Chapter 832 Stranger From the South

In the brightly lit R&D workshop, the prototype of the Wings of Steel was re-disassembled into components, spread out and placed on platforms and brackets.

On the lower edge of the pair of huge metal wings, the broken and twisted metal structure is particularly striking.

With a tinkling sound, Rebecca drilled out from under one of the giant wing structures, smearing oil on her face, and holding a newly disassembled 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 whole set," Rebecca said to the technician next to her, holding the part in her hand, "all other mechanical failures and deformation of parts are produced during the crash."

Maggie stepped forward curiously and looked at the pie-shaped part in Rebecca's hand: "What's the reason? Why is it suddenly overloaded?"

"If I'm not mistaken... it should be that the acceleration was too fast, resulting in too much waste energy accumulation too late to release, and then you happened to perform a large-scale maneuver, such as rolling at a large angle or something, and directly burst the magic capacitor. ," Rebecca frowned, "We really didn't consider this... Humans can't do this kind of operation at all, and the body can't bear it. We still don't know enough about dragons..."

Rebecca was still muttering, but Maggie's expression became embarrassed. She lowered her head with a hint of shame: "Yes...it's my fault..."

Rebecca immediately shook her head: "No, this kind of failure during flight itself is a design problem - the load of the magic capacitor is limited, and we should add restrictions at the beginning. It is actually good news - at least The fault is in the design, and it can be solved little by little by redesigning and retesting, 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 as a tester with Rebecca's research team for so long, she is no longer unfamiliar with related technical terms and concepts, and she understands that everything is exactly as the other party said— - Design omissions can be corrected, which is easier to break than material difficulties.

It's just that there is still a trace of shame in her heart, because in the final analysis, this crash was caused by herself.

The feeling of embracing the blue sky was too charming, and it was difficult for the young Dragonborn to control herself. She knew that she was too addicted to that feeling, and that she neglected to keep an eye on the working conditions of the Iron Wings at all times - there must be some signs before the magic capacitor was overloaded. If At that time, she was not indulging in the feeling of free flying, and presumably she would not let things develop to such a serious crash.

Although Rebecca is usually not very good at guessing people's hearts, at least she can guess what Maggie is thinking at this time, and she waved her hand vigorously: "Don't think too much, the testers are trying to test the various limits of the prototype. In terms of data, it is inevitable that equipment will be damaged during this process. It is better to find problems during the test flight than to cause an accident after the mass production of the prototype in the future.”

Speaking of this, the Cecil Steel Ball seemed to suddenly remember something, touched his chin and changed the conversation: "And compared to my side, look back and think about how to apologize to Tyre..."

Maggie was stunned for a moment, her face full of confusion: "Miss Tyre?"

"When I went back to dinner yesterday, I saw Till arching around in the corridor, telling people that she was stabbed to death by an iron jaw that fell from the sky - it should be the second time you hit her, the last time You smashed it with a dragoon prototype..."

Maggie: "..."

...

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the mountains in the north, and the pale golden light splashed down the undulating ridgeline. The majestic Winter Castle stood on the top of the snow and rocks, overlooking this icy and snowy mountains and rivers— - This is a completely different landscape from the south. It lacks a lot of prosperity and enthusiasm, but adds a sense of magnificence and vastness that penetrates into the bone marrow.

Byron, who visited this northern city for the first time, stood on the terrace overlooking most of the city.

His line of sight was filled with this magnificent scenery from the north. He was born as a mercenary, and he couldn't help but express a lot of emotion, wanting to sigh at the vastness and magnificence of the empire——

"...There are so many mountains here."

After searching his stomach and finding that he only had this sentence, and that he couldn't think of a few reliable words, Byron scratched his chin a little embarrassedly, and suddenly felt that it might be reasonable for Philip to persuade him to read more books - at least in When encountering 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 Duchess Victoria in a white dress had come to the terrace at some point, and looked here suspiciously. The corners of his mouth trembled and he scratched unnaturally. Scratching his face, he smiled dryly: "Aha... I'm just talking to myself."

Victoria glanced at Byron, and did not seem suspicious, but nodded slightly: "The banquet hall is ready, you imperial general should show your face."

Byron's expression suddenly stiffened and seemed a little helpless, but in the end he didn't say anything and kept up with Victoria.

The messenger from the Holy Dragon Principality has not arrived yet. Tonight's banquet is to make initial contact with the upper society in the north.

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. To see what the general from the imperial capital was like, and for Byron, this kind of "conventional upper-class society" was not a pleasant thing.

In the brightly lit hall of Winter Castle, the banquet has been set, precious drinks and exquisite food are placed on the long table, the band is playing brisk and high-class music in the corner of the hall, nobles and government officials in various dresses. Randomly distributed in the hall, talking about strangers from the south, talking about the upcoming Beigang project.

Byron was led by Victoria into the Great Hall, to deal with these strange but influential people in the North.

With a smile, everyone was polite, with just the right amount of gentleness and cordiality, and welcomed the "Speaker of the Emperor's Will" with a sincere attitude.

Byron, wearing a dark blue imperial uniform with gold fringe and sashes, walked down the hall accompanied by Victoria.

As a knight from a mercenary, he is not good at this kind of "high society" life, but as a soldier, he can maintain a cold personality throughout the whole process without being called a lack of courtesy.

Likewise, as a mercenary-turned-knight, he is very good at reading the words in all kinds of situations.

He could clearly feel that most of the people here were keeping a watchful attitude towards him as a "foreigner", which did not surprise him at all.

After chatting with the unknown number of XX counts, Byron temporarily left the scene on the grounds that he was stuffy in the hall, went to the balcony to breathe, and rested his brain by the way.

There were undisguised footsteps coming from the direction of the banquet hall, and Byron turned his head to see Victoria Wilder coming this way.

He shook the wine glass in his hand as a greeting to the Duke of the North, and then turned his head to look at the distant mountains that were gradually immersed in darkness, and continued to sigh in his heart that there were so many mountains in this place.

Duchess Victoria's voice came from the side: "General Byron, you seem to be very interested in the scenery of the north?"

"There are indeed more mountains here than in the south," Byron smiled, "and they are all tall, majestic and impressive."

"There are so many mountains in the north that there are very few flats and even hills. In addition to the cold climate, it is not as suitable for survival as in the south," Victoria said lightly. For mountain residents, the scenery is a symbol of bitter cold. From the day when Ansu was founded, this land has not been very rich. It is not a grain-producing area or a commercial center. It is only equivalent to a snow-capped mountain defense line. Protecting the kingdom's northern gates—the relatively difficult living conditions and centuries-old stance of the 'barrier to the north' makes the northerners more courageous than the peoples of other regions, but also more difficult to deal with."

Byron didn't know the intention of the Duchess's sudden mention of these, but he had unconsciously thought of the people in the banquet hall, so he showed a thoughtful look, but forgot to respond to the Duchess's words.

Victoria herself didn't care, but continued: "General Byron, you are building the North Harbor under His Majesty's order. This is not only to deal with the cold wind and permafrost, but also to deal with the people in this bitter cold land. I want to hear it. My thoughts?"

"Of course," Byron restrained his thoughts, "I will start the North Harbor project soon, and I will definitely listen to your suggestion."

"North Harbor is a gateway, not only the gateway to the empire, but also the gateway to the north. For this cold and barren land, such a gateway is enough to bring about a huge change," Duchess Victoria said calmly, her eyes wide open. Profound, sincere tone, "If the northern route around the continent is successfully launched, a large part of the trade between the Empire and the Holy Dragon Duchy, Ogre Tribe, Dwarf Kingdom and other countries will be completed through the North Port, which will change the northern blockade. The status quo of poverty. Thanks to His Majesty for bringing about the wizarding era, new technologies and new businesses can bring prosperity to the unsuitable land in the north, but unfortunately, many northerners did not realize this in the early stage—— That's something you have to think about."

"I see what you mean," Byron nodded, "The North Harbor development will bring prosperity here, but until the real money is seen, the locals will only think that there are a bunch of outsiders messing around on their land, and they are right Their lives dictate — yes, that's a problem."

"But His Majesty still chooses to send a southerner like you to build the North Harbor, instead of appointing the 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 suddenly smiled after being silent for two seconds: "Beijing Port is not just a civilian port."

"...Someone commented that you were a rude person who didn't read books, but now I don't seem to be so."

Byron raised his eyebrows: "I haven't read many books, but the cunning and vision of mercenaries are not tempered by books."

"...Your Majesty chose to send you here, and it was really thoughtful," Victoria seemed to smile, but her tone was still flat, "You are the first soldiers created by the Cecil Order, and you are a typical example of the new type of officers—you Strictly obey the discipline and safeguard the interests of the empire, give priority to following orders rather than noble traditions, and the production and construction corps you bring follows the same principle. The North Harbor must be built by people like you, not any northern consul, not even a northern consul. It's me - in this way, the North Port can be guaranteed to belong to the Empire, not to the North."

"But you seem to be quite indifferent about it." Byron glanced at Victoria and said curiously.

"Your Majesty's choice is very correct, and I... did not rely on impulse when I chose the Cecil Order," Victoria responded calmly, "The old forces entrenched in all parts of the empire are thorns that are difficult to remove, except for Outside the southern border, there are still many parts of the country that have not been completely rectified. There are many old nobles who still retain influence, and it will take a long time to completely eliminate this influence. Both I and the Duke of Baldwin know this. , and has 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 Arterial Railway plan as soon as possible.

"General Byron, I'm telling you this today, so that you can complete your mission without distractions - North Harbor is an imperial project, and the Wilder family will do their best to support it. Our family thrives on this land. For hundreds of years, the impact on the North has been very far-reaching, which I cannot deny. From today onwards, all the people from the North under the influence of the Wilder family will not become an obstacle to the North Harbor project. you promise."

Byron took a deep look at Victoria and said with a half-smile: "...So in other words, after the construction of Beigang started, the local forces that still obstructed... are not from the North."

"It's normal for robbers to harass the Construction Corps in a remote and bitter place, and the Construction Corps is also responsible for strangling the robbers. The Wilder family will fully support these acts of justice," Victoria said lightly, she turned around, her eyes were calm Looking at the direction of the banquet hall, "Please rest assured, those who secretly make small moves 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 shaking his head: "I'm afraid that before the completion of Beigang, many people will secretly say that you betrayed the people of the north."

"They will be the ones who will praise and support the North Port once it's built," Victoria said with a deadpan expression. "They will soon be overwhelmed by the staggering scale of cross-border trade and the power the Empire has shown in the process. And these people basically have no position in front of their interests.”

"At that time, it will be a matter for you, the archon to consider," Byron said casually, "I am just a soldier and will only execute orders from His Majesty. My mission is the North Harbor and the fleet. On this basis, I Not going a step beyond."

Victoria nodded and added: "Although my reminder may be a little redundant, as the Duke of the North, I still have to say something - I hope you can be careful, some people who disrupt the order may just be incited rising 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 don't have any worries."