Star Forge Titan

Diana, who was sitting in the driver's seat, stared at the road ahead. Although she did not react, the slightly raised corners of her mouth and the smile on her face also explained the silver-haired girl's mentality at the moment.

Hometown, hometown.

Influenced by the girls' emotions, Alvin's thoughts began to look back to his seemingly distant past life, but there was not much sadness on his face.

At first, he might have felt a little sad. But as he gained a stronger grasp of the power called "power," Ivan became convinced that he would eventually uncover the mystery of time travel and find his way home.

This deep emotion is always buried in the boy's heart. Even if it is not expressed on weekdays, it always symbolizes the past that he will never forget.

Before that, all I need to do is keep moving forward, and by the way, chop off all the monsters and demons that stand in my way.

On the other side, Khayon rubbed the peanut butter of the little flying squirrel who was chewing nuts with puffed cheeks. Although he still had a flawless fake smile, the longing in his eyes was genuine. It was just unclear whether he was missing his hometown or old friends.

Amidst all the chaos, the gate of heaven in the distance was getting closer and closer.

Through the front windshield, the people in the car could already see the scene of heaven carved on the door, as well as the gate hanging high up like another city wall, with a constant stream of people and vehicles below.

As an ancient city with a long history, Lutetia has undergone several expansions in history. The outermost city wall where the Gate of Heaven is located was built after expansion in recent decades.

In fact, some people at the time had already suggested that the city walls were unnecessary for Lutetia, but conservatives at the time strongly opposed this view.

So, after a power struggle, although the height of the city wall was controlled, a new circle of city walls was still built around the entire city.

As a world with magic, the walls of Lutetia are nearly thirty meters high even if the height is controlled, and the thickness is far greater than the walls of medieval Europe in Ivan's previous life.

Even so, if there is no protective magic attached to it, such a city wall will still be unable to withstand the powerful higher-level magic released by high-level transcendents, not to mention the more powerful joint spells or the most terrifying three types of forbidden magic.

In addition to the thirty-meter-high city wall, the tower where the Gate of Heaven is located is even more exaggerated, at fifty meters high, and the high-hanging gate is made entirely of metal.

If this gate hadn't been built after the Magical Revolution, it would likely require a guard of nearly a hundred people to operate it daily. And according to rumors Ivan heard at the New Era Research Institute, the opening and closing of Heaven's Gate is primarily driven by a large steam engine installed beneath the city walls.

This is very steampunk.

Every morning, as the sun rises, a large magical steam engine starts up and sprays streams of white mist from the metal pipes surrounding the Gate of Heaven.

At the same time, the heavy and huge door slowly rose upwards, just as if the heaven carved on the door was slowly rising into the sky, full of sacred atmosphere and strong sense of ritual.

Therefore, some devout believers of the Temple of Light would even come to the Gate of Heaven to pray at this time every day.

As if this could bring them closer to heaven.

how...

Kayon got off the bus at a street corner not far from the Genoa Chamber of Commerce. On the surface, he said he had some letters to send to relatives in his hometown, but in fact, he was going to contact the half-elf lady who liked to wear sheet metal breastplate.

Of course, the letter does exist and will be sent out when the time comes.

However, the recipient was fabricated, and the Genoa intelligence agency would help conceal this through the half-elf lady.

In fact, when the two infiltrated the Wizard Project, they had already been targeted by the Genoa Intelligence Agency. Although there has been no actual action yet, it can be foreseen that something will take advantage of this in the future.

Either they buy relevant secret intelligence from them, or they make more brutal direct threats.

But considering that their current identities have great development prospects, no matter which option is chosen, it will definitely be a long-term operation to catch a big fish.

Therefore, for the two guys who were about to run away, no matter what long-term plans the Genoese and elves had, they would just take all the benefits they were given.

Moreover, the increasing frequency of various demon-related incidents in Linde recently has also made Alvin more vigilant.

Although the plot of this world has mostly been turned into a chaotic state that even the prophets cannot understand, the intuition of an old game player still tells him that there is a high probability that something serious with a huge impact will happen.

Therefore, after communicating with Khayang, he planned to spread the relevant information through the Genoa intelligence agency, at least to arouse the vigilance of the officials and the temple.

Likewise, there must be a warning on Elrond's side.

Let Khayon do this.

Alvin thought to himself that the guy who specialized in being a traitor was very talented and capable in this kind of thing.

Moreover, in the recent time that he has been with Lind, he may have transformed more of his talents into real hard power.

After dropping off Khayon, the magic car continued to drive towards Swan Castle. Although Catherine was happy to return to Lutetia, she was also worried about another problem.

"I wonder if my brother will cause any trouble..." The Duchess bit her thumb rudely. She was even worried that the cardinals would be mad at the Emperor to death.

"Not really, is it? Although His Majesty is a little unconventional, he doesn't look like a, uh, unwise person." Ivan paused and very emotionally intelligently replaced words like "idiot, lazy guy" with relatively nicer terms.

"My brother is indeed not stupid, but he is lazy!" Catherine said helplessly, covering her forehead and leaning against the chair.

Anyway, these two have already seen the truest side of a certain salted fish, and they are not talkative people, so she is too lazy to cover up for the other party.

"You two siblings have such a great relationship." Diana, who was sitting in the driver's seat, suddenly smiled and said:

Catherine's words reminded her of everyone in the orphanage. There were a few naughty little kids there who were also worrying. However, the smile on the girl's face became more obvious.

Let's go visit everyone at the orphanage later...

She thought silently in her heart.

"No way!" Catherine subconsciously wanted to refute Diana after hearing her words, but as she spoke, she started laughing.

Yes, if the relationship was not good, how could she be so willing to help that lazy guy clean up all the messes.

Of course, this is partly due to a sense of responsibility, but we cannot deny the emotional factor of being a family.

The atmosphere in the car became harmonious and cheerful, while the people they cared about were busy with different things.

Inside Swan Castle, Conrad was conversing with his best friend, childhood friend, confidant, and captain of the guard. His handsome face beneath his golden hair was unusually serious.

Downtown, a group of elderly men and women, who would have been retired in Ivan's previous life, gathered together to discuss the news. They exchanged information they had heard from various sources, their expressions growing increasingly serious.

The hosts among these old men and women were Mother Theresa and Old Barton.

It is obvious that the residents of the downtown area are more sensitive to certain hidden threats than the gentlemen in the city.

Chapter 129 The Eve of the Military Parade

In the study of Swan Castle, after sending Galar to handle related matters, Conrad took out a notebook and sat at the desk, which was quite rare, with an expression of serious thought on his face.

Although the contents of the notebook consisted of only a few words, they were indeed a record of events written by His Majesty the Emperor himself. These messages came from records of intelligence departments and other departments. The earliest record was about a crisis that he had personally experienced.

Whenever I think back to the magical experience of crawling out of the bathroom vent wrapped in a shower curtain and then luckily escaping through the drainpipe.

Even though a long time had passed since the incident, Conrad couldn't help feeling uncomfortable all over.

You know, that incident even made him develop new habits of long-distance running and controlling his diet.

The former is to exercise physical strength, while the latter is to maintain figure.

Just imagine, if Conrad's waistline had been wider, like most middle-aged Linde nobles, if Conrad's physical strength had been weaker, like most middle-aged Linde nobles...

Thank God, I was able to exercise regularly with friends during that time to build up my physical strength, and my waistline did not increase as I got older.

Otherwise, whether you get stuck in the vent or run out of energy halfway through the run, it will be a death sentence!

Thinking of this, although he didn't say anything, Conrad still perked up and began to think about the possible connections between these events.

The pen in his hand kept writing paragraphs, connecting seemingly unrelated events one by one. But as he wrote, he sat in a chair and began to think, think, and think...

His Majesty the Emperor, who spent no more than fifteen minutes thinking hard, had unknowingly written a brand new sonnet on the blank space of his notebook. The words were neatly matched, the language was beautiful, and it was full of the poet's passionate emotions.

Then, he used the sketching method to draw a bust of a lady on the blank space of another page. His brushstrokes were soft and detailed, and with just a few strokes, he revealed the graceful curves that undulated like mountains and rivers. However, compared to the real person, it seemed to be missing something. Oh, it turned out that the clothes were missing.

Finally, Conrad put down the notebook in his hand, stood up and walked to the large and bright floor-to-ceiling window.

Looking out at the bright sunshine and the fragrant flowers blooming in the garden below.

"I can't do it. I really can't concentrate on anything."

After his impotent rant, His Majesty the Emperor looked out the window with melancholy, then grabbed his hair and wanted to shout something self-deprecating like "I am a fool".

"I am...!" Just as he shouted the first word, the study door was suddenly opened from the outside.

"Who are you?" Catherine, holding the door handle, looked suspiciously at Conrad, who was standing stiffly in front of the window with his hands raised.

Those who can freely enter and exit the emperor's study are certainly not outsiders. Seeing the pair of particularly familiar golden hair and diamond-shaped twin ponytails, the stiff expression on Conrad's face slowly became lively, and even the reflection of tears could be vaguely seen in the corners of his eyes.

"My sister! Help me!"

It’s just like a certain elementary school student from District 11 who would run to a certain blue-skinned raccoon cat in tears every time he encountered a problem he couldn’t solve.

Conrad slid over the desk and landed at Catherine's feet, handing her the notebook she had just scribbled on.

Seeing this scene, Catherine's expression changed several times in an instant, but then she sighed as if she was used to it, picked up her notebook and started to help, just like she had done several times before.

The content she read made the Duchess feel confused at first, then disgusted and ashamed, and finally became extremely serious.

After a while, the Duchess put down her notebook, raised her hand and rubbed her brows, and said in a rather complicated tone:

"If you devote half of your energy from poetry and music to official duties, you won't need me to help clean up every time."

"Sorry, only one third at most, that's the limit." Conrad lay on the sofa with his mouth half open. The tired expression on his face made people feel that his soul was about to slip out of his open mouth to seek pleasure.

"So, with only one-third of your effort, you found this implicit connection among these seemingly unrelated events." Catherine said with a mixture of helplessness and emotion.

"Anyway, I've already sent Galar to notify the city garrison to be on high alert, and also to summon the Royal Guards to prepare. While we're still unclear what those guys hiding in the darkness are up to, it's definitely not something like helping an old lady cross the street."

A sarcastic expression appeared on Conrad's lips, which was completely different from his usual cynical look, or perhaps it could be said that this was the true nature of Emperor Conrad.

However, after less than three seconds of seriousness, the emperor's expression returned to his usual indifferent look.

"By the way, why are you back so early? Didn't the previous letter say you'd arrive around evening?"

"Is this the time to worry about such things? Well, the train arrived early, and I asked Diana to drive us a little, so we arrived earlier than expected." Catherine glared at her brother, then explained helplessly:

"Diana? Oh, that girl who drives so well. My sister, did you really go that way?" Connor said in a strange tone:

"What nonsense are you talking about! Of course I like boys, but... uh." Someone's figure suddenly flashed through Catherine's mind, but she quickly shook her head and braids hard, throwing the other person's figure far away.

"But as the Duchess of Loire, considering the value of her title and fiefdom, I'd rather take a strange path than develop feelings for someone I don't know the truth about." Conrad answered for her with a smile.

"What do you know? He's just a playful fellow. Now it's time to get down to business!" Catherine stamped her feet vigorously, her face flushed and she shouted:

"This kind of thing can't be covered up by shouting loudly. Besides, I think my sister's happiness is countless times more important than those devilish tricks!" Conrad raised his hands high, like an ordinary stupid brother.

"Woo." Catherine's face turned redder and she was extremely moved. At the same time, she silently apologized to the many subjects of Lind in the Central Empire.

I'm sorry, but the Carolingian royal family is so small that they can only allow such a fool to sit on the throne of Lind's protector and ruler of the empire.

"Forget it, let's get back to business. The Moulin Rouge, the Canary Cage...behind these industries, whether overt or covert, there may be a chamber of commerce or organization that manages them." Conrad pointed to a line of inference written in the notebook.

"And these industries are all, to varying degrees, inextricably linked to the various recent events."

"It also involves the possible existence of fallen people." Catherine followed her brother's words and pointed out another interesting clue.

"Unfortunately, many of these incidents occurred in the downtown area, and to be honest, the government doesn't really care about managing the downtown area. I really regret it now," Conrad said frankly.

"It's not just one or two things you regret since you were a child." Catherine rolled her eyes at her brother in annoyance.

"However, I do know a few friends who are very familiar with the downtown area." The Duchess narrowed her eyes slightly, and a figure that she had just thrown away in anger emerged in her mind.

"Brother, no matter how playful you usually are, this is a special time, so please be alert!" Catherine picked up her notebook and said to Conrad seriously:

"Ah, I know." Conrad nodded, and then told the Duchess the news about the Paladins of the Temple of Knowledge.

The two talked for a while before Catherine stood up and prepared to leave.

Before leaving, she repeatedly warned her brother:

"Considering they were able to accomplish this in the capital, Lutetia, they must have powerful individuals protecting them. Therefore, if we directly involve the intelligence department in the investigation, there's a high chance we'll alert them."

"So, I will find a trustworthy outsider to help investigate this matter, and you'd better stay here and don't wander around."

Catherine took a deep breath and looked Conrad seriously in the eyes.

"If they want to cause chaos in Lutetia, then nothing can do it more easily than the fall of a king."

"Huh?" Conrad was slightly stunned. When he came to his senses, Catherine had already left the study.

Looking at the empty room, His Majesty the Emperor couldn't help but shudder.

Recalling what his sister said before she left, he suddenly felt that everything he saw was very suspicious, even the dark fireplace.

It seemed as if a pitch-black monster would jump out from inside in the next second, reach out and eat him like a gingerbread man.

Conrad became more and more frightened the more he thought about it. He couldn't help but rub his arms with both hands, and then muttered to himself:

"...Should I have sent Galar out?"

Then, he suddenly remembered another incident with very serious consequences.

"Oops! I forgot to tear the Countess's portrait out of my notebook!"

But it was too late. Catherine had already driven her special magic car and was heading towards an orphanage in the downtown area.

She naturally knew where she was most likely to find the two people, but she didn't know that she was carrying a "big bomb" that could lead to her social death.