Pillars of Ita

Chapter 1162 Military Commendation

"Why, you still don't want to sign?" Shang Wangyou picked up a piece of paper with two fingers and lightly pushed it forward. The paper fell in front of Fang He and turned into a contract. "There are two copies in total. This is Ms. Roman's, and there is also one at the headquarters."

"No," Fang He hurriedly shook his head, indicating that he was just a little surprised: "I just didn't expect you to tell me this."

"You and your uncle's family are implicated, so you have the right to know," Shang Wangyou looked at him, "and your performance in the empire is worthy of the headquarters' trust. As for Miss Miya, her sister is ours."

"Sister Bai Jia?"

Shang Wangyou nodded. "You two are very special to us. When you get to the Giant Tree Hill, remember to protect yourselves."

Fang He was a little surprised because he did not say where the Seven Seas Traveler would go next. No one else in the group would easily reveal the route plan of the Seven Seas Traveler without his approval. Even the chattering Tian Lan knew what to say and what not to say.

But the military should have its own information channels, he thought, picking up a pen and signing his name on the contract. The paper gradually faded and finally turned into a silver text in the Dragon Knight system. Then he copied the text into two copies in the system and sent them to Miss Dragon Knight beside him.

"Can we leave?" Shang Wangyou put away the confidentiality agreement, looked at him and asked.

Fang Plover nodded slightly.

Shang Wangyou reached out her hand, helped him up and helped him get out of bed. After Fang He stood firmly, she gently let go of his hand.

Fang He was a little surprised. This seemingly cold female swordsman was more approachable than he had imagined. He always felt that she was somewhat close to him, as if there was some inexplicable connection between them.

"Come on, I'll take you to check the supplies."

"Supplies?"

"It's a reward for you, or an investment from the military," Shang Wangyou replied. "Your performance in the empire has far exceeded expectations, so it's a reward for your perfect execution of the mission. You're not one of us, but the military has a complete reward process for volunteers."

Hearing about the commendation, Fang He became excited. The Seven Seas Brigade was short of money - but they seemed to be short of money all the time, and he didn't know what the problem was. Obviously, his ship officer and Tian Lan were both diligent in finances.

However, out of an instinctive intuition, Fang He had never asked this question to Hilvid and Tianlan before.

Fang He wanted to ask what the military awards were, although he didn't hold out much hope, after all, the military had to report to Stargate Port before approving supplies and funds, but it was better to have something than nothing, wasn't it? This was unexpected wealth.

"I've heard about your needs," Shang Wangyou said, "Your plan is very novel, and the military also wants to see the effect of using magic metal to build ships. Although we don't have the Fairy Heart, we can always refer to it."

"Based on these two considerations, Stargate Port agrees to send you a batch of supplies, including mithril and some materials that you are in short supply," she added, "Of course, these things are not completely free for you. They can be considered an investment. We may need you to help us carry out one or two missions in the future."

Fang Plover nodded.

The military's reward far exceeded his expectations. Although the Holy Secret Society also agreed to trade resources with them - priced in the silver coin of destiny, mithril was a currency in the sky and sea that could be used in almost every aspect of magical technology, and one could never have too much.

  Moreover, in order to make good use of the limited materials and funds at hand, the original shipbuilding plan had already undergone a round of reductions - after Tianlan's insistence, now that there are more supplies, she has no excuse, right?

He is already thinking about the future.

Seeing him frown, the female swordsman shook her head. She had seen the same expression on the military craftsmen too many times, so she couldn't help but remind him, "Next you will go to Giant Tree Hill. The military has a shipyard in Silver Chain Port that can be lent to you. I know you have been to Navarta, but it is not realistic for you to return here afterwards."

Fang He looked up at her. Why had he never heard that the military had overseas assets?

"Originally, we bought that dock to serve as a garrison port, but something unexpected happened and the plan was temporarily shelved. The port was leased out, but the shipyard is still in our hands," Shang Wangyou said, "It's just that it has never been used, so you have to find a way to hire workers and shipwrights. I heard that you have formed an alliance with that female pirate, and her prestige in the Silver Island chain should be able to help you."

Fang He nodded. Navarta was trapped in a heavy fog and all the people in the town were missing. They had to find people from other places. Besides, the Seven Seas Brigade would go to the Giant Tree Hill next, so they had almost no time to take care of this place.

This would be a great help to him.

The two walked through the corridor and went outside - this was the territory of the Holy Secret Society. The military supplies were stored in the warehouses at the port. There was no warehouse area in the Freeport itself. This was a paradise for pirates, but it was said that this female swordsman had occupied the territory of the Blood Shark Pirates.

He couldn't help but be amazed, is this a dragon knight? But it's not just that, Miss Mia is also a dragon knight. Although dragon knights enjoy privileges, it does not mean they can do whatever they want. But dragon knights in the military are another concept - what's more, their opponents are pirates.

There should be at least one Gold Rank in Saint Hughes. At least the leader of the Grey Pirates is close to the level of Dragon Knight. 'Iron Hook' Ziggs once went to the Sky Island Chain in his early years and traveled around the Second World for a while. Later, he returned to Saint Hughes due to old age and frailty, but his reputation still remains.

The Golden Ranks were naturally no match for the real Dragon Knights, but nominally opponents of this level were not allowed to fight in the First World, and Hook 'Zigs did not show up, apparently to give face to the Stargate Port military.

Only when he arrived outside the port did Fang He realize how domineering the special operations forces were. They drove an airship directly over the headquarters of the Blood Shark Pirates and hovered there. This dangerous behavior was theoretically a serious violation of the navigation rules.

But it works very well here.

After all, this is a lawless pirate port.

The other two second-rate battleships were anchored at the end of the sea and sky, with their guns pointed at the floating island and their silver sails spread out. The Blood Shark pirates obviously had no objection to this, so they did not express any protest.

Along the way, the female swordsman told him about the progress of the investigation into the Stargate Port case. It is now known that the group of people who sent him in were related to those who later participated in the attack, but unfortunately, only some unimportant people were arrested and not much useful information was obtained from the interrogation.

"Su Changfeng is investigating another case in Western Siberia. The Xingmen Port case has been handed over to another department. The attack case in Bihai City has been merged with it. We will inform you of any new information about you and your parents as soon as possible."

The female swordsman stood still on the pier, and soon a commuter boat came to pick them up. The two boarded the ship, and the naval officers and soldiers on the ship - the seamen looked Fang He up and down, full of curiosity.

Shang Wangyou glanced at them and said, "Is the morning meeting over? Who is on duty today? Have you checked your daily work plan? You still have the time to look around here? How about I add some training plans for you?"

Fang He felt that the temperature had dropped several degrees at once. The faces of the naval officers and soldiers changed and they scattered like birds and beasts. He couldn't help but shiver and looked over subconsciously - the female swordsman was holding a long sword and said nothing, as if she had regained the temperament of shutting the world out.

"Sister Wangyou, I..."

As soon as Fang He opened his mouth, he was subconsciously stunned. He didn't know why, but he always had an inexplicable sense of closeness around this female swordsman. But logically speaking, it was only less than an hour since they first met.

Shang Wangyou looked at him and said, "I heard Yugudola complain to me before, why are you unwilling to call her that?"

Fang He wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, but that was another matter. "Miss Yugudora is only two or three years older than me."

Even with Shang Wangyou's self-restraint, she couldn't help but take a deep breath when she heard this. So it was because she was older? She clenched the long knife in her hand, and finally managed to hold back from chopping the little guy down.

She said, "I'm usually like this, but you're not one of us, so I don't have to ask you to do this. Besides, you've done a great job, so I don't mind being patient. I wouldn't do this to an incompetent guy."

Fang Yu was speechless for a moment.

Shang Wangyou's icy blue eyes fell on him, "Your parents' affairs may be related to the Shadow Society. We found out that Scarpe and Quilod of Dawnstar are related to this. Although they joined Dawnstar after that, we found out that they are connected with other people."

She noticed Fang He's expression and comforted him, "Don't worry. It was just a coincidence that you joined Dawn Star. They probably don't know who you are, a scholar... Your parents are just ordinary members of Dawn Star. They probably only found out about you after they left Stargate Port."

"Miss Scarpe," Fang He was a little surprised, "does she know about my parents?"

Shang Wangyou nodded. "Now they have been rehired by the Russian Federation Special Operations Force as part of the expansion plan. You may be able to see them again soon. If you have any questions, you can ask them in person."

"Everyone in the entire Dawnstar?"

"Most people." Shang Wangyou replied.

Fang He took a deep breath. Su Changfeng and Bai Jia had actually told him the news. When he thought about seeing Miss Scarpe here again, he couldn't tell whether he was excited or nervous.

He was naturally excited because the memories of his time at Dawnstar were still vivid in his mind, but he was also nervous because his parents had died. Their past in Ataria seemed to cast a shadow over everything related to it.

But worrying is useless, it is better to let things take their own course. Shang Wangyou looked at his expression and said, "You are not surprised at all to hear about the Shadow Society. It seems that you already know about them?"

Fang He nodded and told Su Changfeng everything he knew about the Shadow Society. The military knew a lot of his secrets, and he had absolute trust in Su Changfeng, so naturally he had nothing to hide from Shang Wangyou.

Shang Wangyou nodded, "I see. That's why you went to Storm Islands. But I have some news about the Shadow Society that might be helpful to you."

Fang He looked at her in surprise.

"During our investigation of the Stargate Port case, we discovered such an organization following the clues. This organization has been infiltrating the other side of the Stargate at least 20 years ago, or even earlier," Shang Wangyou said, "Although this itself is nothing, the overlap of the coordinates of the two worlds is an open secret to us. There are countless similar cults on Earth. We have set up many departments to deal with these threats outside the public eye-"

"But this organization," she said, "is a little special."

"Why is it special?"

"This organization infiltrated our world through legal channels through the Star Gate," Shang Wangyou said, "That's why it would be almost impossible to detect the existence of this organization if we hadn't found clues from the attack on Bihai City."

Legal channels, how is that possible? The only legal channel to pass through the Star Gate is to enter and exit the Star Gate Port, but everyone who leaves and enters the Star Gate Port will go through multiple checks, and the identity of the Chosen One is extremely special.

Fang He originally wanted to say this.

But he suddenly thought of himself and was speechless for a moment.

  "You thought of it too?" Shang Wangyou looked at him and couldn't help but smile. This man had caused a huge mess in Star Gate Port, and even she had heard about it. At that time, he had given the special operations forces a hard time. But who would have thought that the former 'little thief' would one day become an important volunteer for the military?

"Before space channels appear on a large scale, cultists and dark creatures can easily be detected by our technical means if they enter our world through illegal means. Even if they cause trouble for a while, it will be easy to calm down afterwards."

Shang Wangyou said: "But if they entered our world through the Star Gate Port with complete procedures, it would be difficult for us to find these people."

She looked at Fang He, "Of course, in theory this is impossible, but you have also thought of it. The simplest way is to use the Chosen Ones, to persuade the Chosen Ones to cooperate with them, and then use the Chosen Ones to expand their influence in our world."

"The Chosen One, how is that possible?" Fang He couldn't help but wonder, "How could the Chosen One cooperate with them?"

Everything in Ataria is like a dream to the Chosen Ones. They get everything here, but when they leave, everything is transformed into "information". They use the information to gain benefits from various governments.

After that, it will be impossible to return to Ataria for the rest of your life. In this case, the Chosen have no reason to betray their country and cooperate with the indigenous forces of Ataria. What benefits can they get? Would you cooperate with the villains in the video game in real life?

This is obviously unreasonable.

"That's the theory, but now you know that it's not impossible to return to Ataria, it's just that the conditions are very harsh," Shang Wangyou replied, "But this is not the most important factor. The most important factor is - temptation."

"lure?"

Shang Wangyou nodded slightly and continued, "We found an organization called 'The Return of All Things to the Ring'. They sell a 'secret medicine' to their members that can keep them young forever." "But as far as I know, that kind of 'secret medicine' does not exist. The real way to keep people young forever is actually a ritual," she said, "a burnt offering they call the 'Ring Rite', but they choose humans as sacrifices..."

"It's hard to describe the scenes of those ceremonies. I was lucky enough to see it once," she said with a long sigh. "In fact, similar ceremonial sites have been discovered in various countries to a greater or lesser extent, and they have been increasing year by year in recent years."

Shang Wangyou was silent for a long time. "But in the past we didn't find the connection between 'The Return of Everything' and the Shadow Society. It was not until recently that we realized that the two might actually be different identities of the same person. Moreover, the things sold by this organization... are very attractive to those rich and powerful people..."

"Their real goal is not eternal youth, but eternal life..."

Fang He already understood everything.

The temptation of eternal life and eternity is naturally self-evident to mortals.

Moreover, compared to Ataria, who already possesses a long-lived species, immortality is an unattainable dream for the people on Earth. When it appears before the world as a possibility, one can imagine how tempting it is.

"So..." he asked quietly.

"It is still difficult for us to figure out how deep this organization has infiltrated the other side of the Star Gate, but the results of the investigation are not optimistic," Shang Wangyou shook his head, "These are all confidential, and the corruption of the Super Sports Alliance may also be related to it."

"At the same time, we also found a specific person, his name is 'Orobas'."

"Of course, this is just a code name. This person must be closely related to the Stargate Port case, but he is very clean and has no evidence left. Moreover, he is not on Earth now. He must have gone to the Stargate."

"You want me to go find him?" Fang He asked, "Is he in the second division?"

Shang Wangyou nodded. "The news we got is that he is the leader of a little-known guild called 'Echidina', but there are countless such small guilds in Ataria that are a mixture of Chosen Ones and indigenous people."

"It's a small guild that's barely registered with the Alliance. It's hard for us to track its movements. In addition, Orobas itself is mysterious. We don't know where this guild is. We only found out from the registration information of the Adventurer's Guild that it's registered in the Second Division."

Echidina, Fang He chewed on this name. Isn't that the mother of monsters in Greek mythology? I wonder if it has any special meaning.

But just because it is registered in the Second Division, it does not necessarily mean it will stay in the Second Division.

Just like Dawnstar is more active in the third division, and the Seven Seas Brigade is registered in Goland, but they have hardly ever stayed there for more than a month.

Shang Wangyou looked at him and said, "Ed, although what follows is just a guess, we have vaguely sensed that Orobas may be related to your parents' plane crash, and he is also one of the masterminds behind the Battle of El Pashin."

Fang He fell silent for a moment. He immediately realized that this was the intelligence the military had obtained from the cultist he had extradited. It should be one of the biggest gains of their imperial delegation. It turned out that Su Changfeng gave him this task for this reason.

He looked at the female swordsman. Shang Wangyou was telling him this information more than asking him to investigate. Although the two had only met once - but Fang He immediately realized that this might be the intention of Su Changfeng or Senior Bai Jia.

He did not ask more questions. After all, every word might involve confidential information. However, ever since he knew that there were many doubts behind his parents' death, the related information weighed heavily on his mind. Although he never showed it, he never gave up on investigating the truth.

Fang He nodded gently, "I will investigate."

"There is another thing," Shang Wangyou said, "The death plague at Giant Tree Hill is spreading. It may be related to the evil star. Although this incident did not happen in our jurisdiction of Corin-Ishulian, you might as well help us get some information."

Fang He also nodded.

He inquired about the information about Giant Tree Hill. The "Sanctuary Project" should be a plan based on the "Stargate Declaration" and a part of the Stargate Port Project, not a secret belonging only to the Third Division.

However, the first and second divisions did not seem to be carrying out this plan. The actions of the Imperials were even contrary to it. They planned to lift the entire Xintaan and then find a way to make it cross the continental bridge to the second world.

This plan sounds ambitious, but Fang He is not optimistic about it. Friston's plan involves the use of the Star Engine, which will only accelerate the death and extinction of starlight. What's more, the Imperials also plan to form an alliance with the Shadow People.

On the other side, the Giant Tree Hill was equally indifferent, and was in a state of panic amid the spreading gray branches. Logically, the Second Division should stand with them on this issue of interests, but both the elves and the Second Division Alliance were very indifferent.

In response to his question, the female swordsman just shook her head. "After all, civilizations uniting to save themselves is just a beautiful vision. In fact, they hope to gain the upper hand in this crisis. The 'Sanctuary Project' has been advancing, but each region also has its own ideas."

She didn't show much disappointment when she said this, as if she hadn't had much hope for it in the first place.

"What about the Star of Misfortune itself?" Fang He asked, "How much does Stargate Port know about the Star of Misfortune?"

  Although Ms. Roman told him about the origin of the evil star, he still wanted to know how the people on Earth viewed it, what caused it to appear in the sky of Etalia, and how it affected the two worlds?

What is its essence? Is it a spatial channel connecting two different worlds? Or is it a projection of the lower plane? Where does the disaster come from and how does it happen? After all, you have to first figure out what your enemy is before you can think about countermeasures.

"We know very little about the Star of Misfortune, and most of our understanding of disasters comes from historical documents," Shang Wangyou sighed, "The reason is very simple, because we are currently unable to establish an understanding of this world from the most basic level."

"How is this world constructed? Does it have physical constants similar to ours? Is its space-time distorted? We can't even confirm whether Etaria itself is a planet or what the spatial relationship between the Second World and the First World is."

"We can't even be sure what the outside of Ataria looks like. We only know that this world is covered by one or more membranes, and the elemental layer is one of them. Because of the existence of these membranes, we cannot send any aircraft based on magic technology to fly outside the world."

"Therefore, there is naturally no question of observation."

"The two moons of Attalia have their own operating rules, and their brightness is not based on the sun's projection of Attalia on them," she said, "because Attalia's sun is just a projection of the law on the sea of ​​light, not a real celestial body..."

"We can't even confirm whether there are celestial bodies outside of Etalia."

She shook her head. "But our investigation was not completely fruitless. We at least know that there must be space outside of Etaria."

"And the evil star should come from that space, from those floating, dead, fragmented worlds—"

Fang He was silent. Most of the technologies on Earth could not be used in Etaria. This was the biggest difficulty humans encountered. The underlying laws of this world seemed to have their own will, always cutting off people's further research on it.

It's almost like...

There is a big hand in the dark pushing people to move forward.

……

Fang He met other members of the Seven Seas Brigade at the Blood Shark Pirates' base.

But the Seven Seas Traveler itself was not here. Since Fang He had slept for two days and one night, Miss Fairy did not agree to any plan to sail the Seven Seas Traveler into Saint Xuan without his further orders.

And Hilde also supported this, so the others who stayed on the ship naturally had no reason to object.

The Seven Seas Traveler is currently anchored on a floating island thirty miles away from Saint Xuan, but its position is not static. In about ten hours, it will weigh anchor and move closer to Saint Xuan.

They returned a day later, cruising back and forth between the three floating islands. Before the military arrived, the Seven Seas Traveler had already noticed the pirates gathering in this area. Although the crisis had been resolved, the people on the ship still maintained their previous habits.

The ship officer made the last note on the nautical chart, then put down her red and blue pencils and looked up - the golden light of the setting sun was slowly diving below the sea level, casting a piece of fish-scale-like light on the clouds.

Changing into gorgeous red color.

Her light blue eyes reflected the fiery clouds, as if they were colorful, just like the all-embracing gaze of the Naga God - the faint scale marks on her forehead deepened further, but the colorful scales did not detract from the flawless beauty of the ship officer's daughter.

Instead, it made her even more charming.

She raised her eyes slightly, revealing a bit of the hostess's temperament, and then lowered her eyes again to look at the letters beside her - the letters were stamped with the Albert family's seal.

A voice in her mind said, "Admit it, you still have feelings for the Albert family. After all, that is your father's family. They hope you will return and take charge of the situation. The situation is different now. The Prime Minister needs allies."

"Besides, aren't you embarking on this journey to revive your family? Your path is your father's path. Even if you find your father's fleet, you will inherit the family business sooner or later. You can't let go of his glory."

"I don't know who you are," Sylvie said calmly, "but I have my own ideas, and I don't need anyone else to talk too much."

"Yes," the voice said, "You never reveal your true feelings to anyone. Even the big boy who is trying to help you is stupid and knows nothing. But it's good for him. Sometimes ignorance is a kind of happiness."

"Ed has the right to know everything," Sylvie snorted coldly, her eyes sinking, "Don't try to sow discord. I have never made such a decision. I promised him that I would go to the second world with him."

"Go to the second world, and then what?"

"His purpose was never born for me," Sylvie said, "but his ship was willing to stop for the purpose of a strange, helpless girl. That night outside Elpahin, I understood everything-"

"But you don't understand. Don't you know what a man's greatest expectation is for his significant other?"

"Tell me what you want, but I have no interest in the feelings of you mortals."

"This is where you and I are different," Sylvie smiled faintly, "He is willing to give his ideals to another person - and I know very well that this is his greatest respect for me."

"That's very touching," the voice said, "but that's your boat."

"That's the blueprint of the Sibeka family, designed by Luo Zhen," Sylvie said, "but do you think Luo Zhen will recognize him, me, or you?"

The voice was silent.

The ship officer's eyes fell on the letters again. She picked up the letters gently and held them in her hands. Then, a flame burst out from her fingertips, burning every page of the letter into ashes, which were blown away by the wind.

Let the past be the past, she never doubted her own path - from the moment she could remember, no one had ever influenced her opinion.

The superficial gentleness is nothing but the sharp thorns beneath the rose.

She has always been the eldest daughter of the Albert family - she is the family, not the family representing her, just as the wise saying goes, as she grows up and becomes more silent, but time like water leaves a mark in her heart.

"What a heartless woman."

The voice sighed softly.

……

(End of this chapter)