Chapter 1051 — Further Unlocking

"Ah, Karador. He's still alive... I remember him. He was outstanding," Anqian said, slowly spreading his enormous dragon wings. "But in the current situation, even the most outstanding dragon needs more help. We must hurry to that temporary shelter. With more aid, perhaps more kin can survive."

"Can you still fly normally?" Dukemore glanced at Anqian. "After the Omega System went offline, many implants became unusable. Even I only barely recovered my freedom of movement after undergoing surgery to remove many malfunctioning implants—you have no fewer implants than I do, and you've just been through a crash."

"It was a forced landing, my old friend. A forced landing," Bayang'er immediately said from the side. "Also, don't overlook the fundamental skills of a veteran machinist—I have already adjusted the implants on Anqian. The malfunctioning and stalled devices have been removed or shielded. I dare guarantee he can now fly a full circuit around Talongde."

Anqian could not help but glance at Bayang'er, then suddenly revealed a carefree smile: "If he says he can, then he can."

"Very well, I believe the most outstanding machinist in Talongde's history—even though this machinist has not touched Talongde's contemporary machinery for many years," Dukemore shook his massive head, then raised his gaze toward the direction of the temporary shelter. "And I don't need you to circle Talongde—our camp is just on the other side of that cliff."

...

"This is the full extent of what we know so far," In the holographic projection cast by the Magic Web terminal, Duchess Victoria maintained her usual cool expression as she reported to Gaoyang the latest observations from the northern border over the past twenty-four hours. "Based on several sea and aerial reconnaissance missions that got as close as possible, we can confirm that the Eternal Storm has completely disappeared. There is still a strong ring-shaped ocean current in the former sea area, and several unstable maritime cyclones are active nearby, triggering widespread rainfall and giant waves. These should all be natural phenomena caused by residual magic after the Eternal Storm's dissipation.

"At present, the above phenomena are also rapidly fading. It is estimated that within at most half a month, all traces left by the Eternal Storm will vanish—of course, after this storm disappears, there will still be many long-term meteorological effects. Ocean currents and maritime climate will both change, and these 'traces' should persist for a very long time, perhaps even permanently."

Gaoyang sat behind his desk, listening to Victoria's report, yet his mind could not help but conjure up that journey to Talongde from days past, recalling everything he had experienced when he rode on Metzen's back through the storm.

He thought of the ancient battlefield hidden in the crevice of time and space at the storm's base, those frozen dragons, gods, and the ancient "relic" at the center of the great vortex.

Others might not know, but he was very clear: the Eternal Storm was sustained by that eerie stagnant space-time... Those ancient forces entrenched in that sea area were what caused the never-dissipating cloud wall and vortex.

And now, this sustaining force had evidently disappeared.

"Your Majesty, shall we conduct further reconnaissance?" Victoria's voice roused Gaoyang from his thoughts. The Duchess wore a serious expression—of course, she wore such an expression most of the time. "The sea demons and naga of Northport say they can attempt to approach that sea area from beneath the ocean floor. Perhaps they can discover something."

"They're willing to help?" Gaoyang was somewhat surprised, but then immediately showed a delighted expression. "That's certainly good. We do need further reconnaissance."

—The sea area after the storm's dissipation is still very dangerous. Cecil's current ships and aircraft still find it difficult to operate safely in the open sea, but the sea demons and naga who originally live in the deep ocean should be able to ignore the "natural threats" after the storm's dissipation. If they are willing to help voluntarily, then all the better.

"I understand," Victoria nodded. "Then I will make the arrangements."

Gao Yang gave a brief grunt of acknowledgment, then raised his head again. "Is there anything else?"

"Nothing more from my end," Victoria said. "Though the Duke of Boyu should still have some matters to report."

Gao Yan nodded. After ending the call with Victoria, he opened a connection to Shilin City in the Western Region, and the holographic projection immediately revealed Boyu Franklin, the Duke of the Western Region, a man of refined and scholarly bearing.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty."

"Good afternoon, Grand Chancellor," Gao Yang nodded to the projection of Boyu. "What's the situation on your side?"

"Intelligence from the Augurey Tribal Nation. The arcanotech engineers we sent there to assist the locals in setting up the primary arcane network hub have passed along some rather concerning reports," Boyu Franklin said, his expression grave.

"Concerning reports?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. According to the technicians' report, the construction of the primary arcane network hub in the Mingcen Peak region has officially begun. But ever since the first test-model arcane obelisk was powered on, the installations set up at the summit have been receiving interference signals of unknown origin with increasing frequency. After preliminary comparison... those interference signals bear a certain degree of similarity to the signals we received in the Solin region and at Winterhold."

Gao Yang's eyes widened in surprise and astonishment, and he instinctively leaned forward. "Signals received at Mingcen Peak as well?! And received by test equipment, no less?"

"Yes, low-power test units," Boyu Franklin nodded. "The signals they received were very strong, but heavily mixed with 'noise'—which is quite different from what we've encountered so far. The arcanotech engineers currently stationed at Mingcen Peak have already transmitted samples of the signals back, but the 'impurities' within those samples are far too severe. The technicians at Shilin City were unable to process them, so I've uploaded them to the neural network, in hopes that the Imperial Computing Center can filter out that troublesome static."