Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 12: The Abyss and the Starry Sky
“Hi, Luke.
I am at Emerald Dream Academy and everything is fine.
This was the farthest trip I had ever taken away from the palace. I had never thought of coming to such a far place before. It took me nearly half a month just by boat, and then another week by horseback to reach the Emerald Dream Academy.
Here I saw more elves than all the elves I had seen before combined. They were all very beautiful and elegant, but also very exclusive.
There are very few students of other races in the college, so at the beginning, I was always deliberately or unintentionally made things difficult for myself. It took me a lot of time to adapt to life here, so I wrote to you a little late, please forgive me.
Please don't worry about me, my relationship with my elf classmates has improved a lot. Thanks to the archery class in the palace, my archery grades are very good. My classmates say that I am an elf, but I look like a human.
And sister Agatha taught me sculpture. You should have seen their expressions. It was really funny.
By the way, they not only heard of Miss Qingkong, but also admired her very much, and they also regretted that Miss Qingkong was a grassland elf, not a forest elf. But I couldn't reveal my identity, and couldn't say that I was Miss Qingkong 's student and friend.
The professors in the college are also very good. I chose natural science as an elective. My natural science instructor, Professor Macartina, is a powerful elf who can communicate with animals and control plants.
..."
Luke was reading the letter sent by Dai'er. The words in the letter seemed to have voice, as if Dai'er was chattering beside him.
It has been a while since Dai'er went to study abroad at the Emerald Magic Academy, but because of the long journey, the letter has only been delivered now.
Also delivered along with it was the mission briefing for the accompanying agent.
Just as Dale said in the letter, except for some troubles in the beginning, she has now adapted to life in Emerald Dream Academy.
Looking at the letter, Luke couldn't help but think of the Emerald Forest in the Anno game.
The Emerald Forest is the kingdom of forest elves and the largest gathering place of elves. At the beginning of a new era, the civilization created by humans radiated into the Emerald Forest and then localized to present a different style.
Humans can cut down forests to build factories and release pollutants everywhere. In the Emerald Forest, these behaviors are absolutely prohibited and will be severely punished. Therefore, there are no roads or railways in the Emerald Forest, and there are almost no vehicles with wheels.
But industrialization is a major trend in the world, so the forest elves used magic, alchemy, steam, and mechanical disciplines, combined with the natural sciences that the forest elves are best at, to create the world's best alchemical puppet technology.
The elves who are proficient in art make puppets in the shapes of various animals for use in transportation and labor. Some puppets develop intelligence due to natural magic and become unique creatures.
Natural magic is a magic that can only be learned and practiced in the Emerald Forest. Its source comes from a magical well. The forest elves believe that this is a gift from the elven god.
The well was called the Magic Spring by the elves.
According to the information currently available, the so-called Elf Lord should be a special energy body similar to the starry sky and the abyss. The function of the Magic Spring should be similar to the Book of Disaster, and it is a door connecting to the "Elf Lord".
Now Dale is in the Magic Forest and has also taken a natural science course... Is it a coincidence or destiny?
Luke picked up a pen and wrote a reply to Dale.
He described the changes in the imperial capital during this period, and what new things had appeared in Raging Waves City. He wrote about his trip to the Tedga Hills, describing in detail the conditions of the holy mountain and the unique culture of the barbarians, as well as how he won the championship of the Strongest Man.
Finally Luke wrote:
There is a magic spring in the Emerald Forest. It looks like a well, and there are many elves around it. The location of the magic spring is not fixed. It disappears every once in a while and then appears in another place, but they are all very remote places.
There are many legends about the Magic Spring in the Emerald Forest. The forest elves believe that it is a gift from the Elf God. Every creature that encounters the Magic Spring is lucky, because unexpected good things will happen after drinking the Magic Spring.
If you take the natural sciences course, you should collect more information about the magic spring, because the natural energy of the Emerald Forest all comes from the magic spring. This is the secret of the forest elves, and they will not tell outsiders casually.
Miss Qingkong lived in the Emerald Forest for a long time in order to find the magic spring, and has done some research on natural science. I will tell Miss Qingkong and ask her to recommend some natural science books to help you learn.
Let me tell you another little secret. Miss Qingkong found the magic spring through the information in these books.
After Luke finished writing the reply, he encrypted the important information in it, and then handed it to the secret messenger sent to the Emerald Forest to deliver it to Princess Dale as quickly as possible.
Agatha arrived just as the letter was sent.
Now the relationship between the two seems to be the same as before, and they always talk about work when they meet, but it is a little different from before. Agatha seems to be very satisfied with this distance, which is neither too far nor too close and is in line with the current status and identity of the two.
Today Agatha was wearing an equestrian outfit, holding a whip in her hand, and she was in a very good mood: "Daier wrote to me, saying that everything is fine at the Emerald Magic Academy, and I can finally rest assured. Daier said that she rides a horse wherever she goes in the Emerald Forest, and I just remembered that I haven't ridden a horse for a long time.
I have brought two royal horses with me, and we will go for a run in your back garden, and I will tell you some news from the North."
Seeing that Agatha was so interested, Luke accompanied her on horseback for a walk in the back garden.
Agatha on horseback had a very high royal dignity. She raised her chin slightly, the sunlight shone on her golden hair, and even when she was strolling in the garden, she seemed as if she was patrolling the territory of the empire.
Agatha asked Luke, who was riding a horse and walking side by side, "What did Dale write to you?"
Luke replied, "It should be about the same. First I told her I was safe, and then I talked about life in the academy. Dale's temperament is very similar to that of an elf. It can be said that any living creature who sees her will like her and will not bear to hurt her."
"Yes! Dale is an outlier in the Augustine family. At first, I was reluctant to let her go to study abroad so far away, but now it seems that this is the right choice. In this era of turmoil everywhere, the Emerald Forest is one of the few safe places. I hope that when she comes back, all the troubles in the empire can be solved smoothly."
Luke smiled and said, "There are always more troubles to deal with. Let's talk about the North. What's new?"
"Good news from the North." Agatha regained her capable look. "The Snow Legion has recently recaptured the Shiqimier area in the north of Snow City. Now the entire area around Snow City is back under the control of the Empire. With the subsequent supply and manpower, the war in the North will enter a stalemate ."
This is indeed good news. With Shiqimier recovered and the outer defense line of Snow City closed, the imperial army can use Snow City as the core to compress the war zone from the third line of defense to the second line of defense, greatly reducing the defense pressure.
On the other hand, the Art County Alliance no longer has the aggressive edge that it had at the beginning of the war. Recent intelligence shows that the Art County Alliance’s army is building fortifications in the occupied area, and it seems that they are also prepared for a protracted war.
Helkkin's intelligence confirmed this. After the county coalition military learned that Nutao City had built a 10,000-ton warship, they made full preparations to deal with large-scale conflicts at sea. The land gradually turned to defending the occupied areas, and resources, funds and personnel shifted significantly to naval construction.
Luke did not hide the fact that Raging Tide City had built a 10,000-ton battleship. Even such a large battleship could not be concealed.
He even published some warship data in order to cause panic among the maritime powers, especially the At County Federation, and thus set off a round of maritime military power competition. Big ships and cannons are toys that consume a lot of national strength. Soon most countries knew that they were not qualified to own this toy, and succumbed to the country that owned this toy, willingly withdrawing from the industrialization race and becoming a resource exporting country or a manpower exporting country.
Those high-tech talents scattered across the country will move to places with strong national strength because there is no room for them to display their talents locally.
Once this trend is established, the world order will become one in which the strong will always be strong and the weak will always be weak.
As long as the strong countries do not commit suicide, the weak countries have almost no chance of turning things around.
The industrial capacity of At County Union is extremely strong, and cheap energy makes their industrial products very competitive. However, the high latitude determines that this country has fatal shortcomings, with a single agricultural product and low-profit light industry that is difficult to survive.
If Art County Union gets caught up in a maritime arms race, it will greatly occupy industrial capacity. Having to fight wars and build ships at the same time, industrial exports will decrease, while imports will increase significantly. It won't take too long for prices within Art County Union to soar.
At that time, there will be only two options for Art County United.
surrender!
Or risk everything on a battle for national destiny with the empire.
This is an open conspiracy. As long as the At County Alliance does not dare to fight a decisive battle at sea with the Nutao City fleet, it must build ships together with Nutao City, and the ships will become bigger and bigger.
Other countries will also find their own position in this competition.
If a country cannot sustain its national strength and does not want to passively accept the world's division of labor, it will take military risks.
Agatha rode her horse to the front without noticing. She looked back and saw Luke lagging behind in deep thought, so she turned her horse around and walked back: "From your expression, it seems that you don't think this is a good thing?"
“No, no…” Luke came back to his senses and said, “It’s a good thing that the war in the North has returned to a rhythm under our control. I’m just thinking about how we will need to deal with a major change in the world pattern in a few years.”
Agatha asked curiously, "The world is changing so fast right now that I don't know what unexpected things will happen tomorrow. Can you imagine how the world will change in a few years?"
Luke caught up with Agatha again and said, "The world's resources do not allow all countries to maintain such a high development speed at the same time. Even most countries will be eliminated. This elimination is cruel. When some powerful countries realize that their development ceiling is locked, they will take risks.
The Empire should prepare for a world war."
Luke's words made Agatha, who was originally relaxed, suddenly change her expression: "When the Empire was fighting two wars at the same time, you told me that there would be a world-class war in the next few years.
Don't play such a joke on me!"
"I'm not kidding you. This world-class war has already begun brewing under my layout. After experiencing a great chaos, the new world order will be accepted."
"I don't understand what you are saying!" Agatha realized that her voice was too loud. She looked at the servants standing in the distance, lowered her voice and said to Luke: "You must understand what a world-class war means. The last world-class war was an ancient war launched by five civilizations. Look at what was left after the war?
Whatever you are doing, stop it now.”
Agatha had no doubt that Luke had the ability to start a world war, and she was nervous and a little scared.
But Luke said calmly: "World war is a turning point that will inevitably occur when civilization develops to a certain level. I just did some things in advance to make it come faster. Do you remember that I once told you to 'prepare for a new civilization war'?
It has come, and whether you accept it or not, you must bear the historical responsibility that you must bear."
Agatha, who was a little behind, urged her mount to catch up with Luke: "But I thought your words were just a metaphor, but now you tell me that there will be a war in a few years, and I don't even know who we are going to fight?
Will they really fight?"
"Unless the entire human civilization recognizes the Empire as the only unchallengeable power before the war, and is willing to let the Empire use its resources at will, this war is almost inevitable.
Agatha, if a country wants to take away the taxes of Raging Wave City, would you be willing?"
Agatha answered decisively: "Of course I don't want to!"
"If we don't want that to happen, the Empire must defeat all rivals in this competition and establish an order that all countries abide by."
"Have you ever thought that human civilization will be like the ancient civilizations, unable to recover, or even...even extinct?"
Luke said calmly: "Have you ever thought about...after experiencing the chaos, is there an abyss or a starry sky ahead? This kind of uncertainty is the wonderful life."
"You, you simply..." Agatha didn't know what to say at this moment. Then she realized something and asked Luke: "Is the abyss you mentioned a metaphor, or a real abyss?"
Luke smiled and said to Agatha: "Do you think the starry sky I mentioned is a metaphor or the real starry sky?"
Agatha couldn't help but look up at the sky.
As the sun sets, the clouds in the western sky are like burning flames, while a full moon hangs high in the eastern sky, and the starry sky is bright.
Agatha was stunned by the sight of the sun and the moon shining together, and for a moment she forgot to talk to Luke.
Luke stopped his horse and stood side by side with Agatha, looking at the beautiful sky together.
