Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  The night wind was cold, but it brought a faint heat along. Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath and sneezed, mucus dripping out of his nose. Flustered, he quickly wiped it off and coughed twice. “A burning smell is coming from the south.”

  The cloud from Asgard had drifted over, shrouding Avalon, just like a presage of war. In the short span of just one month, Asgard’s action of burning its bridges in preparation for war had made the entire West somewhat chaotic.

  Anglo, bearing the brunt, included.

  “What time is it?” Ye Qingxuan rubbed his hands together and breathed out a puff of cold air.

  Behind Ye Qingxuan, Lola’s voice came from the empty space, “Two o’clock in the morning.”

  Ye Qingxuan nodded. “Soon.” As he said so, a sound that resembled the rumble of an iron whale came from above him. As if some stars were ignited, the dark clouds were illuminated. Along with the rumbling whistle, horrible flares of light traveled through the clouds, moving downwards, stirring up a hurricane. The iron cloud of war was torn apart, revealing only a small part of the behemoth.

  A metallic gleam was hanging high above the sky.

  It was the Mountain of Nomadism.

  Huge searchlights shone, illuminating Ye Qingxuan. As the hurricane swept, his hair fluttered, like flowing mercury. Under the instruction of the musicians and the lights on the ground, a huge gap opened up in the smooth ground, revealing the complex steel frame within and deep darkness.

  In the depths of the darkness were specks of light, and one could vaguely see musicians running about near the huge landing platform. It was the actual reason why Mary fined him 600 pounds of black gold.

  Anywhere within a thousand miles from Avalon was within the radiation range of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, it was impossible for Mary to not know what happened on the island. But she did not expect that right after she gave Ye Qingxuan the island, the *sshole hollowed the whole island out. If she did not fine him some money as a warning, the fella’s reckless actions would sooner or later blow the whole island up into the sky.

  The huge Mountain of Nomadism slowly sunk into the open ground. But at the exact moment, it touched the tracks on the ground, the armored knight on the deck leaped over the railing, soared across the distance of several meters, and landed in front of Ye Qingxuan.

  The knight’s armor still had bloodstains that hadn’t been washed off completely on it and looked murderous and fierce. But as the heavy helmet was removed, the bald head and half of a metal skull beneath were revealed.

  The clergy, who was so old that it made one wonder how had he not breathed his last, smiled at Ye Qingxuan. Presenting himself before the Grand Inquisitor, the old man went down on one knee.

  “Welcome back, Shi Dong.” Ye Qingxuan reached out and helped the old man up from the ground, shaking his head, and sighed. “You have become a lot older yet again.”

  Shi Dong walked out of the opened suit of power armor and sat down on the wheelchair that had been pushed over quite some time ago. He heard Ye Qingxuan’s voice and gave a laugh that sounded like broken bellows.

  “One won’t feel itchier when one already has plenty of lice. I’m already so old, why would I care about becoming even older?”

  “Do you still have enough energy left in you after spending a whole day and night rushing back?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “I am afraid you won’t get much rest tonight.”

  “This is just a small case, I can still swing my sword for ten more days and nights.” Shi Dong shook his head as if he couldn’t care less. Wheeling himself, he followed Ye Qingxuan and entered the elevator.

  The iron gates closed, and the huge lift slowly descended in the sound of mechanical parts operating. Shi Dong tilted his head to one side, looking at Ye Qingxuan sneezing and blowing his nose, and gloated. “It must have been a bad two days, no?”

  “I shouldn’t have been fronting.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head and sighed. “It’s too cold up there, I should have known better and worn cotton-padded clothes.”

  Shi Dong laughed. “Which aspect are you talking about?”

  “All aspects.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “The troubles I’m having here are still manageable, and you coming back can help relieve a lot of my pressure. What about the matters you have been dealing with? You have been gone for three months, how are the results?”

  “It has been going smoothly, as Your Honor has expected.” Shi Dong cracked a grin. He resembled a monster that had filled its stomach when he grinned, full of satisfaction, and a faint bloody smell even lingered in the elevator.

  “Do tell me in detail.” Ye Qingxuan nodded. “There’s too much interference when communicating in the World of Dark, and reports can barely be done. I would like to hear your experience and feelings.”

  Shi Dong replied, “I originally expected the situation in the World of Dark to be too complicated, and since we have been shelved for so many years with no intelligence gathered, it would take about half a year to properly conduct an exploration.

  “But with the maps and materials provided by the retired Dragon Riders, it took only two months for us to find the site of the White Rock Stronghold. According to your instructions, we set up follow-up supply points along the way, made the marine chart, and plotted the specific route traveled. And,” he paused for a moment, and a trace of delight flashed across his bloodshot eyes, “we reopened the White Rock Stronghold!”

  Actually, the crusade he promised the Religious Court of Inquiry began as soon as the threat of Leviathan was over. Although he had various other matters to attend to, Ye Qingxuan had never thought of delaying it.

  He could continue on for a few decades and wait slowly, but Shi Dong they all couldn’t. Since they had chosen to follow him, even though Ye Qingxuan did not have the energy to completely begin opening up new land eastward, he still wanted to let them see the results of the first phase. As a result, preliminary development and exploration were put on agenda, and after half a month of preparation, Shi Dong led a team heading for the World of Dark.

  The goal of the expedition was to reach the stronghold by sea and to find a new sea route that bypassed the turbulent flows of aether and the chaotic regions, a route leading to the core of the great pioneering era back then, where the past glory of the Religious Court of Inquiry lay—the White Rock Fortress.

  With the Mountain of Nomadism as the flagship of the fleet, half of the Witch Hammer set off, together with 200 purification musicians plus 90 Royal Musicians, and eight strange ships from the Royal Institute of Research. Every one of them ecstatically set off on the potentially lethal road where the future was uncertain.

  Truth be told, Ye Qingxuan did not expect that the biggest source of help on the trip would actually be the retired Dragon Riders. Since Gaius’ rebellion, the team of rangers, who were once active in the World of Dark, was detained by Anglo. At the moment, with a rebellious Ye Qingxuan at the core of power, Anglo could no longer be bothered about the Sacred City.

  The thought of his teacher being imprisoned for so many years just because some papers from the Sacred City made Ye Qingxuan’s heart burn with hatred, and naturally he wouldn’t limit their freedom any further.

  Although business was quite bad and few customers had visited the clock shop, Setton the butcher had decided to swear off such involvements and did not accept the offer when Ye Qingxuan attempted to recruit him once again. However, it did not hinder him from recommending other colleagues to take up the job.

  After so many years, everyone had grown old, but thanks to the non-human transformations back then, although they had more or less wasted their years away, they were still in the same combat-fit state they had been in back then, instead of awaiting death like ordinary old men.

  As Abraham’s disciple, Ye Qingxuan won their unanimous approval and respect. Many of them rejected Ye Qingxuan’s suggestion for them to live an easy life in old age and volunteered to join the expedition team after knowing that Ye Qingxuan intended to open up the World of Da
rk.

  Ye Qingxuan once again realized the allure of the World of Dark. Even though the death rate was incredibly high, the future was uncertain, and every exploration was a gamble of one’s life that would lead explorers deep into demonic lands occupied by non-humans, the eyes of the Dragon Riders that had wasted their years away would still shine when they hear the phrase.

  Thanks to the information they provided and the supply points that the Dragon Riders set up in the World of Dark back then, the voyage this time around was so smooth.

  Shi Dong did not say much about the storms and battles along the way, but Ye Qingxuan could imagine it. An entire fleet had set sail mightily, but only three ships, including the Mountain of Nomadism which had come back in advance, returned.

  More than 16 ships of the fleet had been damaged for various reasons, and Shi Dong left all the rest in the temporary strongpoints opened up in the World of Dark. It was a backup plan that he made for the Religious Court of Inquiry after hearing about the decision of the Sacred City.

  Even if Anglo was to be completely defeated in the future, Ye Qingxuan could withdraw his troops to the World of Dark with ease and use the White Rock Stronghold as the foundation to make a comeback.

  Although the White Rock Stronghold had fallen for centuries, dozens of secret chambers underground were still perfectly sealed, and a large number of war reserves could be activated with just a few codes. It was a backup that they set up back when the various countries spared neither labor nor money in providing the Court with resources.

  “It’s been a tough journey.” After listening to the short report, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but sigh softly, and he patted Shi Dong’s shoulder.

  Easterners always liked to say that having an elderly at home was like having a treasure. Although old men sometimes had a stale attitude, they were generally reliable in their work and would never cause one any worry.

  In particular, after Shi Dong was badly set up by the Church and shelved for centuries, he had gotten into the habit of considering the possibility of defeat before considering that of victory. In the countless war simulations over the years, he had come up with innumerable plans to make a comeback. At the moment, he just had to implement them.

  Ye Qingxuan tilted his head to one side and ignited a cigarette, then asked seriously, “So, what about the second goal?”

  “It was as you wish.” Shi Dong grinned, his sharp iron teeth scraping against each other, producing a sharp noise that would make one cringe. “The testing of the usage of the Water Tank in actual combat has been successfully completed.”

  704 Water Tank

  The testing of the water tank was complete. Ye Qingxuan felt assured by Shi Dong’s words but when the elevator stopped and the doors opened, he was stunned by what he saw.

  On the gigantic underground plaza and under the beams of light from the searchlights hanging on the ceiling, countless iron structures on the walls were reflecting light. The commander ensured that the cantilever and hoist cable was pushed to the sides. There was a deep and soft hum with the machine in operation, while the cables dragged the Mountain of Nomadism into the port at the side of the plaza.

  Of course, this was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that as the deck of the Mountain of Nomadism opened, three pitch-black objects slowly trudged towards the center of the plaza, all the while spouting thick black smoke and making an ear-piercing sound. Ye Qingxuan was taken aback.

  “What is this?”

  Shi Dong became awkward all of a sudden and pretended to cough a couple of times before replying, “Water tanks.”

  In what way did they look like iron chariots? They simply looked like a pile of scrap metal! As Ye Qingxuan continued staring at them silently, he felt like he had just been screwed over.

  “You’re telling me that these are ‘water tanks’?” He asked Shi Dong, “When they left, they looked nothing like this!”

  The Royal Institute of Research had spent so much effort creating this new generation of chariots, only to turn out like this after Shi Dong had brought them out for a trip. In what way did they resemble any top-notch war weapon now? They clearly looked like some scrap metal that a beggar would have picked out from a pile of rubbish!

  “And, why are there only three left?” Ye Qingxuan asked, “Didn’t you leave with 80?”

  “There’s a long story behind this.” The old man seemed to have expected the devastating look on Ye Qingxuan’s face. He took another inhalation through the oxygen tube and waved his hands calmly. “Please allow me to explain. You see, this was a weapons test after all, and what’s more, it’s rare to do it in a place like the World of Dark, where there can be many trials and tribulations. It’s expected that problems will crop up.”

  Although they had traveled on sea, the naval route was actually a longer path. They managed to save two-thirds of traveling time through bypassing the dangerous areas on ship, but when they came to the end of the naval route, they had to travel the remaining one-third of the journey on land. In any case, from the very beginning, they had already decided to treat this journey as a holiday to fulfill the wishes of the bunch of old fellows. But there was no way they would have allowed those old fellows to travel on foot.

  Therefore, Ye Qingxuan was generous enough to deploy 80 of the newly created water tanks and a maintenance team from the Royal Institute of Research along for the journey.

  “As you know, in the World of Darkness, even rabbits can grow up to weigh two tons. There are all sorts of strange demons and even the teeth of wild dogs are harder than alloys. It’s only expected to sustain damages, right? Besides, the water tanks are new weapons that have only been put through a simple test. It’s very normal for problems to crop up when their resilience and hardiness are tested over a long period of time. They may break down, leak air, explode, suffer from wear and tear…”

  Shi Dong shrugged. “In fact, before we reopened the White Rock Stronghold, all 80 water tanks have already been damaged. The engineers retrieved the mechanical components that were still usable and put them together with the back-up resources that they have brought along so that they could reproduce 16 water tanks. In the end, when we reopened the White Rock Stronghold, we used up eight of them. But to be fair, they are actually quite useful! We brought back three of them this time around so that the researchers in the research institute will be able to study them carefully. When the problems are solved, send another 80 water tanks over.”

  Ye Qingxuan did not say a word. He could see that Ronald, who was the person in charge of the power department in the research institute, was already feeling very upset.

  80? My foot! Do you think all these are going to come by so easily?

  Right now, there were so many things to do in Anglo. Ronald was taking up multiple responsibilities as he had been assigned many projects by Newton. Back then, he had almost gone crazy in order to carry out Ye Qingxuan’s order of squeezing out resources to build those 80 water tanks. Quite a number of mechanical components were manually crafted by him and his men on very short notice…

  “Impossible!” He feared that Ye Qingxuan would be persuaded by Shi Dong once again. “We don’t have enough manpower in the research institute to spare. You can have any number of engineers you want for maintenance but in order to develop a new batch of researchers, we will need at least three years! Besides, we don’t have enough manpower for the production line as well!”

  Ye Qingxuan felt helpless when he saw how anxious Ronald was. He looked at Shi Dong. “This is only the first field test. According to our timeline, there’s still at least another two years before assembly. Is there a need to be in such a hurry?”

  “Take a look at this first.” Shi Dong threw over an aether ball. It contained the records of the water tank in combat. They were sources of information that had been recorded by the purification musicians and have been brought back along with the three water tanks. Many more of them have been kept in the instruments of harmon
ious melody on the Mountain of Nomadism. This one has been specially selected by Shi Dong for Ye Qingxuan’s viewing.

  One of the recordings contained tens of water tanks attacking a gigantic monster but most recordings were of water tanks trudging through different terrains such as mud, hills, plains and even crossing a river. One of the recordings that Ye Qingxuan was viewing repeatedly was of 10 water tanks crushing and attacking a gigantic beehive, despite the swarms of bees around them. The musicians were seated in the water tanks and were shooting streams of flames at the bees. When all was said and done, four out of ten of the water tanks have been severely damaged as they were completely covered with huge bee stings and looked like metal porcupines…

  After watching these recordings, Ye Qingxuan fell silent and quickly summoned a member of his entourage. After half an hour, this member of the entourage brought over two members of the Golden Hound. Most of these original organists of the Fifth Division had military backgrounds, and quite a number of them had experience in leading small squads into combats. They might not be as far-sighted as the military staff committee, but their advantage was that they possessed high-security classifications and would be able to handle top secret information.

  Just like Ye Qingxuan, the hounds pondered deeply after watching the recordings. They briefly told Ye Qingxuan about their views, then they returned to prepare to rush out a report overnight. By the next day, their report, along with this aether ball, would be submitted to the Privy Council.

  There was a complete change in how Ye Qingxuan viewed the water tanks now. At first, he was not too impressed with this new model of chariot. Although it could deal a lot of damage, this was not something that Anglo lacked at the moment as there were plenty of mass production musicians. However, this field test opened Ye Qingxuan’s eyes to the water tank’s new potential. Its potential included its impressive mobility across most terrains, a defense that was on par with small temporary fortresses, and the perfect coordination with musicians.