"What a big joke, just because those mobs want to attack our fortress?" A man with a slick face and a fat body like a bucket stuffed himself in a leather chair. While drinking, he said with a smile, but this chair seemed too narrow, so the fat man couldn't sit very comfortably, and sighed: "It seems that I have to make another chair."
Another tall man shook his head and sighed softly: "It's been almost twenty years since you came to Kanon, and you have changed at least five chairs. Dear Sir, you seem to have to pay attention to your weight."
The man had long, straight black hair and slender hands and feet. The facial features are exquisite, so exquisite that they seem too perfect. Things that are too perfect can sometimes seem scary, like this man. He looked icy and cold, like an emotionless machine. A man named Lei Ming, Essien has known him for a long time. When the Canon Fortress was being built, this man came to the fortress with a paper* from the Pope's Hall. The letter designated him as the head of the 6th branch of the Knights, and the previous head was already in the battle of the blood-stained road. died in line of duty.
The Lei Ming who came to Kanon Fortress that day was like this, and nearly twenty years later, this man is still like this. As if time had lost its effect on him, Lei Ming's ability, appearance and even habits remained surprisingly consistent. People who don't know Lei Ming may think it's nothing, and those who know him but don't have enough strength to understand him probably think he is weird.
Only Essien, who is also the head of the legion, will understand the horror of this man. He is like an infallible machine, maintaining terrifying precision. Essien knows, even a self-disciplined person. When zooming in on his life, he will find that there are always some subtle fluctuations. Or mood, or something else. But since he got to know Lei Ming, his daily routine can only be described as mechanical.
Thunder will be where it should appear at what time of day. He's never a second late, and he's never a second early, always just right. This reminded Essien of certain rumors, which were related to some secret experiments in the Pope's Hall. These experiments are secrets among secrets, and their importance is so important that if they are leaked, they may cause the Pope Hall, the pillar of faith, to disintegrate.
Because those experiments really violated certain taboos in the scriptures.
The fact that Lei Ming had to return to the Pope's Hall for a few days in March every year made Essien's guess in this regard even more serious.
Although on the surface, he went back to the Vatican to report on his duties. But as far as Essien himself is concerned, every quarterly report is just a matter of remote communication. Only on the Hanukkah every three years, the legion commander who weighed nearly a ton had to return to New Rome.
With difficulty, he moved out of the chair, and the overwhelmed seat fell apart into a pile of parts with a groan. Essien sighed and said, "Now it's the sixth one."
Lei Ming glanced at him flatly, and said quietly: "Captain Essien, I think it is necessary to pay attention to the message conveyed by Commander Yafidi."
"What do you want to pay attention to?"
Essien turned around in the command room, but couldn't find a suitable chair, so he simply sat down on the ground.
"Installing outposts and overhauling equipment. If I remember correctly, your knight has not been in operation for almost a year. I suggest that you conduct a comprehensive inspection today, in case of emergency." Lei Ming gave a few words in one breath. Suggestion, and finally said: "We have to send an elite reconnaissance team to the Broken Bay to have a look. If the pirates attack, it is the closest landing point to us."
"Okay, okay, do as you said. But I still don't think it's necessary. Canon is not the soft-headed Pacelo. How can a group of pirates tear apart Zhengzheng's iron wall. If they really fight, then Even better, I have forgotten how long it has been since I fought a war." Essien said excitedly, his fat face flushed. But then his face darkened, and he said: "But the inspection of the Knights of the Round Table will be exempted, damn it, I don't know if I can still squeeze into the cockpit."
Lei Ming looked at his fat body, and there was a hint of worry in his eyes. What he worried about was not Essien's weight, but his combat power. Too long peace and alcohol, I am afraid that this legion leader has fallen to the lowest baseline. As for himself, what strength he was twenty years ago will be the same strength twenty years later. Not reduced, but not increased.
From the perspective of time, neither increase nor decrease is actually not a good thing.
This day, Kanon hasn't been so lively for a long time. The working slaves watched suspiciously as the soldiers picked up the equipment that had been sitting in the warehouse for an unknown amount of time, and started training in the square of the fortress. It's not that there is no such training in normal times, but it's rare to see it a few times a month, and today is not the day for training. If all the soldiers of the Cavaliers in the Pope's Hall are pulled out for military exercises, you will find that Canon's soldiers are fatter than other knight groups. No way, who made Canon's life so good.
Other knights usually have to fight pirates or something, but no pirates who don't have eyesight will come to attack Kanon. So in the knight order, being able to serve as a soldier in Canon is almost like a vacation. Therefore, Canon's soldiers are not much different from Essien. After staying here for a few years, you will notice that you have gained a lot of weight.
But not many people have noticed that their physical strength, reaction, will and fighting instinct have decreased accordingly.
While the soldiers of the Knights were training, the dusty cannons, anti-aircraft machine guns and other equipment on the Canon City Wall finally waited for the opportunity to be refurbished. It's just that Lei Ming's order was issued, but the repaired soldiers didn't seem to care so much. They were talking and laughing quietly as they inspected the weapons, and something just slipped by without the soldiers noticing.
The only one who is working seriously is probably the mecha technician who is inspecting the two Knights of the Round Table. After all, this is the frame of two legion commanders, they can clearly distinguish what can be dealt with sloppily, and what must go all out. But in the final analysis, no one believed that the pirates would be so fearless to hit the iron plate of Canon.
In the afternoon, a group of light locomotives drove out of the fortress and headed towards the Broken Bay along the Emerald Forest. They are the guards under Lei Ming's command, and they have a level above that of ordinary soldiers. What's more, they are conscientious, careful and efficient. Even living in the comfortable environment of Kanon, they have never lost the sharpness of the past.
For them, Lei Ming was very relieved.
The locomotive fleet is like a dagger, and the cold metal light travels through the green emerald forest, forming a sharp contrast. There are wild animals living in the forest, most of which are harmless. The stronger mutant beasts died early due to the development of the blood-stained road. At that time, the Pope's Hall was nothing but a fight, and a fight must be done with all your strength. And the meaning of full strength is not something that can be satisfied by defeating the opponent. It usually refers to genocide. In the Dark Ages, there were at least tens of thousands of extinct species on the Western Continent.
Without the source, there would be no evolution and growth, which is why the alien races and advanced mutant beasts in the Western Continent almost disappeared.
Human dominance was indeed a good thing at the time. At least most of the resources on the Western Continent are under the control of humans, but from the perspective of the entire era, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Without competition, the Western Continent is like a fortress called Canon, and human evolution slows down. Maybe nothing can be seen in a short period of time, but if the time is measured in a hundred years. So today's Fortress Kanon is tomorrow's West Continent.
It's just that few people think about such long-term problems. Most human beings only focus on the immediate, and rarely look at the disadvantages that will only appear in a hundred years. Living in this precarious age, one who can see ten years from now can be called a wise man. If you can see through a hundred years, you are already a saint.
It's a pity that there are countless mediocrities, but few saints. Looking at the whole world, probably not many people will take such a long-term view.
At least Hoddle won't.
He is the captain of Lei Ming's guard team "Lightning", and he was only a 15-year-old boy when he followed Lei Ming to Canon Fortress. At that time, he was still ignorant, and he joined the army with only his blood. Because it has good potential, it was cultivated by Lei Ming. Now it is under the thunder, the number two figure in the Sixth Army.
Hodel, who was already thirty-five or sixteen, had short white hair and was capable, but had a pair of flexible eyes on his square face. He was a strict but flexible person. During the years of Kanon's service, Hoddle was not in the fortress for at least half a year every year. With Thunder's approval, he continued to fight in front of various legions and participated in many activities against pirates.
Other legions also welcome such an ability user whose strength has reached the seventh level, and Hoddle is only one step away from the high level.
By sunset, Hoddle was in Broken Bay.
This is a strange geographical environment.
The coastline of the Western Continent runs from west to east, forming a circle of coastline with gentle drop. But when we got here, an n-shaped terrain suddenly appeared. If the mainland is an irregular cake, then the broken bay is like a small corner of the cake that was roughly torn off, which is also the origin of the name of the bay.
The coastline extending eastward from Fasero on the mainland is not a sandy beach or various shallow rocky beaches, but a towering rock wall. The rock wall is not only a natural dam on the outer edge of the continent, but also a barrier against assaults from the sea. Only when you come to the Fracture Bay, will the ship be able to sail a little inland because of this strange fracture surface. Even the fort Canon built a simple pier here in the bay, but the pier has been out of use as early as ten years ago, and now only the wreckage of some facilities remains.
The coastline continues to extend eastward, and then turns northward, and gradually a gentler beach appears. Therefore, if pirates come to attack, there is no other way but to land in the Broken Bay.
By the time the locomotive convoy reached the bay, it was already dark. Hoddle and his team spent the night in the ruins of the pier in the bay, and started searching near the bay the next day. They checked very carefully, but there were no traces of a large number of people landing on the bay or the pier. In terms of time, if Facero's attack was just a fake attack by pirates, then the main force should have reached the bay long ago.
However, looking up, apart from a few isolated islands on the sea, there are no traces of any ships, let alone a huge fleet. Hoddle frowned and reported the news to Lei Ming. Then the guards stayed in the vicinity for another night, and returned to the fort next morning.
"Look, I'll say it's impossible." Essien was holding the wine bottle with one hand, and was sweeping the food in front of him into his big mouth with the other. The leader's mouth is like a black hole, eating nearly tons of food every day.
Lei Ming still stood at the window, looking at the vast sea area facing the other side of the fortress unchangingly: "Hodell did not find any pirates, but that does not mean that we can relax. Captain Essien, I suggest that the previous The order must continue, and some men must be dispatched to Broken Bay. That pier, we may have been abandoned for too long, and we have to reconsider building it."
"This is not good, the masters of the Pope's Hall will not allocate more funds for us." Essien frowned.
Lei Ming glanced at the food on his table, Essien shivered, and then protested angrily: "I warn you, Lei Ming, you are not allowed to think about my food. This is already the only joy in my life!"
"If you can cut the food supply in half, we can build ten of them, let alone one pier." Lei Ming said blankly, "Commander Essien, sometimes I suspect that what you eat is not food, It's gold coins. Piles of gold coins."
Leaving this sentence, Lei Ming said that he was going to check the training of those soldiers. After he left, Essien frowned and said bitterly: "How can a guy like you understand my pain. There are no battles to fight, no women to have sex with. If there is no food, I will almost find no life." It’s fun. Hey, forget it, let’s eat less today.”
Commander Essien did eat a little less today.
However, only a little bit.
Another night.
But tonight, the beasts inhabiting the Emerald Forest could not be as calm as usual. Originally, they should return to their nests to rest at this time, but at this moment, they are all far away from their own nests. The direction in which the wild beasts were moving away was closer to the fortress Kanon.
Half a kilometer from the edge of the forest, a flock of night birds wanted to take off. But I just spread my wings, but found that no matter how I flap my wings, I can't fly into the sky. The air, usually without any resistance, became as thick as a swamp, and the invisible force field contained these birds not far from the treetops. Then another force field passed over these birds, all of these birds stopped any activity, and fell down one by one.
The flying bird that fell on the soft ground has lost any vitality.
Countless black shadows passed quietly in the forest, like a black undercurrent, flowing quietly in the forest. The undercurrent is pointing to the fortress Kanon under the night.
Even though it was late at night, Canon still had lights on. In a golden pupil, one could even see a soldier yawning on the sentry post on the high wall of the fortress. The owner of the pupil is Zero, and behind Zero is the Sea God Group that was not in Hoddle's report!
In fact, they had arrived long ago. On the morning when Essien received the summons from Facero, the fleet of the Poseidon Group quietly arrived at the Broken Bay. However, the fleet didn't stop. After leaving a total of 3,000 Seagod soldiers behind, the fleet followed Zero's order to stay away from this sea area and stand by. The Zero and Sea God Group rushed into the Emerald Forest immediately. Although the Sea God Group had a large number of people, the Emerald Forest was big enough. The vast primeval forest is more than enough to accommodate 3,000 people, and although Lei Ming's guards are elite, they don't have the strength to check the entire forest without leaking.
The Sea God Group even stayed still in the forest for a day, and they didn't move towards the fortress until the thunderous guards left.
Now, Kanon is right in front of him, and just like Zero imagined, the defense is ordinary.
"Follow the plan." Zero said lightly.
So Su Yue came out, and behind the Destroyer, a team quietly followed. There are only seventy or eighty people in this team, but everyone is dignified. Like a sharp long sword wrapped in a scabbard, although the long sword has not been unsheathed, it has already revealed its edge. This team is the Seagod Trident, a group of ability users whose average combat power is at the sixth level.
Under the cover of night, the trident passed through the forest quietly, and quietly touched the fortress.
The weather is already in autumn, autumn is here, can winter be far behind
Even though it was only autumn, the weather at night was already chilly, which made a set of knight order uniforms look a little flimsy. So a sentry on the city wall couldn't help shrinking his neck, he yawned, and mentally calculated how long it would be until the shift change time.
The walls of the Kanon Fortress are thirty meters high, arched to wrap the main building of the fortress behind. There are five sentry towers from west to east on the city wall, each equipped with two anti-aircraft machine guns and ten sentries. In addition, there are four turbulent cannons and several dark sentries in other places in the city. There is an inner wall behind the city wall, and there is a passage between the inner and outer walls.
This path called "Between Death" can deliberately open the city gate to let the enemy in when necessary, and then trap the enemy in the "Between Death" and annihilate the enemy with firepower points on the inner and outer walls. Naturally, such a design was useless during the twenty-year peace period of Canon.
Behind the city wall is the square area, and there are several areas nearby, such as warehouse area, slave dormitory, barracks, command post, and mecha warehouse. The buildings on each area seem to be unplanned, but in fact the space between buildings is very limited. It makes the passages in the fortress twisted and twisted. It is not surprising that people who are not familiar with the fortress will even get lost in this place without any road signs.
Such a design is based on the consideration that once the enemy breaks through the inner and outer walls, the special environment here can be used to divide the enemy army to the greatest extent. While reducing the impact of the enemy army, it also allows the host of the fortress to turn the frontal battle into a street battle.
This is Canon Fortress, a "city" designed entirely from the perspective of war.