The deafening explosion sounded like the earth was shattering. The huge shock wave generated by the explosion spread in all directions, involving everything around it. Flames ignited, the air was filled with dust and burnt odor, and visibility dropped sharply.
Franes, who has a strong sense of mission, has been standing not far in front of Darkus with the walking barrier in hand, in order to prevent some flying stray bullets and sudden attacks. After hearing the explosion, He immediately activated the connection spell on the shield, then stepped back in front of Darkus and raised the shield to resist the incoming shock wave.
Even with the cover of the walking barrier, Darkus could still feel a huge force sweeping over him, and his hair was dancing wildly in the shock wave. The shock wave formed by the explosion was as powerful as when he was breathed out by the dragon in Isil. After the shock wave, there was a roar in his ears and his vision became blurred in the gravel. He squinted his eyes and tried to see through the gravel. His companions around him were either swaying or falling to the ground.
Unlike Altdorf University, Stephen Franz College is considered extremely dangerous by the elves. After entering, spellcasters who are good at the life department cast Guilon Cloak on their companions. This magic shield will absorb the It disappears after a certain amount of damage. Although this magic can resist stray bullets, magic and physical attacks, it cannot stop violent shock waves.
As the shock wave gradually subsided, the academy's testing ground became a mess. Humans overturned by the shock wave, collapsed buildings, burning wreckage, and still-smoking flames formed a scene of disaster. Darkus grabbed the belt around Franais's waist and stood half-standing, witnessing the destruction caused by the big explosion.
There were only a few seconds between the sound of the explosion reaching Darkus's ears and the time the shock wave subsided. Then another deafening explosion came again. This time the explosion was more violent than before. The shock wave rushed towards the face, overturning the remaining ruins and stirring up the dust in the air again.
The elves who didn't know magic were either still barely holding on to the tremors and shock waves of the earth, or they had been overturned by the shock waves and fell to the ground, their mouths full of yells and curses.
"Thorn Shield!" Asanok roared.
After shouting, Asanok raised his staff and began to chant the spell. The withered grass and trees crawling on the ground came to life again, growing extremely rapidly, and then formed a dense barrier of thorns. These thorns have both the power of life and the protective energy of magic. The thorns quickly extend upward, and finally form a physical barrier in front of the elves.
The moment the thorn barrier was formed, a third explosion occurred, and the shock wave struck again, but this time the thorn barrier blocked most of the energy. Other humans also reacted at this time. They either hid in bunkers, fled in all directions, or crawled on the ground. Some tried to stay away from the academy, and some tried to come behind the thorn barrier to avoid the continuous explosions.
As the reverberations of the third explosion gradually dissipated, the test site became more deserted. Just when the cursing elves thought it was over, the fourth, fifth, and sixth explosions came one after another, but compared to the first three, these three were much less powerful. It may be that the thorn barrier became more and more powerful. The reason why it is strong and cannot be felt by the elves standing behind the barrier may be something else.
Darkus squinted his eyes. Although his ears were still filled with roaring, he became alert. He felt that something was wrong, because the explosion was very rhythmic, like knocking on the door, first with a clang. He knocked three times, waited for a gap, and then knocked three times again.
Just when Darkus was thinking, the seventh, eighth, and ninth explosions came again. The elves who had recovered all looked at him. The elves were not stupid. They knew When it comes to some problems, the explosion sound is too rhythmic. The most important thing is that it happens nine times! However, before he could think any further, he heard other sounds besides explosions, shouts and wailing.
Continuous explosions followed one after another, and the impact of the explosion seemed to be a challenge to the Altdorf city wall in the college area. The city wall that had stood for centuries was now facing an unprecedented test, and the force the city wall withstood exceeded any design expectations. The city wall was crumbling under the ruthless impact, and the solid city wall began to tremble violently. Huge shock waves and vibrations destroyed the defensive structure of the city wall. Stones collapsed one after another, and smoke filled the air.
In the last three impacts, the city wall was ultimately unable to withstand such powerful continuous impacts. Boulders flew out, and the huge outline of the city wall completely disappeared in the smoke. The entire section of the city wall near the college collapsed, and the defenders who had not had time to retreat were buried in boulders. The rubble and dust filled the air, as if it was a final mockery of this once impenetrable barrier.
Altdorf's city wall, once the pride of the city, now only remains in ruins and rubble, of course only a small section, which disappeared like a front tooth after being hit hard. The residents of the college and surrounding areas were devastated by this merciless explosion, with wails and cries of terror filling the air. This continuous explosion not only destroyed a section of the city wall, but also destroyed the tranquility of Altdorf, turning the eastern part of the city into a chaotic soil.
Darkus, who witnessed all this, was filled with anger and helplessness. He knew that this nine-series explosion was caused by Tzeentch, as if Tzeentch knew of his arrival and had specially prepared a gift for him. Come on, brother, come on, brother, I'll give you a job.
Darkus feels that he has certain characteristics now, and something will happen wherever he goes. Yesterday I went to Altdorf University for a walk, but in the evening most of Altdorf University was reduced to ruins. Today I came to Stephen Franz Academy, and it turned out that this time it was more direct than yesterday. It was blown up directly in front of him. Not only the academy It was gone, and the city wall that had stood for thousands of years was blown open.
"Myrmidia's sword, the dean is over there!"
Darkus, who had regained his composure, sighed silently. He vaguely remembered that a major disaster had been recorded in the academy decades after its completion. The explosion destroyed a large number of the original buildings of the college and the first dean. Leodona disappeared without a trace after the explosion.
There are different theories, some say that a rival elector was jealous of Leodonna's talent and sent hired assassins to kill him. Others say that he invented a flying machine that soared into the sky, left the old world after a deafening launch, and is still traveling among the stars. Others say he blew himself up during a botched experiment, mistakenly using a homing pigeon to launch his infamous pigeon bomb.
It is said... It is not said that Darkus felt a weak force of destiny after entering the academy. After the explosion, the force of destiny disappeared. If it is correct, that force of destiny represents Leodona, Tzeentch blew Leodona away in front of him.
The people who came back to their senses rushed towards the place of the explosion regardless of their safety. Their eyes were filled with confusion and madness, as if they were immersed in some irresistible hallucination. The news that Dean Leodonna was at the center of the explosion continued to spread among the crowd, arousing even more fanatical impulses.
In the collapsed ruins, people began to search around among the smoke-filled debris, regardless of the threat of another explosion, regardless of the possibility of another collapse of the crumbling building. Their fanaticism leaves them with no regard for their own safety, and they have only one goal in mind: to find their Dean. They kept shouting the name of the dean in the ruins, searching for every possible hiding place. As more and more people gathered, the chaos in the college reached its peak.
The fire brigade outside the college gate also reacted. What they were worried about finally happened. The madmen inside the wall not only blew up the college to pieces, but also blew up part of Altdorf's city wall. Their arrival brought a glimmer of hope to the chaotic college. Wearing only daily clothes with firefighting emblems instead of professional protective clothing, they quickly organized themselves to try to stabilize the situation and provide assistance.
Despite their poor equipment, the firefighters' training and expertise enable them to respond quickly to disasters, and they have dealt with academy explosions and fires on more than one occasion. Faced with the complex situation in the ruins, they teamed up with what they saw as lunatics and focused their attention on finding survivors and dealing with potential fire hazards. At the same time, some team members began to set up a cordon around the ruins to prevent more people from flooding into the explosion site.
Dacus thought of a rumor. The reason why Leodona was able to create these epoch-making and even trans-era gadgets was due to the intervention and inducement of Tzeentch. Leodona's disappearance may be part of the knowledge is the curse. now. To a certain extent, he can be regarded as witnessing history, but this way of witnessing is not what he wants. He was originally planning to meet with Leodonna, engage in verbal exchanges, show off himself, and maybe he could Come up with new ideas, or look for opportunities to take Leodona to experience the hospitality of Naggaroth.
"You just said that you are familiar with this place?" Dacus no longer thought about what was or was not, what he could do after everything had happened, Leodona's fate was already determined, at most he would come early or come late or Come or not, but it doesn't matter. He turned his head and looked at Gilead who had recovered and asked.
Gilead first looked at Darkus with an indifferent look, and then nodded.
"Where is the dean's office?" Darkus ignored Gilead. He knew that Gilead might not be thinking about anything at this time, but it was not important. What was important was to find Leodonna's record immediately. There are notebooks with countless invention prototypes. It is said that with the disappearance of Leodona, that notebook also disappeared. Now he can only place his hope on something else. For example, the place where the explosion occurred was the place where Leodona conducted experiments. rather than where Leodonna drew. After hearing what Darkus said, Gilead narrowed his eyes and pointed to another part of the academy, not far from the explosion.
"You and Ren, as well as Genevieve and Gilead, go and see if you can find anything useful." Darkus looked in the direction. The main body there is a townhouse. It had tilted and collapsed under the impact of the explosion. After taking a look, he turned his head to look at Colonia and said decisively.
"Let's leave here first and meet up later at the place where you lived before." After seeing his companions nodding in response, Darkus continued.
To be on the safe side, Darkus did not let Gilead's old servant Fiswell go with him. He kept a hand and let Fiswell lead the large army to the old man. After all, he had only known Gilead and Fiswell for less than a day. .
With the blessing of shadow magic, the elves passed through the confused and overwhelmed crowd. The old man was also a faculty member of Stephen Franz College and lived not too far from the college.
Before going upstairs, Darkus was attracted by a shop across the street. The explosion of the college did not affect the operation of the shop at all. It was as if the shop was already used to the explosion of the college, as if the world only needed to work at the end of the day. To stop. Through the door and window, he could see four printing presses working continuously. Several craftsmen were sewing the pages of the book together and pasting the pages into the leather-bound cover. Those printing presses were exactly what he needed. But now he no longer has the mind to think about the printing press. He is more concerned about Leodonna's manuscripts, but he still asked Cowell to buy a few books that had no content for the time being.
It was very late at night, Colonia and the others finally returned. They were good at sneaking in and could move freely through the chaos with the blessing of shadow magic. The magical shadow magic blocked human perception, making some places inaccessible. They could also travel freely by relying on the Bridge of Shadows. They lived up to expectations and found some of what Darkus wanted, and also brought back some other things.
"This is what I responded to before the explosion. The old human who once lived here mentioned to me that the author of this book invented cruel and fatal tearing very early on...Liquidator? And magical flesh and blood ...?" Gilead said as he put the book on the table, and at the end he looked at Fiswell with embarrassment to confirm.
"Magical flesh and blood chewer? Yes, chewer, magical flesh and blood chewer!" Fishwell said with certainty after thinking for a while.
Darkus had the expression of an old subway man looking at his mobile phone, which sounded really magical to him, so magical that he couldn't even figure out what these two things were for based on the vocabulary.
"But the content in this book may be what you need. Like the humans here, he also retired from the academy? But it's more like he was forced to retire? Because of his views..."
Gilead said The words were a bit incoherent. Darkus felt that Gilead was trying to forcefully explain a very unfamiliar concept, but he probably understood it. The retired faculty member Gilead mentioned was called Rastus, who invented it when he was young. Those two magical things, which had no idea what they were doing, attracted many students during Stephen Franz College's lectures, but his peers thought Rastus's views were almost conservative.
In the paper "A Machine for All Seasons" compiled by Rastus, he believed that the Stephen Franz Institute should not only focus on military applications, but also on inventions of social value. He believed that some inventions would completely change the empire. economy. Yet his thesis was suppressed by college officials, who feared it would spark unrest against the college by workers angry that they might be replaced by automated machines.
In the end, Rastus was forced to retire. In the end, he died on the same day as the old man, in the Tomb King's ceremony. However, his papers were not destroyed. After leaving the academy, Gilead ran away with it. The team went around and brought out the paper under his child's eyes.
Said to be a paper, it is actually more like a book. I don’t know if it was compiled after the paper was published, or if papers in this world are just like this. Darkus knew that there must be some other reasons for Rastus’ forced retirement. As a result, the content in the book also confirmed his point of view. It started with classic chatter, promoting theories and cognition, and then came a real thing, a self-propelled sickle truck. Looking at the name, he thought it was used to cut wheat. , but after looking at the sketch carefully for a while, he felt that this hand-pushed sickle cart was more like one used for mowing grass.
It is for mowing lawns, not wheat. Although it is called a sickle cart, there is no sickle on the body. The entire body is half a meter long. The main body is a wrought iron frame, pushed by a pair of handles, and a ground pressing roller located at the rear of the machine. It is the main wheel of the machine, which transmits power to the blade of the cutting cylinder through gear drive. The transmission ratio is marked, which is 16:1. The smaller roller on the front of the machine can control the cutting height of the blade. The moving blade throws the cut grass into a large box in front.
There is a passage marked on the sketch: This machine is very simple to operate. Hold the handle, just like pushing a two-wheeled vehicle, and push the machine forward smoothly along the green space without letting go of the handle. The downward pressure is moderate.
Darkus felt that there was nothing wrong with this design principle, even if the modern lawn mower in his previous life was of this style. In addition, the principle of this self-propelled sickle truck is reversed, and the blade is driven by steam power, and the cut grass is thrown into the box at the back, and an agricultural wheat harvester seems to be rolled out?
Then there was the moving clockwork scarecrow. Darkus felt that this thing was a bit like taking off his pants and farting. It was of no use. It seemed to be more suitable for places without too much wind. What followed were all automatic machines that required steam power, such as handlooms, etc. After flipping through them roughly, he sighed. He felt that it was not in vain. He could only say that it was not in vain, at least. There is a minimum living standard, and he is going to take this book back to Nagaroth.
After receiving the subsistence allowance, Darkus opened up the Leodona manuscripts brought back by the running team. It was just a messy pile of manuscripts, and there was no bound notebook. Maybe the notebook really followed Leodonna. The first thing he saw was the manuscript of a carriage. It was very abstract. It looked like a Hussite chariot, but it didn't look like it. It was a classic imperial war chariot. The chassis was very high, and the front Two wheels can be turned on the platform tower, which looks extremely bulky. The sketch shows a mobile armored battle tower pulled by two sturdy war horses. It is used to transport Imperial soldiers across the battlefield, or for archers, crossbowmen and firemen. Ranged ones like the Gunner provide vantage points from which to shoot enemies.
In addition to drawings of soldiers, the sketches also included some other DIY items, such as various experimental firearms such as mortars and small cannons, so that speed could be combined with battle-winning firepower.
But in Darkus’ opinion, this carriage has no technical content and is more of a creative idea? The elf war horse is not like the war horse in his previous life. It can be said that it requires explosive power and endurance. Bretonnia's mixed-blood elf warhorses can carry the knight master and equipment for days or even dozens of days without rest. This is also the guarantee for those adventurous knights walking in the old world. Chaos war horses are like this, pure blood war horses are even more outrageous.
Although this carriage has no technical content, it still has some reference significance. You can upgrade the carriage that Darkus has customized to the specifications before, and install an armored battle tower similar to a war carriage on the body. To put it bluntly, it is to make it higher and increase the depression angle and field of view of the Reaper ballista. In this way When the two armies engage in battle, the elevated ballistae can also pour direct firepower, allowing high ground and low ground fire. At the same time, the armored battle tower can ensure the safety of the ballista operator and ensure that he will not be shot to death by Asul's archers at close range. It would be even more outrageous if a metal shield was added in front of the ballista.
In addition to cattle and sheep, Asriel's Rosario Province can also provide Druch with a steady stream of elven war horses. As for the colors of these horses, it is hard to say. Darkus can completely use the heaven-defying attributes of the elf war horses to form a cavalry legion. The cavalry legion does not serve the large legion where infantry makes up the majority. It is more similar to the positioning of dragoons or secondary guards cavalry, strengthening the strategic aspect. advantages, and perform the strategic mission of quickly interspersing and blocking enemy forces. Then there was nothing more. He didn't know much about the compilation. He had to conduct detailed research after returning to Naggaroth.
After putting down the sketch of the car barrier, Darkus picked up another one and looked at it. Perhaps it was true as the rumors said. Although the Hell Jet Serial Cannon was Von Mecaput's most deadly invention, the original research may have It was sketched by Leonardo. However, the content of the sketch in his hand is somewhat different from that of later serial cannons. The muzzles are arranged in a triangle, with five guns on each side. The total is fifteen guns, not the nine of later generations. The sketch does not indicate the serial cannon. The caliber of the gun, and there was no body, only a series of cannons, and he could not determine the specific size of the entire series of cannons.
However, in Darkus' opinion, this so-called serial cannon cannot be defined simply as useless, because it is clearly marked on the sketch. If necessary, the three groups of serial cannons can fire at the same time, or fire in turns. and loading, instead of like a rocket launcher that will fire out one after another as long as it is fired until all the rockets are fired. This has many benefits and allows for more tactics and pertinence. The premise is that there is no barrel that is easily blocked, misfired or even exploded. Serious defects in the bore.
"Why are the steam engines in these manuscripts all the same?"
I'm a little confused because the state is not good. I will finish the work tomorrow. Altdorf has nothing to write. If I write more, it will be a real trip, such as going to a zoo where there is no emperor dragon. change?