“At 8:52 this morning, a scholar who passed through the rioting crowd and entered the blockade mentioned the word “Ice Storm” while passing through the blockade. This information was heard by the newsboy on duty and collected, but it is currently unknown why this word is associated with “College Building”.”

Jessica frowned and looked towards the distant building. The towering steel tree stood in the drizzle, like a statue or a tombstone.

Is there something hidden in the [College Building]?

Jessica put away the newspaper, now that she had something to do, it was time for her shift.

As soon as she stood up, another message came through the terminal:

“The conflict at Aston Plains has begun. The World Alliance confirmed opening fire ten minutes ago. Our chance has come!”

……

At the border of Aston Plain, yellow sand was blown in by the red wind. The sand accelerated to an extremely high speed by the wind slapped the iron surface of the armored train densely, like a lost drummer playing an ominous music at random.

The train crossed the border of Aston Plains, and according to calculations, the Federation would soon catch up with the Eye in the Sky.

Pace stood by the window, looking at the raging sand with a stern face. During the [College War], [Attack King] assembled thousands of troops on this battlefield and attacked the Academi Federation in one fell swoop.

We don’t have thousands of troops now… but we do have this cold steel knife forged in the cold wind by the Debit people, but I don’t know if it can withstand the glory of the Tower of Babel.

Pace smiled bitterly in his heart and said in the most majestic tone:

“Harry, report on the condition of the tracks.”

A vague noise was heard, and a few seconds later, Harry’s report came:

“There is a suspected rail break about one kilometer away. It’s hard to see clearly, but it’s most likely caused by explosives. The federal ambush is here.”

“Slow down the train,” Pace ordered, “activate [Factor Construction] and prepare to construct the factor energy rails.”

“Yes!”

2) Battle of Aston Plains (Part 5)

[Factor Energy Construction] is a very cutting-edge technology in the factor technology tree. It is not very mature and is a technology that only some cutting-edge scientists have mastered.

As it happens, Evans Monarch is a cutting-edge scientist.

However, Evans is more like a madman than a cutting-edge person. It is hard to imagine that a normal person would use [Factor Energy Construction] on railroad tracks. This is simply not something a normal person would come up with.

But Evans said that if the strength of the factor-constructed track could be increased to a new level, the armored train could even go directly into the sky.

This is simply insane.

“Buzzing—”

As the factor-energy engine started, the armored train began to slow down. The engine between the wheels emitted a blue light and extended forward along the rails. The rails in front were suddenly covered with a layer of faint blue light.

This is the construction engine scanning the rails. If a gap is found, the engine will manipulate factors to construct a rail shape that fits the train wheels, allowing the train to pass even if the rails are broken.

Almost at the same time, the yellow sand dissipated, and on the distant horizon, the flaming tail of a giant ship appeared within the time limit of the train – it was the [Eye of the Sky]!

“Prepare the [God Strike Cannon] to fire,” Pace ordered immediately, “Angela, how long will [Sventornet] take?”

“Just slow down the speed of the Eye in the Sky. I will control the time,” Angela’s voice came from the Wanrenshan Command Center. “Also, the goods you want are on the way.”

“Got it,” Pace said, turning to order the artillery, “Fire!”

“Boom—boom—boom—”

Red laser cannons exploded from the body of the armored train one after another, and the manic factor energy flames cut through the sky and hit the tail of the “Eye of the Sky” one by one.

The giant ship began to slow down slowly, and its last energy engine seemed to have stopped working – Laplace was about to make an emergency landing.

“How much progress has the factor made in construction!” Pace shouted.

“Thirty percent, construction is expected to be completed in five minutes!”

“Keep charging the [God-strike Cannon]! Slow down and speed up the construction. The federals must be waiting for us not far away, and the main force will catch up and join us soon,” Pace ordered in an orderly manner. “Harry! Can you see the distribution of the federal troops?”

“I can see it! The [Steam Armor] is being scanned and will be sent to you soon.”

Along with the sound of steam explosion, a black shadow passed through the sky. Harry Smith was looking down at the earth from the clouds, scanning and drawing everything he could see.

In front of the Eye of the Sky, the federal ground forces were slowly advancing, and the sky ship formation was gradually approaching, and would soon form an iron-like line of defense.

The situation doesn’t look optimistic… but there is an advantage – if the federals send a large number of regular troops here, the probability of them using the Tower of Babel will be even smaller.

Once such a weapon that was difficult to accurately guide was launched, it would be too easy for it to harm their own soldiers. The federals could not act rashly when they needed to protect Laplace.

“The distribution map has been drawn and the information has been sent.”

Just as Harry finished speaking, the [Steam Armor] suddenly sounded an alarm – something was approaching the train quickly from the side.

He turned his head and was surprised to find that a red-gold wave had begun to surge out from the hills beside him at some point.

——That’s the Wilkins’ raiding party!

“【Steam Military Police】Calling train, enemy attack spotted at nine o’clock! Enemy attack spotted at nine o’clock!”

Just as Harry was about to dive in to provide assistance, a loud roar sounded ahead—three factor-energy fighters appeared in a short-range jump!

“Damn it!” Harry shouted. The roaring factor energy cannon attacked him, and he had to maneuver quickly to dodge it while counterattacking with the factor energy cannon on his arm.

At the same time, Pace on the steel train received Harry’s message and immediately looked towards the nine o’clock direction.

He just saw a red-gold light coming, and the artillery fire hit the train –

“boom!”

The carriage shook violently, and Pace grabbed a handle beside him to avoid falling. At the same time, one factor-energy machine gun after another extended out from the interior of the train’s armored carriage, madly firing at the Wilkins wearing red-gold armor.

But those Wilkins seemed not afraid of the machine guns at all. They rushed forward like crazy. The azure machine guns tore the people in front to pieces, but the people behind continued to charge forward without fear.

This made Pace at a loss for words for a moment – when did the Wilkins become so bold and barbaric?

But when he looked closely, he found something wrong: the blood splattered by the guards after their death was black, and their flesh kept gathering on the ground, forming twisted human shapes.

It’s Black Water! The Wilkins actually used Black Water!

According to some information from Qi Lang, the black water structure will reassemble after being torn apart, and eventually become a powerful black water high-level body. This kind of monster needs special blue crystal bullets to suppress and kill it, but the World Alliance does not have such a thing.

Pace didn’t know what kind of strength that high-level body possessed, but there was no doubt that if it really appeared on the battlefield, at least the firepower of the armored train would be completely tied down.

The federal assault force in the front has already attacked, and by the time they have dealt with Harry Smith in the air, the armored train will undoubtedly be destroyed by aerial firepower.

It will take some time for the steel torrent to reach the battlefield, so the train serving as the vanguard will most likely be lost.

Pace took a deep breath and turned to look at Vasily:

“Bring me my sword.”

He gently swung his silver arms, red arcs of electricity flickering between them – even if he died as a pioneer, he would not retreat a single step.

……

“Armored Train calling Saint, the Wilkins have confirmed the raid and identified blackwater contamination. It’s up to you.”

“receive.”

Ashlia put down the radio and looked out of the window of the airship – the border town of Wilkin collapsed in the air-to-ground artillery fire, and the kingdom’s army had torn open their gates and rushed into this city that symbolized prosperity and enjoyment.

After joining the [Infinite Steel Legion], the Kingdom Army passed through the gravel hills, but was bombarded from a distance by the city defense artillery at the border of Wilkin.

Ashlia immediately decided to attack Wilkin directly. She was eager for revenge, and Wilkin proved that they were indeed enemies.

The battle was one-sided in favor of the Kingdom within ten minutes of its start. After the [College War], the Wilkins were sanctioned by the Federation and were disarmed, leaving only the Royal Guards and some private security groups. Neither of them was capable of dealing with a large-scale frontal war, and only those fancy city defense cannons could pretend to roar into the sky.

However, the siege soon encountered resistance – the guards infected by black water were pouring out, making it difficult for the ground troops to continue advancing.

“…”

Ashlia looked at the Ash Palace in the distance. The ancient Wilkin-style palace was waiting surrounded by layers of guards. King Avadar was inside. Killing him might be the only way to stop the black water from spreading further.

……

2) Battle of Aston Plains (Part 6)

In the dark little room, Aloi Aziz listened blankly to the sound of artillery fire outside, standing stiffly in the corner like a stone statue.

He simply couldn’t understand why the situation had come to this point. Wilkin was about to be conquered. His father, who had turned into a monster, had used technology that was not human to alienate all the guards and sent them off to their deaths.

If my brother were still alive, would things not have turned out like this?

In the darkness, his childhood memories came to mind. Akkaya Aziz was one of the few people he respected in this world. That prince was called the [Red Gold Dragon], and Aloi volunteered to be the next best, and was named the [Golden Sand Snake]. He felt that he was born to assist his brother, and was a snake that followed the dragon and lurked in the veins of the world.

Akkaya’s brilliance was indeed dazzling. Whether in poetry or swordplay, the elder brother was far better than the younger brother. He was called a genius that Wilkin had seen once in a hundred years, the most shining gold in the world. Aloi was dormant in his brother’s brilliance, acting as his shadow.

Generally speaking, the elder brother’s brilliance is too dazzling, and the younger brother is always easily jealous, not to mention an ambitious man like Aloi who considers himself a hero. But he was not jealous of his brother at all, but assisted him wholeheartedly. In terms of strategy, Akkaya has been able to discuss state affairs with the King of Avada since he was a child, and can even point out many unreasonable aspects of governance; in terms of martial arts, when Akkaya was 18 years old, he defeated a group of Wilkin guards by himself, proving his excellence. The golden light of his brother enveloped Aloi, and his eyes were full of gold. His brother was the most powerful person in the world.

But such a brother died.

Aloi remembered the farewell night, which was the night before Akkaya was going to the Federation to participate in the Tower of Babel Competition. This strategist, who was regarded as the future successor of Wilkin, was determined to push his chess piece to the last step – entering the Federation, and then use the power of the Federation to push Wilkin to the peak in more than a decade.

The two brothers had made full preparations for this series of events. They knew the specific information of almost every contestant and even developed several sets of corresponding countermeasures. After the [College War], Wilkin no longer had an army large enough to form a frontal war. They were venomous snakes, spitting out their tongues in the dark, biting the enemy’s throat with tricks and conspiracies.

But that night, Aloi saw a hint of hesitation and confusion in Akkaya’s eyes.

He clearly remembered his brother, who was always in high spirits and confident of victory, repeatedly wiping his golden spear in the room. His red-gold eyes no longer had the golden sharpness of the past, but were covered with a layer of darkness.

Aloi asked his brother what happened. He went over the plan again and again to make sure everything was fine. They were the incarnations of the God of Trickery, the brothers who were best at weaving tricks in the world. Everything was under their control and there could be no mistakes.

But Akkaya just whispered:

“The tower is too high.”

After so many years, Aloi still didn’t understand what his brother meant. The Tower of Babel was indeed the tallest tower in the world, but was that unconquerable? As long as they could be infiltrated slowly, as long as they could be disintegrated from the inside, wouldn’t the tallest tower eventually be surpassed by the Wilkins?

The next morning, Akkaya Aziz left the Embers Palace. He was no longer depressed as he was at night, and the young prince twirled his golden spear gracefully and walked towards the Federation with two outstanding guards.

He did reach the top of the Tower of Babel, just a hair’s breadth away from reaching the end of the scheme, but the [Red Shadow] stopped him, and the dragon died.

Aloi could not accept the news. When his brother’s broken spear was transported back from the Federation as a relic, Aloi injured the federal soldiers in charge of the transportation, and then cut his wrist with the broken spear.

He wanted to commit suicide, but he couldn’t die. He was the last heir of King Avadar. His brother’s light faded, and he was now the most shining gold in the world.

In the following years, Aloi began to play the role of his brother. He firmly believed that Akkaya’s death was caused by someone leaking information, and the brothers’ trick was perfect and impossible to see through. Therefore, he purged Wilkin’s guards from top to bottom, and indeed found several traitors who were secretly connected with the Federation. He killed them in public with his brother’s broken spear.

But as the plan continued, Aloi suddenly realized that he was beginning to lose power. He seemed to always be one step behind Laplace, and even suffered several defeats against the girl named Perlis Havrgard, and finally lost to the Thebites! He was like a waste, and the golden light shining on his body was just the remnant of his brother’s light after refraction. With Akkaya’s death, the light on his body no longer shone.

Aloi then placed his hopes on his father, hoping that his father could at least show him a way. Avada Aziz was the ancient pearl of Wilkin. He single-handedly won everything Wilkin had in the [College War] and was the original planner of Wilkin.

But his father died and became a puppet in the temple, and Aloi didn’t even know when the federals took action.

Aloi didn’t know what went wrong. Maybe he was just a waste. His past ambitions were just an illusion given to him by his brother’s brilliance. He should have been like those crown princes in the past, living a life of debauchery and without any achievements.

In this darkest moment, he even began to hate his brother a little. Why did he bring false hope to him?

“…”

Aloi took out a short scepter from his arms and pressed it. Akkaya’s broken spear shot out, and a sharp golden light flashed in the dark room.

He held the broken spear to his throat and stood in the darkness like a stone statue.

But he still didn’t do it. He had pierced many throats as a venomous snake, but now he didn’t dare to commit suicide with ambition and glory.

“…Oh…”

Aloi smiled sarcastically, stood up, pushed the door open and walked out of the room.

He wanted to see what Wilkin would be like at the end of time.

……

The flames of war ignited on the distant city walls. The walls of Wilkin did not have much strategic significance. This independent city-state had always been as elegant and noble as a lady, and was the favorite of artists and wealthy people. How could it be armed with barbaric cannons?

Those city defense cannons that were just for show had long been silent. The kingdom’s airships were crossing the border, but they had not yet begun to bombard Wilkin’s city with artillery fire.

Perhaps this is because Queen Eshilia is too merciful and cannot bear to see civilians being harmed?

Viper sneered. He always felt that naivety was the weakness of the royal government. Wilkin’s control over the royal government in the early days was entirely based on their unrealistic ideals. Those who gave up everything for their ideals were really stupid.

But Aloi found that he seemed unqualified to judge them.

2) Battle of Aston Plains (Part 7)

Some people shout about their ideals, but they fight with others for a few pieces of silver until their heads are covered in blood.

Some people shout for freedom, but hide in the corner of the cage in mediocrity, praying that the thunder will not hurt him.

Walking in the shadows of the world, Aloi has seen too many people with different faces, and has seen their superficial brightness and their inner desires. He has seen brothers turn against each other, husbands and wives become enemies, and he has also seen true idealists die in flames, with their charred backs straight until death.