Chapter 1354： Abnormal contact

Guided by the information sent by Ashalena, the Imperial Expeditionary Fleet headed by Bitter Winter began to move towards the sea covered by clouds and fog, and as the sun became stronger and stronger and the aftermath of disorderly turbulence gradually subsided, that The clouds and mist covering the surface of the sea gradually dissipated over time. Among the thinner clouds and mist, the "pillar" that seemed to connect the sky and the earth gradually emerged.

Standing on an observation platform on the bow of the Bitter Winter, Byron looked at the blue ocean in the distance. In his line of sight, the "high tower" that had penetrated the clouds and disappeared at the end of the sky became clearer and clearer. As the fog on the sea dissipated, the black shadow of, it was like a heavenly pillar that descended in front of mortals in myths and legends, and it was pressed down here with a suffocating majestic aura.

The sound of the giant wings agitating the air descended from high altitude, and the red dragon in mechanical armor flew over from the direction of the tower, hovering over the Bitter Winter and gradually lowering its height, and finally accompanied by a loud "bang" sound. In the mid-air, Ashalena landed on the "Ting Ji Ping" not far away. The Longyi lady straightened out her somewhat messy red long hair, and walked briskly to Byron: " See it, this thing..."

"It must have been left by the sailor. The style is very obvious. This is not something that civilization on our planet can build," Byron said in a deep voice, his eyes fixed on the distant sea, "Talrond's messengers I have said that the sailors once left three'towers' on this planet. One of them is located at the North Pole and the other two are located at the equator. They are on the sea and on a continent. Our Majesty also mentioned these towers. The thing...It now appears that what we are in front of is the tall tower located in the equatorial waters."

He paused, his tone inevitably sighed: "This is really a feat that has never been done before in human history... How much have we strayed?"

"It looks very different from the tower near Tarrond," Ashalena frowned and looked into the distance, saying thoughtfully, "Although the tower of Tarrond is also very It’s high, but at least you can see the top. You can even fly on top of it if you’re more courageous. But this thing... I tried to fly up for a long time, until the height that the Wings of Steel can support is still Not seeing its end is as if the tower has been penetrating the sky."

Byron didn't say a word, but frowned and looked at the tall tower in the distance. The Winter was still moving in that direction. However, the tower still seemed to be far away. Its scale was far beyond human understanding. As for even now, he can't see the full view of the base of the tower: nearly two-thirds of the "Island of Steel" is still below sea level.

But as the fleet continued to approach the sea area where the tower was located, he noticed that the surrounding environment had begun to undergo some changes.

The waves are becoming more fine and smooth than other places, the color of the sea is beginning to become lighter, the wind on the sea is weakening, and these changes become more and more obvious as the Bitter Winter continues to advance, until he can almost see the height. When looking at the whole picture of the "Island of Steel" under the tower, the whole sea area is already calm as the small pond behind his house.

This is an unimaginable environment in the unpredictable sea, but here... I am afraid this sea area has maintained such a state for the past ten thousand years.

"Where did you get the most?" Byron turned his head and looked at Ashalena, "You didn't get to the island or touch the tower, right?"

"I'm not a fool like you," the red-haired Dragon Seal Witch said immediately, shaking her head. "I flew around a few times, and I haven't entered the range of that island recently. But according to me Observing, there should be something'alive' on the tower and the island under the tower. I saw the moving mechanical structure and some lights, and there seemed to be something moving in the shallow water at the edge of the island."

"...It's normal for the things of the sailor to operate until now," Byron muttered, touching his chin. "In the legend of the silver elves, the primitive elves of the ancient times had escaped from the land of their ancestors and crossed the endless ocean to Luo In the Lun Continent, they escaped the storm in such a huge tower standing on the sea, and they were also “cursed” for entering the “forbidden zone” in the tower, and they were divided into a large number of subspecies of elves today... Your Majesty told me After passing these legends, he believed that what the elves encountered was the tower left by the sailors, and now it seems...mostly the one in front of us."

"Then we have to be more careful. This tower is very likely to react to the creatures that enter it. The differentiation and degeneration of the original elves sounds like some kind of drastic genetic information change," Ashalena looked solemnly. By the way, as a Dragon Seal Witch, she has the responsibility of "keeping knowledge and inheriting memory" in the Holy Dragon Principality. Before being a combat and diplomat, she was a scholar who stored a lot of knowledge in her head. , "It is said that the towers left by the sailors on the surface of the planet each have different functions. The tower at Tarrond is a'mother factory'. The tower in front of us may be related to planetary ecology..."

The tower is finally near.

The towering tower was supported between the sky and the sea. Until they arrived near the base of the tower, the officers and soldiers of the fleet realized what a behemoth it was. It was larger in scale than the tower in Talrond. It is also more complicated. The base of the giant tower is also larger. The shadow of the tower is cast on the sea, and even the entire fleet can be enveloped in this huge shadow. Even the Bitter Winter is reflected like a sampan. .

"How? Are you going to explore it?" Ashalena glanced at Byron next to her. "It's hard to find this thing. You can't walk around in a circle? But this may be risky, so it's better to be cautious. Act..."

"I'm used to risk. Nothing is smooth along the way," Byron shrugged. "We need to collect some intelligence, but you are right. We have to be cautious. After all, this is left by the sailors. Stuff..."

"Then send a small boat closer? I observed that there are some extensions on the edge of the steel island that can serve as piers, which just happen to be able to dock the mechanical boats. I will send a few more dragonborn fighters to provide support for the exploration team from the air."

Byron thought for a while, and just about to nod in agreement, a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Wait, let's go over and take a look."

Byron turned his head and saw that Ms. Cassandra, the Siren navigator with a mole in the corner of her eye, was "walking" with her long snaketail. She was followed by two other Krakens behind her and noticed. Byron’s sight, this "deep sea ally" who has been operating with the Imperial Fleet since Beigang has a smile on his face: "We can start exploring from below the surface of the sea, and then go to the island to check the environment, and if we are in danger, we can also. It’s much more convenient to retreat directly into the sea than if you humans run away."

With that said, she looked back at the two sea monsters she had brought, with a proud look on her face: "And anyway, we can't easily die..."

Byron subconsciously added the second half sentence: "...just do it to death?"

"Almost the same thing," Cassandra stuck in her waist, and didn't feel that there was anything wrong with this conversation. "Our siren is a race that is very good at exploring. The siren's talent for exploration mainly stems from our fear of death and fear of death It's very shabby..."

Byron thought for a while and was persuaded on the spot.

After a while, with a few thumps, Cassandra and the two Kraken exploration team members who were said to have "experienced in exotic exploration and death" jumped into the sea, accompanied by a few ripples that quickly disappeared from the surface of the water. , The flexible silhouettes of the three ladies quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

The seabed scene in the shallow water area near the sky tower was transmitted back to the control center of Bitter Winter along with the magic net terminal carried by Kassandra.

In the picture sent back, Byron saw that they first crossed a sloping seabed full of gravel and fine black sand. On the seabed, some small agile creatures could be seen scattered and avoided due to the presence of intruders. , Immediately afterwards, there was a "boundary mountain" with obvious artificial traces. The gentle seabed stopped abruptly in front of the boundary line. On the other side of the boundary line, there was an astonishingly large-scale, criss-crossed alloy structure. , As well as the huge pipes and pillars buried deep in the canyons, I am afraid that they have been deeply nailed into the earth's crust.

Below the sea level, the base of the giant tower has a "basic structure" that is far more exaggerated than the exposed part of the sea.

This picture lasted for a while, and then it continued to move diagonally upward. The sunlight from the sea penetrated the thin water and moved around the three siren explorers like a floating aurora, and they found it. An alloy ramp leaning into the bottom of the sea like a pipeline, and then a flash of light on the screen, Cassandra rose to the surface, climbed up the steel island, and began to move towards the tower.

"We have landed on the island, General Byron," the voice of the lady Siren came from outside the screen. "Many facilities here are obviously still operating. We just saw the moving lights and mechanical structures, and In some areas, you can hear the hum from the building, but other than that, it’s very calm and there are no dangerous ancient guards and traps...seriously, this is better than the one we were in the south of our hometown. The tower found on a continent is much safer."

The siren once explored the southern seas of Antavien in ancient times, and found a primitive continent with dangerous ancient machinery hovering everywhere, and on that continent stood a sailor staying on this planet. The third "tower" on the top is also the tall tower that Gawain Cecil climbed seven hundred years ago. Byron also knew something about this matter, so he didn't have any special reaction at this time. He just asked seriously: "Are there traces of creatures on the island?"

"Although this'island' is made of alloy as a whole, there are still many signs of organisms in the moist areas close to the coast. There are siltated algae and small creatures living in the cracks... Oh, I also saw a sea. Bird! There may be other natural islands nearby...otherwise the seabirds won't be able to fly so far. This is probably its temporary resting place?"

Byron breathed a sigh of relief: There are these signs of life, which shows that the vicinity of the tower is not a "dead state" where life is cut off. At least outside the tower, ordinary creatures can survive for a long time.

After all... the Kraken is a special race. These indestructible deep-sea salted fish are not comparable to ordinary creatures in the material world. No matter how lively they are around the giant tower, Byron dare not use it as a reference...

Cassandra led the two subordinates and continued to advance towards the tower. The strong sunlight in the equatorial region shone on the three Krakens. In the picture sent back from the magic net terminal, Byron and Ashalena watched When the scales on the tails of the two sea monster explorers were glowing with strong sunlight, faint water vapor steamed around them.

"...You won't be dried into dried fish, right?" Ashalena said suddenly a little worried, "I see'smoke' from their heads..."

"Don't worry, Ms. Ashalena," Kassandra's voice immediately came out of the communicator. "In addition to exploring and dying, my sister and I also have very rich drying experience. We know how to Avoid dryness under strong sunlight...it is impossible. We also have a wealth of experience in condensation and rainfall."

Ashalena Byron: "..."

What kind of weird experience do these deep-sea salted fish have? !

After a long journey of exploration, Cassandra and her two sisters finally came to the junction of the giant tower and the base, and an integrated alloy ring structure connected the tower body and the lower part. Steel islands, and around and above the ring structure, you can see a large number of attached corridors, ramps and suspected entrance structures.

"Now we have come to the main part of the tower," Cassandra said to the portable magic net terminal hanging on her chest, and at the same time stepped forward and knocked on the huge alloy ring due to its amazing scale. To Kassandra’s side, it is almost like a towering arc-shaped metal barrier, "So far, no dangerous cause has been found..."

Halfway through the words of the Sea-Monster lady, she stopped abruptly. She stared at the place where her finger tapped in amazement, and saw the layers of light blue halo spreading rapidly on the piece of silver-white metal!

"Deep ocean! This thing is shining!"

…

At the same time, in Cecil City, Gawain, who had finally dealt with the affairs at hand, was about to take a short break in the easy chair of the study, but a sudden sound in his mind made him bounce off the chair:

"It senses that native intelligent creatures touch the lower structure of the orbital elevator of the circular orbital space station, the preprocessing process is started, the safety protocol is 766, the element life is detected, the sequence is abnormal, and it is gentle and harmless.

"Transfer to process B-5-32, the system remains silent for the time being, waiting for further contact."

Gawain jumped directly from the easy chair to the ground, standing there dumbfounded, only one sentence circled repeatedly in his mind:

What the hell?

After standing there for a few seconds, he finally realized where the sound in his mind came from the guard system of Cangqiang Station!

In the next second, Gawain quickly returned to the easy chair to find a stable position and lay down. Then he quickly concentrated and connected to the monitoring system of the Sky Station. After a little adaptation and adjustment, he began to " "The line of sight" moves towards the orbital elevator that connects the space station to the surface of the planet...