The rising sun shone on the earth, and the sleeping city gradually woke up in the night. The pale gold with a trace of bright red sunlight slanted across the undulating boundaries of the dark mountains, casting a continuous and brilliant sky between the plains and hills. Light and shadow, the boundary line between light and shadow gradually moved to the tallest tower of the Imperial College, and a majestic and solemn bell rang just at this time.
The gears and levers in the tower are driven by the magic mechanism, and the chains made of fine steel are pulled by the rotating bearings. The counterweight swings in the bell tower, and the sound of the bell flutters. The first to wake up is the Imperial College. Then gradually woke up the streets and squares around the college, houses and shops...
Several bell towers in the city rang, and soon, a clearer and more rapid ringing that was different from the bells appeared in the streets and alleys.
Half-grown children and young people wearing felt hats and short jackets set off from post offices and newspaper distribution points everywhere, and rode through the streets on the "two-wheeled bicycles" that have become more and more popular in Cecil recently. The car bell is the second "alarm clock" to wake up the city.
They are the newsboys and postmen of the city. In most of the modern cities of Cecil, the citizens' daily life basically starts with the crisp car bells of these newsboys and postmen.
Sir Golosh put on casual clothes, and walked the streets of this foreign city with Azalena, who was also dressed in casual clothes. They watched the whole city wake up from its deep sleep in the morning sun, and the dragon The vastly different buildings and inhabitants of Nearhold surround the two dragonborn.
"I have a book in the room where I live now, which describes the city in this way - Cecil City wakes up in the morning with the 'sound' of modern industry, the bells driven by machinery, the bells of two-wheelers, The whistle of the public magic vehicle..." Sir Golosh said casually, "It seems that only by seeing it with your own eyes can you understand the meaning of these sentences."
"The human world in my memory was not so prosperous and... fast," Azalena shook her head, "Of course, it feels good like this now."
A clear and slightly childish voice came from the side, interrupting the conversation between the two dragonborn: "Sir, ma'am, do you want a newspaper? The latest news, the most interesting news! Just two Els! Three el for two!"
Sir Golosh turned his head and saw a boy wearing a dark blue plaid jacket standing in front of him. The boy had a beaming smile on his face, big and bright eyes, and a large satchel at his waist full of newspaper.
Ah, another "Cecil View" that you can't see anywhere else.
Jazz laughed and couldn't help asking casually, "What's the biggest news?"
"The Empire and the Holy Dragon Principality are about to establish diplomatic relations, sir!" the boy said happily, raising a newspaper in his hand, "The meeting in the big meeting hall has been successfully concluded, and now we have another ally—maybe soon We can look forward to some special products from the far north, or a new market - and more! Grab a copy sir, you seem to be a current affairs person, can't miss more big news in this paper !"
Surprise flashed across Sir Golosh's eyes, and he was stunned for a moment, and Azalena, who was next to him, had already taken out two coins—Cecil's new coins, and she handed them over with a smile: "A newspaper, handsome boy."
"Thank you, ma'am~"
The boy who sold the newspaper ran away, and Azalena shook the newspaper with the fragrance of ink in front of Gorosh's eyes as if showing off the spoils, with a smile on her face: "Now we are all part of the news , sir."
"... What word did you use just now? Ah, 'quick'," Gorosh said with a dumbfounding expression on his face. He spread his hands and glanced at the newspaper, "It just happened yesterday... Even the kids know it now."
"... The negotiations lasted for nearly a week. The inclusive and honest attitude allowed the two countries to finally come together. The empire will have new allies in the economic and cultural fields..." Azalena glanced at the headlines on the newspaper, casually After reading a few sentences, he revealed a slightly emotional expression, "Twenty years ago, a human lord would hire 20 spies and assassins for such a 'information', and spend hundreds of silver coins to bribe the opponent's castle. cook and maid…”
"There will still be rulers who do similar things now, but the things they want to spy on must have changed," Gorosh said casually, and then glanced at Azalena, "But you are very concerned about this aspect back then." The market is quite understandable."
"When I was a mercenary, I did a similar job - working for the nobles earned me a lot of money, but Byron didn't support his partners in dealing with the nobles. He was more interested in hunting monsters and collecting precious materials for mages," Azalena said, shaking her head, "But no matter what job you do, it's a time of freedom. Dealing with monsters in the mountains is much easier than dealing with those shrewd and cunning Cecil diplomats." .”
Sir Golosh laughed: "Anyway, it's finally over. We opened the door, and the dragon descendants will enjoy the industrial products of the human world, come into contact with new knowledge and new technologies, and humans will get a piece of land. Northern markets - and more importantly, a strong ally."
…
Hetty walked into the study room covered with blue carpets. The bright sunlight was shining in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows. She saw the burly ancestor standing in front of the window, and the sunlight was shining on his tall figure. A layer of glow.
"Ancestor," the eldest princess of the empire bowed her head, and said respectfully and gently, "the business adjustment plan with the Holy Dragon Principality has been drawn up."
Gawain nodded slightly: "Well, according to the results of the last meeting, I will hand it over to Patrick to implement."
Hetty came to Gawain's side and looked out the window together with him - in the increasingly bright sky background, several black shadows appeared in the southeast sky, the silhouettes of two cone-shaped flying machines and a flying dragon were following the dark The boundaries of the mountains flow from east to west.
"Today's flight technology team has a series of test items—Rebecca is leading her team to collect more data on the Steel Wings, accumulating more data for the subsequent mass production version."
"We finally pulled the Dragonborn onto this boat..." Gawain said softly.
"Yeah, it's unimaginable...we will have an army of giant dragons." Even at this moment, Heidi's voice could not help but tinge with disbelief, "Frankly speaking, even on the day when the Iron Wings test flight was successful, I didn't Dare to imagine that this thing will actually be successful...”
"Don't take it too seriously, Hetty," Gawain turned his head sideways, "the armed dragonborn may be powerful, but they are not Cecilians, and no part of the empire can rely entirely on foreign mercenaries—let alone These mercenaries are still very expensive, and there are not many of them. Our own air combat force is the foundation of the empire's sky, and the dragonborn is just a support."
Hetty immediately lowered her head: "Yes, ancestor, I will remember your teachings."
"Don't be so serious," Gawain couldn't help shaking his head looking at Hetty who was always so serious, "I can't get married because I've been so tense."
"First... ancestors?"
"Don't be so nervous, let me make a joke for you to relax," Gawain laughed, "Oh...it would be great if you could balance with Rebecca. As an extraordinary person, you are actually young, but you are too old , Rebecca has grown a lot over the years, but her personality is always so reckless."
Hetty originally wanted to say that a joke made by her ancestor made her more nervous, but she was afraid of accidentally bringing the topic back to the direction of "you are too old", so she hurriedly pulled the topic in another direction : "You value the relationship with the Holy Dragon Principality so much... Is it because you have considered the Dragon Clan? Are you making some kind of 'preparation'?"
"There is a reason for this," Gawain saw Hetty's careful thinking in changing the subject, but he didn't point it out, "Dragonborn claim to be exiled deformed people, and judging from their superficial status quo, this is indeed the case, even Most of the dragonborn themselves seem to think so, but I think... the relationship between them and the dragon clan behind them may not be so simple.
"From Melita Pernia's attitude towards the Dragonborn, and from what I have observed, the strange state of the Dragonborn themselves, I think there is something hidden behind this 'exile'.
"According to my guess, the ruler at the top of the Dragonborn, the Duke of Dragon Blood, and the group called the 'Dragon Blood Parliament', they should all have a certain understanding of this, but for some reason, This secret is not public.
"At this stage, we don't have the ability to investigate anything, but at least it won't hurt us to have a good relationship with the dragonborn—one day in the future, this may have unexpected effects.
"Of course, there are other reasons besides this that make me pay attention to the Holy Dragon Principality."
Hetty blinked and reacted quickly: "You mean...they rejected a lot of your proposals at the beginning, and then re-adjusted a lot of business cooperation content?"
Gawain nodded slightly.
"They can see what Rosetta Augustus can't see," he said in a deep voice, "and it's obviously not because Typhon's emperor is stupid—it's because the Dragonborn have exceeded my expectations.
"The so-called 'closed and xenophobic, closed in the mountains and glaciers' are all false.
"Dragonborn have a very long lifespan, and it seems that the closer their blood is to the original dragon race, the longer their lifespan. For such a long-lived race, their civilization may be slow, but they will never be ignorant—even if they only look outside once in a while, The long years are enough for them to accumulate enough wisdom and experience.
"Human dynasties change, in the eyes of this long-lived race, it is like a drama on the stage. After a scene, a dynasty will pass. And if they still have a secret card that is enough to fight against the evil tide, then what they have seen There's definitely a lot more 'drama' than you and I can imagine.
"Our magical technology and marketing plan may be novelty to them, but many of our ideas are probably not new to them.
"Facing a race like this, we can no longer use the same way of thinking that we used to deal with Typhon and the Ogure Tribal Nation..."
Hearing Gao Wen's unhurried words, Heti thought for a while and understood: "Because it can't be squeezed out?"
Gao Wen: "...it's not your style to speak like that, where did you hear that?"
Hetty quickly bowed her head: "Amber said that she compiled a set of nouns you created, which can be used in various occasions related to new things..."
Gao Wen's eyes twitched: "Don't learn from her in the future, sooner or later I will search out all the little books she hid and burn them."
Then he cleared his throat and resolved the embarrassment for a moment: "In short, Dragonborn is a group worthy of attention—even though they call themselves 'principal', few people in this world would despise such a 'principal'. As enemies It will be troublesome, but if it can be drawn to a front, it must be a valuable ally.
"This kind of ally is worth our sincerity and cost to maintain."
"Yes," Hetty replied seriously, "I will keep it firmly in mind."
Gao Wen nodded in satisfaction, then glanced at the mechanical clock on the wall next to him, and said thoughtfully: "According to the schedule, I should go to the acceptance computing center today..."
"Yes, there is still half an hour before departure," Heidi replied, "Yuri's side is already ready."
Gao Wen hummed, turned his head, glanced at a map on the desk not far away, and said casually after looking away: "Go and make arrangements, we are ready to go."
Gawain and Hetty left the study.
On that large wooden desk, a map depicting the entire territory of the Cecil Empire was quietly spread out.
On the map, several key locations in the south, north, east, west, and Holy Spirit Plains are depicted with strange tower-shaped icons, and smaller icons are drawn around those towers, and the red lines are connected like spider silk. Nodes one by one.
The main hub of the south, the main hub of the north... The control center of the imperial capital... The main hub of Sorin, the main hub of Saint-Sunil...
At the bottom of the map, a row of handwritten letters seemed to glow under the sunlight:
The whole territory connection plan of the imperial magic net.