The long and cold winter is finally over.
The fog that lasted throughout the winter finally began to recede from all parts of the Aldernan Great Plains, and the whole world seemed to become clearer with the arrival of spring. The daily wind was still cold, but it was not as it was in previous days It was bitingly cold, the snow began to melt, the solid ice turned into flowing water, and the thin streams of melted snow and ice flowed down from the black roofs and spires of Aldernan, soaking the whole city in a cloud of water vapor— Thanks to the new drainage system built more than ten years ago, these melted snow water can enter the underground waterway smoothly, and people don't have to worry about these extra "streams" that will damage the foundations of buildings. It is no longer an annoying thing, but has become an alternative scenery.
The black carriage with the emblem of the Wendell family passing the Imperial Capital Avenue, the wheels creaked on the wet stone pavement. Grand Duke Ferdinand Wendell was sitting in the carriage, looking at the road through the opening in the window cover on the scene.
It was early in the morning, and the sun had just illuminated the street. In the past, at this hour, there were almost no pedestrians on the street. However, in Duke Ferdinand's sight, there were many groups of civilians—they were dressed in gray clothes. In thick clothes and felt or woolen hats, they walked forward in one direction. In the cold wind of early spring, these people shivered slightly, but they still hurried on their feet without stopping.
"The workers in the textile factory..." Duke Ferdinand muttered in a low voice, "Going out so early."
The butler who had followed him for many years was sitting on the seat opposite the carriage. This loyal old friend explained: "In order to encourage new factories, His Majesty issued a decree of favor. Vehicles transporting cotton can enter the city in the early morning without tax, so Textile mills start working very early.”
"Just to start work an hour earlier..."
The old prince muttered, and couldn't help but glanced out of the window again.
He saw more textile factory workers coming out of their homes and walking towards the factory, and saw vehicles with the emblem of the Empire and the emblem of the Manufacturing Association rushing past. It was a cart transporting magic net parts...
On Platinum Avenue, he saw that an old warehouse had been razed to the ground. , he saw a tall chimney emitting billowing smoke. It was a newly built rock-burning acid chemical plant that was processing rich dust that could be used as fertilizer...
The scorched smoke from the chimney of the burning rock acid chemical plant can almost be smelled here—of course, Duke Ferdinand knew that this was just his own illusion.
That chimney is a hundred meters high, and the smoke from it will only dissipate in the sky, but it will not affect the ground.
But the old prince still couldn't help frowning.
Factories, magic nets, boilers, tall chimneys, the bustling "investment age"... It seemed to pop up overnight, and suddenly it was everywhere, everyone seemed to be involved, everyone seemed to be involved elated.
The old duke, who has spent most of his life in the inner circle of the empire, has never seen anything that develops in such a hurry. He thinks he is not a conservative, but these new things that come out in a hurry... always give him a feeling Very uncomfortable feeling.
"Recently, the whole day's discussion in the aristocratic council has turned into the construction of factories and the cotton bill," said Grand Duke Ferdinand, shaking his head, "The textile factory run by Viscount Hermiel attracted a lot of people to invest. "
"After all, the fabrics woven by the new textile factory are plentiful and good," said the butler. "I heard that Madam Mira also wants to open a textile factory, but she can't buy machines—there are not enough machines."
"I've seen the fabric they wove," said Duke Ferdinand with some disdain. "It's pretty solid, but unfortunately it's very rough and doesn't have any taste at all."
The butler spread his hands: "... But for ordinary people, it is a very good fabric, sir."
Duke Ferdinand frowned, and after a brief silence, he could only sigh slightly: "I'm probably getting old."
"You are still an important pillar of this country," said the steward, "His Majesty the Emperor needs you."
Ferdinand didn't respond to the steward's words, he just looked forward, and the majestic walls of Obsidian Palace were already in front of him.
It is said that several special envoys came to the imperial capital. These envoys brought news from the south of the mainland, and they were of high status. His Majesty the Emperor suddenly called him into the palace, probably for this reason.
The empire is prospering day by day, and everything seems to be moving by leaps and bounds.
However, for some reason, Ferdinand Wendell always felt a faint uneasiness.
Obsidian Palace.
This majestic palace stands there as always, standing in the center of the empire. Although it is only a "new palace" built two hundred years ago, the deep tones and solemn and calm style of this palace still carry a kind of It seemed as if he could stand for a thousand years. After entering the palace, Ferdinand's gloomy and restless mood gradually settled down.
He walked towards the living room where the emperor was, there was a crisp knock between his boots and the marble slab, and when he passed the "Nightingale Hall", his footsteps stopped.
An old mage wearing a black robe with a gloomy expression came from the opposite side, an unpleasant rustling or wriggling sound accompanied the old mage's footsteps, and a young man who seemed to be in his early twenties The female mage followed behind the old mage.
"My lord, good morning."
The old mage stopped not far away, bowed his head slightly to this side, his voice was hoarse, as if even his vocal cords had begun to corrode.
Duke Ferdinand nodded slightly with the restraint and pride that the top nobles should have, and said politely according to the courtesy that the great magician in front of him should receive: "Master Daniel, good morning."
The two were about to pass by, but Ferdinand suddenly spoke again: "Master Daniel, I am very glad to see that you are willing to return to this place—Ms. Windsor Mapel must be the same."
"I'm glad too."
The old magician and his students walked away. Duke Ferdinand watched their backs disappearing into the corridor, and couldn't help shaking his head slightly.
Ms. Windsor Mapel's mentor, a former member of the Royal Mages Association, great magician Daniel Fred, he was once a talented high-level mage, but his temperament changed drastically due to frustration in research and promotion failure, and he exiled himself , no one could have imagined that such a person who left the highest magic institution in the empire could come back one day. Recently, this great magician has become a man of the hour in the imperial capital. He even became the guests of many nobles—those people seem to have forgotten the desolate appearance of Daniel Fred when he left the imperial capital many years ago. Just because they saw the amazing profits of the textile factory, they all swarmed around him.
Duke Ferdinand lamented the ugliness of those little nobles in the face of interests, and then walked through the corridor to the emperor's reception room.
After the announcement, the door of the reception room opened, and Ferdinand Wendell walked into the room. He first saw Rosetta Augustus sitting on the main seat, and then his eyes fell on those slender and tall On aliens.
Blonde hair, pointed ears, and facial features that are more slender and softer than humans.
It's an elf, an elf from the Southern Silver Empire.
Sure enough, just like what I heard before, the empire has welcomed a group of special "messengers", but why did these elves come
It's not easy for them to come to Typhon - that's half a continent away!
Although some doubts arose in his heart, Duke Ferdinand still did not show the slightest surprise—he kept all his thoughts in his heart, nodded politely to the elves, and then came to Emperor Rosetta: "Your Majesty , I’m here in response to your summons.”
"Sit down, Sir Ferdinand," Rosetta Augustus nodded slightly, "As you can see, we have some guests—these spirits have brought very important news."
Ferdinand looked at those elves—every elf was very handsome. To be honest, when a face-blind human sees an elf, they can't even distinguish between men and women. Ferdinand can only judge by the clothes of the other party sitting opposite him. The elf in the picture is a lady: "Ma'am, nice to meet you—I'm Ferdinand Wendell, advisor to the Emperor."
"Shiva? Farstrider, the messenger of the Silver Queen Belsetia," said the beautiful elf—thankfully, a lady. "We have an important mission: the Silver Empire to convey the most urgent messages to the human nations. Be warned, things are not going well with the Great Wall."
Ferdinand Wendell's eyes froze instantly.
After a brief conversation, Ferdinand knew the purpose of these elves and the current situation.
These elves came to warn the kingdoms of men, and they kept the covenant seven hundred years ago-though it was an ancient thing for men-bringing the latest news about the magnificent wall, according to them. , the deterioration of the magnificent wall has reached an extremely serious situation, even surpassing the level that the Silver Empire can handle, and the disturbing change in winter... is just the beginning of a series of catastrophic events in the future.
As the top nobleman of Typhon, Ferdinand certainly knew about the change of the barrier in winter—any country whose national border is connected to the magnificent wall can observe that change, and the flashes and sounds that lasted for three days made the border line The people in the empire were very nervous, and the western part of the empire even entered a state of martial law for a time. The Winter Wolf Army also sent a force to the western border to guard the wasteland, but fortunately, all of this was a false alarm. The worst It didn't happen.
Now the messengers of the elves have arrived, and with them the most disturbing truth: that was no false alarm.
"We paid a huge price—the elves sacrificed twelve magisters and nearly a hundred ranger warriors, and the Gaoling Kingdom sacrificed one-third of the full-scale mountain corps to successfully restart the Sentinel Tower," said Elf Shiva Said in a calm tone, "But if it is damaged again, I'm afraid it won't be enough to fill in the number of lives."
That was not a false alarm, it was a real disaster.
Bad things had happened—it just didn't happen to the Typhons.
Ferdinand Wendell suddenly felt tremendous pressure, but he knew that the elf lady in front of him did not have the slightest idea of alarmism or exerting pressure. According to his understanding of elves, the other party should be just stating the facts: this fact does not require any Exaggeration is disturbing enough.
He thought for a while, then glanced at Emperor Rosetta, and then looked at the elf: "Then what can we... do?"
"We don't have the ability to rebuild the Great Wall, so the best thing to do is to strengthen the barrier before it completely goes out, put in additional protection, and relieve the pressure on the core systems of the Sentinel Towers to prevent them from being completely destroyed," Shiva said. "And that requires the cooperation and help of every nation around the barrier."