many things that can be called good news, but they can't support his severely exhausted body and spirit, but he still tries to raise his head and look at Gao Wen who is standing beside him, "In any case, I have to thank you For your help, the Leslie family owes you and your knights a great favor. If you need anything, please feel free to mention it."
Apparently, he himself knew there was something wrong with giving away that hot shard of slate as a gift...
"Standing and helping each other is the rule that Charlie and I set for the Ansu nobles seven hundred years ago, and today I am only fulfilling what I said back then," Govent said righteously, "I won't I took advantage of this opportunity to loot. But since we have the opportunity to talk, maybe we can strengthen our cooperation."
"Cooperation?" Viscount Andrew repeated the word.
"You should know that the New Cecil Territory is under construction, and we are short of all kinds of materials, and most of them are purchased from Tanzania Town," Gawain laughed. "At present, what we lack most is the magic storage crystal. There are also various magic materials, and there are large-scale crystal veins in the Tanzania mine.”
Seeing that Viscount Andrew's expression was a little stiff, Gao Wen continued: "Don't be nervous, I'm going to spend money to buy it. I just hope that in the future, I can purchase a large number of crystal-like magic materials from Tanzania Town at a favorable price. We don't require quality. , even the lowest-level magic storage crystals are fine, we only require a sufficient quantity. You don’t have to worry about losing money, you know, we have a huge shortage of supplies, and the purchase volume of the New Cecil Territory can definitely swallow up a large batch of crystals for you Output, even if the price is lower, the profit you earn will exceed the cost of transporting those crystals to other territories and finding a market for yourself. If you agree, then I will wait for you to delay the specific price. Send someone to talk after you're done."
Viscount Andrew relaxed, and nodded slightly as he listened: He began to recognize that this is a win-win idea. Cecil Territory can get a lot of cheap magic materials, while Tanzania Town can quickly raise funds without worrying about the sale of crystals. To repair the castle and the money for the aftermath of the incident.
And as for how the Cecil family, which was poor not long ago, suddenly became rich, and recently started minting coins... Viscount Andrew didn't want to know at all.
Whether they discovered a gold mine in the dark mountains, or the ancestor dug up his real coffin book seven hundred years ago, it has nothing to do with him. As a border viscount with flexible thinking, Andrew Rice Li has always been very open-minded, and he is very good at grasping the parts that are really beneficial to him.
In fact, he guessed partly correctly: Gao Wen did dig out the coffin book, but what he dug up was the coffin book of the entire Ansu Kingdom...
Seeing Viscount Andrew nodding, Gawain continued, "Second, population. I hope you can help me spread the news about Cecil Territory's acceptance of refugees. If there are refugees on your side and you don't want them, you can also Send it to me. All in all, regardless of any form of surplus population, as long as it is not a criminal, I want it. I will not ask for a specific number in this regard, you can do what you can."
This time, Viscount Andrew nodded even more happily: he didn't think there was any problem in sending the population to Cecil Territory. In fact, this was even a good opportunity for him to clear the "useless population" in the territory. After all, there were too many of them. of homeless people piled up in the slums, and they produced little value.
"One more thing," Gao Wen smiled, "I hope to hire some people who can read, write, and understand mathematics and science. No, no, not at the level of scholars. Their apprentices are fine. I want a batch of such people. It doesn’t matter if you are a recorder or a scribe, anyway, the requirement is to know how to read and write, and to have enough patience.”