Chapter 1314: Chapter 1313: Reinforcement Plan

The sentinel towers on the borderlands are gradually restarting, according to intelligence from observation points near Typhon and the Empire’s southwestern frontier.

Of course, the restarting sentinel towers do not include Tower No. 98, which has been confirmed as completely destroyed—this tower has turned into a vast debris field on the earth following a series of explosions and collapses, and within its original projection range, an irrecoverable hole has opened in the great walls, which is currently blocked by the green barrier that Beltira has formed.

"Based on intelligence from two remote bases, we can currently confirm that most areas of the great walls are slowly recovering, effectively curbing the speed and range of the aberration Legion pouring out from the wasteland," Sir Philip reported gravely on the holographic projection, "though there should still be large and significant gaps across the barrier. Besides sections like Tower No. 98 that were completely destroyed, there are other areas where the barrier is experiencing power reductions, projection range shrinking, and connections misaligned. Our defensive forces are still trying to plug these gaps—though communication disruptions along the entire front-line are severe, making it difficult to ascertain the situation of all our allies."

"It seems like the situation with the silver elves has improved somewhat; at least they’ve regained control over the great walls... But what exactly happened in the south..." Gawain furrowed his brow, unable to resist pressing his hand against the table, "We still can’t contact the Silver Empire, can we?"

"No contact," answered Aunt Heidi, sitting beside him. "Since the problems began with the sentinel towers, our communication with the entire southern continent has been completely severed, and the communication functionality of the sentinel data link did not recover with the barrier’s reboot."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "But the smooth reboot of the barrier is at least a positive sign, indicating that the situation on the Silver Empire’s side hasn’t completely spiraled out of control, and they are still trying to salvage the situation."

Gawain seemed doubtful but, after a moment of reflection, he looked up at Sir Philip again: "What about Typhon? What’s the situation there?"

"We’ve already restored contact with Typhon, and the situation on the eastern front-line has gradually stabilized; their Mage Corps and National Knights are progressively reclaiming the territory they previously lost," Sir Philip nodded, "Of course, their losses are greater than ours, as their barrier hasn’t completely collapsed, but a main force of the aberration Legion has infiltrated the southern segment of the Typhon Defense Line... General Andresha hasn’t detailed the situation, but I’m guessing it has caused not insignificant losses."

"At least they’ve stabilized the defense line," Gawain exhaled lightly, then turned to Aunt Heidi with a sterner expression and tone more serious than before, "How’s the situation on the west line?"

"...Apart from the Moss Woods Forest Region, which hasn’t been directly border with the wasteland, ensuring its safety, we’ve completely lost contact with the tribal country of Augari, and the situation on the west line is currently unknown," Aunt Heidi hesitated for less than a second, her expression turning grim. "The energy backlash from the extinguishment of the great walls swept through the Western Region, causing more severe communication blackouts than other areas. Miss Venna from Moss Woods informed us that she has lost contact with other domestic regions as well, thus technical experts estimate that it’s likely the internal communication network of Augari hasn’t been spared either... Ancestor, we can only infer the worst-case scenario for the west line."

The atmosphere in the room became quickly oppressive and somber, even Amber, standing beside Gawain, also wore a tense expression. Though no one spoke for a moment, everyone understood... The tribal country of Augari was in big trouble.

In this "counter-invasion of the wasteland" operation, the tribal country of Augari was never intended as a main strategic line from the start; it’s a unique nation, mountainous and water-laden, with a sparse population and a loose administrative structure, naturally separated from the wasteland. Although there are combative races like the beastmen, the country’s overall military strength isn’t strong. Historically, they’ve relied on the natural mountain range on the east side of the country to block the occasional monsters and pollution wandering out of the wasteland. Additionally, due to its late industrial development and weak foundations, this country doesn’t have the capability for a frontal advance into the wasteland—Its main responsibility in this operation was merely to guard against small monster squads straying from other areas.

No one anticipated that the sudden extinguishment of the great walls would transform all boundary areas of the civilized world into frontal battlegrounds. Moreover, no one expected the energy radiation burst from the extinguishment of the great walls to concentrate its impact on the western side of the continent.

"Why would it lean towards the west then..." In the silent room, Rebecca’s muttering suddenly sounded, as she appeared lost in thought, oblivious to the surroundings, she continued in a small voice, "The great walls did extinguish across the board, so logically the energy dissipated would spread evenly around, unless there’s something in the west drawing such a large-scale energy field..."

"That’s not the point now," Gawain lightly shook his head, "The point is that we need to probe the west line situation promptly. While the mountain range on the west line can temporarily impede the actions of the aberration Legion, those monsters will eventually cross the mountains. If they completely occupy a civilized nation, it’s tantamount to securing a foothold outside the wasteland, gaining strategic depth and a development base—their unique pollution will quickly transform the tribal country of Augari into a second wasteland."

"I’ve already reached an agreement with Miss Venna, sending advanced units into Moss Woods," the visage of Duke Baldwin Franklin materialized in the holographic projection on another side of the room, "Those units will attempt to enter the southern region of Augari via the ancient trade routes of the gray elves, to investigate the situation there and rebuild communications..."

"If needed, you personally lead the stationed corps from the Western District to aid Augari," Gawain remarked solemnly and then raised his head, looking at another section of the room with communication projection, "Also, Byron, where are you currently?"

"I have returned to Northport, Your Majesty," General Byron in the holographic projection immediately nodded, "The envoy bound for Talronde took off hours ago, and I’m currently awaiting your commands."

"Bring enough weapons and supplies, lead the Imperial Navy to White Feather Port, and arm the gray elves there, then continue south along the continental route, entering the heart of Augari via the Odor Sacred River and prepare for a landing operation. Additionally, confirm the state of coastal communication along the continental route—the monsters can’t advance quickly enough to reach coastal regions, so it should just be equipment failure affecting coastal communications. Take ample engineering ships and technical teams, aim to restore our north-south communications from the coast—the communication environment in the continental heartland is uncertain as to when it might recover, we need a backup plan."

"Odor Sacred River..." Byron slightly furrowed his brow, his mind quickly relating to a major inland river running directly to the sea in the southern part of the tribal country of Augari, a hint of concern appearing on his face, "Can the Winter navigate within that inland river..."

"It can, the scale of that river is sufficient for passage of a main battleship like the Winter," Gawain confidently nodded, "Moreover, its end leads to Highmountain Kingdom. If communications with the southern continent aren’t restored by then, you’ll need to send a portion of battleships over there to verify the situation on the south line, and provide support to the fullest extent."

Byron gently inhaled, the responsibility about to be undertaken weighed heavily on this ’knight midway’, whose hair had turned grey. He straightened himself, nodded firmly, "Mission will be completed!"

After the new orders were issued, the room temporarily quieted, but that silence was soon disrupted by a voice from the nearby Magic Web Terminal, "Your Majesty, I’m afraid this still might be too late."

Gawain lifted his head, observing Victoria’s figure materializing in the holographic projection directly facing him.

"The main fleet needs to circle half the continent via sea to enter the Odor Holy River, while the ground troops can only enter the core of the Augari from the ancient trade routes in the south of Moss Woods. Although both routes are passable, they are too slow," the Northern Duchess kept her usual cold demeanor, but her tone was inevitably a bit worried. "If the border forces of Augari have already disbanded before this, I am very doubtful if their remaining resistance forces can hold on until our reinforcements arrive..."

What Victoria spoke of was exactly what most people in the room were worried about—the situation on the Augari line might have already become dire, but even if the Cecil Empire still had the capacity to provide support, the reinforcements might not arrive in that warzone in time.

The Augari, which had been dormant in this ancient land for centuries, had mountains all along its eastern side (and now possibly crawling with monsters), forests on the north, a long coastline far from the front lines and the ancient Dwarf Kingdom on the west (between the Dwarf Kingdom and the Augari lies a series of mountain ranges), and to the south it stretches into the deep mountain forests of Highmountain Kingdom’s borders. Whether from land or coastline, entering that ancient land is fraught with difficulties—in recent years, the Cecil Empire and various Augari tribes have been trading, and Pathfinders have been building roads among the mountains and dense forests, opening up waterways, but clearly, a few short years are still not enough to make that ancient nation easily traversable.

But the monsters do not care about these obstacles; they can trek tirelessly and without regard for losses through wilderness and forests, climbing mountains when they encounter them, filling valleys when they find them.

However, faced with the predicament Victoria raised, Gawain needed only a moment’s thought before making a determination.

The modernized Cecil’s Army has "new era methods" for solving "age-old problems."

"We have more than two routes," he gently tapped the table, raising his head to look at Rebecca, who had her head lowered, lost in thought about some unknown issue. "Rebecca, how is the preparation for the ascent of Dawn of the Mortal World going?"

"Huh? Ah!" Rebecca was startled from her thoughts, first letting out a confused sound before realizing, "You mean Dawn of the Mortal World? Hmm... if it’s only about basic take-off and combat capability, then it can be done now, but the supercritical accelerator is still undergoing final calibration; that thing packs a real punch..."

"Take off now," Gawain interrupted Rebecca, who was about to get excited, saying decisively, "there’s no need to continue the debugging, we need Dawn of the Mortal World’s power right now."

"But..." Rebecca instinctively wanted to say something more, but in the next second, she swallowed her words—after all, even the Cecil Empire’s cannonballs, her alloy head had a concept of priority, "Alright, I understand, I’ll return and start the ascent processes for Dawn of the Mortal World..."

"It’s not just Dawn of the Mortal World, but also the first batch of Gorgon Platforms," Gawain continued, "we must consider the possibility that all positions on the western line have already fallen. If it really comes to that point, a single Sky Fortress can’t defend the entire kingdom; we’ll need to find a way to rebuild the entire western line defense in a short time, at least to block those gaps in the west of the wastelands."

"Alright, I understand," Rebecca quickly nodded, then she frowned slightly, speaking with a hint of hesitation, "but... Ancestor, I need to operate alongside Dawn of the Mortal World."

"You? Going into battle with Dawn of the Mortal World?" Gawain immediately furrowed his brows, surprised by Rebecca’s words, "Why are you going—it’s the front line, not a place for you to..."

"Dawn of the Mortal World’s core systems still need adjustments, and many facilities in the upper area haven’t been tested. Without a technical leader accompanying, that fortress might not even demonstrate a third of its capabilities," Rebecca stubbornly insisted for once before Gawain, "and if I take a team of technicians, I can continue constructing its supercritical accelerator and remaining weapons systems during Dawn of the Mortal World’s operations, as long as we bring enough materials..."

She paused to organize her thoughts before continuing, "Moreover, there’s a very important point—though Dawn of the Mortal World has its own ’brain,’ many operations during its run still require manual intervention. The fortress’s operators have only just completed theoretical training, with simulation operations not even halfway done. I can’t trust them to take over the main system directly; I need to take the team, so if something goes wrong, I can guide..."

She spoke while constantly observing Gawain’s expression, and by the end, her voice unwittingly grew quieter, her head shrinking slightly with caution, "...Is it not alright?"

Gawain didn’t say anything, merely looking at the Rebecca before him with a somewhat unusual gaze.

At some point, she had already shed the innocent air she once had. Despite still being a bit rash in her nature and having many peculiar ideas, today’s Rebecca... seemed quite different from the time when Gawain first met her.

"Alright," Gawain suddenly said, with a very solemn expression, "then I leave Dawn of the Mortal World to you."

"Hooray!"

"But there’s one thing you should remember," Gawain poured cold water on Rebecca before she could get too excited, "you’re not a general, you don’t fight wars, don’t direct anything outside Dawn of the Mortal World—coordinate with Duke Baldwin and General Byron’s actions, and listen to Commander Jinna’s suggestions for aerial maneuvers, understand?"

Rebecca quickly collected her excitement, nodding vigorously to her ancestor, "Yes, I understand!"

Gawain acknowledged with a sound, shifting his gaze away from Rebecca, "Alright, then next..."

He was halfway through speaking when a Magic Web Terminal beside him suddenly activated on its own, and the image of the avatar of the Goddess of Magic, Emhyrmina, appeared mid-air: "Just hold on a minute, I have something to tell you—don’t panic, but the Old Deer has escaped."

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