“…”

Her bloodshot eyes scanned the computer screen as Ashley continued to suppress it, preventing the [Ice Storm] from leaking out through any gap.

The sub-network of the [College Building] is isolated from the outside world, and [Ice Storm] cannot escape in a short period of time. The [College] is looking for a way to eliminate the virus in one fell swoop, which will probably take a long time. But at this juncture, the federals cannot allow such a mistake to suddenly occur.

The Grand Commander of the Academy, Laplace von Valantia, is currently in the Aston Plains area. He is being pursued by the coalition forces and has no time to take charge of the command.

Roger MacLaurer, leader of the [Military], took over command briefly, and the troops going to rescue Laplace had already set out. Before that, the [Ice Storm] must not be leaked.

“Ahhh… I’m so tired…”

Ashley stretched. [Ice Storm] passed the test again, and she was able to get a few minutes of rest.

She recalled the man. What was Alex Udean doing now? Maybe he was patrolling the entrance of the Academy Building…

Ever since he was injected with black water, we rarely chatted together… We became more and more distant… I almost didn’t recognize him anymore…

Ashley looked at the ceiling. The lights in the network security center flickered. That was probably the signal from the [Ice Storm].

She thought, perhaps she was in the center of the storm, and everything outside was about to turn upside down.

……

1) Supreme Praise (Part 8)

In the command room of the [military headquarters], Roger McArthur stared silently at the world map in front of him, on which were marked the trajectories of countless rounds from Dongda Road to the mainland island.

Those were the paths through which the Qilang people’s [Sky Eye] system might launch missiles. Roger sent out several sky ships to intercept them along these paths to prevent those missiles from easily reaching Vizel’s territory.

“General, according to the intelligence from Aston Plains, the coalition forces will soon catch up with the Eye in the Sky,” the message came over the radio, “Should we take the initiative to attack?”

“Hold the line, blow up the tracks,” Roger said. “It’s not time yet.”

“As ordered.”

After listening to the report, Roger’s eyes once again turned to the small red dots on the world map. The Eye of the Sky was located in the center of Aston Plains. Its speed was slowing down and a war would soon break out with the coalition forces.

This made Roger’s mouth curl slightly.

“Laplace, you actually went to the front line to die. Should I say that you are senile and confused?”

Roger imagined what Laplace looked like at this moment. The control freak must be extremely anxious about everything he was gradually getting rid of. Maybe he had even gone crazy?

Just thinking about this scene made Roger feel extremely happy.

Roger McLather, a graduate of the Federal National Defense University, later joined the Federal Air Marine Corps and was a dispatcher and commander on the ground station. He gained a lot of fruit in the conquest war in the late stage of the [College War] and climbed to the top of the [Military Department] at an unstoppable speed.

However, when he reached the top, he discovered that the blue sky above his head was actually the foundation of the Tower of Babel.

Since the construction of the Tower of Babel, a huge difference has immediately emerged between the two complementary government components, the Academy and the Military. Due to the establishment of the Tower of Babel, many strategic deployments of the Federation have become meaningless face-saving projects, which has gradually reduced the voice of the Military in national defense matters, and eventually evolved into an executive agency.

Similarly, as the most honorable general in the military, Roger MacArthur’s expected ascension naturally did not exist – how many people could a general in an executive agency expect to regard him as a spiritual leader?

As his influence declined, Roger’s reputation naturally waned. Almost everyone knew the name of Laplace von Valantia, but few people talked about him. In the federal society, a scholar wearing the academy’s tower badge had a much higher social status than a soldier. Roger was unwilling to accept this, but he had to accept it.

But things are different now. From the moment Laplace left the capital and took the initiative to go to Aston Plain, Roger saw the opportunity to turn the tables.

He had studied Laplace, his old enemy, day and night, and naturally knew the personality traits of the pure-blooded Odin: his almost insane desire for control, his global perspective that overlooked everything, and his arrogant and conceited nature.

Roger thought the reason why Laplace went to the front was very reasonable. He was not confident in leaving everything to the military, so he decided to personally fire the first shot of the war of conquest at the front to further consolidate the position of the academy.

But what Laplace had never expected was that the I-Tlan people would turn against him at this critical moment.

What he didn’t expect was that Roger also contributed to the I-Tlan people’s betrayal.

As early as after E.Tran promulgated the “Edict of Grace”, bionic robots manufactured by Lansta Industries began to be sent to Aslan Castle in batches. In the eyes of the outside world, this series of actions was interpreted as E.Tran’s service to the Federation, but secretly, those bionic robots were not just soldiers, but also repairmen!

Sending the androids to the federals indicated that the military would be in charge, and Roger naturally took charge of the matter. He secretly had several offline secret meetings with the [Steam Gendarmerie] named Achilles in the border brist of Yi Tran. Only then did he understand William III’s intention – all the androids were repairmen who maintained the [Majestic Crown] chain reaction system of Aslan Castle. They were secretly responsible for maintaining and operating the underground counterattack system of the entire capital. Because that system is disposable, once activated it will destroy the urban structure of Aslan Castle. Lifeless androids are more suitable for this task.

Everything was within Roger’s expectations, including Laplace’s current predicament. He pretended to send several skyships under the jurisdiction of the military to intercept the impossible missiles fired by the Qilang people, just to make Laplace’s situation more difficult.

As for why he did this, it was naturally because of the promise made by the Steam Gendarmerie: as long as Laplace was gone, the Odin Parliament within the Federation would collapse in an instant, and Roger would naturally be able to take sole power.

After that, there was endless room for what he could do.

And now, when Laplace is not in the capital, Wezel, Roger naturally gained a lot of new power.

Since the [military] as an executive body is still severely suppressed by the [academy], Roger still only dares to work within the system. He wants to disguise Laplace’s death as an accident so that he can seize power legitimately.

The key is to seize control of the Tower of Babel… Roger’s eyes turned to the red dot in the Ravis jungle. He had deployed troops on the marching road at the border of Vizel. As soon as Laplace died, they would immediately take over the Tower of Babel.

It is impossible to launch the Tower of Babel towards your own feet.

At this time, another radio came in, and a hoarse voice came from it:

“General, there are people protesting at the entrance of the academy building. It seems to be related to the crystal mine or something like that. Do we need to stop them?”

“Someone is secretly looking for trouble with the [College],” Roger said, “We just need to go and maintain order. They can’t rush into the [College Building]. No matter what, the [Ice Storm] can’t be released, otherwise we will suffer the consequences.”

“understood.”

“Then, if you can’t control the situation, look for the person wearing a newsboy cap,” Roger added.

“Ok.”

The communication ended again, and Roger lay half-lying on the chair in the command room, bored. He took out a cigar from his pocket, took out a tactical knife, cut off the cigar cap, lit it with fire, took a puff, and held the wonderful smoke in his mouth.

He adjusted the world map to the location of the Kingdom of I-Tran, looked at the captured Aslan Castle and the Steam Gendarmerie that were regrouping in Hirst, and Roger smiled and blew out smoke.

The greatest tribute to a kingdom is its destruction.

And the greatest tribute to a man-made tower is to conquer it.

The whole world is gathering towards that tower, but who will conquer it in the end?

Perhaps, this conquest itself is the supreme tribute to the tower.

…END…

2) Battle of Aston Plains

“Little white flower, make a wish.”

“You have to make a wish after all. It’s a ritual. Life always needs something to look forward to.”

“Come on, make a wish!”

“Well…”

Spots of light penetrated her blurred vision, and Perlis’s eyebrows trembled slightly, then she slowly opened her eyes.

The sound of wind chimes above her head was very familiar. If the wind blowing open the curtains had not been a little hot, Perlis might have thought she was back in Wilkin.

She sat up from the bed and found herself in a strange little room. The room was not big, but the walls were covered with all kinds of things – some were landscape pictures such as mountains and islands, some were the endless horizon of the Kuroshio land, and some were photos recording the broken city.

In the largest photo, a power line tower composed of spheres and geometric shapes stood tall, but the antenna on the top of the tower was broken, and vine-like black veins were climbing on the tower.

It was a long-abandoned city. Judging from the architectural style, Perlis judged that it was Qilang’s city.

This room… belongs to a traveler, so Aoi and Rei are excluded first… They have just arrived on the Kuroshio Continent not long ago, so how can they have time to travel?

Of course, there was no need for Perlis to guess who the owner of the room was. Faint snoring sounds came from under the bed. Perlis stuck her head out and saw Saya’s sleeping face with drooling appeared in her sight.

The child made a bed on the floor and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the bed was completely destroyed by her sleeping posture. The whole quilt appeared at the other end of the room by some kind of force majeure. The two pairs of fair and well-proportioned legs under the girl’s nightgown were spread out without any ladylike temperament, looking like a roast turkey being served on the table.

“…”

Perlis stared at Shaya’s sleeping face in silence. This guy wore headphones even when he slept, so it looked like he wouldn’t wake up in the short term.

Perlis couldn’t remember what happened last night very clearly. She vaguely remembered that she drank a lot of wine and then lost consciousness. Even her blood couldn’t withstand her inability to drink…

Thanks to Saya, she even gave up her bed. Actually, it’s okay for us to sleep together.

Oh, maybe Saya also thought that Carly would mind?

“…”

Polys got up silently, put on her skirt and leggings, and then tiptoed out of Shaya’s room.

She wanted to carry Shaya back to bed, but when she thought about how clumsy she was, she didn’t dare to do so.

After pushing open the door, Perlis found herself in a living room. There were already two people sitting at the table in the middle of the living room – Aoi and Lian were having breakfast there.

“Hey, Chunbai, you woke up so early!” Aoi held up half a fried dough stick and shook it, “Come and have breakfast.”

“Whose house is this?” Perlis sat down at the table, where her plate was placed with two fried dough sticks and a cup of soy milk beside it.

“It’s the base of [Wolf Rider] Buriged in Yuan Town. It’s been empty for quite a while and is usually used by Wave Riders. There are only three rooms,” Lian said. “Originally, there was one for me, one for my sister, and one for Shaya. When you came yesterday, there was no room available in the town. Shaya took the initiative to come pick us up in the middle of the night and insisted on giving you her bed.”

“I’m sorry to trouble you.” Perlis said softly.

She lowered her head to eat the fried dough sticks, while Aoi and Lian looked at each other worriedly: Perlis would never be so humble before, but now she seems to have completely lost her former sharpness and determination, and has become as soft as water.

This situation is not good at all, not good at all.

“By the way, take this opportunity to tell me what you wanted to ask me yesterday?” Aoi probed, “I said I would help you, and that was not just drunken talk, I will definitely help you.”

Perlis swallowed the dough sticks, took a sip of soy milk, raised her head, and whispered to Aoi:

“I want to explore an ancient site called the Temple of the Ancient Blessing. Your heart should be able to sense the entrance to that place and lead me there.”

“[Old Blessing Temple]? Why does it sound so eerie?” Aoi pursed her lips. “My heart… Are you sure this is okay?”

“No problem. The heart of the [Black Tide Knight] has a certain resonance with the underworld. I guess that’s why the Black Tide can read the memories of the earth. It should be feasible to follow that stream of memory to find a place represented by a meaningful name.” Perlis said.

“It sounds dangerous,” Lian said anxiously, “Is there anything wrong with my sister’s heart?”

“There are risks, I won’t force it.” Perlis’ voice was low.

“I said I would help you, and I definitely would. How did you learn to be polite to me now?”

Aoi subconsciously wanted to pat Perlis’s shoulder, but when she saw her misty eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Aoi had seen that kind of look a long time ago – when Perlis had just become the [Blade of Babel], there was always a layer of faint mist in her eyes. No one could see what was behind it, but they only knew that the blade in her hand was enough to withstand thousands of troops.

Later, Aoi realized that there was no demon or beast behind the mist, but only a lonely little girl. After surviving the snowstorm on Wanren Mountain, the little girl walked towards the sunshine. The mist had dissipated, but now it has gathered again.

“…”

Pearlis did not respond. She looked down at her hands. The [Blood Diamond] was still on her ring finger.

She gently touched the surface of the [Blood Diamond] and seemed to be lost in thought.

“I will help you too. Saya said she would help too.” Lian seemed to realize that what she had just said was not right, and immediately made up for it, “You…don’t be so depressed.”

“I’m fine,” Perlis raised her head and smiled softly, “I’m really fine.”

At this time, Shaya came out of the room yawning. She rubbed her eyes, sat down at the table, and groped for her breakfast on the empty table in a daze.

“Here,” Aoi took a dough stick and stuffed it into Saya’s mouth, “Eat some first, let’s confirm the location of the temple, Chunbai, how should I…”

Before Aoi could finish her words, Perlis had already placed her hand on her chest, and red arcs of electricity were surging restlessly in the air around them.

Perlis took action the moment Aoi called out to her. She connected her own red lines with those in Aoi’s body, and began to radiate in all directions through Aoi’s heart.

“The Temple of the Old Blessing.” Perlis murmured in a low voice.

The room darkened in the eyes of Perlis and Aoi, and everything turned into rippling red dots of light, each of which symbolized a landmark with “meaning”.

Amidst the interlaced surfaces, Aoi and Perlis simultaneously sensed the echo of that name—

“found it!”

Aoi immediately took the paper and pen handed over by Lian and wrote down a string of longitude and latitude on it. She pushed the paper to the center of the table, then took out a map and started looking it up.

“Let me see, this so-called [Old Blessing Temple]… is right here… right here…”

“This…this is!”

Shaya suddenly stood up, the sleepiness on her face gone. She stared blankly at the longitude and latitude, with oil stains from the dough sticks still on the corners of her mouth.

“This coordinate is…Shangshu City…It’s my…hometown…”

……

2) Battle of Aston Plains (Part 2)

Perlis remembered that Shaya once said that she came from a destroyed city. The city was located at the mouth of the sea outside the Great Wall on the northern coast of Qilang and was destroyed in a black tide impact.

An old temple is in the city. Could it be on the seabed? Or was this estuary once land, but was later submerged by the sea?

Perlis wasn’t sure, but now that she had found her goal, she could just move forward.