Chapter 790 Looming

The latest website: On the fountain garden square in front of the main entrance, the crisp sound of jingle bells can be heard from time to time, Rebecca is riding on her "new toy" excitedly, and is going around the flower bed round and round Go, the helpless servants can only stand not far away or try to follow as close as possible, ready to help the princess who fell to the ground at any time.

It's just that compared to the beginning, Rebecca is obviously a lot more proficient at this moment, at least she won't plunge into the flower bed again.

Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study, Gao Wen silently withdrew his gaze towards the square.

"Two-wheeled vehicles... The Typhons have really tinkered with interesting things," Amber's voice came from behind him, "The academic advisor of the Political Affairs Office has made an assessment. This seemingly simple means of transport has a very large impact. Potential value, it is flexible, convenient, and low-cost. Any ordinary person with healthy hands and feet can use it skillfully after a short period of study. As long as the road is relatively flat, it can be used. The promotion threshold is lower than that of the magic device... ...is a good thing."

Gawain didn't say anything for a while.

There are things in his mind that outsiders cannot know.

Although the shape does not look exactly the same as the "bicycle" in his memory, the principle and general structure of the thing are no different from the things he is familiar with. It's just... He hasn't had time to popularize this thing in Cecil. Come on, the Typhons are already ahead.

Seeing that Gawain didn't speak for a while, Amber couldn't help but say: "What? Typhon people are leading the way in 'technical innovation', do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Of course not," Gawain shook his head, "To be honest, in the Ansu era, the people of Typhon have always been ahead in the field of technology, and we have only been ahead for so many years by relying on magic technology. And from the actual situation , it is inevitable that the Typhons created this kind of flexible and convenient means of transportation before us..."

"Oh? How do you say that?"

"Their road renovation and leveling project started earlier than ours. When Ansu was still busy with civil strife, there were already smooth and wide new roads between the towns and villages of the Typhons. It can only ensure that the roads between big cities and major towns meet new standards," Gawain turned his head, "In the final analysis, the birth of a new thing does not come with a clapping of hands, and without environmental support, there will be no new adaptations to the environment. thing.

"Compared to these, what I am more concerned about is when did the prototype of this 'two-wheeled vehicle' appear? It is quite complete now, so it should not be something that suddenly appeared recently..."

Amber blinked and quickly recalled the relevant information: "...there is indeed an earlier 'prototype',

More than ten years ago, a Typhon craftsman made a wooden moped, but not many people paid attention to it at that time. It was only regarded as a novelty toy. Later, some craftsmen improved it several times, but there were still not many people. focus on. Until half a year ago, the number of factories in the Aldernan area surged. A large number of workers needed to go to work in the factories, and many people related to the factories needed to run around. There were more and more factories and more and more workers. The area is also farther and farther away from the city center - then, the 'two-wheeled vehicle', which has not been cared about by many people, was noticed by some discerning businessmen.

"According to the information sent by the 'Track' intelligence line, this means of transportation is currently rapidly becoming popular among middle-class citizens of Aldernan, who are mainly skilled workers with stable incomes, foremen, small and medium-sized lawyers and decent business people. As for the grass-roots workers, they can't afford the price of two-wheeled bicycles for the time being. However, several Typhon nobles have launched a 'two-wheeled bicycle welfare program', calling on factories to invest in the purchase of cheaper versions of two-wheeled bicycles, and then lend them to Workers use, workers can own the car 'for free' as long as they have worked in the factory for a certain number of years, this plan has been widely echoed and should be implemented soon - factory owners and workers have welcomed it very much, feel themselves got a lot of benefits.”

"...Factory owners can always recover the cost from the workers, and the workers also feel that their travel pressure is relieved. After all, capital can always stimulate the ingenuity of capitalists," Gawain thought for a while, and said with a chuckle, "But Anyway, things are really good, and we can use them... The road conditions in most parts of the southern border have been greatly improved, this two-wheeled vehicle can come in handy, its technical difficulty is not high, the factory is there It can be imitated."

Having said that, he stopped and fell into a brief thought.

Magic machinery and factory production, they have not only a single, one-sided impact on a society, industrialization is a chain reaction, when its source begins to operate, all related links in society are inevitable. began to change.

The factory needs ordinary people as workers, and the role of ordinary people in the operation of society has been magnified, so whether the upper class of Typhon is willing or not, they will put ordinary people in their sights - even if they only treat them as gears and money bags look at.

A two-wheeled vehicle specially made for ordinary people is just the beginning - it represents not only a few smart Typhon businessmen who have discovered new business opportunities, but also a part of the upper class of Typhon with knowledge and means of production who have already ideologically changes.

And as long as this change occurs, their ability to utilize magic technology will inevitably increase rapidly. This is pressure for Gawain, but it is also what he wants to see.

He was once again caught in a conflicted state of entanglement and anticipation.

Amber looked at Gawain curiously: "What do you think?"

"Typhon people...the thinking has become more flexible," Gawain said slowly with a hint of sigh, "but it's also a good thing."

"...Although I don't know how many complicated things you've been thinking about in these few seconds, I still remember you saying that it's not a bad thing for others to develop, we just need to ensure that we always develop faster than others," Amber Straightforwardly, I temporarily found a phrase from the "Sacred Talk of Gawain Cecil" that I recorded, and then the topic changed, "Since we are talking about Typhon now... Calculate the time, that Mather Princess Da should be here soon."

"Matilda Augustus..." Gawain put his finger on his chin, thoughtfully, "According to the information from Maryland and Philip, the princess is a person who is very concerned about magic technology, although she is not It is ruled out that this is her deliberate attitude, but she does have a good understanding of some more professional magic knowledge."

Amber glanced at Gawain: "Are you worried about what she sees from Cecil's magic technique, which will affect the concealment on the 'Twenty-fifth' side?"

"That's not true. The 'Twenty-fifth' side has always been very cautious. The technologies he released are all mutated, and he also prepared a very complete 'R&D evidence', and there is no doubt about it," Gawain shook his head, "I'm just curious, whether that Princess Typhon's attention to magic technology is just showing a certain attitude of the Typhon family...or is it really her personal preference. If it's the latter...I I'd be happy to have a good relationship with her, and then lend her hand to give them some 'gifts' that I'm going to export to Typhon in a more natural and reasonable way..."

Seeing the classic scheming look on Gao Wen's face, Amber wanted to roll his eyes on the spot, but he was afraid of being slapped on the wall and really rolled his eyes, so he could only forcibly suppress the thoughts he was talking about. One turn: "Speaking of Typhon's royal family, the MIB has recently been investigating information about the inherited 'madness' of the Augustus family, and we have found some interesting things."

"Oh?" Gao Wen raised his eyebrows, "Let's hear it."

Knowing the opponent is the basis for self-protection. Based on this, Gawain has been paying attention to Typhon's Augustus family since the southern unification war, especially their family's famous "Curse of Madness" legend. Intelligence gathering was also the focus of the MIB's mission in Typhon. At this moment, when he heard new information, he immediately lifted his spirits.

"According to the relatively public information that has been collected before, we already know that the 'madness' of the Augustus family did not always exist, but only appeared after the event known as the 'Great Collapse' two hundred years ago. Yes," Amber started to report, "two hundred years ago, the old capital of Typhon collapsed due to a major earthquake, and the whole fell into the ground, but before the collapse, the then emperor Typhon foresaw the disaster in advance and carried out Evacuation was done to avoid casualties, and after that, the family members of the Augustus family began to be plagued by the curse of madness...

"In the latest intelligence we have gathered, there is an explanation for this 'curse' that came after the Great Collapse.

"Some of the upper-class Typhon nobles and scholars have a saying: the collapse of the old imperial capital two hundred years ago was not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster. It was the Typhon royal family at that time trying to draw some forbidden power from the earth, which caused backlash. There was a major collapse, so the then Emperor Typhon did not foresee any disaster, but evacuate when he knew the ceremony was out of control.

"As for the so-called madness, it is the sequelae of this backlash - the out-of-control power deep in the earth has polluted the souls of Augustus, and this pollution has been passed down from generation to generation to this day."

"Man-made disasters... try to draw strength from the depths of the earth?" Gawain frowned, "This sounds more like an absurd and uninhibited court gossip. Such legends that slander the reputation of the royal family should be taboo in Typhon. Bar?"

"Of course, no one dares to openly discuss these legends. The basics of public discussion are not far from death - the Typhon royal family has always been tough, which is different from the original Ansu royal family," Amber nodded, "But this kind of Things are always kept secretly and circulated among some not-so-honest nobles and scholars.

"Rosetta Augustus took all kinds of tough measures to implement reforms in his early years, but he did not do as thoroughly as you because of the domestic situation, which led to a large number of resentful nobles left in Typhon. These The nobles probably wouldn't object to Rosetta's rule, but they certainly wouldn't mind discussing a few 'little stories' about the Augustus family in private.

"This kind of little story sounds really absurd and uninhibited, but since it dares to involve the royal family, and it can be circulated among many scholars and extraordinary people, then there must be a part of the content true..."

Gawain glanced at Amber: "What you told me seems to have been screened and confirmed?"

"The content that is too absurd and malicious has been removed, and the parts that can mirror each other's rumors and legends have been retained," Amber nodded, "I dare not say it is the truth, but the Augustus family did it two hundred years ago. , and thus cause familial madness, is probably true."

"...I am now a little curious about what is buried under their collapsed old imperial capital," Gawain said faintly after hearing this, "The Lord of Storms is buried under the deep sea, the fortress of disobedience is buried in the dark mountains, and under the giant tree of Thorin Connecting to the legacy of the Reverse Tide Empire... In this world, it is not a safe thing to dig holes in the ground."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but another slightly weird idea popped up in his mind:

Does the visiting Princess Matilda Augustus also carry this curse that will eventually lead to madness?

...

In the city of dreams, in the rotunda of the central temple, the figure of Selena Gerfen just condensed in the air, when I heard the voice of Archbishop Yuri:

"Archbishop Selena, our first test of Sandbox No. 1 has revealed the situation."

"I know," Selena's figure solidified, looking at Yuri in a white robe, "What's the specific situation?"

"The first batch of spirit knights who entered Sandbox No. 1 arrived in the deserted city, where they found a mad and insane record, which stated that the world had ended, and that all beings in the world had been freed from meaningless reincarnation— After exploring the surroundings of the city, the operatives confirmed that there were no residents in the area," Archbishop Yuri said quickly, "with the help of the spirit knight team as a spiritual beacon, we finally reconstructed the monitoring of the No. 1 sandbox, and then Found out... all the minds in there really disappeared!"

Selena Gerfen's expression instantly turned serious: "All—including real testers, and all virtual personalities simulated in the sandbox?"

"Yes, all," Archbishop Yuri nodded, "Sandbox No. 1 no longer has any 'inhabitants', and it is likely to have been 'emptied' early in the closure of the sandbox, the one we explored earlier The Phantom Town looks empty. We once guessed that it was a 'vision' caused by projection distortion, but now it seems that the empty state is not a 'distorted vision' at all, but the real sandbox No. 1. state - it's idling! It's been idling"

Sandbox No. 1, which has been out of control for a long time, should have accommodated tens of thousands of "residents". The interior has been undergoing rapid evolution. In the early days of the runaway, sandbox No. 1 projected the illusion of residents. , it was already empty.

The mind inside... where did it go?

Those "residents" projected by it in the early days, the "priests" in the phantom town...what are they?

Although she had lost her entity in the real world, Selena Gerfen felt an inexplicable chill suddenly surge up.