In the brightly lit research and development workshop, the prototype of the Steel Wing was disassembled into individual components, which were spread out on platforms and supports.
On the lower edge of the huge pair of metal wings, the broken and twisted metal structure is particularly eye-catching.
Accompanied by a clanging sound, Rebecca got out from under one of the giant wing structures, with oil stains on her face, and a newly dismantled part in her hand.
"One of the magic capacitors used to balance the load burned out, and it should be the main cause of the imbalance of the entire device," Rebecca said to the technicians beside her while holding up the parts in her hand, "all other mechanical failures and parts deformation It was created during the crash."
Maggie leaned forward curiously, looking at the pie-shaped part in Rebecca's hand: "What's the reason? Why is it overloaded all of a sudden?"
"If I'm not mistaken... It should be that the acceleration is too fast and the waste energy has accumulated too much to be released, and then you just performed a large-scale maneuver, such as rolling at a large angle, which directly exploded the magic power capacitor. "Rebecca frowned, "We really didn't consider this... Humans can't do this kind of operation at all, the body will not be able to bear it, we still don't know enough about dragons..."
Rebecca was still muttering, but Maggie's expression became awkward. She lowered her head with a trace of shame: "It's... it's my fault..."
Rebecca shook her head immediately: "No, the occurrence of this kind of failure during the flight itself is a design problem - the magic capacitor has a limited load, we should have added restrictive measures from the beginning. It is actually good news - at least the failure is Because of the design, redesigning and retesting can solve it a little bit, but if there is a flaw in the strength of the material, it will be a big problem.”
Maggie is not an expert in magic technology, but having been a tester with Rebecca's research team for so long, she is no longer unfamiliar with the relevant technical terms and concepts, and she understands that everything is indeed as the other party said—— Omissions in design can be corrected, which is easier to break through than material difficulties.
It's just that there is still a trace of shame in her heart, because in the final analysis, the crash was caused by herself.
The feeling of embracing the blue sky was too charming, which made it difficult for the young dragonborn to control herself. She knew that she was too intoxicated with that feeling, so she neglected to pay attention to the working status of the steel wings at all times—there must be some signs before the magic capacitor is overloaded. She wasn't obsessed with the feeling of flying freely, and she probably didn't let things develop as badly as a crash.
Although Rebecca is usually not very good at guessing people's hearts, she can at least guess what Maggie is thinking at this time. She waved her hand vigorously: "Don't think too much, the tester is supposed to test the various limits of the prototype. It is inevitable that there will be equipment damage during this process. It is better to find problems during the test flight than to cause accidents after the prototype is mass-produced in the future.”
Speaking of this, this Cecil Steel Ball seemed to suddenly think of something, touched his chin and changed the subject: "And compared to my side, you should think about how to apologize to Till later..."
Maggie was taken aback, her face full of confusion: "Miss Till?"
"When I went back to eat yesterday, I saw Till hustling in the hallway, telling people everywhere that she was stabbed to death by an iron jaw that fell from the sky-this should be the second time you hit her, the last time you It was smashed with a prototype Dragoon..."
Maggie: "…"
…
The afterglow of the setting sun shone among the mountains in the northern border, and the light golden light splashed over the undulating ridgelines. The majestic Winter Castle stood on the top of the snow and rocks, overlooking the icy mountains and rivers— This is a completely different scenery from the south. It is less prosperous and lively, but more magnificent and boundless.
Byron, who visited this northern city for the first time, stood on the terrace overlooking most of the city, his eyes were filled with the magnificent scenery from the north, he was born as a mercenary, he couldn't help expressing a lot of emotion, Want to lament the vastness and magnificence of the empire—
"...there are so many mountains here."
After searching his guts and finding that he only had this sentence, and couldn’t think of any other reliable words, Byron scratched his chin in embarrassment, and suddenly felt that it might be reasonable for Philip to persuade him to read more books—at least when he met When seeing such a scenery, he can use a few more words to describe it...
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind, interrupting Byron's emotion and greatly increasing his embarrassment: "General Byron, what were you talking about just now?"
Byron turned his head with a stiff expression, and saw that the Duchess Victoria in a white dress had arrived on the terrace at some point, looking suspiciously at this side, the corners of his mouth trembled, and he scratched unnaturally. Scratching his face, he smiled dryly: "Aha... just talking to myself."
Victoria glanced at Byron, didn't seem to doubt it, just nodded slightly: "The banquet hall is ready, it's time for you, the imperial general, to show your face."
Byron's expression suddenly became a little stiff, as if he was a little helpless, but in the end he didn't say anything, and walked up to Victoria.
The envoy from the Holy Dragon Principality has not yet arrived, and the banquet tonight is to make initial contact with the upper class in the northern border.
A general from the southern part of the empire led a construction corps to the north to build the North Port and a series of facilities on the northern coastline. This is undoubtedly a big event. You have to see what kind of character the general from the imperial capital is, and for Byron, this kind of "rule-based upper-class socialization" is not a pleasant thing.
In the brightly lit hall of Winter Castle, the banquet has already been set. The long tables are filled with precious wine and exquisite food. The band is playing brisk upper-class music in the corner of the hall. The nobles and government officials in various dresses Randomly distributed in the hall, talking about foreigners from the south, talking about the upcoming Beigang project.
Under the leadership of Victoria, Byron came to the hall and dealt with these strange but influential people in the north.
Everyone is smiling, courteous, with just the right amount of gentleness and kindness, and welcomes the "spokesperson of the will of the emperor" with a sincere attitude.
Byron wore a dark blue imperial general uniform with gold tassels and ribbons, and walked in the hall accompanied by Victoria.
As a knight who was born as a mercenary, he is not good at this kind of "high society" life, but as a soldier, he can maintain a cold face all the time without being said to be lacking in etiquette.
Similarly, as a knight born as a mercenary, he is very good at observing the situation in various situations.
He could clearly feel that more than half of the people here kept a wait-and-see attitude towards him as a "outsider", and this did not surprise him at all.
After chatting with the unknown Earl xx, Byron temporarily left the scene on the grounds that the hall was stuffy, and went to the balcony to get some fresh air and rest his brain by the way.
Undisguised footsteps came from the direction of the banquet hall, Byron turned his head and saw Victoria Wilder walking towards this side.
He shook the wine glass in his hand as a greeting to the Duke of the North, then turned his head, looked at the distant mountains that had gradually been submerged in darkness, and continued to sigh in his heart that there are so many mountains in this place.
The voice of Duchess Victoria came from the side: "General Byron, you seem to be very interested in the scenery of the northern border?"
"There are indeed more mountains here than in the south," Byron smiled, "and they are all tall and majestic, impressive."
"There are so many mountains in the north that there are very few flat lands or even hills. Coupled with the cold climate, it is not as suitable for living as the south," Victoria said lightly. The scenery is a symbol of bitter cold for mountain residents. Since the days when Ansu was established in the past, this land has not been very rich. It is not a grain-producing area, nor a commercial center. Protecting the kingdom's northern gate—the relatively difficult living environment and hundreds of years of 'Northern Barrier' stance have made northerners more courageous and resolute than people in other regions, but they are also more difficult to deal with."
Byron didn't know the purpose of the duchess suddenly mentioning this, but he had already unconsciously thought of the people in the banquet hall, so he showed a thoughtful look, but forgot to respond to the duchess' words.
Victoria herself didn't care, and just continued: "General Byron, you are ordered by His Majesty to build Beigang. This will not only deal with the cold wind and frozen soil, but also deal with the people in this bitter cold land. I want to hear What do I think?"
"Of course," Byron restrained his thoughts, "I will start the Beigang project soon, and I definitely want to listen to your suggestion."
"Northern Harbor is a gateway, not only the gateway of the empire, but also the gateway of the northern border. Such a gateway is enough to bring about a huge change in this cold and barren land," the Duchess of Victoria said calmly, her eyes wide open. Profound, sincere tone, "If the northern circumcontinental route is successfully launched, a large part of the trade between the empire and the Holy Dragon Principality, the Ogure Tribal State, the Dwarf Kingdom and other countries will be completed through the North Port, which will change the northern border. The status quo of poverty. Thanks to Your Majesty for the magic era, new technologies and new businesses can bring prosperity to a land that is not suitable for living in the northern border, but unfortunately, many northerners did not realize this in the early days—this is It’s something you have to think about.”
"I understand what you mean," Byron nodded, "The development of Beigang will bring prosperity here, but before seeing the real money, the locals will only feel that a bunch of outsiders are messing around on their land, and they are Their lives dictate — yes, that's a problem."
"However, His Majesty still chose to send you, a southerner, to build the North Port instead of appointing a person in charge from the local consuls in the north." Victoria looked at Byron and said slowly.
Listening to the other party's words, Byron smiled suddenly after two seconds of silence: "North Port is not just a civilian port."
"...someone commented that you were an uneducated rude person, but now it doesn't look like that to me."
Byron raised his eyebrows: "I haven't read many books, but the cunning and vision of mercenaries are not trained through books."
"...Your Majesty chose to send you, it really is deliberate," Victoria seemed to smile, but her tone was still flat, "You are the first batch of soldiers created by Cecil's order, and you are a typical example of new officers—you strictly obey Discipline and safeguard the interests of the empire, prioritize orders over aristocratic traditions, and the production and construction corps you bring follow the same principle. North Port must be built by people like you, not any northern consul, not even me —In this way, it can be guaranteed that Beigang belongs to the empire, not to the northern border.”
"But you seem to be quite indifferent about it." Byron glanced at Victoria and said rather curiously.
"Your Majesty's choice is very correct, and I... didn't choose Cecil Order on impulse," Victoria responded calmly, "The old forces entrenched in all parts of the empire are thorns that cannot be removed, except In addition, there are still many places in this country that have not been completely rectified. There are many old nobles who still retain their influence, and it will take a long time to completely eliminate this influence. Both Grand Duke Baldwin and I know this, And we have decided to fully support His Majesty's measures to transform this country, so we will send our respective heirs to the imperial capital and respond to the Cross Artery Railway plan as soon as possible.
"General Byron, I'm telling you this today so that you can complete your mission without distraction—Northern Port is an imperial project, and the Wilder family will do their best to support it. Our family has multiplied and thrived on this land for countless years. A hundred years has had a profound impact on the Northern Territory, which I cannot deny. From today onwards, all northerners under the influence of the Wilder family will not become obstacles to the Northern Port Project. I can assure you of this ensure."
Byron took a deep look at Victoria, and said with a half-smile: "... So in other words, after the start of the North Port, the local forces that still obstructed... are not from the North."
"It's normal for rogues to harass the construction corps in a bitterly cold and remote place, and the construction corps is also responsible for strangling the bandits. The Wilder family will fully support these righteous deeds," Victoria said lightly. She turned around with calm eyes. Looking in the direction of the banquet hall, "please don't worry, those who secretly engage in small tricks will never dare to step on the stage, and rogues will always be rogues. After a few beatings, those restless people will calm down. "
Byron couldn't help but shook his head: "I'm afraid that before Beigang is built, many people will secretly say that you have betrayed the people in the north."
"After the North Port is completed, they will be the ones who praise and support the North Port," Victoria said expressionlessly, "They will soon be overwhelmed by the astonishing scale of cross-border trade and the power displayed by the empire in this process. And these people basically have no position in front of interests."
"At that time, it will be a matter for you, the Grand Consul, to consider," Byron said casually, "I am just a soldier, and I will only carry out orders from His Majesty. My mission is the North Port and the fleet. On this basis, I Not going any further."
Victoria nodded, and said: "In addition, although my reminder may be a bit redundant, as the Duke of the North, I still have to say something—I hope you can pay attention to your sense of proportion, some people who disturb the order may just be incited civilians."
"Duchess Victoria, I am a soldier," Byron looked into Victoria's eyes and said seriously, "It is my most basic duty to distinguish who is an enemy and who is a friend."
"Then I have nothing to worry about."