In the Alliance's comprehensive counterattack against the wasteland, the Northern Line maintained by the main force of the Cecil Empire may be the most distinctive place on this vast battlefield - the distinctive style here is not because of the mechanized large army of the Cecils and the endless new weapons, but because throughout the war, there was always a lush "forest" advancing with the imperial soldiers...

The "distance derivative" of the Thorin giant tree - this living forest starts from the southern foot of the dark mountains, spreading all the way across the surface and underground at the same time, extending into the wasteland with a gentle but unswerving attitude. Now it has been pushed to the highland south of the magic scorch marks with the main force of the empire. Wherever the living forest goes, even the corrosive and polluted wasteland begins to gradually appear in a "vibrant" state.

At least on the surface, the lush forest scene is much more relaxed and pleasant than the desolate wasteland. As for the not-so-"beautiful" parts buried deep in the forest... the soldiers of the Empire said that they would get used to it after seeing it too much...

The night gradually drooped, the scorching battlefield had cooled down, the cannons and engines that had roared fortifications for the whole day were silenced in dusk, and the soldiers had built temporary fortifications on the edge of the living forest and began to replenish their strength for tomorrow's operations. Philip walked in the newly built camp, and the sound of soldiers' commands from the distance and the buzzing sound of the dragon cavalry fighter jets in the sky were the most familiar sounds he had in these days.

His eyes crossed the energy barrier in the south of the camp and saw the vast and deserted land extending all the way to the horizon in his view. The dirty land was full of devastated scars, full of scars swept by shells and flames. The distorted gray-black ash and the torn wreckage of biochemical beasts were scattered between the shell craters. The smoke and dust continued to rise from the craters that emitted residual heat, like tulle under the dim and weak sunset.

But when his eyes turned to the other side of the camp, he saw a large lush forest, with countless towering trees filled his sight, and the roots of the giant tree pierced deeply into the purple-black soil with a sense of power. At the feet of the giant tree, there were dense bushes and various low flowers, plants and plants growing in a staggered manner. If he hadn't known the truth, anyone would have thought this was just an ordinary and vibrant forest.

When only focusing on the forest, no one could think that outside the forest boundary is the wasteland of Gondor, which is a forbidden area of ​​life.

Even Philip himself always feels a ridiculous sense of confusion when he sees this living forest advancing with the legion, as if he feels that the wasteland has been healed, and the pollution that is only a short distance from the forest has lost a sense of reality out of thin air.

But he knew that the "viability" created by this living forest was just a temporary illusion, and the pollution in this wasteland was still spreading, and even under the most lush plants in the forest, it maintained constant "fighting" - Belltila's life force was fighting against the toxins in the wasteland, and her roots were fighting against the root network of those dark priests. This confrontation was endless, and only the purification device that was constantly built on the way to march could truly solve the spread of the pollution power.

Footsteps came from the side, and Philip heard Wright's voice ringing in his ears: "It looks incredible... A world full of vitality is moving forward with us. To be honest, when I first learned that the Thorin tree was involved in the battlefield, I didn't expect the situation to develop like this."

Philip nodded slightly to the leader of the Church of Holy Light, and then spoke with emotion in his tone: "Do you know? The black forest on the southern foot of the Dark Mountains had completely disappeared yesterday afternoon."

Wright looked a little surprised, and before he asked, Philip took the initiative to say: "In order to replenish more biomass and reduce the production pressure of biomass synthesis factories along the route, Ms. Belltila has been competing for nutrients with the black forest. As it turns out... The wildly growing black forest failed to snatch the tactical Ms. Belltila. The terrible forest that blocked the territory of civilization for seven hundred years was finally "starved" alive... Some of the biomass that we see in front of us now are probably deprived of the remains of the Black Forest."

Even Wright, who was mature and steady on weekdays, suddenly didn't know what to say. In the old Ansu era, the black forest on the southern foot of the Dark Mountains was already a household name in the northern country. As a terrible legacy of the "devil tide" in the past and a proof of the decline of human civilization, the Black Forest played the same role as the dragon's nest, the Dark Dungeon, and the Wizard Castle in the mouths of countless bards and adventurers. Parents would use it to scare disobedient children, and reckless mercenaries and explorers would use the boastful "Black Forest Adventure Story" to boast about their bravery and insight. As a result, such a thing that was once regarded as a desperate natural danger was gone, and it was because they had never snatched the soil and food from the Thorin Giant Tree to starve to death... Where can I reason about this?

Wright didn't know how much far-reaching impact this incident would have on the future. Anyway, he was very sure that future adventurers would definitely not be able to brag about the Black Forest again...

"Anyway, this is a good thing," Wright finally shook his head. "Now our transport troops will be extremely safe when crossing the Black Fort, and the engineers at South Gate Fort don't have to be dispatched two or three times a year to burn the spreading plants."

Philip nodded, and at this moment, a slight rustling sound suddenly came from near them. Wright looked in the sound and saw a brown-black "vine" with a wrinkled outer skin moving rapidly along the bushes at the edge of the camp. Then the brown-black vine seemed to have noticed this side, turned a corner and approached this side, and quickly came to him and Philip.

Philip saw the vine curling, and its thick and powerful end structure was tightly "catching" a large piece of flesh and blood like the severing limbs of wild beasts - this should be the remains of the biochemical synthetic beasts in the wasteland legion, because normal aberrations will soon turn into ashes and dissipate after death. Only these synthetic beasts that were cultivated by the dark priests and copied in large quantities using unknown monsters will leave such "corpses".

The vine rolled this large piece of "trophy" and shook up and down in front of Philip for a few times. However, the young commander was a little confused for a moment. However, Wright next to him quickly reacted and picked up the heavy burner, adjusted the effort to the minimum, and pointed at the piece of meat. With the sound of fire, the flames roasted the meat and quickly turned it into a state of 70 or 80 years of maturity - and carefully avoided the vine with the meat.

The vine rolled up and down with the roasted meat and swung up and down in front of Wright, as if to express gratitude. This scene left Philip stunned: "Wait a minute... Ms. Belltila started eating cooked food?"

"Sometimes," the vine couldn't speak, and it was Wright next to him who explained, "At first, a white knight threw the remains of the biochemical beast cooked by the burner to the vines that were 'foraging'. Then Ms. Belltila seemed very satisfied with this, and then more soldiers began to give the roasted meat to these passing vines. Sometimes Ms. Belltila herself would take the meat she picked up from the battlefield to the soldiers with the burner and let them help roast it...Didn't you usually pay attention to this?"

Philip: "...I don't know at all!"

The young commander was stunned for a while, then the corner of his mouth suddenly trembled: "Why do I think this is weird... In this way, our soldiers are quite... happy with this living forest?"

"Everyone is a comrade-in-arms fighting side by side," said Wright with a serious look. "What's more, the forest usually provides soldiers with some fruits and disinfected water. This is a very valuable material on the front line, and the soldiers are grateful for it."

Philip's mouth trembled again, thinking that this should be considered a friendship between feeding each other...

At this moment, the portable magic net terminal hanging on his chest suddenly emitted a buzzing vibration. After the communication was connected, a soldier's report in a hurry tone came into his ears: "Sir! The reconnaissance team that went to the southeast to survey the terrain found something!"

Philip and Byron were stunned at the same time, and then Philip frowned slightly: "What did you find in the specific situation?"

"It seems to be an abandoned ancient facility - the main structure maintains incredible integrity, and there seems to be a faint flow of energy deep in the depths," the soldiers' answer came from the magic network terminal. "There is no distortion activity around the target site, and the reconnaissance team has not entered rashly. They are currently remotely guarding around the facilities."

"Good, let them wait there, the expert team will arrive soon," Philip said quickly to the communication device, then looked up at Wright, "I think I have to go over and see...what do you think that would be?"

"Whatever that is, it's unusual to keep a structurally intact 'legacy' on this wasteland," Wright said seriously. "Either it's extremely lucky, or it's protected by some kind of high power...you have to see it for yourself."

...

The location reported by the reconnaissance team is not far from the front line base, and is even within the cover of the base artillery. Therefore, Philip, who took his expert team to leave the base, did not take much time to find the reconnaissance soldiers who were on standby on the wasteland. Then, he saw the "ancient facilities" described by the soldiers-

It was a building located on the high ground, a large building consisting of a cylindrical body with a curved dome and several small outbuildings. It stood in the dim sunset. The dim sky light coated the surface of its main structure with a rust-like texture. Hundreds of years of erosion and the continuous accumulation of wind and sand made the entire building complex appear gray-black smear that was almost the same as the surrounding land, and buried part of it in the dust - which also caused the dragon cavalry pilots who had previously reconnaissed in the air to be unable to distinguish it from the rugged rocks accumulated around it at a glance.

But these weathered and mottled traces only affected the appearance of the building - most of its structure still stood intact on the land, and from the towering main walls and the simple and elegant building roof, Philip could still vaguely see the once brilliant appearance of this thing - as a technological crystallization of the ancient Gondor Empire, it lingers with a desolate and mysterious atmosphere.

"When we found it, the magic sensing device began to show a faint and intermittent fluctuation," the soldier who first discovered the facility came to Philip, bowed and said, while taking out the sensing device he carried with him. The small machine with a magic detection rune array and a small focusing crystal was projecting a light curtain that was constantly changing light and dark, but the lines in the light curtain were blurred. "There may be something running deep in the facility-we found an entrance on the side of it, but we didn't rashly go in."

"It's done right. All suspicious facilities found in the wasteland should be handled by experts," Philip nodded, looking back at the technicians who followed him. They are experts who have achieved certain achievements in the fields of archaeology and classical magic. For those strange things found in the wasteland, these experts are obviously more professional than ordinary soldiers - and more professional than him, a general. "What do you think? What is this facility... what is it for?"

"The specific function of the facility needs further search to determine," said a gray-haired middle-aged man. His eyes would occasionally fall on the building not far away. The flashing light in his eyes showed the scholar's a little excited at the moment. "But judging from the current structure, this facility should not be a military or civil purpose - the military facilities of the Gondor Empire usually have huge energy spark towers, even if the tower is destroyed, it will leave large-scale base traces, while civilian facilities will not be set up in this wilderness far away from the urban agglomeration... The energy reaction inside the facility is particularly noticeable. After all, in theory, all facilities in the Gondor era rely on the deep blue energy network to provide magic, but we all know that this network has long collapsed..."

The middle-aged scholar spoke endlessly with an excited expression, but soon he realized that his general might not want to listen to such a large number of theoretical knowledge at this time, so he immediately restrained the urge to continue speaking: "In short, we need to explore in depth - this is the first thing we have discovered in the wasteland so far that is so complete, and there is even an energy reaction inside it!"

Philip looked back at the soldiers behind him - these soldiers were well-trained and well-equipped, and had experienced all the harsh battlefield tests, but even with these soldiers around him, he had to remain very cautious.

It was an ancient facility from the Gondor era - no one could tell what kind of danger would be hidden in such ancient ruins, the magic trap left by ancient people? The energy conduit that was leaked out of control? Or was it simply a crazy iron soldier?

All are possible.

In this wasteland filled with death, completely damaged remains are dangerous, but those still "alive" remains... are often even more dangerous.

"Sarah, take your team in and see the situation," Philip reminded the soldiers who were about to enter the facility as the pioneer team. "Everyone is vigilant, don't move things that shouldn't be moved, keep the communication open, and send the screen back at any time - after entering the facility, don't go deeper, wait for the advice of technical experts in the rear, and if you encounter sudden danger, you can give up the task and retreat immediately."

"Yes, General!"

The young soldier named Sarah immediately saluted and then walked towards the facility with a small group of soldiers.
Chapter completed!