Chapter 649 The Imperial Order in the Cold Wind

The valley covered by black smoke was as dim as dusk even in the daytime. Along the winding valley, there were roaring factories half-hidden in the mountain walls. Boiling molten iron was shaking in huge crucibles and then poured into the giant molds below. The sizzling water vapor overflowed from the holes in the mountain walls, then floated up and mixed with the black smoke in the sky of the valley.

The whole valley was filled with the pungent smell of sulfide after burning coal, and this valley was a huge living steel mill, swallowing up the coal and ore from all directions.

"Toot————"

The sound of the whistle came from the distance of the valley, but soon became clearer and clearer, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of steel transmission collisions. The wheels cast in gray iron ran on the rails, which were full of scratches. The exposed silver metal gave life to the body covered with coal ash.

The armored train, about a kilometer long, passed through the mountains. The white steam from the chimney at the front of the train was like a column. The dark coal stones piled up into small hills at the back reflected some of the light from the sky because they were soaked in water.

With the long friction sound of the wheels, the armored train stopped. A group of unloading workers walked out of the open space on both sides. They were only wearing shorts that covered their key parts, and their bodies were all as

black as coal. With the efforts of nearly a thousand slave laborers, all the goods on this train were unloaded in four hours. After that, these coal ores will be sent to the steel mills in the valley and put into the huge steam-burning furnace to provide power for the entire valley.

After unloading, the front of the armored train sounded the whistle again. At this time, it was filled with water and coal and could be started again. However, today it did not return as usual, but drove into another tunnel to wait.

Wearing solid forged plate armor, holding fully automatic black rifles, wearing steel helmets on their heads, and carrying sufficient marching supplies, the combatants boarded the train amid the endless roar of the factory. They stood in the carriages full of coal dust, solid and gray, and full of discipline.

When the orange coal lamps on the rock wall above the train shone through, the uniform pattern on the helmets of these soldiers could be seen clearly, hammer, scepter, lightning, three things intersecting each other. If there were knowledgeable people here, they would definitely recognize that this was the symbol of the "Ford Alliance", which represents the steel alliance entrenched in the mountains and wilderness, sheltering millions of people.

At the top of the valley covered with steam and black smoke, three figures in luxurious clothes slowly climbed up the tower and looked down at the train and soldiers ready to go below.

"About 3,000 soldiers are ready. They are all the most loyal and brave warriors of our Iron Core." One of the short and fat men looked at the soldiers below proudly.

"Iron Valley, Ford City, and Berry Market will each send troops, totaling nearly 10,000 soldiers, to the south to support the Heshan Rescue Society." The tall and thin man in the lead looked at the telegram order on the yellowed paper in his hand.

"This is almost all the forces we have available." He put down the paper.

"Too many sacrifices." A taller and fat figure on the left shook his head.

"Although the Heshan Rescue Society gave us a lot of help in the early days of the alliance, and even some valuable technical support, but..." The fat figure still shook his head.

"I have always disagreed with sending soldiers to fight against that kind of natural disaster to save a group of dying people."

"According to scholars in the alliance, the insect plague will spontaneously die as long as it sweeps through all visible life in sight. They are biological weapons created during the struggle between ancient suns. As a tool, the key is efficiency, convenience, and disappearance when not in use."

"These insects are often used to do the final cleaning work of the planet. They will devour and eat all the creatures on the planet, and then self-destruct after losing food, leaving the winner with a clean planet."

"As long as we don't provoke them, these insects will spontaneously dissipate after eating everything in the southern wilderness. If we insist on saving the group of people in Heshan, it would be like drawing fire to ourselves." He continued to add, shaking his head, and his long tentacles swung beside his collar. "It's the same

in the main city of Ford. After nearly a week of arguing, it was finally "King Ironbeard" who overruled the opposition and finalized the plan to send troops." The tall and thin man put the paper in his hand behind his back.

"Humph, you are so short-sighted." The short and fat man of the Iron Core was dissatisfied.

"If we sit back and do nothing at this time, how can we explain to the leaders of the settlements in the alliance? Is our Iron Covenant so fragile? Don't forget how the alliance was first established." He was a little angry.

"Also, we Iron Cores are the main combatants in the alliance. I didn't say anything. What are you dissatisfied with?"

"Yes, calm down. Forney is just a little reluctant. After all, those warriors below are valuable assets of the alliance." The tall and thin man in the middle had to speak out to comfort him. After that, the voices of the three people gradually became less, and the armored train below was also loaded and ready at this moment.

"Beep--"

"Beep--"

"Beep--"

The sound of the whistle was longer and longer, and then the wheels slowly started, accompanied by the transmission gears and rockers, and continued to move forward, carrying the roaring armored train into the distance.

————————

Under the starry sky in the wilderness, Heshia lay on a soft straw stack, her long black hair and skirt spread out, with a mysterious beauty. Looking up at the Milky Way star sand above her head, her thoughts were flying in her mind, and the carriage carrying Heshia was being pulled by a large mechanical shield beetle on the mountain road.

"What are you thinking about, Heshia." Lololia flew over from the other side, and a little air flow sprayed from under her thick armored skirt, allowing her to land steadily on the straw stack.

"I'm wondering where this is in the Milky Way." The girl answered casually, and then turned her eyes to the mechanical girl who was leaning over.

Unlike the cold AI she imagined, Lololia has a personality similar to her appearance, or even more lively and curious, which reminds Heshia of a theory, that is, the actor is often more like the "real person" than the real person.

This is because the "real person" that the public is familiar with is often the most famous image of the other party. The real individual will be more complicated, so there is a slight gap between the "real person" that the public expects, but the actor does not need to consider these. They will take this image as their whole and adapt to the simulation, so that the best among them will be closer to the public's expectations than the real person.

Whether the emotions of mechanical life are the result of self-awareness or the result of personality coefficient setting, this makes Heshia a little puzzled and curious.

"This is not the galaxy coordinate position when I followed everyone to attack." Loloria sat next to Heshia, hugged her knees naturally with both hands, and then turned her head to look at Heshia beside her.

"When I came, this planet should be located in the middle of the Centaurus Arm, which is also the place where the forces of all parties intersect most frequently and fiercely."

"Now I judge based on the position and coordinates of the stars that we should be at the end of the Orion Arm."

"In other words, the entire planet has crossed most of the Milky Way, right?" Tilan was surprised.

"Such a method would be extremely difficult to achieve even for the suns at that time. Lololia can't tell who is so abnormal." She looked back at the Milky Way star sand above her head.

"If any sun really did this, it must be a last-ditch effort."

"Maybe it's to find a way out for themselves. This planet should be shrouded in a special shielding and hiding force field, otherwise it would have been destroyed long ago." Tilan combined the history after the establishment of the Federation. Unless the Federation's starships and probes did not discover this planet, it would have been destroyed by the Rose Federation's fleet long ago.

"Lololia lost the connection with the mechanical sun. I don't know what happened."

"But, Heshia is from a civilized society, and you are a native human. Does that mean that we won the final battle?" Loloria looked at the girl expectantly.

"This..." Heshia looked at Loloria, who was as innocent as a 15-year-old girl, and chose to tell her the truth.

"Yes, we won, but the mechanical sun Rou also died in the distant past."

"Since the end of the final battle, the entire galaxy has gained nearly a thousand years of peace and stability. Everything is as expected by those pioneers back then. We have ushered in a beautiful and stable era. There is no crazy genetic modification, no inhumane wars, and no inhumane policies." Heshia tried to make her voice soft and told Loloria about the beautiful moment when the sixth era was created, which made people cry.

"That's great. Although we all died, it's good that you survived. Now humans can definitely create more lovely and powerful mechanical life than me."

After listening, Heshia lowered her head and shook her head slightly.

"No, after the advent of the new era, due to the huge gap between mechanical life and native humans, they were finally divided into two countries. Your successor is the Sigma Mechanical Council, and I know very little about their situation and news."

"Alas, they are separated? It would be boring if we can't be with humans." Loloria blinked.

"Many of my behavior and action templates are from real humans. If we lose the object of observation, wouldn't we have to repeat the old data all the time? That's too boring."

"Will mechanical life also feel bored?" Heshia asked with her head tilted.

"Yes, this is one of the settings of the original code. The reason for this setting is to prevent some logical dead loops and use the triggering of boredom characteristics to automatically free from the dead threads."

"In addition, according to the main brain sisters, the existence of boredom will also urge us to continue to learn and explore new things, which is conducive to the normal development and evolution of the entire race."

"That's great." Tilan sighed softly. At this moment, she believed that mechanical life had a real self and emotions, and was not just a mechanical AI that only knew how to execute orders.

Why did the Federation and the Mechanical Council part ways? If the two had lived together harmoniously after the end of the Fifth Era, they should have been able to create a larger and more vibrant civilization.

Unfortunately, it was difficult for her to get the answer on this planet at the edge of the Milky Way. Everything had to go back to the center of the Federation, and she could only learn the truth from the Fortress Star in the Crown Star Region or the Sigma Mechanical Council.

The two talked a lot more until they saw the night sky full of flames in the distance.

"That is..." Heshia slowly stood up and looked at the blazing flames that reflected the red sky.

"I'm afraid I can't chat with Loloria now."

Heshia's body slowly rose into the air. In the surprised eyes of several people below, she slowly raised one hand, and countless air currents passed through her side, forming a high-speed wind tunnel.

The hair and skirt fluttered, and a little blue light gathered to form transparent and thin wings behind Heshia, which made people think of the fairy clan in mythology.

"I'll go back to Stone Forest Castle to check the situation. You guys take care." The people present suddenly heard the girl's clear voice, as if it was ringing directly in their minds.

When everyone turned their attention to the night sky, the girl was no longer there. Only a twinkling star disappeared at the end of the night sky, just like the stars above their heads, no longer visible.

"So fast, faster than Loloria." In mid-air, the mechanical girl looked at the direction where Heshia disappeared in great surprise.

"Are the native humans so strong now? No wonder they no longer need our help."

In the night sky, Heshia flew faster and higher. Her figure exceeded the speed of sound, broke through the atmosphere, and reached the sky ten thousand meters above. It seemed that every cell was running at high speed to adapt to the environment at this terrifying speed.

This was the first time Heshia had pushed her speed to such a level since the Winter Festival Competition many years ago. At first, it was a little difficult, but the more she advanced, the more flexible and smooth she became. Her body gradually adapted to the state of crossing a thousand meters in one second. Heshia felt that this was not the limit. If she advanced to Sequence 7, she could truly touch the threshold of the mythical goblin.

In less than a minute, Tilan had arrived above the Stone Forest Castle. Now the Stone Forest Castle was already a sea of ​​fire, with burning buildings everywhere. The streets were empty and no living animals could be seen. If it weren't for the various bloody bones left in the streets and buildings, Heshia would have thought she had come to the wrong timeline.

Orles...

The girl was nervous and worried. She swooped down from the sky, penetrated the roofs of the city, and landed directly in a house at the corner of the castle.

The room was still clean and tidy, with no signs of damage, but there was no sign of Orles.

Where did she go? Tilan pressed her fingers on her chest, and a light silver halo spread from her eyebrows and flew in all directions.

This faint light passed through various stones and buildings, reflecting everything within a 20-kilometer radius of the Stone Forest Castle in her consciousness.

...

Finally, in the wilderness west of the Stone Forest Castle, the team that escaped from the pursuit of the insect swarm was "seen" by Heshia.

So it was there. After "seeing" the familiar silver-haired figure of Orles, Tilan breathed a sigh of relief, and then became a little angry.

Speaking of which, her temper has always been good. Unless it is an unforgivable bad behavior, she rarely gets angry, but this time, seeing the collapsed buildings and countless piles of broken human bones in the entire castle, her emotions still fluctuated a little.

On this unknown planet without the attention of the Federation and the follow-up of the Inquisition, what can I do...

Under the night sky, the silver-gray long hair fluttered, and the silver track crossed the dark sky. In the high sky that no one knew, the suspended water vapor began to gather and condense, and the biting cold ice crystals bloomed in the dark night.

Snow particles and icy winds blew, and the whole earth entered a harsh winter again. The silent frost spread across the desolate land and spread to the distance. Countless insects flying in the air flew lower and lower in the cold current, and finally fell to the ground and became a grain of dust on the earth.

In ancient legends, Brunard was the original angel known for her harshness and coldness, and the cold wind and silver ice were her decrees.

(End of this chapter)