Love letters are not allowed in exorcism notes

Chapter 1241 Familiar Friends Across Time and Space

"The final instruction from headquarters was to advance into the darkness."

Thirty minutes ago, or many days ago, the exact time is impossible to calculate.

The second squadron lost contact with the flagship.

Even the ship's multi-dimensional communication device could no longer function properly due to the influence of the high tides.

The fleet's last order was to advance into the darkness.

Or, to put it another way, turn your back on the torch and face the darkness.

The compass has been activated, and each fleet is equivalent to the eye of the Heaven-Severing Array, as well as an anchor sunk in the dark depths of the sea.

The purpose of an anchor is to provide a fixed traction force for a ship, allowing it to dock in a fixed place and no longer drift with the current.

Today's navy... and not just the navy, but also the active-duty army, reserves, police and militia, and all administrative and armed units throughout the empire, are part of what anchors us to the real world.

The vast majority of ordinary people have not yet developed an understanding of the concept of "nation," and at most they only know about "the imperial court and government," without understanding the difference between the new government and the feudal dynasties of the past.

The administrative system and modern army established by the president himself are generally far more educated than the average person, and have a profound understanding of the concepts of nation, ethnicity, history and civilization.

From this perspective, the idea of ​​"rule by a minority of elites" is not entirely wrong.

However, their understanding of the concept of "elite" differs.

Some "elites" feel that they are born superior and should enjoy rights that are priority over others.

At this very moment, the vast majority of the empire's "elites" are standing on the front lines against the Great Tide, bearing obligations that take precedence over those of others.

Turn your back to the light, face the darkness, and move forward.

Where to go? How long?

There is no answer.

The reason the fleet was still able to maintain its normal formation and move forward on the sea was because all the mental pressure was concentrated on Wang Yunxiao alone.

This is the military town under his jurisdiction.

Because of his presence, all the physical laws within the entire Second Fleet area were as stubborn as rocks in a latrine, completely unaffected by the erosion of the great tide.

Wang Yunxiao stood motionless on the bridge, though in reality he was unable to move. It was as if a massive iron chain, weighing countless tons, was dragging behind him, one end attached to his body and the other pointing towards the torch.

At first, Wang Yunxiao even had the mood to complain about why the Yukikaze had infiltrated his team again.

This is a notorious auspicious creature in the future, but she brings bad luck to everything and her teammates. Teaming up with her will definitely bring no good.

Your greatest value right now shouldn't be lying in the shipyard of the manufacturing bureau, letting researchers strip off all those cutting-edge technologies from you and study them carefully, right?

But he soon discovered that the burden he was bearing was getting heavier and heavier, with no sign of abating.

In a moment of mental confusion, Wang Yunxiao found himself back in Tianmen, diligently clocking in and out of work at the Special Affairs Section of the Nantong District Police Bureau.

A fog shrouded the streets, and huge figures could be vaguely seen flitting by within it.

How is Li Mumu? She...

Wang Yunxiao suddenly woke up and realized that he should be on the ship, not standing on Tianmen Street.

"Sea Dragon and Flying Wolf have lost contact!"

Wang Yunxiao unbuttoned his top button, took a deep breath, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

In just a moment of confusion, his military town was eroded, and two torpedo boats on the flanks of the fleet disappeared silently into the darkness.

A sudden emptiness filled my stomach, and a strong feeling of hunger surged through me.

What time is it now?

As soon as the words left his mouth, Wang Yunxiao realized that he had asked a stupid question.

No one can answer this question.

With a stubble-covered face and looking utterly exhausted, Wei Liuyun turned to look at him and said in a low voice, "Don't push yourself. If you're tired, go and rest. How long the squadron can hold out depends entirely on you."

"We must hold on until we restore communication with the main flagship. As for the cost... now is not the time to consider the cost."

By any means necessary, at any cost.

This was the President's instruction before his departure.

We will definitely get through this great tide, no matter how much we have to sacrifice.

Wang Yunxiao nodded, left the bridge, went to the canteen, and got himself two dinners.

He felt that he was just slightly dazed, but the hunger in his body told him that he hadn't eaten for at least eight days.

He wolfed down the food on the table, then casually stuffed two steamed buns into his pocket. Wang Yunxiao came out of the mess hall and walked onto the deck. He glanced back casually and suddenly froze.

Two of the twenty-eight torches behind them had already gone out.

The Starry Sky and the Compass, two hastily created and hastily implemented doomsday plans, seem to be less reliable than imagined.

But in any case, this is the limit that people of this era can do.

To paraphrase a certain general, my plan failed; it was fate.

Shaking his head to clear away the negative emotions from his mind, and enduring the increasingly heavy pressure, Wang Yunxiao returned to the command room, but did not see Wei Liuyun.

Where is Wei Liuyun?

"Wei Liuyun? Who?"

Seeing the bewildered expression on the communications soldier's face, Wang Yunxiao fell silent.

"Continue to maintain contact with all ships and keep signals clear!"

In the short time I was away, four more warships broke away from the formation and disappeared into the darkness.

Even on the Xuyang, a large number of officers and soldiers, including Wei Liuyun, disappeared, and others even forgot their names.

Wang Yunxiao finally realized that there was a big problem with his perceived body time.

Perhaps it's not so much a problem as a resistance.

Because of its excessively high resistance, it cannot feel the omnipresent erosion of the great tide, resulting in this strong sense of disconnect between its own perceived time and real time.

He felt that not much time had passed, but for the squadron, it had been a long time.

"The Yukikaze has sent a message..."

and then?
Wang Yunxiao turned his head and found that the person who had just given the report had disappeared.

So what did Yukikaze say?

The number of people in the command center dwindled, and warships lost contact one after another.

Wang Yunxiao frowned, deep in thought about a problem.

Should we stop? Turn around and return?
How long can the squadrons hold out at this rate?

Even with the support of a military town, such a serious problem has still arisen on our side.

What about the other fleets? Will the compass still be operational?
With a loud bang, the powerful inertia jolted Wang Yunxiao awake from his dazed state once again. He lost his balance and stumbled into the wall.

"What happened? Did it run aground?"

wrong……

Wang Yunxiao got up, walked to the side of the boat, took a look, and was immediately dumbfounded.

Where is the sea? As far as the eye can see, there is only an endless desert.

Where did this come from for me?

The Xuyang plunged headfirst into the vast sea of ​​sand, its keel emitting a terrifying, teeth-grinding, twisting sound. The stern propeller spun futilely, and an invisible chain could be faintly seen suspending the stern, its other end pointing towards the distant, numbering less than twenty torches.

Wang Yunxiao is the anchor point, and so is the Xuyang. The entire Northern Navy, Army, and everyone else are like the boatmen on the Volga River, using their flesh and blood to pull with all their might the chains behind them, struggling to maintain their existence in the real world amidst the raging tides.

There is no Great Wall at sea, we are the Great Wall!
With flesh and blood, we fight against the tides in the void!

"Take a count of the survivors, and organize their equipment, food, and water!"

Once he came to his senses, Wang Yunxiao began issuing orders.

"Commander! Look over there!"

Wang Yunxiao looked in the direction the sergeant pointed and vaguely saw something huge in the darkness ahead.

It doesn't look like a living thing; it's more like some kind of... mountain peak?
We could go and take a look.

The detachment had fewer than seven surviving warships and only about three hundred survivors.

The good news is that there weren't many bodies.

The vast majority of warships and crew members who disappeared into the darkness were likely in a state of "being lost," separated into different dimensions of time and space.

Simply put, there's still hope of survival. With a bit of luck, they might even be transported to a future time fragment within the Great Tide.

After reorganizing the remaining personnel, Wang Yunxiao looked up at the other destroyer stranded next to the Xuyang.

Danyang.

Do we have this ship?
He discovered that his memory was also malfunctioning; he had absolutely no recollection of the ship.

Is it our ship, or one from another timeline...?

Just as he was wondering, the lights on the Danyang suddenly turned on, emitting an unusually bright light, like a lighthouse lit in the dark night.

This was almost like a miniature torch, which revitalized the survivors' dejected spirits.

"The Danyang will protect everyone."

A gentle, soft whisper from a strange woman reached his ears.

Wang Yunxiao frowned. He didn't remember that the Compass Project included such a content, but now was not the time to be picky. With the support of the miniature torches from the Danyang, they could continue to move forward.

This is enough.

After regrouping, they continued forward. Guided by the light of the Danyang, they crossed the desolate sea of ​​sand. After an unknown amount of time, they finally spotted the man-made object hidden in the darkness with their naked eyes.

It was a tall white tower.

There were even living people standing at the foot of the tower.

That was another unit; they were wearing heavy armor and carrying simple cold weapons, and they were cooking.

The enemy was very alert. Noticing the approach of Wang Yunxiao's troops, some immediately jumped up, raised their iron spears, and formed a defensive formation. At the same time, a tattered flag was also raised from the camp.

"What does it say on it?"

Wang Yunxiao stared at it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Several officers who were with him guessed together for a long time and thought it might be the character "Qin".

Qin? Great Qin?

Ancient seal script?
Wang Yunxiao was shocked. Is this right? Where is this?

A man who looked like a general stepped out from the opposite camp and said a few words in a loud voice.

Nobody here can understand.

The differences in accents are too great, not only due to geographical factors, but also due to the time factor.

Who the hell can understand the ancient language of the Qin people from thousands of years ago?
Wang Yunxiao also tentatively called out, "We are officers and soldiers of the Second Fleet of the Ming Dynasty Navy..."

The person on the other end also looked completely bewildered.

Wang Yunxiao thought for a moment, then subconsciously reached into his pocket to take out his notebook.

Then I remembered that I had already disposed of that notebook.

Does anyone have paper and a pen?

"No, who brought those out? Or should we go back to the ship and look for them?"

"I have a nautical chart here! And a pencil!"

You see, cultured people are useful no matter where they go.

Wang Yunxiao patted the soldier on the shoulder, took the nautical chart from him, and glanced at it.

Nautical charts and land maps are certainly different, but you can still roughly see the outline of the Ming Dynasty's borders.

So he drew a circle on it and then wrote the two bold characters "Huaxia" on it.

It should be traditional Chinese characters, of course.

He walked up to the general opposite him, holding up the nautical chart, gesturing and explaining, "We! The Ming Navy! China! You... Qin... here!"

The general examined the nautical chart, staring at it for a long time before asking with a hint of disbelief, "Pinch?"

"Qin! Qin Shi Huang! The First Emperor!"

"#￥%..."

The general nodded vigorously and rattled off a bunch of things.

Seeing that Wang Yunxiao hadn't understood a word, he reached out and took a hard, flatbread from his pocket, stuffing it into Wang Yunxiao's hand.

Now I understand.

Giving you food means we don't consider you an outsider.

The opposing force also numbered around two hundred, all of them robust and burly men. In comparison, the navy's forces generally appeared to be younger.

Beneath the white pagoda lies a rare and tranquil place.

Here, you can hardly feel the pressure of the tides, and you can even start a fire to cook.

Wang Yunxiao glanced at the other party's food. It wasn't anything special; it consisted of dried biscuits and dried meat, all stewed together in a pot, emitting a very subtle aroma.

So he ordered his soldiers to take some of the food they had brought and give it to the other side.

The navy's food standards are impeccable; the moment something is poured into the pot, a wonderful aroma wafts out, instantly bringing a delighted smile to the faces of the men opposite.

The general was a chatterbox and kept talking to Wang Yunxiao. Wang Yunxiao could only bite the bullet and chatter back, not knowing how much of what he understood.

Do you know who built this tower?

Wang Yunxiao also had questions in his mind, so he pointed at the tower and gestured to the other party.

"The First Emperor! The First Emperor!"

He could understand the word now, but after the general finished speaking, he took the barrel of his gun and wrote a seal character on the ground.

徐？
Xu Fu?
Was it made by Xu Fu?

The general shook his head and said another name that Wang Yunxiao couldn't understand.

Xu Er?

Who is it?

Wang Yunxiao barely passed his history class and couldn't recall ever hearing of such a person in history books.

Seeing that he didn't understand, the general waved his arms, making a gesture reminiscent of a grand celebration with gongs, drums, and firecrackers.

"Big Tide?"

"well--!"

The general wiped the sweat from his brow and thought to himself, "You finally understand, you bastard."

Then he planted the gun barrel in the ground and continued gesturing, telling Wang Yunxiao that once the tower was built, it could block the great tide.

So awesome?
They observed the great tides as early as the Qin Dynasty and then began preparations.

"Damn it, I can't even understand Mandarin, it was such a waste of my time!"

General Wang couldn't help but complain in his heart that these child soldiers were as delicate and tender as women. He wondered if they could even hold onto the vast empire that the First Emperor had conquered.

“Tell me, this is called dragon bone! You know what dragon bone is, right? That guy named Xu Shijie said that starting from Xianyang, a dragon bone tower will be built every hundred years. Once twenty-eight dragon bone towers are completed, our Great Qin's national fortune will last for a thousand generations. I think that's unlikely. Who will even recognize whom in two thousand eight hundred years? You guys won't even recognize this thing…”

"Have you always been stationed here, or were you swept here by the great tide like us?"

Wang Yunxiao pointed to where he had come from, where the torches of the Danyang could still be faintly seen.

But General Wang shook his head, picked up his long spear, and pointed in another direction.

"Why don't you come back to Xianyang with us? You probably won't last long in this godforsaken place."

"Do you have enough supplies?"

"What's that thing you're carrying on your shoulder for?"

After arguing for a long time without any rhyme or reason, the two sides realized with dismay that they were truly unable to communicate in the short term and had no choice but to give up.

After a short rest, the two teams packed their belongings and set off in different directions.

Wang Yunxiao picked up the nautical chart, pointed to the text on it, and shouted loudly to the general: "China!"

"China!"

The general waved his hand, a simple and honest smile on his face, picked up his iron spear, and turned his head away.

They drifted further and further apart, yet despite the two thousand years of time and space separating them, they walked the same path.

Can buildings constructed by humans on Earth be preserved intact for two thousand years?

Wang Yunxiao glanced at the torches behind him, then at the white pagoda beside him, and ordered in a deep voice, "Move out! Continue forward!"

(End of this chapter)