In the east, the Baisha hilly area.
An engineering team arrived at the mining area with a train a few days ago. The destroyed mine facilities are currently being rebuilt. The Baisha Hills are immersed in a busy and orderly atmosphere. Lifting equipment, engineering vehicles, construction Frames and isolation nets are everywhere, and in all construction areas, there is one place that is the most special:
Located near the Baishui River, the large-scale "God Meteorite Skycrater".
Where the artificial god fell, the huge sinkhole has been closely monitored by the Cecil Legion. Several temporary sentry towers and fortifications are on the edge to monitor all movements inside and outside the pit, and the "residual bones" at the bottom of the pit "Nearby, a small research station has been built.
At this moment, only an incomplete skeleton remains of the terrifying man-made god. The twisted and mutated bone fragments stand on the ground in a formidable posture, and a small part is buried among the gravel and soil at the bottom of the pit. There are a large number of flesh and blood remnants scattered nearby, and those desecrated biological tissues seem to still have a trace of vitality, and they still maintain a little activity, and they continue to emit strong magical reactions.
These incredible remnants are undoubtedly valuable research samples.
Accompanied by several apprentices, soldiers, and officers, Pittman walked slowly among the huge bone fragments. The old druid had his hands behind his back, his back slightly bent, and his eyes were on the disturbing wreckage nearby. Sweeping upwards, some metal frames support these crumbling skeletons. In several areas divided by the metal frames, some signs inserted into the ground mark such as "sampled", "not sampled", "cleaned" and so on. typeface.
Pittman stopped in his tracks, quietly staring at the bone structure in front of him. Some remnants of flesh and blood slowly squirmed between the bones, making some disgusting tiny sounds, and twitched from time to time—as if this part of the biological tissue was still The phantom pain when going through the battle is general.
"These things still twitch to this day," one of the accompanying officers couldn't help whispering, "What a horrible creation..."
"The tail of the blue-tailed marsh lizard still twitches and even bounces a week after being cut off. Nature has created these incredible wonders of life. It is not unusual in itself..." Pittman said casually, "This thing in front of me The reason why it is scary is simply because it is extraordinarily large."
Then he turned to his apprentice: "Collect a sample from this location—it should be close to its nerve center. Perhaps the remaining samples here can tell us whether it has a structure like a 'nerve center'."
Several apprentices boldly approached the still twitching and wriggling flesh, and activated the cutting tools they carried—melting swords, cutting beams, and high-power saw blades. These powerful and reliable tools are good partners for scientific researchers —Accompanied by bursts of piercing noise, sparks fly from the sampling location.
The seemingly soft flesh and fragile bones are actually terribly strong, and it is impossible to cut them without some "professional tools".
A rustling sound of crawling came from nearby, and Till in the shape of a sea snake came to the side of Pittman and the others. The siren girl raised her head, looked at the scene where the druid apprentices were collecting samples, and lightly opened the door. Lips, drooling all over the floor.
Then she commented: "Let me tell you, this position has the best taste. It is the rare chewy part of this pile of artificial meat, and it doesn't clog your teeth..."
The officer next to Pittman suddenly looked strange, and said helplessly: "Miss Till, didn't you tell me not to eat in the unsampled area? Although the superior has given instructions to allow you to eat here, at least don't interfere with our research work… "
Till immediately waved his hands: "It's okay, it's okay, I just tasted a small amount, and it certainly won't affect your work, right Pittman?"
"As long as you don't eat in front of us - it will be detrimental to the mental health of my apprentices," Pittman glanced at the deep-sea salted fish, then turned back and continued to stare at the huge skeletons and twitching biological tissue, "...it's really hard to imagine, how on earth did they make this..."
"We found the place where this giant deer first appeared, and found large-scale rifts and caves in the western part of Solinburg. They lead to deep underground, where there seems to be an ancient underground complex. This monster It should have come to the surface from there," said the accompanying officer, "but the underground situation is too complicated and dangerous to continue exploring for a while."
Pittman pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly and said: "...The lair of the Doom Society is indeed located underground, but it is an older and more complicated place than the Rebellious Fortress. You are right not to explore rashly."
As a member of the Death of Everything Society, he actually knew the existence of this underground facility—but only knew that it existed.
That mysterious underground complex is a product of ancient times. It may be as old as the Rebellious Fortress, but no one knows its true origin and function. In addition, they set up countless traps and secret doors in the underground palace to resist possible invasions—and all of this is the same as the magic key to enter the underground palace. is constantly changing.
That piece of underground facilities may have suffered serious damage after Julu lost control, but there must still be a large number of traps left.
Pittman has been away from the End of Everything for too long, and the information he has is already outdated, so he dare not take anyone to explore there.
"Report the relevant information, this matter should not be decided by us."
The accompanying officer lowered his head: "Yes, Master Pittman."
…
Jenny raised her head slightly, the wide brim of the sun hat blocked the too strong sunlight around noon, and the breeze blew, making her white hair flutter by her ears.
Under the bright sky, the classical and majestic city walls and towers of Saint-Sunil shine brightly in her sight, the fluttering flags are flying above the city, the mighty soldiers are standing on their posts, and the quaint and Ansu-style streets are Extending under the sun, the streets are lined with old and uneven houses, and the streets are full of pedestrians in a hurry.
The city didn't seem to have changed much compared to when she left that year, but it seemed to have changed a lot. A feeling of both familiarity and strangeness welled up in her heart, which made the eyes of Cecil's chief rune master inevitably complicated.
An accompanying officer came to Jenny, stood at attention and saluted: "Master Jenny, do you want to go directly to Silver Fort to report?"
In Cecil, all senior technology researchers and great craftsmen have the title of "Master", and Jenny is one of the first to receive this title.
"I want to go to a place first." Jenny looked at the officer with the knight's insignia and smiled gently. "You can take the others to the castle first."
"Yes, master—I will arrange your escort team."
Jenny froze for a moment, then subconsciously waved her hand: "Guard? No need, I'm familiar with the situation here, I'll just go by myself..."
The officer showed a look of embarrassment: "Master, this is an order from the superior. This city has not lifted the special status. Your actions here need the protection of the military..."
Jenny looked at the Mr. Knight who accompanied her all the way from the southern border to the capital. Her meek nature and dislike of causing trouble prevented her from sticking to her point of view. She nodded: "Then... it's hard work for you, Mister Knight."
A few minutes later, two black magic vehicles with Cecil's emblem left the southern city of Saint-Sunil, and drove towards the mage area in the inner city along the centuries-old Iron Cross Street.
Outside the car window, the old and mottled residential buildings kept receding, and the wheels crushed the uneven stone pavement. The slight bumps seemed to be stirring Jenny's thoughts that were difficult to calm down. She leaned against the window, her eyes following The vehicle moved forward and slowly swept across the familiar streets, buildings, and people who still had some impressions.
The number of pedestrians on the street was less than what I remembered. They were still wearing burlap clothes with patches and monotonous colors. With a long neck and an open mouth, he stared blankly, but soon lowered his head in awe, as if he did not dare to look at these "magic monsters" made of steel.
The streets in the civilian area are very narrow, and there will be congestion even if there are not many pedestrians. The mechanic who drives the car occasionally honks the horn, and many passers-by shrink their necks and bend down—they bow to the strange-sounding steel machine So much so that some people even forgot to give way, and the soldiers had to poke their heads out of the car windows, loudly reminding passers-by to dodge.
In order to prevent injury to passers-by, the car drove very slowly. Some children curiously approached the magical car and pointed at the machines on the side of the road, but they were soon slapped by adults and dragged home by their ears. go.
"Although we have been in the city for half a month, everyone is still very uncomfortable with these new things," said a female magic warrior sitting next to Jenny with a little embarrassment. One of the soldiers who took over Saint-Sunil was assigned to Jenny's guard at the moment. On the one hand, he protected Jenny personally, and on the other hand, he acted as a guide for other soldiers. "The situation is much better now... On the first day, there were even civilians Kneel down with the magic guide car, and kiss the ground."
Jenny sighed softly: "This needs to change...we've all been through this period."
"Yeah, we've all been there - when the first magic water pump was installed in the village, my father even banned us from going near the fields for fear it would eat people, but after only a year, he wanted to share with the neighbors Let’s pool money together to buy a threshing machine, because the machines at the agricultural machinery management station will never be enough, and the queues will always take a long time, and this year’s grain threshing may be so much that manpower can’t handle it at all,” the soldier laughed and looked at Jenny was full of respect, "This should all be thanks to a master like you."
Jenny didn't know how to answer for a moment. She was introverted and always obsessed with the research room, and she was not good at facing such direct praise and tribute. She had to lower her head and whispered: "Thank you...but those who are better than me There are still many people."
While speaking, they had already passed through the civilian area of the outer city and entered the richer and more prosperous part of the inner city.
The narrow street suddenly became wider, and the surrounding houses looked neater and taller. Well-dressed citizens began to appear on the side of the road, walking with their heads up. At the end of the street, some tall spiers and floating The shining runes above the street have caught Jenny's eyes.
She took a light breath.
San Sunil's Mage Quarter has arrived.
The two vehicles passed through the streets of the wealthy area and entered the mage area. The guards in the entire area have been taken over by the Cecil Legion, and the magic vehicles with military markings were not hindered in the mage area.
Under Jenny's guidance, the car finally stopped in front of a mage tower with a lavender spire, off-white exterior walls, and about four or five stories high.
This is a typical traditional magic tower. The overall building is built on a solid stone base. There are faint magic patterns on the surface of the gray-white outer wall. The heavy and luxurious oak door is blocked by a magic barrier. Above the steeple, There are also floating crystals and metal structures slowly rotating around the spire—those crystals and structures have many functions such as surveillance, early warning, and combat, and Jenny knows them very well.
A small group of soldiers got out of the car and followed Jenny to the front of the magic tower. The surface of the oak door blocked by runes flickered a few times, and then the runes dispersed, and the door slowly opened.
No need to knock on the door—the artificial intelligence (Taling) controlling the magic tower will automatically identify visitors and alert the guards.
After waiting quietly for a while, Jenny saw an apprentice wearing a dark gray robe coming out of the dark doorway.
His name was Mark, and he was one of the mentor's apprentices.
Not slave apprentices, real apprentices.
Jenny's impression of him wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either—he was a young man with average talent, but at least he was worth more than a slave, and that was all Jenny's impression of him.
Mark came out with his head down, and he raised his head slightly until he came to Jenny. He quickly saw the appearance of the person in front of him, with a surprised expression on his face, and then he noticed the person behind Jenny. That team of heavily armed soldiers, and two magic vehicles parked not far away.
The young man's expression was a little astonished, and then he shrank his neck, and his tone was complicated and awkward: "Jenny, are you... really you?"
"It's me. Go tell the mentor that I'm back."