Chapter 1379: Chapter 1378: Discovery at the Alliance Frontline

In the alliance military’s comprehensive counterattack against the wasteland, the northern line maintained by the main corps of the Cecil Empire may count as the most distinctive scene on this vast battlefield—it is not because of the Cecil Clan’s mechanized army and the endless array of new weapons, but because there was always a lush "forest" advancing alongside the imperial soldiers throughout the war...

The "remote derivative" of the Sorin Giant Tree—this living forest starts at the southern foothills of the Dark Mountain Range, spreading both on and below the surface, extending into the wasteland with a calm yet steadfast attitude, and has already advanced with the main imperial force to the high grounds south of the magic scorch mark. And wherever the living forest reaches, even the corrupted and polluted wasteland begins to gradually show a "thriving" state.

At least on the surface, the lush forest scene is far more delightful than the desolate, terrifying wasteland, and as for those less "picturesque" parts buried deep in the forest... the imperial soldiers say they’re used to seeing them often...

The night sky gradually bows down, the scorching battlefield has cooled down, and the Giant Cannon and engines that roared all day have come to a stop in the twilight. Meanwhile, the soldiers have already set up temporary defenses at the edge of the living forest and begun to conserve their strength for tomorrow’s actions. Sir Philip walks through this newly established camp, listening to the soldier commands from afar and the buzzing of the Dragon Cavalry Fighter in the sky—these are the sounds he has become most familiar with in recent days.

His gaze passes over the energy field screen at the south of the camp, seeing the vast and barren land stretch to the horizon. The polluted earth is scarred all over, swept by shells and flames, littered with the grey-black ashes of aberrations and the torn remains of bio-synthetic beasts scattered in the craters. Dust and smoke rise constantly from the pits that still radiate residual heat, like a thin veil under the waning, powerless sunset.

When his gaze turns to the other side of the camp, however, he sees a vast, lush forest with countless towering trees sprawling across his sight. The roots of these giant trees plunge powerfully into the violet-black soil, while dense shrubs and various short plants grow staggered beneath them—if not knowing the truth, anyone would think this is just an ordinary, lively forest.

Focusing solely on the forest, no one would imagine that beyond the forest’s boundary lies the Gondor wasteland, deemed a life forbidden zone.

Even Sir Philip himself feels a sense of absurd disarray when seeing this living forest advancing with the corps, as if the wasteland has already been healed, and the pollution just a step away from the forest seems less real by comparison.

But he knows that the "life" created by this living forest is merely a temporary illusion. The pollution in this wasteland still spreads, and beneath even the most flourishing plants of the forest, a constant "battle" persists—Beltira’s life force combats the toxins within the wasteland, her roots fight against those of the dark priests, and this confrontation is endless. Only the purification devices continually constructed along the advance can truly stem the spread of toxic forces.

Footsteps approach nearby, and Wright’s voice rings in Philip’s ears: "It’s truly unbelievable...a vibrant world advancing with us. Honestly speaking, when I first learned the Sorin Giant Tree would intervene in the battlefield, I didn’t expect things would develop like this."

Sir Philip nods slightly at the Holy Light leader and then spoke with a tone of contemplation: "Do you know? The Black Forest at the southern foothills of the Dark Mountain Range has completely disappeared yesterday afternoon."

Wright’s expression shows some surprise, and before he can voice his inquiry, Sir Philip actively explains: "To supplement more biomass and reduce the production pressure on the synthesis plants along the line, Madam Beltira has been vying for nutrients with the Black Forest. It turns out... the rampant Black Forest couldn’t outcompete the tactical Beltira. That terrifying forest, which blocked the bounds of civilization for seven hundred years, was starved to death... The biomass of the trees we see now, part of it must have been taken from the remnants of the Black Forest."

Even the usually mature and stable Wright doesn’t quite know what to say—during the Old Anzu Era, the Black Forest south of the Dark Mountain Range was already a household "impasse" in the northern regions. As a terrifying legacy of the past "chaotic wave" and a testament to human civilization’s decline, the Black Forest played a role akin to the Dragon’s Lair, dark dungeons, and Wizard Castles in the tales spun by bards and adventurers. Parents used it to scare disobedient children, while reckless mercenaries and explorers would boast with tales of "Black Forest adventures" to flaunt their bravery and insight. Now, this once-regarded impasse and natural hazard have vanished simply because it was outcompeted for resources by the Sorin Giant Tree... Where could you possibly find a reason in this?

Wright doesn’t know the far-reaching effects this event will have in the future, but one thing is for certain—future adventurers will definitely find it hard to boast about the Black Forest...

"Anyway, it’s a good thing," Wright finally shakes his head. "Now our transport troops will be incredibly safe crossing through the Black Forest, and the engineers at the Southgate Fortress won’t have to mobilize two or three times a year to burn the constantly spreading vegetation."

Sir Philip nods, and just then, a slight rustling sound suddenly comes from nearby. Wright turns towards the sound, witnessing a brown-black "vine" with wrinkled skin briskly move along the bushes at the camp’s edge. This vine seems to notice them, turns toward them, and quickly reaches in front of him and Philip.

Sir Philip sees the vine curl up, with its sturdy end "holding" a large chunk of flesh resembling the remnants of a beast—most likely the remains of bio-synthetic beasts from the Wasteland Legion, as aberrations usually turn to ash upon death, only these mass-produced synthetic beasts created by dark priests leave such "corpses."

The vine sways the chunk of "spoils" up and down before Sir Philip. The young commander is momentarily confused, while Wright, quickly catching on, casually picks up the Heavy Incinerator, adjusts it to the lowest output, and directs it at the chunk of meat. With a whoosh of fire, he roasts the meat to a medium-well state, being careful to avoid the vine holding the meat.

The vine, clutching the roasted meat, sways up and down in front of Wright, seemingly expressing gratitude. This scene leaves Sir Philip dumbfounded: "Wait a minute... Madam Beltira has started eating cooked food?"

"Sometimes," Wright explains, as the vine can’t speak. "It first occurred when a White Knight casually tossed roasted remains of a bio-beast to an ’foraging’ vine, then Madam Beltira seemed pleased, resulting in more soldiers offering roasted meat to these passing vines. Occasionally, Madam Beltira herself would hand meat found on the battlefield to soldiers with burners to have them roasted... Haven’t you noticed these before?"

Sir Philip: "...I had no idea!"

The young commander is bewildered for a moment, then his lips suddenly twitch: "Why does this feel odd... Does that mean our soldiers and this living forest actually get along... pleasantly?"

"Everyone is a comrade fighting side by side," Wright says with a serious face, "Moreover, the forest typically provides soldiers with fruits and purified water, which are valuable supplies on the frontline. Soldiers are grateful for this."

Sir Philip’s lips twitched once more, thinking to himself that this should count as a mutual understanding over a shared meal...

At that moment, the portable Magic Web Terminal hanging on his chest suddenly buzzed, and after the communication was connected, a soldier’s urgent report voice reached his and Wright’s ears: "Commander! The reconnaissance team surveying the terrain southeast has found something!"

Sir Philip and Byron were both taken aback. Philip then slightly frowned: "Details, what did you find?"

"It appears to be an abandoned ancient facility—the main structure is remarkably intact, and there seems to be faint energy flows deeper inside," came the soldier’s reply from the Magic Web Terminal, "There is no aberration activity around the target location, the reconnaissance team has not recklessly ventured in and is currently maintaining remote vigilance around the facility."

"Good, have them wait there, the expert team will arrive shortly," Sir Philip quickly said to the communication device, then looked up at Wright, "I think I need to go and see for myself... What do you think it might be?"

"Whatever it is, the fact that it maintains structural integrity as a ’legacy’ in this wasteland is most unusual," Wright’s expression turned serious, "Either it’s extremely lucky, or it’s protected by some higher power... You need to see it personally."

...

The location reported by the reconnaissance team was not far from the frontline base, even within the coverage of the base’s artillery, so Sir Philip, who left the base with the expert team in a vehicle, took little time to find those reconnaissance soldiers waiting in the wasteland. Then, he saw what those soldiers had described as the "ancient facility"—

It was a large building complex situated on a highland, consisting of a cylindrical main building with an arched dome and several small auxiliary structures. It stood in the increasingly dim evening glow, which coated its main structure with a rust-like texture as the waning light shone upon it. Centuries of erosion and the relentless accumulation of sand had made the entire building cluster blend into the gray-black hue of the surrounding land, partially burying it with dust. This was why the Dragon Cavalry pilots on aerial reconnaissance couldn’t immediately distinguish it from the surrounding jagged boulders.

But these weathered and mottled marks only affected the exterior of this building cluster—its major structure still stood intact on this land. From the towering main walls and the elegantly simplistic building rooftops, Sir Philip could faintly discern the object’s former splendor—woven with a sense of desolation and mystery as a technological marvel of the ancient Gondor Empire.

"When we found it, the Magic Detection Device began showing weak intermittent fluctuations," the soldier who first discovered this facility came up to Sir Philip, saluted, and said, while taking out the detection device he carried. This small machine with a Magic Detection array and a tiny Focusing Crystal was projecting a light screen with lines continuously fading in and out, yet the lines on the screen were blurred, "There might be something still operating deep inside the facility—we found an entrance on its side but did not venture in recklessly."

"Very well done. Any suspicious facilities found in the wasteland should wait for experts to handle," Sir Philip nodded approvingly, turning to regard the few technical personnel who had come with him, experts with notable achievements in archeology and ancient magic. Compared to ordinary soldiers, these experts were much more professional when dealing with the strange artifacts discovered in the wasteland—and more so than he as a general, "Do you have any opinions on it? What might this facility be used for?"

"The specific function of the facility needs further exploration to determine," said a gray-haired middle-aged man whose gaze often fell upon the building complex not far away, the gleam in his eyes betraying the scholar’s somewhat excited mood at the moment, "But judging by the visible structure, this facility shouldn’t be for military or civil use—the Gondor Empire’s military facilities usually had gigantic Energy Spark Towers, which, even if destroyed, would leave substantial base remnants, and civil facilities wouldn’t be established in such wilderness far from city clusters... The energy reaction inside the facility is particularly attention-grabbing, since theoretically all facilities in the Gondor Era relied on the deep blue energy network to provide magic power, yet we all know that this network has long since collapsed..."

The middle-aged scholar was speaking fervently, but he soon realized that the general might not want to hear such a lengthy theoretical discourse at the moment, so he promptly curtailed his impulse to continue speaking: "In any case, we need to explore deeper—this is by far the first thing we’ve found preserved so completely in the wasteland, and it even has an energy reaction inside!"

Sir Philip turned to glance at the soldiers behind him—these soldiers were well-trained and well-equipped, having faced rigorous battlefield trials, yet even with them at his side, he must maintain a high degree of caution.

It was an ancient facility from the Gondor Era—who could say what kind of dangers might lurk within such ancient ruins, magic traps left by ancient people? Uncontrolled leaking Energy Conduit? Or perhaps a crazed Iron Soldier?

All are possible.

In this death-infested wasteland, utterly destroyed ruins were dangerous, but those that were still "alive"... were often even more perilous.

"Sara, take your squad in to assess the situation," Sir Philip reminded the soldiers about to enter the facility as the vanguard, "Everyone stay alert, don’t touch anything you shouldn’t, maintain open communication, transmit visuals back constantly—once inside the facility, do not venture recklessly; await advice from technical experts behind us. If encountering sudden danger, you can abandon the mission and retreat immediately."

"Yes, General!"

The young warrior named Sara immediately saluted and then led a small group of soldiers towards the facility.

Meanwhile, Sir Philip, staying by the command vehicle, had the accompanying technical sergeant turn on the Magic Web Terminal, through which the scenes witnessed by Sara’s squad were projected in holographic display above the terminal.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.