Ancestral Furnace—This large and ancient giant machine is groaning in pain. Its surface is completely dark, and almost all the heat dissipation grids and light signals are dimmed. It sounded like the mournful cry of some kind of monster before it died. On the weather-beaten shell, there are still traces left by the previous explosion: a striking crack extends obliquely from the top of the main reactor shell, almost penetrating one-third of the main body of the ancestor Hong furnace, and in the crack There were still smoke and small-scale electric sparks coming out, and it seemed that something was still running there, but in this case, it was more reassuring for this thing to stop completely than to linger on: Hao Ren was very worried whether it would produce Next explosion.
"The core should have been shut down," the data terminal quickly scanned the energy readings inside the Ancestor Hong Furnace, and gave a somewhat reassuring conclusion, "There is still some current surge in the suspected buffer layer. It won't explode."
Hao Ren heaved a sigh of relief. He could smell a strong burnt smell in the air. At first he thought it was the smell of the engine of the "Steel Beast Chariot" finally being scrapped. Then he realized that it was the smoke left over from the previous explosion. gas. There was too much gas leaked from the giant reactor accident, and the purge pumps on the bulkheads of the nearby shelters couldn't handle the incident at all. Now the whole city is filled with the pungent smell of burning chemicals.
Led by Willie and a group of King City soldiers, everyone arrived at the capital of the High Tower Kingdom. This royal city is much more majestic and majestic than the Hearth City, and it is different from the city-states in the far frontier that are like garbage dumps. The antenna broadcast tower or some other high tower is the core. Around the high tower, craftsmen built a seven-story, hexagonal classical castle with cement and steel. A hundred unbroken glass windows shone in the light, and all around this castle. It is neat houses and spacious streets. Some of these dwellings were slightly rebuilt from the original buildings of the refuge city, while others were simply built from scratch by craftsmen. After getting rid of the problem of decorating the walls with garbage and scraps, the houses look beautiful and grand.
At least compared to other city-states.
There is a high city wall around the king's city, which is also built with new materials-the "new materials" here refer to things other than garbage. The craftsmen who built the king's city did not know where to get so much cement and brand new steel plates. They built the city wall to be strong and beautiful, not like the materials collected from the ruins of the shelter. Perhaps Gaota Wanggong was lucky enough to occupy a warehouse of ancient building materials that has not yet been exhausted
Either way, building the King City will undoubtedly cost a lot of wealth, especially in a sanctuary like this one.
The High Tower King City is densely populated. Far more prosperous than the other city-states in the Ark, here are full of well-dressed citizens and spirited knights, people walking on the streets, and various merchants and hawkers are selling strange commodities in the streets and alleys—mainly utensils, food, cloth pieces , and sheet metal that does not rust. The level of prosperity here is a bit surprising. It almost looks like a normal and prosperous medieval city-state, with no trace of the starship shelter at all—unless you look up to the sky. Another city hangs upside down there.
The "Steel Beast Chariot" Hao Ren and the others came in and the "Skeleton Chariot" of the Iron City State were stopped outside the city. Those loud and dirty machines were not allowed to enter the city, just like some of the ancient earth. The country does not allow mules from the countryside to step into the royal city.
"Among the four kingdoms in the world, only the capital of the High Tower Kingdom is so close to the ancestor's furnace," Willie proudly introduced the capital of his motherland to Hao Ren. "According to the legend, the city of high towers 'Honglubao' was the first human city-state at the beginning of the world. God created human beings in this place and allowed them to live in the city. The first ring of the Hong Furnace is level, it is the ladder leading to the spirit of the ancestors, everyone who died in this world must pass through the first ring to enter the furnace and be reborn as a part of the world, while Gao Because of that tower, the Tower Kingdom is the closest to the principle of world circulation. No matter how tragic the dispute between the four kings is, this great city has never fallen."
The tall tower Willy was referring to was the spire at the top of the castle in the center of the royal city. There is also an antenna transmitter with a history of tens of thousands of years hanging on it, and the name of the High Tower Kingdom may be derived from this tower. The so-called "first ring" is the outermost steel structure of the core reactor, which should be the reactor's condensation components. In the eyes of the locals, this complex and delicate ring has an extraordinary meaning.
"So the scholars from the Four Kingdoms all come to the capital of the High Tower Kingdom to gather when discussing the issue of the ancestor Honglu?" Vivienne felt that this was incredible, "Aren't you all enemies with each other? People from the other three countries So come to the capital of the enemy country for a meeting? And you let them in?"
"This is an ancient sacred covenant," Willy said solemnly. "No one dares to break the oath under the ancestor's furnace. During the truce, no one is allowed to shed blood in Hongforge."
Bachelor Oro explained this question from a historical perspective: "The High Tower Kingdom is the royal descendant of the first dynasty in ancient times. Although that dynasty has fallen apart, the blood of the royal descendants is beyond doubt. The High Tower Kingdom has always been the orthodoxy of this world, and The other three kingdoms are just lost people who were split due to the curse. When it comes to the fundamental crisis of the world, all kingdoms must put aside their disputes and discuss matters before the throne of the only true king. This is a must."
Lily is particularly interested in such gossip: "Is the High Tower Kingdom the descendant of the original orthodox royal family? What about the other countries?"
"The ancestors of the Iron City State are mechanics, the Free City State is inherited from commoners, merchants, and craftsmen, and the Fort Stars is the descendant of a group of scholars," Bachelor Oro said slowly, "It is recorded in the history books."
"It's a weird society," Nangong Wuyue stuck out her tongue. She couldn't help being a little surprised when she saw a group of fancy-dressed people with oil paint on their faces and artificial leather on their backs coming from the other side of the street. "Isn't this the 'refugees' I saw on the road before? They have also entered the city?"
"No, they are the maesters and soldiers of the Free Cities," explained Maester Oro. "The people of the Free Cities do look a bit like the wanderers in the wilderness. In fact, people often confuse the two: because they are really related. Ambiguous. But the Free City-State is still one of the Four Kingdoms after all, and their capital is established on the Bron Heights on the other side of the world, and half of the world's leather and cloth are produced from the synthetic factories there."
Although the High Tower Kingdom occupies a piece of "God-given Land" next to the ancestor Honglu, the capitals of the other three kingdoms also have their own unshakable status. On the other side of the world, the capital of the Liberty City controls the lifeblood of things that keep out the cold, and the capital of the Iron City is a key hub called the "mechanical core". From Oro's description, Hao Ren judged that it might be the city inside the ship. As the smallest of the Four Kingdoms, Stars Fort is the seat of the Tower of Knowledge. It has cultivated generations of intellectuals, representing the mysteries and wisdom of this world. During the dispute between the Four Kings, Stars Fort It is almost possible to maintain the neutral position of the mainland by virtue of this point.
The four kingdoms are crammed together in a closed world with a length of 100 kilometers, intertwined with each other and entangled with each other, forming a grotesque and complicated situation. It is difficult to explain how they formed over hundreds to a thousand years This is the case, but Hao Ren believes that any smart sociologist will be blinded after coming to this refuge ark: there is a crazy social model here, and logic and common sense are almost gone.
"Then what should we do?" Nangong Sanba asked curiously, "When are you going to investigate the situation of ancestor Hong Lu?"
"All bachelors must go to the castle to meet the king and discuss issues," Bachelor Oro pointed to the castle in the distance, "you can wait in the city, Willy knows where to go."
Some King City knights came from the castle. They were specially to escort the bachelors gathered from all over the world. Oro left under the leadership of these soldiers, leaving Hao Ren and his party and Willy staying where they were.
"I know where the hotel is." Willie shook a small sign hanging on his chest, "The emblem of Hearth City allows each of us to be allocated a room. Let's rest for the night, it's too late today, I'm afraid the bachelor won't be back until tomorrow."
Vivian suddenly raised her head to look at Ancestor Honglu, looking at the dimmed cooling grids and coil pipes, her brows gradually wrinkled.
Hao Ren noticed this: "What's wrong?"
"I just heard..." Vivienne continued to frown, "There seems to be something calling me over there." (To be continued~^~)