The investigation into the remnant force of all things in the wasteland has fallen into a bottleneck, but this does not mean that the empires outside the grand wall will stop counterattacking the wasteland. On the contrary, because the situation inside the wall is unclear, this puts additional pressure on several empires, making them more urgently need to explore the power inside the wasteland, even if it is just to establish an early advance base.

Therefore, the mortals' counterattack against the wasteland began.

In the south of the mainland, the Silver Empire has joined forces with the Kaoling Kingdom to establish a huge forest ranger force, and began to advance along the border forest with the Guardian Giant Tree to the north, gradually compressing the polluted areas outside the magnificent wall. In the north and northeast of the mainland, Tifeng and Cecil have mobilized a large amount of manpower and material resources to start building several railways running through the polluted areas, preparing to use these "steel arteries" as fulcrum to pry open the solid pollution barriers around the wasteland.

The great architect Gordon stood on the lookout platform of the first wall of the South Gate Fort, his eyes fell on the edge of the black forest in the distance. Deep in the forest, he could see some faint artificial structures poking their heads out from among the towering twisted trees. Their metal or crystal spires shone brightly in the sun, like jewelry embedded in the forest, connecting one by one into lines, pointing far away in the direction of the magnificent wall.

Those are outposts set in the Black Forest, the spire exposed by the magic broadcast tower or shield generator in the outpost.

In the past days, many people believed that the Black Forest was a deadly state that was cut off for mankind. The countries were discouraged before the blockade of the Black Forest and gave up this border due to the high costs, huge risks and low returns brought by the Black Forest. However, two countries were exceptions. One was the Tifeng Empire, which always maintained the Western Wasteland Warning Zone, and the other was the Cecil, who always regarded the counterattack of the Wasteland as a target. In comparison, the Cecils did even more excitement than Tifeng in this regard.

In the Ansu era before the establishment of the Cecil Empire, during the joint restoration and strengthening of the magnificent walls of the nations, Cecil used heavy incinerators and armored forces to open a road directly to the wasteland in the Black Forest. After the joint operation that year, this original "temporary passage" was not abandoned, but was maintained for a long time and a series of "increasing". According to the orders sent by the imperial capital, the construction corps stationed on the southern foot of the Dark Mountains based on this road, continuously widening the control area of ​​the South Gate Fortress, and built a series of outposts and supply nodes along the road, and its control area extended south to the foot of the Sentinel Tower.

Today, this long-term project has finally played a major role.

The "Sentinel Road" in the Black Forest will become the basis for entering the wasteland. The energy stations, troop stations and supply nodes set up along the way will be used to provide important guarantees for subsequent engineering troops. A charging railway of the highest standard so far will start from the South Gate Forest, pass through the strip plains outside the Black Forest and the Sentinel Tower, and reach the foot of the magnificent wall. Then the steel fortress and legions of the empire will arrive through this steel artery to the territory of the ancient Gondor Kingdom, where the first advance base for human counterattack against the wasteland was built.

The sound of footsteps came from the side, and Gordon retracted his gaze toward the Black Forest. He turned his head to look in the direction where the sound came, and saw a short, strong, muscular colleague wearing a thick black coat walking towards this side.

That was Bruce Ronshi, who was promoted to an outstanding craftsman two years ago to become a great architect. This engineering master with dwarf blood was once one of the first members of the "Hundred-Man Aid Construction Team" who came to the southern border during the Cecil leadership. During the magnificent wall restoration project that year, the engineering team he led shone brightly (this is also an important reason for his promotion to become a great architect). In the next counterattack against the wasteland, this technical expert who has experience in "contaminated area construction" will also become one of the main leaders of the engineering department. There is no doubt that this will be an honor.

"Hi, Gordon," Bruce raised his hand and greeted Gordon, his voice loudly as if it was thunder in the mountains. "Did you see the first echelon of engineering assembled in the square? Those earth element resonance guides, large lifts, and shiny mechanical cabins! I tell you, I like our new mission, and now the most advanced engineering machinery in the empire are all sent here!"

"See, of course I saw it, I watched it all morning," Gordon shrugged, "and we have to watch it for a longer time next - building a railway to the wasteland area from here is not a simple project."

"We already have a road. With those stations along the way, all the preliminary survey and logistics supply work will be simple," Bruce came to Gordon with a red face. "I dare say that the project progress of the Tifeng people this time must be slower than ours - they are also starting from Winter Wolf Castle to build a railway to the wasteland area, but they have not built so many supply stations and energy stations in the Black Forest in the past few years, and after the battle in Winter Forest, they don't have so many engineering mages now..."

"According to the news I received, they have sent 12,000 engineering mages to the Black Forest, Bruce," Gordon glanced at the loud-sounding colleague, "there are eight thousand more on the way."

Bruce's red face suddenly became a little stiff. After a while in the cold wind, the architect with dwarf blood couldn't help but mutter: "Damn rich man...damn money ability..."

"Look open and think about the current situation - it is a good thing for us to put so much effort into doing this," Gordon said slowly. As one of the first technicians to follow Govin Cecil, he had come into contact with almost all the large-scale projects of the empire and learned about many of the "big plans" formulated by His Majesty. Now he naturally has a different vision. "Counterattack on the wasteland is not a matter of a country. After the vanguard arrives at the magnificent wall, the more reinforcements around us, the safer the soldiers and engineers will be."

Bruce touched his nose: "...hell, what you said really makes sense."

Gordon grinned, he looked at the gate under the high wall, saw that the engineering team's vehicles had begun to drive out, and said casually: "Instead of studying this headache-inducing 'situation', I suddenly remembered a joke I often saw on the anonymous version of Cecil of the neural network..."

Bruce rubbed his red nose: "What joke?"

"The things we have experienced today will become the 'full text recitation' of students' textbooks several years later," Gordon laughed. "Look at the fleets under your feet, and think about the plan you submitted a few days ago, especially the large paragraph you wrote in front of the plan... What's the content? I think you will definitely be in the history books in the future. To be honest, you should write those things shorter just by this."

"Don't care," Bruce muttered, "It's not my back anyway..."

Gordon shrugged, ignoring the things his colleagues muttered in a low voice. Bruce was a little bored. In the increasingly cold autumn wind, the strong man of dwarf blood leaned his head and looked towards the Black Forest. His eyes swept over the lush and twisted plants, and slowly moved to the more deserted "unpolluted areas" near the fortress. A particularly lush green tree suddenly came into his eyes, making him open his eyes slightly.

"Hi, Gordon," he touched the elbow of his colleague next to him. "The woods seemed not so lush a few days ago, right? Why did it seem like they suddenly jumped up these days?"

"Is it that exaggerated?" Gordon looked over there, not caring much in his words, "It's just a forest, and it's outside the polluted area of ​​the Black Forest. We sent someone to check it once before. Those are just ordinary plants, not the polluted products in the Black Forest that are soaked in magic energy and corrode and poisonous."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, his expression thoughtfully: "But that forest grew rapidly... it was mostly affected by part of the Black Forest. After all, it is the edge of the polluted area, and most of the animals and plants are a bit strange. There are many twisted and mutated animals and plants in the dark mountains."

"It's possible..."

...

The autumn wind blew across the streets that had just been swept, rolling up the decorative flags hanging in front of the nearby shops. Pea walked on the wide streets of "Knight Street" with two books just borrowed from the library in her hand. When a gust of wind suddenly blew, she subconsciously narrowed her eyes and looked up to the other side of the street.

Although it is autumn now, the trees next to the road planted in this block are special varieties cultivated by the druids. They grow in the southern border of the empire, but they are quite able to withstand the cold weather like their close relatives in the north. When the autumn wind passes, some leaves fall from the treetops, but they cannot affect the overall lushness. I don’t know if it is an illusion, since the beginning of autumn, the plants in this block have not only shown no signs of sluggishness, but some seem to be lushing than in midsummer.

Pea blinked, but she was not an expert in the field of plants, so she quickly threw this insignificant phenomenon behind her. Instead, the colder weather made her think of one thing:

My father has been going to the north for a long time to perform his mission. He has not come back this year's Resurrection Festival, even last year's Harvest Festival and Anling Festival. Now summer is coming and autumn is coming... Calculate the date, he should come back soon, right?

A little longing came out of her heart, and the artificial nerve cord attached to the pea's head also squirmed slightly with the change of emotions. At this moment, a whistling wind and a low roar suddenly came from the air, which made her look up in surprise.

A huge and mighty figure cut through the sky and quickly passed over the northern city. The figure was shrouded in a layer of golden light in the bright sunshine of the huge sun. The edges of the giant wings were shining with metallic luster. The intimidating steel mechanical structure covered her fire-like torso, limbs and tail, like a figure walking out of the legend of the bard, reflected in the pea's eyes.

"Dragon? Dragonborn?" Pea looked at the figure flying over his head and descending towards a nearby block in surprise, and subconsciously muttered, "Isn't the racing flight area of ​​the group of dragonborns forced to move outside the city by the Public Security Management Center... Why are there still flying around in the prosperous area..."

Some questions arose in her mind, and Pea stepped towards the direction of the "Iron Dragon" landing - she was not going to watch the fun, but worried that the dragons who were rushing around would cause any trouble during the landing, after all, that place was not far from her home.

...

After a series of thrilling slowdowns and "flying flights", the mighty red dragon finally controlled the speed and altitude over the city. Her giant wings mobilized the magic and airflow in the air, allowing the huge body to remain stable. Then, with the assistance of the anti-gravity system, Asharena finally completed the last step of landing with a very chic and beautiful "short-distance elevation landing". With the shock and a loud "bang" that shocked the entire square, the dragon claws were firmly printed on the clearings in the landing area.

Then the dragon-born lady with bright red scales as bright as fire seemed to react on the spot, then shook her huge head left and right: "It's really a bit unaccustomed to landing according to the normal process..."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure shakingly poked his head out of her shoulder. Byron covered his head, and his voice sounded quite painful, but he still didn't forget to question loudly: "When you were still dozens of meters above the ground, you were planning to jump down in a human form?! I saw your deformed starting action!"

"Didn't I remember you're still on my back at the last moment," Asharena shouted without looking back, and at the same time she lowered one wing to form a ramp leading to the ground. "And what is the starting action of deformation? Can you still tell from my flying posture when I plan to deform?"

Byron covered his head, his voice still shining loudly: "What can you tell me about this? How many times have you smashed on my deck in the past month? The ones who were responsible for washing the deck on my boat can tell when you plan to jump down from the sky..."

"Stop talking nonsense," Asarena shook her wings and tail, "Come down quickly, my wings fly all the way, and it's very tiring to hold on like this."

"What are you tired of? Most of your strength is from the machines on you. Do you think I don't know that the latest model of Steel Wings has the function of 'Cruise Speed'?" Byron muttered, then waved his hand with a bad look, "Wait a moment, let me slow down... This journey is too much, especially the moment when I landed... I feel uncomfortable now..."

"Ha?!" Asa Lena heard this and her entire back shaking, "Then you have to get off now! Don't vomit on my back! Damn, why didn't you say you were afraid of heights before you set off? And I remember you were not afraid of heights back then!"

"I'm not afraid of heights, I just don't like flying in the sky... Don't shake, Asarena, stop! Don't shake! I'll be even more... I can't help it. I'm really... nauseated..."

After a series of unbearable sounds of vomiting, the entire small square suddenly fell into extreme silence.

After a few seconds, the angry dragon roar finally resounded half a block-
Chapter completed!