I will be crowned king

Ice Dragon Fjord, Beluga Harbor.

The gloomy domes covered the sun, making the city that had not yet fully woken up from the night look very depressing; although there was no heavy rain, the howling sea breeze still made the usually prosperous streets look a bit deserted.

In other words, it's not just the weather that makes the streets deserted.

Since April, although no bad news has come, the ordinary people of Beluga Port can still feel some clues from the empty port and the increasingly frequent mobilization of the Storm Legion and Shooting Army; they can only wait and see. Various horrific and exaggerated rumors gradually began to spread among sailors and dock workers who were drunk at home or in taverns.

Neither the Supreme Council nor the Governor-General of Ice Dragon Fjord, which had just declared independence, banned this, further intensifying the spread of rumors.

Rumors such as "The empire's 100,000-strong army is about to conquer Beluga Harbor", or "The Clovis royal family is furious and will completely strangle the colony" can even appear openly in the "Beluga Harbor Good People" newspaper.

In addition to the fact that the mainland has indeed blocked port trade, of course, there is also Anson's deliberate connivance, clearly requiring the troops patrolling the city and the Faithless Knights who operate privately not to interfere in any way.

The reason is also very simple. On the one hand, the Legion, the Rune Family and the Supreme Council are all actively preparing for war and have no energy to suppress the endless rumors. On the other hand, these rumors can also play a role in resisting pressure and avoid the actual war. The news immediately ignited the entire city's powder keg.

After all, unless they are professionals, most people have only a vague concept of "scale" and "number". In their imagination, the difference between 10,000 people and 100,000 people is probably the same as the difference between 1,000 people and 10,000 people. Almost the same, even smaller; there seems to be no difference between being an enemy of the Empire and being an enemy of the entire Order World.

Therefore, allowing rumors to spread will definitely cause a certain amount of panic in the early stage, but because this is simply false news, the panic is completely controllable; when the jihadist army really comes to kill, the people who have been panicking for more than two months will There will no longer be shock, but numbness that “the day has finally come.”

Staring at the weather that seemed to be about to rain outside, Anson sat in front of the window and enjoyed a simple breakfast while listening to the little secretary report the latest intelligence and the next day's schedule:

"...The grain ship departing from Naxir Port has arrived at the Slave Port. The local autonomous council is organizing manpower to load the goods into the truck. It will arrive at Gray Snow Town in three days..."

"...the newly recruited 5,000 shooter army soldiers have completed preliminary training and have basically mastered the ability to understand orders and distinguish left and right. The next step will be to continue to expand the recruitment of mid-level officers and instructors, with a scale of approximately 100 to 150 people. …”

"...The preliminary trade volume with Naxir has been verified. The New World Company is delivering profits to various colonies through offices and banks, of which Ice Dragon Fjord will receive approximately..."

"The newspapers in Beluga Port published two more unconfirmed rumors today, but they were quickly refuted. The person who spread the rumors was also caught by the Trustee League. He was the housekeeper of former Speaker Harold..."

Putting down the document in his hand, the little clerk with a formal smile raised his head: "In addition, you will go to the Beluga Harbor headquarters this morning to organize soldiers from the militia groups from Winter torch city and Changhu Town to participate in the training of the Storm Legion. , there was a half-hour lunch meeting with President Reinhard and the officer corps at noon.”

"In the afternoon, we will go to the Supreme Council. The representatives hope to discuss with you the reorganization of the parliament and the selection of the supreme leader of the Confederacy and the commander-in-chief of the army."

"Okay, I understand." Anson nodded casually:

"Tell Fabian and Karl that they should attend the training in the morning and the meeting at noon on my behalf; as for the inquiry from the Supreme Council in the afternoon...if they bring it up, let Reinhard handle it. If it doesn't work, call Karl again. go."

"well?"

The little secretary raised his head in surprise: "Then, sir..."

"I have something to do and need to visit the technical advisor of the Governor's Mansion." Anson wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth and picked up the coat hanging on the back of the chair:

"It may take a long time, so at least you don't have to arrange a schedule for me today. Anyone who wants to see me will be handled by you. If you can't handle it, go find someone else... In short, you won't see anyone."

"Yes." The little secretary could only nod: "Then if I want to find you, where should I go?"

"My dear Alan Dawn, you are asking questions knowingly."

Anson smiled, but his secretary was as cautious as ever: "Let's do this. After four o'clock in the afternoon, wait for me outside the military factory. If you don't see anyone within an hour, call the search and rescue team."

"Yes, sir."

The little secretary with a shy smile bowed and saluted.

After saying goodbye to his secretary, Anson, dressed in casual clothes, came to the arsenal on the outskirts of the city. After saying hello to Julien, the commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment in charge of security here, he walked straight to the office of the person in charge of the arsenal.

Compared with the city, the atmosphere in the military factory is obviously much more stable - most of the workers here, especially the skilled workers, moved to Beluga Port with the military factory and are not local colonists.

In order to ensure production, Anson built a collective community specifically for these people on the outskirts of the city, and provided special supplies of various daily necessities and materials. While improving their living standards, it also separated these people from the entire city; the epidemic that has spread throughout the city Rumors could not spread among the workers.

After looking at the wooden sign at the entrance to the basement, Anson frowned slightly and knocked on the door subconsciously, even though he was 100% sure that the other party was inside.

"Uh...please come in!"

The sound in the room sounded a little hurried, as if something was being tidied up; Anson took a deep breath and waited for three seconds before turning the door handle.

As soon as you enter the door, the first thing you see is ancient runes covering the walls, numbers and formulas that are completely incomprehensible - ceilings, floor tiles, wallpapers... A strong, even visible smell of chalk fills the air, along with it. All the furniture, office supplies, and even the coffee cups have a thick grayish-white color.

Although this was not the first time he had seen this scene, Anson, who had become a blasphemous mage, could still feel his body experiencing instinctive physical discomfort.

"I'm sorry that the room is a bit messy. You are five minutes earlier than I expected, Lord Anson." The sickly William Gottfried, with two dark circles under his eyes, scratched his chicken coop-like head. By the way, He also took out half a piece of chalk from his ear:

"Coffee or black tea? Although the supply seems to have been discontinued, I still have the last bit of stock here."

Anson subconsciously glanced at the dusty coffee can and tea box in the corner. The former had been reduced to a chalk box, and the lid of the latter had become a chalk eraser:

"...Thanks for the hospitality, I'm not thirsty yet."

"That's great, because I accidentally lost the teapot a few days ago, and I really can't remember where they are." Gottfried shrugged, his sickly expression suddenly turning serious. His deep eyes stared straight at Anson:

"I know why you are here, but before I start, I still have to repeat the previous question. Are you...really ready?"

"Because it's one thing to be a blasphemous mage, but it's another thing to be involved with Saint Isaac, especially with his shady research."

"Given your relationship with the Franz family, you should be clear, even without me having to explain it specifically, what kind of behavior is it in the eyes of the Church of Order to come into contact with knowledge that you shouldn't be exposed to?"

After saying that, he leaned against the wall as if he might faint at any moment, waiting for the other party's reply.

Anson nodded imperceptibly: "I understand."

"And if I remember correctly, I should have told you a long time ago that this is not the first time that I have... obtained notes on the contents of St. Isaac's research."

"I know, but I have to be just in case. After all, I'm just a scientist."

The technical consultant shrugged, took out a thick stack of draft paper behind his back, and smashed the dust on the desk with a bang: "No matter who you got this note of Saint Isaac from, , I’m afraid the other party doesn’t even know its true value!”

oh?

Anson couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "Are you sure?"

"I haven't completely deciphered all the contents, but I have roughly figured out what Saint Isaac's note is for." Wilhelm Gottfried said casually, without any emotion:

"So...can you tell me who gave this to you?"

………………

"cannot."

Under the flickering light, half of Roman's face was illuminated and he coldly retorted: "Now is not the best time to make it public. When the time comes to say it, you will naturally understand it even if I don't say it."

"If this is the case, then you can only forgive me for not being able to cooperate."

Anson also refused politely: "You are not even willing to announce the plan. Why should I believe that your truth has the ability to turn defeat into victory for me?"

"Are you afraid?" Roman said coldly.

"Yes, I'm just scared."

Anson looked directly into his eyes: "This is a war between one world and another, and I don't even have a card in my hand that can compete with the Church of Order, let alone any plan that can destroy the other party's attempts. What do you think? This side will definitely lose!"

"No, you do. Aren't the Luen family and the apostle who is staring at us your trump cards?"

"Are you kidding me, Colonel Roman? Once Luen really takes action, it will directly prove that the Luen family and all of us are involved in the Old God Sect; then even if the church wants to end it, it will face thousands of Believers, how do they explain it?"

"Anson Bach, I didn't know that you would also consider your enemies?"

"I'm not doing it for the enemy, I'm doing it for myself! For the Storm Legion, Ice Dragon Fjord and at least one million immigrants from the New World. They are innocent, and they are not consumables that you, the Society of Truth, can just sacrifice!"

"You care about your subordinates and the people. You really give me more and more unexpected surprises."

Glancing at the storm outside the window, Roman sneered and said lightly: "But I already understand what you mean. If the Truth Society wants to cooperate with you, it must first show some basic sincerity...right?"

"The minimum...may not be enough." Anson narrowed his eyes slightly:

"I admit that this time the two sides may really have common interests - provided that you are not lying, but this is still not the reason why I must cooperate with you; yes, I will definitely delay the Jihadi Army's attack as much as possible, but the specifics How long and to what extent must be decided based on the progress of the situation."

Facing his gaze, Roman was silent for nearly half a minute.

Their eyes met, and just when Anson thought that the other party would continue to threaten him, he silently took out a document bag sealed with parchment paper from his arms, and...

"Pocket watch?"

Anson asked doubtfully as he stared at the silver pocket watch with gold-plated patterns on the table.

"Or maybe it's a magic item called the 'Memory Pendulum' that looks like a pocket watch." Roman said quietly:

“Its ability is very special: press the button that opens the watch cover, and it will record all your status at this moment. If you press it a second time within an hour, all the people who have been affected by you and those affected by you will be recorded. All traces of it will be restored to their original state.”

"And its second ability is that within this hour, you can move the hands on it at will to determine the time of a certain area, an object or even your life... and this time is irreversible."

"It sounds like a very interesting magic prop." Suppressing his inner surprise, Anson pretended to be calm and continued: "Is this the sincerity of the Truth Society?"

"Just think of it as the last amulet left for you to save your life." Roman said coldly, throwing the pocket watch to Anson and holding up the document wrapped in parchment:

"This...is the 'sincerity' you want."

"I know you seem to have found a copy of Saint Isaac's notes, but that copy should be a copy copied by someone. The one I have in my hand is the true original, which the Church of Order has never obtained."

"What is recorded in it is about Saint Isaac's conceptual conjecture about the future difference engine..."

……………………

"And it's all compiled and recorded using ancient runes, so even if you know what's inside, if you don't understand ancient runes, or what Isaac Rand considers ancient runes, there's nothing you can do if you get them. significance."

William Gottfried chuckled confidently: "This arrogant man... thought that he could hide his inner secrets using ancient runes, but in the end his understanding of ancient runes was nothing more than that."

"Then what did he write in his notes?" Anson asked curiously.

"Nothing, just as you think, some of Isaac Rand's conjectures and prospects for the difference engine, and..." William Gottfried paused:

"It seems that he plans to use the difference engine to deduce the fourth evolutionary path in addition to the three major magics."