Chapter 1120 — Welcome Home

The study fell silent for a time, and Gao Yang sank into thought behind his desk — the intelligence so suddenly delivered into his hands had placed a certain pressure on him, but on the other hand, none of it had entirely exceeded his expectations.

Ever since the day he learned that a remnant faction of the Cult of the End of All Things was still active in the wasteland, he had known that one day he would have to face this trouble. And compared with the sudden movements of these heretics, what Berantia had revealed about the Deep Blue Well, the Iron Legion, and the remnant bases was far more unexpected.

All of this only hardened his resolve to launch a counterattack on the wasteland — a goal he had quietly set in his heart not long after awakening, and which now suddenly had one more reason to strive for.

"In any case, whatever the Embershadow cultists are actually after, their goal is certainly not world peace and universal brotherhood," Gao Yang broke the silence in a low voice amid his pondering. "The more energy they steal from the Deep Blue Well, the more dangerous the thing they are plotting... We cannot sit by and do nothing."

"But they are deep in the wasteland," Berantia said quietly, "a vast land of contamination, with countless aberrations wandering about — compared with the Gondor Wasteland, any desperate, perilous place beyond the Grand Wall is as cozy as a garden. The Embershadow cultists hiding inside the contaminated zone means they enjoy near-absolute safety."

Gao Yang said nothing, only leaned gently back, and the wind at his ear seemed to grow louder.

What Berantia had said was precisely the greatest problem at present — that vast wasteland. To the nations living in the clean zones, the wasteland was a place of utter peril, but for those cultists who had adapted to the wasteland environment through biochemical modification, the dreadful magical contamination and the wandering aberrations were instead their natural shield. Even if Gao Yang and Berantia knew exactly where the Embershadow cultists were hiding, they could do almost nothing about those fellows. After all... seven hundred years had passed, and the nations around the Gondor Wasteland could barely maintain their borders; not one had ever truly raised the banner of a counterattack on the wasteland.

But the past being impossible did not mean the present was, and still less that the future would be.

Gao Yang crooked his fingers and tapped the armrest of his chair twice. His gaze fell on the wall not far away; on that wall, where a map of the continent hung, there was now also a new banner symbolizing the Commonwealth Alliance, bathed in the afternoon sunlight, its silken fabric gleaming.

"I never brought this matter up with you before because I judged the timing not yet ripe," Berantia's voice came from beside him. "You had greater, more urgent crises to face; to spare even a shred of energy risked total collapse. And even if I had told you then about the wasteland, neither you nor your allies could have done anything. But now... I believe we have some margin to spare, enough to consider the hidden dangers within the Grand Wall."

Gao Yang could not help glancing at her. What she said sounded unproblematic enough, but on closer thought he found that these judgments accounted only for rigid data, without considering the variability of human beings. This way of assessing matters seemed not quite in keeping with human habits of thought... Was this, too, an effect of the excessively long years upon her?

Berantia noticed his gaze: "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing," Gao Yang shook his head, his gaze once more falling upon the Alliance banner not far away, and he spoke with a thoughtful expression: "Even now, we are still not prepared for a counterattack on the wasteland. Whether in terms of technological reserves or of manpower and resources, this is not something the Cecil Empire can solve on its own at this stage. But on the other hand... we have now founded an alliance, and with it we have the chance to mobilize unprecedented strength for great undertakings. So..."

"So this is no longer a matter beyond reach," Berantia said calmly. "If every nation on the continent could realize that the threat in the wasteland is stirring, then even if we still cannot reclaim the wasteland, at least we can do something — even if it is only advancing one kilometer toward the Grand Wall, even if it is only building a few outposts along its border."

"I think your thinking is too conservative," Gao Yang said slowly in the midst of his pondering. "If a few of the stronger nations were truly willing to do this together, then what we could accomplish would be far more than that."

Thoughts surged in his mind. As he spoke, Gao Yang sorted through, like reading a roster, the list of nations that might actively cooperate in this matter. As those allied nations surfaced one by one in his mind, he gradually realized what an effective force this was, and suddenly realized that "counterattacking the wasteland" had, without his noticing, already acquired a certain foundation.

To counterattack the wasteland — relying on Cecil alone, it was indeed hard to accomplish; but if Typhon and the Silver Empire were willing to lend their strength, and border nations like Aogulei and the Highland Kingdom were also willing to cooperate actively, then this matter... did not seem so distant after all?

Even so, this was not something that could be achieved overnight. Even if the conditions were all in place right now, planning a counterattack on the wasteland would require long deliberation — after all, the mortal nations had been far from that ancient land of corruption for far too many years.

Gao Yang laid out all that was in his heart to Berantia without reservation, and at the end said: "I will send word to Typhon and the Silver Empire as soon as possible. Whatever happens, they must be warned first. But in any case, entering the Gondor Wasteland is no simple matter; it will require a long period of preparation."

"I know," Berantia nodded. "But please, as soon as possible — I have once again lost the trail of the Embershadow cultists. They are preparing plans no one knows of in the blind spots of everyone's vision. Only by finding them soon can I truly set my mind at ease."

Gao Yang made no sound, only sat behind his desk with a face like deep water, and slowly nodded.

...

When the wind of the last week of the Month of Revival blew across the plains, all the golden tailflowers of Longbranch Manor would come into full bloom. These pretty little flowers with pale golden petals were in truth unremarkable on the plains, but their tenacious vitality had long made them beloved of the Wendell family — they were planted along both sides of every road in the manor, from the high ground where the red windmill stood all the way to the edge of the little grove, from the direction of the farmstead all the way to the main house that Bard Wendell had designed with his own hands in those years. When the warm wind blew, a fragrance mingled with the smell of soil would drift up from the flower beds and fill every avenue and path.

A magitech carriage bearing the Wendell family crest drove along the broad, level National Avenue, and turned from the cobbled path into the front gate of Longbranch Manor. The servants had long been waiting at the manor's entrance for the mistress who had been away from this place far too long — the carriage stopped on the open ground, and when the door opened, the tall, gray-haired Anluo Wendell at last stood once more upon the land she knew best.

This young Wolf General had already shed her military uniform, wearing instead a spring dress more suited to an ordinary woman; the white gown of fine fabric but plain style lifted slightly in the wind, somewhat softening her cold, rigid military aura, though it still could not entirely conceal that sharp, decisive bearing.